A small child flinched slightly while checking my reactions. Cloud Whale.
Although it wasn’t in the form of a whale now, its mind, akin to that of a young child, seemed largely unchanged.
“Hmm… So you’ve managed to take on a humanoid form.”
“Yeah… Yes…”
“During all this time, Whale-sama worked hard to change its form. But then something new came along that even a massive creature like Whale-sama couldn’t use.”
Ah, definitely. Since they made it in a human-sized version, there’s no way a gigantic Cloud Whale could use it. In fact, it would’ve been impossible for it to even fit inside.
Hmm… Nowadays, most gods reside in human forms, so creating things in human size seemed appropriate. But I didn’t expect issues like this.
“Still, now that you’ve transformed into a human shape, Whale-sama should be able to use this item, right?”
“Um… Is that okay?”
“Of course.”
After all, this was made for the gods, and Cloud Whale, who manages the distribution of souls and the birth of life, certainly deserves to use it.
Though… there is one concern…
“You won’t have any problems using this, but if you get too addicted and neglect your duties… That would be troublesome.”
“That… Don’t worry! Freyja and the angels will handle everything properly!”
At Cloud Whale’s words, Freyja nodded slightly. It feels just like watching over a child as a parent.
“Can I use this? How do I use it?”
“This is still under development, so it’s incomplete. Let me see… There’s a backup somewhere…”
I picked up an LD unit sitting in a corner of the temple and placed it in front of Cloud Whale.
Hmm… We might need to make it lighter. Not the bed with the lid, but something more portable… Maybe a VR-like head-mounted device?
Well, we’ll deal with that later. First, let’s give it a try with Cloud Whale.
“Thanks to making a decent amount, we can hand this over immediately. If you take it to your temple and place it in a suitable spot, you can start using it… Hmm… Wait, don’t you lack a temple?”
“A temple? I don’t have one.”
Indeed. Cloud Whale is one of the lower gods under the Goddess of Life, wandering the skies distributing pure souls. It doesn’t really have what you’d call a temple. Couples praying for children usually pray at the Church of Life anyway.
Thinking about it, when I asked if they wanted a temple, they said they didn’t need one since they always wander the skies…
“This is troubling. Without a temple, where will you put this?”
“My subordinates, the angels, are also confused! Though they’re minor deities, they’re unsure if they’re allowed to receive this!”
Hmm… As minor deities without temples, it does get a bit tricky.
Alright. After adding functions, fixing bugs, and setting grade limits, our next task will be miniaturizing the LD units.
“For now, I have plenty of unused rooms in my temple, so I’ll lend you one. Install and use it there.”
“Thank you! Goddess of Life!”
At my words, Cloud Whale smiled happily and bowed deeply.
How cute! Even when flying around aimlessly in the sky as a huge whale, it had a strangely adorable charm. Now seeing it in a humanoid form, it has its own unique cuteness!
“If there’s an empty room, feel free to use it. Take this device, install it, and use it. And Freyja, consider creating a separate temple for the angels. That might be better.”
“Yes! Thank you!”
Thus, Freyja and Cloud Whale… Hmm. It’s not a whale anymore, so maybe we should give it a different name?
Calling it “whale” forever seems kind of strange. Should we come up with another name?
“Cloud Whale.”
“Yes?”
“Do you perhaps need a different name?”
“Another name?”
Like other gods… Doesn’t this child need a proper name?
Just having a name based on human depictions lacks the dignity befitting a god.
“I haven’t particularly felt the need before.”
“But being called ‘Cloud Whale’ might make it harder to gather faith from humans.”
“We don’t really need faith. There’s nowhere to use it anyway.”
For Cloud Whale, which drifts through the skies every day, there’s no time to consume faith.
Hmm. That’s true.
“Will working in human form interfere with your duties?”
“Eh? Oh, not really. This form doesn’t affect my work at all.”
“In that case, how about spending your days wandering the skies and staying at the Divine Hall at night? You can delegate soul distribution to the angels… In fact, it might be easier for them to find you if you’re not constantly moving around.”
“Well… I don’t mind. If Freyja and the others are okay with it…”
At Cloud Whale’s words, Freyja smiled faintly and replied.
“If Whale-sama stays in one place, it’ll be convenient for us. As long as this human form doesn’t interfere with your duties, we don’t have any objections.”
“Then from now on, wander during the day and stay at the Divine Hall at night.”
After all, having faith without time to use it is meaningless!
“And to help you gather faith more smoothly… I’ll give you a different name.”
What should we call you? Something related to life and birth… Hmm… Something connected to angels…
“Sandalphon?”
A powerful angel, guardian of pregnant women, and angel of fetuses.
Considering Cloud Whale’s true form as a giant cloud whale… Sandalphon’s towering figure seems quite fitting.
“Sandalphon… That’s an odd name.”
“If you dislike it, I can think of another.”
At my words, Cloud Whale shook its head.
“I didn’t say I disliked it. Thank you, Goddess of Life. I’ll cherish the name Sandalphon.”
The human-shaped Cloud Whale, now named Sandalphon, smiled brightly.
It was an incredibly radiant smile.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Thus, the Cloud Whale, now Sandalphon, moved into my temple, and after repeated improvements to the LD…
“Complete!”
After several prototype iterations with new features, we finally finished it somehow.
The new LD, worn over the eyes and ears, implements restrictions based on the user’s rank, unlocking different functions accordingly.
Though the devices themselves are identical, they identify the user and adjust available functions.
This allowed standardizing all devices, greatly improving production efficiency.
In the process, we added a feature to check all gods’ names and their respective faith levels, but that’s a minor detail!
We also added a function to bookmark… ahem, designate important humans, along with additional effects.
Essentially, it’s like receiving a god’s blessing.
Humans bookmarked by angels gain guardian angels, though they don’t grant wishes or anything – just minor buffs like slightly better luck or health.
There are other features too: customizing human avatars using avatar applications, observing babies, targeting humans meeting certain conditions… etc.
With various functions implemented and restrictions based on divine rank, distributing these to all gods should solve all problems.
Thus, we mass-produced standardized LD units and distributed them to all gods.
Now I’ll turn all the gods at the Divine Hall into beings who can’t live without their LDs!
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
The gods at the Divine Hall have become beings who can’t live without their LDs.
They search for humans meeting their desired criteria, bookmark… ahem, designate important humans to watch over.
As the gods observe human joys and sorrows, their attachment to humanity grows stronger, transforming humans from mere playthings or pets into truly precious beings.
The gods began to feel deeper emotions toward humanity.
Watching these gods, I was surprised by unintended consequences but nodded approvingly at their care for humanity.
Now… Unless something unusual happens, the gods likely won’t harm humanity.
Even Asherit got so absorbed in the LD that he neglected his duties once!
As the gods’ entertainment shakes up the Divine Hall, I comfortably curled up in my room.
It’s probably fine to sleep now… Nothing major should happen.
「Oh Great Creator Dragon God!!」
My peaceful thoughts shattered by someone frantically calling for me.
Seriously! Just let me rest! Please!!
