TDGHR 15

Chapter 15

As If I Were a Ruler

When I woke up, I was alone in the villa.

Only the pillow Sia had been sleeping on remained beside me.

Lying there alone on the bed made everything that had happened yesterday feel almost like a dream.

Now I would have to wait an entire week before I could see Sia again.

Yesterday, I’d briefly thought that a week wouldn’t be so bad and that I could endure it by talking to her on the phone until then.

But now that I was actually facing the prospect of waiting a full week, I couldn’t think that way at all.

We could still keep in touch, but how could that possibly compare to seeing each other in person?

After roughly washing my face, I went out to the living room.

The room, which had been slightly messy last night, had been neatly cleaned. On the dining table sat a sandwich, a carton of milk, and a letter.

I picked up the letter first.

[Hi, Oppa. I’m writing this from Grandpa’s lair right now. I wanted to write it beside the bed while you were sleeping, but if I did that, who knows what might happen to you. It’s kind of ridiculous, isn’t it?]

I smiled bitterly as I continued reading.

[How nice would it have been if we could’ve ended that happy day by falling asleep together? That’s what I kept thinking. I thought I’d have good dreams if we did.]

I felt guilty for no particular reason.

Sia wasn’t beside me, yet I’d been the only one who got to have pleasant dreams.

Had Sia managed to have happy dreams while sleeping alone too?

[I also wondered what it would’ve been like to wake up refreshed after a good dream and watch the morning sunlight through the window with you, Oppa.]

[Oh, right. I should’ve written this first. You see the sandwich in front of you, don’t you? I made it myself. Please don’t skip breakfast. Make sure you eat it.]

Sia used to nag me because I often skipped breakfast, so the moment I read that sentence, I picked up the sandwich and took a bite.

It tasted exactly like the sandwiches Sia used to make for me from time to time.

[Call me after you finish reading this letter, Oppa. I love you.]

* * *

Time passed quickly, and before I knew it, the time I’d arranged to meet Sia’s grandfather had already arrived.

I stayed on the phone with Sia until just before our appointment, then used the ring her grandfather had given me to teleport to the lair in Taebaek.

‘Wow.’

It wasn’t my first visit, but I still couldn’t get used to the place.

The sheer scale of the lair and its atmosphere were both overwhelming.

To exaggerate only slightly, it almost felt like I’d arrived on another planet.

The moment I arrived, Sia’s grandfather welcomed me warmly.

“Welcome. Nothing happened while we were apart, I hope?”

“No, sir. Have you been well too?”

“I have, thanks to you.”

After exchanging brief greetings, Sia’s grandfather led me into a reception room.

Strangely enough, the room had the atmosphere of a traditional Korean hanok.

When I looked around with obvious fascination, Rokan made a proud remark.

“I once had occasion to visit a hanok. I liked its quiet elegance, so I decorated this room in the same style.”

“This feels even more like a hanok than most actual hanok houses. You have an incredible sense for this, sir.”

Without Sia there, things could easily have become awkward, but fortunately, our small talk kept the atmosphere more comfortable than I’d expected.

“Thank you. And Minjun.”

“Yes?”

“If possible, I’d rather you stopped calling me ‘Grandfather’ and simply used my name.”

“You mean… Rokan?”

To be honest, it felt awkward to me.

Maybe being a dragon made something like this seem trivial to him, but calling the grandfather of the woman I intended to marry by his name alone felt deeply unnatural to someone as thoroughly Korean as me.

“Yes. That’s more comfortable for me. Other than Shasha, I’m still not accustomed to hearing anyone call me Grandpa.”

“Understood, Lord Rokan.”

If that was what made him comfortable, then I was the one who should adjust.

“Now then, let’s get to the main point.”

“Yes.”

After settling how I would address him, we moved on to the real reason I’d come.

“Shasha told me you drew out the power of the Dragon Bone Sword.”

Sia had vaguely mentioned over the phone last night that she’d visited her grandfather’s lair, so apparently that was when she’d told him.

“Yes.”

“Take out the sword.”

The instant he finished speaking, Rokan pulled a wooden sword from his subspace.

“I’ll need to see it with my own eyes.”

In other words, he wanted me to cross swords with him.

However, something about that felt strange.

There was nothing particularly odd about sparring with Rokan itself, except that the sword I would be using was the Dragon Bone Sword.

And Rokan himself was a dragon, which made the situation feel even stranger.

If I were in his position, I thought I’d find the idea rather uncomfortable.

Still, he was the one telling me to draw it.

“Are you… sure this is all right?”

“What do you mean, am I sure? I doubt you’re about to say something insolent.”

“No. It’s just that, as you know, the material this sword is made from…”

“Ah, that. Don’t worry about it. You humans might feel differently, but it’s hardly anything worth mentioning to us.”

He felt nothing in particular about someone wielding a sword made from the bones of his own species?

“From time to time, members of our kind even take up the hobby of carving their own bones into swords, so there’s no need for you to concern yourself with it.”

“…”

Carving your own bones into a sword was beyond anything my way of thinking could comprehend, but that wasn’t what mattered right now.

“So hurry up and draw the sword.”

Following Rokan’s instruction, I finally drew the Dragon Bone Sword from my subspace and gripped it.

The moment I did, Rokan cast magic, and the scenery around us changed immediately.

We were standing in a broad field whose location I didn’t recognize.

“Swing that sword the way you showed Shasha. I’ll do nothing but block.”

Rokan beckoned for me to come at him, clearly wanting to begin immediately.

“You’ll only block?”

“This isn’t even a spar. Why would I attack you? Stop talking and swing your sword.”

My pride was slightly irritated, but my opponent was a dragon—and not just any dragon, but someone who had once been Dragon Lord.

Considering the difference between us, this arrangement was probably only reasonable.

“Then I’m coming.”

I steadied my breathing carefully, gripped the sword, and leaped forward with all my strength.

For this moment, I needed to forget that he was Sia’s grandfather and forget that I was being tested.

I just had to swing my sword the same way I had on the training ground.

Repeating that to myself, I closed the distance and swung with all my strength.

* * *

Before meeting Minjun, Rokan had spent a long time talking with his granddaughter.

Neither Rokan nor Sia had once expected that they would ever see each other again, so naturally there had been plenty for them to catch up on.

The two had spoken warmly for a long time.

As the conversation continued, the subject naturally turned to her previous life and, of course, to Minjun.

‘A human who drew out the power of the Dragon Bone Sword.’

‘He didn’t just draw it out. I’m not sure whether this is the right way to describe it, but…’

‘It felt like a dragon was swinging its own foreleg.’

Hearing such a description from his granddaughter had genuinely surprised Rokan.

He had seen humans accomplish great feats by drawing on the power of Dragon Bone Swords before, but never once had he seen someone produce that kind of impression.

He considered the possibility that she had exaggerated because Minjun was the man she loved, but Rokan knew that she wasn’t that kind of person—or dragon.

‘If our Shasha is right…’

Then he couldn’t help being curious.

Part of him wanted to protect his granddaughter’s love, but another part, entirely separate from that, simply wanted to satisfy his own curiosity.

With that thought in mind, Rokan knocked Minjun’s sword aside.

‘…I’m not sure.’

At the very least, he thought he understood what his granddaughter had meant.

Minjun certainly used the sword differently from other Dragon Bone Sword wielders.

But as far as Rokan could tell, that was all there was to it.

Beyond that, nothing about him seemed particularly special.

After casually deflecting the blade, Rokan waited for Minjun’s next attack.

The second and third exchanges followed immediately.

Minjun swung from below to above, then from above toward the lower left.

Rokan could tell he was varying his attacks because he felt the first strike hadn’t carried enough impact.

“I still don’t feel it.”

Even those attempts fell below his expectations.

Although they had exchanged only three blows, Rokan had expected attacks far bolder and sharper than this.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing.

“It makes no sense for someone with that kind of potential to show me nothing more than this.”

At Rokan’s words, Minjun’s eyebrow twitched for the briefest instant.

“I’ll continue until you see what you want to see.”

“As you should.”

Minjun swung again, only for Rokan’s wooden sword to stop his blade just as easily as before.

That was fine. This had never been a true duel in the first place.

Ten exchanges passed, then twenty, yet Rokan’s expression still didn’t change.

“With only this much, you’ll never be able to wield the power of our kind in its entirety.”

“…”

“At this level, perhaps you’ll eventually make a name for yourself as a famous Hunter. You can use a fraction of our kind’s power, after all. You’d gain a reasonable amount of wealth and fame too. But that isn’t your goal, is it?”

Rokan decided they needed some kind of turning point.

Either Minjun needed a stronger stimulus, or Rokan needed to identify what was preventing him from bringing his potential into full bloom.

Meanwhile, Minjun frowned as he breathed heavily.

‘This is frustrating.’

His anger wasn’t directed at Rokan. It was directed at himself.

If he couldn’t fully wield a dragon’s power, then the restrictions on meeting Sia would never disappear.

He couldn’t allow things to end that way.

He had to overturn Rokan’s evaluation of him and force the old dragon to admit that there was at least some hope.

“I can’t accept that.”

“Of course you can’t. I don’t want to see my granddaughter grieving either.”

“What do I need to do to satisfy you, sir?”

“Come at me with everything you have.”

“…Excuse me?”

Minjun had expected some profound answer, but Rokan’s response was surprisingly simple.

“Right now, you’re clearly swinging your sword too timidly.”

“…! That’s not true! I’m giving this everything I—”

“This isn’t about whether you’re trying your hardest. You’re conscious of the fact that your opponent is a dragon, and of the fact that I’m Shasha’s grandfather.”

Minjun wanted to deny it, but Rokan was right.

No matter how many times he told himself to swing boldly, there was no way it would be that simple.

This situation was entirely different from fighting lizardmen or attacking Wood Golems at a training center.

Without Minjun even realizing it, caution and tension had seeped into his swordsmanship.

“Dominate.”

That single word from Rokan sent a shiver through Minjun’s entire body.

“From the moment dragons first came into existence, domination has been engraved into our very blood. If you do not dominate, then there is no meaning in wielding our power.”

The concept Rokan emphasized was domination, and Minjun had already understood it instinctively.

Dragons were beings who reigned above others, so to wield their power, he needed to swing his sword with the mindset of one who dominated.

But what had he been doing now?

He had been trying his hardest, certainly, but he hadn’t been swinging with the conviction that he would dominate his opponent.

How could he dare think that way in front of an ancient dragon?

How could he dare think it in front of Sia’s grandfather?

“Try to dominate me. Better yet, imagine that every dragon in existence is beneath your rule.”

No matter who stood before him, he needed to draw out the dragon’s power while believing he would dominate them.

No—he needed to believe domination was only natural.

That was precisely the point Rokan had been trying to make.

“I’ll do that.”

The corners of Minjun’s mouth rose.

For this moment, he would swing his sword like an arrogant tyrant.

He would discard the thought that he was ‘just some unremarkable D-rank Hunter’ and instead imagine even ancient dragons—beings capable of toying with rankers—bowing beneath his feet.

Minjun tightened his grip on the sword once again.

He moved quickly without becoming impatient.

He filled himself with a vicious determination to dominate, yet swung his sword with lofty composure.

“HRAAAAAH—!”

With a roar almost like a scream, Minjun drove in the strike he had poured everything into.

The result was the same as before. His attack was blocked, and the wooden sword appeared unchanged.

But when Minjun swung once more, something was different.

A small crack had appeared in Rokan’s wooden sword.

The instant Rokan noticed that crack, the look in his eyes finally began to fill with satisfaction.

“So you’re not a complete idiot after all.”