When I was only known by the na of Creator Dragon God, not many called upon .
At most, it was lizardn or dragons. Even then, it was very rare, or they would call upon only through the Archmage designated as my communication channel.
But now, as the owner of the Temple of Life and also taking on the role of the Goddess of Life….
[Please heal my illness!]
[My mother is unwell. Please listen to my prayer.]
[The wounds I received in the war continue to ache. Please do sothing….]
[Oh Goddess of Life! I want a partner! Please give a pretty, good at housework, and kind woman!!]
Countless prayers were pouring down on . But that last one praying! I'm the Goddess of Life, not so Goddess of Matches!!
Ahem. I realize anew, there are really countless people suffering in this world. Most of those praying to were either sick or afflicted with diseases.
Well, it's not like I can respond to every prayer that's made.
I tried sending a ssage reply, thinking maybe it wasn't impossible, but unfortunately, it failed.
Sending ssages from here doesn't seem to transmit properly. Though, ssages do get sent properly to dragons.
Ah, that reminds , there was a case where a ssage was transmitted to soone other than dragons.
To the priest who beca a servant of the Goddess of Life, who is now moving from youth to middle age, my ssage was properly transmitted.
When I first sent a ssage reply to that priest, he was so startled, I couldn't help but burst into laughter.
But seeing that ssages are properly transmitted to dragons and priests unlike ordinary people, it seems that if the other party doesn't have enough faith, I can't send ssages.
Dragons worship as both the Goddess of Life and Creator Dragon God, so it's only natural.
Anyway, with such restrictions on replies, I couldn't respond to those who prayed to , but I did fulfill the prayers of those who were truly desperate.
Making those with life-related diseases or injuries slightly better. So that their lives were no longer in jeopardy.
Though I can't send replies to prayers, I can fulfill the prayers of those who are truly desperate.
While taking care of the poor lives as the Goddess of Life, I was finishing up the construction of the afterlife when a ssage arrived from the priest.
[Oh Mother of Life. Please lend your wisdom.]
No, I'd really prefer if you'd stop calling Mother of Life. Being called that makes feel like I'm destined to be caught, and forced to lay eggs over and over.
I've never laid eggs in the first place!
Anyway.
“What wisdom do you seek from ?”
[I wish to know the answer to a question that has remained unsolved for a long ti. I could not find the answer on my own.]
A question? A question, huh.
This priest is quite intelligent among humans, but he wants to know the answer to an unsolved question.
What could the question be?
“What is your question?”
[What is life?]
It was a very vague question.
Life. Life, huh. The ability of living things to live and breathe and be active?
No, that's just the dictionary definition. That's not the answer he's looking for.
A very vague question. But one with much to ponder.
What is life?
The most precious thing that cannot be exchanged for anything else?
Life? Existence? The choices between birth and death?
Claiming to be the Goddess of Life, yet unable to give a clear answer to the question of what is life? I'm truly pathetic.
Unable to give a clear answer, I asked the priest in return.
There's nothing more foolish than answering a question with a question, but I beca curious about what he thinks.
“What do you think life is?”
[Are you talking about my thoughts?]
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The priest pondered deeply at my words, then spoke slowly.
[Could it not be the driving force for movent? Just as a living being's body circulates warmth, their heart beats, and they breathe, a non-living being's body grows cold and can no longer move.]
Hmm. Is that what he was thinking?
Well, it's not exactly wrong.
"Your words do have a point."
If one cannot possess life, they simply beco a cold corpse.
"Life has many anings. What you're thinking of is just one aspect of life."
[Many anings...]
"It could be the choice between birth and death, or sothing invaluable that cannot be compared to anything else."
I paused to catch my breath and continued.
"It's the ability for living beings to breathe and move. It's the power that allows living beings to exist as living beings. The definition of life differs depending on who defines it."
It was a rather vague explanation, but I could not put it any other way.
No one in this world had deeply contemplated the aning of life.
Including myself.
[Differs depending on who defines it...]
The priest seed deep in thought. Hmm...did I handle that well?
He caught off guard by asking such a difficult question suddenly.
Speaking of which, it's rather funny. I call myself the Goddess of Life, yet I cannot clearly define what life is.
I can manipulate life force at will and easily strengthen others' life forces.
Yet I am a foolish deity who cannot clearly define life itself.
If he realized I was such a pathetic deity, would that child be disappointed too?
[Thank you, Mother of Life. It feels like the fog obscuring my vision is clearing.]
What?
He gained such an enlightennt from my ambiguous answer? Where in my words did he find that?
Contrary to my doubts, the priest looked extrely satisfied, as if finding the answer to a question that had long tornted him.
Well...if he's happy with it, then it's good. Yes.
Leaving the priest behind, I proceeded with the final preparations for the underworld construction.
The 7 layers were all ready, the Cloud Whale to return souls was prepared too. Good.
Shall I open the underworld soon?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Church of Life - humanity's first faith, or if including non-human beings then not the first, but for humans it was - has now beco inseparable from humans.
From assisting pregnant won in childbirth to performing funeral rites after death.
It is said that the Church of Life, which accompanies humans from birth to death, originated from pilgrims who called themselves "those who bestow life."
The pilgrims who called themselves "those who bestow life" helped countless people as they traveled the world, but never settled in one place, so they could not avoid prejudice as outsiders.
The Goddess of Life, the faith of these wanderers, underwent a major transformation by a figure nad Haim.
Haim was the first priest to serve the Goddess of Life and the only person who heard her voice. He was known for being the first to use divine power originating from faith, healing others through devotion to the Goddess of Life, unlike "those who bestow life" who used their own life force to help others.
Among his achievents were enshrining the Goddess of Life, who was originally the faith of the wandering pilgrims, as his own deity and building a proper temple to concretize the faith in the Goddess. He also compiled scriptures with the help of "those who bestow life."
He also organized the genealogies of the gods of birth and death who assist the Goddess of Life, and left behind many writings.
Among his famous writings are "What is Life?", which can be summarized as "the definition of life differs for each person", and "A Small Consideration on the Afterlife", the first record of the structure of the afterlife.
In particular, his depiction of the afterlife as divided into seven layers was a great shock to society at the ti.
Moreover, the idea that one would receive terrible punishnts according to the sins committed in life, though novel at the ti, implied primitive justice by suggesting that no sin could be hidden and would be punished after death.
This fear of the underworld lingered long in the human psyche, to the extent that even the legendary hero Rychlen, said to have no equal under heaven, had to resort to various tricks rather than a frontal assault to pass through its gates.
- The Origins of the Church of Life
A book containing much information about the Church of Life, said to have been written with the cooperation of the Church itself.
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