---

Chapter: 268

A small child flinched slightly, stealing glances at me. The Cloud Whale.

Now, it doesn’t look like a whale, but its spirit, resembling that of a child, hadn’t changed much.

“It seems you’re able to take a human form now.”

“Y-yes…”

“The Whale God has been trying hard to change its appearance for a while now. In the meantime, something new popped up, but the huge Whale God can’t use such things.”

Ah, definitely, since it was made to fit a humanoid size, the giant Cloud Whale couldn’t make use of it. It probably couldn’t even fit in it at all.

Hmm… Most of the current gods live in human form, so I thought it made sense to manufacture things to that scale… never realized there’d be a problem.

“But now that you’ve transformed into a human form, surely you can use this item, right?”

“Um, that should be fine.”

I waved my hand lightly to call the Cloud Whale over, and it timidly approached me.

“Do you want to try using it?”

“Is that really okay?”

“Of course.”

Since it was made for the gods, the Cloud Whale, being a god managing the distribution of souls and the birth of life, has every right to use it.

However, there’s one thing I’m worried about…

“It’s fine for you to use this, but if you end up overly engrossed in it and neglect your duties… that’d be troublesome.”

“That won’t happen! Freyja and the angels will take care of things!”

At the Cloud Whale’s words, Freyja nodded slightly. It felt just like a parent looking at their child.

“Should I use this? How does it work?”

“Well, this is a developing item, so it’s still incomplete. Let me see… here’s an item I made as a backup…”

I picked up an LD device resting in the corner of the temple and placed it in front of the Cloud Whale.

Hmm… I think it needs to be lightweight. Instead of a bed with a lid, something more convenient to carry around… should I consider something like a VR headset to wear on the head?

Well, that’s a task for later. For now, I need to let the Cloud Whale experience it.

“Thanks to making a sufficient quantity, I can just hand this over to you. You can take it to your temple and place it anywhere to use it right away… um… speaking of which, don’t you not have a temple?”

“A temple? I don’t have one.”

Ah… that’s right. The Cloud Whale is one of the lesser gods beneath the Goddess of Life, roaming the skies, sharing pure souls… so I guess it doesn’t really have a place that qualifies as a temple.

Even couples praying for children would pray at the Church of Life. Hmm…

Now that I think about it, should I ask if I should create a temple for you? When I asked before, you said you didn’t need one since you always float in the sky…

“This is a dilemma. If you don’t have a temple, where do I put this?”

“My angels are in trouble too! They feel uncertain about receiving this, even though I am a proper god!”

Hmm. Since they’re lesser gods… indeed, it’s a bit ambiguous if they don’t have a temple like other gods.

Alright. Once the function additions, bug fixes, and level restrictions are over, the next project will be miniaturizing the LD device.

“For now, I have plenty of unused rooms in my temple, so I’ll give you one of those. Install and use it there.”

“Thank you! Goddess of Life!”

At my words, the Cloud Whale, beaming with a happy smile, bowed its head to show gratitude.

How cute! Even when it was floating in the sky as a giant whale, it had a strangely cute vibe, but seeing it transform into a human… it’s got its own charm!

“You can use any empty room. Take this device, install it, and use it. And Freyja, think of a separate temple for the angels… that might be even better.”

“Yes. Thank you!”

Thus, Freyja and the Cloud Whale… hmm. It’s not a whale anymore, so should I give it a name?

It feels a bit odd to keep calling it Whale forever… Hmm, maybe it’s better to give it another name.

“Cloud Whale.”

“Yes?”

“Would you like a different name?”

“A different name?”

Does this child, like other gods, need a name too?

I feel like just calling it by the human-derived name might lack the dignity of a god.

“I’ve never thought I needed one.”

“If you’re just vaguely called Cloud Whale, it might hinder you from gathering human faith smoothly.”

“Faith isn’t really needed. I don’t have a place to use it anyway.”

It seems the Cloud Whale, wandering the skies daily, doesn’t have time to spend on faith.

Hmm. That makes sense.

“Does taking on a human form interfere with your duties?”

“No? Oh, no, it doesn’t matter. I can do my job just fine in this form.”

“Well then, how about you wander the sky during the day and stay in the Divine Hall at night? Since the angels can distribute souls… it might actually be easier for them to find you if you’re not fluttering around everywhere.”

“Well… I don’t mind as long as Freyja and the other angels are okay with it.”

Freyja, hearing the Cloud Whale, smiled as she said.

“If the Whale God is in one place, it makes things easier for us. As long as this form doesn’t hinder the Whale God’s duties, that’s fine with us.”

“That’s settled then. From now on, let’s wander the world during the day and stay in the Divine Hall at night.”

Even having faith is meaningless if you don’t have time to use it!

“And to better accumulate your faith… I’ll give you a different name.”

Hmm. What name should I give? Something related to life, birth… hmm… perhaps a name connected to angels too…

“Sandalphon?”

A powerful angel and the angel of fetuses. Also serves as a guardian angel for pregnant women.

And thinking of the Cloud Whale’s true form, a giant fluffy whale, that name also fits its grand stature.

“Is it Sandalphon…? That’s an odd name.”

“If you don’t like it, I can think of another.”

The Cloud Whale shook its head at my words.

“I didn’t say I didn’t like it. Thank you, Goddess of Life. I will cherish the name Sandalphon.”

The small child, now in human form, named Sandalphon, beamed with a bright smile.

It was a truly cheerful smile.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Thus, the Cloud Whale, now named Sandalphon… cough. After Sandalphon settled into my temple and the LD underwent numerous improvements…

“Completion!”

After several prototypes with new features, I somehow managed to finish it.

The new LD, worn over the head and covering the eyes and ears, restricts functionalities based on the user’s rank.

The devices themselves are all the same, but the functionality changes depending on the user’s identification.

This way, all devices can be uniform, increasing productivity.

In the process, a feature was added to check the list of all gods and the amount of faith they each possess, but it’s just a minor function!

And as one of the reference functions, it tracks and favorites the humans who wear it… cough, I also added a feature to designate that particular human as an important person, which comes with additional effects.

In other words, it feels like being a human blessed by a god.

Angels who favorited a human will essentially acquire a guardian angel.

Of course, just because you have a guardian angel doesn’t mean your wishes will be instantly granted; the boosts are just light enhancements!

Like a slight increase in luck, better health, or some advantage in areas overseen by certain gods. Just vague buffs like that.

If gods supported through tiny faith payments, it would be a different story… but even without that, there are still minor buffs!

Furthermore, functions for customizing humans using avatars, observing babies, specifying conditions for humans… and so on!

I included various features with restrictions based on god rankings to solve all issues by distributing this to every god.

Thus, I produced a ton of LDs with the same functionalities and distributed them to each god.

Now, the gods of the Divine Hall have become beings who can’t live without the LDs!!

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

The gods of the Divine Hall have turned into entities unable to live without the LDs.

After searching for humans that meet their desired conditions, they favorite… cough, designate them as important individuals to keep an eye on.

As they watch the ups and downs of human life, the gods’ affection for their designated humans grows deeper, treating them not as mere toys or pets, but as even more precious beings.

The gods have begun to harbor even deeper feelings for humans.

Watching the gods like that, I couldn’t help but nod slightly at their unintentional display of affection, even as I felt flustered by some unintended functionality.

Now… unless something extraordinary happens, the gods are unlikely to harm humans.

After all, even Asherit once got so caught up in the LD that it neglected its duties!

So whether the gods’ amusement shakes the Divine Hall or not, I comfortably curled up in my room.

I guess I can take a nap now… It doesn’t seem like anything urgent will happen.

“Creator Dragon God!!”

My thoughts were abruptly shattered by the voice of someone anxiously calling for me.

Seriously, let me rest a bit! Just a bit!!

 

---