A Demon's Path

Defiance of the Defects

CLASS A CLASSROOM– Next Day

"That wraps up our revision for the midterms. Ayanokōji-kun, are you feeling confident for the upcoming midterms?" the chairman asked, his voice filled with a hint of curiosity.

The rays of the evening sun filtered through the curtains to bask the entire classroom in a golden afterglow. I glanced at the chairman with my usual indifference, as I knew that his words were nothing but a mere distraction to what he really wanted to ask but couldn't. I had noticed his stiff expression and cautious tone while addressing me for the entire day. I knew that he wanted to ask what happened last night but was unable to because of the rules that he himself imposed. How the tables have turned.

Seeing that I was not going to slip up anytime soon, Chairman Sakayanagi sighed as he said:

"Ayanokōji-kun, I know very well that it's not my or any of the school's teachers' place to have a say in how you decide to live out your life. However, I would appreciate it if you even considered what I said a little. That will be all for today, Ayanokōji-kun."

Saying this, the Chairman left the classroom leaving me alone with my thoughts. As I turned my head towards, the sun's rays fell on my face making my eyes squint a little from the slight discomfort I felt. Once my eyes adjusted to the light's intensity, I saw the sky illuminated by a shade of orange that many would call beautiful; however for me, I lacked the means to appreciate abstract beauty as those books mentioned. That is why instead of appreciating the said beautiful scenery before me, my mind went to recall what happened the previous night.

...

I unbuckled my communicator after I had made sure that every mercenary soldier was taken care of. Once I pressed the button, the earpiece was filled with static until a voice came through.

"Speak 4666."

"The job is done. I'm going to retrieve the object. Make sure that the cleanup arrives on time."

"Very well. Drop the object as mentioned earlier. Someone will collect it afterwards."

"Understood." I replied before switching off the comms. There was no need for further communication. Both of us would get what we wanted out of this deal, and there would be no strings attached.

At least, that was what I wanted them to think for now. They would prove to be useful pawns when the time finally comes for the final confrontation with that man. I knew that that man had a lot of influence in both the normal as well as underworld. Thus, it was crucial that I would build my influence to at least rival his before the time of confrontation arrived. I knew that I alone would be enough to bury that place, but having additional support would never hurt.

Speaking of support, the second thing I had focussed on these past three years was to reduce his influence. And the one I was about to kill today was going to be a major step towards that. after all, the person inside the car I was approaching was practically the banker to that man's finances.

It took a long time to actually smoke out this rat to the ground. He was very adept at hiding amongst the coattails of others. I still remember the number of people I had to dispose of to corner him to the point that he would even contemplate leaving the country.

Well, it doesn't matter much now. Those old people at the ruling party were grateful that I was able to weed out that man's sleeper cells and spies amongst their numbers. This was another of the reason why they supported my endeavours so much. They saw the potential of getting rid of the rotten pests among their ranks without even raising a finger.

As long as they provided me with what I needed and listened to my demands, I had no qualms about doing their dirty deeds. In the case of their supposed betrayal, I had already put countermeasures in place that would ensure that they would burn down along with the country they were supposed to love more than anything.