Chapter 156

The incident began with a single teddy bear.

"Coo."

"What is it?"

"Coo-oo, coo..."

"You are looking for lulupu juice."

It was around the time Jio was deep in thought over what to use as his friendship fee.

His new friend, Ju-hyeon, was an older, mature, capable man of a kind rarely found, and Jio intended to tame him with delicious meals, a comfortable place to sleep, and refreshing events.

As a result, he had prepared all sorts of things in advance...

"It so happens I have what you are looking for."

He had lulupu juice too.

"Coo?"

"Yes, because it works well as perfume."

"Coo-coo-coo..."

"Indeed, it is a good idea, is it not?"

It did not have much of a taste, but its fragrance was excellent, and when poured into a bottle, it was beautiful enough to have ornamental value all on its own.

He had made it in advance, thinking he would give it as a gift if he found someone looking for a decent perfume.

"However, Father, why are you looking for lulupu juice?"

"Coo-oo..."

"Ah, you mean to give that tasteless thing to Dana."

Would that be all right?

"..."

Giovanni asked with a grave face.

"... It will not upset her stomach, will it?"

"Coo-coo."

"Nor would it mean forcing her to eat something tasteless...?"

"Coo."

"Ah, in that case, it is perfectly fine."

"Coo-oo."

The teddy bear clapped its cotton paws together with soft little pats.

It looked fluffy just to watch.

For Jio, whose family's joy was his own joy, he looked on warmly, then asked.

"Giving you the juice is no problem, but how did you intend to give it to Dana?"

"Was it Dana's request?"

"Coo!"

"I do not know why that topic suddenly came up, but yes, I was currently considering what gift to give Mr. Ju-hyeon."

The previous Sun God had pointed out Jio's current situation, in which he was considering a gift for his new friend Ju-hyeon.

When Jio confirmed it, the teddy bear, smelling of warm sunlight, continued speaking with little coos.

"You want me to help with Mr. Ju-hyeon's funeral."

"Coo-oo."

"Surely you do not mean that you will kill Mr. Ju-hyeon himself."

"Coo...!?"

"Then it must be the funeral for his friends and family..."

Jio nodded.

"It is not as if I never considered that."

"Mr. Ju-hyeon recently lost his family and friends and was in a state of great self-reproach, and he has just become independent, so he is now thinking of making graves for those people."

This was an extremely important task for Ju-hyeon.

Not only could it relieve some measure of the guilt and sense of debt Ju-hyeon carried, it was also a responsibility that had to become the starting point for whatever he did from now on.

"I inherited the divinity of you, Father, who sowed and reaped life, so it should not be a problem for me to give my friend help related to that."

"Coo-coo-oo?"

"That is right."

"As you said, helping with Mr. Ju-hyeon's funeral rites would be fine."

"I also know very clearly that it could make quite a plausible gift, but..."

Jio, who prided himself on possessing beauty and common sense of a fairly high quality, grew serious.

"I am worried it would be too rude."

"Coo...?"

"It is not polite to carelessly meddle in another person's painful circumstances, is it?"

It was a fairly reasonable statement.

Between humans, there was always a line of their own, and this tragedy related to Ju-hyeon's guilt was far too private a matter for Jio, a complete outsider, to handle.

But gods did not know such things.

"... Coo-oo??"

The teddy bear looked up at Jio with eyes that said, "Why?"

"Why would interfering in a human's death become rude?"

"How strange."

"In the past, humans were incredibly happy when I did that..."

"Hm."

That was understandable.

'Father has never lived jostled among humans.'

Jio found an appropriate answer.

"That was a privilege you could enjoy because you are a god, Father."

"Coo-oo??"

"Ah, now that I think about it, I am a god too."

Even this lump of a Jerusalem artichoke, whose only skills were eating well and sleeping well, could become a god.

Jio wondered whether there had ever been such a pathetic god in the world, but soon smiled proudly and continued speaking.

"I am an ordinary human with a god's license."

"Mwaaaaaah..."

Dana made a cry that said, "I love Dad, but he is talking nonsense right now," and trotted past.

Honey on top of her head disappeared with his little sister, his eyes saying, "I love Dad, but Dana is right."

"..."

Jio felt a little wronged.

"Does it make sense that I cannot be treated as human just because I happen to have a god's license?"

"Coo-coo-oo."

"Of course not, Father."

"What god in the world personally roasts sweet potatoes to eat?"

At that, the teddy bear looked up at Jio with eyes that said, "Exactly, how could one do that?"

Faced with that gaze full of pure doubt, Jio was rendered speechless.

Never in his life had he imagined he would be treated like some oddity for eating roasted sweet potatoes.

"Anyway, Father, listen."

"I do not know how much has changed because the world was overturned once, but in this country, where Confucian roots run absurdly deep, a human who intrudes on another family's funeral without any real justification is rude."

"Coo."

"Above all, Mr. Ju-hyeon is a freshly captured... no, a newly made friend, is he not?"

"We are only just becoming close, so it is precisely at times like this that I must slowly tame him with small, unburdensome considerations and gifts, binding him into a relationship where he will not run away even if I send him three boxes of sweet potatoes."

"If I rush too much, things will go wrong."

"Coo."

"Moreover, Mr. Ju-hyeon is thirty-six years old, older than I am."

"Offering to help with the funeral rites of someone older than me, with more years of experience and better social skills, would be a truly tremendous discourtesy."

"And interfering without the consent of someone who is trying to handle things well on his own would be rude too."

"Coo?"

Once again, gods did not know such things.

"Coo-oo-oo?"

"I am telling you, it is discourteous."

"Coo-oong..."

Around then, Iser, who had come to visit for the first time in a while, discovered the two of them.

"Teacher?"

"Is there some problem?"

"I was discussing the funeral issue of my new friend with Father."

"That situation sounds confusing just to hear about."

After hearing how the incident had come about, Iser nodded.

"I also do not think it would be a great nuisance."

"If that is what the two of you think, I would like to hear your opinion."

"Why exactly would it not be?"

"Are you not the god of the Sun, Teacher?"

"And also Mr. Ju-hyeon's newly made friend."

"That human named Ju-hyeon also knows you as a god, Teacher."

"That is true, but..."

"What is the problem, Teacher?"

Iser tilted his head.

"For a god to personally embrace a human's life and death is not a nuisance, but tremendous mercy."

"Mercy is far too embarrassing a thing to say."

"Hm, I do not know which part you find embarrassing, but the god of the Sun did the same."

"That is because Father was the Sun who created and reaped life..."

"You inherited that divinity, so I do not think it strange for you to do something similar."

Iser had once been a priest of the deep sea and a believer of the Sun.

As someone who had studied theology under Giovanni, the most brilliant child of the sun, Iser found Jio's question that was not quite a question rather strange.

"Teacher, you know this well too, do you not?"

"Governing life is a god's right and duty."

"I do not know which part of it repulses you, but it is an extremely natural thing."

"I keep telling you, I am an ordinary human."

"I truly respect and love you, Teacher, but I understand very well that those words are not reasonable."

"Even so, if we think from a human perspective, how about considering it a kind of family business you inherited?"

Iser politely indicated the teddy bear with both hands.

"You inherited the family business called divinity from the Sun."

"This is my first time becoming a god, so I ask because I do not know, but when one inherits divinity, does one normally have to inherit the previous god's duties as well?"

"That is what I understand."

"It is a kind of hereditary succession."

The mermaid who had once dreamed of becoming a legitimate priest looked down at the teddy bear.

"It seems the previous Sun God wished for you to bestow the gift of mercy upon the human you hold dear, Teacher, while at the same time learning the authority and position of the Sun."

Jio had also guessed that much.

"Otherwise, there is no way Father would have suddenly advised me to preside over funeral rites."

"It seems Father stepped forward because I have been acting far too indolently as a god."

"Ah, is it possible to think of it that way?"

"Until now, I thought I had only inherited the license, not the position itself."

"But hearing you call it a family business makes me think that until now, I have been treating Father's family business with negligence."

At that, Iser smiled with a reassuring expression, as if telling him not to worry.

"Please do not be anxious, Teacher."

"All of the existing work this Sun managed has sunk along with the seawater of my sister and me, so you need not worry."

"What a strangely upsetting thing to say."

"What I wish to say, however, is that you, who possess divinity, do not need to feel such a great burden about involving yourself in human life and death and the rites surrounding them."

Having said that, Iser smiled bitterly.

"If it had been any ordinary being, they would have discarded all that humanity the moment they inherited divinity, but for whatever reason, Teacher, you still retain your humanity, and that seems to be why you are bound by human etiquette like this."

"It is astonishing."

"Did the obvious principle that one must not carelessly intrude on another person's funeral rites really require a grand concept like humanity to appear?"

"Originally, unless one shares a family register with someone or is a sworn brother who has shared souls, one must not carelessly involve oneself in another person's deep private affairs."

"Teacher, you and humans are not equal beings."

"Your small kindness becomes immense mercy, or disaster, to humans."

"Since you inherited the Sun's divinity, that was an entirely natural order of things."

Worry settled over Giovanni's face.

"To think you would say something so speciesist."

"..."

"Yes, Teacher, your sin is great."

Iser, who had once been a victim of speciesism and had grown into one of the era's greatest perpetrators, lost his words for a moment.

"... Ahem, well, in the end, it is for you to decide, Teacher."

"No matter how I think of it, it seems it would be far too great a discourtesy to Mr. Ju-hyeon..."

"Rather than discourtesy, well."

"It would be an exceedingly meaningful gift bestowed by a being with divinity."

Humans sometimes dedicated their lives and walked paths of ascetic hardship just to receive a single phrase of a god's voice, a single touch of a god's hand.

To receive the grace of life and death from a mystery worthy of reverence was a great blessing and mercy.

"Furthermore, as far as I know... hm."

Iser, who had been focused on the incidents in human society centered around Jio while pretending otherwise, organized his thoughts.

He recalled the brown-skinned human he had met before and continued.

"It seems that another evil god was involved in the tragedy that human named Ju-hyeon suffered."

"Since those souls were sacrificed to the schemes of such an evil god, perhaps it would be right for the merciful Sun to reap them."

"I feel sorry digging too deeply into such private matters."

"A gift should not be burdensome, should it?"

"Mr. Ju-hyeon would also find financial help extremely burdensome."

"The previous Sun was probably speaking not of human rites such as funeral ceremonies, but of a gift concerning the souls of humans themselves."

"He must have meant the essence, unlike what is visible to the eye."

At that, the teddy bear nodded.

"Coo-oo!"

"Please do not act friendly with me."

"Coo-coo-coo..."

"I do not know why you are laughing."

Iser still hated the former Sun.

He looked at Jio.

"As I learned from you, the Sun's greatest love is to sow life upon the earth, then reap it when the time comes and keep it by the sunlight's side."

"The process by which souls are born and reaped, I mean."

"I certainly said that."

"Then you can do the same, Teacher."

"As far as I know, because the present Earth has the attention of the gods pouring onto it, the souls there have apparently entered the hands of different gods one by one."

He smiled at his Teacher.

"They, too, would likely be glad to be accepted by the divinity of Earth rather than by gods of other dimensions."

"The funeral-related gift the previous Sun spoke of seems to refer to that."

"I am not worthy of reaping anyone."

"To put it from your perspective, Teacher, it would be closer to making more friends rather than reaping them."

"Every god involves themselves in life and death in a different way, so it would not be wrong to view it as a kind of social activity."

"Hmm, social activity."

"I understand which part you are reluctant about, Teacher."

"You are considering etiquette and common sense as a human."

"However, if you truly wish to act as an evil god as well, you will need an attitude of not rejecting the role of your divinity."

Iser had heard that Arjio wanted to become the Demon King because he wished to enjoy bloody battles as an evil god.

If so, he would need to adapt to his role and position as a god.

In addition, the mermaid siblings also wished for Giovanni to become more whole.

If he became completely separated from humanity that way, might a day not come when he rejected humans altogether?

"And more than anything."

After hesitating briefly, Iser continued.

"Since when have you ever cared about human standards...?"

"What does that mean?"

"No, well, you have been like that since long ago, Teacher."

Iser recalled Giovanni, who had once been human.

"I do not think you acted particularly human even then."

"To describe my valiant life in such a way?"

"Rather than being valiant, I think you simply charged ahead without even needing to muster courage."

"I never failed to keep basic courtesy."

"When I think of the achievements you set off as naturally as breathing..."

"The achievements I set off?"

"All I can think is, why are you acting coy now of all times?"

"What exactly do you think I am?"

"The greatest serial reverse-pickpocketer of all time?"

Giovanni felt wronged yet again.

"Even I did not dig into other people's family matters."

"I do not know."

"I cannot understand why you are so worried, Teacher."

"What if Mr. Ju-hyeon finds it burdensome and runs away!"

"So that was the issue after all."

He had not been worried about a future in which meddling in someone else's gloomy past would become burdensome, but about the other person getting sick of excessive kindness and running away.

As if he had expected as much, Iser nodded with a sacred priestly face.

"It is all right, Teacher."

"What is all right?"

"It is already too late."

"In what part is it too late?"

"As I just said..."

Iser smiled bitterly.

"Mr. Ju-hyeon already does not see you as an equal being, Teacher."

"Damn it, so that was true after all."

Giovanni's face grew serious.

"I thought that might be the case because he was so uncomfortable around me..."

"Separate from whether he truly considers you a friend, you are likely an object of awe."

"Even so, there may still be hope."

"I do not quite understand, so I ask."

"What hope is that?"

"The hope that we may become extremely comfortable friends, enough to push each other away with our feet."

"Oh, pushing away a god with one's foot."

"Even as a mermaid, that is a blasphemous remark that makes me want to wash out my ears."

"Please refrain from attaching excessive meaning to it."

"What blasphemy could there be between friends?"

"If such hope still remains, then that would be the true miracle."

But Jio was steadfast.

He did not know how to give up.

"I am Batlan Giovanni, son of the Sun and symbol of miracles."

"There is nothing I cannot accomplish."

"I want to say that what is not possible is not possible, but since you are someone who really does it once you say you will, I will not make any assertions..."

The mermaid students had learned through their human Teacher that, "Ah, truly, humans have no limits."

He was an artisan who molded the impossible into the possible, and from him, Iser had learned the wisdom that one must always leave possibilities open.

He had always kept in mind the possibility that one day his Teacher might return alive and scold them, and had that not actually happened?

Iser thought that if Jio set his mind to something, he could do anything.

"In any case, if you are not burdened by involving yourself in Mr. Ju-hyeon's unfortunate circumstances, Teacher, then I believe it is not a matter you need to worry about much."

"That human himself will not be able to interpret your mercy as rudeness or a nuisance."

Who would see a god's mercy as a nuisance, when it was not a disaster?

It was close to impossible, no matter how bold the human.

"He may suspect it is an evil god's trial, but he will not think of it as rude."

"However, my duty as a Confucian troubles my heart."

Giovanni lowered his sorrowful eyes plaintively, as if troubled.

"One must not carelessly interfere in another person's affairs..."

"But if that person is inwardly yearning for salvation?"

"Then there is no reason I should not step forward."

It was a swift change in stance, as if he had been waiting for it.

"I truly wished to act like a priest of the Sun and a mature adult by respecting one another's boundaries, but if in truth Mr. Ju-hyeon wants help, then there is truly nothing to be done."

"I know perfectly well that you were actually only waiting for someone to push you from behind."

"Phew, you caught me."

"But a new friend made while in the position of a portrait is rarer than a wild ginseng over a hundred years old."

"Because of who he is, I could not act rashly."

Jio's strength and weakness was that he did not think too deeply.

"If Mr. Ju-hyeon had simply asked me to help from the beginning, I would have helped without thinking anything of it."

In truth, for Jio, this was a case where he had really thought quite a lot.

And Jio gained courage.

He had been worried that his nice, fresh new friend might get sick of the scale of an extraordinary gift and run away, but if that was not the case, then there was nothing to hesitate over.

"If there is someone who needs help, and that person is my friend, and I can give that help, there is no reason not to step forward."

"In truth, I know."

"Deep in his heart, Mr. Ju-hyeon must also want the help of this versatile friend."

"Yes, I knew you would say that."

"As expected of the smiling tyrant of the sea village, who, when someone seems to need help, shoves mercy in first even if the other person refuses... no, as expected of the chosen son of the Sun."

"I feel as though I heard an address somehow inappropriate for a student to use for his Teacher, but I will let it pass just this once."

"In any case, I think I have roughly figured out what gift I should give Mr. Ju-hyeon."

"First, I will ask Mr. Ju-hyeon for his permission."

Jio looked at his Father.

"This is under the assumption that Dana wants it, Father."

"Coo-coo-coo!"

"As you wished, I will gift that child the lulupu juice."

Not thinking deeply did not mean he knew nothing.

"And then let us go make new friends."

That was the course of events that led to Yu Seongun working overtime.