The Seirei Gensouki Spirit Chronicles
Chapter 4: The Parting

The next morning, the village women witnessed a strange sight in the daily food trade. Gon and his followers were tied to the pillar as criminals in the village square. Hayate's subordinates stood beside them as guards, watching over them as they explained the reason why Gon's group was being held captive. In less than an hour, the events that had occurred the previous night had spread throughout the village.

The story goes something like this: Gon's group tries to go infiltrate the night and attack Ruri and Sayo. However, Rio immediately noticed their intrusion and countered them with resistance. As a result, Rio had completely beaten up the gang leader, Gon. Rio left her in the bone-chilling winter air all night with just her underwear as punishment.

The villagers were filled with anger when they heard about infiltrating the night, but as soon as they saw Gon's swollen face and shivering body, their anger was quenched by his well-deserved treatment. So, last night's incident became the talk of the village from morning onwards. When Rio left that morning to trade the ingredients, the villagers praised his achievements with a friendly smile.

Rio had already pondered his actions last night and felt somewhat uneasy with their praise, but he did his best not to let the look outside, and live his days as usual. The same was true when he was around Yuba, Ruri, Sayo, and Hayate.

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Hayate's closest aides and subordinates all went to watch over and interrogate Gon's gang, leaving only Yuba, Ruri, Rio, Sayo, and Hayate left in the village chief's house.

Yuba and Hayate had already woken up, but Ruri and Sayo had not slept until late at night, so Rio volunteered to prepare breakfast, which was why he was out trading ingredients in the morning. After breakfast was ready and the girls woke up, everyone gathered in the living room.

“Everything .. I'm sorry for the trouble I caused yesterday. Please accept my deepest apology,” Rio said to everyone once again.

Last night, Rio had displayed a really violent behavior in front of Ruri and Sayo, who was just a simple village girl – wouldn't be strange if her carelessness had hurt them enough to cause some sort of trauma. Subjugating others in the face of his anger is also a form of violence. That was why Rio wanted to apologize properly and take responsibility for his mistake; he would accept all the mistakes without making excuses.

“There's nothing you need to apologize for. Thank you for protecting Ruri and Sayo.” Yuba shook her head on behalf of everyone, smiling gently at Rio to ease her worries. Rio was slightly startled for a moment, before he frowned.

“But, Ruri and Sayo are scared because I ..”

“You don't have to worry about Ruri and Sayo. Right, you two?” Said Yuba, looking at the girls.

“Yes. To be honest, I was a little scared .. But then Sayo said Rio was very angry because he wanted to save us. We shouldn't be afraid of that. Otherwise, it will hurt Rio,” Ruri said with an apologetic look and nodded.

“It's not Mr Rio's fault! So please, don't apologize.” Sayo pleaded solemnly, nodding her head strongly.

“Master Rio, exactly as they say. I might step over my boundaries as an outsider, but you don't have to let this bother you. If you don't hit him, I'll do it,” Hayate agreed by shrugging.

“...Thank you very much everything. But, it is true that my anger blinds me from considering my actions properly .. There are better methods I can use to save you. So please, allow me to apologize. ” Unable to hold back his emotions, Rio face almost grimaced. He gritted his teeth and lowered his head. Everyone's warm words seeped into his body, but it wasn't easy for him to change his attitude just because the people involved offered their words of forgiveness so easily.

“An honest boy. Just like a certain person,” Yuba said with laughter.

“Someone particular?” Ruri asked Yuba with a curious look.

“Hmm .. More importantly, Rio woke up early to make us this breakfast. We should eat before it gets cold. There are still a lot of problems that still need to be addressed, – I have to call their village chief here to discuss what to do with those kids, so let's get things done quickly, please,” said Yuba merrily, changing the topic of conversation.

“Sayo! Is Sayo okay ?! How about Ruri ?!” The front door slammed open, revealing Shin and the other youths.

“Ka-Silver?!” Their sudden appearance made Sayo widen her eyes in surprise.

“Yeah, all at once?” Ruri laughed bitterly.

“O-Ooh! Sayo, Ruri! Are you two okay ?!” Shin asked in confusion as he looked at Sayo and Ruri.

“We're fine, and you're noisy. Aren't you a little late to run now?” Yuba said with a tired voice.

“K-We drink at the boss' house until late at night, so we don't. Then Ume came barging in and told us everything. I-I. I'm sorry,” Shin and the others gasped for breath as they apologized, their expressions guilty.

“I think that's the problem. Well, rest assured: the incident was a failed attempt. Rio beat Gon to a pulp, and his co-conspirators were captured by Mr. Hayate. Didn't you see them hanging their heads in the field?” Yuba said with a desperate smile.

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“T-No, we ran here as fast as possible ..”

“Well, that's how it is. I can tell you the details later, so why don't you go and give Gon a little thought before you go home? The girls are fine, as you can see. ”

“O-OK ..” The boys nodded, retreating with

wistful. Shin, however, remained.

“Sir. Hayate, and .. Rio as well. Te ... Thank you for saving them both!” she said with gratitude, staring at Rio with somewhat embarrassment as she did so. The youths exchanged glances with each other before they all returned to say words of thanks.

“I didn't do anything special – all gratitude should be directed to Mr. Rio.” Hayate shook his head while laughing softly. Rio smiled somewhat uncomfortably as Ruri and Sayo giggled.

“See you, then,” said Shin timidly, turning around. The other youths followed him. Yuba snorted amusedly as she looked at their backs that were retreating. Later, when the children saw the miserable state that Gon and the others were in in the square, they vowed not to fight anymore with Rio.

◇◇◇

Two days later, the village chief of Gon's group arrived, led by Hayate's aides. The group was called to the village hall to meet with Yuba; rio was also sitting at the meeting with Hayate, who was acting as a witness.

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