“Rest in peace.” A white fox type demon whispered.

Underneath the tombstone she carved out of a rock, with the names of her family members inscribed on it, was a spear buried in the ground.

She could not find their bodies, the only thing left of them was this spear, as much of an abomination this object was, it was the only thing left of her parents and grandfather.

Beside her were her younger siblings. The twins, Akjai and Akjin attended the funeral with her. Both of them sobbed silently as Akjan paid her last respects to her elders.

Master Korgan, in his generosity, offered a place for her family to be buried, a place within the vast Karatengu territory. Apparently this was also the place where Master Korgan’s entire family was buried as well.

After bowing for the final time to her parents, she proceeded to stand up.

Her siblings were still crying, so she proceeded to hug them tightly, telling them everything would be ok. They still were afraid of everyone within the Tengu clan, aside from Ren, who was the one who rescued them in the first place. It would take some time for them to adjust, but Akjan couldn’t think of a safer place for them to stay other than Tengu clan territory.

In her heart, she was grateful to Ren, for letting her family stay in his domain, even after she was indirectly responsible for his kidnapping.

He could have perished; he could have lost everything he ever cherished, all because of me. I deserve to be punished….So then why did he do this all? He is simply too kind. I don’t understand that at all. Demons always try to usurp each other, they never do anything in order to help the other…but Ren… he was different.

His human-like appearance aside, his attitude is not that of a typical demon. He is fearless and he is unimaginably kind. Akjan could only wish that there were more demons like him.

As three of them stood up, Akjan’s eye caught another sets of tombstones.

When she approached them, she saw the writing on them.

Runai Karatengu, loving wife. Loved by her family, her memory shall live forever.

Omir Karatengu, a proud firstborn. Taken at the peak of prime.

Ymit Karatengu, last son. Heir of his clan, and beloved son.

The names on those tombstones, they were the names of Karatengu clan members; in other words, this is where Ren’s family was buried.

None of the names seems familiar, except one, Ymit Karatengu…Master Korgan once mentioned that Ren was son of Ymit, Master Korgan’s second son. So this is…this is the grave of Ren’s father.

Ren once told her that he wished not to remember his past. He told her that he remembers only fragments of it and he wished to forget those as well. This might be the reason why.

His entire family is almost completely extinct. Crow type demons are extremely rare these days. Akjan only met two so far, Ren and Master Korgan. They were the last of their demon type, and after Master Korgan eventually passes away, it would be Ren alone…

No…He will never be alone. If anything, he will have me by his side.

It is fine if he wants to sacrifice me, he already did so much that even life time of repaying my debts would not be enough. The only wish of mine, to have my family back had been granted, now I have nothing to fear. Even if I die, I will die happily. If I have a chance to save his life in exchange for my own, I shall gladly do so. Because Ren, to me…you are someone to cherish.

Ren always seems so goofy, but Akjan knew better than that. He may be an astonishingly great leader and a powerful figure for his clan members to look up to, but she knew that on the inside he was full of fear and self-doubt. The way he could conceal it so well under his smile was impressive.

He was not strong; she knew that for a fact. After sparring with him she knew his physical strength and stamina wear lower than hers. He cannot even use magic based on using his own mana. But what he didn’t have in brawn, he made up for in his bravery and kindness. She knew full well that someone brave is not someone who lacked fear, in fact Ren was so full of fear, she could sometimes smell fear emanating from him, no, bravery is quality of overcoming that said fear. The more fear one is capable of overcoming, the mightier the one is. That might be why he such a powerful leader, not by depending on his strength like Kas or Jou clan, but by his charisma.

Still, in the world of demons, strength is necessary to survive. And her strength is nowhere near enough to protect her beloved. This time it was too close. Everything could have gone completely wrong and she would have lost everything again.

Her loved ones were with her, she is not about to lose them again.

“I have to become stronger, strong enough so that this does not happen again, strong enough to protect them from harm” she looked at her younger siblings. “Strong enough to let him live”

The feeling of losing everyone she cared for. She never wanted to experience it again.

Her family was taken from her because she was not strong enough to protect them. Having her siblings back was like she was given a second chance. She was not going to waste it.

As her siblings wiped their tears off their eyes, Akjan paid her respects to Ymit Karatengu’s grave.

“Your son has saved me and my family, as his father, thank you very much.” She bowed to his grave. She knew it looked somewhat silly, but she had to express her gratitude. If it wasn’t for Ymit Karatengu, Ren would never have been born. That was enough of a reason for her to thank him.