North Ridge (1)
Thanatos, newly renamed, headed to the entrance of the afterlife at the northernmost edge alongside countless shadow spirits. It was still under construction, so aside from Talos digging into the earth, there was nothing there yet—but I sent them to familiarize themselves with their future workplace. On the way, I dumped the task of tossing Talos's broken rocks into the sea on them, of course.
Let's see... The work neutralizing the death aura rising from the Dragon's Tomb was going smoothly, even to the point where there were so many hands that some were complaining about having nothing to do. I couldn't stand watching the dragons lounging around in the newly built temple anymore, so I chased them out to go explore the world! Naturally, I left enough behind to handle the death aura neutralization. I rotated the workers on a schedule, sending the rest out to tour various parts of the world. Of course, hiding the fact that they were dragons! They could sightsee a bit, practice handling life force, and heal injured people along the way. Like wandering doctors, roughly speaking? In this era where medical knowledge was still primitive, even small wounds often turned deadly from infection.
I sent them out partly to help those people... but the dragons took to my orders with surprising enthusiasm. Hmm. Dragons who love traveling...? How did they end up like this? Eh, not my problem. With gathering the shadow spirits done, assigning the death aura neutralization tasks finished, and kicking the shut-in dragons out for world tours complete... hmm. Next up: preparing teaching materials for practicing soul transport, their main future duty. That means I need to go collect some souls...
Shall I head east this time? I've mostly checked the west, north, and occasionally south—time to see the east for a change. Come to think of it, the humans in the east... they were starting to resemble East Asians from my old world. What was causing that shift? Environmental influence on humans? Or did living in the east make them look that way? What the heck. No clue. If someone's meddling to make it happen, I'd love to see their face and ask why they'd do something so baffling.
The humans in the east lived in massive clusters. The largest city among them already had a king who had founded and ruled a nation under his name—the scale was incomparable to anywhere else. Simply put, the population was enormous. Two or three times that of other places. Why were so many born here? How could so many survive? Hmm... They farmed rice in the east—was that it? Something about population carrying capacity? Even on the same land, rice could feed more people than wheat? I'd heard something like that somewhere... Maybe that's the reason.
And with so many people living... meant just as many dying.
"Aigoo! Aigoo!"
"When will you come back now that you're gone!"
A wooden coffin carrying a corpse—placed on a bier and borne by young men heading somewhere. A crowd followed behind, wailing in grief. Hmm. Funeral customs seemed highly developed here. Well, with so many deaths, that made sense. I quietly trailed the bier. Adorned with various trees and flowers, it headed to a mountain north of the city. Not terribly high, but with striking terrain. Yet it was packed with graves. The people called this mountain North Ridge Mountain.
North Ridge Mountain. North Ridge Mountain... Hmmm. Since the locals looked East Asian, did they name it in an Eastern style too? After all the Western names, this felt strangely alien. I'd love to see the face of whoever slapped together this half-baked worldbuilding!
Whether I was lost in such idle thoughts or not, the bier pressed on up the mountain path. It seemed North Ridge Mountain was the communal graveyard for the city's dead. After navigating a somewhat rugged trail, they reached a pre-dug hole sized for the coffin and carefully lowered the bier. They separated the coffin, placed it in the pit, and began covering it with soil. Hmm... A proper funeral. I hadn't seen ceremonies this elaborate elsewhere... They even built a full mound. Once the coffin was buried, the humans hoisted the empty bier and descended, their wails continuing. Must've been a really good person to be mourned like that even on the way back.
Alright, time to collect the soul...
「Another one buried today, eh.」
Hmm? Next to the fresh grave, the earth rose, forming a human shape. A bizarre hat with a broad square brim, long cloths draping front and back to fully cover the face, and layered antique robes. Not human, though. Dressed like one, but... a spirit. From the aura, an earth spirit. This mountain's spirit, probably.
「Let's see. Third son of the Jang clan. Jang Sam. Died of old age, no illness—auspicious passing.」
The mountain spirit thrust a hand into the new grave and pulled something out. In its grasp: the deceased's soul.
「Let's chat until you're ready to go. Until there's no regret left in your life.」
「Ahh... Mountain God...」
「Yes. The Mountain God of North Ridge Mountain, as you call me. Say what you want, what you couldn't. Empty your heart completely. Leave no lingering attachment.」
And so the mountain spirit spent the day talking with the soul it had extracted. Every story of that one's life. Until the soul, having ended its life, harbored no more hesitation.
「Gone now...」
"Hmmm. Fascinating."
「?!」
To think, even before I built the afterlife... someone was handling souls. And by talking until all regrets were gone, dissolving every lingering attachment. This... I can't pass it up!
「You are... the Genesis Dragon?」
"You even remember me."
「Of course. I was a dragon, after all.」
An earth spirit, so likely one of Sagarmatha's children.
"Most spirits I've seen couldn't retain their past selves properly. But you seem different."
「Sturdy construction was my specialty.」
"Sagarmatha's kids did tend toward physical toughness, but I didn't know it extended to mental fortitude too."
「Only a few of us could manage it. But what brings you here so suddenly?」
I looked at the mountain spirit in its odd garb and said,
"Let's see. What's your name?"
「Forgot my dragon name. Now they call me North Ridge, after the mountain.」
"North Ridge it is, then. Do you fully understand what you just did?"
North Ridge nodded slightly, the cloths on its hat fluttering.
「Yes. I made the dead soul disappear.」
"Why do that?"
North Ridge paused, as if gathering thoughts, then spoke slowly.
「To leave no regrets in the deceased.」
"Regrets?"
「Yes. Souls with lingering attachments don't fade. Over time, they twist into monstrous shapes.」
Hmm. Pretty spot-on. Not clueless at all.
「There were incidents where they attacked the living. But if I talked enough to resolve their regrets, they never twisted.」
"So that's why you talked it out?"
「Yes. I could force-dissolve them, but that felt too pitiful. Better to resolve with words if possible. Otherwise... burning the body works similarly, but I didn't like that.」
Hmm. Not bad. A real gem of a talent. Extra points for solving things calmly through talk instead of force! Nice! Perfect!
I smiled at North Ridge.
"North Ridge. Want to work with me on something?"
「Pardon? Work?」
"Like expanding what you're doing, but world-scale: managing all the dead souls."
North Ridge fell silent for a moment.
「Is... that possible?」
"Not easy, but it's underway. Talos is digging the space nonstop, shadow spirits are ready for transport. It'll take more time, but it's progressing steadily."
Once I prepare managers for the afterlife, soul processing, and reincarnation for the processed... the afterlife's basically done? Oh, gotta set up something like heaven too. Creating entirely new stuff is no joke.
「Could I... think it over a bit before deciding?」
"Sure! Take all the time you need. Talents like you are always welcome!"
Plus, experienced hire! Experienced! Handled souls, resolved regrets—experienced staff! I can't pass up a seasoned pro! No way!