Chapter 39

[39] Oppa’s “Thing” Broke?

How long had I been unconscious?

My mind was still hazy, and I felt as though I were suspended between a dream and reality.

What had happened before I lost consciousness?

That’s right.

I’d barely managed to clear the dungeon. Then I came to Lokan’s lair to recover from the aftereffects of using the Dragon Tongue, and I passed out.

So, was this Lokan’s lair?

As my mind cleared, my eyes began to open too.

The first thing I saw was the familiar ceiling of Lokan’s lair.

When I turned my head, I realized I was lying in a bed I’d never seen before.

Lokan was there, and when I looked the other way, I saw Xia on a large monitor.

“Oppa! Are you okay? Does anything hurt?”

As soon as I groaned softly and began to sit up, Xia called out to me in alarm and checked on me.

“Yeah. I’m just tired and sore all over. I think I’ll feel better after some rest.”

“Phew, thank goodness.”

After reassuring Xia, I turned to Lokan.

“Lord Lokan, how long has it been since I passed out?”

“About three days.”

I’d been unconscious for that long?

I’d never lost consciousness for so long before, and the realization shook me.

As I stared blankly ahead with a foolishly startled look, Lokan eased me back down onto the bed.

“You still need to rest. Don’t do anything for the next few days. Just take it easy.”

Then Lokan told me what had happened before and after I lost consciousness.

On the day I set out to clear the Garden of the Dragon Sword, Xia had grown worried when I didn’t call at the time I’d promised. She’d used a tracking spell to locate the Gate I’d gone to clear.

As soon as she arrived, she saw that the Gate’s rank and clear condition had changed. She immediately called Lokan for help.

But even they, as dragons, had no way to force their way inside the Gate.

So Lokan and Xia had waited in front of it, searching for a solution and watching for me to come out in case something happened.

At the time, it was the best they could do.

After they’d waited for several hours, the Gate opened sooner than expected. Xia and Lokan kept their distance and watched me, ready for anything.

Xia knew that meeting her in person right away could only make my condition worse.

Once she confirmed that I’d survived, Lokan said he’d rushed over as soon as he saw me teleport to his lair.

But in that brief interval, I’d lost consciousness.

And though I still couldn’t quite believe it, three days had passed since I’d blacked out.

Hearing everything that had happened filled me with emotion.

“Thank you, Xia. Really, thank you.”

“It’s okay. If things had been the other way around, you would’ve done the same for me. I’m just glad you seem all right.”

Now that she was finally reassured, Xia smiled brightly.

But when I looked closely, I noticed that her eyes were bloodshot.

She looked as if she hadn’t slept for days.

“Hey, Xia. You haven’t been staying up all night, have you?”

“Um, not exactly. I just slept a little less than usual.”

But the way she flinched made it obvious she was lying. Lokan immediately corrected her.

“She stayed up all night. The entire three days you were unconscious. She kept saying, ‘What if he wakes up in the middle of the night?’”

Lokan had tried to persuade her to sleep, telling her he could keep watch during the day, but Xia had refused and insisted on staying awake.

When her lie was exposed, Xia looked away, embarrassed.

“You should’ve slept, Xia.”

“But… I was worried about you.”

Her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment, and she pouted adorably as she complained. I found the sight incredibly endearing.

The thought that I might never have seen that lovely expression again if I’d failed to clear the Gate sent a chill through me.

“Now that you’ve seen Minjun wake up, you can go to bed, can’t you?”

“I want to stay a little longer. Just a little. I only just got to see Oppa wake up.”

Xia whined like a child, saying she didn’t want to sleep.

“Xia, listen to your grandfather. If you go three days without sleep, you won’t be thinking straight.”

“It’s fine. Dragons can go more than a week without sleeping.”

Xia smiled and met my gaze, as if to put my worries to rest.

That’s right. Xia was a dragon…

“Still, it can’t be good for you. Shasha, listen to your grandfather. Come on.”

“Hmph. I’m all grown up, you know.”

Even if Xia said she was grown up, in Lokan’s eyes she was still his small, adorable granddaughter, precious enough to make his heart melt.

He gently tried to reason with her again.

In the end, Xia grumbled something at Lokan, then said to call her anytime I got bored and turned off the camera.

Afterward, I regained some strength by drinking the potion Lokan gave me.

As soon as I finished eating, Lokan asked me about what had happened in the Gate.

“I didn’t want to pester you with questions while you were in pain, but I think it’s time now. What exactly happened inside the Gate?”

“It’s… a bit of a long story.”

I started with the sword spirits I’d fought in the Tomb of the Dragon Sword, then described in detail everything that had happened, including how I’d managed to wield the Dragon Tongue.

At first, Lokan seemed interested in the story of the emperor who had wielded a Dragon Bone Sword. But his expression changed when I told him that I’d met the emperor and used the Dragon Tongue.

“However I look at it, that should be impossible.”

“What?”

“I’ve always told you that you have extraordinary talent, but this goes too far. No matter how talented you are, this should be impossible.”

Lokan shook his head, as if he couldn’t believe it.

But hadn’t Lokan seen the Gate’s clear condition for himself?

“…I don’t really understand it either. But I’m telling you exactly what happened in there.”

“Hmm. You’ve misunderstood me. I’m not saying I don’t believe you. I mean that, in theory, it should be impossible unless some extraordinary factor was involved. Did you happen to record any of it?”

At Lokan’s question, I took out my camera and checked whether it had captured me using the Dragon Tongue.

If it had, wouldn’t showing him the footage settle the matter?

Unfortunately, the camera hadn’t recorded anything from the moment I met Minos onward—not even my attempts to use the Dragon Tongue.

Had the camera been turned off at some point?

“…Would you like to watch some of the other footage?”

Even if it hadn’t captured me wielding the Dragon Tongue, there might be some clues in the other recordings.

Lokan took the camera from me and watched the footage beside my bed.

“This certainly isn’t an ordinary Gate.”

As he skimmed through the recordings, Lokan replayed one particular section and frowned.

“I’m sure the fellow who owns this tomb tampered with it somehow.”

Tampered with it?

When I looked at him in confusion, Lokan sighed.

“I’ll have to go there myself to find out exactly what he did. You must be exhausted, so let’s leave it at that for today.”

He carefully tucked me under the blankets, then added,

“I think it would be best if you didn’t see Shasha this week. Stay here and focus on recovering for a few days.”

“Thank you…”

I’d wanted to go on a date with Xia once I’d regained my strength.

What a shame.

She was probably disappointed, too.

“Oh, Lord Lokan.”

I remembered something I’d forgotten and called out to him.

“I was too out of it to tell Xia earlier, but… my sword broke.”

Ever since it had snapped, the thought had been weighing on me.

I didn’t know how Xia felt about it, but I was deeply sorry and upset.

It was a meaningful gift—the first one she’d given me after we reunited.

It was also the sword that had helped me discover a talent I hadn’t even known I had.

Of course I felt awful about breaking it.

“Do you mean the sword Shasha gave you?”

“Yes. I’m sorry to ask, but could you possibly repair it?”

I took the broken Dragon Bone Sword out of my subspace.

I could have asked Xia to repair it herself, but then she’d find out that the sword had broken.

“I’ll take a look at it. For now, get some rest.”

After casting one last healing spell on me, Lokan left.

***

The next morning, as soon as Xia woke up, she contacted Lokan to check on Minjun.

Lokan turned the camera toward her and showed her Minjun sleeping.

He would normally have been awake by then, but his body still hadn’t fully recovered.

Since she was already on the call, Lokan told her about what he and Minjun had discussed while she was asleep.

And then—

“…He seems really upset that the sword you gave him broke.”

Lokan also told her that Minjun’s Dragon Bone Sword had snapped.

From Minjun’s point of view, the ideal thing would have been for Lokan to quietly repair it without telling Xia.

But Lokan knew that if he kept this from his granddaughter and she found out later, she would be terribly hurt.

So, though he felt bad for Minjun, Lokan had to tell Xia.

Besides, the broken Dragon Bone Sword Minjun had given him was badly damaged. Repairing it would be complicated.

It wasn’t an ordinary sword, either. It held the power of a dragon. Even if Lokan managed to fix it, he couldn’t guarantee it would perform as well as before.

“He could’ve just told me. I can give him as many swords as he wants…”

“I feel the same way, but I suppose Minjun can’t help worrying about it.”

When someone’s precious gift from the person they love gets damaged, it would be strange if they weren’t upset.

“I think you should give Minjun a new sword.”

“I should. But I don’t think I have any Dragon Bone Swords left.”

She had countless other fine swords, but the one she’d given Minjun was her only Dragon Bone Sword.

Perhaps she should make a sword for him herself.

Wait.

“Why didn’t I think of that?”

She exclaimed, her voice brimming with excitement.

What if she shifted back into her true form, removed one of her own bones, polished it, and made a sword for him with her own hands?

At the thought of this brilliant idea that had come to her like a miracle, Xia’s face lit up with excitement.

Of course, this was an idea no human could understand.

Carving out one of your own bones and turning it into a sword for your lover—what a chilling thought!

But that was only how it seemed from a human point of view.

To dragons, it was no big deal.

Their values were different from those of humans, and removing one of their own living bones wasn’t difficult in the first place.

She only had to drop her polymorph, use magic to cleanly remove one of her breastbones, then cast a healing spell. That was all.

If she used an anesthetic spell properly, she would barely feel any pain.

To compare it to an ordinary human pain, it would be about as painful as getting an injection.

She could easily endure that for Minjun.

In fact, she regretted not making him a sword from her own bones sooner.

There was just one thing she was worried about.

“But, Grandpa… would that really be okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“It would still contain my power. What if that power hurt Oppa somehow?”

They were already avoiding one another because their energies clashed. Xia worried that a Dragon Bone Sword made from her bones might have a harmful effect on Minjun.

Fortunately, Lokan didn’t think her fear was likely to come true.

“Only a tiny fraction of your power would be in it, so he should be fine. In fact, that might make it even better.”

“Even better?”

“Yes. The sword could act like a kind of vaccination.”

If Minjun were exposed to a small amount of her energy over time, perhaps he would gradually become more accustomed to her unique aura.

Lokan thought it might serve as a kind of vaccine.

Of course, this was unfamiliar territory even for him, so he couldn’t guarantee the outcome…

Still, he thought the chance of anything going wrong was very small.

Maybe Minjun would occasionally feel dizzy for a moment, then recover.

That much seemed like something he could endure.

“There might be side effects like that, but I think the benefits would outweigh the drawbacks.”

“I see!”

That was all the more reason to make Minjun a sword from her own bones.

“Thank you, Grandpa! Good night!”

“Good night to you too, Shasha.”

With that, Lokan headed to his bedroom to sleep.

Xia watched Minjun sleeping peacefully on the monitor and fell into a happy reverie.

‘A sword made from my own bones… It’ll be the only one in the world.’

What gift could be more meaningful?

Unlike other dragons, who might make a Dragon Bone Sword from their own bones once out of curiosity, she had never tried it before.

And now she had the perfect opportunity.

It had to be a sign from the heavens.

“Hehe.”

The person she loved would carry her bone close to him at all times, growing stronger alongside it.

What could be more thrilling?

“I wonder what kind of sword Oppa would like.”

Thinking about making Minjun a one-of-a-kind sword, Xia couldn’t stop smiling.

Minjun had no idea she was making these plans.