Roth’s dungeon was gone. I had been hoping for some kind of reward, but I didn’t absorb the dungeon myself. The lore neither dispersed nor became a blessing that attached itself to my soul. The benefit instead came in the growth my dungeon would experience as it took in the rogue lore from Roth. As for the man himself, he remained there on his knees. He had gone from almost certain victory to defeat. It was bound to weigh him down.


    At this moment, I felt a separation, and Lydia and I separated. At one moment, we were together, and at the next moment, we were two people again. I felt extremely exhausted, but I was able to remain standing. My arm was still attached, and most of my wounds were healed. The massive amount of energy pumped into the dungeon had seemingly given me strength too. Lydia still held me like she didn’t want to let go, and I held her back.


    After a long moment of silence, Roth raised his head. His once regal appearance had become haggard and filthy. His clothing was in shreds and covered in filth. His hair was matted and clumped. His face suddenly showed an age several decades greater than how he had looked before. He was a feeble, old man who had been holding onto life desperately, and now he finally looked on the outside as the man on the inside.


    “You’ve... taken everything from me.” He spoke slowly, his voice sounding as old as he now appeared. “It appears that I cannot escape my fate after all.”@@@@


    “Me?” Faeyna blinked as I turned to her and smiled.


    “It’s ultimately a person’s choices that make them the person they are. The hero lore is no different than the job lore. It finds someone already suited to accept this lore, and then it clings to them. The harem lore didn’t turn you into the man that you are. The harem lore attached to you because of the man that you are!”


    “Wh-what are you trying to say?”


    “Curses are neither good nor evil. They exist because they hope to fix what is broken. The hero lore is no different. It finds a path on a path to self-destruction, and it gives them the strength to overcome it. You could have changed your ending. You could have become a better man, you could have had a harem that stayed by your side, but you were so afraid of your fate, that you caused your fate. That is the ultimate failing of the hero’s mantle. It isn’t the hero mantle that’s the problem, but the failing of the people it selects! This is why I’ll say it again, you are unsuited to be the harem hero!”