30 Years After Reincarnating, It Turns Out This World Was A Rofan?! novel Chapter 237

The restoration of the Grand Temple, which had been burned down in the great fire the previous day, was being carried out with the help of a handful of people.

Even though the Temple had collapsed, there were still believers in the Light.

...The problem was that those so-called priests had been worse than monsters.

Had this been the past, the entire kingdom would have gathered to help rebuild. But now, only a tiny fraction of the population was offering their aid.

Approximately ninety people.

And half of them weren’t even volunteers—they were construction workers hired by Roen.

The number of actual volunteers? Just forty-five.

A pathetic reality.

And an even more pathetic fact?

"Hey, Barry! Get the cement mix right!"

"Ah, sorry."

"Bring the pickaxe over here!"

"Shovel! I said grab a damn shovel!"

Thirty of those forty-five volunteers weren’t here out of faith—they were swordsmanship academy cadets forced into labor.

The Hundred and Eight Arhats.

The Berserkers (Teddy Bears).

The Baldies.

They went by many names, and now, they were working as unpaid laborers at the Grand Temple’s construction site.

Not because they were devout, but because—

"Excavating a mountain is a good workout."

"Huh? What are we supposed to be excavating?"

"A mountain."

"...How?"

"Properly."

"???"

—Their instructor had sent them here under the guise of training.

"It’s good for training external energy. Digging up the mountain, climbing, using pickaxes—it’ll help you build muscle. And don’t worry about food—Blacky will feed you three meals a day, so you’ll get plenty of protein."

"......"

"From now on, forget the training grounds. Just report to the mountains. A week should be enough."

"...Excuse me?"

"Actually, five days. I did it myself, so I know."

"......We’re human, you know?"

Their protests had been completely ignored.

When the instructor himself claimed he could do it and even offered to demonstrate, what counterargument could they possibly have?

Besides, rejecting a method to become stronger would be foolish.

Thus, the Teddy Bears were thrown into construction, busily tearing apart the mountain and rebuilding.

If their efforts could bring a dead land back to life, at least it would be rewarding.

And so—

"Fuck..."

—They cursed their way through each and every day.

Meanwhile, the two assistant instructors who had been sent as supervisors for the cadets’ outdoor training watched in amazement.

"Their speed is ridiculous."

"What the hell did No. 8 teach them? At this rate, in three years, they’re going to be monsters."

No. 7 and No. 11—otherwise known as Dyna and Yan—observed their old comrade’s disciples with blank expressions.

If human excavators existed, they would look exactly like this.

How the hell were they this fast?

"If the instructor were here, he’d just tear up the ground with his bare hands, wouldn’t he?"

"Forget five days—if he was serious, he’d finish in two."

"Nah, I give him one."

...So if these human excavators were monsters, then what the hell was No. 8?

Dyna and Yan exchanged wry smiles.

And yet, at the same time, they felt a strange sense of irony.

Because, once upon a time...

They had been part of the group that orchestrated the plan to burn this Temple down.

Now, here they were—helping rebuild it.

Dyna absentmindedly ran a hand over the empty sleeve where her arm used to be.

"This is fucking weird."

"You’ll have to endure it. No. 8—no, Ihan—is our lifeline."

"Life is a bitch..."

The only reason they were still alive—

The only reason they hadn’t been dragged into the torture chambers of Galahad or Lionel—

Was because Ihan remained neutral.

That was why they had no choice but to play along.

Even if it was humiliating, they had to survive.

And then—

Fwoooosh!

—A dazzling light of life poured over the ruined land, as if to comfort their miserable existence.

Drip, drip, dribble...

From the ground the cadets had dug up, sprouts and leaves began to emerge.

The cadets froze, their eyes wide in disbelief.

"...That girl’s just a mage, right?"

"That’s what I heard."

"'Saintess'? Pfft! I thought that was just Temple propaganda..."

Dyna and Yan were skeptics—maybe not to the level of the black-haired noble, but they certainly weren’t believers.

They had spent their childhoods praying for salvation, only to be abducted and abandoned.

God had never saved them.

And yet...

Watching this miracle unfold before their very eyes—

For a brief, foolish moment, they almost wanted to believe.

...Almost.

Dyna and Yan both let out bitter laughs.

***

Wooooong—!

A resonance rippled through the earth where Irene’s water magic touched.

It wasn’t just magic.

The lingering divine energy around the Temple reacted to her power, creating a mystical phenomenon.

Tuk.

More sprouts bloomed, and trees regrew, reversing the damage as if time itself was moving backward.

If ever there was a time to use the phrase "a scene straight out of magic"—

It was now.

Of course—

‘The real irony is... this isn’t something just any mage can do.’

It wasn’t as if all magic users could create such a miracle.

Only someone like Irene, whose magic was so pure it bordered on divine, could accomplish this.

‘Other mages just end up polluting the land instead...’

The day before, when Irene had purified the ground, people thought magic could help speed up the Temple’s restoration.

But that hope had been completely shattered.

—"What the hell is this?"

Instead of purifying, the land became even more contaminated.

That mage had almost been beaten to death on the spot.

—"W-Wait! Calm down! I didn’t mean to do this! This just proves Irene is on a completely different level!!"

The mage, usually slow-witted, had never spoken so fast in his life.

Out of sheer desperation, he had managed to explain what was happening.

—"If an average mage’s magic purity is like polluted river water, then Irene’s magic is first-class spring water! No—it's as pure as a raw diamond! In this entire kingdom, she’s the only one who can do something like this! S-So please... don’t kill me."

...And so, the mage had barely survived.

She had taken a few hits, but she survived.

However, perhaps because of the testimony that she alone was capable of purification—

"A soldier who once saved me died in a fire."

["......"]

"And before you ask, it wasn’t in this world. It was back in my original world."

["......"]

"He was a good man... kind of like my instructor."

["Irene..."]

For the first time, Irene’s usual carefree expression turned melancholy.

Standing here, seeing the aftermath of a great fire—

It was bringing up old memories.

And with those memories came the growing longing for home.

A world without magic.

A world without mystic powers.

A world where she couldn’t even use telekinesis, where she had to walk on her own two feet.

A world where she didn’t look this beautiful.

And yet—

‘I have to go back. I have to visit his grave. And... I still have to take my college entrance exams.’

Irene wanted to go home.

This world was nice, but it wasn’t home.

She missed—

Her nagging mother who always cared for her.

Her stoic father who always protected her.

Her annoying but fiercely loyal older brother and younger sister.

She wanted to see them again.

And—

"Oh, right! I still need to go to my audition."

...She still had dreams to chase.

["You still haven’t given up on that ridiculous dream? You don’t have the face of an idol."]

"I do sing well, though!"

["Haaa... Whatever. A dream’s a dream."]

"Ugh...!"

Fwoooosh!

Irene huffed, pouring even more magic into her work.

Her home, her past—those were important.

But for now—

‘I have to focus on the present!’

Yes.

...Just like her instructor.

A girl soared through the sky, working tirelessly as she thought of someone dear to her.

***

"-How long do I have to keep doing this?"

"It’s only been a day. Why are you so impatient?"

"It’s not just a day for me."

"Oh, hush!"

"...This is driving me crazy."

The man whom the so-called Saintess admired so deeply—

The rare kind of person who always gave his all—

Was currently trembling with an expression of sheer horror.

Because—

"For the next week, you are forbidden from any physical training. You must rest."

"......You son of a bitch."

The idea of resting for an entire week terrified him more than any battlefield.

Because—

Muscle loss was NOT an option.