Chapter: 63
“But finding the soul won’t be an easy task. Distinguishing a memory-less soul is as hard as finding a specific grain of sand among countless others. Still, are you willing to do it?”
The priest nodded at my words.
[For the sake of meeting my family again, I will do anything.]
“You said you’ll do anything, right?”
He shouldn’t toss that phrase around like it’s nothing. This kid has no clue about the weight of his own words.
“Finding your family’s souls in a human lifespan is going to be a tough nut to crack. So let me throw a proposal your way.”
There’s no such thing as having too many talented people.
“How about working in the Afterlife?”
[The Afterlife?]
“Yep. The Afterlife is mostly set up, but we haven’t been able to kick things off due to a shortage of staff.”
Of course, this kid would struggle to manage the Afterlife by himself.
He’s just a human with some divine power, after all.
But if he’s missing something, it can be fixed.
If he lacks power, I can totally boost him.
With a little added strength, he may not reach Yama’s level, but he could at least hit the lower tier of Afterlife management.
Couldn’t he manage a level or two?
“And if you work in the Afterlife, all the souls will pass through it, which would help you find your wife and child’s souls, right?”
Searching for them in the Afterlife where all the souls pass through would be way more effective than scouring through the souls that fill the Cloud Whale’s body.
Of course, it won’t be a walk in the park. The souls passing through the Afterlife are countless.
[The Afterlife? But can I really do something like that?]
“Why not?”
The key thing isn’t how much power you have, but how well you perform your job.
“Honestly, if you want to find your family’s souls, the best bet is to work in the Afterlife. Other than that, you’re pretty much out of options.”
It’d be ludicrous to head to the Cloud Whale and inspect each soul just to find his wife and child’s souls.
The Cloud Whale seems to listen to me more these days, but I doubt it would humor that request.
And let’s face it, the biggest issue is the short lifespan of humans.
[I see. So, to get to the Afterlife… Do I have to die?]
“No, not yet. It’s still not operational. For now, just continue living your current life.”
[But… A life without my wife and child is incredibly tough for me…]
The priest spoke with a heavy heart.
Hmm, he seems to have lost his passion for life.
“Then, how about documenting some information about the Afterlife?”
[A record about the Afterlife?]
“Yep. Let’s share some insights about it.”
At my words, the priest looked puzzled.
[What would that mean?]
“It means a lot.”
I glanced over the bag in my hand.
“The first thing is that it’s important for us to spread knowledge about the Afterlife to humans.”
[Spreading the existence of the Afterlife to humans?]
“Exactly. If a lot of humans become aware of and start believing in it, their perceptions will shape reality. Even if things aren’t perfectly aligned with my plans, the collective belief of humans will help everything normalize.”
I’ve seen with Yama and the Cloud Whale that many humans’ perceptions can change reality.
I suspect it’ll be the same for the Afterlife.
People’s beliefs can totally reshape reality.
“And the second point: letting humans know about the Afterlife will engrave the idea of judgment after death into their minds.”
[Judgment after death…]
“If the belief exists that one will be judged in the Afterlife for their sins, at least some guilt might form within them.”
That could serve as a deterrent for committing sins.
And if it’s also known that sinners endure horrific experiences in hell… the frequency of their sins would likely drop.
This way, we can instill a minimal sense of conscience among them.
“So, let’s produce various writings until the end of your life. And when your time comes, I’ll take you to the Afterlife and put you to work.”
[I understand. Though I’m quite limited, I’ll devote this lifetime to serving the Mother of Life.]
“Good. And speaking of your wife and child’s souls…”
[Huh?]
I looked at the two souls in my hand. Hmm… I can’t keep holding onto them, or I’ll need to stash them somewhere.
To contain souls… Hmm… I could whip up and test a few things.
“For now, I’ll store the two souls in another object that you can carry. I can’t just hold them indefinitely.”
Half of their essence. If you ask what can hold souls… well, there are multiple methods.
The easiest one would be to encase them in gems.
I created two emeralds—one round and one square. I placed the priest’s wife’s soul in the round emerald and the son’s soul in the square one.
And just like that, the souls nestled into the gems perfectly. Hmm, it seems like they’ve got enough room, even if they’re not entirely complete. As long as these gems don’t shatter, the souls should remain intact.
I sent the two emeralds over to the priest.
“The round emerald contains your wife, and the square one holds your son. Treat them with care. If the gems break, you’ll have to find them again.”
If they break, finding them will be a breeze. But if not, digging through the ground to retrieve them would be a major hassle.
[Th-thank you… Thank you so much!]
“So from now on, spend your remaining life writing books. I’ll guide you in detail on what to write.”
Being viewed as a wise person among humans, many would recognize his writings.
In this manner, I managed to secure various books through this one scribe.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
After that, while the priest maintained his duties, he also found time to write.
[Mother of Life… I’m running low on clay tablets. I can’t fit all this content!]
He ran into a significant snag in his book writing endeavors.
“Ugh, what a pain. You haven’t even written much, and the tablet’s already full.”
In this era, clay tablets and parchment were the recording mediums, but parchment was typically too pricey for common folks to utilize.
If he were to write on those materials… they would become symbols of wealth, accessible only to the rich.
In the East, they’d make bamboo slips for recording, but there’s no bamboo in the West. What a bother.
Hmm, no choice then.
I’ll just pull out some papyrus! If we’re talking primitive paper, papyrus is the ticket!
I decided to chat with the Great Shaman of the Lizardmen.
“Can you hear my voice?”
[Oh, the great Creator Dragon God speaks to me! Your glorious name will light up the world!]
No need for the drama, please.
“I’m looking for a certain plant in the wetlands of the Lizardmen’s lands. Can you track it down?”
[The Creator Dragon God is seeking a mere plant? What could be the reason?]
“I need it as a material to create something beneficial for everyone. It’s a plant that grows about 1 to 2 meters tall, with leaves that spread out like reeds from the top.”
[Understood. I will send out the Lizardmen to search for it.]
Perfect. Since it’s a wetland plant, the Lizardmen should find it in no time.
Who knows, it might even become a major source of income for them.
The best-case scenario is for them to find it themselves, but… they likely don’t see the necessity for paper, so I’ll have to ask them to do it this way.
Honestly, if I didn’t have them search, the Lizardmen probably wouldn’t feel the need for paper at all.
Just like how humans use clay tablets, Lizardmen can easily haul around big stone tablets. Plus, they etch letters into solid rock using only their claws.
With such overwhelming strength, they may think they don’t need paper. Those Lizardmen!
Anyway, since papyrus grows in wetlands, if it exists in this world, it should be within their territory.
If it’s not there, I can always whip up some seeds and plant them.
“I’ve instructed them to find a substitute for clay tablets to write on.”
[What kind of substitute?]
“Something like parchment made from plants. It’s thin, light, and perfect for jotting down notes.”
If we can create papyrus, the knowledge level in this world could skyrocket.
Instead of limited media like clay tablets or parchment, the widespread use of papyrus could emerge.
Perhaps the general intellectual level could see a massive bounce.
Oh, and speaking of, what will the Elves think?
From their viewpoint, papyrus might look like peeling the skin off their family—well, not literally, but you get the gist—making something like parchment.
Well, nothing can be done regarding the Elves. They’re the kind that instinctively avoids even fruits designed to spread seeds.
Let’s just tell them to stick to parchment.
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