The Seirei Gensouki Spirit Chronicles
Chapter 2: Passing Days at the Village

The two stared at each other with dark, tense air flowing between them. When Rio thought that the situation turned bad …

“Shin did you misunderstand? In any way Rio is not weak. Regardless of her appearance, she is actually quite strong, isn't she?” said Ruri, suddenly clinging onto Rio's upper arm. The children widened their eyes in surprise.

“Hah? A-What— K-You, and him .. How indecent!” One tap later, Shin seemed to have understood something. Her face flushed. Sayo also flushed. “K-Why do you know that, Ruri?”

“Hm? I don't know what conclusion you've all drawn, but calm your heads. Not to mention how much better Rio was than Shin in hunting as well. Now, let's go, you two.” Ruri poked her tongue towards the children before pulling Rio's arm. On the other side of Rio, Sayo hurriedly followed them. Shin froze where he stood in shame, grimacing slightly as Sayo looked at him one last look as she passed by.

◇◇◇

That night, in the garden of the village chief's house illuminated by the moonlight, Rio toiled hard swinging his sword and let out sweat that flowed down his shirtless back. He repeatedly swung his sword, making sure the sensation was engraved on his body. His breathing came out a little harder than usual, and every time he swung the sword, his sweat floated up. Occasionally, the wind would blow the cold night mist in the air, enveloping Rio's reddened body in a cold embrace.

The sound of insects could be heard echoing around him, and the rustling plants were exposed to the wind to form a symphony with the sound of Rio's sword movements. Such a pleasant feeling that he almost wanted to continue training forever – but with dinner waiting for him, Rio finished revising his sword movements and moved to his next body formation. About ten minutes of moving his body then, Rio suddenly stopped.

“This is not interesting to watch, right?” he called with a wry smile to Ruri and Sayo, who were standing in the doorway and quietly watching. Sayo's body jerked.

“Ahaha, so you noticed us? Is that what they call martial arts? Your movements are very graceful, I can only watch,” Ruri said, giving a carefree smile.

“This is just my daily practice,” Rio replied with a tense smile.

“No, no, this is very impressive. I can't believe you can keep doing it without getting bored. You've done it every day since you came here,” Ruri said with admiration.

“Hah? You do this every day?” Sayo's eyes widened in surprise.

For the record, she was here because she felt it was too awkward to go home and confront Shin after their previous quarrel, so Ruri forcefully dragged him along with them. Rio briefly wondered about what Shin would eat for dinner, but Sayo assured him that there was leftover from breakfast.

“Yup, he did this at least once a day around this time. Amazing, isn't it?” Ruri shrugged her small shoulders.

“Ya, this is amazing ..”

“By the way, I always wanted to ask. Why did you learn martial arts, Rio?” Suddenly Ruri asked her question, thinking it was a good opportunity to do so.

“Why did you ask?”

“Yes. I don't really understand martial arts, but even to my amateur eyes, I can say your training is impressive. Not everyone can put in the effort to reach that level. ”

“Let's see .. It's a bit embarrassing to say it because it's so simple, but I think there's a boy who has the same reason,” Rio replied with a big smile, saying, after carefully considering the answer.

“Eeeh, what's with that ?! I'm so curious! Don't you want to know either, Sayo? ”

“Y-Yes. I want to hear more. ” Ruri and Sayo are both filled with curiosity.

“Ahaha .. What to do. Can I put some clothes on first?” Rio smiled wryly before taking the towel and clothes he left to the side.

“Hah? Ah, ja. Sorrysorry. Go ahead,” Ruri replied with a bit of embarrassment, although she didn't really care because they were both cloaked in the darkness of the night.

Sayo only noticed Rio's comment as well, making her suddenly blush and look down. Rio took the opportunity to immediately wipe his sweat and put on a shirt.

“Alright, now that you're wearing your clothes, let us know! Why did you start learning martial arts?” Ruri urged an answer. After calming down, Sayo approached Rio to make sure he didn't miss anything. Rio gave in to their demands, and started telling his story. “It was just from when I was a kid, okay?” he said, as if he was ashamed.

“At that time, there was a girl I liked .. I wanted to be stronger so I could protect her.”

“...Huh. You have a girl you like, Rio? Somewhat unexpected. Wait, does that mean you don't like the girl anymore?” Ruri asked with wide eyes.

“Master Rio, you worked so hard for the girl .. Don't you have a chance to meet her again?” Sayo asked timidly, looking closely at Rio's expression.

“I don't even know where he is. The last time we met was a long time.” Rio shook his head slowly.

“But, if he is still alive, you can meet him again someday, Rio. All your efforts may come to fruition,” Ruri said in a bright voice, wanting to lift the gloomy atmosphere.

“...You are right. And, well ... Now I practice for myself.” Rio nodded and smiled faintly. Ruri and Sayo looked at each other. “Bulkah?” They ask together.

“Iya. It was partly because I was afraid of losing something that I had spent years practicing, but I also had to be strong to travel alone. You can only fight the unreasonable with the raw power itself.” Rio lightly formed a fist, speaking in a stiff voice.

“Is it really that dangerous? Traveling alone ..” Sayo asked hesitantly, noticing the stiffening air around Rio.

“Iya. There are dangerous animals and dangerous people.” Rio seemed to realize how he had become stiff, and replied in a softer tone to his voice this time.

“It ... true ..” Sayo nodded weakly.

In this world, one's life is a fragile thing. People died of disease and starvation. People died because of the war. People even died from being attacked by ferocious beasts and bandits.

That was why it was not strange if Rio was attacked during his journey alone, and it was not strange for him to defend himself by killing them. That was the first thought that came to Sayo's mind. However, he was too afraid to know the truth, so he did not ask any more than that.

“Sorry to have spoken for so long. You two must be cold. Should we head inside?” Rio changed the subject, making a suggestion with a bitter smile.

“Yes, come. I came to call you because dinner is over, but I completely forgot.” Ruri agreed with laughter. Sayo also smiled, giggling.

“Oh that's right. Do you want to take a bath together after dinner, Sayo? In the bathtub that Rio woke up. You haven't tried it yet, have you? ” Ruri offer.

“Can I do it? It had just been built recently, so the waiting list was very long .. ” The small bath house Rio built is currently the talk of the city, with many villagers wanting to try it out. As a result, a waiting list has been formed.

“It's okay, it's okay. We loaned it to anyone who wanted to use it, but in the end it was still our bathtub. Residents of the house and their guests can enter at any time,” said Ruri satisfied.

“Oke .. Then – yes, please. Thank you very much too, Mr. Rio.” Sayo was a bit hesitant to accept any kind of favorable treatment, but she lost to the bathtub temptation and ended up nodding. He bowed his head at Rio and Sayo.

“Alright, it's decided! So, please make us hot water later, Rio!” Ruri clapped her hands to ask.

There was a bathroom heater installed in the bath house to heat the water for the bathtub, but it was faster to make Rio make hot water with his spirit arts. And, more importantly, it doesn't use up firewood.

“Sure. Leave it to me, ” said Rio, nodding willingly.

“Ehehe, thank you! You can peek at Sayo when she changes clothes as a thank you,” Ruri said teasingly.

“R-Ruri!” Shouted Sayo with a bright red face.

“Ahaha, it's just a joke!” Said Ruri, retreating while laughing. Sayo made eye contact with Rio right next to her. “Yeah! … Ah, Mr. Rio, please don't peek at me, okay? ” She pleads with shame.

“Of course I won't,” replied Rio soon, the gentleman.

… But if it was Rio, a little peeking would be fine, Sayo thought.

His cheeks instantly flushed right after that – his heart looked a little muddled.