The Seirei Gensouki Spirit Chronicles
Chapter 3: The Tourmoil

That was the only thing on Rio's mind as he moved his fists with the right amount of control. He could not see anything around him, but his limiting fury engulfed those watching. Ruri's body trembled, while Sayo shouted for Rio to stop. Hayate stood still in confusion.

“What is going on?!” Awakened by the commotion, the helpers Yuba and Hayate ran out of the front door with torches in hand. Thanks to that, Hayate finally regained consciousness from his silence.

“T-No! Enough, Mr Rio! He will die if you hit him again!” he said, trying to stop Rio in a panic.

Is he going to die?

Of course he wanted to, after all, Rio was trying to kill him . Encouraged by Hayate's words, Rio straddled Gon's body and moved to hit him even harder, but Hayate grabbed Rio's fist before making contact. He glanced at Ruri and Sayo clustered together.

“Wait, Mr Rio! I understand how you feel, but you scare the girls. This man will face retaliation in due course, but we must hear his testimony as well. So please. Can you stop your hand?” he begged strongly.

Rio finally came to his senses and looked at the two inside the room. His eyes made contact with Ruri, who immediately turned her face away, while Sayo looked at Rio with a terrible sadness in her eyes. It was then that Rio finally let his fist fall limp.

.

However, an indescribable fury continued to revolve within his chest. He couldn't bear to see Gon's face anymore, otherwise he would really kill him.

“Gah ... Hah .. Hah ..”

Rio removed the collar of Gon's shirt and banged the back of his head into the ground – hard. Gon's face was already so swollen that he couldn't feel any more pain from the impact. His breath came out with a breath of breath, and it was hard to tell whether he was still conscious or not.

Rio sighed heavily filled with all his irritation towards Gon; he did not even feel the slightest bit of guilt seeing his condition. He calmly wondered if he was a cold-hearted person, as if he was a third-party spectator looking at the situation.

“What is it ... Gon?” Yuba approached in fear, hovering over the torch to reveal Gon's face.

“Iya. He was caught trying to attack Miss Ruri and Miss Sayo. Please take care of them. ” Hayate gave Yuba a brief explanation before directing her towards the girls.

“...I understand.” Yuba nodded with a serious expression and went to the girls inside the room.

“All of you, split up. One group would go and catch the person who had been knocked out outside, while the other group would head to the cabin where the fellow newcomers were staying and investigate the situation there,” Hayate directed his servant, who nodded and quickly followed their orders.

Next, Hayate began to cast healing spirit arts on Gon's injured face. He summoned a faint healing light in his hand and brought it close to Gon's face.

However, his recovery rate was obviously slow; Hayate might not specialize in the healing spirit arts, or he could have deliberately weakened the healing effect. Rio was able to perform a spirit level healing art much more powerfully, but he chose to stand there and watch in silence.

Finally, Gon recovered to a certain point, and groaned. “Uh, huh ..”

“Hey, are you awake?” Hayate said to Gon.

“I-It .. Ith sak ... pain .. Please .. I...” Gon moves his mouth in despair.

“... Mr. Hayate. Let me handle the healing. I specialize in healing spirit arts, so I can heal him until he can speak properly. ”

No one knew what Rio was thinking as he made an offer to Hayate. Without waiting for Hayate's approval, he directly walked up to them and placed a hand on Gon's face to cast spirit arts.

“Oh ... This ..” murmured Hayate, seeing the puffiness on Gon's face disappear.

For a moment, he was worried that Rio would kill Gon on the spot, but seeing the healing done exactly as stated made him give Rio the benefit of that doubt. About ten seconds passed until Gon's face had recovered enough for him to open his eyes. Rio stopped his healing spirit arts and gave direct orders to Gon.

“Hey wake. You can talk now, right? ”

.

“E-Eek! You !” Gon opened his puffy eyes, only to see Rio's face and react in shock. He tried to gather strength and shout, but the pain made his face pull towards a tight grin.

“Master Rio ...” Unable to look Gon in the eye, Hayate called Rio's name.

“Mr Hayate. How will this be handled?” Rio asked in a cold voice.

“... Although unsuccessful, attempted rape is still a criminal offense. He was caught with me, a government official, as a witness. No one would complain if he was executed (cut) here and now. Alternatively, you can seek punishment from the kingdom, in which case he will be sentenced to death, or forced into slavery. She does have ties with this village, so the final decision depends on the affected parties or Mrs Yuba,” Hayate replied, staring at Ruri and Sayo.

“Isn't it ..” Rio replied with a frown, but immediately took the mask without emotion on his face as he looked at Gon with a cold gaze.

“That's how it is. You're gonna behave until everything's sorted out, aren't you?”

“Eek ..” Gon shaking in shock.

“Jawab me.”

.

“A-I understand! Ah, n-no, I get it! I will behave!” rio's faint pressure made Gon answer in fear. It seems hypnosis works. Rio turned a sharp look towards Gon.

He had cast a hypnotic spirit art on Gon the moment he healed him earlier. While the effects of the hypnotic arts are not permanent, they are often used for immoral purposes, so spirit villages treat them as a forbidden art, depending on the intention of use and the matter of suggestion.

This time, the hypnosis that Rio cast was leaning towards that forbidden art. He planted a suggestion that Gon should be afraid of him. Rio had never displayed the art of hypnosis until now, but he did not hesitate to use it on Gon. Even if it went against his own morals, he wanted to destroy Gon's mind completely.

Gon had already gotten a great beating in Rio's hands, so the hypnotic effect was easy. It may even be that the effects persist after hypnosis disappears. Rio face crooked with a sour expression as he took his eyes off Gon. Then, he looked around at everyone who stood up and offered a word of apology.

“... Please accept my deepest apology for losing my composure so horribly. It must have been very unsightly, especially for Ruri and Sayo .. ”

“T-No, not at all. Yes, right.”

“T-Thank you very much, Mr Rio!”  Ruri shook her head doubtfully while Sayo thanked Rio in a shrill voice.

“... No, I did nothing to get thanks. I did something that hurt you two even more than he did. ”

“It's okay, Rio. We are fine, really ..” replied Ruri worriedly due to the look of regret on Rio's face. She really wanted to ask how she was doing, but for some reason, she felt as if she should not.

“Sorry, I feel a little tired. Can I leave the rest to you?” Rio turned his gaze away from Ruri and Sayo with a feeling of guilt, turning towards Yuba and Hayate. He felt as if he did not have to remain on the scene anymore.

“Sure, we can talk properly later. Leave this to us for now. Thank you.” Yuba nodded with a gentle smile. Hayate also met Rio's eyes and nodded forcefully.

“...Thank you very much. Then, please excuse me.” With those words, Rio turned around. He turned forward and entered the house.

“Ah ..” Sayo was about to follow Rio when Ruri's hand stopped him. His shoulders slumped as he wondered in confusion whether it was really okay to leave things like this, but Ruri simply shook her head. There is no way to know the answer.

Rio returned to his room and lay on his sleeping mat, staring at the ceiling. His face twisted on the verge of tears as he contemplated himself and how humiliating his actions really were.

.

After behaving so hard – as if he was the victim of – and making the scene more chaotic, then scaring Ruri and Sayo, he was the first to escape. He probably had a terrible image now, having made them bear his needs. In the end, he most likely caused a huge problem.

“Suffering once,” Rio muttered to himself, then gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

Tomorrow will be the beginning of a new day. He may never go back to his old self, but he will try to do just that – at least outside. That way, they would be able to return to the time of peace once again. Throughout the night, Rio remained curled up on his futon, body shaking from his self-loathing.