Chapter 13
Amon's life, three years prior, had been one of the most dynamic he'd ever experienced.
Three years since discovering Sonia's talent, and his own, and then subsequently tussling with the possessed Jimmy and the Psycho Gorilla.
Even by the standards of this world, where incidents and accidents were ceaseless, it had been a year worthy of a radio drama. Three years had passed since then.
In the meantime, Amon and Sonia prepared for their approaching graduation.
“Thank you for everything, Instructor.”
“You’re leaving?”
“Yes.”
“Reconsider my offer.”
“Thank you, but we want to see the wider world.”
Before graduating from the orphanage, Amon and Sonia first settled things with the Swordsmanship Dojo.
Upon hearing of their departure, the Instructor, full of regret, offered them the position of Assistant Instructor and provided room and board, but they politely declined.
If it were up to them, they would have liked to continue their training peacefully at the dojo.
But they were orphans.
They had no one to support them, no connections.
It was time for them to forge their own paths.
…That was the superficial reason.
The bigger reason was that they were both wielders of Divine Power.
Knowing how far this world would go to secure those with Divine Power, Amon knew he couldn't stay at the dojo.
Even though it was considered quite large, even by city standards, having two Divine Power wielders meant a corporation could suddenly send a ninja squad to the dojo without a second thought.
Naturally, this was something neither Sonia nor Amon wanted.
Therefore, they had no choice but to bid farewell to their Instructor with courtesy.
As they were seen off one last time, the Instructor earnestly advised them.
“Alright. No need to obsess over fame, just survive for a long time. Remember what I always say?”
“It's not the strong who survive,”
“But the survivors who are strong. Right?”
Amon and Sonia replied as if reciting from memory.
The idea of promoting himself through them was already an insignificant matter in the Instructor’s mind.
He also wasn't interested in them proving his teachings to the world.
There was only a teacher who wished for his students to live long and prosperous lives.
In this materialistic world, such love was more precious than money could buy, so Amon and Sonia continued to show respect to their Instructor until the very end.
***
Afterward, the two of them severed ties with everyone they were indebted to, except for their Instructor.
It wasn't that they looked down on them, but their worlds were different.
To be precise, their very existence was like poison to ordinary people.
It meant that people could be harmed just by being near them.
Amon and Sonia, suppressing their regret, bid their farewells.
“What is it with this Divine Power…”
Sonia muttered dejectedly.
Sonia already knew her secret.
With only a year left until graduation, the Principal had revealed the secret of Divine Power to her.
Originally, it was meant to be kept secret until graduation, but her shining talent was simply too prominent to conceal until then.
Her talent was so overwhelmingly brilliant that even she could sense her own peculiarity, so the Principal had no choice but to tell her the truth.
Fortunately, Amon and the Principal's character education hadn't been in vain, as Sonia didn't become arrogant after realizing her talent.
Instead, she reflected on how blessed she was and resolved to be even more humble.
The sight was so heartwarming that the Principal unconsciously wore a motherly smile.
- But how did you know?
Incidentally, there was an instance where the Principal interrogated Amon, whose reaction was lukewarm even after knowing the secret, but he somehow managed to evade the question.
In any case, they lived with the secret for a year.
Now, they had to sever ties with people before the secret was revealed.
Normally, one would be happy about their specialness and willingly sever ties, but Sonia was soft-hearted and couldn't easily do so.
Whenever she had to say goodbye, her throat would choke up, preventing her from speaking.
Therefore, Amon would calmly take care of severing ties on her behalf.
Seeing Amon's incredibly composed demeanor, Sonia felt a sense of wonder.
“Doesn’t it bother you at all?”
To her question, Amon replied with his usual amiable smile.
“I’m sad too. It’s upsetting that I have to sever ties with people because of this Divine Power. I resent this kind of world.”
“Then why are you so calm?”
“Because I have faith that this won't last forever.”
Amon’s eyes shone brighter than neon signs as he spoke.
“Someday, when I reach a position where no one can interfere with my relationships, and furthermore, when the world becomes a better place to live, I’ll be able to come back.”
Sonia couldn't bring herself to respond to Amon's confident answer.
Sometimes, Amon would speak with overflowing confidence about the future.
- You will shine brighter than anyone! I guarantee it!
How many children in the orphanage, barely clinging to life, had been captivated by him showing them the beauty of hope?
Sonia was one of those children captivated by him.
His assurances, even if they took time, always came true.
No one had believed his declaration that he would make the dreary orphanage more lively, yet by the time he was about to graduate, the orphanage was filled with a bright atmosphere unlike anything seen 10 years prior.
Therefore, Sonia couldn't help but believe Amon's declaration this time as well.
Beyond believing, she was now convinced.
Before she knew it, she found herself resolving to follow behind Amon and witness the bright future he would create.
She couldn't wait for that future.
As her thoughts reached that point, the gloomy girl was gone, replaced by her usual self, and she began to discuss her dreams.
“Then, for the sake of that dream, I should listen more attentively to the Priest's class this afternoon.”
On their way back to the orphanage, Amon agreed with Sonia’s words.
After the Principal's Divine Power coming-out, the two of them began training to control their Divine Power in earnest.
Their instructor was the Squinting Priest.
The same Squinting Priest who had come to the orphanage to exorcise Jimmy's evil spirit, and who had occasionally visited the orphanage since then to check on their Silver Anklets.
That Squinting Priest.
The Priest readily agreed to the lessons, calling it a chance to curry favor with them.
Since then, they had learned how to handle Divine Power under the Priest, and in less than a year, they had reached the level of skillfully concealing it.
Sonia had a rather favorable opinion of the Priest, with whom they continued to maintain a relationship.
“At first, I thought he was a bad person based on his appearance, but he turned out to be a good person.”
To her assessment, Amon responded with a smile.
At first glance, it seemed affirmative.
But inwardly, he disagreed.
‘Of course anyone is kind while they’re trying to curry favor.’
In this world, appearances, and even actions, couldn't be trusted.
The only thing one could trust was oneself.
In such a world, one couldn't judge the Priest as a good person solely based on his kindness.
It was just that, for now, the Priest was a benevolent presence in this situation.
Oh, and Sonia was an exception to this logic, as she was always a trustworthy friend.
‘Although he seems like a complicated adult.’
Amon had seen the mark of a Vatican Heresy Inquisitor on the Priest, so he was certain the Priest wasn't a clean character.
However, it was hard to call him a villain or a hypocrite, as he showed kindness to everyone he met, as if he harbored no ulterior motives.
There was no way to define this complex adult in a single word, so Amon simply responded to Sonia's assessment with a smile.
Thus, with Amon’s ambiguous assessment, they headed towards the orphanage where the Priest was waiting.
Sonia brought up a new topic.
“So. Where should we go?”
“Well…”
It was a sentence with no subject and many omissions, but Amon understood her intent.
She was asking where they would head after graduation.
As if the fact that they were Divine Power wielders was already an open secret, they had been flooded with offers from various groups since a year before graduation.
The government was initially a contender, but as was typical of civil servants, the harder they worked and the more honest they were, the more difficult the system became, so they were removed from the list.
After filtering through numerous candidates, they narrowed down the choices to two:
Corporations and the Vatican.
First, corporations offered a guaranteed income.
The structure ensured that the harder one worked, the greater the reward, providing clear motivation.
They even promised support for the orphanage.
However, if one couldn’t turn a blind eye to corruption, it would be a painful place.
No, it would be far more painful than the government.
In contrast, the Vatican offered comparatively less money, but it was stable.
It was an organization where Divine Power wielders were born and gathered in unusually large numbers, allowing it to maintain a certain degree of influence even in this world where the power of religion had plummeted.
To what extent? Enough to engage in power games with, if not the top tier Megacorps, at least the lower tier ones.
Moreover, even though it was a religious organization, it wasn’t entirely swayed by corporations and the corruption wasn't the absolute worst.
One could even use doctrine to eliminate corruption right in front of their eyes if they so desired.
The slightly lower income was a problem, but it was a perfect fit for Sonia and Amon, who weren't particularly greedy for money.
However, there was a reason why Sonia hesitated to choose this option.
“But what does serving the Mother have to do with marriage?”
The problem was marriage.
Vatican clergy were forbidden to marry due to doctrine.
It was such an absurd doctrine that even Sonia had tilted her head in confusion when she first heard it.
Amon had also cocked his head, thinking, ‘That can’t be right…’
But a doctrine that had lasted for over 1000 years couldn’t be changed.
Upon hearing the doctrine, Amon scoffed.
“In a region with the highest concentration of orphanages in the world.”
Ironically, the Vatican had the highest proportion of orphans in the world.
There was a running joke in the Vatican that if a devout Nun started gaining weight one day, she would disappear the next, only to reappear about eight months later.
Therefore, for some reason, there were more orphans than children with parents in the city, and the adoption rate was unusually high.
The priests claimed that adopting children was for the practice of their faith, but well…
Amon simply sneered at them.
Returning to the topic, the reason Sonia and Amon were reluctant about the Vatican was this doctrine.
Amon was disgusted by the hypocritical doctrine, and Sonia disliked it for various reasons.
However, the drawbacks of the other two options were also significant, making it too difficult to remove the Vatican from the list of candidates.
They had been unable to decide among the three options for months.
“If all else fails, the two of us can just work as a mercenary duo.”
Amon nodded at Sonia’s suggestion.
Even if they were considering mercenary work as a last resort, it truly was their final option.
Even Amon, overflowing with talent and confidence in the future, found it too unstable of an option to readily choose.
That's how dangerous, unstable, and difficult the mercenary path was.
Still, it wasn't a path they should completely rule out.
“Me as the Vanguard, Sonia as the Rearguard, fighting together as a duo…”
It felt like a considerably powerful duo would be born.
Imagining such a future naturally brought a smile to Amon’s face.
(Mainly in a gamer sense.)
Sonia, interpreting his satisfied smile in her own way, returned a bright smile.
Before they knew it, the two of them were picturing a future with mercenary life as their escape route.
“We’ll probably get scammed a lot as beginners, right?”
“We should be more worried about getting scammed out of our room first.”
“What about the room? Should we get two separate rooms, or just the same room with different beds?”
“The latter.”
"Living together?"
"Problem?"
"Not at all."
Mercenary life wasn’t set in stone, but they felt like they could overcome any hardship together with their childhood friend.
The two of them painted a hopeful future.
Their happy imaginings continued until someone blocked their path.
“...Jimmy?”
Jimmy, who should have graduated long ago, appeared before them.