30 Years After Reincarnating, It Turns Out This World Was A Rofan?!-Chapter 258: A Knight Never Forgets a Grudge (1)
“...H-hey, Rose.”
“What is it, Lili?”
“Umm, maybe it’s just me, but don’t you think the men in our department have... changed lately?”
“......”
“I-I mean, don’t they look... a little more bulky?”
“Hm, I’m not sure? Isn’t that normal?”
“So it’s just me...?”
The girl called Lili—full name Lirina Boarne, also known as Chick Number 12 by their instructor—was the daughter of a baron’s family, well-known for their strikingly handsome and beautiful lineage.
As part of the Boarne bloodline, she was no exception—her features were delicate, refined, and her future as a beauty was highly anticipated.
However, compared to her peers, her growth had been rather slow. She had yet to undergo her coming-of-age ceremony and looked about the same age as younger children. This was her one and only complex.
But after undergoing the special training that her instructor had tailored just for her, her height had grown from a mere 130 cm to 139 cm in just eight months.
A 9 cm growth spurt—an astonishing transformation.
Her instructor had even assured her that her growth plates were still open and that she could grow even taller, which completely erased her previous insecurities.
She now trusted her instructor 120%.
...And yet, despite this impressive change, no one around her seemed particularly amazed.
Perhaps it was because, compared to the absurd transformations happening around her, hers was practically insignificant.
Huff! Huff!
“Just one more! One more!”
“That’s it!”
“Pull-up! Pull-up!”
The figures hanging from the pull-up bars, doing sets of chin-ups, were not bears.
They were noblemen.
The same noble young masters who, until recently, had been as soft and delicate as silk cushions.
Now, they were training hard—shirtless, their upper bodies exposed, fervently working on their muscles.
And their upper bodies had... noticeably grown.
Not in an unappealing way, of course. It wasn’t fat—they were just bigger.
But considering these were knight aspirants—the same ones who had once preached that overly bulky muscles were impractical—seeing them like this felt... odd.
Lirina wasn’t the only one confused.
“Maybe it’s because they’ve been hanging around the bear-men while helping with the cathedral’s reconstruction,” a voice answered.
“Ah....”
“And according to Master, when a man starts getting defined abs, he naturally wants to train the rest of his body as well.”
“???”
The voice belonged to Lady Levi.
Her response was polite and informative, but to Lirina, it only raised more questions.
Why did they feel the need to build more muscle?
And more importantly, why were they showing it off so blatantly?
“Hm, apparently, it’s similar to how a male lion flaunts its thick mane to attract lionesses. I don’t quite understand the sentiment myself, but—”
“...I completely agree.”
Lirina nodded vigorously.
Though, to be fair—she had proudly shown off her 9 cm growth spurt before, so she couldn’t say she entirely didn’t understand the feeling.
But still—
‘The smell of sweat...’
Did they really have to do it so openly?
Couldn’t they train somewhere less in-your-face?
“Just accept it. That’s how males are. If they have a female they’re interested in, they show off. The monkeys back in Kunta’s homeland used to do this all the time.”
“U-uhh... Kunta, if you say that, aren’t you basically calling them monkeys?”
“That’s just how nature works.”
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“...Why is that oddly convincing?”
The girls found themselves strangely convinced by the barbarian’s statement.
But Kunta wasn’t finished.
“Although... the young masters are probably going to get in trouble soon. If Master sees them, he’ll be very angry.”
“Master? You mean Instructor?”
“Yeah. He spent all that time making a proper training schedule, and now they’re completely ignoring it just to bulk up. So he’s probably going to—”
Kunta trailed off.
Because before he could even finish—
“Why the hell are you training like weightlifters when you’re supposed to be track athletes, you brainless idiots?!”
SMACK!
Each one of them started getting flicked on the forehead.
Though, judging by the sound, it was more like they were getting punched.
“...I think I finally understand why Rose doesn’t seem impressed by them.”
Lirina glanced between their monstrous instructor and the now-unconscious noblemen clutching their foreheads.
“Hmm. My standards have gotten too high.”
If someone had spent their whole life staring at perfectly polished diamonds, how could they be impressed by a handful of uncut, unshaped stones?
***
It had been almost a month since Ihan last saw his cadets.
Between sending them off for reconstruction efforts and the academy’s academic exams, there hadn’t been time for training.
These exams—both written tests and interviews—determined whether students could advance to the next academic year.
As a result, even the Swordsmanship Department had taken a two-week break.
Now, just before winter vacation, they were seeing each other again for the first time in weeks.
Under normal circumstances, this reunion should’ve been filled with warm greetings and pleasant conversations.
But instead—
“I trained you into actual humans, and now you’re trying to devolve back into dumbasses?”
“S-sorry, sir.”
“You shouldn’t have done something to be sorry for in the first place.”
“Ugh...”
“Hah. For the time being, all of you are doing cardio.”
“...Y-yes, sir.”
“I didn’t hear you.”
“YES, SIR!!”
Thus, instead of a warm reunion, they were met with an extreme reunion—a 10-kilometer sprint.
The male cadets wheezed and gasped as they ran.
“Why do we have to suffer too?!”
“We just watched! We didn’t even do anything!”
Even the bear-men were grumbling about getting dragged into the punishment.
Ihan scoffed.
“You ever heard of collective responsibility?”
“What about the ladies?!”
“They’re still delicate. If they run at full speed, they might collapse.”
“!?”
They really wanted to scream about unfair treatment, but...
They knew.
If they did—
They’d have to deal with the glares of all the young noblewomen starting tomorrow.
So they gritted their teeth and stayed silent.
Just then, Levi approached.
“Master, why are you so wrapped up in bandages? Did you fight some kind of legendary beast?”
“...Legendary beast, huh?”
She looked genuinely worried.
But there was also a hint of confusion in her eyes.
Because—who in this kingdom could possibly injure him that badly?
Ihan sighed and scratched his cheek.
“Well... I did something stupid. Don’t worry about it.”
“??”
Yeah.
A very stupid thing.
Like charging headfirst at the Sword Saint without thinking.
Honestly, he was lucky to even be alive.
‘That woman didn’t hold back at all.’
As Ihan recalled the swords that had pierced his abdomen, thigh, and arms, a phantom pain flared up.
Whatever technique she had used, there were no scars or lasting wounds.
But the pain?
That remained.
And to dull it, he had wrapped himself up in bandages—whether it was a placebo effect or not, he wasn’t sure.
At least it felt like it helped.
And at the same time—
‘...So this is another way to use Willforce.’
Ihan had gained a new method of application.
However, it came with a price.
Like a toxin or a virus, Felicia’s Willforce had burrowed deep into his body, spreading like wildfire. To expel or neutralize it, he had to exert extreme levels of mental fortitude in real time.
Now he understood why she had said she would properly train his Willforce.
The only thing that could fight against Willforce invading the body was one’s own Willforce.
In that sense, this was undeniably a useful form of training.
If he could completely overcome the Willforce of a woman known as the Sword Saint, his growth would be astronomical.
It was an incredible opportunity.
But—
‘It’s a damn brutal way to train.’
The method was practically mutilation.
“I feel like I’m repaying kindness with vengeance.”
“Pardon?”
“...Forget it. Anyway, what’s that in your hands?”
“Oh, walnuts! Master told me to train my grip strength, so I figured I’d try cracking walnuts. I can finally break five at once now.”
“...You’re the best one out of them all.”
While the knight trainees were busy destroying their strengths, the one who had started the latest was steadily working to overcome her shortcomings and growing consistently.
She might look thin, but internally, her muscles, tendons, and ligaments had grown incredibly strong.
Compared to the first semester, she had quadrupled in progress.
If she started utilizing aura, her strength would far surpass what it was even a day before.
In other words—
She looked slim, but her grip strength was now comparable to that of a gorilla.
Her rate of growth was terrifying.
Moreover, after staying in Offen and experiencing various trials, her aura and presence had grown significantly.
‘If she competes in the ranking match, she might actually make it into the mid-tier ranks.’
For a girl who hadn’t even trained with a sword for a full year, competing with elite warriors was already a shocking feat.
It was like someone playing soccer for less than a year and somehow getting scouted for the national team.
‘Is she growing according to her name?’
Her name—Jeanne d’Arc—seemed eerily fitting.
Ihan clicked his tongue.
If she had grown ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) this much in less than a year, what would she be like next year?
By the time she graduated?
No—
‘If the right trigger comes along, she’ll skyrocket instantly.’
He didn’t know when that moment would come, but he felt it in his gut.
“She’s just about ready for proper swordsmanship training... What do you think, assistant instructor?”
“...Did I do something wrong?”
“Hm, skipping lessons for a whole month?”
“...I admit that was wrong, but still, making me an assistant instructor—”
The dark-haired nobleman, Roen, stiffened and took a step back.
...A single bead of sweat trickled down his face.
Meanwhile—
Roen was genuinely shocked.
‘What the hell? Was Instructor always this... massive?’
One might argue that Ihan had always been large, so what was he even talking about?
But Roen was completely serious.
[Grrrrrr...]
Even the Black King, the northern entity slumbering within him, was visibly disturbed.
Roen wasn’t sweating and backing away just because of the assistant instructor joke—
It was because Instructor Ihan’s presence was overwhelmingly stronger than before.
‘It hasn’t even been that long.’
If Ihan had been surprised by Levi’s explosive growth, Roen would’ve had the opposite response—
‘Compared to you? She’s nothing.’
In just one month, Ihan had become a completely different person.
Sure, he was wrapped in bandages, suggesting he had been injured—
But despite that, Roen no longer had any confidence that he could defeat him.
Even if he unleashed the Black King’s full power.
Just as Roen was processing this realization—
“Well, the assistant instructor thing was a joke. But later, you should teach her a proper sword technique. She’s got the potential to be terrifying.”
“...Are you telling me to teach her?”
“Oh, and Iliad could be useful too.”
“...Instructor, you’re the only person in the world who’d call the Sword Saint’s techniques ‘useful.’”
“So, are you saying you’re worse at teaching than some retired old man?”
“......”
Roen exhaled sharply.
“There is a sword style that would suit her. Something tailored only for her.”
“Then you should’ve said so from the start.”
He recognized Ihan’s words as playful provocation, but he didn’t mind taking the bait.
After all—
If anyone knew the swordsmanship of the “Mercenary Queen,” it was Roen.
“Good choice.”
“...But is that really the only reason you called me here?”
He had been in the middle of important work related to the cathedral’s reconstruction.
There was no way Ihan would summon him just for a sword lesson.
Sure enough—
“There’s one more thing.”
“?”
“Just out of curiosity—do you have anyone under your command who specializes in tracking or possesses a mystical ability for it?”
“...If I do, what are you planning to do?”
“I need their help.”
Swoosh.
“It’s starting to piss me off, just sitting around and taking hits.”
“......”
Roen’s eyes drifted toward the small vial Ihan had pulled out.
Inside, a single drop of blood writhed like it was alive.
A drop of deep crimson, twisting and shifting as though it had a will of its own.
“So—”
Ihan smirked.
“Wanna go hunting with me?”
“...That...”
A slow grin spread across Roen’s face.
Now that... that sounds very interesting.
He looked as pleased as a child receiving an early holiday gift.
