บท 70: Smile

Ring... Ring... Ring... Ring...

"What is it?"

"Professor, we have a problem!"

"Oh, yeah?"

"Professor, this is serious! The drones are attacking each other!"

"Well, of course they are! They were made exclusively for war, what did you expect them to do?"

"But there are no Masters commanding them!!"

"...Huh?"

"THE! DRONES! ARE! KILLING! EACH! OTHER! WITHOUT! ORDERS!!!"

"...Why?"

"THAT'S WHAT I WANT TO KNOW!"

"Calm down, you idiot, my ears are hurting!"

"IF WE DON'T FIX THIS SOON, DO YOU KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN!?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, just shut up and pass me all the related data."

"THE PATRON WILL-"

"I KNOW! PASS ME THE DATA!"

"...It's on repository 5."

Toooo....Toooo....Toooo.... (closing call sound)

"Good. Now, let's see what's going on..."

-/-

"Haaa~~~~"

Hayate let go of the shovel and takes a look around. In the plain near the ruins of Negi's old camp, a brand new graveyard had been built by his sole hands.

"Grrrr!!!"

Getting all this done had taken way more time than he expected, and his stomach protested his lack of care with his own health.

The battle with the Oni ended up a bit unfulfilling, he still felt angry, pained and unsatisfied, wishing for further revenge, but now that their Master was gone, moving further was no longer justifiable, so with a heavy heart he had decided to give up.

This act of making a graveyard for his dead brothers was his way to cope with the situation and breaking up the chain of hate binding his heart. It wouldn't give him peace, but at least it would appease his pain a little and serve as a mark of the end of this chapter of his life.

Putting his hand over his belly who continued to protest without his consent, for the first time through the whole day he stopped thinking about others and started to think about himself.

"What should I eat now? Is there still anything edible over here?"

Entering the abandoned kitchen, Hayate started looking for food. Not much time had passed since the core had been taken, so if there was still any stored food, there was a chance it hadn't rotted yet.

He opened the refrigerator and saw a juice bottle and some fish dishes. The fish dishes smelled funny, so he decided to not take the risk. Drinking the juice directly from the bottle, Hayate remembered how the cook used to get angry every time he did the same.

A feeling of fury once again was born in his chest, advising him throw the bottle on the wall and break it into pieces, but Hayate simply shook his head and washed it once before storing it in it's usual place.

Exiting the abandoned Palace, Hayate took a look at the graves one more time, bowing down his head without saying a single word. Then he turned around and headed back to Apollo's camp while enjoying the chilly night breeze blown on his face.

As he was close to arriving, he saw some light coming from a camp fire in the middle of the road. There were many tents built around it, some carts full of food and the Oni troops talking happily as they prepared their meal.

It was as if the war had never hit them, nobody lamenting or feeling sad. Instead they were having fun and celebrating, as if the death of so many of their comrades was something to be happy about.

Noticing the arrival of the uninvited guest, the Oni sentry turned serious, but as he saw it was one of Apollo's servants, he quickly relaxed again, welcoming him with open arms.

"Welcome to our temporary camp, Great Warrior of Master Apollo! Would you like to join us as we say good bye to our friends' souls?"

Seeing Hayate's questioning gaze and lack of answer, the friendly Oni remembered that this culture had been introduced by his old Master and was not in the archives of the system, so there was no way the stranger in front of him would know.

"It seems you don't understand, so let me repeat what old Master once told us as we were lamenting the loses in the end of our first great battle."

Taking a deep break and speaking in a solemn tone, the Oni mimicked his old master speaking habits.

"Even after millions of years and thousands of generations, humans still are not sure about what happens to a person once they have died. Some believe in reincarnation, others say our soul go to a higher plane, as for me, I honestly don't know."

He stood still for a second and took another deep breath.

"But I do believe I think it's better for the dead that the living send them out with a smile. Instead of lamenting their departure, we should celebrate the time we had together, remember the good moments and assure them everything will be fine."

"Even if we depart from each other at this moment, a part of us will always remain in each other's heart and if, by chance, we meet again in the future, let's all celebrate our reunion with the same smile one more time."

"I see... That would be good... That would be good..."

"Now, clean you face with some water. We got plenty of food. Let's send off our brothers with a smile so that only happy memories remain once we see each other again!"

Hayate nodded his head, using his arm to clean the tears that escaped his eyes. He headed to the place pointed by the friendly Oni, where he found some water bottles and a bowl. He filled the bow with water and used it to wash his face and as he turned around a nightmarish sight was waiting for him.

"Ugh!"

"What?"

"Brother, your neck is green..."

"You as well..."

"I can't breath..."

"This, poison! Someone poisoned the food!"

"Ugh! Help!"

"Coward! Who dares!?"

"Oh No! How could they..."

As if a clock bomb suddenly exploded in the Oni camp, all Oni troops suddenly started feeling the effects of some poison.

Hayate was completely surprised by this scene. The contrast was too big! One moment they were dancing, singing and laughing full of life, on the next they were all dying on the floor, completely helpless to react. But even then he didn't miss the shadow sneakily departing from the other end of the camp.

"WAIT! CAME BACK HERE!!"

Wasting no time, Hayate chased after the shadow but was surprised again by the sudden arrow fired at him, making him use his own hand to block.

"Argh!!!"

The arrow pierced Hayate's right hand, soaking it in poison, but Hayate reacted quickly, cutting his own arm with the ax beside him, not allowing the poison to spread through his veins.

"Ugh!!!!"

As Hayate looked again, the shadow had already vanished.

His arm was bleeding so he went back to the camp. Seeing many Oni already dead, he knew it was already too late. He grabbed some cloth pieces and tied up his open wound as first aid and hearing someone approaching he decided to hide himself.

The one who approached was Alyssa, coming from the path leading to Negi's camp.

Noticing it was a scientist Plant girl, Hayate lowered a bit his guard, but before he could contact her, the girl had departed, sprinting at full speed to Apollo's place.

(Well, this should take care of informing Master...)

Nodding to himself once, Hayate looked back at the place the shadow disappeared. He thought about grabbing a torch from the camp but ended up deciding against it as it would allow the enemy to discover his position, so he simply adjusted his eyes to the darkness and started to chase.

Inside Hayate's chest burned once again the feelings of revenge, but oddly enough this time it was not for any of his brothers but for a complete stranger who at one moment was his enemy but later could have been his friend.

Remembering the words of the Oni, Hayate made a smile. A smile so full of different emotions that words could never fully express all the feelings hidden inside it. In it there was pain, hate, despair and guilty, but there was also gratitude, happiness, forgiveness and longing for the day they all reunited one more time and this time, together, they celebrate.