Chapter 42 - Oppa, Guess What I Made This From

It wasn't until my fifth day at Rokan's lair that I finally recovered all my strength. At first, I'd vaguely hoped to recover in a day or two and head straight home, but it was taking longer than I'd expected. Looking back, part of the reason I'd thought that was because I'd put too much faith in Rokan. Even if overusing dragon speech had left me in bad shape, I'd assumed his healing magic would have me back to normal in no time.

"But if it still took me this long to recover... my condition must have been that serious, right?" I asked Rokan, who stood beside me as I changed out of my hospital clothes and back into the ones I'd arrived in.

"It was serious, but the rarity of your case was a big part of it. You collapsed from overusing dragon speech, so we couldn't use dragon speech to treat you. And since it wasn't a simple physical injury, healing magic could only do so much."

Hearing it put that way brought home just how bad my condition had been.

Anyway. Now that I was healed, all that remained was to return to my daily routine of training and clearing gates to grow stronger. My dragon speech had been incomplete, but I'd managed to use it once. Surely that meant I'd overcome a major hurdle. My heart raced at the thought of finding out how much I'd grown.

Oh, right. "Rokan, what about my sword?"

I'd forgotten about the Dragon Bone Sword I'd left with him. It had been so badly damaged that even Rokan couldn't promise to restore it to its former condition. I wondered how it had turned out.

"I did my best with it, at least." Rokan took my Dragon Bone Sword out of his pocket dimension. From the outside, it looked exactly as it had before it was damaged, but his tone suggested it hadn't been fully repaired.

"I couldn't fix it perfectly. At best, it'll probably have about sixty percent of its former power."

"I see..."

Considering how powerful the sword had been, even sixty percent wasn't bad by any objective measure. Still, I couldn't help feeling disappointed.

Should I just keep using it? But after he'd gone to the trouble of repairing it, asking, 'Could you just give me a new sword instead?' would be pretty shameless. I could ask Sia if she happened to have another spare Dragon Bone Sword, but... come to think of it, that would be just as bad. If someone broke the sword I'd given them and then asked, 'Got another one lying around?' I'd be angry too.

While I was brooding over it, Sia called.

"Hello?" Sia appeared on the screen as soon as I answered. Maybe it was my imagination, but her face looked much more drawn than before.

"Good morning, Oppa! How are you feeling today? Are you okay?"

Sia had worried a lot because my recovery was taking longer than expected. Was that why she looked so worn out, with such dark circles under her eyes?

"Your grandpa says I'm fine now. He said I'm all better and can go home."

"Phew, that's a relief. Nothing matters more than your health, so make sure you take care of yourself!"

Just hearing her say that made me feel stronger.

"And Oppa, I prepared a present to celebrate you getting discharged."

"A present?"

"Yep. I bet it'll surprise you."

I had no idea what it was, but Sia was already beaming, as though she couldn't wait to see my reaction.

"Grandpa's there with you, right?"

"Yeah, he's right beside me."

"Then ask him to give you the present I made."

Before I could say anything, Rokan, who had heard the whole conversation, took something out of his pocket dimension.

"... A sword?"

"It's a Dragon Bone Sword! Grandpa told me the sword you were using broke. Why didn't you tell me?"

I'd asked him to keep it secret from Sia, but apparently he'd told her everything. When I looked over, Rokan gave me a hearty chuckle.

"It wasn't something you needed to hide. We both know what Shasha's like. Did you really think she'd be upset over one broken sword?"

"Well, no, but..."

Still, if I could, I'd wanted Rokan to settle the matter before Sia heard about it.

"Since it came to this, I made one myself. What do you think?"

A sword Sia had made herself. I took it from Rokan and examined it closely. My first impression was that she'd put even more care into this Dragon Bone Sword than the one I'd used before. The old sword had been stylish, but the craftsmanship on this one was more meticulous. I could see it in the scabbard's design, and the blade seemed to have been honed even sharper than the old one. Perhaps that was because another dragon had made my previous sword, while Sia had made this one herself, just for me.

And there was one more thing.

<MJ♡SA>

Perhaps because it was a gift she'd made for me, large initials had been engraved on the hilt—not just mine, but Sia's as well. She probably wanted everyone, not only me, to know she'd made the sword. I understood the sentiment, but weren't they a little too big?

'Wait.'

As I looked over the sword, something on the other side of the hilt caught my eye.

"What do you think, Oppa?"

Engraved there, as large and intricate as the initials I'd just seen, were Sia and me.

"Sia, this..."

"I knew you'd remember! I engraved it from the photo we took on our first date. Do you like it?"

No wonder it looked familiar.

I wished she'd engraved it on something other than a sword. Seeing a carving like that on the blade's hilt felt a little incongruous. If I looked at that part alone, it seemed more like a decorative sword than one meant to be used.

"Yeah. I think it'll be a special gift."

She'd engraved it because she was thinking of me. I couldn't say I disliked it. It felt awkward, but I could feel her love in it, and that made me happy.

"I'm glad you like it. And Oppa, this is the most important part."

After a brief pause, Sia dropped a bombshell utterly at odds with her innocent smile.

"I actually made it from my own bone!"

"...?"

I nearly dropped the sword in shock. I must have misheard. Right? Surely I had. Rokan said I was fully recovered, but perhaps the aftereffects had damaged my hearing.

"Sia... what did you say?"

"I made the sword from my bone!"

Oh. I hadn't misheard.

... Bone? Dragon Bone Swords were made from dragon bones. Sia was a dragon. So she'd made this sword herself, from her own bone? ... Not the bone of some other, dead dragon?

Come to think of it, Rokan had once said something like this:

'Every now and then, one of our kind takes up the hobby of carving their own bone into a sword, so you needn't give it much thought.'

I hadn't understood it from my point of view, but I'd shrugged it off. I'd figured it had nothing to do with me. But now that it did, that was a different story.

Sure, my previous sword must have been made from the bone of some unknown dragon, and that hadn't bothered me much. But a sword made from my girlfriend's bone was a bit... What was I, a psychopath?

"I tried to improve on your old sword, both in performance and design. If I was making one, I wanted it to be the best, so I put a lot of care into it. What do you think? Do you like it?"

"I'm horrif—"

The wrong words nearly slipped out. But the answer I had to give had been decided from the start.

"Hm? What was that, Oppa?"

"I'm... horrifically impressed. I love it. Thank you. I'll put it to good use."

I barely managed to cover my slip when she asked.

I'd liked it at first, but the uncomfortable truth had left my mind blank. It wasn't as though I could tell her I didn't like it. Right. This was what they called a white lie. Sia either didn't notice I was lying or gave no sign of it; her eyes sparkled as she said she was glad I liked it.

"Oh, Oppa. Since we're doing this, should we get matching swords?"

"Matching... swords?"

What was that supposed to mean? My mind went blank for a moment. Then I realized something and asked her urgently, "You mean you're going to make another sword just like this one?"

"Yep!"

"And the material would be..."

"My bone, of course!"

Moments like this always left me feeling a little strange.

"I can't make it from your bone, can I?"

... Did she just say something incredibly chilling?

Usually she was simply my lovable Sia. But when she said things a human couldn't begin to understand, I was reminded that she was a dragon, different from me.

"Officially, I'm a mage, and I won't actually have any reason to use it... but another matching item wouldn't hurt, would it, Oppa?"

"... Right."

I decided to give up trying to understand.

"Well, see you again soon, Oppa! I'd better go make my sword. Hee-hee."

Having thoroughly rattled me, Sia hung up.

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

'Ugh.'

Was I managing to keep a straight face? The thought of cutting monsters with a sword made from Sia's bone, of their blood soaking into it, sent chills through me. But what other choice did I have? I couldn't ask for a different sword now. Maybe someday I'd get used to using this one. For the time being, though, I definitely wouldn't.

"You seem pleased with our Shasha's gift."

Rokan came over while I stood there holding the sword awkwardly.

"Huh? Oh, yes."

"Well, you have a new sword and you're fully healed. I think it's clear what you should do next."

No. Surely he couldn't mean...

"Why not do some training here before you leave? It'll help you get used to that sword and loosen up a little."

Rokan wore his usual kindly smile, but today, somehow, it looked like the smile of an evil demon.

"R-right now?"

"Yes. Let's start at once. Weren't you saying yesterday that you were itching to move after being stuck in bed, unable to go outside?"

There was no way I'd said that yesterday... Oh. I had. Why had I said it and brought this on myself?

"Wait, I'm not—"

"Come now. This isn't like you. You're usually so eager to get used to dragon power as soon as possible."

That was true, but I wasn't mentally prepared to hold my girlfriend's bone yet! Whether or not he knew what was going through my head, Rokan took my hand and dragged me to the enormous cavern we used as a training ground.

I found out later that when I'd received the sword made from Sia's bone, Rokan had been well aware of how uncomfortable I looked. There was only one reason he'd taken me straight to the training ground anyway: he'd wanted to tease me.

... That was hard to reconcile with the Rokan I knew, too.

* * *

After sending Minjun the sword she'd made through Rokan, Sia basked in pride and delight.

'If I'd known Oppa would be this happy, I'd have made it ages ago.'

Minjun's reaction had been unlike his usual one. Though he hadn't said it aloud, his eyes had clearly shown how deeply surprised he was. If she'd looked just a little more closely, she might have realized his surprise wasn't quite what she thought... But, unlike her usual self, Sia didn't notice. Instead, she was firmly convinced he liked the gift far more than he normally would.

After all, didn't people say they were so happy they couldn't speak? That was how she took it. Granted, people also said they were too sad to speak... but no one would be sad to receive a gift. Besides, ever since Sia had decided to make Minjun a new sword, she'd devoted herself to it without sleeping, apart from the times she spent talking to him. After putting in so much time and care, how could she think he wouldn't love it?

But she wasn't stopping there.

"Maybe I should make something else."

After making a sword identical to Minjun's, she found herself wanting to make something more. It wasn't as well known as the practice of making Dragon Bone Swords, but some dragons also made jewelry—necklaces, rings, and earrings—from their own bones in much the same way. It might not be as impressive as a Dragon Bone Sword, but it would surely make a meaningful gift for Minjun. She thought it would help him handle dragon power, if only a little, and he'd be happy to receive another matching item.

"Hee-hee."

Several days without proper sleep had left her eyes hollow, but she grinned at the thought of making another masterpiece. She imagined Minjun wearing jewelry made from her bones all over his body—not just inside gates, but in everyday life, too.