Time flows, and the world continues to change.

The time when a small village becomes a large one, and a shallow stream gradually grows into a respectable river.

The time when a small sprout grows into a towering tree, and falls to the ground, cut down by human hands.

As such time passed, something that greatly caught my attention appeared as I wandered around the world.

Something that looked like a human with a blurry form. It didn't have a physical body, but it definitely existed there, moving.

It was quite blurry, but it was something that maintained a bit of self-awareness.

Different from spirits. Something very frail, fleeting.

I was able to quickly realize what it was.

Because there was a dead human body at its feet.

A human body that looked exactly like it.

It was the soul of a dead human.

[Ah... Ahh...]

The soul, which was a young man, stood blankly, letting out a small voice, as if it didn't know it was dead.

This was my first time seeing such a soul... What? Why has this appeared?

No, if souls existed, there should have been countless souls in this world by now? How many humans have died until now...

Could it be... As human intelligence gradually increased, they began to think about life, death, and souls?

Thinking about it, in the past, when one died, that was it, and it ended with just burying the body in a designated place... But nowadays, humans seem to be doing something similar to funerals...

Has belief in the afterlife emerged? Is that it?

And so, belief in the existence of souls began to establish?

Then there must have been some event that served as a trigger... Hmm...

If it changed so suddenly, among the most recent events, the cause could be... laws?

No, executions due to the enforcement of laws have been around for a long time. If souls started appearing because of executions, they should have appeared long ago. Could there be a cause I'm missing?

I'm not sure. Hmm... Is it because of the clear existence of gods that they started thinking about what comes after death? Or is it because of the solar eclipse that happened before?

I don't know. There are too many guesses to be certain about anything.

I approached the soul standing still.

[Ah... I am... Where is this... Exactly...]

It seemed the man hadn't been dead for long.

Whether he slipped and fell from a high place, he was covered in wounds, and his neck was broken, but... the body wasn't severely decomposed.

How pitiful.

Seeing a stone axe for woodcutting at his waist, he must have been a woodcutter who came to gather suitable firewood. Hmm...

I cautiously spoke to the man's soul.

"What is your name?"

[I-I am... My name is...]

The soul responded to my words but couldn't properly speak about itself. Hmm... This is troublesome.

I didn't want to leave this body and soul here. No choice then.

I raised my magical power and lifted the man's broken body, moving slowly.

First, let's head towards the nearby human village.

As the body began to walk, the soul, which had been standing blankly, also started to follow behind the body.

Thus, the man's body, his soul, and I headed towards the nearby human village.

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

Finding the man's family wasn't difficult. As soon as we entered the village, people who saw the man's body were shocked.

Roughly counting, the village's population was about 50 people. In such a small village, it would be impossible not to recognize a member of the village.

"Good heavens! Krut! What happened to you!"

"Go call Onet right away! Krut has come back in terrible shape! Bring all the herbs you have!"

The humans, who hadn't noticed me hiding in plain sight, saw the man called Krut and thought he was injured, attempting to care for him.

But what could they do in a situation where he was already dead?

I withdrew the magical power that was moving the man's body, and the body lifelessly collapsed.

"Damn it! Krut!"

"After a heavy rain, I told you not to go to the mountains! You insisted on going anyway!!"

The people supported the man's corpse and entered the village, and not long after, a loud cry was heard.

It seemed to be the crying of the man's family... his younger sister.

[This is... our village...]

The man's soul, after standing still and watching the village, entered, and soon saw a girl hugging his corpse and crying.

[Oh... Onet... my... sister...]

Even though he had forgotten everything about himself, did he remember his family?

It was then that the man's soul seemed to realize his own death, and he weakly fell to his knees.

[Am I... dead?]

"Yes. You are dead."

[Who are you?]

The man's soul looked at me. Empty eyes. The eyes of a man facing death. What emotions were contained within them?

Regret? Pessimism? Sadness? Desperation? It's hard to tell. What are the emotions of a dead person?

What are the emotions of someone who died leaving behind their beloved family?

[Are you... a god?]

"Why would you think that?"

[I don't know. You just seem like a very grand being to my eyes.]

Is it because he's a soul that he can see? Or is it because he's in a state of having faced death?

It seemed the man's soul could see a bit of my power.

Of course, he couldn't have seen all of it. If such a weak soul fully saw me, he wouldn't have been able to withstand it and would have perished.

I was suppressing and hiding my power appropriately, so perhaps what he saw was just that reduced amount?

[If you are a god... can you bring me back to life?]

"Well, I've never tried, so I don't know."

That's a lie. I could rewind time and save him. Just rewind time to before his death and save him.

But would that be the right thing to do?

I'm not sure.

As for restoring the body and putting the soul back in... I haven't thought about that.

After all, this is the first time I've seen a soul.

Hmm... I wonder what would happen if I tried? I'm a bit curious.

[What will happen to me now?]

"I don't know."

This is the first time I've seen the soul of a dead person. I'm completely unprepared for dealing with this.

There's no Grim Reaper or Death God. I haven't decided what to do with the souls of the dead in such situations.

Ah, do I have to decide and create it? An afterlife? Really?

How troublesome....

[You don't know anything...?]

"It's humans who... despite having faced death not once or twice, I don't understand why only now the souls of the dead have started to appear."

Should I create something like heaven? Or should I make the souls of the dead reincarnate? Which should I choose? I'm not sure. Um.

Either way... it's clear I'll have to work hard to create it. Tsk.

[I don't want to... die like this... I can't leave my sister behind... I don't want to die...]

"Hmm..."

The man's soul began to squirm a bit. Whether it was having a fit or negative emotions were transforming the soul.

The translucent soul was slowly turning black.

"This is another interesting phenomenon."

[Revive me... back to my sister's side...!]

"Sorry, but that's not possible."

The soul, turning black and growing into a monster-like form, charged at me.

"Ah."

[Aaargh!]

A light flick of my finger and its upper body flew off.

"Hmm... Has he turned into an evil spirit? That's troublesome."

Is this what happens if the soul of a dead human is left unattended? It feels like a manga about a Death God I read before. There, the evil spirits had holes in their chests.

[Ugh, aargh...]

Despite its upper body being blown off, the evil spirit continued to squirm. I barely touched it, and yet it still maintains its form, which is quite something.

"I can't revive someone who's already dead, but I can help you protect your sister."

[Cough... ah... what do you mean...?]

"It's simple. I'll make you, a soul, into your sister's guardian spirit."

It seems even as a soul, he has some power. He should be able to fulfill the role of a guardian spirit.

"If you don't like that, the only option is to extinguish you here. What will you do?"

The man, whose upper body slowly regenerated, simply nodded.

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

Well, that's the gist of it. After attaching the first soul I encountered as his sister's guardian spirit and burying the man's body, I once again wandered the world.

Souls began to appear all over the world. They did not appear when animals died, but only when humans or other intelligent beings died. It seemed that the developed cognitive abilities of intelligent beings were the reason for their appearance.

Was it the existence of a god that triggered thoughts about death and the afterlife? Hmm... If so, it must have been inevitable.

Could it be said that the thoughts and magical power of intelligent beings at the moment of death brought about their appearance? Anyway, it felt something like that.

Leaving these souls unattended... the world might become overrun with evil spirits. So, it seems necessary to collect and process these souls.

Alright. Let's create it! The afterlife!!