Past Arc ⑧
Since when had it begun?
The moment Sariel began prioritizing humanity over other lifeforms.
The catalyst was undoubtedly trivial.
Sariel’s assigned mission: protection of protoplasmic life.
That a combat-specialized angel like Sariel was given this duty implied one thing—protect protoplasmic life from other deities.
Meaning: do not interfere with other deities. Thus, Sariel’s mission was, in essence, the expulsion of deities.
As with other deities, Sariel was not permitted to interfere with protoplasmic life.
So at first, Sariel only observed.
Sariel had long watched over the world.
But at some point, Sariel no longer only observed—began to intervene.
The catalyst was undoubtedly something utterly insignificant.
Just a small act of kindness—helping a child.
Nothing more than a simple act of kindness—helping a child who had fallen.
"Thank you!"
Just that. Just the gratitude offered in return.
That trivial moment was the beginning.
☆
Stalking refers to the act of following a specific individual.
Naturally, monitoring a particular person also falls under this definition.
While responses vary by nation, in advanced states such behavior is nearly universally classified as criminal.
Criminal.
A dragonkin such as myself—now a criminal.
The shock experienced by Gurye was something only Gurye could comprehend.
Yet it was profound.
As Gurye learned about human norms from Fodouei, knowledge of stalking gradually emerged.
And despair followed.
The realization that an action Gurye had considered meaningless—mere idle habit—was, to humans, a repugnant crime.
Being of draconic lineage, she is accused by humans of being stalked—and labeled a stalker.
What humiliation!
At the same time, a sense of urgency arises from her own ignorance.
Perhaps she had begun to worry that the things she had done all along might, from another's perspective, have seemed utterly unreasonable.
Driven by that unease, Gurye studied every human custom and convention.
Dragons do not typically act in such a manner.
Regardless of how humans perceive them, it does not waver.
It is natural for humans to revere dragons as sacred.
Because dragons are the supreme beings.
It is natural for humans to regard dragons with suspicion.
It is unsurprising that mortals, so diminutive in stature, cannot properly comprehend the supreme being known as the Dragon.
It is not the dragon's actions that are wrong. It is the human who fails to understand the dragon who is foolish.
That is ordinary for a dragon.
Yet Guriel, contrary to expectation, began to be unsettled by human speech and started learning human culture.
At this point, the other dragons began to regard her with suspicion.
Why would an entity of supreme existence study the ecology of an inferior species?
Why would an entity of supreme existence need to accommodate an inferior species?
Dragons exist as dragons. If accommodation is necessary, then the inferior species should adapt to the dragon.
Even so, Guriel did not believe she was mistaken.
Before meeting Sariel, Guriel had never doubted that the dragon race was the supreme existence.
Sariel’s arrival introduced a fissure in that belief. The subsequent refutation by the human Fodui further widened the crack.
Dragons are indeed powerful and great.
But is that truly supreme existence?
If she is inferior in strength to Sariel, and defeated in speech by Fodui—
Could there be a species superior to dragons, even if I was unaware of it?
That heretical thought—unthinkable for a dragon—was, however, perfectly logical to Reston.
Dragons were undeniably superior as biological entities.
Yet, to declare other species inferior solely on that basis was premature.
If that was the case, might there be something to learn from humanity—something once dismissed as beneath notice?
The more she studied humanity, the more her doubt crystallized into certainty.
Dragons, because of their superiority, did not advance.
They did not need to consciously strive. Given enough time, power would accumulate naturally.
And with such time—measured in ages—intelligence would develop accordingly.
A species that evolved simply by existing, unburdened by urgency.
That was the dragon.
In contrast, humanity had no such time.
A human life is but a fleeting moment to a dragon—burning through existence in that single instant.
The actions taken within that lifetime are relentless. They confront life with seriousness, celebrating each breath.
While dragons idle, humans act with astonishing vigor.
To dragons, the results seem trivial. Yet humans live.
They live fully.
Those who do nothing, who idle without purpose—humans call them "neet."
Indeed, under that logic, all dragons are neet.
Gyurie thought this, and silently smiled.
Even with immense power, being a neet—and a stalker—means ridicule is inevitable.
While dragons idle, humans fight desperately for survival.
By species, dragons are superior.
That is an undeniable fact.
Yet, even so, it seemed unlikely that Guriel could now look down on humans as inferior.
A sense of impending threat arose—what if, lulled by racial superiority, they one day suffered a painful defeat at human hands?
Even if this thought bordered on paranoia, much could still be learned from human methods of survival.
A recognition prompted by gratitude.
And the acknowledgment of past apologies.
Most importantly, Guriel resolved once more to meet Sariel.
To verify the answer—why Sariel refrained from using divine power.