"...Master... Master Hayato!"
A faint voice echoed in Hayato's head.Everything around him was still. The smoke, the blood, the silence, all fading in and out like a dream.
Hayato blinked. His hands were trembling, his chest heavy. He looked around and saw only corpses of bandits everywhere.
"I… I did this…?" he muttered, his voice cracking. He remembered flashes of himself cutting through enemies, his eyes burning red, his body moving on its own. He remembered the thrill, the rage, the silence after the slaughter.
But when his sight cleared, he realized, He hadn't moved an inch. The stick which was his weapon was still clean.
Standing a few feet away, surrounded by dead men, was Elfan, calmly wiping blood off his elegant fingers.
Hayato blinked twice. "...Wait. I didn't kill them?"
Elfan turned sharply, his face immediately softening into respect. "Ah, Master! You're back. Forgive me for acting in your stead." He dropped to one knee.
Hayato stared, his mind still foggy. "I'm... Back? So all that badass moment was" He sighed. "Of course. It was all in my head."
The silence pressed against him, he closed his eyes, let his hands fall to his lap and the memory surfaced.
All my life, I wanted to be someone important, he thought. I was the only child, no one to teach me left from right when I messed up, no one to laugh at my stupid jokes.
My father worked abroad and was a ghost on the other end of a line; my mother was always… busy. Important meetings, important faces, important problems. Important enough that she had no time to tuck me in. I learned to be my own parent before I even knew what parenting meant.
We had money, too much of it for my age, and I used it like a shield. I bought friends with gifts and favors; I purchased sisters and brothers who hugged me for what I paid them to be.
It felt warm for a while, until it didn't.
When my world turned upside down, the money couldn't hold the pieces together. My mother died of some sickness. My father was unreachable, swallowed by distance and bureaucracy. The people I'd bought smiles from peeled off like cheap masks. They left me with whispers and mocking looks.
The family I bought evaporated when the account stopped paying out.
All I wanted after that was simple: revenge. Not because I loved violence, but because I wanted the ledger to balance. I fantasized about it, bloody justice where I stood tall and they begged. It became a little ritual: I'd picture myself confronting them, the triumphant monologue, the scene of them realizing what they'd done.
In that world, I always won.
I remember one time I tried to act on it. I squared up to a boy who'd been especially cruel to me, took him on in my head a hundred times. In my mind I won; I drove him out, reclaimed what was mine.
In truth, they stripped me naked in the street and beat me until the light went funny.
I still remember the cold of the cobblestones, the taste of metal and shame. That image, the humiliation, lodged itself behind my ribs and never left so I stopped going to school.
And now of all places the same stupid fantasy followed me here. The world changed, the rules changed, even the odds seemed different, but the ache, the small inexorable hunger for validation through retribution, had ridden along with me.
It wasn't courage; it was a habit formed from being alone and hollowed out.
That realization stung worse than any wound: I wasn't a righteous avenger. I was just someone who'd been taught to survive by wanting other people to pay.
He opened his eyes. "I see now, I need to get strong so I and my imagination conclude's on one result"
Then his gaze landed on Rai's body lifeless. The weight in his chest doubled. His throat tightened, and before he knew it, his eyes were wet.
He looked over at the woman who is still alive, though wounded. For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to care much about her. "As long as she's breathing, she can still talk. Directions are all I need".
But Rai… that hit differently.
"Damn it, Rai…" Hayato whispered. "You were supposed to be my retirement plan."
He chuckled bitterly, wiping his tears with the back of his hand.
Meanwhile, Elfan's mind was spiraling oblivious to what hayato was thinking.
Why… why didn't I let Master handle them? He was still deciding on what punishment suited these insects, and I interrupted. I tried to hold back, I swear I did but they broke too easily!
He clenched his chest in silent frustration. "I am unworthy. I should have subdued them without killing. Now Master will surely punish me…"
"Master," he said aloud, bowing even deeper. "Please forgive this unworthy servant. I failed to restrain my power. I..."
Hayato raised a hand tiredly. "Yeah, yeah, I see. You killed them all." He walked past Elfan, kneeling beside Rai's body. "You're good at apologizing, I'll give you that."
"Master, I" "Stop kneeling before I start feeling important."
Elfan hesitated, then stood awkwardly. "As you command."
"Now," Hayato said, voice low, "bring him back."
Elfan blinked. "...Bring him… back?"
"Resurrect him." Hayato's tone was flat, but his eyes told a different story. He didn't believe it was possible, yet part of him desperately hoped Elfan could do something.
Elfan hesitated, but then nodded firmly. "As you wish, my Lord."
While Elfan got to work, Hayato turned to one of the bandit corpses, walked towards it and started slapping it across the face.
"You bastard!" smack! "You killed a dragon I gave my hope to!" smack! "I was gonna retire! Get rich! Buy an actual bed!" smack! smack!
Behind him, Elfan tilted his head not hearing hayato's words clearly but saw his hand gestures. "Why is Master only slapping that human?" He paused, then sensed faint breathing from the "corpse." "Ah. He's alive. Perhaps Master wishes to prolong the human suffering. Truly divine justice. (Hayato never knew the bandit was alive)"
Hayato kept going, lost in frustration. "You think I like adventuring?! I wanted peace, not PTSD!"
Then, suddenly...
"Done, Master."
Hayato froze mid-slap. "…Huh?"
"Done," Elfan repeated. "The dragon Rai and the human woman have been restored."
Hayato slowly turned. Rai's massive form stirred. His scales shimmered faintly as his chest rose. The woman, too, groaned, clutching her healed shoulder.
For a full ten seconds, Hayato just stood there, blinking.
"…Wait. What?"
"It's… done, Master," Elfan said again.
Hayato's mind broke for a second. Did he just…? That's not...
He turned sharply. "Elfan. How the hell did you do that?"
Elfan bowed slightly, explaining calmly, "I accelerated time around the dragon's wounds while avoiding internal decay. His soul had not drifted far cause it hasn't been long he died, so it simply returned. Though he is now… partially undead." He continued matter of factly, "As for the human, I fast forwarded her body's healing process which it was neccessary to alter some of her mental and physical traits, perhaps mild memory confusion or emotional detachment or both."
Hayato stared blankly. "...You what now?"
"In summary," Elfan said with a soft smile, "It's done master."
Hayato rubbed his temples. "Okay, so he's either a god or demon lord". He thought back to what that 'godly entity' told him, about his soul and body being out of sync, unreadable by worldly technics. "If that's true, then maybe… this elfan can't sense how weak I really am".
But before he could finish thinking...
"Master," Elfan interrupted, "why do you ask such a thing? Surely, this is a simple spell from one of your knowledge."
Hayato froze. "...Huh?"
Elfan tilted his head. "You are a being of vast wisdom, are you not? Why inquire about such minor arts?"
Hayato cleared his throat, putting on his best serious face. "It's not about learning new skills…" He looked dramatically into the distance. "…but relearning one until perfection."
Inside, he was screaming. "I never thought I'd be using my school instructor's motivational quote in my whole life."
Elfan's eyes widened with awe. "He's so profound… truly a man of humility and discipline."
Hayato just nodded slowly, pretending he'd said something deep on purpose.
Then. The bandit hayato was beating previously suddenly groaned, opening one eye.
Both Hayato and Elfan were too busy basking in their weird moment to notice him crawl backward. When Hayato finally glanced down, the man was already sprinting into the distance.
Hayato blinked. "...Eh?".
Hayato's inner voice screamed "So that man was still alive!"
Elfan tilted his head. "My Lord, are you… letting him escape?"
Hayato stood there, staring after the running man. "In truth, I'm exhausted and wouldn't even catch up to him if I wanted to". So he just smirked faintly, folding his arms.
Elfan gasped softly. "Ah… of course. Master lets him go so the foolish bandit who dares attack him can lead him to their base. Genius."
Elfan nodded solemnly. "Truly strategic, my Lord."
Hayato smiled weakly. "...Y-yeah. Strategy."
The surviving bandit stumbled through the grand palace gates, his face pale, voice shaking. "Please! I need to speak with His Highness! It's urgent!"
Guards shoved him back. "Get lost, peasant!"
He screamed, "Your Highness, please! It's about th...!"
A sleek black carriage rolled to a stop. The door opened with a creak, revealing a handsome man with silver hair and an unnervingly calm smile.
"Let him in," said the prince's soft voice.
The bandit fell to his knees as he was ushered inside. "Your Highness! It's an Elfan, an actual Elfan! It wiped out our whole squad..."
The prince raised a hand, his voice soothing. "Calm down. Would you care for some tea?"
The trembling bandit nodded, gulping down the offered tea.
"Now," the prince said quietly, his eyes narrowing. "Are you sure it was an Elfan? Not some weird monster, perhaps?"
"I swear, your highness, it was real! The ears, the hand, everything! It killed the others like they were toys!"
The prince smiled faintly. "I see. And… the money?, The female adventurer I paid you to capture?"
The bandit froze. "We… we caught her, my Lord. But she was with a drakkin which we took care of easily but there was the Elfan and someone else. A weak looking man…"
The prince's calm smile didn't waver. "Well. You all tried. But you failed at the end." The bandit began to plead, but the prince leaned forward gently, whispering: "I have forgiven you, dear… but you must still pay for this mistake."
The bandit's body jerked violently. His eyes went blank. Blood trickled from his mouth as he slumped lifelessly in the seat.
The prince looked out the window, a faint smirk curving his lips. "An Elfan huh." His reflection glowed faintly in the glass. "Things are finally coming together."