"Huh, I feel dizzy, did I fall asleep? Oh, now I remember…"With Akjan still sleeping beside him, Ren now remembered just how he ended up dozing off. No wonder it felt like a nice nap, her body is softer than any pillow, so naturally he would end up sleeping while hugging her.
"I guess it is for the best for me to let her rest, she does seem a little tired. I wonder what the other Tengu clan members are up to…"
Then he heard a noise from not too far away.
It was the sound of his clan members; they seemed to be talking to the Oni.
"Your leader does not seem to have horns, yet the Lady Shadow Fox bid us to follow his lead. But… is he truly a worthy demon?" one of the Oni ended up asking Orin. Apparently, this shape shifter demon was not as trusting as the rest of his kind.
"Boss is the only demon I would choose to follow. I know he may not seem like much at first, but when you get to know him better, you will understand, boss is exceptional"
"Is that so? But isn"t it an exaggeration that he is aiming to become the Demon King? He seems to be too demure for that endeavor"
"Demure my a.s.s! You should have seen him in action! No matter what enemy he faces, boss manages to emerge triumphant, isn"t that right, Lady Shaula?"
"Yes, there is far more to our leader than meets the eye, that is for sure. He has grand goals and big plans. If it is him, without a doubt, he can become the Demon King"
Shaula for once agreed with the beetle demon.
"Oh, I wonder who this wonderful leader they are talking about?"
Ren thought.
"Well, Aijasyl is my mentor, so they could be talking about her, or Shaula, but wait, Shaula is talking about this leader, so it can"t be her. Then who? I mean everyone else other than the original 9 retainers within the Tengu clan joined after I did, and Shaula said he… could it be? Jop Tengu is the secret leader of Tengu clan?!"
"Let"s raise our cups to our leader, the man who will become the Demon King, Karatengu Ren!"
"KARATENGU REN!!!"
Oni and Tengu clan members raised their cups and made a toast in Ren"s honor.
But Ren Karatengu himself overheard this, much to his horror.
"WHAAAAAT!!!!" Ren couldn"t help but shout on the inside.
"Hold on just one second, their leader is not one of them nor is it one of the Tengu clan members left behind…but IT"S ME?!!"
With the extreme shock pulsing through his spine, Ren ended up falling on his b.u.t.t, losing any will to stand up.
"Let me get this straight. All this time, I thought I was the follower of the Tengu clan, but in reality I was their leader?! How did this happen? Why didn"t anyone tell me before now? Did they a.s.sume I already knew? Goodness!"
"How did this happen? How? As far as I remember, I have been doing what I have been told or going with the flow and following the crowd….So how did it escalate into something like this? The man who will become the Demon King my a.s.s! Have they lost their marbles?"
"I can"t believe this. Everyone in my clan is delusional, thinking that someone as pathetic as me wants to become the Demon King….That"s absurd. I just wanted to learn how to cook and raise a large garden, that"s all I asked for, not become the big shot Demon King! But wait, if they find out I am not what they think I am…oh no, it could be disastrous! They will abandon me… that"s for sure; and once again, I will have no family to return to… What should I do? What should I do?"
"Good morning, Ren"
"AAAh! Akjan, Good Morning!"
In his frantic thoughts, he didn"t even notice that Akjan woke up.
"Why are you so fidgety all of a sudden?"
"No reason! It is all fine and dandy here"
"I am glad to hear that"
Hesitating a little, Ren asked Akjan.
"Akjan, who do you think I am?"
"My beloved leader, a great demon with a great goal, and the one who will become the future Demon King…..Ren, what"s wrong?"
Akjan ended up asking after she saw Ren"s expression, it was as though he ate something very sour.
"Nothing. Never mind…" Ren said, half sobbing.
"Not her too…What kind of mess have I gotten myself into?!"
* * *
The return home was rather peaceful. Due to having Karli, who could use ice magic, they walked safely over the frozen water, not worried about any monster that could be beneath the ice.
Having an ice user in a domain full of water was like a G.o.dsend.
"Aren"t the other clans going to end up following our frozen trail?" Aijasyl asked, concerned that they could be attacked by the enemies who had a foot hold now.
"No need to worry, only the ice that is within fifty meter proximity of me shall stay solid; the rest will shatter and disappear shortly"
"That"s pretty convenient"
"Thank you"
As they kept walking forward, Karli noticed something strange with their leader; his expression was as though he just had a very bad taste of his own food.
"Maybe he is on guard, if he is, I should be too…"
What she didn"t realize was the fact that Ren was having a tough time accepting that he indeed was the true leader of the Tengu clan, not anyone else, but him.
Eventually, they reached the end of the trial as they saw a gate of water appear before them.
Now, without any hesitation, the Tengu clan members and the Oni entered the gates of water, thus completing the Second Trial.
"YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE SECOND TRIAL. AWAIT THE ANNOUNCING OF THE THIRD TRIAL, BE AT EASE TILL THEN"
Just like when they finished the First Trial, the Great Ones announced to them the completion of the Second Trial with an undeniable voice transmitting the message into their heads.
Apparently the portals sent the demons to their own clan"s territory, which is why Aris Noi was nowhere in sight.
Now, they were back to the Tengu clan"s territory but this time, they came back with no casualties and with additional Onis to join the Tengu clan.
* * *
"You tale is a little hard to believe, young one"
"It is understandable"
Doran Tengu bowed his head before Korgan Karatengu.
"Which is why, I would like you to put this on your neck" Korgan gave Doran a collar.
"This is?"
"It is Collar of Truth; the wearer cannot tell a lie while wearing it"
"Uhm, Grandpa? Why didn"t you use this when you met me?"
Ren couldn"t help but ask.
"The Collar of Truth does not work on demons, but it works on everyone else, and this lad is a Darkling, not a demon"
"I see, then I shall oblige" Doran proceeded to put the collar on himself.
"My name is Doran, my last name is Tengu, given to me by my adoptive father Ymit Karatengu. I am from the human world of Alem, and I have travelled here recently seeking the clan my adoptive father belonged to…"
Doran proceeded to retell his full story.
"So it is the truth, huh. Still, if only it was that easy to believe in…." Korgan muttered.
"Master Ymit gave me my last name, a purpose in life, and a hand"
Doran proceeded to take off his right hand, which apparently was artificial, and offered it to Master Korgan.
Hesitantly, Master Korgan accepted the prosthetic hand.
He proceeded to examine it.
"It was made with earth magic, specifically condensed dust shaped into a permanent mobile form. And the mana signature…."
Master Korgan"s eyes opened wide in disbelief.
"It"s Ymit"s. This arm was made by Ymit"s magic, of that there is no doubt"
Mana signature varied from individual to individual, and each one was unique.
Master Korgan recognized his son"s mana signature right away.
He gave the arm back to Doran.
"Which means you are who you say you are. In that case, Doran Tengu, welcome to the Tengu clan"
"Thank you"
Doran bowed, before leaving the room, leaving Ren and his grandfather alone in the room.
"You seem troubled, my grandson. There were many new members who joined our clan today, and the matter with this lad was most unusual…. Was the matter with Doran so surprising?"
"No, Grandfather, it is just, during the Second Trial I remembered so many things and on top of that I feel like I did nothing during the Second trial, and apparently I have been ignoring big facts like a fool…" Ren ended up talking tad bit too fast.
"Slow down, kiddo. Take deep breath" Master Korgan patted his grandson"s head.
After Ren calmed down, he said.
"Grandpa, I have a lot of things I want to tell you"
"Take your time, my grandson. I will listen for as long as you like"
* * *
"I see, so you were born in the human world, huh. And by that conjecture, Ymit ended up somehow being sent to the human world, which matches up with what Doran told me. He was probably banished into the human world by one of his enemies…."
Korgan clenched his sole hand into a fist.
"The seal of banishment weakens the one afflicted with it, making the victim steadily lose their strength until they are practically powerless….So Ymit and his wife perished during the attack by humans upon the village they lived in…"
Master Korgan"s eyes were glowing white with undeniable rage.
"And my grandson barely managed to survive after falling into the waterfall…."
Now Master Korgan turned to look at Ren.
"Ren, did you say you once had a brother?"
Ren nodded.
"I see" Korgan"s dark expression steadily subsided.
"So I had two grandchildren in the human world, but because of humans, only one of them managed to survive…what humans did is unforgivable….yet, at the same time…at the very least, one of my grandchildren came back home"
Ren already lost everyone, his father, his mother, his brother, his master, his friends in the human world…now the only family he had left was his grandfather.
And Korgan knew that more than anything, Ren needed his family right now, more than ever.
With his sole arm, Korgan proceeded to embrace Ren in a heartfelt hug.
"Ren, do you realize how glad I am that you came back safe and sound? How proud I am of you? My grandson, I know your heart must be wounded after remembering such painful truth but…My fledgling, the day you came to this clan, you have come back home. This clan… every demon in it, is your family. And you are not going to lose me that easily…he he he"
Unexpectedly to Master Korgan, Ren hugged him back.
"Thank you, grandfather"
Watching Ren was like watching his son, Ymit, in his youth, and for that, Korgan could not be more thankful.
After they finished hugging, Ren asked.
"You really are my grandpa, right?"
"Of that there is no doubt" Master Korgan replied with a smile. "Were you uncertain of something?"
"No, I am just happy that at least one member of my family remains"
"Likewise, but who knows? If everything goes according to your plans, our family will become bigger soon, with fledglings of your own. I can"t wait to be a great-grandpa!"
"Grandfather, what do you…"
Before Ren could finish, Sento barged in with a letter.
"They have accepted our terms!" Sento Draco delivered the gist of the message.
"Excellent" Korgan nodded.
"Grandpa, what is going on?"
"Master Ren, during your absence we have begun negotiations with the Draco Clan, for them to become Karatengu clan"s subordinates, and now they have accepted our condition for joining the clan"
"What condition?" Ren asked.
"In accordance with your wishes, we gave them an ultimatum, to have their leader become your concubine."
"Concu…what?"
"Your fiancée, Master Ren. First of the many in your path to conquest"
"Ah ah…." Ren could not help but have his mouth drop wide open while Sento explained to him in detail what he ended up arranging for Ren.
"Wait…what? Did Sento and Grandpa just hitch me with this chick?! I have a fiancée?!"
Not only did Ren find out that he was the true leader of Tengu clan, but he also found out that he has a fiancée who he was going to meet very soon.