Chapter 5: Hello. World! (5)
I traveled around the world, confirming natural phenomena with their own consciousness, and identified a total of 7 natural phenomena, including a whirlwind I named Sylphid.
The natural phenomena, freshly born with pure selves, were akin to newborn babies.
Pure children, without a speck of dust.
I wondered if someone like me was even allowed to name them… But what can you do?
I am the only proper sentient being in this world.
So, I proceeded to give names to the natural phenomena that developed consciousness.
For the eternal flame, I named it Ifrit. It was the easiest one to name because it was the most straightforward.
For the giant whirlpool, I considered Elquine… Hmm, that doesn’t seem quite right. How about Elaim? No, that doesn’t capture the feel either.
Should I just go with Undine? But that feels a bit underwhelming.
In the end, I named it Thetis, after one of the deities from various mythologies.
I wanted to give it a better name… My naming sense really stinks…
For the natural phenomenon at the tallest mountain, I gave it the name Ymir… Hmm, is that a death flag?
Maybe I should name it Everest instead? It fits, being the tallest mountain and all.
No, that’s what wiki searches are for. Help me! Knowledge from another world!!!
After searching, I settled on Sagarmatha, which is the Nepali name for Everest. Plus, its meaning—forehead of the world—was a nice touch that it really appreciated.
For the mountain-sized tree, I named it Yggdrasil, the World Tree.
Honestly, the moment I laid eyes on it, no other name felt appropriate.
For the darkness where not a single beam of light penetrated, I named it Erebus, drawing from Greek mythology.
Though it was a child of few words, it seemed to really like that name.
And finally, for the light of the midnight sun that never sets, I named it Shamash, taken from Sumerian mythology.
Thus, the spirits of the seven children I named grew rapidly over the decades.
“Mom!”
They began calling me mom.
Not dad, but why mom!
I really don’t get it!
“I am not your mom.”
Hoping that the pure spirits of the children would grow properly, I had shared various tales from another world, including stories about families. Maybe that was the reason.
After all, I am a dragon, and these kids are natural phenomena that are hard to consider as living beings. I’m still uncertain if this is the right approach.
“But you gave us names.”
“That’s true.”
At Sylphid’s words, I nodded slightly.
“In this empty world, only you gave us names. If you hadn’t named us, I would have just been a whirlwind that appeared and vanished.”
“The reason you children developed selves is because this world became filled with magical power, not because I named you. And I’m not your mom. You should call me dad instead.”
“That’s not happening. And wasn’t that magical power because of you, mom?”
Sylphid, what on earth are you talking about?
“The magical power was created by a fellow known as the Creator God. I had no part in it.”
“But didn’t you say that Creator God has never appeared in this world?”
“Well, true enough, but…”
“Even if that Creator God was the one who first made this world, what else did he do besides sending you down to this empty place?”
“Uh, um… increased the concentration of magical power?”
“That’s just your claim, mom. There’s no solid evidence for that. It’s more convincing to say that the concentration of magical power increased because you exist.”
Ugh… This child used to stutter and was infinitely cute, yet here they are, all logical after just a few decades!
Where’s the adorable factor gone?
“By the way, the others also share the same opinion about calling you mom!”
“Even the other children?”
Being the only one that could freely fly due to being born from a whirlwind, Sylphid often visited the other children to chat, taking on a messenger role.
“Ifrit said, ‘Calling you mom feels warm and cozy, so I like it!’ Thetis said, ‘I wish mom would visit more often.’”
“Hmm. Now that you mention it, I haven’t visited Thetis in a while.”
Unlike the other kids, she’s hard to visit since she’s located in the middle of the ocean.
“Sagarmatha said, ‘Yes. I like mom.’ and Yggdrasil said, ‘I don’t mind either way if it’s mom.’ Then they added softly, ‘Actually, I prefer mom.’”
Even Sagarmatha, who speaks little, and Yggdrasil, who would gently sway its branches in greeting… they want to call me mom…
“Erebus said, ‘I prefer being called mom. After all, I feel like I’m male, so having a mom makes sense,’ and Shamash chimed in with, ‘Isn’t it more beautiful to be called mom?’”
Hmm… I can’t speak for the other kids, but why the heck has Erebus turned out like this?
I never shared stories about men and women pairing up to make families.
I don’t know. I really don’t. Is there anything more difficult than parenting in this world?
“I also prefer calling you mom!”
“I thought my gender wasn’t determined.”
This dragon form of mine is hard to define as male or female.
When I look at my reflection in water, I seem like a splendid silver dragon, so maybe I’m male…
✉️
At that moment, after decades, a letter envelope popped up in front of me.
What nonsense is the Creator God going to spout now…
┌───────────────────────────
│Of course, you’re female!!
└───────────────────────────
……
This jerk just sent a message after decades to say this one line?!
In this lifeless world, I’ve gone through countless hardships to establish a basic ecosystem, and he offered no help whatsoever!!!! Now he sends a message, and it’s just this one line?!
Are you kidding me?! Huh?! Are you messing with me!!!! You trash!!! You total trash!!!!!!!
I wanted to unleash all my pent-up rage, but I held back in front of Sylphid. I had no choice but to keep my cool. I can’t be angry in front of Sylphid, after all.
I took a deep breath, forcing out the fire burning inside me.
The breath that escaped was literally fiery, but that’s just a minor detail.
“Wow! Did you breathe fire because you disliked it that much?”
“It’s not your fault. The Creator God sent a message after decades, and it was just one line that got me all riled up.”
“Hmmm…. You mentioned receiving a message, but I can’t see anything, so I’m not sure.”
It seems Sylphid can’t see the square message window… GodTalk that appeared in front of me.
“But what kind of message made mom angry? This is the first time I’ve seen you angry in decades.”
“The content is a secret. But have I ever gotten angry before?”
“Yes! You got angry when Ifrit incinerated that little thing crawling on the ground.”
Ah, I remember that incident. Not long after a creature, which had evolved for decades from a slime and no longer bore its original form, emerged from the water.
Excluding the various attribute slimes, it was the first terrestrial life form! I was quite moved, but some of these creatures ended up near Ifrit’s volcano…
Ifrit, unable to contain his curiosity, caused a disaster by burning them.
Just as a pure human child might harm small insects, a self-aware natural phenomenon would do similarly.
So all I could do was scold him for his wrongdoing.
Well, to speak frankly, it was also because burning that creature, which had finally emerged from the water, felt like a waste. Hmmm.
It was a tiny lizard-like creature, and now that I think about it, I do feel a bit of regret.
“But thanks to that scolding, Ifrit doesn’t burn other creatures now.”
“Hmm. If I hadn’t scolded him back then, that child would have incinerated everything that entered his territory.”
The various evolved slimes gained diverse functions but lost their simplicity, making division for reproduction impossible, so it was indeed a waste.
Anyway, moving on from Ifrit’s story.
“But the world nowadays feels quite lively.”
“I think so too.”
Decades after dispersing the first life forms, the sea creatures that had been rapidly evolving and mutating returned to land and began to flourish.
The surface was no longer a desolate world devoid of life.
“Kuwoooooo!!!”
“Kyaaaooooo!!!”
“Ah, mom! Look over there! The big ones are fighting!!”
“That’s true. Although they are still smaller than me.”
A world teeming with life. But the appearance of this life… was from a time far more distant than the era I remember.
In simple terms, it was the age of dinosaurs.
“Why did it end up like this…”
All I could do was let out a soft sigh.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
It is said that in ancient times, there were countless dragons.
Now, only a very few dragons remain, including the Guardian Dragon of the kingdom.
The fossils currently displayed in this museum are remnants from the age of dragons, the era when dragons flourished. They are the fossils of wingless dragons.
To think there were countless dragons capable of shaking an entire nation. Truly, it was a terrifying era.
–
A curator of a museum in some country.
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