Chapter 46
"I don't care. Shan, please teach me how to use magic!"
"Alright. After all, it will make your chances of survival rise considerably. But be warned, what I will teach you are not the styles used by humans but developed by other means; I will not tell you by who. If you want to learn, follow my instructions exactly and do not ask me how I know them. It is best for you to not to know, little fledgling."
"Yes, Shan sensei!" boy said with a smile.
Then the vision faded away, replaced by a vision of woman bathing in the lake.
He heard a sad song. At first he wasn't sure who the woman in the lake was, but her voice gave away her ident.i.ty. It was Shan.
"Long ago, I thought we would meet~ Our wings wrapping around each other, our horns tenderly touching, and our hearts beating as we embrace. For so long, what I wanted to see was your smiling face. Back then, I thought everything was going to be alright, I wished, I wanted you to rise and reach greatness. To follow behind your proud back, it was all I ever wanted."
Her tone now changed from hopes and dreams to a voice that was on the verge of crying.
"But then, like a shadow you vanished, nowhere to be found. You were stranded in the world of humans, banished there by your foes."
Woman touched her forehead and removed bandages from it, revealing two scars on her forehead. Shan always wore bandages all over her body, which he learned later were there to conceal her ident.i.ty and hide her scars. Combined with the gruff voice she sometimes used, he thought Shan was male for some time.
"Alas, my horns are gone, taken from me by the ones who banished me to this world as well. Yet, I still hoped I would see you again~ But I hoped in vain, years went by, scar upon scar upon my body and soul, I still wished to see you again…"
"Maybe I just wanted you to tell me 'Everything will be ok'; even if it was a lie I would have believed it in an instant."
She was clearly sobbing now.
"A dove that waited for crow to come back to his nest, even if the crow was long gone, still wis.h.i.+ng for her lover to come back. But her lover never came~"
"Ymit…my beloved…I know I should not cry over those long gone…but I can't forget you. Why did both of us have to be banished from Sulum, why did we both end up in the human realm? Only for us to never again see each other ever again…I know you are gone…Now I feel so alone, my wings and horns are long gone. The only thing that remains are my memories and even those are fading away…And now the only thing left of you is your son…"
Her tears fell into the river, preserving the droplets forever.
"I wish we could back to the times when we could smile and laugh together, Ymit, my beloved."
After singing a sad song to herself, she was about to turn to get out of the water, only for her young student to hug her from behind.
It was awkward, considering his teacher was practically naked, bathing, while he, the twelve year old student entered the water with clothes on.
"Little fledgling! What are you doing…?"
"Teacher…Shan… I will not say I understand, because I really don't, but this is just what I felt like I needed to do."
A child was embracing his naked teacher while inside the river; his height was only up to her shoulders, which made him able to only hug her waist. This was a little awkward, but luckily Shan understood exactly what he was trying to say.
"Thank you, Sabgyn. It means a lot to me."
Then the memories faded away, replaced by the vision of Shan telling him.
"Look forward to your future with a bright smile, and no matter what happens don't lose sight of what you hold closest to your heart. Goodbye, my precious student."
Last he saw of her was Shan fighting against three figures he could not see clearly, but it was clear, she was not going to make it out alive.
Essentially, she was buying time for him to escape.
As he reached out to her, she went further and further away until finally disappearing from his sight.
Just like that, the visions dissolved into a ma.s.s of darkness…
* * *
"Shan!!!"
Ren woke up breathing heavily.
That dream again…I keep seeing it again and again. Shan, she was my teacher…I don't remember anything about her…but memories keep coming back to me piece by piece. She referred to me with the same name Long Siur called me, Sabgyn…What kind a name is that anyways…Doesn't matter.
I remember some things…she saved my life, taught me how to use magic and then…she chose to let me escape with my life at the cost of her own.
I can't believe I forgot about her. Her last request was for me not to forget her, but I, an ingrate, forgot everything…
Not only am I a loser as a cook, weakling as a demon, but I can't even keep a single promise to my master…
I can still hear her song within my mind…
Her song…She clearly said Ymit, but that is my father's name…did teacher Shan know my father?
I am no longer sure of anything.
I know next to nothing about my father.
I will just have to find out for myself.
* * *
"Ren! What are you doing!? This is Master Ymit's room; none is allowed to enter here!" Aijasyl cried out after seeing Ren digging through the former belongings of Ymit Karatengu.
"I simply want to find out about my father, help me out here, will you?"
It is best if mentor here can help me out, I don't think asking anyone else to dig through this
Besides, earlier today, I ended up in a weird staring contest with Karli, who was sitting on the opposite side while we were all eating. Why was she glaring at me like that? I simply smiled and waved, but her expression seemed like a suppressed killing intent to say the least…I really hope everyone else in the Tengu clan is not looking at me that way.
At least Aijasyl no longer wants to kill me, not anymore, I hope…
He handed her a pile of papers he found inside the shelf.
"Ren, what would Master Korgan say?"
"Aijasyl, please, I need to know about my father, otherwise I fear I will never find content." Unlike his usual goofy self, he seemed dead serious, his gaze focused on his mentor.
Aijasyl sighed and gave in.
"If it means helping you, Ren, I suppose I have no choice but to a.s.sist."
Ren went through many papers, doc.u.ments, books, but still nothing important so far.
Aijasyl had not much luck either, apparently Ymit loved to read write long poetry, mostly about how much he enjoyed nature.
After about an hour, Aijasyl ended stumbling across something unusual, after reading it over, her face was completely red. Apparently it was one of the letters sent to Ymit.
"What is the matter, red faced mentor, surely my father did not keep some weird secret…" Ren took the letter and read its content.
"Wait, Ren…that is a…"
"What is this?" Ren was shocked to say the least, his hands were trembling.
"…a love letter."
It was a poem addressed to Ymit, from someone named Raushan s.h.i.+n. It read:
When I look upon thy eyes
I sense a flame, rising to fill the s.p.a.ce of my heart
I fl.u.s.ter, for the flame warms me thoroughly
The moment I see you, all doubts fade away
Just a dove and a crow on a rainy day
My love, I can feel my heart beating faster, as I think of you
If away from you, I sense myself fading, reaching out, I want to grab on to your hand and never let go
Your gentle hand reflects your gentle soul, I love feeling close to you
After all, my beloved, I love you
"Wow, did father write this to someone?"
"No, it seems like this letter was written to him, the name at the bottom is Raushan s.h.i.+n. I never heard of that name."
"But I have." A voice sounded out. It was Shaula, the succubus maid serving the Tengu clan.
"Shaula!!" both Ren and Aijasyl cried out.
"No need to be so surprised, Aijasyl, young master." Shaula calmly replied.
"So about that name, mind telling me who is that?" Ren showed her the poem.
"The handwriting is definitely that of a female, as for the name, Raushan s.h.i.+n, she was Ymit Karatengu's…I mean, your honorable father's fiancé, from s.h.i.+n clan of dove demons. However, she disappeared more than twenty years ago, I have not heard of her since."
Father had a fiancée? Who the heck is Raushan s.h.i.+n?
"Shaula, I found another letter, but it was never sent, Master Ymit is addressing someone named Shan, do you happen to know who that is as well?"
"Shan is Raushan s.h.i.+n's old nickname by Master Ymit."
Apparently a certain hand-drawn picture caught Shaula's eye, she pulled it out of the pile of papers and said.
"Here, both Master Ymit and Raushan s.h.i.+n are in the picture."
Ren looked at the picture, his eyes opened wide. He was not familiar with the black haired demon with a brave look on his face; that was not the face that made him shudder. It was the demon next to him that made Ren wants to hold on to his heart with all his might.
There was no mistaking it; the lady demon in the picture looked exactly like Shan from his memories, but the Shan he remembered had no horns, just two scars where they once were. But Shan and Raushan s.h.i.+n clearly were one and the same.
At that moment, Ren made a huge realization.
No way....Shan is Raushan s.h.i.+n…Moreover she was my father's fiancée…does that mean….
…Shan is my mother?
Ren felt sensation of wetness on his cheeks, it seems like his body reacted before his mind.
I met my mother back then, without even knowing who she was…and I let her sacrifice her life to save my own…Shan…no, mother…What have I done?
Aijasyl and Shaula found Ren crying, so they tried to comfort him as best as they could, they did not know what suddenly came over him, but he kept repeating the same word over and over again.
"Shan, Shan, Shan, Shan….."
But in his mind he heard only one word.
Mother.
To think when he finally found her, he already had unknowingly lost her.
While he did not know his father, same could not be said about his mother…he knew her…and then he lost her.
* * *
"Is he going to be ok? He looked like he has seen a ghost." Aijasyl asked of Shaula.
"You know Young Master, he is denser than lead. He will be all right." Shaula confidently remarked.
When he pa.s.sed out, both of them took him to his room, he must have hyperventilated himself. With a wet towel on his head and having drunk some medicine prepared by the two of them, he was sleeping soundly in his room.
Aijasyl couldn't help but glance at the room in which Ren was sleeping.
"Do not worry; he will be back to his usual self by morning, you will see."
"I hope you are right, I have never seen Ren in such state before."
* * *
Earlier today, during food time, I caught Master Ren staring at me with strange look in his eyes, he smiled in such a wicked manner; just as I thought; he is telling me to come to his bedchambers.
I do not know what to do.
I can't disobey him, he did nothing to endanger me or my brother, and by the contract I am obligated to adhere to his every whim.
But I have never done this before…Hopefully he would be gentle with me…
She proceeded to enter into Ren's room.
His eyes were closed, but Karli wasn't sure if he was actually sleeping.
He must be pretending to be asleep in order to make me lower my guard, the minute I lose my nerve or back away, he will treat it as a betrayal and will be able to justify himself hurting my brother, I can't let that happen.
No, even if you provoke me like this, I will not let you have the upper hand.
Karli proceeded to take off all of her clothing. Her bare form of frost wolf demon, with bluish grey ears, tail, and well-endowed figure, was amazing to behold.
No male has seen me like this, this is the first. But for the sake of our survival, today I must a.s.sume not the role of the warrior but that of a woman.
She proceeded to open the blanket covering Ren and snuck into it.
Am I doing this right? Or am I supposed to do something else…?
She found herself in Ren's tight embrace.
He was wearing his sleeping clothing, but she was there, unclothed, she did not know what to expect, but this was not it.
Hugging her tightly, Ren whispered.
"…I will never let you go again…."
Karli couldn't help but be astounded by his words.
What does he mean? I don't understand…But somehow, I feel as though it is ok.
With her bare body seemingly glued to his, Karli soon drifted off to sleep, in a rather embarra.s.sing position.
* * *
In his dream, Ren saw his teacher again, she kept going further and further away.
Ren tried to catch up to her, he chased after her, and finally he managed to hold on to her.
Shan. I will never let you go again. Mother.
He finally was reunited with his teacher, beloved mentor, and mother, within his dream. Ren hugged Shan tightly, afraid that if he lost his focus from her even for one second, she would disappear again.
After a night's worth of dreaming of reunion with his mother, Ren opened his eyes and saw an unfamiliar form lying next to his bed.
"This is not a dream, nope, it doesn't feel like a dream. Who is this?" Ren lifted the cover off the demon lying next to him.
The answer was a little shocking.
Karli Jou, Korkau's sister, she was lying next to him in bed, completely naked.
What the h.e.l.l happened while I was sleeping?
Then he heard a noise outside his room.
"Don't worry, Aijasyl, Young Master should be up and about to his usual self by now; see for yourself."
The door to his chambers opened and two demons entered.
Shaula and Aijasyl then saw a rather unusual sight.
Both of them saw the scene of Ren sitting on his bed with still sleeping naked form of Karli Jou.
Needless to say, their mouths were wide open, especially Aijasyl's.
"I am sorry for interrupting." Aijasyl bowed and proceeded to hurry out of the room; Shaula also apologized and followed the suit.
"Back to his usual self? More like back to sleeping around with female demons! I knew he said he wanted a harem, but to think he was serious…"
Meanwhile, Ren couldn't help but think.
What just happened?
Needless to say, this did not help his reputation in Tengu clan, many doubted that he was a player, but this was all the proof they needed.
Seeing is believing, in a sense…