Giving Someone a Name (2)
"It might be meddling where I shouldn't, but just standing there taking a beating like an idiot? If your legs worked fine, you could've at least run."
In response to my unnecessary nagging, the nameless Jegal kid mumbled awkwardly through her tiny mouth.
"My... legs... slow..."
Chirp~! Chirp chirp~!
A sparrow poked its head out from between her precious cupped hands. It was a sparrow with an injured wing. From the looks of it, she must've curled up to protect it, figuring if she ran, they'd snatch it away.
...What a dumb little kid.
Protecting a single sparrow and letting herself get beaten to a pulp. If I hadn't stepped in midway, her head would've been smashed against a rock—either seriously hurt or dead.
Truly a dumb little kid.
"...Then instead of just taking it, you could've at least yelled for help."
She gazed down at the sparrow chirping happily—'chirp~ chirp~'—as if it loved her soft hands, then quietly shook her head.
"No one... helps me... Chirpy doesn't... either... So I'll... help..."
Her pure blue eyes left me speechless.
A kid who'd fallen out of favor with the family head. Helping her might bring backlash later. That's why no one lifted a finger.
A small, frail body compared to her peers. Ragged clothes torn and filthy everywhere. She looked nothing like a child of a prestigious house.
Today was the first time I'd witnessed the bullying firsthand, but I could guess the kind of life she'd led.
If it were me in her shoes, forget saving an injured sparrow—I'd have snuck into the warehouse at night, grabbed an oil drum, and torched the place.
"Hahaha! Burns like the Iling Forest!!"
...Something like that.
Her two eyes reflected me back. Eyes full of wonder, like she was staring at something amazing.
...Helping her was the amazing thing.
What a shitty life.
"I protected you today, but what if those guys target the sparrow again? Looks like it can't even fly with that injury."
"......"
At my mischievous question, she clamped her mouth shut and hugged the sparrow tighter.
For some reason, Master's words popped into my head just then.
'Once you've learned, next you teach... or something...'
I looked into her eyes, clear and beautiful as a morning sea.
Still pretty eyes. Pure eyes.
Fine. What's the big deal with teaching her some basic martial arts?
I was bored anyway. Could be a good distraction, like peanuts to kill time.
Once I'd made up my mind, no hesitation. Wasting time is for fools.
I asked the fidgeting, clueless kid in a calm voice.
"Wanna learn martial arts?"
The girl called the nameless Jegal found the boy fascinating. He wasn't old, yet he walked with a staff. Unlike others, he didn't ignore her, hit her, yell at her, or fear her.
This was a first.
Someone helping her was also a first. There were people who gave her food, but it always felt forced, like they had no choice.
But the boy was different. It didn't feel like someone had ordered him to help against his will.
The girl was curious about the boy's name. She didn't know much about the world, but she knew everything except her had a name.
The twinkling thing up there was the sun. The thing in the boy's hand was a staff. And before the boy appeared, the only one who'd talked to her was 'Chirpy,' who went chirp~ chirp~.
She didn't know what 'martial arts' the boy offered to teach meant, but she wanted to know more about him, so she nodded.
...Come to think of it, someone teaching her something was also a first.
***
She didn't look like a proper person at first, so I ordered the maids to wash her up and dress her in decent clothes.
The maids looked shocked and tried to refuse, but once I slipped them some money, they grumbled but did as told.
Money's the best, after all.
Waiting in the room, in came the freshly scrubbed Jegal kid, all fluffy and clean.
I'd thought she was kinda cute even filthy, but washed up, anyone could see she was an adorable child.
White skin and silky black hair like a dark night sea.
...No special care, yet how's her hair that glossy? Amazing.
The Jegal kid fiddled with her soft new clothes, glancing around the room curiously. Like a wild animal given to a human.
Hmm~ But calling her 'nameless Jegal' is getting annoying.
Need a proper nickname.
Now she's this mysterious kid with an unfathomable birth secret, born from the sea.
"Ohae."
Our eyes met as she looked around, and the name slipped out absentmindedly.
No deep thought—it just popped up, but it fit perfectly.
"Pass 'o'. Sea 'hae'. Ohae. Jegal Ohae."
She instinctively knew it was for her—her gaze locked on.
"...My... name?"
"'Nameless' is awkward. Pretty decent name, right?"
"How... to... use...?"
Can't read or write? What the hell have they been doing without teaching a kid basics?
No choice—teach her letters alongside martial arts.
Writing's crucial for living like a human. Way more important than martial arts.
Martial arts are nice to have; writing's essential.
So I pulled out paper, slowly wrote her name, and explained.
"Pass 'o', to cross. Sea 'hae', blue like your eyes. Ohae, crossing the sea."
Her eyes—pretty but always hazy and weak—sparkled now.
"...Ohae."
She clutched the paper with her tiny hand, eyes glued to it.
Glad she likes it. It's just a fake name till the Jegal family reinstates her and gives a real one, but seeing her so happy felt good.
Ohae murmured her name on the paper for a while, then looked around as if struck by something and handed me blank paper.
"Name... tell me... write it..."
Oh right... hadn't told her mine. Slipped my mind.
I wrote it slowly on the paper she offered and explained.
"Deceive 'man', to trick, to hide. Heaven 'cheon', what you see looking up outside. Mancheon, hiding the heavens."
Ohae gripped the paper like treasure again, eyes sparkling as she stared, memorizing the characters.
"Man... cheon... man... cheon... Mancheon..."
She repeated it in her mouth a few times, then grabbed a brush and started writing her name and mine on blank paper.
Honestly, fresh to letters, it was worm scribbles—waste of paper.
But no matter. When teaching kids, the key is making the first start fun.
If she's enjoying learning now, a few sheets are fine.
And it's not even my paper—the Jegal family gave it for study.
I watched fondly as she excitedly inked paper mercilessly, thrilled by her first words and brush strokes.
Good girl. Jegal Ohae.
Don't worry about paper cost.
Bankrupt the Jegal family that shirked basic education.
After dozens of sheets sacrificed, she seemed satisfied and suddenly handed me one.
Crooked handwriting: me and Ohae's names.
"Mancheon... Ohae...!"
Her usually blank face hard to read, but faint blush on cheeks—she looked thrilled.
Mancheon Ohae. Hide the sky, cross the sea.
Somehow, it made me chuckle.
Naming her made even grandiose words spill out.
As I quietly laughed, Ohae gave expectant eyes—like a kid showing parents their masterpiece.
Hmm~ Honestly.
Handwriting's worm-like, no symmetry. Ink splatters everywhere. Paper's crumpled, near tearing.
...But for a first try, pretty good.
I pulled yakgwa from my snack pouch, popped it in her tiny mouth, and gently stroked her hair.
"Talented one. Practice a bit more, and you might become a famous calligrapher? Maybe."
Ohae said nothing to the praise, just bowed her head and munched the yakgwa like a squirrel.
Shy? Thought she was emotionless as stone.
She's got cute sides.
Happy and shy from praise, savoring sweet snacks—any angle, a normal kid.
Maybe her dad's a foreigner? In murim terms, a Western barbarian.
My theory: Little Moon drifted at sea, rescued by foreign merchants.
Strange foreigners and goods made her think she'd reached the Dragon Palace.
Old records mention mistaking foreigners for goblins.
Similar.
And as I figured, her dad was at least the ship's captain or high rank.
Anyway, ignoring details, Little Moon and captain fell in love.
But he had a fiancée back home; she had family, couldn't leave.
So he gave her commercial treasures and sent her ashore.
"Kuh... kuhehehehe..."
Laughable even to me.
Watched too many comics in my past life.
Even as a comic plot, low plausibility.
But these stories are fun for imagining backstories, right or wrong.
Laughing to myself in fantasy, Ohae tilted her head curiously.
So cute... What's that?
Doubting my eyes, I approached and pinched her cheek.
Soft, moist, it stretched under my fingers, revealing white, pretty teeth.
Neat, even, beautiful teeth.
But... pointy.
Sharp like shark teeth.
As I stared shocked, her eyes darkened, and she quickly covered her mouth.
Complex, apparently.
Sorry for touching the sore spot unexpectedly, but those shark-pointy teeth shocked me more.
Genetics? Fangs are one thing, but all teeth like that?
Can humans have shark teeth?
I watched intently as she pouted, depressed, munching yakgwa carefully.
...Maybe her dad's really a dragon?