Ch.33. The Human Boy of Punk City

After the morning meal at the orphanage ends, the older children leave while only the younger ones remain.

The children who go outside work until dinner time to earn money.

This is because government and institutional support is far from enough to run the orphanage.

One might think children couldn’t earn much, but at least it saves lunch expenses.

That alone helps the orphanage barely stay afloat.

“I pray the children return safely today as well.”

The Mother Superior bowed her head in prayer before the crucifix once again today.

After praying, she looked after the children too young to go outside.

Looking after them meant teaching them letters and common sense, then letting them play within the orphanage grounds.

Watching the children playing in the yard, she thought about those who had gone outside.

She sent them out to earn money doing errands, but less than half actually did so.

Most ended up going down dark paths.

Gangs, scavengers, child mercenaries…

Teenagers in their prime often found holding guns appealing and chose such paths.

Besides looking cool, these paths paid much better than running errands.

Even in this year’s group, quite a few children had joined gangs.

– “What’s this tattoo suddenly about?”

– “Sister, this is… just for fun.”

At least they had some conscience, often hiding their tattoos or making excuses to avoid worrying the nuns.

But their attempts were meaningless.

After running this orphanage for years, she knew which gangs used which tattoos and where.

Still, she pretended not to notice.

She loved the children and knew how dangerous gangs were.

She knew the sorrow of meeting orphanage graduates at their funerals.

Nevertheless, she had no choice.

The orphanage remained safe as neutral territory in the slums because former residents had joined various gangs.

Some had even become gang officers, making the orphanage vicinity a gun-free zone.

In other words, gangs were a necessary evil for the orphanage.

‘Come to think of it, those children grew up so well despite this environment…’

But flowers bloom even in mud.

Some children grew up normally without taking dark paths.

Amon and Sonia.

Those children maintained their goodness despite their environment.

They say one mudfish can muddy the water.

But conversely, a lotus flower blooming in muddy water can purify it.

The muddier the water, the more the lotus stands out.

And there were two such lotuses.

Thanks to them, this year’s group had fewer children going down dark paths compared to other years.

Just a few years ago, children who joined gangs would recruit others, creating a vicious cycle.

But this year’s group at least didn’t openly promote gang life.

The Mother Superior was truly grateful for these two lotus-like children.

As if sent by God, their arrival had allowed her to dream of a better future.

At the same time, she felt sorry for them.

Their talents were like jewels.

Too brilliant to be covered by mud.

If only they had met good parents, they could have developed their talents in a wider world.

‘Am I holding them back?’

Their talents were endless.

Beauty that rivaled child actors, outstanding athletic ability, brilliant minds.

But among their many talents, what made them truly special was their Divine Power.

Divine Power was a special ability that appeared in only one in tens of thousands.

While most people were born with magical power, Divine Power was different.

Magic could be easily substituted and reproduced with other technologies, but the miracles created by Divine Power couldn’t be replaced.

Therefore, Divine Power holders were sought after by corporations, governments, and religions alike.

The Mother Superior realized their Divine Power when they were 9 years old.

A fight between children that started over nothing.

Amon showed Divine Power while stopping the fight.

– “You shouldn’t fight with friends. Violence is only justified against heretics, beasts, and monsters.”

With somewhat disturbing words, Amon subdued his friends.

Among them were orcs and beastkin, races naturally stronger than humans, but Amon easily subdued them.

He emitted such an overwhelming amount of Divine Power that even the Mother Superior, with her patchy knowledge, was immediately certain.

The orphanage was turned upside down that day.

Later, somehow Sonia’s Divine Power was discovered in a similar way, turning the orphanage upside down once more.

Two Divine Power holders in one orphanage.

The Mother Superior raised a toast, calling this group a blessed generation.

But the joy didn’t last long.

Divine Power is desired by all, but only a limited few can possess it.

In this world, many corporations operate with the mindset that if they can’t have something, they’ll destroy it.

Realizing this, the Mother Superior’s sense of crisis rang alarm bells.

Fortunately, she was the only one who recognized their Divine Power at that moment.

If she kept quiet, those children would be safe.

‘Of course, corporations and governments weren’t to be underestimated…’

But there are no perfect secrets in this world.

Sonia’s Divine Power was modest enough to hide within the orphanage, but Amon’s overwhelming power was so intense that everyone outside the orphanage could notice it.

As a result, corporate employees and government officials suddenly began frequenting the orphanage after that day.

Along with donations and financial support.

It wasn’t hard to understand their intentions.

But the Mother Superior consistently played dumb.

Even when someone tried to sound her out:

– [“By the way… can you detect Divine Power, Mother Superior?”]

– [“No, not at all.”]

She pretended to be ignorant about Divine Power.

Despite numerous leading questions, she didn’t even react.

As a result, organizations now knew nothing more than that there was a Divine Power holder in this orphanage.

In this precarious standoff, organizations couldn’t cut off support, and the orphanage gradually became more prosperous.

This was good for everyone so far.

But as the orphanage became more prosperous, the Mother Superior’s heart felt increasingly constricted.

‘Am I holding back their wings?’

To deceive your enemy, first deceive your allies.

For secrecy, she only vaguely told the children they had special powers, carefully concealing that they possessed Divine Power.

She had no intention of monopolizing them.

She only wanted to protect them.

It was a choice made out of love for those children.

But no matter how much it was for their sake, she always lived with guilt, feeling as if she was suppressing their talents.

Today too, she rested her arm on her prosthetic leg, bowed her head, and closed her eyes to alleviate her guilt.

“Lord, please let my children return safely today as well.”

No finger is without pain.

But as humans, some fingers hurt more than others.

That’s why the Mother Superior offered a slightly more special prayer for her aching finger.

Even though she knew other children might feel left out.

***

On the way back after finishing an errand for Johnson, a goat beastkin.

Another uneventful day.

Deliveries were completed by carefully avoiding gunshots heard from somewhere while moving goods.

Ding dong!

An alert arrived on Amon and Sonia’s phones.

It was a notification that $75 each had been deposited into their accounts.

$75 for eight hours of work.

The minimum wage for delivery workers was pathetic.

But they didn’t complain.

Sonia and Amon were pure humans who hadn’t received gene enhancement procedures, nano-machines, or magical engraving treatments.

Comparing their labor to professional delivery workers would be unconscionable.

Besides, the two weren’t in urgent need of money.

In fact, $75 was considered good earnings at the orphanage.

Combined with their monthly living allowance, this amount allowed them to save enough to dream of some luxuries.

So they were satisfied with today’s wages as they headed home.

An everyday life where gunshots could be heard in the distance and police cars rushed by urgently.

In this daily routine, Amon and Sonia crossed the street, swinging bags of french fries for the younger children.

While Amon was looking left and right, cautious of reckless drivers who might ignore traffic signals, Sonia spoke to him.

“Amon. Are you going to tithe that too?”

“Yes. Of course I should.”

Blessed with good looks and talents.

Amon didn’t want to be an ungrateful beast who didn’t express gratitude for these gifts.

Hearing Amon’s answer, Sonia nodded.

“Then can I tithe with you?”

“Of course you can. Why wouldn’t you be able to?”

“But those kids make fun of us, calling us suckers for doing it.”

“Ah, those kids?”

Amon recalled the “those kids” Sonia mentioned.

They were what you’d call a nasty bunch.

You know the type.

Those who prefer fists to words, delinquency to good deeds, and profanity to polite speech.

The kind who bully nice kids while claiming their own twisted nature is because the world is like this.

Amon wasn’t on good terms with them.

They had tried to establish a pecking order by picking a fight with Amon, only to be collectively beaten.

Since then, they stopped confronting Amon directly but changed their strategy to isolate him as much as possible.

Thanks to Amon’s shining(?) personality, that strategy didn’t work well.

Their teasing of Sonia was part of that effort.

They called tithing a sucker’s act to label Amon as a sucker.

But Amon didn’t care.

Instead, he convinced Sonia how good tithing was.

“Tithing is like a ritual to help me not forget to be grateful.”

“Grateful?”

“Yes. Gratitude for being so blessed, for spending the day safely, for meeting good connections like you. I do it to maintain this mindset.”

He didn’t forget to add that tithing wasn’t mandatory and she should follow her heart.

Sonia was quickly persuaded by Amon’s gentle explanation.

“Then I should tithe too if I want to remember my gratitude for meeting you, right?”

“If that’s what you truly want.”

The existence of “those kids” had long been forgotten in Sonia’s mind.

Their conversation naturally shifted to the topic of everyday gratitude.

Gratitude for being able to grow up in an orphanage despite being abandoned.

Gratitude for the Mother Superior who dedicated herself to them.

Gratitude for adults like Johnson who created errands to give pocket money to children like them.

Looking back, they could find things to be grateful for even in this messed-up world.

“And I’m also grateful that I can eat a lot of meat thanks to you!”

At Sonia’s words, Amon awkwardly turned his head.

If what she said was true, wouldn’t he own about 30 percent of her chest?

Suppressing such deranged thoughts,

Amon agreed with her words.

As they talked, they had almost reached the orphanage.

Sonia ran ahead cheerfully, wondering what would be on the dinner menu, and Amon was about to follow her.

However, just around the corner from the orphanage, there were people blocking their way.

‘Speak of the devil.’

Those kids.

A group of delinquent teenagers with baggy clothes and sharp eyes.

In short, bullies.

Whenever he saw them, Amon recalled how this bad relationship had started.

It wasn’t a complicated relationship.

Basically, they hit puberty early and mistook that for talent, played the role of bullies, messed with Amon who was minding his own business, got beaten up, and harbored a grudge in return.

That was it.

Since then, they tried to harass Amon whenever they got the chance.

Most attempts ended meaninglessly, so Amon didn’t care much.

Amon stood indifferently, waiting to see what event they had brought this time.

Jimmy, the leader of the bullies, started picking on Amon, but when Amon remained indifferent, he finally got to the point.

“Hey punk. Do you know what this is?”

He took off his shirt.

A white snake tattoo.

It belonged to the “Children of the Snake” gang.

A fairly sizeable gang in this city.

After showing the tattoo, Jimmy waited for Amon’s reaction.

Would he blurt out something in surprise?

Or would he try to act tough despite being scared inside?

But Amon’s reaction was different from what he imagined.

“Oh. You worked hard filling the numbers. Good luck with work starting tomorrow.”

He wasn’t interested.

Jimmy tried to retort, but couldn’t because of the word “numbers” that came from Amon’s mouth.

The white snake tattoo was temporarily given to fill numbers before the Children of the Snake demonstrated.

Amon mentioning that meant he already knew their structure well.

In fact, Amon knew the meaning of the white snake tattoo well.

‘How has a 50-year-old tradition continued unchanged?’

There was a side quest where you had to distinguish between officers, regular members, and number fillers.

While it was okay to deal with members, carelessly dealing with number fillers could trigger linked quests requiring careful control.

… In Amon’s case, he preferred to just knock everyone out with a bat.

Anyway, Amon wasn’t intimidated by Jimmy’s white snake tattoo.

There was no reason to be.

That tattoo was like henna that could be washed off with spit, so there was no reason to be scared.

“Sonia, let’s go.”

Amon passed through the group of bullies with bags full of french fries in both hands.

The bullies tried to block him, but,

“Hey-? These are snacks for you guys and the younger kids, is that okay?”

There’s no business in front of food.

The bullies had been running around joining gangs lately and couldn’t work.

With no money in their pockets and barely managing lunch, the temptation of french fries was too strong.

Besides, you have to choose your battles.

If those fries fell to the ground and became inedible, they would be cursed in every language by the orphanage children and nuns.

Just imagining it made the bullies feel so full they wouldn’t need dinner.

They reluctantly made way for Amon and Sonia.

It was definitely not surrendering to hunger.

Snicker.

Finding their appearance quite cute, Amon gave them one bag, telling them to eat a little before dinner.

Amon’s sabotage caused the group to disintegrate.

Their loyalty to Jimmy was worth less than a bag of french fries.

“Eat moderately since you need to have dinner. Clean up well before coming in so the kids don’t find out.”

Amon left with Sonia to the orphanage after saying just that.

Jimmy’s friends urged him to come eat together.

Jimmy wanted to kick the bag away asking if they had no pride, but he held back, fearing he might lose what few friends he had.

Instead, squeezing out his remaining pride, he declined, saying he wasn’t hungry.

Jimmy turned his gaze from his friends to the direction Amon had gone.

‘An orphan brat giving me charity?’

Resenting the innocent Amon, Jimmy gritted his teeth.

Today was Amon’s victory again.