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

Baal struggled and toiled to handle the problems of the gods occurring all over the world.

Baal's appearance, sometimes using force, sometimes using threats, and sometimes splitting the gods, was... Hmm. If I were like that, it would have been really difficult, I couldn't help but think.

And so, I, who had entrusted the duty of being the King of the Gods to Baal, spent a leisurely time continuing my personal research.

The main research was... to develop an automated prayer response device that automatically responds to prayers.

Responding to the prayers of those who believe in the Goddess of Life is really a trivial matter, but it was the task with the largest volume.

The volume was incredibly large, and the things I had to do were just to keep the families of the praying people healthy, to keep them from getting sick, to extend their lifespan... No, I wouldn't extend their lifespan.

Most of what I had to do were prayers for the sick, so it was just a matter of keeping them from getting sick or something like that.

And even then, I only listened to the prayers of those who were really desperate or had deep faith... But still, because of the large number of humans, I was suffering every day.

But that's it! It's over today!

Finally! I have completed! The artificial intelligence that automatically processes human prayers! The so-called automated prayer processing system!!!

Wow, I really struggled with various things. In a situation where there was nothing like artificial intelligence or anything, creating an existence that would process prayers in my place, you know.

I used the faith in the Goddess of Life, which has little value to me, to create a virtual Goddess of Life to replace me, and then made it operate using that faith.

Of course, it doesn't actually exist, but it exists in a corner of my mind, like an AI secretary that works diligently on its own.

The function is simple. When it detects someone's prayer, it identifies the person who prayed, checks the content of the prayer, and if it deems it appropriate, it automatically processes the prayer.

Even such a simple function is enough to handle the countless prayers!

This way, I was able to remove some of the many tasks that were piling up on me!

"What are you thinking about so much? Hurry up and focus on your work."

"Ah, yes."

Of course, just because I created an automated prayer processing system that handles that work on its own doesn't mean I have no work left.

Right now, I'm here in the Afterlife, helping to process the dead.

"It's really a big problem that the number of humans has become too many, but these days, too many humans are dying. Moreover, most of them are sacrificed in the battles between the gods, not just those who died of natural causes. It's troublesome. It's really troublesome."

At Keres' grumbling, I could only give an awkward smile.

I know that Keres is hinting at me in a way, wondering why I'm not doing it directly and instead passing the work on to someone like Baal, the God of the Sky, and creating these problems.

But what can I do? Baal is still a young god, so it will take time for him to become proficient in his work.

And if I had done the work of the King of the Gods, I wouldn't have had the leisure to come here and help in the Afterlife.

I wouldn't have had the time to create an automated prayer processing system for the prayers coming to the Goddess of Life either. Un.

So, I'm not bad!

"What are you doing? Hurry up and get back to work."

"Ugh..."

"What's with the 'ugh'? Do you think you're cute just because you're like that?"

"But I came here to help you guys, can't you at least speak to me a little more kindly?"

"Not until the Goddess of Life fulfilled her promise to me. Promised that, in exchange for becoming the administrator of the Afterlife, she would prepare a place for the dragons to live after they die, right?"

Ah, that.

I had put that off as a low priority, since there were no dragons who had died of old age yet.

"That won't take long to make, so don't worry about it."

"Really?"

"Would I lie to you?"

I would lie if I had to, but not now.

And it's not that difficult to create an afterlife for the dragons either.

"Well then, I'll just trust the Goddess of Life. And if possible, I'd like you to add more administrators of the Afterlife, but..."

"Ah, that's impossible."

"Huh?"

At my words Keres' expression crumbles. A sense of great despair is clearly visible.

"Eh, why? Aren't there many new gods being born right now? If there are gods related to death among them, can't they be brought to the Afterlife?"

Keres' words are imbued with a faint hope. But those words will not come true. They cannot be realized.

Because no more gods of death will be born.

"You already have the gods of death, and what you have is well known. No more gods of death can be born."

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Gods are born from the fear and longing of humans for the unknown.

But as for the Afterlife... Since it is somewhat known to the pilgrims of the Goddess of Life's shrine, there is no room for another god to be born naturally.

Even if the fear of death grows, it will only increase the faith in the three administrators of the Afterlife, and no new god of death will be born.

"If it were artificially created, it might be different, but..."

Just as I created an automated prayer processing system, if I were to create something like an automated Afterlife trial assistance system, it might be helpful.

Anyway, it's impossible naturally. Impossible unless humans imagine a new god of death.

"Then... can we bring in another gods and make them a gods of the Afterlife?"

Bring in other gods and draft them as gods of the Afterlife? Hmm... It's not impossible, but...

"If the god doesn't want to, it will be difficult."

Those gods are all stubborn and won't listen!

"Anyway, I'm working on an artificial intelligence-like thing for work assistance... If I refine it a bit more, it should be able to perform at a level that can be used in the Afterlife as well. That way, your burden might be reduced a little."

"I hope so. But what is artificial intelligence?"

Hmm. Artificial intelligence. I have to explain that from the beginning.

"It's a manufactured intelligence, like an intelligence that's not born naturally, but created by human hands."

"Created artificially? Made by people, not gods? Hmm.. Uh..."

At my words, Keres' expression changes to one of having remembered something.

"Is that different from Talos?"

"Talos?"

Why did Talos suddenly come up?

"Talos was also created by the Goddess, but it has intelligence, right?"

"Talos?"

No, that can't be. Talos is just a golem.

I don't remember ever giving it any kind of intelligence.

"Whenever I go up to the surface to take a break from work, Talos always looks at me with eyes that seem to be saying it's suffering. Sometimes I even envy Talos just standing there motionlessly."

"No, I don't have any memory of giving Talos any kind of intelligence."

"Well, it may not have speech functions or anything. But you can tell from its gaze, can't you?"

Hmm, was that the case? I'm not sure.

If Talos really does have intelligence...

Then all this time I've been struggling to create artificial intelligence... was it all for nothing?

"If that's true, then I can't waste a moment. I'll be away for a bit."

"Huh? Huh?! Wait a minute, Goddess?! Goddess?!?! What am I supposed to do alone?! The other two are on holiday today, but I'll be left alone?! There's too much work for me to handle alone?!?! Goddess!!!"

Leaving Keres' cries behind, I headed towards the Talos at the entrance of the Afterlife.

If Keres' words are true... then I can further improve the performance of the automated prayer processing system.

Maybe I can even turn it into an artificial intelligence that can make its own judgments and decisions! So...

I hurried towards the entrance of the Afterlife.

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

The giant of the black rock. The guardian deity of the Underworld. Talos.

The giant deity created by the Goddess of Life to protect the Afterlife.

The first golem and the first created deity.

Among the many achievements of this giant, the most famous would be how he defended the Afterlife from the demonic army of the Demon King.

At the time, the Afterlife was a place that existed as part of this world, even though it was a harsh environment for living beings.

From the Demon King's perspective, it was a place that could not be left alone, as he sought to disturb the world.

Therefore, the Demon King had sent his trusted subordinates and numerous demons to invade the Afterlife.

However, that army could not enter the Afterlife. They tried to forcibly twist open the gates of the Afterlife and descend below, but they could not pass through the gates guarded by Talos.

The Demon King's army that was annihilated by Talos was the main force of the Demon King at the time, and if that force had remained intact, humanity would not have been able to endure for long, according to the general consensus.

Humanity was able to maintain its existence thanks to the indirect help of Talos.

- The created deity, Talos.

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