Fragment 2 (light novel 1)

Book of Lifetime
Fragment 2 Der Gevatter Tod
Japanese Name	天寿の書
Romanized Name	Tenju no Sho
Volume	1
Release Date	November 1, 2008 (volume 1)
Pages	9
Adaptation	Chapter 3 (manga)

"Book of Lifetime" is the 2nd fragment of The Mystic Archives of Dantalian light novel, volume 1. The special chapter is also labeled as "Der Gevatter Tod".

A young man is reading at a bar, when an old man addresses him to talk about the only thing worthy to be read.

Summary

A young man is sat at the counter of a bar, absorbed in reading a book while drinking a pint of lukewarm ale. He had read about half of it and asked a second pint of ale, when an old man addressed him with a hoarse voice, asking if he likes books. While the young man enjoys reading, the bearded old man hates it. According to the old man, books are boring and their stories are cliché, nothing more than the same tales and myths rewritten throughout the ages. The only books that are interesting are the books that contain their entire lives.

The old man affirms that, when he was a child, he found a library built like a maze, an endless place packed with books. The shelves contained the books of every person in the world. The ones with a large number of pages belonged to the long-lived, those who had many experiences. People who died young or had a monotonous life were represented by thin books. The old man had read his own book, and almost fell into despair after seeing how it was boring and short.

The book determines someone’s lifespan from the beginning. The old man should have died a long time ago, since his book was surprisingly thin. However, he made sure that the grim reaper had no chance to finish reading his book and claim his life. The old man got rid of the cover of his own book and glued the first and last pages together. His book became an endless cycle, with no beginning or end. He regrets doing that. His life was saved, but it became a repetition of the same events. The elder asks the young man to destroy his book if he ever loses his way into that library. The old man wishes salvation from a boring, endless life. The young man makes the promise. The old man thanks him with tears in his eyes. The old man falls asleep on the counter soon after, looking completely drunk.

The bartender was polishing glasses until now. He pours ale for the young man as a sign of sympathy. After all, the old man always babbles that horror story when he gets drunk. The young man smiles, enjoying his ale and wondering if there’s some truth in that tale. The bartender looks at the young man in puzzlement.

Trivia

• Der Gevatter Tod, German for Godfather Death, is one of the many fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm. The ending of this story has Death dragging a man to an underground cave filled with thousands of candles. The length of each candle shows how much longer a person has to live.
• It's the first chapter Hugh appears without Dalian.
  • The chapter marks Hugh's debut in a special chapter.