WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ My Girlfriend Returned as a Dragon ◈

Chapter 42: Oppa, Guess What This Is Made Of

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It was not until my fifth day staying at Rokan's lair that I finally recovered all my strength.

At first, I had vaguely hoped that I would recover in a day or two and return home right away, but my recovery was slower than expected.

Thinking about it now, I had also placed too much faith in Rokan.

Even if I had been in poor condition from forcing myself to use Dragon Speech, I thought Rokan's healing magic would restore me in no time.

“But even so, the fact that my recovery was this slow means... my condition must have been that serious, right?”

As I changed out of my patient gown and into the clothes I had arrived in, I asked Rokan beside me.

“It was serious, but it was also an extremely rare case. You collapsed after forcing yourself to use Dragon Speech, so you could not use Dragon Speech again. And since it was not a simple physical injury, there were limits to what healing magic could do.”

Hearing that made me realize anew just how serious my condition had been.

Anyway.

Now that I was fully recovered, all that remained was to return to my daily life, repeatedly train and clear Gates, and grow stronger.

My Dragon Speech had been incomplete, but I had used it at least once. You could say I had overcome one major wall and grown because of it.

My heart raced at the thought of confirming that growth as soon as possible.

Right.

“Rokan, what about my sword?”

I had forgotten about the Dragon Bone Sword I had left with him.

Even Rokan had said he could not guarantee that he would be able to restore it to its previous state because it had been damaged so badly. I wondered what had become of it.

“I did my best in my own way.”

Rokan took my Dragon Bone Sword from his pocket dimension.

From the outside, it looked exactly the same as before it was damaged, but judging from Rokan's tone, it did not seem to have been repaired perfectly.

“But I could not fix it completely. It will probably only be able to display around sixty percent of its former power.”

“I see...”

Even at sixty percent, considering the sword's original power, I could not objectively call its performance poor. Still, I could not help feeling disappointed.

Should I keep using this?

But after he had put so much care into repairing it, asking, “Could you just give me a new sword instead?” would honestly make me seem shameless.

I considered asking Sia whether she had another Dragon Bone Sword to spare, but... when I thought about it, that would be just as inconsiderate.

She had given me a sword as a gift, I broke it, and now I would ask, “Do you happen to have another one?” If I were Sia, I would definitely be angry too.

While I was lost in thought on my own, Sia called.

“Hello.”

The moment I answered, Sia appeared on the monitor.

Maybe it was my imagination, but her face looked much more hollow than before.

[Oppa, good morning! How are you feeling today? Are you okay?]

Because my recovery had been slower than expected, Sia had worried about me a great deal.

Was that why she looked so exhausted, with dark circles hanging under her eyes?

“Your grandfather says I'm fine now. He said I'm fully recovered and can go home.”

[Whew, that's a relief. Nothing is more important than your health, so make sure you take care of yourself!]

Just hearing her words made me feel stronger.

[And, oppa, I prepared a gift to celebrate your discharge.]

“A gift?”

[Yep. I bet you'll be surprised.]

I had no idea what gift she had prepared, but Sia was already beaming as though she could not wait to see my reaction.

[Grandfather is beside you, right?]

“Yeah. He's right next to me.”

[Then ask Grandfather to give you the gift I prepared.]

Before I could say anything, Rokan, who had heard the entire conversation beside me, took something from his pocket dimension.

“...A sword?”

[It's a Dragon Bone Sword! I heard from Grandfather that the sword you were using broke. Why didn't you tell me?]

I had asked him to keep it a secret from Sia, but it seemed Rokan had told her everything.

When I turned toward Rokan, he looked at me and laughed heartily.

“Was that really something to hide? You and I both know Shasha's personality. Do you think Shasha would be upset just because one little sword broke?”

“That may be true, but...”

Still, if possible, I had wanted to settle the matter through Rokan before the news reached Sia.

[Since things turned out this way, I made it myself. What do you think?]

A sword Sia had made herself.

I accepted the sword from Rokan and examined it closely.

My first impression of the new Dragon Bone Sword was that it had clearly been made with even more care than the first one.

The sword I had used before had a refined design as well, but this one looked much more meticulously crafted.

That was obvious from the design of the scabbard alone, and the blade seemed even more sharply honed than my previous sword.

The old sword had probably been made by another dragon, while this one had been made by Sia herself for me.

And there was one more thing.

<MJ♡SA>

Perhaps because it was a gift Sia had made for me, large initials were engraved on the hilt.

Not just my initials, but Sia's initials as the maker as well.

She probably wanted everyone, not only me, to know that she had made this sword.

I understood how she felt, but did it have to be this big?

‘Wait.’

As I realized that and continued examining the sword, an ornament on the other side of the hilt caught my eye.

[What do you think, oppa?]

There, carved just as large and intricately as the initials I had just seen...

Were figures of Sia and me.

“Sia, this...”

[You recognized it after all! I carved it based on the photo we took on our first date. Do you like it?]

That was why it seemed familiar.

It would have been better if she had carved it somewhere other than a sword, but having a carving like this on a sword gave me a bit of cognitive dissonance.

Looking only at this, it felt more like a decorative sword than one meant to be used.

“Yeah. I think it will be a special gift.”

Still, she had carved it while thinking of me, so I could not say I disliked it.

It was a little awkward, but I could clearly feel Sia's love in it, and that made me happy.

[I'm glad you like it. And, oppa, this is the most important part.]

After pausing for effect, Sia made a bombshell declaration that did not suit her innocent smile at all.

[Actually, it's made from my bones!]

“...?”

For a moment, I nearly dropped the sword in shock.

I had definitely misheard her. Right? That had to be it.

Rokan said I was fully recovered, but maybe the aftereffects had left me with hearing problems.

“Sia... what did you say?”

[It's a sword made from my bones!]

Ah.

I had not misheard.

...Bones?

They said Dragon Bone Swords were made from dragon bones.

And Sia was a dragon.

So Sia had made a sword herself, using her own bones?

...Not the bones of some other dead dragon?

Come to think of it, Rokan had said something like this before.

“Sometimes, members of our clan enjoy carving their own bones into swords, so you need not worry too much about it.”

At the time, I did not understand it from my perspective, but I had simply accepted it.

I thought it had nothing to do with me.

But.

Now that it was my problem, it was different.

Sure, the sword I had used before had probably been made from the bones of some dragon I did not know, but I had not felt much aversion to it.

But a sword made from my girlfriend's bones was a little...

What kind of psychopath was I?

[I tried to improve on the sword you used before, both in performance and design. Since I was making one anyway, I thought I should make the best one possible, so I put a lot of care into it. What do you think? Do you like it?]

“I'm shocked...”

The wrong words almost slipped out.

But the answer I had to give was already decided from the start.

[Huh? What did you say, oppa?]

“I like it... enough to be shocked. Thank you. I'll use it well.”

When Sia asked, I barely managed to mumble out an answer.

I had liked it at first, but when I learned the uncomfortable truth, my mind went blank.

Still, I could not tell her I did not like it.

Right. This was what people called a white lie.

Perhaps she did not realize I had lied, because Sia's eyes sparkled as she said she was glad I liked it.

[Ah, oppa. Since things turned out this way, should we make the swords a matching set too?]

“Matching... swords?”

What was she talking about now?

My mind had gone blank for a moment, but then I realized something and hurriedly asked Sia.

“Are you saying you'll make a sword exactly like this one?”

[Yep, yep!]

“And the material, of course...”

[It has to be made from my bones!]

Whenever this happened, I felt a slight sense of wrongness.

[You can't make it from your bones, oppa, right?]

...I think I just heard something very creepy.

Usually, Sia simply seemed lovely to me, but when she said things humans could not understand like this...

At times like these, I truly felt that Sia was a dragon, different from me.

[Officially, I'm a Mage too, and I won't actually have a reason to use it, but wouldn't it be nice to get another matching couple item, oppa? Right?]

“...Right.”

I decided to give up trying to understand.

[Then, oppa, see you again soon! I need to go make my sword. Hehe.]

After shaking my mental state to the very end, Sia ended the call.

I gripped the hilt of the sword Sia had personally made for me from her own bones.

‘Ugh.’

Was I managing my expression properly right now?

When I imagined cutting monsters with a sword made from Sia's bones, then having monster blood stain that sword, goosebumps rose all over my body.

But.

What other choice did I have?

It was not as though I could ask her for a different sword now. Maybe I would eventually get used to using that sword.

But for the time being, I did not think I ever would.

“It seems you like the gift our Shasha gave you.”

While I held the sword in a dazed pose, Rokan approached and spoke to me.

“Huh? Ah, yes.”

“Now that you have received a new sword and your body has fully recovered, I suppose what you need to do is clear.”

Could it be?

“Since you need to get used to that sword, why not do some light training here to loosen up first?”

Rokan was wearing his usual kindly smile.

But somehow, today of all days, that smile looked like the wicked grin of a devil.

“R-right now?”

“Yes. Let us begin immediately. Did you not say yesterday that you were getting restless from being unable to go outside and having to lie in bed all day?”

There was no way I had said something like that yesterday...

Ah. I had.

Why had I said that yesterday and brought this upon myself?

“Wait, I'm not ready yet...”

“Ahem. What is wrong with you? Usually, you are burning with enthusiasm, saying that you need to get used to a dragon's power as quickly as possible.”

That was true, but I was not mentally prepared to hold my girlfriend's bones yet.

But whether he knew how I felt or not, Rokan grabbed my hand and dragged me to the enormous cavern used as a training ground.

I learned later that Rokan had clearly noticed how troubled I looked when I received the sword made from Sia's bones.

Even so, there was only one reason he immediately took me to the training ground.

He just wanted to tease me once.

...That gave me cognitive dissonance too.

* * *

After she had Rokan deliver the sword she made herself to Minjun, Sia was savoring feelings of pride and bliss.

‘If I'd known oppa would like it this much, I should have made one sooner.’

Minjun's reaction was different from usual.

He had not expressed it in words, but there had clearly been intense surprise in his eyes.

If she had looked just a little more closely, she would have realized that his surprise was somewhat different from what she imagined...

But unlike her usual self, Sia did not notice.

Instead, she was firmly mistaken that Minjun liked the gift far more than usual.

You know how people say they are so happy that they cannot speak.

That was what she thought had happened.

Of course, people could also be so sad that they could not speak... but there was no way he would be sad after receiving a gift.

Besides, from the moment Sia decided to make Minjun a new sword as a gift, she had devoted herself entirely to making the sword, apart from the times she was in contact with him, without even sleeping.

She had put so much time and care into it, so she could not help thinking that he would naturally love it.

But she did not stop there.

“Should I make something else too?”

After making a sword identical to Minjun's, she found herself wanting to make something else as well.

Bone accessories were not as widely known as Dragon Bone Swords, but for similar reasons, some dragons would occasionally make not only swords but accessories such as necklaces, rings, and earrings from their own bones.

It might not be as significant as a Dragon Bone Sword, but it would surely be a meaningful gift for Minjun.

She believed it would help him, even if only a little, in handling a dragon's power. And she thought he would be happy to receive another matching couple item.

“Hehe.”

She had not slept properly for days, and her face looked hollow, but at the thought of creating another masterpiece, the corners of her lips rose high.

She imagined Minjun wearing accessories made from her bones all over his body, not only at Gates but in everyday life as well.

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