On the day my father sacrificed himself.
This is the song of farewell to the departed souls by the Yatagarasu.
"Yatagarasu... Yatagarasu... is it walking the path for us?"
Kaki's gaze swept across the desolate riverbank, and the tiny figure of the fledgling in the black cloak had already vanished without a trace.
Kaki wanted to cry once again.
But it wasn't a wailing cry; the tears simply flowed quietly from his eyes.
He felt his consciousness withdrawing from his filthy, decayed body, gently ascending.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Yatagarasu."
While his consciousness still controlled his body, Kaki plopped to his knees by the riverbank.
Long ago, on the day his father passed away, he should have spoken these words.
Subsequently, Kaki no longer felt the weight of his own body, only the sense of release and liberation.
He heard the song of mourning, mingled with the fluttering sounds of wings catching the wind, and saw a dim lantern swaying before him.
