Whether You Call Me a Guardian Dragon or Not, I’m Going to Sleep

"Isn't it your desire to live a new life?"

"Yes, but if I go to the paradise you speak of, isn't that impossible?"

"Why do you think it's impossible?"

At my words, the hero fell silent and became lost in thought.

Well, it was just a simple thought.

Just because one enters the paradise, it doesn't mean they can't be reincarnated.

The reason this is possible is that the soul and essence, the two components that make up the soul, can be easily separated, and all that is needed for reincarnation is the soul alone.

I drew a diagram in the air with magic. A black and white yin-yang symbol. This depicted the structure of the soul, the intertwining of the soul and essence.

"This is a simple representation of the structure of the soul."

"Yes. The white is the soul, the black is the essence. Together they form the spirit, or what is called the soul. In this form, the soul is the innate, and the essence is the acquired."

I separated the black and white from the yin-yang.

"The soul that passes the Afterlife's judgment is purified, with the essence disappearing and only the pure soul remaining. That soul is then reborn by the god of birth into a new life."

"I vaguely remember hearing about that before."

Before embarking on the adventure, I had taught the hero these things at the temple of life, and he surprisingly remembered.

"The key point here is that only the soul is needed for reincarnation. The essence is the part of the soul that is imprinted with memories from one's life. Those memories must not remain during the process of reincarnation into a new life."

Though, every now and then, there are those whose essence is not completely cleansed.

Well, it's only a small part of their memories, so at most they may have a faint recollection of their past life or speak of their Afterlife experience.

This is all due to the Afterlife being so busy that there's hardly any time.

"So, that means... the talk of reincarnating in the paradise..."

"Yes. By separating the soul into soul and essence, we can reincarnate the soul while leaving the essence in the paradise."

Since memories play a significant role in shaping a person's personality, if we can preserve those memories in the paradise, then it's fine to reincarnate just the soul.

"If you reincarnate, end your new life, and come back to the afterlife, you'll be able to.... you feel like you're going back into paradise, unless you've done something really bad."

"What if I did commit misdeeds?"

"The soul that committed misdeeds must be cleansed. After being purified, it would reunite with the essence that was left in the paradise, restoring the soul to its original state. That's the general idea I have in mind."

Splitting the soul, keeping half in storage and reincarnating the other half. And later retrieving it. That way, reincarnation can also occur in the paradise.

In other words, they would be able to take a brief excursion to the lower world while residing in the paradise, and then return to the heavens.

"Of course, I'll only provide this service to those who desire it. It's not an essential thing."

Since it's just a rough concept that I haven't fully developed yet, I'm worried about how it will turn out once completed.

But if I can control it properly... then keeping the essence in the paradise might not just be preserving it like a specimen.

"I'm not sure, but it seems like a difficult task."

"Well, handling souls is something I'm familiar with. I'm sure it'll work out somehow."

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And I have helpers, the three gods of the Afterlife, to assist me.

Though they're swamped with the constant influx of work in the Afterlife, they can lend a hand in exchange for assistance.

"Well, since it's something you're doing, I'm sure it'll work out."

"It's not like I always succeed, you know."

"But still, you'll find a way, won't you? It's hard to imagine you failing at something you set your mind to."

It's true that I don't always succeed. I've had my fair share of spectacular failures, like the war between the dragons or the escape of Erebus.

Hmm. Best not to dwell too deeply on those. It'll only make me angry again.

I peeled and cut the apple into appropriate sizes, then placed it on the table next to the bed where the hero was lying.

"If you feel like eating it later, then eat it."

The apple came from the apple tree that I had grown with my magic, so eating it would restore vitality. Even just a little would make his body feel better.

"I don't have an appetite, so I can't eat it."

"But you have to eat at least a little. If you keep starving, your stomach will get upset."

The hero's body, which had been tempered and honed like steel through rigorous training and adventures, could not withstand the passage of time and had shriveled up. The once firm muscles had lost their elasticity and become slack... His physical condition was clearly telling that the hero could not endure much longer.

However, thanks to the abundant magic he had accumulated through constant training, his body was still holding on, even without proper nourishment...

But now, it was reaching its limit.

It would be better to start preparing myself mentally.

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"Then it's about time for the children to come. What story should I tell them today?"

"How about the story of you catching the giant five-headed snake from the east?"

For some reason, snakes often become powerful monsters. Is there something special about snakes?

Lizards and snakes, creatures with scales, tend to become stronger in strange ways.

"Hmm... The subject matter is sufficient, but the development of the event is rather lackluster. Feeding him a lot of alcohol made from fermented rice and then slitting his throat while he's asleep... It seems a bit too underhanded for the hero to do."

"But it made it convenient, didn't it?"

That snake had been regularly coming down to the village and devouring the people, so there were only a few children left in that village.

Well, that's already a story from the past.

"Or how about the story of you catching the giant bird in the southeast desert?"

"That was essentially Sister's achievement. I just held on to the tail feathers and got tossed around before finishing it off."

"But isn't that still one of your heroic deeds, Hero?"

The memories of the adventures I had shared with the hero were gradually accumulating, becoming cherished recollections.

All the things we had done together, the people we had saved.

The time spent not just observing the world from the perspective of a god, but mingling among the living, experiencing their lives.

All of these were being stored within me, becoming my own memories.

"Well, I should be going now. I'll see you again later."

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"Yes, take care."

And so, the hero and I bid each other farewell.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In the past, the hero had made a pouch using the wing membrane of a wyvern he had captured.

It was a so-called "infinite pouch" that could hold much more than a normal pouch by being connected to a pocket dimension. Well, it wasn't truly infinite, but close enough.

It was an item I didn't particularly need, but when I gave it to the hero, he found it quite useful.

In fact, that pouch was created for a different purpose - to experiment with creating another world.

The goal was to make a tiny world and use it as I pleased.

At first... well, creating a world was not as easy as it seemed. Even making a world the size of a small pouch was quite challenging.

But after gradually improving and increasing the size, I've now succeeded in creating a world of considerable size.

Well, there's nothing in it!

A void space without even a speck of light. I was planning to use this empty space to create a paradise.

I had considered making it in this world as well, but... there was a case where someone stubbornly burrowed their way in, trying to revive the dead, after I had hidden the entrance to the Afterlife deep in the far north, where normally no one could come.

So, I decided to create the paradise in a different world instead.

Honestly, I just can't understand how that child had the gall to find the Afterlife, and how they managed to do it... A lunatic trying to revive their parents by entering the Afterlife.

As a result, they got caught by the afterlife and are now a caretaker of the hierarchy... a gatekeeper. But let's move on from that story.

In the void world, I will be writing down laws completely different from the existing world.

A world where physical matter naturally decomposes, and the spiritual world exists. A world where the size expands in proportion to the number of souls that enter the paradise.

A world where anything desired can be created. A world where you can reunite with anyone you wish to meet in the paradise.

If they are not in the paradise? Well, I've thought about it a bit... a world where you can meet beings created through your memories.

Hmm. It's not the actual person, but... I can only do it this way.

However, just because someone in the paradise wishes for it, I cannot let the souls who have not entered the paradise come in.

There's no helping it. This is how it has to be.

In any case, a world where all desires can be fulfilled. A world without conflict, war, or fighting.

What if the people who enter want war and fighting? How did they even pass the Afterlife's judgment?

But just in case, referring to Norse mythology... I'll prepare a space where those people can gather and fight to their heart's content. The heroes who have entered the paradise might start fighting each other out of a sense of rivalry, after all.

Of course, only if they themselves desire it. Those who don't want to fight shouldn't be forced to.

A space where milk and honey flow, and there is no pain or suffering for eternity.

A land where the warriors can fight, die, and be reborn to satisfy their hunger forever.

Whatever one desires, whatever one wishes for, everything will be fulfilled in this world.

And those who wish to leave can depart at any time.

Such a world shall be made.