What's My Personality Like?
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After wrapping up Adella and Haring's training, I headed straight for the villa on the outskirts of the Royal Palace.
Bahamart's villa.
They called it a villa, but it was basically another castle. The palace was huge, but this place was just as massive. For a retired emperor's leisurely retreat, it was ridiculously spacious.
"Fancy."
I started wandering around the villa, and some maids approached to ask what I was looking for.
"Bahamart. Where is he?"
"His Majesty is resting."
"Yeah. Okay."
He'd been resting so much that I hadn't seen him since my first day at the palace—except for that time. I was dead tired back then too, so I'd just gotten permission and crashed in my room.
And just like that, four months had passed to now.
"Got something I'm curious about. Was gonna ask Bahamart."
"His Majesty is resting..."
"That's what I said."
"...I'll guide you."
Always gotta repeat myself twice. I followed the maid to Bahamart's room. Unlike the luxurious exterior, the inside was surprisingly plain. Bahamart wasn't one for extravagance anyway, but even accounting for that, it was pretty modest.
Bahamart sat in a chair by a round table, sipping tea.
"You've come."
"Yeah. I have."
Plop.
I dropped into the chair across from him. He set down his steaming teacup.
"Care for one?"
"Bitter stuff."
"Bitter's good for you. Too much sweet isn't healthy."
"Gimme chocolate."
"Ho ho."
Bahamart smiled kindly and rang the golden bell beside the round table. Soon the maids arrived, presenting steaming hot chocolate. It was so hot you could feel the heat from a glance—enough to give a normal person third-degree burns. But for me, it was perfect.
Slurp.
Mmm.
"They make it good here."
"Enjoy. Have as much as you want."
"You didn't even make it yourself."
"Paid for it with my money, so I can take a little credit, no?"
"Hm..."
Grrood? I eyed Bahamart while dumping half the hot chocolate into my mouth. White hair, white beard, still massive build but a slightly hunched back compared to his younger days. I'd seen him four months ago, but he felt even farther from the Bahamart I remembered.
"You're a full-on hunched grandpa now."
"Just following time's flow. Humans all return to dust eventually."
"Talk like an old geezer too."
"Tsk tsk... You're the same as ever, from back then to now."
"Obviously."
Three hundred years was just early childhood for a dragon with thousands of years ahead. Not enough time to change my speech or thinking.
I nodded along with a hum, then dumped the rest of the hot chocolate in.
"Heard from the old hag that dragons live over ten thousand years if nothing goes wrong."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. Though no dragon in this world has hit ten thousand yet."
The more I thought about it, the more dizzying the number. Ten thousand years? Three hundred was already boring me to death—how would I survive ten thousand? At that point, I'd probably sleep three years, five years at a stretch... nah, five hundred, a thousand years easy.
Of course, this boredom stemmed mostly from my previous life. That one was intense; this one's got near-eternal time ahead.
I hadn't forgotten my past life entirely, even if it was fading. Seeing heroes brought it back sometimes.
Slurp slurp.
"More?"
"Yeah. More. And."
"Hm?"
"Heard none of this generation's heroes are native to this world. True?"
"Indeed."
Bahamart rang the bell again as if it were obvious. Moments later, the maids returned—with ten cups of hot chocolate on the tray.
They brought a ton.
Slurp.
Temp's perfect too.
"Why?"
"Ho ho... Only the Goddess knows. Though I have my guesses."
"O. What's that?"
Clink.
Bahamart set his cup down.
"This generation's heroes are all immortals. They don't die for good—they just revive unscathed."
"Yeah. Annoying bunch."
"That's why I think the Goddess chose heroes from other worlds."
"?"
"They don't die. No sacrifice required, right?"
"...?"
Heroes are chosen by the Goddess, granted power, and use it to crush the Demon King's army. To beat the Demon King's army, heroes inevitably grow stronger. Low-level monsters or demons are fine with basic power, but Legion Commanders or the Demon King demand way more.
"If a hero the Goddess nurtured so carefully dies pointlessly, it'd be tragic. But immortals?"
"No loss."
"Ho ho ho... 'Loss' is a harsh way to put it, but not entirely wrong. Yes. No loss for the Goddess or this world. They just revive."
Heroes revive on death. So they can die over and over—no big deal. The Goddess's carefully raised hero keeps going without vanishing.
I crossed my arms and nodded.
"Picked semi-permanent characters over one-use ones. Way more cost-effective."
"...?"
"Performance might be lower, but one good gacha pull fixes that."
They don't even feel pain, perfect for facing the Demon King's army. Most are C or D rank, but there are A-ranks like NyaNya or Haring. Keep pulling and an S-rank might pop. Sure, even S-ranks here are subpar compared to past generations... but
"Immortals."
No matter how weak, heroes who can't stay dead are a massive threat to the Demon King's army.
"Anyway, that old hag loves her gacha."
"Ho ho... The Goddess loves this world like her own child. This path spares the children sacrifice."
"Nah. She just got hyped for endless pulls and went ham."
Even after the Demon King fell and all Legion Commanders hid, she'd kept summoning heroes pointlessly.
But endless heroes from other worlds? At lower cost than before? No way she'd hold back with her personality. She'd sky-pull hundreds, thousands. And the result? These thousands of braindead heroes.
"Got it roughly."
I finished the last hot chocolate and stood.
"Oh, earlier."
"?"
"You said in the letter you had something to say, come over."
When Adella sent me that letter on his behalf.
'I have words for you. Too long for a letter.'
'It'd be good if you visited once.'
He'd specifically asked me to come to his villa. I hadn't planned to, but dodging heroes led me here anyway—and no word from him. Partly my fault for crashing without listening four months back.
Clink.
Bahamart lifted his cup again. While I'd downed eleven hot chocolates, he hadn't finished a single tea. Where was the guy who chugged booze from oak barrels?
"...You've always been peculiar."
"?"
"Your speech... your personality. Hard to believe you're a young dragon."
"What's My Personality Like?"
"At first, I thought it was just dragon traits. But after meeting others... you're different."
"I'm better than those guys."
"Ho ho ho... More precisely..."
Clink.
"You're like the heroes. This generation's heroes, specifically."
"...?"
What?
"Go see for yourself. Better to talk with that disciple of yours than me."