Chapter 95
Perhaps she’d heard Ella's shout.
"Rabbit!"
Lee Arin, who had been eating, came running in one breath and hugged Ella. Then, finding it uncomfortable to hug her with someone on top of Ella, she carefully put Ella's self-proclaimed older sister down on the bed, and hugged only Ella again.
"No, wait! Let go! Let go! Right now! Right now I’m–!"
"Rabbit! Do you remember me?! Huh? Huh? Are you okay? Nothing strange? Thank goodness!"
"No! Nooo! Let go! I'm not wearing anything right now! I said let go!"
Ella struggled to escape from Lee Arin's embrace. She felt a sense of crisis and embarrassment when Lee Arin, whom she had been secretly thinking might be a lesbian, hugged her naked body.
She put aside all the numerous things she needed to question and did her best to detach Lee Arin.
But a witch couldn’t overpower a martial artist with strength.
She had no choice but to be helplessly held by Lee Arin like a rag doll.
"Sigh."
Lee Serin, who came in belatedly, sighed at the sight and looked at the child lying on one side of the bed.
"Um, I don't know what to call you... Um... I'll dress you in this first..."
Lee Serin dressed the girl lying on the bed with the T-shirt and pants she had brought, then turned to Ella. Then she hit the crown of Lee Arin's head.
Thud!
"Ow!"
"S-stop clinging already! You idiot!"
She forcibly detached Lee Arin from Ella. Then she dressed Ella with the T-shirt and shorts she had brought, and sat her up on the bed. Once seated on the bed, Ella seemed to have enough strength to move her body slightly and leaned against the headboard, and the child who had been dressed earlier also moved slightly and lay down using Ella's legs as a pillow.
"It's comfortable~"
Ella was about to open her mouth with an angry face as if to question the child lying on her legs so shamelessly, but at that moment, Jinseong appeared with the sound of footsteps. He was slowly walking towards the bed with a kind smile, but strangely, seeing him didn't make her feel reassured or familiar, but rather gave her a feeling of wanting to run away.
As soon as he arrived in front of the bed, he smiled brightly at the child and placed his hand on her head.
It was a gentle touch as if blessing a baby.
And feeling that touch, the child smiled brightly and shouted.
"Der Gevatter Tod!"
Hearing those words, Jinseong slightly stiffened his expression.
"Hmm."
Der Gevatter Tod.
It was the German title of the story "Godfather Death".
Jinseong looked at the child with narrowed eyes.
"Strange."
Knowing this itself isn't strange.
The Grimm brothers, authors of "Godfather Death", were German, and Ella had stayed in Germany, so she couldn't have not known that story. And Marten, who obtained information from Ella, would naturally have known it too.
But.
It was strange to say that now.
Not a word of thanks or a question like "Who are you?".
Did it make sense to blurt that out as soon as they meet?
Moreover, given the personality of Marten that he knew well, she would never say such a thing at their first meeting.
Jinseong harbored doubts.
"Why did you suddenly say that?"
Then Marten smiled brightly and said.
"A grandpa I met in a dream told me to say this first when I meet my benefactor~"
"Grandpa?"
"Yes! He said it was a clever move and told me!"
Grandpa?
Met in a dream?
Jinseong could recall someone in his mind.
"Was he tall and didn't he handle flames?"
"Yes~ He did!"
"And was he very thin?"
"Yes~"
Tall stature.
Extremely thin body.
A sorcerer who handled flames and explored the depths of the mind.
Ashutosh Singh.
He was a sorcerer respected as the Sage of Flames in India, and also became world-famous as a great man who struggled to save powerless children during World War III. But unfortunately, he hadn't had the chance to meet Jinseong, which Jinseong had inwardly regretted...
Now, the image of that sorcerer flowed from Marten's mouth.
Jinseong looked into her eyes and asked.
"Der Gevatter Tod. Did he only say that?"
"Yes~ He said that's all I needed to say~"
Jinseong quietly looked at Marten.
Godfather Death, huh.
* * *
Long ago, there was a father.
A father raising 12 children in a poor household was about to have his 13th child, and thinking that if he raised this child too, they would all starve to death, he left home to find a godfather to entrust the child to.
While searching for someone to be the godfather for a long time, the man saw a being who said he would become the godfather.
[ I will become the godfather. ]
[ Who are you? ]
[ I am the sunlight shining from the sky, the being that ripens the grain. I am also the light that circles the sky and gives rest, and I am also the earth where everything grows. I am the raindrops falling from the sky, the gently flowing river, and the vast spread sea. From the smallest flea to the largest beast, nothing is untouched by my hand, I am formless yet I am what you serve. I am God, your idol. ]
The man rejected God's offer.
[ I refuse. Don't you give to the rich but make the poor starve? You are infinitely kind to the strong, but can be infinitely cruel to weak people like me. The lusciously ripe fruits and grains only go to the rich houses and you don't give even a grain to the poor. Large beasts prey on us poor people instead of the rich protected by swords and spears. You are an infinitely cruel being to us. I cannot make you my child's godfather. ]
So the man set off again.
And he met another being, whose appearance was truly bizarre.
[ I will become your child's godfather. I will eliminate anything that might be dangerous to the child, and later make the child gain wealth and honor. ]
[ Who are you? ]
[ I am the being you fear, the one you call a demon. If your child serves and attends to me, I will make your child grasp wealth and give endless honor. ]
The man rejected this time too.
[ You deceive people, torment them, and do bad things. If you become the godfather, my child will also be tainted with evil. ]
The last thing the man who set off again saw was Death.
[ Death, please become my child's godfather. You execute impartially without distinguishing between rich and poor, and you are a being who fairly announces the end regardless of whether one is good and kind. You are the most suitable person to be my child's godfather. ]
Death gladly accepted the man's request.
Thus, Death finally became the godfather and sincerely supported the child.
And in the year the child became an adult.
Death said he would make the child a famous doctor as a godfather's gift.
He said to give the patient the herbal medicine he taught when he was at the head of the patient's bed, and to calmly announce death when standing at the foot of the bed.
When the child followed the godfather's words exactly, it wasn't long before he became a famous doctor known throughout the country, and the child gained wealth and honor as the godfather's gift and lived a happy life.
Then one day, the king summoned the child to the palace because of his illness. But his godfather was standing at the foot of the king's bed, and the child was torn between the enormous reward the king promised and the promise he made with his godfather.
And finally, the child broke his promise with Death and brewed the herbal medicine for the king to drink, and the king, who was destined to die, came back to life.
The godfather was angry.
[ You! How dare you break your promise with me and save someone who was supposed to die! I want to cut off your head and take you away right now, but I'll let it slide this once. As your godfather, I've watched you grow, so I'm only letting it go this one time. If you truly think of me as your godfather, you must never do such a thing again! If you break this promise, I will no longer consider you my godchild and take you away right then! ]
The child trembled at the godfather's anger and promised again and again that he would never do it again.
And how long had it been since he made that promise.
[ My daughter has fallen ill. I'll do anything if you can cure her illness. If you can save the princess, I'll make you my daughter's husband and pass on the throne to you! ]
When the princess fell seriously ill and became bedridden, the king sought out the child who had cured him and made this request.
The child who entered the bedroom to see the princess's condition fell in love with her at first sight.
The princess's beautiful appearance came to the child, who had not yet found his match, like fate.
But unfortunately, his godfather was standing at the foot of the bed, not at the head.
This meant that the princess was destined to die soon.
The child pondered.
Whether to save the princess or not.
That deliberation didn't last long.
Blinded by love, the child erased the weight of the warning his godfather had given before, and made the optimistic thought that he would forgive him this time too. He brewed herbal medicine and fed it to the princess as he had done for the king before, and the godfather, despite his warning, took away the child who had broken his promise again.
Only then realizing the weight of what he had done, the child begged his godfather.
[ Please forgive me just this once. Aren't you my godfather, not anyone else? ]
Then Death took the child to a place full of candles.
[ Look. Those are people's lifespans. If the candle is long, it means there's a lot of lifespan left, and the brighter the flame, the stronger the life force. ]
[ Where is mine among those? ]
[ It's this one. ]
The candle Death pointed to was unimpressive.
It was short in length with not much left, and the flame was small as if it would go out at any moment.
[ Ah, godfather. Please save me. ]
[ How? ]
[ Please move this flame to another candle! ]
Death placed the candle in the pleading child's hand.
The child brightened up thinking Death had granted his request, but soon realized something was wrong with the fiercely burning flame.
The flame instantly melted all the remaining candle and then went out.
* * *
What could be seen in this story was that a 'godfather' had a great influence on a child's life.
The father who was searching for a godfather rejected the requests of the previous two for his child's future, and Death, who became the godfather, made the child walk the path of a doctor as a gift. And he brought death to his godchild by applying the 'fairness' he emphasized so much.
In this story, the 'godfather' was a being that influenced the child's entire life.
Influence, huh.
And this also contained a theme that penetrated what Jinseong was about to do.
Jinseong was going to exert influence on Marten by giving her a name that would bind her to him so that she couldn't recklessly throw away her life.
This would become an intangible leash and a formless shackle of fate that would restrain Marten, but in return, it would have given her safety and a happy future.
Ashutosh Singh noticed this plan of Jinseong's and threw a topic of discussion to Jinseong through Marten's mouth.