The Broken Halo

“I’ve been bored for so long.”

Simon could not help but narrow his eyes at the last sentence Caesar said.

In his past life, he had met a few demons and gods who said such things and had such personalities.

These demons were usually Supreme Demon Lords who believed that only the Demon King, Demi-Gods, and Gods could defeat them.

Demons who believed that he was only there to entertain them whenever he fought them.

The gods were the worst of them all.

Boredom was a common thing amongst the gods, and he had of some gods talking about their boredom.

However… never had he seen or heard of a Half-Step Greater Demon being bored.

Why was he bored?

He was not even a Demon Lord or a Demon King which meant that he still several steps to take on the path of power.

If he was bored because he believed that he was superior to his peers in the academy, then he should just leave and challenge Greater Demons, Demon Lords, and Demon Kings to have an exciting life.

Simon had some things to say about the boredom this child felt, but it was not worth his energy and time, so he left it.

As for Caesar’s offer, Simon had the feeling that Caesar had no true intention of recruiting him.

None of those benefits could ever entice him.

A weekly stipend of one thousand merits?

Protection?

Reputation?

None of these things could ever entice him because they were of no use to him.

The only two noteworthy benefits Caesar spoke of was the fact that the war between them would end-if that was true- and that he would be able to sell the sword for a higher price.

But why would he choose to become an indirect slave of a faction just because of these two things?

If Caesar had offered better benefits, he might have accepted.

In fact, if Caesar had told him that his starting point in the faction would not be so low, but would be at a certain level, he would have actually joined.

Why?

Because that would help him obtain information on the corpse of the Herald much faster.

He stood, pushed his chair to the back, and Caesar could not help but look at him with slightly raised brows.

“You’re leaving so soon?”

Simon looked at him.

“We’re done. Aren’t we?”

Caesar stared into Simon’s eyes for a few seconds before shaking his head softly.

“Why do you intend on not joining one of my factions? Though the benefits might not be appealing to you right now, with time and with your talent, it’ll get a lot better.”

Simon rolled his eyes.

“I like my freedom.”

Caesar chuckled the moment Simon said these words.

“But you’re a slave.”

He shook his head softly.

“But I have to ask. What is your main goal in becoming an enemy with my factions? I’ve been trying to understand this, so can you enlighten me?”

Simon tilted his head slightly.

“No.” He said indifferently.

Caesar chuckled softly, then he took a sip of his wine before he began to tap the table with one of his long and sharp nails.

His eyes were narrowed slightly in thought.

“I’ve thought about the possible reasons why you would be antagonizing my factions because no sane demon would do that unless there’s a deeper reason or benefit to it.”

“From out of nowhere, you decided to use my underlings to win a little bet of yours. I cannot say that you were ignorant because you had Akaza to warn you, which means you’re either foolishly arrogant, just foolish, or you have a reason for antagonizing my factions.”

He paused.

“I’ve thought of revenge as a possible reason, but that doesn’t make sense. You’re new to the clan, and from the information I have of you, you were brought into the clan by the Grave Lords which is why you’re a slave of the clan.”

He paused and stared at Simon’s eyes, but there was no ripple in Simon’s eyes, only pure indifference.

Caesar did not mind and he continued.

“After revenge, I thought about what you could possibly benefit from antagonizing my factions while being a slave and a leader of a weak gang.”

Simon folded his arms and began to tap his foot on the floor, visible curiosity could be seen in his eyes as he waited for Caesar to continue.

“A first year who has not even spent up to a week has never antagonized a faction before. The earliest time an Initiate would come in contact with the factions is during their end of the year exams.”

“That is the period when the factions would begin to scout for potential Initiates, and some talented Initiates might be lucky if a faction wants them.”

Caesar paused again, his eyes squinting slightly as he looked at Simon.

“You have broken that tradition and the norm. Because of your actions, all the factions knows you, and it suddenly dawned on me a while back that this might have actually been your plan.”

“You want to join a faction… maybe a specific faction, but you want to join that faction or any other faction very quickly. For some reason, you don’t want to wait till your exams.”

“And the question that has been bothering me is why you want to join a faction or that faction so quickly. What do you hope to gain from that faction? Do you have a link to that faction? Are you in danger? Or… are you a spy from another assassin clan or another organization?”

“Is your mission to obtain a particular item, person, or information as quickly as possible?”

The more Caesar spoke, the stranger Simon’s expression became.

Caesar was taking note of every change in Simon’s eyes, but Simon was not giving away anything.

He continued speaking.

“I offered you a chance to join one of my factions because I wanted to see if the main reason you’ve been doing all of these and making all these waves in the academy is to join a faction, but unfortunately, you refused.”

“So, Broken Halo… Am I right or am I wrong in my assumption that everything you’ve done is so that you can join a faction?”

Simon tilted his head slightly, then he nonchalantly shrugged.

“Who knows.”