30 Years After Reincarnating, It Turns Out This World Was A Rofan?! novel Chapter 226

...That was a strange dream.

[You dare know your crime?! How could a Plum Blossom Swordsman lose to some Zhongnan bastard?! How utterly disgraceful! You are the shame of the Huashan Sect!*]

A group of old Daoist masters raged at him in his dream.

And it wasn’t just one or two of them.

[We must sever his tendons and exile him!]

[Huashan’s name weeps today...]

[How will we ever face our ancestors now?!]

They were treating him like a criminal, and Ihan simply scratched his cheek.

[Look at that insolent attitude!]

[He has no remorse for his sins!]

[T-this... this brat...!]

Their blood pressure was rising fast.

And Ihan, looking at them, finally spoke—

"Oi, you damn specters. I don’t know who you guys are, but let’s get one thing straight. First of all, I’m not part of the Huashan Sect, you morons."

[......?]

After throwing that insult, he calmly continued.

"I was an assassin in some insane experimental organization. After that, I was a mercenary. My roots are way closer to the Demon Sect or wandering rogues than anything from the righteous sects. And even if I had to be in one, my first technique came from Shaolin, so if anything, I’d be closer to them than Huashan. Besides, my techniques might have come from martial arts novels, but that doesn’t mean I’m actually part of the Murim, does it? If you really think about it, I made all this up, you idiots. That makes me the founder here, dumbasses."

[.......]

"You can shove your excommunication. If anyone’s getting expelled, I should be the one doing the expelling."

[B-but the Plum Blossom Sword Art...]

"You got a patent on it or something?"

[.......]

"Thought so. Damn freeloading ghosts. Y’all don’t even have the rights to it, so shut up."

[T-that’s...]

"Enough bullshit. Get over here. Since when do some random sect disciples have the nerve to talk back to a founder?"

[W-wait, hold on—!]

"Show me your so-called Plum Blossom Sword Art!"

[...!]

The Huashan Sect specters screamed.

***

THUD!

Ihan bolted upright.

"...Damn ghosts. They had insane footwork."

He sat there, dazed, staring at his palms.

He had planned to beat them up at least five hundred times, but he only managed around three hundred.

Ghosts were still ghosts. They had no legs, so they ran like hell.

...Maybe that was what they called the [Phantom Step]?

"Hm. Should I try making it?"

Ihan mused, nodding to himself at the new inspiration for footwork.

Just then—

"...What kind of nonsense are you muttering the moment you wake up?"

"There’s a reason for everything."

Baltar spoke up, and Ihan, having already sensed his presence, responded without even looking at him.

"How long was I out?"

"Thirty minutes."

"...Figures. No wonder I feel refreshed."

"Haha. That recovery rate of yours is still absurd. Are you telling me just that was enough for you to recover?"

"Eh, I’m only about 40% back. But wouldn’t anyone else recover about this much with some rest?"

"Haha, if you said that in front of other warriors, they’d beat you to death for it. ...Though, knowing you, you’d just end up beating them instead."

"......."

Instead of responding to Baltar’s teasing, Ihan quietly took in his surroundings.

Crumble... crackle...!

Thud!

Snap—!

"...Ahem."

A wry smile crept onto his face.

It was a disaster.

The massive training ground, boasting an area of about 6,000 square meters, was completely destroyed.

The earth had collapsed in places, forming sinkholes.

The surrounding walls had crumbled, leaving a clear view of the outside.

And to top it off, the intense energy left behind by their battle—both from his sword aura and the sword phantoms—had ignited fires all over the place.

It looked like the aftermath of a nuclear explosion.

...The only comfort was that there was no radiation.

But still—

"I really screwed up this time..."

Seeing the destruction firsthand, Ihan broke out into cold sweat.

When he was caught up in the fight, he hadn’t cared about anything else.

But now that he had snapped back to his senses, reality was hitting him.

‘What the hell was I thinking...?’

The damage alone was catastrophic.

And it wasn’t just some property damage—he had wrecked a part of the royal palace.

Beating up the First and Second Cat Knights yesterday? That had been self-defense, so he had some justification.

But this?

This was all on him.

‘Forget debt collectors—I’m about to be arrested.’

Hell, they might even haul him to the gallows.

"If I fix everything, do you think they’ll still punish me?"

"Hm? Can you fix this?"

"I did a lot of engineering work. Give me, what, two weeks? No, maybe just a week. I’ll have it good as new."

"...You always have the strangest skill set."

"Haha..."

In his past life, he had literally built training camps in the military.

And now, with his current strength, he was practically a walking construction vehicle.

Even if he worked alone, a week would be enough to rebuild everything.

That might be enough to lessen the punishment...

Just as he was deep in thought—

"I know what you're worried about. Typical of you, really. Only you would stress over something like this, you fool."

"Of course I’d worry about it."

"At times like this, you seem like such a simple, upstanding guy. But the moment your eyes go wild, you turn into a complete lunatic."

"...I caused the damage, so obviously, I should be the one to fix it."

"Haha. You’re insane, but also oddly responsible."

"?"

Ihan wasn’t sure if that was an insult or a compliment.

But then Baltar said something surprising.

"Don’t bother worrying about it. ‘This kind of thing’ happens all the time."

"...This kind of thing?"

"Back in the previous king’s era, this was a common occurrence. Knights would duel, and the royal palace would regularly get wrecked. Haha. It was practically a yearly event."

"......."

"But after the previous king passed away, the knights started declining. The old warriors either retired or left for Avalon, and these kinds of ‘events’ stopped happening. Still, the law remains—Even if the royal palace is destroyed in a knights’ duel, as long as there are no casualties, no punishment shall be given. So, you’re fine. Haha."

"Oh."

That meant—no gallows for him.

And right on cue—

Drip... drip...