Chapter 73

“Hey! It’s mine!!”

“It’s mine!”

Another peaceful day at the orphanage.

Birds chirped, and the children, true to their age, bickered with their friends over trivial matters.

“Everyone, that’s not how you should behave. Using violence against your friends is wrong.”

Amon gently scolded the children with a kind smile.

Given Amon’s absolute popularity at the orphanage and daycare center, the children immediately stopped fighting.

The kids who had just been throwing punches at each other now apologized.

“Sorry… here, you can have this.”

“No, I’m sorry. I’m fine, so you can have it.”

The children quickly admitted their mistakes and practiced the virtue of compromise.

It was a testament to how well Amon had taught them.

Amon watched the two children with a proud smile.

As they hugged each other in reconciliation, Amon patted their heads and said,

“Teacher has told you many times, right? Who is it okay to hit?”

“Heretics, beasts, and monsters only!”

“That’s right!”

The children answered brightly, and Amon affectionately patted their heads.

Behind Amon, the cross on the wall reflected the light.

Amon gave the children a pat on the back and sent them off to play.

Then, turning around, he said,

“Ah, Director, sorry to keep you waiting.”

Amon turned to see the Narrow-Eyed Priest, now the director of the Rose Bud Orphanage in California, waiting for him.

The priest looked at Amon with a disapproving expression and said,

“What are you teaching these kids?”

“The truth, of course?”

“Good grief…”

The priest held his forehead, feeling dizzy.

What exactly was this man turning the daycare center into?

The priest pondered for a moment but quickly stopped himself.

After all, no matter how much he thought about it, nothing would change.

Shaking off his thoughts, the priest called out to Amon.

“Shall we head to the director’s office?”

Amon nodded and followed the priest.

*

The two entered the director’s office on the 10th floor.

The priest’s office was quite modest.

True to Amon’s expectations, the priest wasn’t a greedy person.

There was a door in the office leading to an adjacent room, with chains and a cross hanging in front of it.

It was a room used to seal evil spirits or store exorcism tools.

As soon as Amon entered the office, he pointed to the door and said,

“Want me to purify it for you sometime? It’s been a while since I last did it before my business trip.”

“Since you brought it up, could I ask you to do it after we finish today?”

Most exorcists didn’t possess Divine Power.

They could drive away or seal evil spirits and ghosts, but they couldn’t purify the stronger ones.

So, they usually sealed them and called someone periodically to purify them, keeping their numbers in check.

However, the priest didn’t have to worry about that since there was a Divine Power generator nearby.

Although Amon didn’t know any purification spells, the sheer amount of Divine Power he could unleash would purify the evil spirits on its own.

“Then I’ll do it right after we finish talking.”

Amon nodded.

The priest finished the small talk and finally got to the main point.

“Amon, you know I’m a guest professor at the seminary, right?”

“Yes. I believe… you’re the guest professor of Exorcism?”

“That’s right. I’m also an external training advisor.”

The priest was also a professor at the seminary.

He wasn’t a full-time professor who stayed at the university to conduct research but rather an occasional lecturer who came in from the field.

The pay wasn’t great, and it was mostly for honor.

The priest had been recommended by the Vatican to take on the role of guest professor.

Though “recommended” was more of a forced order.

Between his duties as a guest professor, his main job as an exorcist, and now the orphanage director, the priest’s body was barely holding together, but that was beside the point.

In any case, the priest was a guest professor.

Rubbing his tired eyes, the priest continued.

“Amon, you’ve probably heard from Sonia, but there’s going to be an external training session for the seminary students soon.”

“Sonia mentioned it would be in a dungeon, right?”

Since the seminary was a place to train both priests and Holy Knights,

there were also training sessions prepared for students aspiring to become Holy Knights.

However, since it was troublesome to find people to spar with or ghosts to fight, dungeons were often used as training grounds.

“Yes. And Amon, you applied to be a safety officer for that dungeon training, right?”

Amon nodded.

The students would form groups and periodically explore the dungeon to hone their practical skills as Holy Knights.

That was the purpose of the dungeon training.

To ensure the students’ safety, each group was assigned a safety officer.

Amon had heard about this from Sonia and had applied to be a safety officer months ago.

However, there was one problem.

“As you know, Amon, the dungeon we usually use for training has been cleared.”

“Haha…”

The priest looked at Amon with tired eyes.

Amon awkwardly laughed and avoided eye contact.

As the priest said, the seminary had been using <Howling Darkness> for training purposes.

It was old, so the information was reliable, it was full of undead that were perfect for testing Divine Power, and most importantly, it wasn’t far from the university.

In every aspect, it was the ideal training ground.

Until someone cleared it.

After Amon beheaded the Lich, the dungeon gradually withered.

Thanks to the Lich’s stored Magic Power, the undead kept spawning, but as the stored Magic Power depleted, the monsters stopped spawning altogether.

As a result, by the time Sonia’s training session came around, the dungeon had completely stopped functioning.

Of course, it wasn’t Amon’s fault.

It was just the lament of the person in charge who had to deal with a sudden upheaval during their tenure.

“Sigh. Sorry, I’m just tired. Anyway, because of that, I’ve been running around dungeons with this evaluation sheet for the past few months.”

The priest handed over the evaluation sheet.

It listed items like whether the dungeon was suitable for students and whether the monsters were weak to Divine Magic.

The notes on the numerous evaluation sheets clearly showed how diligently the priest had investigated the dungeons.

At the top of the stack was the evaluation sheet for the dungeon the priest had selected.

——————-

<Swamp of Blasphemy>

98/104

– Main Monsters: Poisonous insects and swamp-type monsters. (Including plant types)

– Dungeon Creation Cause: Outbreak of mutants due to failed genetic modification.

– Difficulty: Low. However, it might be slightly challenging for students.

– Vulnerability to Divine Power: The physical threat from the monsters is very low, and their poison can be completely purified with Divine Magic. Safety is very high.

– Additional Notes: Mutants are continuously spawning from the central nest. However, the mutations are survival-oriented rather than lethal, so the threat level is not high.

——————-

Amon read through the document.

Nothing unusual stood out.

As the priest had investigated, it didn’t seem like anything special would happen in the dungeon…

*Slap!*

Amon slapped his own cheek hard.

‘You idiot! What kind of flag are you trying to plant?!’

Had he grown too complacent from the recent peace?

Amon quickly reflected on himself.

The priest looked at Amon, who had suddenly slapped himself, as if he were a weirdo, but since it wasn’t the first time Amon had done something incomprehensible, he didn’t comment.

After his self-reflection, Amon returned to the topic.

“So, why are you showing this to me?”

“Before entering the dungeon, the school sent me an official document to pass on to you. Normally, we’d discuss this over a meal at a restaurant or something… but you don’t really like that sort of thing, do you?”

Amon nodded.

While Amon understood the importance of procedures and etiquette, he preferred cutting through the formalities and getting straight to the point.

Since he and the priest worked in the same building, it was much more convenient to get to the main point without unnecessary detours.

Amon slightly bowed his head in gratitude for the priest’s consideration.

The priest, having received Amon’s thanks, began to convey the school’s position.

“So, about the school’s official document… the school wants you to take on multiple groups as a safety officer.”

“Why is that?”

“There are too few applicants this time.”

“Ah.”

Amon understood.

Being a safety officer wasn’t a popular position.

In fact, it was more of a position people avoided.

The pay was low, and on top of that, you had to worry about the students’ safety. If something went wrong, the school and parents would sue you.

If you had the skills to ensure the students’ safety in a dungeon, you could make ten times more by just running the dungeon yourself.

Only those who needed the honor, had to fill volunteer hours, or were already planning to enter the dungeon as a side quest would apply for the position.

As a result, safety officers were always in short supply, and when that happened, assistant instructors (or graduate students) were brought in to barely meet the required number.

But this year, the number of applicants was drastically low.

Unlike before, the change in dungeons made it harder to guarantee safety, and the risk of lawsuits had become too high.

Even the people who had taken on the role every year refused this time, so even if they filled all the positions with graduate students, they were still short.

So, the school had resorted to asking Amon to take on multiple groups.

“The school seems to highly value your combat abilities.”

While there was no objective evidence to measure a mercenary’s combat abilities in modern society, the school could still gather information through word of mouth.

Amon’s combat abilities were already well-known in the mercenary industry, so it wasn’t hard for the school to find out.

Moreover, Amon’s mercenary rank was Platinum.

It was a mark of trust given only to those who had completed over 100 missions cleanly without causing any major incidents.

He was the perfect candidate to look after the students.

“In return, they’ll pay you the standard safety officer fee for each group you take on.”

“Is this an order or a request?”

“From what I can see, it’s a request.”

There was no language in the official document that forced him to comply.

There would be no penalty for refusing.

It was a rare display of politeness in this world, but politeness had its reasons.

If Amon were a mercenary without any backing, they might have forced him to take on the job using authority and the law, but the school knew about Amon’s connections.

Thanks to Cash’s influence, the school couldn’t fully grasp the relationship between Amon and the Rekhetio Corporation, but they could sense that there was some connection between the two.

The school was clearly being cautious around Amon.

Amon kept that in mind as he considered the request.

The conclusion came quickly.

“I can handle up to four groups.”

Given Amon’s current abilities, that seemed manageable.

The priest immediately relayed Amon’s decision to the school.

A few minutes later, the response came back.

“They say that’s enough.”

Amon then signed the electronic contract that had been sent over.

“Five students per group. You’ll be responsible for four groups. Confirmed.”

“Make sure Sonia’s group is included.”

“Of course.”

That much convenience was perfectly acceptable.

After all, the safety officer was only responsible for safety, not grading, so there was no issue of fairness.

And so, Amon, who had unexpectedly become responsible for the safety of four groups, chatted with the priest for a while before returning to his temporary teaching duties.

“Hey! You shouldn’t break your friend’s things! The only things you’re allowed to destroy are the symbols of heresy!”

The director watched Amon’s back with a cold gaze.

***

Time passed, and it was the day before the training.

Amon had already informed the orphanage that he wouldn’t be able to volunteer as a safety officer for a while.

The children, who adored Amon, cried and threw tantrums when they heard he wouldn’t be around for a while, which weighed on Amon’s heart, but there was nothing he could do.

He headed to the Rekhetio Corporation, seeing off by the children.

Cash had called for him.

A brief body search was conducted.

*Beep-*

The detector’s warning light went off.

The dimensional coat filled with swords and weapons had triggered it.

One of the security guards raised his weapon.

Seeing this, his supervisor panicked and slapped the back of the guard’s head.

“You idiot! Do you know who this is?!”

The other guards dragged the guard away and started stomping on him.

It wasn’t until Amon said it was fine that the group beating stopped.

The supervisor, who had slapped the guard’s head, kept bowing.

“Sorry about that, Executive Advisor.”

“I’m not an executive advisor.”

“Ah, sorry, Amon. That guy just joined yesterday…”

“No, it’s fine.”

Amon had no intention of pointing out the guard’s mistake.

If someone got punished for being diligent in protecting Cash, that wouldn’t be right.

In fact, it was Amon who was abnormal for being able to enter the executive office armed to the teeth.

Amon glanced at the guard who had been beaten.

He was covered in dust but had no injuries.

It looked like a beating, but they had actually hit him lightly.

In other words, it was WWE.

It was a message to the new guy: “You followed procedure, but if you somehow offended Amon, please forgive us.”

Amon received the message loud and clear.

“I’m really fine, so I hope that guy doesn’t face any consequences.”

“Noted.”

Of course, since it was WWE, the guard wouldn’t be punished.

There might be some handover, though.

After that little incident, Amon entered Cash’s office.

Sonia, who had arrived before him, was leisurely reading a book on the office couch.

It was a weekday, but since it was the day before training, classes had been canceled to allow students to manage their condition.

When Amon entered, the two women greeted him.

“Good job!”

Sonia greeted him cheerfully.

“You’re here?”

Cash greeted him more softly.

Amon accepted their greetings and sat on the couch.

Cash finished up her work and got up from her seat.

Then, she entered the code into the safe in the corner of the office.

*Beep beep.*

After entering the date she first met Amon, the safe opened.

Cash took out two small wooden boxes from inside.

“I finally got what you asked for. It was really hard to find.”

Cash’s face was filled with joy as she said this.

It was the joy of someone giving a gift.

As Cash placed the boxes on the table, Amon started operating his phone before even opening them.

“I’ll transfer the money.”

“Don’t. It’s from the dungeon you helped clear, so it’s fine.”

“I have a lot of money.”

“Can you say that in front of me?”

“Now that I think about it, I guess not.”

After some back-and-forth with Cash, they settled on 30% of the market price.

‘We’re going to share it later anyway, so this is just losing money to fees… what a waste.’

Cash grumbled internally but kept her expression in check.

After the transfer was complete, Amon opened the boxes with a pounding heart.

Two golden essences appeared.

“Finally got them.”

The best combination Amon could think of.

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