Kerem is sobbing into his coins, enormous boiling hot tears steaming wherever they land. I'm awkwardly tapping his side with a single leg, ready to bolt if I have to, and Bubbles is unsuccessfully trying to eat him from the tail up.

"I just-" The creature inhales a huge sniff before continuing. "A hoard is the only thing I've got, you know? And if no one is coming to see it, why bother having it?"

[Because it's shiny?]

"IT'S TASTELESS!" Kerem howls, slamming a claw into the pile of gold. "What's a dragon without his reputation? I used to be known far and wide as Kerem, the destroyer of towns! Kidnapper of princesses!"

I tilt my head.

[What's a dragon?]

Kerem spins around, staring me in the face. Gold flies everywhere as his body disturbs the hoard. "I'M A DRAGON! Have the reputations of the rulers of Xanem truly deteriorated so much?"

[...All right, Null. I did some research, and... and...]

[Joule? It's about time you showed up! This thing - it calls itself a dragon, by the way - has been crying for ten minutes! It's talking about reputation and hoards, and I don't know how to make it stop!]

[How in Noah's brown slippers did you get into this much trouble so fast?]

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[Noah has brown slippers?]

[That's not the point!]

The dragon looks over tearfully. "Who's that?"

[He can hear me?]

Kerem preens. "Of course I can hear you! My telepathy skill is level nine!"

[...Wait, you have levels?]

"Of course! Doesn't everything upgrade themselves through the System?"

[Joule, what's he talking about?]

[It must be the rules that applied to Bubbles before Noah changed him!]

The dragon tilted its head, the gold on top of it showering off. "Who is this Noah you mention?"

[Noah Cosmic. Why?]

In a massive and incredibly rapid motion, Kerem shot backward, clinging to the back of his cave. Bubbles was thrown off by the force. "You are representatives of Noah Cosmic?!"

[Uhhh... yes. Do you know him?]

"KNOW HIM?!?" The dragon roared in shock at the thought. "There isn't a living being on Xanem who doesn't! That chaotic monster destroyed an entire continent a few thousand years ago! Nobody forgets that kind of power, no matter how long it's been!"

[...I would say I don't believe you, but Noah has proven... unpredictable, to say the least. Was anyone killed?]

"OF COURSE PEOPLE WERE KILLED! Millions of demons were obliterated by the force!"

[Wait, they were demons? Isn't that a good thing, then?]

"OF COURSE NOT! Because of that incident, his good reputation outshines that of every dragon on the planet! It's unforgivable!"

[...So is he evil or not?]

The dragon eyes me carefully, before cautiously responding. "Nobody truly knows. Some say he committed the genocide because he wanted to clean the world. Others say he did it because a demon crossed him, and he blamed the whole race for it. It could even be both, for all we know."

I think about it for a long moment.

[I may not understand Noah very well, if at all. He's chaotic, confusing, a little bit maniacal sometimes, and definitely dangerous. But I don't think he's heartless. If he obliterated an entire race like you say he did, then he probably had a good reason.]

Kerem comes down from where he'd been standing and looks me in the eye. "For your safety and the world's, puny ant, I hope you are right."