Chapter 19: Punk City, The Boy and The Girl (5)

A hunk of junk crossed the city.

The Priest, who had 11 months left on his car payments, parked the hunk of junk in front of the Orphanage.

Creak.

“We’re… here…”

There was no need to open the door.

Amon and Sonia immediately got out of the car.

There was no luggage to unload from the trunk.

Because it had all been scattered across the highway.

The two, who had left the Orphanage with their arms full of luggage, returned as beggars.

“Sigh…”

Amon sighed as soon as he stepped onto the Orphanage grounds.

“How are we going to explain this…?”

We were targeted by the Hickzen Group and chased by Ninjas, so we came back broke?

If they said that, of course, they would be believed.

But that would put the Nuns in danger.

There are things in this world better left unknown.

Knowing this well, Amon decided not to tell the Nuns.

Sonia also agreed with Amon's approach.

But regardless, Sonia's heart was heavy.

“They’ll be worried, right?”

“It can’t be helped.”

Like Sonia, Amon’s heart was also heavy.

With the car in this state, it would be impossible to hide it completely.

The Nuns would probably be genuinely worried about them.

But they had to keep the Nuns from approaching the truth.

They could rebel like teenagers and say they didn't care.

Or they could dismiss it, saying they were adults now and could handle their own affairs.

Neither option felt good.

The two discussed excuses to explain the situation to the Nuns as they headed inside the Orphanage.

But when they opened the entrance and stepped inside, a grim atmosphere greeted them.

Windows were broken, the hallway was a mess, and bloodstains and bullet holes were visible on the walls.

“?!”

Without a word, both of them rushed inside the Orphanage, calling for the Nuns and their younger siblings.

Tommy, Kaylee, Luna, and so on.

They called out the names of their younger siblings as they came to mind.

Just as the two were about to break down from the lack of response, a Priest approached them.

“You can rest assured. As soon as the attack happened, anticipating this, the Holy Knights moved in first. Your siblings and the Nuns are being protected by them.”

At the Priest's words, the two breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed.

Amon even started praying right there.

“Thank you, Lord. Thank you so much…”

After the heart-stopping experience, Amon, regaining his composure, asked the Priest the question he had put off.

“Thank you so much. But aside from that, I have to ask this. Why is the Vatican treating us so well?”

He could understand being sent to the Blue Moon Resort.

From the Vatican's perspective, it was a profitable deal if they could build a good relationship by sending the two on a two-day, one-night trip.

However, dispatching Holy Knights to protect Amon and Sonia, and even including the Orphanage within the scope of their protection, clearly didn't make sense financially.

Even if they were two precious Divine Power wielders, this was excessive kindness.

According to the absolute law of Cyberpunk, the law of equivalent exchange, Amon couldn't help but suspect their motives.

“What does the Vatican want from us?”

What exactly did the Vatican put on the scales to value the two of them so highly?

Unless Amon understood this, he could trust neither the Priests in front of him nor the Holy Knights who protected them.

Amon's straightforward gaze met the Priest's squinted eyes.

A silent battle of wills took place between the two.

Finally, the Priest sighed deeply, as if the earth was collapsing beneath him, and surrendered.

“Amon, you lack the cuteness appropriate for your age.”

“So, what’s the Vatican’s objective?”

At Amon's attempt to get straight to the point, despite the Priest’s playful remark, the Priest grumbled about his lack of charm once again before beginning.

“How much do you know about the Hickzen Group, Amon?”

Amon almost blurted out , but he quickly shut his mouth.

Instead, he answered the Priest's question with another question.

“I know their ultimate goal. What about the Vatican?”

“We do as well.”

It seemed the Holy Nation already knew what Amon had deduced.

Only Sonia was lost in the conversation.

“What? What are you two talking about?”

Amon, looking at her flustered appearance with amusement, revealed the truth to her.

***

The words that came out of Amon’s mouth were shocking.

The plan to compress Divine Power wielders into a single body to create a Divine Power grantor, in other words, to recreate a historical Saint, was unbelievable even after hearing it.

If these words hadn't come from Amon's mouth, and if the Priest hadn't nodded beside him, Sonia wouldn't have believed it either.

When Amon finished his explanation, the Priest looked surprised.

“How did you know that?”

To the Priest’s question, Amon responded with a wry smile.

“By the grace of God.”

It was a euphemism used by the priests of the Vatican's Prophecy Department when glossing over precognitions using Divine Power.

Born because a single word could change the future they saw, this expression was a euphemism known only to a few within the Vatican who could directly receive prophecies.

Those few being the Pope, Cardinals, top-tier Exorcists, and high-ranking Inquisitors.

The fact that this euphemism came from Amon's mouth meant only one thing.

“My, my. You’re a frightening individual.”

The Squinting Priest understood immediately.

Seeing that the Priest didn't question him further, Amon breathed a sigh of relief.

(Divine Power is the best.)

Most supernatural phenomena that couldn't be explained by Magic or science could be glossed over with Divine Power or Mystical Power.

Thanks to its versatility, which was practically a cheat code, Amon wasn't particularly suspected.

In any case, the Hickzen Group's conspiracy was revealed through Amon's words.

Knowing the truth, Sonia rubbed her arms, feeling a chilling sensation.

“Then that field trip was also…”

“You’re probably right.”

Sonia shuddered again, recalling the kind and warm voice.

The malice behind that voice was not at all pleasant.

The fact that she almost had her Divine Power sucked dry continued to haunt her.

Amon hugged Sonia and comforted her with a Pat Pat.

After some time, when Sonia calmed down, the Priest changed the subject.

“Let's get back to the story. If Amon knew about the Hickzen Group's Secret Garden, it would make things quicker.”

The Priest began his explanation.

“From the moment it was founded, the Hickzen Group has been pursuing a single goal. A Secret Garden they are determined to achieve, no matter the cost.”

Usually, all Megacorps have a Secret Garden.

This is because simple greed for money cannot lead one to the realm of a Megacorp.

To become a Megacorp, one needed a near-insane obsession that ordinary people could hardly understand.

The Hickzen Group was one such entity, and this obsession propelled them to Megacorp status.

“They want to sell everything that exists in this world. And that includes… dare I say, Divine Power.”

Their insane obsession to sell everything eventually made them one of the world's leading general merchandise stores.

From various groceries to appliances, medicine, and even guns.

The idea of running an underground factory to provide whatever a customer wanted was something only possible with such obsession.

However, there was one thing the Hickzen Group couldn't sell in their stores yet, and that was Divine Power.

In a world where Magic and science had advanced, no corporation or government had found anything to replace Divine Power.

The miracles produced by Divine Power could only be relied upon by the individual possessing it.

The Hickzen Group, who wanted to sell everything everywhere, didn't like this limitation.

So they planned.

To artificially create a Saint.

The Vatican's reaction to this intelligence was dramatic.

If the Hickzen Group succeeded, the Vatican could lose its raison d'être.

“For one thing, the Pope’s authority would plummet.”

The first Pope was the first of the 12 Apostles chosen by the Saint, the only begotten daughter of the Goddess, who had descended upon the world.

And the successive Popes were clergymen who inherited the first Pope's will.

But what would happen to the Pope if the Hickzen Group succeeded in artificially creating a Saint, and furthermore, randomly chose someone as an Apostle?

From that moment on, the Vatican and the Hickzen Group could no longer coexist under the same sky.

“It was the first time in a long time that the priests, who were usually divided into factions and engaged in internal power struggles, united like this.”

Since their very livelihoods were at stake, no priest sided with the Hickzen Group.

The Vatican moved as one body, perhaps for the first time ever.

Inquisitors ran around gathering information, Cardinals shared all the information they had, and the Holy Knights moved swiftly without questioning the Cardinals' orders.

No one tripped each other up to prevent the Hickzen Group's conspiracy.

All the priests were truly united as one.

“Thus, the Hickzen Group was declared heretical, and the Vatican has been hostile to them for a long time.”

However, even if they labeled the Hickzen Group as heretics, this wasn't the Middle Ages.

The power of religion had weakened considerably, and judgment was based not on law or ethics, but on pure power.

Therefore, apart from declaring the Hickzen Group heretical and preventing them from gathering Divine Power wielders, the Vatican's options were limited.

Despite these obstacles, the Hickzen Group continued to take Divine Power wielders and stubbornly pushed forward with their project.

And now, they were only one step away from completing their plan.

The Vatican interfered with the Hickzen Group more actively than ever.

“That's when you two appeared.”

Two Divine Power wielders appeared in an Orphanage in the State of Colorado, where the Hickzen Group's Headquarters was located.

For the Hickzen Group, who were desperate for even one more, unprotected orphans were a tempting morsel they couldn't resist.

Fortunately for the Vatican, they were the first to discover them.

Since then, the Vatican spared no expense in investing in the Orphanage.

They employed various tactics to prevent the Hickzen Group from noticing the two, concealing and disrupting information. After they were discovered, they started to openly protect them.

“That's how this situation came to be.”

This is why the Vatican spared no support for Amon and Sonia.

Sending them to the Resort was to keep them as far away from the corporation as possible, and protecting the Orphanage was to prevent the Nuns and their siblings from being taken hostage.

All of this was done out of the Vatican's own needs.

The Priest finished his explanation.

Only then could Amon trust the Vatican's goodwill.

He could finally understand the reason behind the Vatican's desperate protection of the two of them through the logic of equivalent exchange.

“Will you believe in us now?”

At the Priest's question, Amon nodded calmly.