When I woke up, I was the only one left in the villa.
Only the pillow Sia had been resting her head on remained, sitting there all alone.
Lying in the bed all by myself, I felt as if everything that had happened yesterday had been a dream.
Now I had to wait a whole week to see Sia again.
Yesterday, I'd briefly thought a week wasn't so bad, that I could hold out for a week by talking on the phone.
But now that I actually had to wait a week, I couldn't think that way at all.
We could keep in touch, but it could never compare to actually seeing each other.
I splashed some water on my face and came out to the living room.
The living room, which had been a little messy last night, was neatly tidied, and on the table were a sandwich, a carton of milk, and a letter.
First, I picked up the letter on the table.
[Hi, oppa. I'm writing this letter from Grandpa's lair. I wanted to write it next to the bed where you're sleeping, but who knows what might happen to you if I did. Funny situation, huh?]
I smiled bitterly.
[It would have been so nice to end this happy day by falling asleep next to you. That's what I was thinking. I thought I'd have good dreams that way.]
Somehow I felt guilty.
Because I'd had good dreams while Sia wasn't even beside me.
Had Sia had happy dreams too, sleeping alone?
[Having good dreams, waking up refreshed, and watching the morning sunlight through the window together with you. I kept wondering what that would have been like.]
[Oh, right. I should've written this first. See the sandwich in front of you? I made it myself. Don't skip breakfast; I really want you to eat it.]
I used to get nagged by Sia for skipping breakfast, so the moment I saw that line, I picked up the sandwich and took a bite.
It tasted exactly like the sandwiches Sia used to make me.
[Call me when you finish reading this, oppa. I love you.]
***
Time flew, and before I knew it, it was time for my meeting with Sia's grandfather.
After talking with Sia on the phone right up until the appointed time, I used the ring her grandfather had given me to travel to the lair in Taebaek.
'Whoa.'
It wasn't my first visit, but I still wasn't used to it.
The size of the lair, the atmosphere.......
To exaggerate a little, it was like I'd landed on another planet.
As soon as I arrived, Sia's grandfather greeted me warmly.
"Come in, come in. Nothing untoward in the meantime?"
"No, everything's been fine. Have you been well too, Grandfather?"
"Quite well, thanks to you."
Exchanging light greetings, Sia's grandfather showed me to a parlor.
Unusually, the parlor had the feel of a traditional hanok.
When I looked around in wonder, Rokan tossed out a remark, looking proud.
"I had occasion to visit a hanok some time ago, and I liked its quiet serenity, so I decorated the place like this."
"It's more hanok than most hanoks. You have wonderful taste, Grandfather."
Without Sia there, things might have been awkward, but thankfully, thanks to some small talk, it wasn't as awkward as I'd expected.
"Thank you. And, Min-jun."
"Yes."
"If possible, I would rather you called me by my name instead of Grandfather."
"Lord Rokan, you mean?"
Honestly, it felt awkward to me.
Being a dragon, he might think nothing of it, but......
I was supposed to call the grandfather of the woman I'd someday marry by his name.
As a Korean born and bred, I couldn't help feeling uncomfortable with it.
"Yes. I prefer it. Being called grandfather by anyone but Sasha still feels strange to me."
"Yes, Lord Rokan."
Still, if that was what he preferred, I'd have to go along with it.
"Now then, let us get down to business."
"Yes."
With the matter of what to call him settled, we got down to business.
"Sasha told me. You drew out the Dragon Bone Sword's power, I hear?"
When I talked with Sia on the phone last night, she'd mentioned going to her grandfather's lair; it seemed she had told him then.
"Yes."
"Draw your sword."
No sooner had he said it than Rokan took a wooden sword out of his subspace.
"I must see it with my own eyes."
In other words, I'd have to cross swords with Rokan.
But.
'Is this really okay......?'
Honestly, it felt a little strange.
Crossing swords with Rokan wasn't that strange in itself, but the sword I had to draw was the Dragon Bone Sword.
And Rokan was a dragon.
If I were in his shoes, I figured I'd find it extremely uncomfortable.
But he was the one who'd told me to draw it.......
"But...... are you sure you're all right with this?"
"All right with what? Surely you are not about to say something impertinent."
"No. As you know, Lord Rokan, this sword is made from......."
"Ah, that. If that is all, never mind. Your kind might see it that way, but to us, it is nothing."
He would be facing a sword made from the bones of his own kind, no less, and it didn't bother him.
"Every so often, some of my kin even take up the hobby of carving swords out of their own bones, so you need not worry about it."
"......."
Carving a sword from your own bones, huh.
My way of thinking couldn't make sense of it at all, but that wasn't what mattered right now.
"So go on, draw your sword."
In the end, as Rokan said, I drew the Dragon Bone Sword from my subspace and gripped it.
The moment I gripped it, Rokan cast a spell, and the scenery changed instantly.
We were in a vast field somewhere I didn't know.
"Swing that sword the way you showed Sasha. I shall only block."
Rokan beckoned me in, telling me to hurry up and start.
"You'll only block?"
"This is no sparring match, so there is no need for me to attack. Stop talking and just swing your sword."
My pride was a little scratched for a moment, but my opponent was a dragon.
One who had once been the Dragon Lord, at that.
Given the difference in our weight classes, this was only right.
"Then, here I come."
I carefully steadied my breathing.
Sword in hand, I leapt forward with all my strength.
For this moment, I'd forget it all: that he was Sia's grandfather, that I was being tested.
I just had to swing my sword the way I had at the training ground.
Brainwashing myself, I swung with all my might the moment the distance closed.
***
Before meeting Min-jun, Rokan had talked with his granddaughter for a long time.
Since neither Rokan nor Sia had ever expected to see each other again, they had a lot of catching up to do.
The two of them talked warmly for a long while.
Along the way, the conversation naturally turned to her past life, and to Min-jun as well.
'A human who drew out the Dragon Bone Sword's power, hm.'
'It wasn't just that he drew it out. I don't know if this is the right way to put it.'
It felt like watching not a human, but a dragon swinging its own foreclaw.
Hearing his granddaughter put it that way came as a refreshing shock to Rokan.
He had seen humans draw out a Dragon Bone Sword's power and achieve great things, but he had never once seen anyone give off that impression.
He did consider that she might be exaggerating since it was her beloved, but Rokan knew she wasn't that kind of person, or rather, that kind of dragon.
'If it is as my Sasha says.'
Then he couldn't help but have high hopes.
Part of it was to protect his granddaughter's love, but apart from that, a corner of Rokan's heart also longed to satisfy his curiosity.
With that in mind, Rokan knocked Min-jun's sword aside.
'......Well now?'
For one thing, he thought he understood what his granddaughter had meant.
The way he used the sword was certainly different from other Dragon Bone Sword wielders.
But that was all.
Other than that, he saw nothing particularly special.
Having lightly deflected the blow, he waited for Min-jun's next strike.
The second and third exchanges followed right after.
From below to above, then from above down to the lower left.
Perhaps Min-jun thought his first strike had lacked impact; Rokan could sense him trying to vary his attacks.
"I am not feeling it yet."
Even that fell short of his expectations.
Even allowing for the fact that they'd only traded three blows, he had expected bolder, sharper attacks.
He couldn't shake the impression that something was lacking.
"With potential like that, it makes no sense that this is all you can show me."
At Rokan's words, Min-jun's eyebrow twitched, if only for an instant.
"I'll keep going until you see what you want to see."
"As you should."
Min-jun swung again, and once again, Rokan's sword blocked it effortlessly.
That was fine. It had never been a sparring match to begin with.
Ten exchanges passed, then twenty.
But Rokan's expression still didn't change.
"With only this much, you will never fully master my kin's power."
"......."
"At this level, you could someday make a name for yourself as a famous Hunter. You will be able to use some of my kin's power, at least. You will earn a fair amount of wealth and fame, too. But that is not your goal."
Rokan thought it was about time for a turning point.
He needed to either give him a strong jolt or find the reason his potential wasn't blooming.
Meanwhile, Min-jun was frowning and gasping for breath.
'This is so frustrating.'
His anger wasn't at Rokan, but at himself.
If he couldn't fully master a dragon's power, it meant the limits on his time with Sia would never go away.
He couldn't let that happen.
He had to overturn Rokan's assessment of him.
He had to turn it around, until Rokan himself said there was at least some hope.
"That can't happen."
"Indeed. It cannot. I do not wish to see my granddaughter sad either."
"What must I do to satisfy you, Grandfather?"
"Come at me with everything you have."
"......Pardon?"
He'd expected something profound, but Rokan's answer was surprisingly simple.
"Right now, you are clearly holding back as you swing."
"...! That's not true! I'm giving it my all—."
"It is not a question of whether you are giving your all. You are conscious of the fact that your opponent is a dragon, and that he is Sasha's grandfather."
He tried to deny it, but Rokan was right.
No matter how many times he told himself to swing boldly, it just wasn't going to happen.
This was on a whole different level from facing the lizardmen or the Wood Golems at the training ground.
Without Min-jun even realizing it, caution and tension had crept into his sword.
"Dominate."
At that single word from Rokan, Min-jun felt a jolt run through his whole body.
"Dragons are beings with the gene of dominion engraved in them since the dawn of time. If you do not dominate, it is meaningless."
Dominion.
Min-jun had instinctively realized it too.
Dragons were beings who reigned, so he had to swing his sword with the mindset of one who rules.
But what about now?
He had been thinking of giving it his all, but he hadn't swung his sword with the thought of dominating.
He wouldn't dare, not before an ancient dragon.
He wouldn't dare, not before Sia's grandfather.
"Think of dominating me, and beyond that, of dominating every dragon."
No matter who his opponent was, he had to think of dominating them.
No, he had to draw out the dragon's power with the thought that dominating was only natural.
That was exactly the point Rokan was making.
"I'll do that."
The corners of Min-jun's mouth rose.
Just for this moment, he'd swing his blade like a lawless tyrant.
He'd throw away the thought that he was 'just a D-rank Hunter with nothing to show yet,' and go in with the thought of ruling, beneath his feet, even an ancient dragon who could toy with rankers.
Min-jun gripped his sword again.
He moved fast, but without haste.
He swung with a tenacious drive to dominate, yet with lofty grace.
"Haaaaaah—!"
With a thunderous battle cry that was nearly a scream, Min-jun drove in his best strike.
The result was the same this time too. The attack was blocked, and the wooden sword showed no change.
But when Min-jun swung his sword once more—.
Rokan's wooden sword had a crack in it, small as it was.
He saw the crack in his sword.
And Rokan's eyes......
"So you are not a complete fool after all."
At last, they began to fill with satisfaction.