Chapter 56

[56] I Was Going to Tell Oppa First...

“I was just about to contact you. There’s something I need to tell you.”

“What a coincidence. I came to ask you something, too, Rokan.”

We were both surprised by the unexpected coincidence.

“Then please go ahead, Rokan. I’ll tell you my news afterward.”

“No. It would be better to hear what you have to say first.”

“If you prefer it that way, all right.”

After we sat down, I briefly explained what I’d wanted Rokan’s advice about.

I’d chosen not to join a guild because I thought I’d be better off as a freelancer, free to focus on developing the dragon’s power. But now that I was unaffiliated, it seemed like it would be difficult to join gate raids in practice.

I’d thought of a possible solution, but I wasn’t sure whether it was a realistic one.

When I finished, Rokan nodded and said it was a perfectly reasonable concern.

“You’re right. Focusing only on training and neglecting real combat wouldn’t be a good choice.”

“That’s why I came to ask for your wisdom, Rokan.”

“I’ll have to think about it, too. Now, let me tell you what I wanted to discuss with you.”

“Yes.”

Rokan didn’t often contact me to say he had something important to tell me. And judging by the way he’d sounded just now, I had a feeling he was about to make a major announcement.

He wasn’t the sort of person to make such a fuss over something trivial.

“I’ve finished modifying the Dragon Sword Garden.”

“You mean...?”

“Your personal training ground is finally ready.”

Rokan had mentioned before that he was working on it.

But he hadn’t said when it would be finished, so I’d assumed it would take at least a few months.

I hadn’t expected it to be done this soon.

The dungeon itself—the Dragon Sword Garden—belonged to the Maple Guild, so I’d thought just purchasing it would take a while.

And modifying a dungeon couldn’t be a simple job, either. I’d assumed that would take a long time as well.

So how had they finished it so quickly?

Rokan seemed to read my thoughts and explained.

“We finalized the dungeon contract that very day. There were a few complications during the renovations, but Shasha helped out, so we finished sooner than I expected.”

“Sia helped modify the dungeon?”

That was news to me.

Sia hadn’t mentioned the renovation at all, so I’d assumed Rokan was handling it on his own.

Then again, if I’d been in Sia’s position, I probably would’ve helped Rokan whenever I had a spare moment.

He was her grandfather, for one thing. And more than that, I was the one who’d be using the dungeon.

“That’s right. She asked me why she should just sit back and watch when it was your project, and offered to help whenever she had the time. Thanks to her, we finished the work quickly.”

I’d have to thank her when I called tomorrow.

“Anyway, since we finished just now, I was going to tell you and suggest we go there to train together tomorrow, if you didn’t have any other plans. It’s too late to go today. What do you think?”

“Sounds good. I don’t have any plans, so just let me know what time works for you.”

“Very well.”

They’d taken an entire dungeon and remade it into a training ground just for me.

How many hunters in the world could enjoy that kind of luxury?

I can’t wait to see it.

I was already curious about the work Rokan and Sia had done.

And the thought of having a place all to myself made me excited.

The next day,

before meeting Rokan, I turned my phone back on so I could call Sia.

I wanted to give her my usual morning call and thank her for helping with the dungeon renovations.

As expected, the moment I turned my phone on,

I found quite a few missed calls and messages waiting for me.

I felt bad for everyone who’d called, but I was glad I’d turned it off.

Otherwise, I would’ve spent the whole time before bed answering calls and probably collapsed from exhaustion.

After skimming through the messages, I called Sia right away.

[Good morning, oppa! Have you eaten?]

“I’m about to. I just wanted to call you before breakfast.”

[Even if you’re too lazy to eat breakfast, make sure you have at least a little.]

“I’ve actually been eating breakfast lately.”

I hadn’t used to eat much in the morning, but for about a month and a half now—

ever since Sia came back, I’d been making a point of eating breakfast almost every day.

“Oh, Sia. I heard from your grandfather yesterday. He said you helped him with the dungeon renovations.”

[...Huh?]

But when I brought it up, Sia looked unexpectedly disappointed.

[I was going to tell you first, but Grandpa beat me to it...]

I’d brought it up thinking she’d proudly tell me about all the things she’d done during the renovation.

Instead, she seemed disappointed that her surprise hadn’t gone according to plan.

From her reaction, she must’ve been looking forward to telling me about it on today’s call.

...I hadn’t meant to, but I’d spoiled her surprise.

“Thank you, Sia. Really.”

[It’s nothing. You’re working hard for me, too, so of course I want to do whatever I can for you.]

“You’ve already done more than enough, considering all the effort you’ve put in so far.”

[I told you not to think like that. We’re both doing our best in our own ways. That’s all that matters.]

We exchanged a few sweet, heartwarming words that made the morning feel warmer. Then I told her I’d call again after I’d seen the training ground, and we ended the call.

After hanging up and having a quick breakfast,

I headed straight to Rokan’s lair.

“Good morning, Rokan.”

“Good morning. Minjun, did you just speak to Shasha?”

Judging by his reaction, Sia must have called Rokan after she and I talked.

“Before you arrived, Shasha asked me why I’d told you first when she’d been keeping the renovations a secret because she wanted to tell you herself.”

From the cute little complaint she’d made to Rokan, it seemed she’d planned this from the moment she started helping with the renovations.

“Anyway, I’ve just apologized to her.”

“Ah.”

I smiled awkwardly.

As I’d always thought, Rokan was the very picture of a doting grandfather.

“Then let’s go see the new training ground.”

Rokan gestured for me to hold out my hand, and I reached toward him.

I thought he’d take my hand and teleport us as usual. But instead, he removed the ring from my finger, infused it with mana, and handed it back.

“I’ve inscribed the training ground’s coordinates on it. If you ever need to go there alone, use the ring.”

It might’ve looked like a simple thing for Rokan to do, but inscribing spatial coordinates on an artifact was an impressive feat in itself.

Dragons really were something else.

“Thank you.”

“Come on.”

As soon as I put the ring back on, Rokan took my hand and brought us to the dungeon gate.

Maybe it was because the dungeon had a new owner, but I noticed a few things had changed.

There were several minor alterations, but the most striking was a magic circle I’d never seen before, set into the entrance of the gate.

“Rokan, what’s that?”

“Think of it as a lock. We put it there in case some bold intruder shows up. The ring also works as a key. To get inside, press the hand wearing it against the circle.”

I did as Rokan instructed and pressed the hand with the ring against the magic circle.

Its color changed from red to blue. Rokan nodded for me to go ahead.

Once the lock was open, I stepped through the dungeon entrance.

The moment I went inside, I could tell the place had changed dramatically.

The dungeon still had its distinctive, mysterious atmosphere, and the statue of the Dragon Sword connected to the tomb was still there.

But something was definitely different.

“All the swords are gone?”

The Dragon Sword Garden had once been filled with dozens of swords stuck into the ground around the statue. The swords constantly gave rise to what were called sword remnants.

In fact, the original condition for clearing the dungeon was to endure the sword remnants’ attacks for three hours.

But the swords, one of the garden’s defining features, had disappeared without a trace.

“They weren’t needed, so I removed them all. This place was originally used to train D-rank hunters. You don’t need them anymore. Besides, they were unsightly just sitting around.”

They hadn’t been ordinary swords. They were imbued with remnants.

An ordinary human probably couldn’t have pulled them out so easily.

But Rokan was a dragon. He could’ve pulled them up as easily as pulling radishes from the ground.

“I haven’t decided what to do with that area yet. Maybe I’ll make a small garden, or perhaps build something else. Anyway...”

At Rokan’s gesture, I headed toward the entrance to the tomb.

He must have made some arrangements so we wouldn’t have to keep opening and closing the entrance with the Dragon Sword. The way down to the tomb stood open, and a faintly glowing blue portal was visible nearby.

He’d probably set it up because making the trip all the way to the lowest floor would be a hassle.

Rokan went through first, and I followed him.

A moment later,

as soon as I arrived at the training ground, my mouth fell open in amazement.

The last time I’d seen it, the place had been grotesque and eerie. It was hard to believe it had once looked like that—the atmosphere had changed completely.

It looked like a flat area halfway up a massive mountain.

To put it more precisely, it felt like a natural sports field made by shaving down a small hill on the mountainside.

Trees had been planted here and there, and benches, tables, and a small cabin gave the place a charming feel.

A cool breeze even swept through the area, making it seem less like an artificial space and more like a real place.

Aside from the faint unease of knowing it was connected to an imperial tomb, it was absolutely beautiful.

“It’s so lovely, I’d like to come here with Sia sometime. Did you do all this, Rokan?”

“Like I said yesterday, Shasha helped. Modifying an entire gate wasn’t easy, even for me.”

That made sense. Rokan had said before that even he hadn’t been able to fully analyze the mysterious phenomenon known as a gate.

That was why, when I’d been trapped in this gate, even Rokan hadn’t been able to force his way inside.

...Maybe dragons had a different standard for what counted as “fully analyzed” than humans did.

From where I stood, if he hadn’t fully analyzed the gate, I didn’t think he could’ve renovated it so completely.

“Oh, and the scenery you’re looking at now is the view from the front yard of the lair where Shasha used to live. She said that if we were going to redecorate the place, she wanted it to look like this.”

“Then I’ll definitely have to come back with Sia.”

Sia probably wanted to show me the beautiful scenery she’d seen in the other world.

We’d already made plans for a date on the phone yesterday, but seeing this place made me wonder if we should change them.

“Have you finished looking around?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s begin the actual training.”