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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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A width of 180, length of 205, thickness of 50mm, weight of 2kg, lightweight vellum wrapped in artificial leather.
An anti-monster blunt weapon.
A Bible.
A highly effective weapon capable of exorcising low-level ghosts, etc., in a single attack.
As proof, Amon’s single blow exorcised the numerous ghosts within Jimmy.
Unfortunately, the baby ghost that had cooperated with Amon was also exorcised in the process, making it impossible to keep the promise.
Amon felt sorry for not being able to perform the memorial ritual and made the sign of the cross.
‘Amen.’
The mourning for the nameless baby ghost ended there.
Amon looked at Jimmy, who had collapsed at his feet, foaming at the mouth with his eyes rolled back.
Anyone could see that Jimmy wasn’t in a normal state.
He turned his gaze towards the nun who was opening and closing her mouth behind him.
“Jimmy doesn’t look well. Is this okay?”
His voice was dripping with worry.
Amon believed without a doubt that the nun would recognize his genuine concern for Jimmy.
Of course, that was Amon’s misconception.
‘You’re one to talk!?’
The nun was inwardly appalled, but didn’t show it outwardly.
She didn’t want to lie down next to Jimmy herself.
Consciously moving her stiff cheeks, she reassured Amon.
“Don’t worry. It’s a side effect of the exorcism… probably.”
The last word didn’t reach Amon’s ears.
Thanks to that, Amon was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
Usually, victims who had been exorcised foamed at the mouth from the shock of their souls leaving, so Jimmy’s condition was a perfectly normal recovery process.
Of course, Amon felt like his slightly forceful exorcism had put a somewhat harsh burden on Jimmy’s brain, but there was no one there who could prove it.
Therefore, at least in this case, Amon could be considered innocent.
Not long after, the orphanage director, awakened by Amon’s cry, arrived at the scene.
What she saw there was a somewhat refreshed-looking Amon, Jimmy unconscious with a swollen crown, and the nun pressing on her eyelids.
Years of running an orphanage weren’t for nothing; the whole story unfolded in her head without anyone having to explain it.
She knew exactly what to do first in this situation.
“Amon, go to your room and rest. You don’t have to write a reflection essay, so don’t worry.”
Thanks to the director’s intervention, Amon was acquitted.
It was reported to the orphanage that Jimmy had tried to escape the isolation room and had been stopped by Amon.
Since Jimmy, the victim, had been completely consumed by the vengeful spirit, he had no memory of the incident, and the only witnesses, the director and the nun, were on Amon’s side.
In the end, the truth, slightly altered, was what became known.
“Amazing, Brother!”
The younger children who adored Amon were busy praising him.
To the children, for whom the orphanage seemed to be the whole world, the possessed Jimmy had been like the end-of-the-century demon king.
Having defeated such a demon king single-handedly, Amon’s status was comparable to a hero.
Hero Amon could only give a dry laugh amidst the children’s praise.
‘I can’t tell them the truth…’
Unable to tell the children the Bible-wielding epic, Amon packaged his fight with Jimmy with appropriate embellishments.
The story went that Amon and Jimmy had fought fiercely during the night, and the ghosts inside Jimmy, beaten by Amon, finally left Jimmy’s body.
Actually, exorcism methods for the possessed do include corporal punishment, including whipping.
The only problem is that the person tends to die before the ghost leaves.
In this case, it was concluded that Jimmy had been lucky.
“So cool…”
Amon was mortified that Sonia, for some reason, was among the children, listening with shining eyes.
While the children were praising Hero Amon, there was someone who couldn’t take this incident lightly.
The director sat in her office, pondering what Amon had accomplished in this incident.
Exorcism.
This exorcism thing is easier said than done.
Strictly speaking, ghosts are born from mystical power rather than magical power, making them immune to magic or overwhelming physical force.
There was a reason why exorcist was a separate profession.
Yet Amon had done it.
With a Bible.
To use Amon’s words, the Bible was classified as a physical weapon.
Unfortunately, it didn’t provide bonus holy damage.
Therefore, this meant the cause of the exorcism lay not with the Bible, but with Amon.
Amon knew this well, and the director knew it too.
And the exorcist priest, who arrived late, knew it as well.
“He’s a fascinating child.”
Beyond the exorcist priest’s glasses, blue eyes, faintly visible through a thin gap, captured Amon’s picture.
He was the priest the director had called as soon as Jimmy became possessed.
The priest, delayed due to the nationwide uproar over possession cases after Thanksgiving.
By the time he arrived at the orphanage, the incident had already been resolved, making his trip futile.
So, the director apologized to the priest and offered him tea.
The atmosphere was good at first.
How good the children were, how cute they were, how well the orphanage was running these days, and so on.
They exchanged pleasantries and comfortable small talk.
Then, the priest suddenly brought up Amon.
“That child named Amon. Was he the one who exorcised the vengeful spirits this time?”
The director sighed deeply and replied.
“How long have you known?”
“Working in this field, I can roughly see who the ghost’s resentment has latched onto.”
“Is that child Amon perhaps…”
“Oh, don’t worry. It’s just an insignificant fragment of thought. If you compare it to a person, it’s like a ghost’s bloodstain. It will disappear naturally if left alone.”
“Phew.”
The director breathed a sigh of relief.
But the priest’s probing didn’t end there.
“However, I sensed divine power from another child as well. Was her name… Sonia?”
Thud.
The director froze.
She raised her gaze and met the priest’s eyes.
Thin, snake-like eyes.
Although she had known the priest for quite some time, she could never get used to those eyes.
The director looked away from those snake-like eyes and remained silent.
But that series of actions gave the priest certainty.
Nodding slowly, the priest shared what he had discovered here.
“That child, Sonia. Divine power is leaking from her. Is it because she’s accumulating it and not using it, so the excess keeps overflowing? There shouldn’t be any health problems, but it can no longer be hidden…”
“…It’s gone beyond a certain point. Anyone with a little sensitivity will notice it right away.”
The director’s fingertips trembled.
She placed the teacup she was holding on the desk.
In contrast, the priest calmly lifted his teacup, savored the aroma, and then slowly began to broach the main topic.
“When do you plan to tell the children about their divine power?”
“I won’t tell them until they graduate.”
“You realize that could be overprotective?”
“In this harsh world, there’s no such thing as too much protection.”
“That’s also true.”
The director’s and the priest’s gazes clashed in the air.
The victor of this silent struggle was the director.
Love was the strongest stubbornness in the world, so it was natural for the priest to lose.
The time for persuasion and appeasement was over.
Now was the time for threats.
The priest calmly stated the reality.
“There are no eternal secrets in the world. Especially when that secret is a brilliant jewel. No matter how dark and dirty the place, a jewel is a jewel. You know this, don’t you?”
The director remained silent.
As the priest said, keeping the secret would become increasingly difficult.
Sonia’s divine power was constantly leaking out, little by little.
Whenever Amon got even slightly excited, he radiated divine power enough for the whole neighborhood to notice.
Moreover, Sonia was a celebrity these days, known as the Saint of the Gun.
The rumor that she fired a gun without any recoil was something anyone with even a little knowledge of divine power could be suspicious of.
Putting all this together, it wouldn’t be difficult for anyone who paid a little attention to the orphanage to realize they possessed divine power.
The director knew this well.
Still, she wanted to hide it as much as possible.
They were particularly precious to her, so she was desperate.
Even knowing it was futile, she wanted to protect them safely, at least until they graduated.
However, the director’s feelings were of no concern to the priest.
He simply informed her, his glasses glinting,
“I’ll come to pick up the children in two years.”
The director’s eyebrows twitched.
She knew the power the priest held.
She also knew he had the ability to carry out this declaration.
But the trembling was brief; determination filled her eyes as she hardened her resolve.
“Those children will decide their own lives.”
“Director. You must distinguish between what is good and what is liked. You know that the Vatican is the safest place for them, don’t you?”
“The Vatican? The safest?”
With a hint of anger, she lifted her nun’s habit.
A leg made of steel instead of flesh and bone was revealed.
For the first time, the priest’s mouth closed.
Silence fell between them.
The silence was broken by the priest, who somehow managed to squeeze out words.
“The Vatican… won’t neglect those children.”
The director retorted sharply,
“I’m sure they won’t. As long as the children turn a blind eye to the corruption.”
“Director. You know. That’s a necessary evil. Besides, under those conditions, you know as well as I do that there are no other options…”
“…”
The priest’s trailing voice and the director’s silence.
As the priest said, the safest and most straightforward choice for those with divine power was the Vatican.
They didn’t earn as much money as corporations, but they still earned a decent amount.
They weren’t as powerful as governments, but they still had some authority.
Moreover, when it came to corruption, the Vatican was the best of the three.
It was a case of the pot calling the kettle black, but compared to corporations or governments, their darkness was shallower.
Under the condition of turning a blind eye to corruption, at least the Vatican guaranteed their lives.
Other places often endangered not only their lives but also the lives of those around them.
However, the director couldn’t bring herself to send the children there.
Knowing how beautiful lotuses they were, she didn’t want to send them into such filth.
But, knowing there were no other options, her heart ached.
Biting her lip, she lamented the absurd reality for a moment.
In the end, she didn’t make the choice.
Though she knew intellectually what was good for the children, she left the choice entirely up to them.
‘I’m such a coward.’
Berating herself, she made her position clear to the priest.
“Let the children choose their own future.”
The priest’s and the director’s gazes clashed in the air once more.
The priest looked at the director with a meaningful gaze, then sighed deeply.
And, raising both hands—
“Alright. I concede.”
He declared forfeit.
At the priest’s declaration, the director slumped, as if drained of energy.
Seeing this, the priest gave a wry smile and offered her a new proposal.
“You said you want the children to be able to choose? Then I’ll help you.”
The priest said it would be difficult to completely hide them from outside attention as things stood.
His offer was to help Amon and Sonia conceal their divine power.
“I’ll block the divine power leaking from their bodies with special bracelets, and I’ll use my connections to prevent Sonia’s shooting skills from spreading further.”
“What’s your angle?”
“This isn’t an angle. Information gains its true value when it’s monopolized. I’m merely taking the trouble to maintain the value of the information I possess.”
“…Fine. I accept. But, on one condition.”
“Tell me.”
“Even if you extend this kindness, I won’t interfere with the children’s choice in two years.”
“Understood. Then I’ll have to diligently accumulate goodwill until then. You won’t stop that, will you?”
A nod.
The director nodded.
The priest slowly nodded and rose from his seat.
Saying that speed was of the essence in these matters, and that he would take immediate action, he placed the bracelets they would wear on the desk.
Even after the priest stood, the director remained seated.
It meant she wouldn’t see him out.
It was also a silent protest and an expression of her resentment towards the priest.
The priest looked down at the sulking director with melancholic eyes.
Yet, with a somewhat contemplative attitude, he said,
“I understand your intentions. However, as your senior, I advise you. You’ll regret this.”
“I know.”
The priest put on his coat, which had been hanging on the coat rack, and his hat.
And before leaving the reception room, he said to the director,
“Then I’ll be going. May glory be with the Vatican.”
“May the love of the Mother be with you.”
They exchanged farewells and parted.
The director didn’t leave the reception room immediately but sat down and stroked her prosthetic leg.
For a long time, over and over again.
With the faces of the two children constantly surfacing in a corner of her mind.
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