The Broken Halo

[A/N: This bonus Chapter is thanks to the SUPER DAD... Matt-Hogue!!!! Please thank him in the comment section. Thank you!]

Sonya did find something to eat.

She ordered enough roasted meat, dark-grain bread, and thick bone stew for several demons, then complained that the portions served by Pipeline Inn were too small.

Simon and Akaza joined her shortly afterward.

The meal passed without anything important happening, although Sonya continued glaring whenever either of them looked amused. Once she had eaten enough to satisfy herself, she returned to her room to wash and prepare for the visit to the Black Horn Office.

Simon and Akaza remained at the table.

”What do you plan on doing today?” Simon asked.

Akaza leaned back in his chair. His fingers slowly opened and closed as he studied his palm.

”I’ll look for somewhere to train.”

Simon raised a brow slightly.

”I can see the recruitment tests has lit a fire in you.”

”You’re not wrong.”

Akaza had won his first battle but lost the second after fighting while injured and refusing to use his gravity manipulation.

Someone else might have been frustrated by the loss.

Akaza seemed more excited than anything.

”I heard two demons discussing a place called the Red Sand Hall,” he continued. ”They have private training grounds and arrange fights between demons of similar ranks.”

”You want to enter their arena?”

”If the opponents are strong enough.”

Simon studied him for a moment.

Akaza had always been like this. Whenever he encountered something he could not overcome with his fists, his first response was to strengthen his fists until the problem disappeared.

”Try not to destroy the building.”

Akaza looked at him.

”I’m not Sonya.”

A faint smile appeared on Simon’s lips.

”That remains to be seen.”

Before Akaza could respond, Sonya returned.

Her dark hair was no longer disordered, and she had changed into a clean set of dark clothes. Apart from the faint irritation still lingering on her face, there was nothing to suggest she had forgotten an important appointment less than an hour earlier.

”This Honourable is ready.”

Simon rose from his seat.

Akaza glanced toward the entrance of the inn.

”I’ll ask around for the Red Sand Hall.”

Sonya snorted.

”Try not to lose again.”

Though she was not present, she could guess that Akaza planned on training and fighting someone.

Akaza’s expression remained calm despite her provocative words.

”At least I lost inside an arena. I did not lose my spatial ring to a thief.”

Sonya’s face darkened.

Simon walked toward the exit before their argument could begin.

”Let’s go.”

Sonya glared at Akaza one final time before following him.

Outside, Velmora had already become busy.

Demons filled the streets beneath the dull crimson light. Merchants opened their stalls while carts carrying stone, meat, weapons, and sealed crates moved between the crowded roads. The distant sounds of metal striking metal mixed with voices calling out prices and guards ordering slower travellers to clear the way.

Simon and Sonya walked toward the western district where the Black Horn Office was located.

They had not gone far when Sonya’s pace changed.

She had been walking beside him carelessly, occasionally turning her head toward the smells coming from food stalls they passed. Now, her steps became quieter.

The playful expression on her face also faded.

”You have another reason for following me.”

Simon turned his head slightly.

Sonya continued facing forward.

”You don’t care whether giving my statement is stressful. And you definitely aren’t following me because you’re worried I’ll destroy the Black Horn Office.”

”I considered it.”

She looked at him with slightly narrowed eyes.

”That was not the main reason.”

Her tone was calm, and there was no accusation or irritation within it.

Simon, however, said nothing.

Sonya remained quiet for several steps before speaking again.

”Is there something important you need me to know or do?”

Simon looked at her more carefully.

”If you want to keep whatever it is that you’re hiding to yourself, I won’t force you to tell me,” she added. ”But you should know that you can trust me.”

The words were simple.

Yet Simon’s gaze remained on her longer than usual.

Trust.

It was a word he had learned to treat with caution.

In his previous life, he had fought beside his comrades for decades. They had crossed battlefields together, endured losses together, and faced enemies capable of destroying entire nations.

He had trusted them.

He had trusted his wife even more.

In the end, the people closest to him had been the ones who betrayed him.

His new life had not given him a better beginning. Even the demoness who gave birth to him had shown him that blood did not guarantee loyalty.

Trust was not something Simon gave because of words, history, affection, or shared suffering.

All of those things could be false.

All of them could change.

However, Sonya had never asked him to trust her before.

She had simply acted.

When Ormon taught Simon the Broken Rhythm Art, Sonya had trained with him. She had endured his repeated attempts, struck him down whenever his movements were flawed, and returned for the next session without complaint.

Her methods were painful, and her mouth was rarely pleasant, but she had helped him understand the martial art faster than he could have alone.

During the escape from the Shadowgrave Clan, she could have abandoned him several times.

Simon had been broken, barely able to move, and hunted by enemies far stronger than them. Following him had offered no certainty of survival.

Sonya followed anyway.

She fought beside him, obeyed his decisions when there was no time for explanations, and remained with him after they escaped Blackwind Valley.

Even now, she had entered a dangerous city with him and accepted a war oath tied to an unknown world.

Simon had always known she was loyal in her own strange way, but her current seriousness reminded him of something else.

Sonya was playful, chaotic, and often frighteningly unconcerned about the consequences of her actions.

However, that did not make her stupid.

Most of the time, she was simply too lazy or nonchalant to think carefully when she did not believe the matter deserved the effort.

When something truly mattered, she could be patient.

She could observe.

And she could understand more than she allowed others to believe.

Simon faced the road again.

”The rebel vice-leader you left alive beneath the bathhouse,” he said. ”I need to know whether he survived.”

Sonya did not interrupt him.

”If he is alive, I need his location. Anything about his injuries, the guards protecting him, and the formations around where he is being held would also be useful.”

”Is that all?”

”For now.”

Sonya remained quiet.

Simon expected her to ask why he wanted the information or how it connected to the possessions she had taken from the dead leader.

Instead, a wide grin slowly appeared on her face.

Before Simon could react, she raised her hand and struck his lower back with a heavy pat.

Bang!

Bang!

The force travelled through his body and nearly pushed him a step forward.

Simon groaned softly before turning a cold glare toward her.

Sonya, however, did not care.

She pointed proudly at herself, her grin widening.

”This Honourable is smart. I knew you were up to something.”

Simon stared at her.

”Did you truly believe you could fool this Honourable?” she continued. ”I understood everything the moment you said you wanted to make things less stressful for me.”

She threw her head back and laughed.

Several nearby demons turned toward her with strange expressions. One merchant stopped arranging the objects on his stall and watched her as though she had escaped from somewhere she was supposed to remain locked inside.

Simon looked away.

Only moments earlier, he had been reconsidering his opinion of Sonya’s intelligence and recognising the seriousness hidden beneath her chaotic behaviour.

Now, he was beginning to reconsider that reconsideration.

Perhaps intelligence and sanity had never been connected in the first place.

Simon increased his pace and continued toward the Black Horn Office without saying anything. He shook his head slightly as he walked.

Behind him, Sonya’s laughter stopped.

”Hey!”

Her footsteps quickened.

”Slow down! Don’t leave this Honourable behind!”