Mortis sat awkwardly inside the caravan.
The driver kept glancing back at him every few seconds.
Malachai sat at a respectful distance, gazing out of the window in a daze.
The child sat opposite Mortis, sneaking glances whenever it thought he wasn't looking.
Mortis finally broke the silence.
"Do you have a name?"
The child startled.
"Yes! I mean—yes, I do."
Malachai turned slightly, interested.
Mortis glanced at him, then gave the child an encouraging smile.
"Well? What is it?"
The child fumbled with its hands, then slowly made a gesture—
a flower blooming.
"This is it."
Mortis blinked.
Malachai cleared his throat.
"Dungeon Dwellers cannot speak properly, my Lord. They communicate through gestures."
Realization dawned on Mortis.
"I see…"
He looked at the child for confirmation.
The child nodded.
"Should we give you a verbal name, then?"
The child hesitated.
"Is this one not enough?"
It made the flower gesture again.
"Well…" Mortis said slowly, "it might be difficult for others to understand."
The child frowned.
"Why? Isn't it easy?"
It repeated the gesture again, more carefully this time.
Mortis almost laughed.
"No—I agree, it's a nice name. But… not everyone will understand it."
The child looked away.
There was a quiet sadness in its eyes.
Mortis felt a small pang of guilt.
"I'll make sure it's as nice as…"
He awkwardly tried to copy the gesture.
The child immediately leaned forward.
"No, like this."
It demonstrated again, carefully guiding him.
A strange silence settled between them.
Malachai broke it.
"See? It is very easy to misunderstand. A simpler name would be better."
The child looked uncertain.
"Like what?"
Mortis thought for a moment.
"How about… Blossom?"
He tried the gesture again.
"It seems similar."
The child frowned.
"No… it's like this—"
It repeated the gesture again.
Mortis leaned back, defeated.
Then—
the child's eyes slowly lit up.
"Blossom?"
It looked at him, hopeful.
"Can I be Blossom?"
"Yeah… sure," Mortis said lazily.
The child beamed.
"I'm Blossom now! I'm Blossom!"
It began bouncing excitedly in place.
"Good for you, Blossom," Malachai said calmly.
Blossom started jumping even more.
"SIT DOWN!" the driver barked. "Sit down, or I'll throw you out!"
Blossom froze, then quickly sat back down.
Mortis sighed.
"So… where are we going?"
"To the main city," he answered himself. "We'll try to find work there."
Malachai looked troubled.
"We… have to work?"
"Well, yeah…" Mortis said.
Blossom, however, looked thrilled.
"Yay!"
Mortis leaned back, glancing out of the window.
Well… at least one of us is happy.
The road stretched endlessly ahead.
He didn't know how to return home.
For now, becoming a full god seemed like the only path.
But…
if he tried—
maybe life in this world wouldn't be so bad.