Prejudice

Once upon a time, in the world of Conflictus, a world war happened because of a special tree. It was found by an expedition team in an uncharted area. It was a miraculous tree whose fruits can give a great amount of magic energy, whose branches can turn into legendary weapons, and whose leaves can cure almost anything. By that description, one can already guess how things will turn out. Greed is a deadly opponent; thus, a great war resulted in which almost all of the races of this world participated, and among them were demons. Without anyone winning, it lasted for a hundred years, but when it ended, the only race that got persecuted were demons, despite the fact that many other races had also done many evil things during the war. The sole reason this happened was because they were the ones who vanished the Divine Tree, which also ended the war itself.

Demons were one of the most powerful races but, because of events, became one of the weakest. Their race dwindled and was thrown out at the bottom of the chain. They were treated like slaves; they were looked down upon, even from their homeland, the Gradlast underworld. Even when a calamity arises, they will be used as bottom feeders for others' convenience. Even though the war ended two hundred years ago, other races didn't do anything out of fear that they would seek revenge when their race recovered again.

That is the ugly truth of this world. But for better or worse, that soon was fated to change, since within that race, a miracle just happened. This world's god of creation, the Sleeping God Conflictus," who didn't lend a helping hand when many previous calamities happened, got reborn with the body of a demon.

•°•°•

It was a busy morning on a busy street in Kimu city, Talyer Region, Kingdom of Brihel. It was in the human realm, so humans are expected to be the crowds. There were different sets of vendors on the sidewalks, while the street was full of people in various clothing. Most were wearing simple tunics and trousers; others had more fancy clothes or were just completely covered with cloaks, while some had armor and weapons on their bodies. Although other races weren't that common, you could still spot some dwarves or beastmen. Some people wore cloaks, normal clothes like tunics, or armor. There were also carts that were pulled by horses that had wider feet; hell, they were even sometimes dumped on the road.

Inside these proceeding crowds, there was a child with a slightly unkempt gray hair that they would frown upon. It was a kid who stands out because of his small, black horns that protrude from his forehead. He wears a ragged tunic that is slightly too big for him, and a pair of trousers that reach his ankles.

But despite their prejudice against demons, some of those who were walking got curious about this demon's eyes. It wasn't the red or black that they usually have, but instead, they are turquoise bright. Well, after catching a glimpse, they will just continue walking and treat it as a brief surprise.

"Humu~ humu~ good, good, there are many people."

Although the animosity towards him was clear as day, he just continued walking with his dirty bare feet and paid no heed. This demon kid who seemed like he didn't have any problems in his life was Raijin, an eight-year-old demon from the slums. He was healthy and looked clean despite that. Although part of it was because his mother took care of him very well, the main reason for this was because of his certain hobby. He would stroll around this city of Kimu, or even neighborhoods sometimes, all day long to do his work.

He rested his two hands on the back of his head while humming. He only moves his eyes to check his people. He seems deeply thinking before he shifted his track a little bit, and then, he got bumped by someone who was wearing a cloak. Raijin stumbled by the impact and fell with his butt.

"Ouch, ouch. That hurts. Sorry about that miste—"

He stands up and wipes his clothes only to be met by a hard kick. Raijin's body flew and almost got thrown in the mud near him.

People stayed away from them, and inside the crowd, the man on cloak who he stumbled with glared at him.

"Watch your way! Pest!" the man shouted.

"Yeah, sorry mister. Forgive me please!"

Raijin bowed his head when it was clear that the kick was the outrageous one. But he didn't get angry even when the man spit at him. The man seems to be in hurry so after being contented, the man finally leaves Raijin while the people were delighted at this sight.

But Raijin, who was weirdly amused, ignored them and just walked away. After putting some distance, he grinned that was suited for his childlike appearance and proceeded on his fun venture.

The little demon explored the streets for a while. The people who lives here were mostly commoners. Though unrefined, the buildings around were all made of stone. There were also inns and other establishments.

Raijin's eyes lit up again when he met another person who was wearing a cloak. But she/he wasn't alone, because beside that person was a small figure that matched Raijin's height. That one's face was also hidden by a clean cloak. They might be hidden but Raijin, with his sharp eyes, saw the vibrant clothes under the cloaks' small openings.

Just like what he did a while ago, he yet again shifted his steps to the right side and tried to bumped into the man when—

"You…!" He foresaw an approaching punch and Raijin jumped-flipped to avoid it.

"Ngh." But he wasn't fast enough and got hit a little bit that made him fall—

"Kyaa!"

"Young la—Maya!"

—fall at the direction of the young one, which then made her(?) squeaked.

"You bastard!" —The older person was about to draw his sword but stopped.

[Maybe it was because of their status or just his patience], Raijin thought as he noticed that.

"What do you think you're doing, you demon!?!" he yelled.

[Based on their voices and the name, the tall one was a rather old man while the one was a young miss], Raijin assumed. He was clear calm with this situation but just suddenly, he rushed to kneel while bowing his head above the ground.

"I'm so sorry for hurting your companion but I don't understand why you tried to punch me!" he pleaded.

"Damn you bastard! Were you trying to steal from me just now, right!?!" the old man accused.

[This fielth, I saw his hand moved with an unusual speed…], the man in cloaked thought.

The incident drew a lot of attention again. The spectators were especially amused by how a demon was bowing his head. Some were making fun of it, while others were inciting the old man to hurt him further.

"No you are wrong," Raijin disagreed by shaking his head, "I have no intenti—"

The old man interrupted, "Don't lie to me! You were trying to bump into me right?!"

"No, no, of course not. I, I, I just felt sicked and—"

"Demon thief and also a liar, admit it or—"

"S-stopped it Benedict," The young miss named Maya intervened. Panicking, he pulled "Benedict" out of the conversation and talked to him, albeit by whispering.

"Stop it already, I'm fine and it looks like he didn't get anything from you at all. We don't even know if he really wanted to steal."

"But young miss, it was clear—"

"I know that, I also suspected that. But like I said, it's fine. So let's go already." Benedict tried to reason but got dismissed in the end.

Raijin took a peak and saw them whispering with each other, but when Benedict nodded, he put his head on the ground again. After hearing that the sounds of their footsteps weakened, he finally raised his head and saw both of them walking away.

"Thank you very much for your forgiveness!" he said rather loudly.

"I'll remember your face—demon." Benedict said that before leaving. "Maya, let's go."

"…"

Benedict prompted Maya and went out of sight. Raijin stood up and bowed his head deeply.

"Thanks for your benevolence!"

After that conclusion, the spectators lost their interest. Most of them were disappointed by that anticlimactic end so they left with annoyance.

•°•°•

Maya— or rather, the nine years old Count Aldrino's third daughter, Clarice, was now lying on her bed after traveling from Seryad region which was west city of Kimu; then into Talyer region where Kimu is located then to Talyer's main city. Without her cloak, you could see her lustrous silver hair. Her skin was so white that you wouldn't guess her habits of playing around outside.

Although she looked really tired, her face was brimming with positivity. She had thin lips and what was unusual were her eyes. Her left pupil was colored gold while the right one was purple.

"But still, that demon's magic energy was quite large … mmhhh."

After murmuring, she stretched her hands upward when drowsiness attacked her. And then, her heterochromia eyes were bewildered.

"Eh…?"

Because on her left wrist, she felt something was missing. Or rather, it wasn't missing but got replaced by a plain blue bracelet. Although it seems cheap, it became looked luxurious with Clarice wearing it.

"My Clouded bracelet…" The Roaring bracelet was quite important to her since it was given by her father. It was a magic tool with spirit essence that helps the one who wears it to use electricity sorcery. And by how much it was… that will be for another story.

"Don't tell me…"

She closed her eyes tightly, quietly frustrated while rolling on her bed.

But in the end, she didn't tell anyone. Part of it was because of her butler who she treats as an uncle, Benedict, which true name is Hartiel. For sure, Hartiel would be punished by her father if he finds out about this. Another reason was that she pities the family of the "one" who stole it. And as she suspected—

°•°•°

—That bracelet was now in the pocket of a certain someone. It was none other than Raijin who was under the sky with a dusk hue. He was now walking towards the slums when he met one of his fellow demons.

"Yo, Kazan." He called to a demon with brown colored hair. His horns were a bit larger than Raijin and his hair was also gray. And unfitted for his age, he had a great build. He has a sharp gaze but looks tired because of his multiple works. Also, He was five years older than him.

"Tsk, you did it again…" The demon named Kazan frowned after seeing him.

"That's fine, that's fine. Not like they were poor," Raijin argued.

"It wasn't that but—hey! I'm still talking to you!"

Kazan was left by Raijin while being ignored. Before long, his voice couldn't reached his voice anymore and came across a group of houses that were made of wood or broken patches, it was the slums for demons. He went to one of the wooden houses, his home. And when he entered, he called if anyone was around.

"Mom?"

No one answered.

"Oh, she's still not here huh…"

He did something to his eyes and it went from turquoise color to red.

Raijin pulled out the "Clouded bracelet" from his pocket which was under his clothes. He sighed in annoyance and sat on the floor.

"Shit, I messed up there. That guard Benedict is strong. But still … this braclet is quite expensive. I shouldn't let my guard down then. I might be in trouble if they try to find this…"

The bracelet has a cloud design while having a dark blue color. He traced every detail of it and even from his ignorant eyes, who wasn't even familiar with craftsmanship, easily concluded that it was the work of a master.

"I will keep it for now, it may become useful for me."

After hiding the bracelet inside his vault that was hidden on the floor, he then pulled out the whole pocket. There were several accessories and coins then he dispersed the content. When he saw these, his face formed a grin—a childlike grin.

And thus, without anyone knowing it, without anyone noticing it, and even Raijin himself was ignorant to it, the god of Conflictus became a rather tricky kid.