Repaying a debt

Sounds of swords clashing, the feelings of guilt, pain from running, sounds of heavy breathing, the smell of blood and cries of pain.

There in the distant past as she ran along with the maid and her daughter hand in hand after escaping the family mansion which had been invaded at night.

She ran through the outskirts of the village avoiding the eyes of the villagers, a young girl 3 years younger than her by her side whimpered in a small voice after witnessing the horrific scenes in the mansion before the escape.

The sounds were picked up by nearby villagers who had betrayed the the Bombyx family and joined the blood sect martial artists in maintaining control of the village.

They began to run into the forest but the girl tripped leading to the girl crying louder and losing her grip of the hand belonging to Ki.

The maid who had already maintained a fast speed of running away looked back at her daughter in despair.

If she went back they all would die but if she kept running with Ki then someone would survive the nightmare that had descended upon them.

The child cried for her mother but her cries only grew further away from the mother and Ki as the mother picked up and carried Ki running away with all her strength.

Further into the forest she put some distance between their pursuers and got closer towards the city, wolf howls began then the maid showed a look of fear before turning resolute.

The maid covered Ki in grass and dirt and hid her, she ran away into the distance never to be seen again.

Ki could never forget the sounds of that night along with the distant sounds of the wolves and the screams of the maid who sacrificed herself so that someone could live on.

She displayed her loyalty to the end and even gave her life for the Bombyx families future.

In the end she never once thought to ask for the families help to solve her own problems so only received the minimum amount of help but still remained loyal even in the face of death.

Loyalty is one of the traits which Ki valued most in a person so as Ki begins building her own power behind her she needs trustworthy, capable and hardworking people.

The maid definitely falls into all of those categories but mostly stands out for her loyalty so her other previous experience and skills can be further improved and worked on over time.

If someone wasn't capable or skilled but possessed the other traits then they would be accepted by Ki because they would not betray and their efforts would help to improve themselves giving them further opportunities to rise in position in the future.

If they were not hardworking but loyal and had some skills and experience they would be able to hold a suitable or stable position but would not have many chances to rise from that position.

Worst of all would be to lack loyalty because there is always the risk of a person being short sighted driven by greed for money or short term benefits and if that person possesses a high enough position in Ki's built up power then that person may cause harm to what she wishes to build up depending on how skilled and involved they are.

Ki began writing down some notes at first before summarising what she needed to bring up first.

She then took another piece of paper and wrote down an initial plan and marked each stage as 'Restaurant', 'Research' and finally 'Manpower'.

Taking the completed rough plan, Ki left her room and walked to the dining room to eat with her family.

Her brother Leon looked up at his sister and asked. "Sister can I come to play with you later?"

"Yes but you must eat all of your food otherwise you won't have enough energy to play." Ki smirked at her little brothers confused face. 'Hehe I'm going to make you suffer later and I'm sure you will quickly run away.'

"Hmph only if sister says so." Leon scrunched up his face before eating the barely touched food on his plate.

As she remembered her brothers physique was on the larger size than most boys his age so he was often teased for being a bear child during this time which was when he began to eat less food.

Ki had other thoughts looking at her brothers body proportions. 'Indeed he is suited to martial arts, although I am practicing and building a foundation now with my blood arts boosting and nurturing my poison arts practice speed I am sure if he begins to practice seriously from a young age his achievements will not be low, maybe even could catch up to me one day if I slack off.'

Sadly when her brother went missing in her last life no clues were found and he never had the chance to even touch anything related to martial arts before his disappearance so she never got to see his full potential and never found out who took him from the mansion.

However looking back on it from her current position she was able to see things more clearly, it was obvious that during the struggle with blood sect martial artists, one or many inside the mansion had decided to betray the family to save themselves.

A look of hatred briefly passed in Ki's eyes before looking at her brother rushing to finish his food after her few words.

She turned to her grandmother. "Can we talk after the meal? I need some things."

'My granddaughter rarely asks for anything, something must have happened.' Agnes coughed before smiling happily. "Of course child, anything for you."

The family quickly finished their meal and as they got up Ki's mother took her hand before she could escape. "Remember what I said yesterday so come see me after you are done with your grandmother."

"Yes mum." Ki rolled her eyes.

Meanwhile her father had a look in his eyes as if to say 'you all are spending time together but what about me?'.

Ki noticed this look as she had seen this look many times from her father so she decided to give in to him for once. "Dad you can come with me to see grandmother too as you may be able to offer some help."