“…The souls of the dead.”
“Well, I’m still preparing, so it’ll take some time, but it’s a necessary task for this world, you see.”
The afterlife is important. Whether religious or spiritual.
Just knowing that there’s a Heaven and Hell after death, or reincarnation where one is reborn, would surely reduce the evil acts committed by humans!
Even with such an ambiguous concept—whether it exists or not—it can still cut down on human wrongdoing!
Of course, those who don’t believe in any sort of afterlife won’t care and will continue their evil deeds. Those sinners will never stop no matter what tricks you try.
But for those kinds of people, judgment in life will come before judgment in the afterlife.
Hmm…as far as what happens to those sinners after they die, well, that’s just their own karma speaking!
Hmm… Come to think of it, shouldn’t we have some kind of scripture to teach humans? Like a Morality Code or something.
Now that language and writing have been passed down, it’s about time knowledge and wisdom start accumulating… Hmm… Once I’m done creating the afterlife, I’ll look into it further.
If strange knowledge starts spreading around, that won’t do at all!
I can’t let my precious humans get corrupted by weird ideas!
Ah, but the Elves and Dwarves are being taken care of by Yggdrasil and Sagarmatha, so I don’t need to worry about them. And since I’m personally managing the Lizardmen, they should be fine too.
In the end, the problem lies with humans… and Beastmen as a bonus.
“Hmm… Thank you for the suggestion, but wouldn’t it hurt to think about it a bit more?”
“Of course. I’m not asking you to start right away. Besides, if you can use the malice within yourself to handle the dead, it could prove quite useful.”
“That… might actually be somewhat interesting.”
“But remember, this job involves managing the entire world, so there’s no telling how long it’ll last… You’d better prepare yourself mentally.”
Worst-case scenario, you might have to keep doing it until the world ends.
Looking at it this way, it really is a Black Company. A super dark enterprise dealing with the afterlife. Hmm…
Right now, I can’t do much about it, but once we have more employees… saying it like this really makes it feel like a company. Death Stock Corporation or something.
Anyway, when the number of employees increases, we should make sure to rotate shifts and ensure adequate rest. Working at a black company without proper breaks would be heartbreaking.
And once the workforce grows, we’ll need someone to manage them—a Leader, a management position, like a CEO of sorts.
Honestly… If I had to pick someone for that role, it would undoubtedly be Erebus, but that fool ran off and hid underground, leaving no trace behind.
If only he hadn’t fled using the shockwave from breaking my scales, I might’ve just confiscated his scales, scolded him appropriately, and handed over the position of God of Death after some time.
But what’s the point of thinking about someone who’s already fled? He could probably escape faster than I could dig through the ground to find him.
No matter what trick he used, he’s refusing to show up even when I summon him… truly troublesome.
Maybe I should use the power of creation to craft something to capture him?
If he’s causing trouble somewhere in this world, that wouldn’t be good. Hmm…
I’ll think about it later. Operation Capture Erebus.
But then, if I manage to catch him… Can I forgive him?
If I can forgive him, what kind of punishment should I give him?
Someone might ask why I’m trying to rehabilitate and reuse someone who caused so much trouble…
But don’t forget, before washing machines were invented, people used to beat laundry with sticks to get out stubborn stains.
Ah, Erebus is entirely black, so that method might not work. I’ll have to beat him until his body turns into a rag, slightly heal him, then beat him again until all the grime washes away and he becomes pure white.
I don’t lose my temper often, but when I do, it’s scary. Erebus needs to remember that. To commit such a mistake and then run away…
Still, as someone in a parental role, I wouldn’t completely annihilate him. But I’ll beat him until his sense of self collapses by half! Enough so he never thinks of pulling another stunt!
Afterward, I plan to dump the lifelong position of God of Death onto him. Of course, there’ll be no vacations for him. That’s how he’ll atone for his sins!
Hmm… Even after planning all that, I still feel like it’s not enough. How much punishment will it take for me to forgive Erebus? It’s hard to gauge my own feelings.
Logically, I know I should punish him adequately and then forgive him, but emotionally, my heart screams not to forgive him. Truly troubling.
But since I haven’t even found a trace of Erebus yet, these thoughts are all premature.
As I was lost in thought, Seres spoke up in a small voice.
“I’ll think about it for now. I’m not sure if I’ll end up doing the job though.”
“Even saying that, whenever there’s an opportunity to work, dragons will jump at the chance. Most dragons, having lazed around in caves during the Age of Dragons to avoid angering the Creator Dragon God, tend to volunteer for any excuse to wander outside.”
Hmph. Did they become corner-dwelling wallflowers because they were afraid of me?
Surely, on the final day of the Dragon Era, I must’ve said that as long as they didn’t repeat the same mistakes, they wouldn’t face the same fate.
It’s kind of disappointing.
“Hmm… This child here. I gave them work out of pity for being cooped up in a corner of the cave, but look what happened… Truly troublesome.”
“Well, this child didn’t cause the accident on purpose, did they? Besides, they suffered greatly from it too…”
“It hurt so much! I thought I was going to die!”
“She actually did almost die halfway through.”
At my words, Dragon Lord could only manage a bitter laugh.
“If perchance the reason dragons stay in their caves is my fault, then tell them they don’t have to anymore. I warned them merely to prevent them from repeating the mistakes of those who came before.”
Upon hearing my words, both Dragon Lord and Seres looked slightly surprised.
“R-really? But we remember seeing the Creator Dragon transform other dragons…”
“That was terrifying! Watching the adults’ divine bodies torn apart and turned into spirits…”
Ah, yes. For young dragons and hatchlings, that must’ve been a horrifying sight.
“As long as they don’t commit the same errors, it’ll be fine. Anyway, pass that message along.”
“Understood. The other dragons will be happy to hear that.”
“But somehow… even if I relay that message, I doubt they’ll leave their caves and move properly. Why is that?”
Hmm… Well, I don’t really know either. Maybe it’s just the lazy vibe dragons give off that makes it seem that way.
Well, I’ve said my piece! They’re free to live however they want!
“By the way, what do you plan to do about the place where that malice emerged?”
“Hmm… First, I’ll investigate and then deal with the aftermath.”
Since malice is weak against life aura, sprinkling plenty of it might temporarily purify the area…
But then again, that would just add more work for me. Hmm…
Troublesome. Should I just dig up the corpses buried underground and annihilate them all?
Dragon corpses are annoyingly sturdy to dispose of… Hmm…
“Would it be alright if we handled it from our side?”
“Our side?”
“Yes. We’re thinking of giving dragons tasks to get them out of their caves. We’ll teach them how to increase their life aura and have them sprinkle it around while patrolling… Wouldn’t that neutralize the rising malice?”
“That’s reasonable.”
Besides, dragons have stronger life auras compared to other creatures. With proper guidance, they should be able to handle it.
“And it’ll also give the other dragons an excuse to go out and about.”
At Dragon Lord’s words, I nodded slightly. Definitely. This seems like a good way to solve the issue of rising malice while getting the dragons moving.
“Very well. Proceed with that. It’s a good approach.”
“Thank you, Creator Dragon God.”
“But since this is dangerous territory, I’ll occasionally come by to check the status myself.”
“Yes, please do.”
Great. I was planning to do this anyway, so if the dragons can handle it themselves, I’m grateful!
That’s it! As thanks, I’ll create a title for the dragons doing this work!
“This is fate. Let’s bestow a title upon the dragons doing this work.”
“A title?”
“Yes. Since they’re using their life aura to drive away malice, let’s call those who do this work ‘Life Givers.’”
At my words, Dragon Lord pondered for a moment, then smiled faintly and replied.
“Thank you. The others will be very pleased to have a title bestowed by the Creator Dragon God.”
Hmm. If they’re happy, then I’m happy too.
Anyway, it’s high time dragons stopped their habit of just hibernating in the corners of caves. It’d be fun if they disguised themselves as humans and brought changes to civilization.
