The Broken Halo

"Well, because they work for me."

The rat-masked demon was stunned when he heard these words from Simon.

He thought he heard wrong, and he could not help but ask.

"What did you just say?"

Simon tilted his head slightly, his eyes giving a caring and warm smile to the child before him. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"They work for me, and believe it or not, I’m actually doing this for all your good."

The rat-masked demon was stunned, and his brain short-circuited for a moment before he exploded in anger.

"What do you mean you’re doing this for our good?! My money! You bastard! I’ll kill you!"

The rat-masked demon swiped his hand at Simon’s neck, but Simon indifferently held his wrist and shook his head with a disappointed expression.

"No. No. No."

"You don’t listen. I’ve told you to start valuing your health more than your wealth. Don’t you know that health is wealth?"

Punch

"Keugh."

Step

"See. This is why I said you should value your health more than your wealth."

Kick

"Argh."

Step

"Don’t you know that medical bills cost a lot? I’m being nice to you."

Punch

"Stop."

Step

"I am not lying when I tell you that what I’m doing is also for your own good."

Kick

"Please stop."

Step

Grab

"I am a kind, caring, and loving soul. Why do you guys always treat me like trash? Can’t you see that I’m not crippling or killing you?"

Fear could be seen in the eyes of the rat-masked demon as he looked into Simon’s eyes which were filled with sorrow and warmth.

’A monster. A monster. I have to get away.’

In the last minute, Simon had punched and kicked him with a force that dealt him a lot of pain but no serious injuries.

He tried to counterattack. He tried to fight back, but Simon would always take a step to side, a slow step, a quick step, or would just gently push his arm to the side and punch him.

It felt like he was fighting a warrior who had faced dozens of battles and not a fellow classmate.

What terrified the rat-masked demon the more were Simon’s words.

For some reason, he felt a terrible premonition from his words, and his beastial instincts screamed at him that Simon was dangerous.

He wanted to escape, but Simon was pinning him to the wall by the scruff of his neck. And with Simon’s strength, how could he hope to escape?

His eyes darted around in fear.

Slap

Slap

Simon slapped him softly, causing the rat-masked demon to shift his gaze back to Simon’s sky-blue eyes.

"Pay up." Simon said gently while opening his right hand, and the rat-masked demon was baffled.

He was not in his right senses.

"Pay up for what?" The rat-masked demon asked timidly, and Simon could not help but sigh.

"I didn’t hit your head, so why are you so forgetful?"

He shook his head with a disappointed expression.

"You’re paying for me to protect you. It’s called a protection fee, and the price is 50% of your weekly stipend."

At the mention of "50% of your weekly stipend", the rat-masked demon’s eyes suddenly widened in realization, and he recalled everything that happened.

The fear in his eyes gave way to anger and confusion the more he thought about Simon’s words.

"Protection fee? What are you protecting us from? From what I can see, you’re the one harming us. We need protection from you and your gang."

Simon remained silent for a moment, then he released an annoyed deep sigh.

His hand moved, and...

Slap

Simon slapped the rat-masked demon, and it was by no means a gentle slap.

The eyes of the rat-masked demon shook and everywhere became blurry in his vision.

"My time is precious. Stop wasting it by asking me useless questions. Pay the protection fee, and I’ll let you go."

He raised a fist and placed it close to the rat-masked demon’s face.

"Or do you want another beating?"

The rat-masked demon shook his head, and Simon nodded with an indifferent gaze, the ’warmth’ in them was no more.

"Good. Now, show me your class rank and how many merits you have."

The rat-masked demon did as he was told, and his Grave Mark glowed, showing demonic words and numbers in the air.

Simon looked at it with slightly narrowed eyes.

’Rank 64, and he only has six merits left?’

Simon’s left eye twitched, and he honestly felt angry at himself for wasting so much time on such a poor bastard.

He looked at the rat-masked demon and decided to give two more crisp slaps on the same cheek.

The rat-masked demon was shocked and in full disbelief. He looked at Simon with wide eyes while holding his cheek.

"What did I do?!"

"One slap is for being a fucking church rat, and the other is for making me to waste my time on a fucking church rat." Simon’s tone was cold, and his eyes were frigid cold, causing the rat-masked demon to shrink back in fear.

"But you said that if I do what you tell me, you’ll leave me alone. You told me my health is more important than my wealth, but you’re causing me harm."

Simon scoffed. "I changed my mind because you’re a church rat. A church rat has no use."

The rat-masked demon was even more baffled. "What’s a church rat?"

Slap

"Stop wasting my fucking time and send me all your merits."

Simon’s words made the rat-masked demon to forget the pain of his stinging red hot cheek.

"But you said fifty percent (50%) of my merits."

Simon sneered. "I said 50% of your weekly stipend, not your merits."

"But I don’t have up to 50% of my weekly stipend. Can’t you take 50% of my merits instead? As you can see, I don’t have much on me." The rat-masked demon tried to plead, but Simon was not going to have it.

Simon chuckled. "And do you think I’m a fool? I’d rather take all your six merits and make a loss of one merit than make a loss of 4.5 merits."

The rat-masked demon tried to plead, but Simon cut him off with a cold glare.

"Send me all your merits, or I teach you a more severe lesson."

He released a sliver of his killing intent, and the rat-masked demon shivered in fear.

Without hesitation, he transferred everything to Simon, and Simon dropped him without a care in the world.

"Nice doing business with you."

He dusted his hands, then walked away.

A few seconds later, the rat-masked demon gritted his teeth with eyes filled with rage and madness, then he began cursing him.

"You bastard slave! You heartless demon! Your mother is a whore! Your father is a disgrace! Die! Die! Die! Fucking die!"

"I HATE YOU!!!!!"