Chapter 19

A hunk of junk crossed the city.

The priest, who still had 11 months of installments left on that hunk of junk, parked the car in front of the orphanage.

*Creak*

“We’ve… arrived…”

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 they had already scattered it all over the highway.

The two, who had left the orphanage carrying loads of luggage, returned as paupers.

“Sigh…”

Amon let out a sigh as soon as he stepped over the orphanage’s threshold.

“How do I explain this…?”

Should I say we were targeted by the Hixen Group, chased by ninjas, and came back with nothing?

Of course, they’d probably believe it.

But that would only put the nuns in danger.

Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

Amon knew this all too well, so he decided not to tell the nuns.

Sonia agreed with Amon’s approach.

But regardless, Sonia’s heart was heavy.

“They’ll worry, won’t they?”

“What can we do?”

Like Sonia, Amon’s heart was heavy too.

With the car in this state, hiding it was impossible.

The nuns would probably be genuinely worried about them.

But the two had to make sure the nuns didn’t get too close to the truth.

They could act like rebellious teenagers, saying it’s none of their business.

Or, as adults, they could brush it off, saying they’ll handle it themselves.

Either way, it didn’t sit well with them.

The two discussed excuses to explain the situation to the nuns as they headed inside the orphanage.

But when they opened the door and stepped inside, a serious atmosphere greeted them.

The windows were shattered, the corridor was a mess, and bloodstains and bullet holes were scattered across the walls.

“?!”

Without a second thought, the two rushed inside, calling out for the nuns and the children.

Tommy, Kaelie, Luna, and so on.

They called out the names of the children as they came to mind.

When no one answered, they were on the verge of breaking down, but then the priest approached them.

“You can rest easy. As soon as the attack happened, the Holy Knights moved in. They’re protecting the children and the nuns.”

Hearing the priest’s words, the two let out a sigh of relief and slumped down.

In fact, Amon immediately started praying.

“Thank you, Lord. Truly, thank you…”

After the heart-stopping experience, Amon regained his composure and asked the priest a question he had been holding back.

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

Sending them to the Blue Moon Resort was understandable.

From the Vatican’s perspective, sending them on a two-day trip was a good way to build a positive relationship.

But deploying Holy Knights to protect Amon and Sonia, and even extending that protection to the orphanage, clearly didn’t make financial sense.

Even if they were two rare Divine Power holders, this level of favor was excessive.

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 had the Vatican placed on the scale to value them so highly?

Unless Amon could understand that, he couldn’t trust the priests or the Holy Knights protecting them.

Amon’s earnest eyes met the priest’s narrow ones.

A silent battle of wills ensued between the two.

Finally, the priest let out a deep sigh and gave up.

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

“So, what’s the Vatican’s goal?”

Ignoring the priest’s grumbling, Amon pressed on, and the priest, muttering about his lack of charm, began to explain.

“How much do you know about the Hixen Group?”

Amon almost blurted out “Project Artificial Saintess,” 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’re the same.”

It seemed the Vatican already knew what Amon had deduced.

Sonia was the only one who couldn’t follow the conversation.

“What? What are you two talking about?”

Amon, finding her flustered expression cute, decided to spill the truth.

***

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

The plan to compress Divine Power holders into a single entity to create a Divine Power bestower—essentially an artificial saintess from history—was hard to believe.

If it hadn’t come from Amon’s mouth, and if the priest hadn’t nodded along, Sonia wouldn’t have believed it either.

When Amon finished explaining, the priest looked surprised.

“How did you know that?”

Amon smiled wryly and said, “By the grace of God.”

It was a euphemism used by Vatican priests in the prophecy department when they used Divine Power for foresight.

This expression, born because a single word could change the future they saw, was known only to a select few within the Vatican.

Those few included the Pope, Cardinals, top-tier exorcists, and high-ranking inquisitors.

The fact that this term came from Amon’s mouth meant one thing.

“My, you’re a scary one.”

The narrow-eyed priest understood immediately.

Seeing the priest stop pressing, Amon sighed in relief.

‘Divine Power really is the best.’

Most supernatural phenomena that couldn’t be explained by magic or science could be brushed off as Divine Power or Mystic Power.

Thanks to its almost cheat-like versatility, Amon wasn’t particularly suspected.

In any case, the Hixen Group’s plot had been revealed through Amon.

Hearing the truth, Sonia shuddered and rubbed her arms.

“So that field trip was…”

“Probably what you’re thinking.”

Sonia recalled that kind and warm voice and shuddered again.

The malice behind that voice was anything but pleasant.

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

Amon hugged Sonia and comforted her, patting her head.

After some time had passed and Sonia had calmed down, the priest redirected the conversation.

“Let’s get back to the topic. If Amon already knows the Hixen Group’s secret goal, this will go faster.”

The priest began his explanation.

“From the moment it was founded, the Hixen Group has been running toward one goal. No matter the cost, they were determined to achieve their secret ambition.”

Most megacorps have at least one such ambition.

After all, simple greed for money isn’t enough to reach the level of a megacorp.

To become a megacorp, you need at least one obsession that borders on madness—something ordinary people can’t understand.

The Hixen Group was one such entity, and this obsession made them a megacorp.

“They want to sell everything in this world. Their target even includes… Divine Power.”

Their mad obsession to sell everything turned them into one of the world’s top department stores.

From groceries to electronics, medicine to guns.

If a customer wanted something, they’d even run underground factories to provide it. Only such an obsession could lead to such ideas.

But there was one thing the Hixen Group hadn’t yet managed to sell in their stores: Divine Power.

In a world where magic and science had advanced, no company or government had found a substitute for Divine Power.

The miracles created by Divine Power relied entirely on the individual who possessed it.

For the Hixen Group, who wanted to sell everything everywhere, this limitation was unacceptable.

So they planned.

To create an artificial saintess.

The Vatican’s reaction to this intelligence was dramatic.

If the Hixen Group succeeded, the Vatican could lose its raison d’être.

“At the very least, the Pope’s authority would hit rock bottom.”

The first Pope was one of the twelve apostles chosen by the saintess, the only daughter of the goddess, who descended to the world.

And every subsequent Pope was a clergyman carrying on the will of the first.

But if the Hixen Group succeeded in creating an artificial saintess and even started appointing apostles at will, what would the Pope become?

From that moment on, the Vatican and the Hixen Group became irreconcilable enemies.

“It’s been a long time since the priests, divided into factions and constantly scheming against each other, united like this.”

With their very survival at stake, no priest sided with the Hixen Group.

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

Inquisitors scoured everywhere for information, Cardinals shared all their knowledge, and the Holy Knights moved swiftly without question under the Cardinals’ orders.

No one hindered anyone else in the effort to stop the Hixen Group’s plot.

Every priest was genuinely united.

“Thus, the Hixen Group was declared heretical, and the Vatican has been hostile to them ever since.”

But declaring the Hixen Group heretical didn’t mean much in this day and age.

The power of religion had waned, and judgment was no longer based on law or ethics but pure strength.

So, beyond declaring the Hixen Group heretical and hindering their efforts to gather Divine Power holders, the Vatican’s options were limited.

Despite the hindrance, the Hixen Group continued to gather Divine Power holders and push forward with their project.

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

The Vatican became more aggressive than ever in hindering the Hixen Group.

“That’s when you two appeared.”

Two Divine Power holders appeared at an orphanage in Colorado, where the Hixen Group’s headquarters were located.

For the Hixen Group, who were always short on Divine Power holders, unprotected orphans were irresistible prey.

Fortunately for the Vatican, they found the two first.

From then on, the Vatican spared no expense in investing in the orphanage.

They conducted various operations to ensure the Hixen Group didn’t discover the two.

They hid information, spread disinformation, and once discovered, openly protected them.

“That’s how we got here.”

The Vatican’s generous support for Amon and Sonia was for this reason.

Sending them to the resort was to keep them as far from the corporation as possible, and protecting the orphanage was to prevent the nuns and children from being taken hostage.

All of this was done out of the Vatican’s desperation.

The priest’s explanation ended.

Only then could Amon trust the Vatican’s goodwill.

He could accept the Vatican’s desperate protection of them through the logic of equivalent exchange.

“Will you trust the Vatican now?”

In response to the priest’s question, Amon nodded quietly.

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