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Gaining knowledge is easy, but acquiring the right self is tough.

Since newborns are exposed to various stimuli, they form their sense of self by accepting the world through their senses, experiences, and memories.

If one cannot form their self through such a delicate process, they will never progress beyond being a newborn.

“Ugh…”

“Well then, uh, what should I do?”

I sighed as I looked at the disaster of the church’s garden.

Just from this child whining a bit and crying, all the grass and flowers had toppled over and the trees were broken—a true disaster scene.

“Phew… For now, I guess I should restore it.”

“Waaah?”

And the culprit who devastated the garden was blissfully oblivious, just running around.

When I was raising other children, it didn’t matter if they made a mess since there was nothing around. But that’s not the case now, which makes it a headache.

Long ago, when there was nothing in the world but me, my sense of self began to sprout from the powers of nature imbued with strength.

The insufficient sense of self along with the seven children who wielded tremendous power ran rampant.

Wildfires would blaze depending on their emotions, floods would occur, storms would rage, light would vanish, and darkness would sweep in quite frequently.

Of course, back then, there was nothing on the ground, so it didn’t matter if the kids unleashed their powers.

All I had to do was fix a world that was broken enough.

But now, things are different.

In this world, there are many things that have been born and created, each living their own lives.

Since I can’t let them run amok like before, I placed barriers to minimize the damage around, but… there was nothing to be done about the garden being wrecked.

No, it’s not that there was nothing to be done… hmm. How should I put it?

I can’t fully wield my power around this child.

As my main body approaches, it seems to absorb this child, while any amount of my mana below a certain level automatically decomposes and gets absorbed by the child.

I don’t know why this happens. Hmm… After all, this child isn’t a normal creature; they’re a personified existence from condensed mana. It’s a bit ambiguous to judge, so let’s just skip over that for now.

Let’s just acknowledge that there’s an issue.

Anyway, due to such problems, it’s not easy to help this child with a decent amount of mana.

“If the other priests see this, they’ll be shocked again. I need to restore this before someone comes.”

“Waaah…”

When I sighed and said that, the child’s expression turned gloomy. They already had proper feelings even though their self hadn’t fully settled yet.

Even newborns have likes and dislikes, and this child is no different.

“Don’t be too down. I’m not scolding you. It’s not like you wanted to do this, right?”

“Ugh…”

“From now on, let’s try to control your strength a bit more. Until your self takes proper shape, you should avoid causing any accidents.”

“Child!”

“You’ll also need to learn to speak and write. We have a long way to go.”

If the body were also a newborn, it might have been easier, but the body and strength are worthy of being called demigods, so even if they act like a newborn, the damage is incomparable.

In the end, I can only try to manage things somehow.

Hmm. So…

“Should I start by controlling and suppressing emotions…?”

“Waaah?”

It might be a bit tough for a kid who can’t even speak properly yet, but… how can I just leave a child who turns everything around them to ash based on their feelings?

For now, I should teach them a way to express their emotions without letting them out.

Once they gain some control over their power, then it’ll be okay to let them go free.

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

“Well, at least it’s good that they’re learning fast.”

“Uh-huh?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Fortunately, in just over a year, the child’s sense of self has grown safely.

But to say it’s grown might be a bit strange.

‘It’s not like I’ve been saying weird things for just a day or two, so I’ll just roll with it.’

“Yep. Do that.”

Is it because I’ve been with this child since before their self was born? They’ve started to regard me as another part of themselves.

A so-called voice that speaks from within.

It seems they are accepting it as a sort of dual personality.

The only other similar case was Sia, but after her self was fully formed, hearing my voice created a rather large difference in outcome.

“By the way, why do I have to spend my time like this here?”

“Because you’re the Dragon Priestess?”

“What does it even mean to be the Dragon Priestess? Isn’t that my name?”

“The Dragon Priestess isn’t a name. It’s an existence that represents the meaning of the Goddess of Life.”

“What does ‘represent’ even mean?”

“Seems like you don’t understand what it means on a word-level…”

Once the sense of self started forming to some extent, communicating became possible and their power doesn’t run rampant based on emotions anymore. However, after that, the storm of “What is that?” began.

The child, filled with questions about everything, kept throwing questions about everything they saw at me.

Sometimes I wanted to tell the priests of the Church of Life to answer them, but… why would they ask someone else when they have a personal Wikipedia like me at their disposal?

So.

“Why do the priests wear those white clothes?”

“What about those priests in black that I sometimes see?”

“What are those stones that people are taking outside?”

“This tree. Can I pull it out?”

It was a repeat of days spent answering this child’s questions.

Wait a minute, that last tree is Sephiroth. Even though you’ll eventually hold the staff, for now, let’s keep it sealed. Okay?

You’ll eventually pull it out, but if you do now, it’ll cause a catastrophe!!

In that sort of feeling, I continued to answer the child’s questions day by day.

“Other people have names, but why am I called the Dragon Priestess? You said Dragon Priestess isn’t a name.”

“Well, even though the Dragon Priestess isn’t a name, I suppose there was no one to give you a name. Most people will probably call you the Dragon Priestess, so it’s likely they didn’t feel the need for an actual name.”

“Hmm… But I still want a name. Even if it’s not used, I want to have one.”

Hmm. A name… a name…

Well, having a name is definitely better than not having one, even if it’s not called by someone.

“You could probably choose one yourself?”

“I don’t know much about names. I don’t even know which names are good. So… you name me.”

Hmm… a name. Now that I think about it, I’ve given names a lot before.

Just like with the seven children and various gods. I wonder why everyone asks me for names?

I know well that my naming sense isn’t that great.

Well, since you asked, I guess I’ll name you. Let’s see… what should I call you…

“Your name is…”

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

“The child seems to be growing well. I was a bit worried.”

“Uh-huh. They’re a pure child full of curiosity.”

Asherat looked at the small child expressing joy while jumping up and down with a blank expression.

Could it be that receiving a name is that happy?

“A name is the first step in proving one’s existence. The difference between being in a state without a name and having one is significant.”

“Is that so?”

I… hmm. Since my name was given directly, I’m not sure about that. It’s a name without anyone to call it, but I do have several nicknames.

“That aside, how’s the Demon King’s spirit doing?”

“It instinctively began to control other beings. It was dominating monsters as if it was natural, even though it only had its spirit.”

The spirit of the Demon King, transformed into a presence like black mist, couldn’t move around under the watchful eyes of others in the Demon King’s castle…? Mountain…? Anyway, whatever it is, it couldn’t move.

It’s only natural that it can’t move without a body, but perhaps because of that quality, it was instinctively longing for a body.

The Demon King’s spirit tried to dominate the monsters around to take them as its body, but there was no body capable of sustaining the massive magic power that allowed it to maintain itself, even with only a spirit.

Most of them exploded into fragments anyway.

Perhaps… unless they were of a level like wyverns or drakes, they wouldn’t be able to endure the body of the Demon King.

A complete dragon wouldn’t lose its body to the Demon King anyway.

“Any other oddities?”

“Oh, there were several peculiarities.”

“Peculiarities?”

“Yes. A huge fly that’s unusually strong among the monsters, an old man who was very strange and didn’t seem human, and a skeleton that uses necromancy.”

What’s with those suspicious beings?

“Seems like they have quite the personalities, huh?”

“From what I gathered, they approached seeking the massive powers the Demon King possessed, only to get dominated the very moment they got near the Demon King. They’re strong enough that while they managed to resist having their body taken, it seems they still got dominated.”

“Dominated, huh…”

That’s kind of interesting. Yeah, the Demon King needs to have strong subordinates, just like a four heavenly king sort of vibe.

Wait, a huge fly, a strange-looking old man, and a necromancer skeleton…

Hey! There’s one position missing! That won’t work out as the four heavenly kings!!!

Well, the fact that the list of subordinates of the Demon King seems familiar is something we can overlook.

“For now, let’s just keep watching for a while.”

“Yep. I’ll keep an eye on things.”

“Right. Thanks.”

I’ve got an important task ahead—answering that child’s questions!

 

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