The children also glanced around as if to say, “Let’s check out the Church of Life one last time before heading back.”
Uh-oh… But I really don’t want to go back. Once I do, I’m sure I’ll be buried under a mountain of work for decades.
But there’s no choice. As much as I don’t feel like it… I can’t just leave Asherat stuck in that pit of work. Yikes!
It’s my fragment, but that menacing glare is not something to take lightly. Ugh.
Anyway, let’s take one last look at the Church of Life. Yeah!
So, we went to the Church of Life.
Hmm… There’s not much different here.
From the looks of it, it didn’t seem like anything had changed in the last 300 years. Yawn.
Many pilgrims set off on their journeys for others, while the priests remaining in the church and temple healed the believers, offered counseling, and provided plenty of help.
It felt like the same scene as 300 years ago, but that was not the case.
Did the others leave the church?
Aside from a few dragons on their pilgrimages, only about three of us, including me, are left in the church right now.
The head priest, who manages all the priests and pilgrims of the Church of Life, smiled softly at me.
Of course, they weren’t human but a dragon.
This used to be a child who blended in among humans as a pilgrim but is now doing the head priest’s job… Time sure flies!
Well, whatever.
Three, huh…? I thought they might all leave…
Considering that I had half-heartedly left the Church of Life to kids like Asherat and mostly neglected it, it wouldn’t have been strange if they had all left. But to think they were still here!
Running the Church of Life is an important task that Creator Dragon God ordered, but it’s also quite beneficial for us.
Beneficial?
Yes! Thanks to the Church of Life, us dragons can easily blend into human society.
Easily blending into human society? Well, I guess that makes sense.
When you think about what the Church of Life and its priests do… from human birth to death. They’re involved in every aspect of life.
They bless newborn babies, heal the sick and injured, bless them again when their children are born, and help them peacefully slip into rest when they meet death.
The priests of the Church of Life were involved in that entire cycle. With that, dragons should easily blend in among humans.
Plus, they would gain a lot by observing human lives from up close.
If a significant number of dragons hadn’t left the Church of Life due to Creator Dragon God’s earlier decree… there would likely be even more dragons actively serving in the Church by now. But no dragon would dare disobey Creator Dragon God’s decree.
A decree had gravity…? I remember it just being a nudge to encourage dragons to experience more diversified activities since they weren’t keen on doing anything beyond their duties at the Church of Life.
Well, it seems that, except for a few dragons, things have turned out somewhat as I intended.
Still, they’re all taking turns to serve and help out at the Church of Life. Sure, there’s some mild discontent, but everyone is generally following orders.
They’re scheduling turns for that?
Well, it’s because they’re directly under Creator Dragon God’s command. Naturally, it must be seen as honorable!
Hmm…. Is that how it is? I really don’t know.
It just feels like they’re managing with whatever they have on their plate. But, if that’s what the dragons want, who am I to say otherwise?
Wouldn’t a decrease in the number of dragons negatively affect the operation of the Church of Life? How is the situation?
The number of dragons serving the Church of Life has indeed declined, but there hasn’t been a significant issue with the operations. Instead, the abilities of humans have generally increased!
The abilities of humans?
Yes! After praying to Creator Dragon God, humans have been able to borrow that power… and perform feats close to magic!
Magic?
Yes. It’s quite different from existing healing magic, which made it particularly memorable.
Hmm…. Different from healing magic that recovers vitality and heals wounds through faith? How intriguing!
Using the divine power borrowed from the gods to perform magic… If we were to name it, “Divine Magic” would be a fitting name!
So instead of relying on their magical power, they’re using divine power through their faith… Upon reflection, it isn’t that odd.
There’s already a way to recover life energy using divine power, so who’s to say it can’t be utilized in other ways?
It seems that when a human who was originally a mage joined as a priest at the Church of Life, they devised that method, thereby enhancing the abilities of human priests in many ways. Now, an experienced priest or pilgrim can repel quite a hefty monster!
Whoa… Is it really that impressive?
The head priest smiled softly and nodded.
Even without that Divine Magic, the priests and pilgrims have traversed dangerous paths and fought formidable monsters. Given that they have been granted such powerful magic, it’s only natural they would grow even stronger!
Hmm… That does make sense. Previously, they were already battling monsters while on pilgrimage, so with their new divine magic, they would indeed become even more formidable.
That’s like giving wings to a tiger!
Thanks to that, the towns protected by the priests and pilgrims of Life have become much safer!
Whoa…
Now, it’s almost unnecessary for a few dragons to mix in among the pilgrims. Because of that, we’ve been able to reduce the number of dragons involved in the Church of Life even further!
Indeed. That explains why the number of dragons belonging to the Church of Life has been reduced significantly.
Well, good is good. It always bothered me a little that the dragons were stuck with my orders at the Church of Life.
Letting them live freely isn’t such a bad deal.
Although, the dragons who left the Church of Life were somewhat disgruntled. Still, I managed to convince them with rotational shifts!
Rotational shifts…?
Yes. If we didn’t do that, most dragons would stubbornly insist on working at the Church of Life. The order was decided by drawing lots, and they change shifts every 50 years!
Fifty years? Hmm… That roughly aligns with a human’s generational change.
Does that mean the dragons are rotating and taking turns with the head priest position…?
Thank goodness the dragons are trustworthy. Otherwise, I would have thought they were monopolizing power among themselves.
Actually, it turns out they are indeed monopolizing it… all the dragons in a way.
Well, it’s better to have trustworthy dragons in charge rather than leaving such important positions to mere humans. Let’s stay positive about this!
So then…
Is everything okay with the dragons?
Nothing much out of the ordinary. The dragon population is gradually increasing!
Hmm… It looks like the dragons are slowly increasing in number. That’s fine.
Also, Sister Seres… I mean, now she’s Keres. Every time she comes to meet the dragons, she boasts about how she helped create the afterlife for dragons!
Keres… I had wondered what she did on her days off from working in the Underworld. So she went to visit the dragons!
Well, thanks to Keres, a world for dragons in the afterlife was indeed created!
But we don’t even know how long dragons live! They don’t seem like they’ll die for a thousand years or so.
If dragons were to die from old age, I’d guess it would take about ten thousand years.
Because even with a thousand years, dragons wouldn’t have any problems physically.
Except for me. I’m just too irregular for anything!
Still, Keres must have her reasons for thinking that way, right?
Specifically, she might have seen the fate of the dragons who became spirits… and thought, “I want to die as a dragon, not lose my physical form.”
Seeing countless dragons lose their physical bodies and scatter without even a sense of self would make one think that way.
But was Keres part of the generation that witnessed that scene? Hmm… Who knows!
Well, I don’t need to dwell on it too much.
Anyway, I’m relieved that there’s nothing unusual going on. If anything happens and you need my help, please let me know immediately!
To you, Creator Dragon God, we might seem like an insufficient race… But we dragons, aside from you and our ancestors, possess powers comparable to most gods. There’s no need for concern!
Well, you never know what might happen. Just in case anything arises, let me know immediately!
The head priest simply nodded at my request.
By the way, your fragment seemed pretty angry earlier… Are you okay?
Ah.
