Chapter 70
It is not often one can gaze at such a magnificent spectacle.
Of course, to the one who was responsible for this disaster, this was a spectacle of unparalleled allure, for everyone else; the flames were a monstrosity responsible for this catastrophe.
The longer he stared into the flames, the more he could recall.
He remembered his father and mother, their faces were obscured but he could clearly remember his father lifting him and his brother in one arm each and putting them on his shoulders.
When they were three years old, their father could easily scoop them up and lift them up high, Ren remembered pretending to fly as his father's held him up into the air.
Back then, when his family was still intact, he and his brother were inseparable, going everywhere and doing everything together.
But one day, a disaster fell upon them.
After the failed demon invasion, many people were executed under suspicion of collaborating with demon kind.
Human knights were searching for demons and the Village of Sunflower, their home, ended up being their target.
They rounded all of them up like cattle and set their village aflame.
When their father was struck down, Ren rushed at the knight responsible…
…but for his efforts, he was stabbed, shot down by countless arrows before he fell into the waterfall.
And then, his life was saved by a fisherman, the one he later came to call his master….
…Shan.
She taught him everything he knew, how to use magic, fight, and to survive in that harsh world.
For several years he lived with her, moving frequently from one location to the next.
After losing his village, his parents, and his brother, Shan was the closest thing to a parent that he had left.
Unfortunately, she too was taken from him.
Divine Lords, leading their soldiers, chose to attack the village he and Shan were staying in. Divine Lords, some of who seemed to be beastmen, ma.s.sacred every person within the village.
The innocent people stood no chance.
With their hordes everywhere, Shan knew that the two of them will not have the chance to escape, so she chose to stay while buying him enough time to escape.
No matter how much he protested, she would not listen, instead, she kissed him on the forehead before bidding farewell.
She manifested her spiritual form separate from her body and gave it the task of carrying me to safety.
Without her spiritual form to help her, she was outmatched, but she did not care.
All I can remember now is the warm smile on her face.
That was the last time I ever saw her.
After bringing me far away from the village under the siege, the spiritual form of my teacher faded into nothingness.
Right at that moment, I knew the reason why, my teacher was no more.
She was dead.
And once again I was left alone.
No matter how much I cried, screamed, and
…in my heart I knew, none of my loved ones would ever come back.
Because I was weak, I lost them all.
Ren could not remember completely what happened afterwards, some of his memories were still blurred.
"I was born in the human world of Alem, and my human name was…"
"…Sabgyn Finnerman."
Ren uttered those words almost instinctively, and then sighed.
"Now that I think about it, my life is a mess."
Looking at the Pishak Village he burned down, he couldn't help but laugh hysterically, now he was no longer drunk on holy water but drunk on his thoughts and memories.
In his drunken mania, he ended up loudly laughing.
"Hhahhhahhahaahaahhaa!"
Orin and Toro were looking at him in awe while Doran's expression expressed clear fright.
After being drunk for so long, his mind was clearing up.
Sitting on top of the only building that was not completely burned down to the ground, he finally sobered up completely.
Shaking his head from side to side, putting his hand on his face, once again he uttered.
"What have I done?"
In the end, he was no better than the humans who burned down his village; he may not have done it intentionally, but the result was practically the same.
The only thing left to do now was to play the funeral music with the shamisen he was holding.
'Where did I get this?' Ren frowned as he realized he had silver sword strapped to his belt. Apparently, when he was drunk, he ended up stealing it from one of the burning buildings.
'I guess that is not important…'
What was important was the fact that he felt like many things were coming back, piece by piece…
Ren started to play his sad music.
"I remember practically everything…everything that is important that is. In the human world, I suffered greatly, saying that world was a living h.e.l.l for me would be a rather enormous understatement!"
"I lost everything! My family, my sensei, and even people I came to call my comrades… and then you just had to take my memories as well?! What the h.e.l.l did I do to deserve such punishment, human world?"
"Maybe the reason I was sent to this Demon World is because I had nothing left in the Human World to cherish."
"But here…I have…"
Ren now stopped mid-note.
Ren's mind was now flooded with the images of those he cared about. His grandfather, Akjan, Aijasyl, Orin, Shaula, and every other member of the Tengu clan were present within his heart.
"…a family"
The tone of the music gradually changed, to something happier.
"That was what I always wanted wasn't it…to have my family back?"
"I know my old family is never going to come back, the cruelty of the Human World had seen to that. Had I remained in the Human World, I would have most likely put an end to my own miserable existence."
"But here, I have them, those that I cherish, my new family…the ones for whose sake I want to live each and every day."
"Maybe it is fate that on that day, I ended up meeting Aijasyl, who led me to my family, the Tengu clan…..I…I…I am so happy…."
Ren couldn't help but tear up a little.
"I used to wonder without aim, without purpose, without a reason to exist, just waiting for the world to finish me off….Thank you guys, thank you…for giving me a reason to live!"
Now he knew that he had a place, a home, a family to return to.
'From now on, I will try my best to keep up; I know my clan members have high goals and ambitions, so I will try my best to follow them. I am so glad I have such capable comrades to lead the Tengu clan, all I need to do is follow their lead and everything will be fine!'
What Ren was not aware of was the fact that the Tengu clan members thought of him as their leader, while he thought of himself one of the followers, strangely enough.
Looking far into the distance, he saw a rather peculiar sight, a fox demon with fur as black as night, her three tails were moving up and down as she was floating through the air.
Blus.h.i.+ng a little, Ren muttered
"Am I seeing things? If I am still sane then… That lady is gorgeous!"
But after a few seconds, she disappeared from his sight, leaving Ren wondering who could that mysterious three tailed dark fox demon could be.