WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ My Girlfriend Returned as a Dragon ◈
Chapter 15: As If He Were a Ruler
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When I woke up, I was the only one left in the room.
Only the pillow Sia had slept on remained.
Lying alone in bed, it almost felt as if everything that had happened yesterday had been a dream.
Now I had to wait a full week to see Sia again.
Yesterday, I had briefly thought a week would be manageable. I thought I could get through it by talking to her on the phone.
But now that I was the one who had to wait, I could not think that at all.
We could stay in touch, sure, but how could that compare to seeing each other in person?
After roughly washing up, I went out to the living room.
The living room, which had been slightly messy last night, was neatly tidied. On the table were a sandwich, a carton of milk, and a letter.
I picked up the letter first.
[Hi, Oppa. I’m writing this letter in Grandpa’s lair right now. I wanted to write it beside the bed where you were sleeping, but I don’t know what might have happened to you if I did. It’s a funny situation, right?]
I gave a bitter smile.
[I wish I could have ended this happy day and fallen asleep beside you. I thought about that. I thought I would have had good dreams then.]
I felt guilty for no reason.
Sia was not beside me, yet I was the only one who had a good dream.
Had Sia had happy dreams too, even while sleeping alone?
[I thought about how nice it would have been to wake up refreshed after a good dream and look at the morning sunlight through the window with you.
Right. I should have written this first. You see the sandwich in front of you, right? I made it myself. Please don’t skip breakfast, and make sure you eat it.]
Sia often scolded me for skipping breakfast, so the moment I read that, I picked up the sandwich and took a bite.
It tasted exactly like the sandwiches Sia used to make for me.
[Call me after you finish this letter, Oppa. I love you.]
* * *
Time passed quickly, and it was already time to meet Sia’s grandfather.
After speaking with Sia on the phone until just before our appointment, I used the ring her grandfather had given me to travel to the lair in Taebaek.
‘Wow.’
It was not my first visit, but I still could not get used to it.
The size of the lair, the atmosphere...
To exaggerate a little, it felt like I had come to another planet.
As soon as I arrived, Sia’s grandfather warmly welcomed me.
“Welcome. Have you been well?”
“Yes. Have you been well too, Grandfather?”
“Thanks to you, I have.”
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Sia’s grandfather led me to the reception room.
Oddly enough, it felt like a traditional Korean house.
When I looked around with interest, Rokan proudly remarked, “I once had a chance to visit a traditional Korean house. I liked how peaceful it felt, so I decorated this place like one.”
“It feels more like a traditional Korean house than most actual ones. Your sense of style is truly amazing, Grandfather.”
Without Sia here, things could have been awkward. Thankfully, the small talk kept the mood from becoming too uncomfortable.
“Thank you. And Minjun.”
“Yes?”
“Instead of calling me Grandfather, I would prefer it if you called me by my name.”
“You mean, Rokan?”
Honestly, it felt strange to me.
Maybe it was nothing to him because he was a dragon, but...
Calling the grandfather of the woman I would marry by his name alone.
As a born-and-raised Korean, I could not help feeling uncomfortable about it.
“Yes. I am more comfortable with that. Other than Shasha, I am still not used to being called Grandfather.”
“Yes, Rokan.”
If that was what he preferred, I should accommodate him.
“Then let us get to the point.”
“Yes.”
After settling on how to address him, we moved on to the main matter.
“Shasha told me. You drew out the power of the Dragon Bone Sword?”
I had vaguely heard from Sia during our call last night that she had visited her grandfather’s lair. She must have told him then.
“Yes.”
“Draw your sword.”
The instant he finished speaking, Rokan pulled a wooden sword from subspace.
“I need to see it with my own eyes.”
That meant I would have to cross swords with Rokan.
But...
‘Is this really all right...?’
Honestly, it felt a little strange.
There was nothing especially odd about crossing swords with Rokan, but the sword I had to draw was the Dragon Bone Sword.
And Rokan was a dragon.
If I were in his position, I would have found it very uncomfortable.
Still, he was the one who told me to draw it.
“Um... are you sure this is all right?”
“What do you mean? You are not about to say something disrespectful, are you?”
“No. As you know, the material of this sword is...”
“Ah, that. If that is what you mean, it is fine. You may see it that way, but it is no big matter to us.”
He did not mind facing a sword made from the bones of his own kind.
“Sometimes there are members of our clan who enjoy carving their own bones into swords, so there is no need to worry about it.”
“...”
Making a sword from one’s own bones.
I could not understand it at all, but that was not important right now.
“So hurry and draw your sword.”
In the end, I did as Rokan said and pulled the Dragon Bone Sword from subspace.
The moment I gripped it, Rokan used magic, and the scenery immediately changed.
We were in a wide field somewhere.
“Swing that sword as you did when you showed Shasha. I will only block.”
Rokan beckoned me forward, urging me to begin.
“You will only block?”
“This is not even a spar. Why would I attack? Stop talking and swing your sword.”
My pride stung a little, but he was a dragon.
A former Dragon Lord, at that.
Considering the difference between us, this was only right.
“Then here I come.”
I steadied my breathing.
With the sword in hand, I leaped forward with all my strength.
For this moment, I would forget that he was Sia’s grandfather and that I was being tested.
I just had to swing my sword like I did at the training ground.
As I drilled that into myself, I swung with all my strength the moment the distance closed.
* * *
Before meeting Minjun, Rokan had spent a long time talking with his granddaughter.
Neither Rokan nor Sia had expected they would ever have a chance to meet, so they had much to talk about.
They spoke warmly for a long time.
Naturally, they talked about her past life and Minjun as well.
‘A human who drew out the Dragon Bone Sword’s power.’
‘He did not simply draw it out. I do not know if this is the right way to put it, but...’
It felt as though a dragon, not a human, was swinging its foreclaw.
Rokan was struck by her description.
He had seen humans who drew out the Dragon Bone Sword’s power and achieved great things, but never anyone who gave off that feeling.
He considered that she might be exaggerating for her beloved partner, but Rokan knew she was not that sort of person. Or rather, dragon.
‘If what our Shasha says is true...’
He could not help but look forward to it.
He wanted to protect his granddaughter’s love, but apart from that, part of him also wanted to satisfy his own curiosity.
With that in mind, Rokan knocked aside Minjun’s sword.
‘...Well?’
He thought he understood what his granddaughter had meant.
Certainly, Minjun used the sword differently from other wielders of the Dragon Bone Sword.
But that was all.
There was nothing else particularly special about him.
After casually knocking away the blade, he waited for Minjun’s next attack.
The second and third exchanges followed at once.
From below to above, then from above to the lower left.
It seemed Minjun had tried to vary his attacks, perhaps because he thought the first strike had lacked impact.
“It still does not feel right.”
Even so, it fell below Rokan’s expectations.
Even considering that they had exchanged only three blows, he had expected something bolder and sharper.
He could not shake the feeling that something was missing.
“It makes no sense that someone with such potential can show only this much.”
At Rokan’s words, Minjun’s brow twitched for an instant.
“I will continue until you see what you wish to see.”
“Of course you will.”
Minjun swung again, and once more, it was effortlessly blocked by Rokan’s wooden sword.
It was fine. This was not a spar to begin with.
Ten exchanges passed, then twenty.
Yet Rokan’s expression remained unchanged.
“With only this much, you will never be able to fully control the power of our clan.”
“...”
“With this, you may one day become a famous hunter. You can use part of our clan’s power, after all. You will gain a suitable amount of wealth and honor. But that is not your goal, is it?”
Rokan thought it was time for a turning point.
Either he had to give Minjun a powerful stimulus, or find the reason Minjun could not awaken his potential.
Meanwhile, Minjun frowned as he caught his breath.
‘It is frustrating.’
He was not angry at Rokan, but at himself.
If he could not fully control the dragon’s power, then the restrictions on meeting Sia would not disappear.
That could not happen.
He had to overturn Rokan’s assessment of him.
He had to make him say that this at least offered some hope.
“That cannot happen.”
“Yes. It cannot. I do not want to see my granddaughter sad either.”
“What must I do to satisfy you?”
“Come at me with everything you have.”
“...What?”
He had expected something remarkable, but Rokan’s answer was surprisingly simple.
“Right now, you are clearly wielding your sword too passively.”
“...! That is not true! I am doing my best...”
“This is not about whether you are doing your best. You are conscious of the fact that your opponent is a dragon, and that I am Shasha’s grandfather.”
He wanted to deny it, but Rokan was right.
No matter how much he told himself to swing boldly, it was impossible.
This was a situation on a completely different level from fighting Lizardmen or Wood Golems at the training ground.
Without realizing it, Minjun’s sword carried hesitation and tension.
“Dominate.”
At that single word from Rokan, Minjun felt a shiver run through his entire body.
“Dragons are beings with the gene for dominion imprinted in them from the beginning. If you do not dominate, it means nothing.”
Domination.
Minjun had instinctively understood it too.
Dragons were those who reigned, so he had to swing his sword with the mindset of domination.
But what about now?
He had thought about giving it his all, but he had not swung his sword with the intent to dominate.
Not before an ancient dragon.
Not before Sia’s grandfather.
“Try to dominate me. No, think of yourself as dominating every dragon.”
Regardless of who stood before him, he had to draw out the dragon’s power with the intent to dominate.
No, with the belief that domination was only natural.
That was exactly what Rokan was pointing out.
“I will.”
The corner of Minjun’s mouth lifted.
For this moment, he would swing his sword like a reckless ruler.
He would discard the thought that he was merely a D-rank hunter with nothing to show for himself, and move with the conviction that he could dominate even an ancient dragon capable of toying with rankers beneath his feet.
Minjun gripped his sword again.
He moved quickly, but not impatiently.
He filled his blade with a desperate obsession to dominate, yet swung it with dignity.
“Hyaaaaaah!”
With a booming cry that was almost a scream, Minjun drove in a decisive blow.
The result was the same. The attack was blocked, and the wooden sword remained unchanged.
But when Minjun swung his sword once more...
A small crack appeared in Rokan’s wooden sword.
The moment he saw the crack in the blade.
Rokan’s gaze...
“At least you are not completely stupid.”
At last, it began to fill with satisfaction.
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