NOVEL NEXT Chapter 55
Chapter: 55
Thanatos, now rocking a new name, headed towards the entrance of the afterlife up north, accompanied by a bunch of dark spirits.
The place was as barren as a desert except for Talos, who was busy digging the ground. It was just meant to show them where they’d be working in the future, and it was a bonus to have them toss the rocks Talos smashed into the sea while they were at it.
Let’s see. The effort to neutralize the morale oozing from the dragon’s tomb was going smoothly, but honestly, there were so many people on that task that quite a few of them were just twiddling their thumbs and complaining.
Seriously, I even kicked the lazy dragons lounging around in the new temple out to go take a look at the world!
Of course, I made sure to keep some behind to neutralize the morale from the dragon’s tomb. I rotated the personnel doing the morale work regularly and sent the rest out to explore various corners of the world.
And naturally, they were hiding the fact that they were dragons! Just casually world-wandering! Healing injured people while practicing handling life force, too.
Kind of like wandering doctors, you know?
In a time and place where medical knowledge was as solid as a wet napkin, it was common for even minor injuries to lead to someone kicking the bucket.
So, I sent them out to help those people a little… And the dragons were super into my orders.
Hmm. Dragons who love to travel… How did this happen?
Well, not my problem, I suppose.
With that, I’d wrapped up gathering the dark spirits, directing the morale neutralizing work, and sending cooped-up dragons on world adventures…
Hmm. Now it’s time to prep the teaching materials for the future job of soul transportation for the dark spirits.
So, it looks like I’m off to gather souls… Should I check out the east this time?
I’ve usually scoped out the west, north, and sometimes the south, but letting the east have a turn seems fair.
Now that I think about it, the humans in the east… are starting to look like East Asians from another world. What’s causing that shift?
Is it the environment messing with humans? Do they just start looking like East Asians because they live in the east? What is that? I’m lost.
If someone made this happen on purpose, I’d love to see their face. I’ve got some questions about their bizarre motivations!
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
The humans in the east were living in huge, bustling groups.
In the biggest city, someone using the king’s name had already established a country and was running the whole show, making it hard to compare its scale to anywhere else.
Simply put, their population was massive. Probably two to three times that of other places.
Why are so many being born? How can they have that many people just living?
Hmm… They farm rice in the east, could that be why?
What do they call it? Carrying capacity? Something like how rice can feed more mouths than wheat when grown in the same area?
I feel like I heard that somewhere… Maybe that has something to do with it.
And the fact that so many people are alive means…
“Aaaah!”
“When will you come back?”
It also means that a lot of people are kicking the bucket too.
I see a few young folks carrying a wooden coffin… a bier, heading somewhere.
Trailing behind the bier are several mourners, wailing their hearts out.
Hmm. Is their funeral culture fairly advanced? Well, I suppose that just means a lot of people are dying.
I quietly followed along with the bier.
The bier, decked out with assorted trees and flowers, was headed toward a mountain in the city’s north.
Not too tall, but a pretty impressive mountain. However, that mountain was packed with graves galore.
People were calling it Mangsan Mountain.
Mangsan. Mangsan… Hmm. Is it because the folks living here look East Asian that they have a name styled that way? After hearing Western names all the time, this Eastern name feels super weird.
I really want to see the face of the genius who came up with such a name!
While I was busy with these silly thoughts, the bier continued making its way up the mountain trail.
Looks like this Mangsan is a community graveyard for the deceased of this city.
After a bit of a rocky climb, the bier was gently lowered at a spot that had been dug out to match its coffin size, like a pre-prepared parking spot.
Then, they unhitched the coffin from the bier, placed it in the hole, and started tossing dirt over it like it was just finishing up a birthday cake.
Hmm… A proper burial. I hadn’t seen a funeral this nice in other places… They were going all out, complete with a fancy burial mound.
After burying the coffin, the people carried the now-empty bier back down the mountain.
Wailing didn’t even stop on the way back, which indicates the person buried must have been quite a beloved soul.
Now, time to collect the spirit…
[Has another person been buried today?]
Hmm? The ground next to the freshly dug grave started to rise, forming into the shape of a person.
This spirit was sporting an odd hat, with a broad rectangular plate on top and long fabric flowing front and back, fully covering its face, while wearing layers of outdated clothes.
Nope, not a person. Even though it looked human-ish with that bizarre hat, it was definitely a spirit.
From the vibe it gave off, it was an earth spirit. And it had to be the spirit of this mountain.
[Let’s see. The third one with the surname Jang. Jang Sam. Died of old age without any real illness, so quite a peaceful exit.]
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The mountain spirit stuck its hand into the fresh grave and pulled something out.
What it held was the deceased’s soul.
[Let’s chat until you disappear, shall we? Until every ounce of regret is wrung out of your life.]
[Ah… Mountain God…]
[Indeed. I am the mountain god of Mangsan, as you might call me. Share everything you want to say, everything you couldn’t say. Make sure nothing is left in your heart. So there’s absolutely no trace of regret.]
With that, the mountain spirit began chatting with the soul it had retrieved for the entire day.
Discussing all aspects of the life of the deceased. Until that soul was left with no hesitation about the life they had lived.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
[Has it vanished…?]
“Hmmm… Fascinating.”
[?!]
To think that, even before I worked on the afterlife… someone was taking care of dead souls already.
Not to mention, conversing until there are no regrets left in the soul, completely wiping away all the regrets they harbored.
I can’t miss out on this!
[Are you… the Creator Dragon God?]
“Looks like you still remember me, huh?”
[Of course. It’s been a while… since I was a dragon.]
Given it’s an earth spirit, it must be one of Sagarmatha’s kids.
“Most spirits I’ve encountered struggle to maintain their previous identities. But you seem to be different.”
[I had confidence in my solidity.]
“Sagarmatha’s children do tend toward that, but I didn’t realize it also meant mental firmness.”
[Only a few of us could manage it. But what brings you here so suddenly?]
I gazed at the strange-clad mountain spirit.
“Let’s see. What is your name?”
[I’ve forgotten my name from when I was a dragon. Now, I go by the mountain’s name, Mang.]
“Alright then, I’ll call you Mang. Do you fully grasp what you just did?”
Mang gave a slight nod, causing the cloth hanging from its hat to flutter.
[I do. I made the soul of the deceased disappear.]
“Why’d you do that?”
Mang seemed to gather its thoughts briefly before slowly responding.
[To make sure the deceased has no remaining regrets.]
“Regrets?”
[Yes. If the souls of the departed have lingering attachments, they don’t vanish, and over time, they tend to morph into grotesque forms.]
Huh. You seem to have a solid understanding of this. Looks like you didn’t pull that off without knowing what you were doing.
[There have been cases where such beings attacked the living. However, if we fulfill their need to converse and ensure their regrets are laid to rest, they don’t transform like that.]
“So that’s why you had those conversations?”
[Yes. I could have forcibly eliminated it, but that would only lead to pity for the soul. I just wanted to resolve it through conversation whenever possible. If I didn’t do it this way… burning the corpse could yield a similar result, but I’m really not into that.]
Huh. Nice. Quite the desirable skill you have there. The fact that you try to resolve issues calmly through dialogue instead of brute force gives you even more points! I like it! I really like it!
I smiled at Mang.
“Mang. Would you like to collaborate with me on something?”
[Me? Collaborate?]
“It’s a broad expansion of what you’re currently doing, preparing to manage the souls of the dead for the entire world.”
Mang paused for a moment, looking lost in thought.
[Is that even possible?]
“It won’t be a walk in the park. But I’m working on it right now. It’ll take a bit more time, yet things are coming together piece by piece.”
Talos is digging away, and dark spirits for transporting souls are set up and ready to go.
Now, if we get the afterlife management role squared away, the soul handling process organized, and the processed souls ready for rebirth… is that the grand reveal of the afterlife?
Ah, I need to prep something akin to heaven too.
Creating something entirely new isn’t exactly a cakewalk.
[Could I think it over a bit before deciding?]
“Of course! Take your time. Talents like you are always welcome!”
Plus, you’ve got experience! Experience! Experience handling souls and resolving their grudges!
An experienced employee? Can’t resist that! Ah!