After we finished eating, Ainasse Queen suddenly seemed to remember something and looked at me.
"Oh right, Karen. Don't forget to hand over the recipe for bubble tea tomorrow."
"I already wrote it down. I can give it to you now."
Jacob had mentioned before that the winner had to submit their recipe to the country, so I had prepared it ahead of time. Apparently, the recipe would later be auctioned off, and the winning bidder would receive exclusive rights to produce and sell it for one year.
The wish is the winner's reward.Which meant the "free food" wish really would've been a huge loss.
I took out the paper containing the bubble tea recipe from my storage hole and handed it to the general so he could pass it to the ainasse Queen. Besides, he clearly wanted to read it too.
Just as I expected, the general took the paper and read through it first before passing it to the ainasse Queen, who then handed it to the butler.
"Take this to my office."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The butler accepted the paper and left the dining hall.
After that, we moved somewhere else to relax. The general and I ended up alone in a reception room.
After learning that Jacob was a merchant, the Ainasse Queen wanted to talk with him about trade and traveling merchants. Grace followed them while giving strange looks, and the three of them entered another reception room together.
As for Ethefelis and Alice, they had nothing to do, so the maids guided them to their rooms.
Now I was sitting across from the general, and I quickly spoke first.
"General, may I ask my questions first?"
"You may."
"Does your appearance only change once you reach a certain age?"
"No. Before dragons turn one hundred, our humanoid forms change naturally just like humans. But once we pass one hundred years old, we can freely alter the apparent age of our appearance."
"So you can change your age however you want?"
"Correct."
The moment the general confirmed it, his body suddenly started glowing.
The light was so bright that I immediately shut my eyes and raised a hand to block it.
What the hell?
Why was he suddenly glowing? Was he some kind of human lightbulb?
A few seconds later, I lowered my hand and opened my eyes again.
The elderly general who had been sitting there was gone.
In his place sat a young red-haired man.
It took me several seconds to realize this was the general's younger form. The glowing had apparently been part of the transformation process.
"My next question. Why are the names of modern dragons shorter than those of ancient dragons?"
Even though I had forgotten Samidoride's full name, I still remembered it had three parts. Meanwhile, both Lani and the general, who were modern dragons, had shorter names.
"Modern dragons are forbidden from using their mother's name. That is how dragon lineages are distinguished."
So it was actually that simple.
I had wasted an entire day trying to figure out what kind of dragon the general was.
"I see. Then at what age does a modern dragon become as large as an ancient dragon?"
"No one knows. I am likely the oldest among the modern dragons, yet my body still has not surpassed that of an ancient dragon."
"May I ask how old you are?"
Here it comes.
Please answer honestly.
"Uh... I met Brother Allen and Sister Sisreia in Year 3 of the Fatelis Year, so... I should be 2,019 years old."
"Then you're as old as the Fatelis Year itself... Wait, Brother Allen? Sister Hysria?"
I had been so focused on getting information about the general's age that I nearly overlooked the rest.
Allen and Hysria?
Weren't those the names of the first village chief and his wife?
"The man and woman I told you about before. So you really do know who they are!"
The general suddenly became excited.
But how could he be so sure the Allen and Hysria he knew were the same people as the Henry/Allen and Hysria I knew?
I quickly raised both hands to stop him.
"Wait. Let me confirm something first. Hysria had black hair and black eyes, right?"
Henry/Allen had written in his book about how beautiful Hysria looked the first time he saw her.
"That's right!"
It actually matched!?
Then was the former owner of the magic core in my sword—that chimpanzee—telling the truth?
Did I really look exactly like Henry/Allen?
"And Allen looked like me too, except his hair was white, right?"
"Exactly! I knew I wasn't mistaken! You truly are their descendant! Hahaha!"
The general confirmed it, and I had absolutely nothing I could use to refute him.
I rested my elbows on my knees, bent forward, and held my head in confusion.
Why did I look like Henry/Allen?
I had mentally prepared myself for this possibility, but actually confirming it still left me shaken.
This had to be the work of the Goddess of Fate again.
If she was going to give me a new life, couldn't she at least have given me a face nobody recognized?
What exactly was she trying to make me do?
The general transformed back into his elderly appearance and spoke in a cheerful tone completely oblivious to my mood.
"What's wrong? You look completely lost. You're the descendant of the people I've been searching for all this time."
I replied in a tired, gloomy voice.
"I don't know whether I'm really their descendant or not. There's no proof."
"Your entire existence is proof. I would never mistake it. The resemblance is eighty percent."
"Eighty percent? What about the other twenty?"
"Different hair and eye colors."
"So aside from those two things, everything else is identical?"
"Correct. Though it seems you already suspected it yourself. You just weren't certain."
"The first time I entered a dungeon, a chimpanzee told me that."
"A chimpanzee can speak?"
"Chimpanzee is the most intelligent among animals. They can make tools and work together in groups. If one can speak, it's probably evolved. According to the theory of human evolution, humans may have evolved from gorillas. Our genetic similarity is close to ninety-nine percent."
"How do you know that?"
Only after he asked did I realize I had revealed way too much.
Why had I blurted all of that out without thinking?
I should've come up with an excuse or changed the subject immediately.
Still, changing the topic wasn't bad. It at least helped distract me from my current headache.
So I answered him.
"...I read it in a book. I don't have any more questions now. Your turn."
"Very well. What I want to know is exactly how much knowledge unknown to this world is written inside that book of yours."
"What book?"
"Didn't you say you learned about bubble tea from a book? Brother Allen must have written it, right?"
The general seemed to have misunderstood something.
Did he see Henry—Allen as some kind of omniscient genius?
The Goddess of Fate probably had given Henry knowledge from an advanced era, so did that mean bubble tea existed during the era prosperous too?
But now wasn't the time to think about that.
I needed to clear up the misunderstanding first.
I let out a mild sound of realization.
"Ohhh. That was a book I found inside a dungeon. That's where I learned it."
"Stop lying to me. I know the reason you don't want to show it is because it's the Sage's Book."
He seriously didn't believe me?
Just how incredible of an impression had Henry/Allen left on this dragon?
Left with no choice, I opened my storage hole.
"I'll show you proof."
I took out the book about automobiles and handed it to the general. He casually flipped through several pages before turning the book toward me.
"What language is this? And what are these things in the picture?"
"Cars. Transportation that's faster and safer than horse-drawn carriages."
"Why can you read it?"
"No idea. I was born able to."
That was the one thing I absolutely couldn't explain truthfully.
The Ainasse Queen's excuse really was convenient.
The general placed the book on the table, then revealed an ambitious smile and spoke in a satisfied tone.
"Excellent, Karen. I order you to remain here for the rest of your life. If you dare refuse, I'll destroy Amebisalon."
What the hell is he saying!?