The Broken Halo

Chapter 229: What If?

”When was the last time you saw Thorgan?”

From the beginning of the interrogation, Zebos’ main focus had been on Pellin, not Thorgan, and Simon knew why.

All the evidence and clues they had against him only pointed toward him wanting to kill Pellin or him killing Pellin.

For Thorgan, the situation was more complicated than that.

Barely three seconds had passed after Interrogator Zebos asked about the last time he had seen Thorgan, and Simon finally responded.

He exhaled deeply, then he spoke.

”The last time I saw Thorgan was when we were assigned our dorm rooms, but the last time I spoke to him was in the registration hall.”

Zebos nodded. This was in line with their investigations.

”Did you know that Thorgan was looking for you on the night of your first day in the clan?”

Simon shook his head. ”No. That’s my first time hearing of that.”

Of course Simon knew this since Thorgan told him before he killed him, but he would not admit to knowing this information.

Why?

Because there was the possibility of Zebos asking from who, and if he did, they could find a problem with his answer.

Even if he said it was one of his classmates, Zebos or any of his colleagues could ask for the name of the colleague and decide to interrogate this classmate of his.

Simon couldn’t allow that, so he directly denied it and shattered that path in this interrogation.

”Hmm.” Zebos hummed softly. ”From what we know, you and Thorgan were close friends. Why have you never looked for him despite his clear absence? Why have you never made inquiries about him? Why have you never gone to his house to see how he was doing?”

This time around, Simon expression became... blank, dead, and... broken.

He answered with a blank tone.

”Because I’m a broken demon.”

”What?”

Once again, Zebos was taken aback, not expecting this sort of response.

”What do you mean by you’re a broken demon?” He asked with a frown.

Simon remained silent, then he slowly turned looked to his left where a black window could be seen.

He couldn’t see the other side, but he knew that there were people there.

He could feel their presence and aura disturbing the wind.

”When I was in the Duskfang Tribe, I was betrayed by my very own blood mother. For a pitiful amount of money, she betrayed me and sold me to a merchant.”

”That experience has made me not to trust anybody and not to believe in people.”

”And when I came here, I was tortured by the clan, and I was made a slave. As a slave, being able to see the next day is already a blessing.”

”When I say I am a broken demon, I mean that I don’t trust people because of my past. I was not born like this, I was turned into this.”

”So, when I didn’t see Thorgan, I didn’t think too much about it. But I admit that I was also curious and suspicious about his presence.”

”However, the events with my classmates, classes, and the Iron Fangs took my time and I never got the opportunity to look for him or make an enquiry.”

Zebos’ eyes flickered with a calculating and thoughtful light as he listened to Simon’s words.

There was nothing in Simon’s files about his mother betraying him, so it was very surprising hearing that.

But did Zebo feel any pity for Simon?

No.

For him, he was trying to finally put two and two together to finally solve a question that racked his brain.

’When it came to Thorgan, we previously believed that Simon should have no reason to kill him since they were friends. But if he doesn’t trust anybody because of his mother, then it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s able to kill his friend.’

’As for the motive... Maybe he killed Thorgan out of anger and jealousy. Because of the rules of the clan and Pellin’s machinations, Thorgan got the rewards of being the top trial candidate.’

’He might have been jealous, angry, and bitter about that. And maybe he chose to kill him because of it.’

’Sigh.’

’No. That’s still a bit far fetched. Can a sixteen year old child ruthlessly kill their friend just because the friend got his rewards as a result of the clan and another individual?’

’Even if that was true, there were no signs that showed any sort of envy, anger, hatred, or bitterness when this happened.’

’Emotions like that usually takes time. It would need some time and other factors to grow before reaching a breaking point.’

’I’ve dealt with thousands of cases, so I know this.’

’Can a child choose to kill their friend out of envy and anger in less than twenty four hours because of the clan’s unfairness?’

’Even if this child called Blackmoon does not have a sense of companionship toward others, killing his friend in less than twenty four hours because of the clan’s unfairness toward him just does not make any sense.’

’But I should still test the waters and see what he’ll say. Who knows... His response might be different from what I’m expecting.’

Zebos released another sigh, then he spoke.

”What if I say that you killed Thorgan because you were angry that he took your rightful spot in your class? Would you deny that?”

Simon instantly nodded. ”Definitely. It’s not that Thorgan’s fault that I didn’t get what I deserved. Besides, he tried fighting for me. So why would I kill him?”

Zebos released another frustrated sigh as he leaned into his chair. He covered his eyes with his hand and looked at the ceiling.

”Yeah... Why would you kill him.”

Zebos went silent for a few seconds, and he could not help but curse.

”Honestly, fuck this case. It’s giving me sleepless nights for fuck’s sake.”

’You’re a Supreme Archfiend. You don’t need sleep at your realm.’

Although Simon had this thought, he would never say them out loud.

”I just thought of something, Interrogator Zebos.”

Zebos peeked at Simon from between his fingers.

”What?”

”What if somebody decided to kill Thorgan because of the threat he poses to them or the faction or organization behind them?”