"It seems...I won the bet."
These words remained in the air, and though the shouts, curses, and sounds of the battle between the Iron Fangs and the three gangs was loud in the background, these words seemed to take precedence in the world.
The expressions of Tibat changed at these words, and surprisingly, her expression was the ugliest between Merath and Jorra.
Jorra had a calm expression behind his mask, however, the bone chilling aura he emitted told a different story about how he felt toward those words.
Merath was the only one that seemed truly indifferent.
She tilted her head slightly and spoke with narrowed eyes.
"I was right. This was your doing."
Simon did not give a response, and Merath chuckled.
"You really are an enigmatic one, Broken Halo. How did you deceive these fools into working for you? How much resources did you use, all so that you could win this bet?"
"And what the hell? You were hiding under the causeway the entire time? How ingenious."
"I tried looking for you since I was certain that this was your doing, but I couldn’t find you no matter how much I searched. Who knew that you were hiding under the causeway the entire time, waiting for the exact moment I was about to transfer the five thousand merits to her all so that you could suddenly appear and ’protect’ us, like the ’hero’ that you are."
Simon’s expression was completely indifferent as Merath spoke, but at the mention of the word, ’Hero’, his heart skipped a beat on reflex.
However, his expression remained indifferent.
As for Merath, when she saw that Simon remained silent, she clicked her tongue in annoyance and anger.
She glanced at Tibat before looking back at Simon.
"And I even heard that you used slaves as a decoy to fool them... You are a terrifying demon, Broken Halo."
There was silence for a moment, then Simon exhaled softly and shook his head.
"All are false accusations."
He then gestured at Tibat.
"As the three of you and every single one of my classmates know, I never met with her or any of their gang members for that matter."
"How can I trick or fool them when this is my first time meeting them?"
Merath’s lips curled up into a smile, and though she knew that Simon was saying bullshit, she decided to play along for a little while.
"So why were you hiding under the causeway the entire time?"
Simon tilted his head slightly. "Because I obtained credible source that there would be an attack on the First Years on the causeway."
Merath instantly scoffed. "Credible source my ass."
She looked at Simon from up to down, then back up again.
"You’re making enemies up and down even when you’re so weak. I don’t know if you’re brave or just extraordinarily foolish."
Simon shook his head, then he looked at Jorra and stretched out his right hand toward him.
"Pay up. You lost the bet."
Jorra slowly looked down at Simon’s hand, but he remained quiet and did not take a single step forward.
Simon raised a brow. "Are you reneging on the bet? Or do you want to argue that you didn’t lose the bet?"
Jorra slowly raised his head and looked at Simon, and the air between them was extremely tense.
Simon’s eyes were indifferent and he emitted no aura or killing intent, but Jorra’s aura was so cold, it caused a chill in the hearts of those who were perceptive enough like Tibat.
Clap
The sound of a clap dirupted the tenseness, and Simon looked down at his hand which was being held by Merath.
"I’ll transfer the merits to you." She said with smiling narrowed black eyes.
Simon looked at her with a slight furrow of his brows, then he nodded.
A few seconds later, Merath transfered a thousand merits to him before letting go of his hand.
"Can we leave now? Or do you want to stop us from leaving?" Merath asked with the same smiling eyes.
Simon did not say anything. He took a step to the side and gestured for her to leave.
Merath scoffed, but just as she was about to take a step forward, her eyes flickered and she stopped.
Bang!
The ground in front of them broke, debris and dust flew in different directions, and a wooden spear that was the length of a truck could be seen stuck in the ground.
"Where do you think you’re going?"
Tibat’s cold voice drifted into the ears of Simon, Merath, and Jorra, causing the trio to look at her.
She had been quiet all this while, and it was not because she was terrified or did not know what to say.
No.
It was because she was trying to think about everything that had happened and was happening.
And the conclusion she came to was that she was fucked.
Simon had fucked her up real bad, and she knew that the price she, Agramormos, and Belafar would have to pay for what they had done would be high.
She was not really the type to rage and get angry. She preferred to think things through and to see the best decision she could make.
However, it was really difficult for her to not be angry at the fact that a mere First Year slave had put her in so much trouble.
So, she decided to drag him down with her.
’You’re here to protect your classmates all because of a damned bet, right?’
’Well, if you’re not able to protect them, then that means you’ll lose the bet and you’ll be punished too.’
’Your punishment might be smaller compared to mine, but I’ll drag you down with me and destroy you afterwards.’
Jorra, Simon, and Merath could basically read her thoughts, and Merath could not help but smile lightly behind her mask.
She looked at Simon.
"Our hero and protector, kindly protect us from this evil witch of the forest. We need you." She teased.