Chapter 37: God (2)
✉️
A letter envelope quietly floating in the bottom right of my field of view.
I clicked my tongue slightly at the sight of the envelope, which hadn’t shown up for thousands of years.
The creator god, who tossed me into this world and then ghosted me for an eternity… What the heck is he trying to say by sending this?
Suppressing the little annoyance bubbling up, I poked the envelope with my finger.
┌────────────
│Congratulations!
│
│Intelligent beings have learned writing.
│They have taken the first step in primitive faith!
│
│Thanks to the faith of intelligent beings,
│GodTalk is activated.
│
│Increase the faith towards you!
│The path to omnipotence is not far!
│
│This message is automated.
└────────────
Ugh… Seriously? Now he’s only sending automated messages?
What is this, an email newsletter? Was it set up in advance and only just opened? Did it trigger now that they’ve figured out writing?
Hmm… What exactly does that creator god want from me? Right now, I’ve got no clue.
I let out a small sigh and decided to tuck away my thoughts about the creator god. Worrying about a being I can’t understand is just asking for trouble.
Speaking of GodTalk… now that I think about it, there was something about that in the message the creator god sent when it first launched.
I scrolled up to check the first message I received.
│By the way, this was made as a messenger for gods.
│
│Namely, GodTalk!
│For now, it’s just you and me using it.
│
│Maybe someday, if there are gods in this world, they’ll use it?
Seeing that part… it’s like it was meant for this from the start.
I closed the message window. It’s a messenger for gods, but I have no idea how to use it…
✉️
A message window pops up again in the corner of my view.
This time, there’s a little number attached to the corner of the envelope.
It looks like a messenger indicating how many unread messages there are.
That number is… 10, 30, 50, 100… What is this? Why does it keep climbing? The number just endlessly goes up until it hits 999+.
What the heck is going on… It seems like there are countless messages piled up.
Swallowing hard at the intimidating number, I carefully touched the envelope icon with my finger.
Then, a message window of immeasurable length appeared before me.
The name of the god receiving the messages is the Creator Dragon God.
And the senders? Lots of lizardmen.
Hmm. So… each prayer sent by the lizardmen to the Creator Dragon God is reflected here. And judging by the timestamps, it seems they’ve been stacking these up until GodTalk activated, and then they all flooded in at once.
All the prayers the lizardmen sent since they started believing in the Creator Dragon God are crammed into this message window…
H-How am I supposed to read all this… Even stopping time wouldn’t make it any easier.
Just as I was seriously considering ignoring all the messages, I thankfully realized there’s a prayer-filtering feature in the message window.
Well, of course! How could I answer every single prayer? The trivial ones can just slide by. Yeah.
Let’s filter for now, focusing only on the prayers from the chief of the lizardmen tribe, and if there are any really urgent ones, I’ll check those out. Fortunately, the prayer filtering is quite detailed, meaning I can also spot the sincere ones.
Hmm. So…
[Oh, Creator Dragon God! Are you sleeping?]
That’s a recent prayer. A prayer sent by the chief of the lizardmen tribe.
Hmm… A prayer seeking me. Well, I haven’t done much for the lizardmen these last few hundred years. They might feel neglected.
Maybe I should have shown my face every now and then? But I got wrapped up in other races, so the lizardmen fell to the back of my mind.
I figured they could manage without much intervention. Hmm…
Maybe the lizardmen… Their faith in me, their faith in the Creator Dragon God, is fading?
I took a look at the prayers received in the name of… no, under the authority of the Creator Dragon God. Plenty of ancient prayers came in, but the frequency has been dropping steadily.
Yeah… Recently, not too many prayers have been sent. The lizardmen’s faith in the Creator Dragon God is clearly diminishing.
Hmm. I was never particularly keen on the title Creator Dragon God… but it’s a bit worrisome that the prayers aimed at me are decreasing.
Right. Since I’ve been preoccupied with other races and haven’t paid attention to the lizardmen, maybe I should start lending a hand from now on?
But even if I want to help… I have no idea what the lizardmen really need.
They’re physically strong, food isn’t an issue. They seem pretty satisfied with their stone-age level tech using obsidian tools, so they’re not progressing…
Ah, got it. What if I pick one of the lizardmen and bless them?
I could hold a martial arts tournament and pick the strongest lizardman, give them the title of Great Warrior, and toss in some blessings, which would surely boost their faith in me.
Hmm. What if I add some variety? The lizardmen use magic drawn from spiritual powers, so why not create the title of Great Shaman too?
It feels like making a ruling trio out of the Great Chieftain, Great Warrior, and Great Shaman? Separation of powers? Well, that’s a bit of a stretch.
The Great Warrior could be chosen through a martial arts tournament, while the Great Shaman could be the lizardman with the best magical talent…
Let’s keep the Great Chieftain as it is, inheriting their position through lineage. Hm.
Speaking of which, do they still have that obsidian spear I fixed ages ago? Hmm…
If the spear is passed down to the Great Chieftain, it might be better to provide a totally new weapon for the Great Warrior… Since the obsidian spear is already in the hands of the Great Chieftain, it’s not like I can just hand that over to the new Great Warrior.
I’ll need to mull over what weapon to give the lizardmen’s Great Warrior.
No, no. Let’s flip the script.
Instead of just granting a new weapon, how about blessing the one the Great Warrior already wields?
Unlike the Great Chieftain who inherits their role by blood, the martial arts tournament winner deserves a reward tailored just for them.
Focusing on the weapon they already use would be better. That way, it’s something the Great Warrior is comfortable with.
I could also boost their physical strength. Hmm… Since they’re lizardmen, what if I evolve them into dragon-like creatures?
Sure, they wouldn’t compare to real dragons, but any lizardman with some of that draconic power would definitely be of worth.
Alright! That covers the Great Warrior. Now onto the Great Shaman… Hmm…
How do I approach that? Should I select the lizardman with the top-notch talent?
A Great Chieftain picked by lineage, a Great Warrior winning by their own skill, and a Great Shaman chosen for their exceptional talent… Hmm. Looks like a well-balanced lineup.
Plus, the Great Shaman could get to talk to me directly, or if they need something, I could teach them on the spot, or improve the lizardmen’s magic…
Hmm. For the Great Shaman, sharing my knowledge seems more beneficial than material help.
Lastly, the Great Chieftain… Since they have the authority inherited through lineage, that should suffice!
Alright. With a rough direction in mind, I can take my time to make a decision, then inform the lizardmen… No, it might be tricky to announce it to all of them. I’ll just share it with the Great Chieftain.
At the next festival, I’ll hold a tournament to select the best warrior and determine the most talented shaman to have a direct conversation with me.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
The lizardmen’s representative festival. On the last day of the Festival of the White Flower, there’ll be a martial arts tournament to choose the Great Warrior representing the lizardmen.
Only lizardmen can participate in this tournament, and the winner will snag the honorable title of Great Warrior and the blessing of the Creator Dragon God, allowing them to transcend their lizardman status and become dragon-like.
Of course, this is just a temporary blessing valid only for the year they serve as the Great Warrior.
But even a one-year blessing shouldn’t be dismissed.
The moment they receive it, their body returns to prime condition, and any physical ailments vanish completely.
Records say one Great Warrior had serious heart issues and other problems, but because they were the best among the lizardmen, they earned the title of Great Warrior. After receiving the Creator Dragon God’s blessing, all of their physical issues were resolved—at least that’s what the rumors say.
And then a year later, when someone else took up the Great Warrior position, the blessing left that body. Yet, for some reason, all previous physical issues remained resolved.
By simply becoming the Great Warrior and receiving the blessing from the Creator Dragon God, even pesky ailments like diseases vanished completely.
– Promotional pamphlet for the Festival of the White Flower.
You may also like Mesugaki Tank Enters The Academy
