'That bastard... He did this again. He could ruin my peaceful life once again!' Hayato thought as he ran with all his might across the streets. The rain fell heavily on his back and its intensity seemed to increase every second. Since his clothes were thoroughly soaked, they weighed more than usual. It was straining for his body to keep running like that.
'I am sorry, Mr. Satoshi. I am really sorry...'
Hayato didn't know where to go. He wasn't sure whether he should keep running or not. However, his legs didn't stop moving.
'I hate to admit it but... only by seeing his face, by feeling his presence, I felt like running away to the edge of the world. It's a feeling that is far beyond fear right now. It's like my whole body wants to keep away from him and will do anything to do this. If I hadn't controlled myself back then, I would have teleported unwillingly.'
Hayato always hated the fact that he was weak, but nowadays that feeling became unbearable. He wanted to get rid of his weaknesses as fast as possible because he was witnessing his world collapse and couldn't do anything about it.
He felt pathetic, running under the rain like that. Nobody was around. With such heavy rain, it would be hard to see any passer-by. He was the only person in that region that had the guts to stay out in the rain like that.
Once Hayato approached a turn to the left, however, all his running started to make more sense.
In fact, he was wrong about thinking that he was not being chased. After all, even though Trevor didn't have the intention of killing him, he wouldn't let Hayato get away so easily. He wanted to see him suffer in many different ways.
Hayato had to stop running right after taking the turn once he saw a troop of guards running in his direction, intercepting his way.
"Shit!" he turned in the opposite direction, going back to the street he was in before. He nearly tripped as he did so since his turning was so abrupt.
'Run, run, run! Run faster!'
Now he could hear the sound of the guards' leather boots hitting the wet gravel as they pursued him.
'For some reason... it's harder to run like this when I am sure there are people chasing me off!'
Hayato took another path, taking a shortcut through an alley. However, after barely a block of running, he faced another troop of guards blocking the street. They were in his pursuit, too.
'Where the hell do I go? Where? If I use my teleport in front of them, I won't be a mere suspect anymore. Since they never saw me using it, everything they say is supposition. I could even lie about running away from them, that would be easy.'
Before he could finish his reasoning, he faced yet another barrier of guards, then another. No matter where he ran to, they kept coming, mostly in groups of four.
'Even so, I am sure that Trevor won't be the least kind to me if they catch me. For him, it doesn't matter whether I am the person using magic or not. I am Hayato and that's enough reason to turn my life into hell. If I get caught here, I certainly will regret it for the rest of my life!'
Hayato arrived at an intersection. He didn't have much time to think, so he just turned to the right, racing across the street with all his might. He was feeling heavier than ever before and his breathing was too shallow. His sides hurt so much that the only thing he wanted to do most was to lie on the ground and catch his breath. The only reason he didn't do so was the adrenaline pumping into his body.
"Shit!" he cursed once again once he realized that he took a dead-end.
'The very first dead-end I find in this damn place is the one that will screw me the most... What a lucky bastard I am!'
He still had a few meters ahead before reaching the wall. The guards were right behind him. Even with armor and weapons equipped, they were just as fast, if not faster, than Hayato (who previously was just a sedentary).
As the boy ran, he made up his mind about what he should do.
'This will change the course of my story entirely. Now, they will have a culprit to hunt down, someone whom they know the face of. I don't know how much famous I will get and how hard things will be, but if I can survive now, that's enough!'
What he was about to do was not just an impulsive decision. It was a transition step. The one who would take that step was not the old Hayato, though. Jump to risky conclusions and take reckless actions was not something he would usually do.
'But that's how I want to be. That's the change I wanna have. If I cannot be this way, I will never have enough power to confront him again!
'When I see him again, regardless of the situation, I don't want to make the decision of running away!'
His heart skipped a beat, sending a wave of electricity across his body. His hair stood on end and he felt every centimeter of his body tingling. For a moment, he felt like he would fall apart and melt away like snow. He felt lighter than ever before all of a sudden and his mind thought of one million things in one second.
His right foot finally reached the gravel street, the last step before he hit his face against the wall.
Then, in a flash of blue light, Hayato disappeared.
****
"Sir Shintaro!" a guard shouted outside Mr. Satoshi's ramen place. Now, the rain was way lighter than before. More people walked around in the streets, though few of them had the courage to pass in front of that establishment. Since the guards were there, that was the last place in the world that those citizens wanted to go.
"I am here, and definitely not far away. No need to scream, soldier."
"I am very sorry, sir", the guard gulped. Any mistake committed in Shintaro's presence could be the most outrageous capital sin, depending on his mood.
"Since you apologized so sincerely, I have no problem with it", Shintaro shrugged. Then, he looked over his shoulder to the guards still inside the ramen place. "You guys should learn with him and teach the others, too. If you were to apologize like this every time you mess up, fewer of you would get hurt or dismissed."
The worst thing about Shintaro was that he didn't scold others for their mistakes, unlike most captains. In fact, he only punished without saying a word about it.
Straight punishment was worst than an eternity of harsh scoldings.
"Anyway, what do you want, soldier?"
"Sir, everything happened just as you planned. Indeed, that boy appeared running across the city under the rain. We chased him off and tried to siege him, but when we were about to catch the bastard... he just disappeared. The only thing left behind was-"
"Traces of magic", Shintaro completed. "Yes. I have a good intuition, you know? That's why you guys should listen to me. It's not only because of my position as your superior."
"W-We apologize for failing in catching him."
"It's not a problem. I was hoping you would fail."
"H-Hoped?"
"The only thing I needed from this pursuit, you already have", he ignored the perplexed face of the guard as he explained, "...which is the face and profile of that boy. You better have memorized it."
"Yes, sir!" the man bowed.
"Just lower your voice, man. It's a pain in the ass hearing you talk, ok?"
"Y-Yes, sir."
"You can gather everyone and go to the next mission. This one will stay on standby for the time being. Let me explain the issue to the daimyo later. I am sure he will understand."
With no more, the soldier jogged away.
Trevor let out a satisfied sigh as he looked at the cloudy sky, raindrops falling on his face.
'It is the start of a long journey, I guess, jap. I bet that our legend will be imprinted in every history book of this world. Two masters of Mystical Arts fighting each other to death. A story of vengeance, redemption, transformation...
'Hahaha! I waited seven years to see your face again, but I feel like I could wait ten more years if that meant I would reach my objective.'
The raindrops fell on his armor, seeping through its gaps and wetting his leather and wool clothes.
'You will be the first one I will fix, jap. Now that you also have this power in your hands, I bet you can reach an even greater height than before. You can turn into the best version of yourself.
'It is purification day. Purification era... Hayato.'