The Broken Halo

Chapter 16: Stealing From A Thief

One of the chained captives that was sold to the merchant killed an unsuspecting guard by stabbing him in the neck with a hidden knife.

The man tried a desperate attempt to escape, but how could he escape with so many guards around?

The guards stopped him in anger, and some even beat the hell out of him due to the fact that he killed one of their own.

One of the guards, who was a close friend of the dead demon guard, attempted to decapitate the captive, and the captive’s plea for help was what alerted everybody, including Simon and Zaglur.

Simon looked at the scene with baffled eyes, and the moment he looked at the demon who was about to be decapitated, he saw Zaglur appearing before the guard.

Simon furrowed his brows, and then he looked in front of him, where the merchant was supposed to be.

But the merchant was not there. In the blink of an eye, the merchant had moved from his front to the chained captive in the distance.

’Fast. I couldn’t even catch a glimpse of his movement at all. It felt like he teleported when he didn’t.’

Just as Simon had this thought, he frowned as he caught an image from the corner of his eye.

He saw a hooded demon taking the Devourer’s blood essence from the table while everybody was distracted by the commotion that was going on.

’How bold.’

Simon had the urge to stop the demon because he would rather allow the merchant to have the blood essence since it was his, rather than allowing a demon from their tribe to obtain the blood essence.

But when he recalled the possible power level the merchant possessed, he paused, and a calculating glint flashed in his eyes.

A few seconds later, he moved. He waved in and out of the crowd, completely ignoring what was happening between the merchant and the tribal chief.

His eyes were completely on the demon who stole the blood essence. And he was not the only one that had his eyes set on the demon; the Merchant himself also glanced at the demon with the same ever-present smile.

As Simon weaved in and out of the crowd with cat-like agility and grace, he shortened the distance between him and the thief in less than ten seconds.

He completely ignored the curses that were thrown at him from the people he pushed aside, and when he was close to the thief, he stayed by his side the moment the thief moved his arm in an attempt to push a demon away.

”Ah,” he exclaimed as he fell due to the demon pushing him.

The demon took a glance at him with his brain not even fully registering Simon’s face in the slightest.

”Watch it, kid.”

A gruff voice escaped the lips of the hooded demon, and then without even wasting a single second, the hooded demon quickly walked away.

Some demons tried to help Simon since they knew him as one of the potential talents of their tribe, but Simon politely declined them with a smile, and then he left with his newly purchased sword and the vial of Devourer’s blood essence hidden within his clothes.

With calm, steady, but not slow steps, he left the crowd with a smile. And the merchant’s gaze remained on the hooded demon who had created some distance between him and the crowd.

Meanwhile, Simon remained calm without looking back, looking worried, looking afraid, or looking suspicious in the slightest.

And the reason for this was because of his skill, Fearless.

Without the skill, Simon had a feeling that he would not be so calm, and somebody might have noticed his anxious state.

Stealing from an Archfiend or a Greater Demon without even having a Flickering Heart was an extremely dangerous and bold feat, and Simon would never have done this without the favourable conditions that were put in place.

And the moment he got home and calmly closed the door, he released the biggest exhale he had ever released in his two lifetimes.

His heart began beating like a horse on steroids, and after a few seconds, Fearless kicked in, causing him to become calm.

’Damn it. I thought I was going to die of a heart attack or something.’

Simon shook his head slightly, and then the door that led to the back of their house opened.

His mother walked in, and compared to how she looked six years ago, her current self was extremely better looking.

No longer was she all bones and skin without muscles and fat, and no longer did she wear rags and dirty clothes made out of poor-quality beastskin.

She looked far more healthy, far more jovial, and far more beautiful. The money Simon stole was more than enough to have this effect on her.

When Lyssa saw the sword in Simon’s hands and the faint flicker of joy and fear in her son’s eyes, her eyes flashed with worry.

”Blackmoon, did... did you steal that sword? It looks expensive. Who did you steal it from? I thought you said you were not going to steal anything again until things died down?”

His mother bombarded him with questions, and Simon smiled at his mother, fully expecting her to ask all those questions.

”I didn’t steal the sword, mother. I bought it from the merchant.”

Lyssa looked at Simon with wide eyes, and in her mind, she already assumed that Simon had used all of their money to buy the sword.

”Don’t tell me you used all of our money to buy the sword? Because if you did, I’d be very disappointed in you, Blackmoon.”

Lyssa folded her arms and looked at Simon with narrowed eyes, causing Simon to chuckle softly with a tinge of fear in his eyes.

Despite having the Fearless skill, he still felt a little bit of fear toward his mother after she had disciplined him a few times in the past.

A scene he promised to never tell anybody.

”The Merchant sold the sword and scabbard to me for two mid-grade bone coins.”

The moment Simon said this, his mother gave him a skeptical look, and Simon quickly continued before she asked him questions.

With a light smile, he brought out the vial of Devourer’s blood essence.

”I didn’t steal the sword, but I did steal this.”