Three Years Later: Farewells Before Graduation
Three years had passed since that incredibly dynamic year in Punk City and the life of the human boy Amon—one of the most eventful in his personal history. The year when Sonia's talent was discovered, Amon's own talent came to light, and they tangled with the demon-possessed Jimmy and the psycho gorilla. Even by the standards of this world, where incidents never ceased, it was a year packed with enough drama to fill a radio call-in show. In the meantime, Amon and Sonia prepared for their impending graduation from the orphanage.
"Thank you for everything up to now, Master."
"You leaving, then."
"Yes."
"Think it over again—my offer stands."
"We appreciate it, but we want to see a wider world."
Ahead of their orphanage graduation, Amon and Sonia wrapped things up at the swordsmanship dojo first. When the master heard they were leaving, he expressed regret and offered them assistant instructor positions with room and board, but the two politely declined. Deep down, they wanted nothing more than to continue their steady training there. But they were orphans. No one backed them up from behind, no connections to lean on. Now was the time for them to carve their own paths.
...That was the surface reason. The bigger one was that both possessed Divine Power. Amon knew all too well how this world would stop at nothing to secure Divine Power users. Staying at the dojo was out of the question. It was fairly large by city standards, but if word got out about two Divine Power users, a corporation sending in a ninja squad wouldn't raise eyebrows. Naturally, that was the last thing Amon and Sonia wanted. So they had no choice but to bid the master a courteous farewell.
On the road giving them a final send-off, the master earnestly impressed upon them one last time.
"Fine. No need to chase fame—just survive as long as you can. Remember what I always say?"
"It's not the strong who survive,"
"It's the survivors who are strong. Right?"
Amon and Sonia recited it back like they were taking notes. At this point, the master didn't care much about advertising through them. He had no interest in them proving his teachings to the world. He was simply a teacher who wanted his disciples to live long and lead happy lives. In this materialistic world, that kind of selfless love was priceless beyond measure, so Amon and Sonia showed him respect to the very end.
After that, the two systematically sorted out their ties with everyone else they'd indebted themselves to, aside from the master. It wasn't that they were ignoring them—they simply lived in different worlds. More precisely, their very existence was poison to ordinary people. Just having them around could bring harm to others. Amon and Sonia swallowed their regrets and made their rounds of goodbyes.
"What the hell is Divine Power, anyway..."
Sonia muttered glumly. She already knew her own secret by now. With only a year left until graduation, the Orphanage Director had revealed the truth about Divine Power to her. The plan had been to keep it secret until graduation, but her radiant talent was too overwhelming to hide that long. It shone so brightly that even she had started to sense something off about herself, so the director had no choice but to tell her the truth. Thankfully, Amon and the director's moral guidance had taken root—Sonia didn't grow arrogant upon learning of her gift. Instead, reflecting on how blessed she was, she resolved to be even more humble. Her admirable attitude even drew an unwitting motherly smile from the director.
—But how did you know?
By the way, the director had once grilled Amon about his lukewarm reaction even after learning the secret, but he'd managed to brush it off somehow. In any case, they'd lived the past year carrying that secret. Now they had to sever ties before it came out. A normal person might rejoice in their uniqueness and eagerly cut connections, but Sonia was too sentimental for that. When the moment of farewell actually came, her throat would tighten, leaving her speechless. So Amon would step in, calmly handling the goodbyes on her behalf. Seeing his unflappable demeanor, Sonia sometimes felt puzzled.
"Doesn't this bother you at all?"
To her question, Amon replied with his usual kind smile.
"Of course I'm bummed. It sucks having to cut ties because of this Divine Power thing. Makes me resent this world, too."
"Then why are you so calm about it?"
"Because I believe it won't be like this forever."
As he said it, Amon's eyes shone brighter than a neon sign.
"Someday, when I've risen so high no one can interfere in my relationships anymore—when the world becomes a better place to live. I'll come back then."
Sonia had no reply to Amon's answer, brimming with conviction. He occasionally spoke of the future with such overwhelming confidence.
—You'll shine brighter than anyone! I guarantee it!
How many orphanage kids, barely clinging to life, had been captivated by the hope and beauty he showed them? Sonia was one of those kids, drawn to him. His guarantees always came true, no matter how much time it took. No one had believed his declaration to liven up the dreary orphanage, but by graduation, it brimmed with a vibrant atmosphere incomparable to ten years prior. So this time, too, Sonia had no choice but to trust Amon's words. Beyond trust, she'd come to believe in them with certainty. Before she knew it, she found herself vowing to follow him into the bright future he'd create. The anticipation was already too much to bear. Her thoughts reached that point, and the gloomy girl vanished, replaced by her usual self as she began dreaming aloud.
"Then for that dream, I gotta pay extra attention in Father Squinty's class this afternoon."
On the way back to the orphanage, Amon nodded in agreement at Sonia's words. After the director's Divine Power reveal, the two had begun serious training to control their powers. Their instructor was the Squinty Priest. The one who'd come to exorcise Jimmy's demon last time and occasionally visited afterward to check on their silver hair. That Squinty Priest. He'd readily agreed to teach them, seeing it as a chance to win favor. Under him, they learned to wield Divine Power, reaching the point where they could conceal it proficiently in under a year. Sonia thought pretty well of the priest, with whom they continued to keep in touch.
"At first, I thought he was a bad guy just based on his looks, but turns out he's good."
To her assessment, Amon smiled back. It seemed affirmative at a glance. But inwardly, he disagreed.
'Of course anyone's kind when they're trying to get on your good side.'
In this world, you couldn't trust appearances, or even actions. The only thing reliable was yourself. He couldn't call the priest a good man based solely on his current goodwill. For now, he was just a benign presence in their situation. Ah, but Sonia was always trustworthy, so she was the exception to that logic.
'Though he's a pretty complicated adult.'
Amon had spotted the Vatican Inquisition mark on the priest, so he was certain the man wasn't pure. But he didn't hide sinister motives either—he showed kindness to everyone he met. So he wasn't purely evil or a hypocrite. With no simple way to define this complicated adult, Amon just smiled at Sonia's evaluation. With that ambiguous judgment of his, they headed back to the orphanage where the priest awaited. Sonia brought up a new topic.
"So. Where should we go?"
"Hmm..."
The elliptical sentence got the point across. She was asking where they'd head after graduation. Their status as Divine Power users was practically an open secret by now, and starting a year before graduation, offers had poured in from various groups. The government was a candidate at first, but like any bureaucracy, the harder and cleaner you worked, the tougher it got—so they ruled it out. After sifting through countless options, they narrowed it down to two: corporations or the Vatican.
Corporations offered solid money. The harder you worked, the better the rewards, providing clear motivation. They even promised orphanage support. But like the government, you couldn't ignore the corruption. No—far worse than the government. In contrast, the Vatican paid less but offered stability. It was an organization where Divine Power users were born and gathered in strangely high numbers, allowing it to hold its own even in a world where religion had lost its sway. Enough to play power games with lower-tier megacorps, if not the top ones. Plus, it wasn't as beholden to corporations, and corruption wasn't the worst. If you wanted, you could invoke doctrine to clear it right in front of you. The lower pay was a drawback, but for Sonia and Amon, who weren't greedy for money, it fit perfectly.
But Sonia hesitated to choose it outright.
"No, what does serving Mother Goddess have to do with marriage bans?"
The issue was marriage. Vatican clergy were forbidden from marrying by doctrine. It was so absurd that even Sonia had tilted her head when she first heard it. Amon had doubted it too: 'No way...' But a doctrine upheld for over a thousand years wasn't changing. When he heard it, Amon had sneered.
"The place with the world's highest orphanage density."
Ironically, the Vatican had the highest orphan ratio. There was a bittersweet joke: a devout nun starts gaining weight one day, vanishes the next, and reappears about eight months later. That's why it had more orphans than kids with parents—and inexplicably high adoption rates. Priests claimed adopting kids was practicing their faith. Yeah, right. Amon just shot them a cold smirk. Back to the point: the reason Sonia and Amon hesitated over the Vatican was this doctrine. Amon despised its hypocrisy; Sonia hated it for various reasons. But the flaws in the other options were severe too, making it hard to eliminate the Vatican entirely. They'd been undecided among the three paths for months.
"If worst comes to worst, we could duo as mercenaries, right?"
Amon nodded at Sonia's suggestion. But even considering mercenaries as a last resort, it truly was the final option. Even for overflowing talent and confident Amon, it was too unstable to choose lightly. Merc life was that dangerous, precarious, and grueling. Still, not a path to avoid entirely.
"Me up front, you in the back fighting together... A duo like that..."
It felt like it'd birth a seriously powerful pair. Imagining that future naturally brought a smile to Amon's lips. (Mainly in a gamer sense.) Misreading his pleased grin, Sonia beamed back just as brightly. Before they knew it, they'd started envisioning a mercenary life as an escape.
"We'll get scammed as newbies, huh?"
"Worry more about not getting ripped off on a room."
"Room-wise—separate units, or same unit different rooms?"
"The latter."
"Living together?"
"Problem?"
"None."
Merc life wasn't set in stone, but with his childhood friend by his side, it felt like they could weather any hardship. As the two painted this hopeful future, their happy imaginings continued until someone blocked their path.
"...Jimmy?"
Jimmy, who should have graduated long ago, stood before them.