With a good-natured grin, the team leader patted Amon’s shoulder again.
It was a heartwarming scene, like an adult comforting a troubled teenager.
The police officers, knowing this was just the Horde’s way of joking, looked on with a warm expression.
But Amon was the only one who couldn’t relax in that situation.
‘What the hell are these killing machines talking about?’
Amon automatically recalled the setting of the Horde.
Behind these friendly faces, there was no sense of justice or duty.
Things like being the “people’s protectors” or having a “sense of mission” didn’t exist for them.
Common sense said the Horde couldn’t be normal.
With this much firepower, why weren’t they working for mercenary groups, mega-corporations, or government agencies instead of being in the police’s special task force?
The workload was higher, and the pay was much lower.
‘Why were they still here?’
There was only one reason.
‘To kill people legally.’
Trigger-happy, murder instincts, violent impulses, voyeuristic tendencies, sadism, and more.
They were people faithful to their twisted desires.
They stayed with the Horde because they knew if they lived too freely by their desires, they’d have short lifespans.
Here, they could kill people legally.
The money didn’t matter.
The workload? The more, the better!
A 0% casualty rate? Well, it felt good to rack up achievements while working!
The police department had somehow managed to gather people like that to form the Horde.
Of course, this fact was kept hidden from the public.
To ordinary citizens, the Horde was just an elite special task force driven by a strong sense of service.
If someone didn’t know the truth, they might believe that.
But Amon, who knew their real nature, couldn’t trust the team leader patting his shoulder.
These killing machines could suddenly turn on him and blow his head off for fun, and it wouldn’t be out of character.
Since this was related to his past-life knowledge, the team leader couldn’t read it, and he continued to chat with Amon while laughing boisterously.
Still, Amon couldn’t relax and kept his guard up.
Noticing this, the team leader scratched his cheek and pointed in a direction.
“Well, no one’s taking you away. If they did, I doubt your girlfriend would let it happen.”
“Girlfriend?”
Following the team leader’s gesture, Amon looked in the direction he was pointing.
There stood Sonia, glaring at the team leader with an incredibly displeased expression.
Apparently, according to the team leader, she thought the Horde was about to arrest Amon, which was why she looked like that. (The telepath had confirmed it.)
Clearly wanting to avoid any more of this, the team leader decided to end the conversation with Amon.
He gave Amon a gentle push toward Sonia.
“Well, I’m done here. Go calm your girlfriend down.”
With that, the team leader left.
Amon, left behind, hesitantly approached Sonia.
As Amon got closer, Sonia’s face brightened step by step.
By the time he reached her, her arm wrapped tightly around his, her expression finally returning to normal.
Clinging to his arm as if she would never let go, Sonia checked Amon’s condition.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Just a scratch.”
“What was that about the Horde trying to arrest you?”
“It was a joke, just a joke.”
“Phew…”
Only then did Sonia relax.
The faint killing intent that had been radiating from her disappeared, leaving only the usual Sonia behind.
Bright, cheerful, and kind to everyone, though she didn’t speak much.
Amon gently patted her head as they left the scene.
Afterward, the two headed toward a new bus stop, where they could catch a ride to the orphanage, away from the grim aftermath of the incident.
On the way, Amon suddenly remembered the old man.
“What about the elder?”
“He’s doing much better after the blood transfusion. Thankfully, there was no organ damage—he was just suffering from chronic fatigue, and the anemia made him drowsy.”
“That’s a relief.”
An even more reassuring piece of news was that the old man had insurance.
Thanks to that, they didn’t have to worry about him surviving only to be crushed by medical bills.
For Amon and Sonia, the conclusion of the incident was the best they could hope for, given the circumstances.
It wasn’t satisfying, but it was a result they could accept as they chatted quietly, walking hand in hand.
Soon, they got off the bus and were walking toward the orphanage.
On a normal day, Sonia would have teased Amon endlessly, filling the air with her cheerful energy.
But today, she was unusually quiet.
‘Did I worry her too much?’
Feeling a bit guilty, Amon kept glancing at her, trying to gauge her mood.
Even though his arm was starting to go numb from how tightly she was holding it, he couldn’t bring himself to ask her to let go.
Just when he was about to ask her to loosen her grip, he turned to find Sonia staring up at him, silently, her arm still wrapped around his.
“Why?”
“Ah… It’s nothing.”
Finding himself unable to speak as their eyes met, Amon thought it was strange but decided to keep walking.
As they continued toward the orphanage, Sonia quietly looked up at Amon’s face, lost in thought.
There was a small scratch on his cheek, one he had gotten while rolling on the ground during the fight with the gorilla.
Seeing the mark, Sonia bit her lower lip slightly, making sure Amon didn’t notice.
‘It’s because I’m too weak…’
She realized something today when she had to leave Amon alone.
She was too weak.
If she had been strong enough to take down the gorilla on her own, Amon wouldn’t have needed to put himself in danger.
Her ability to handle recoil well was a talent that meant nothing in this harsh world.
She needed more strength if she wanted to protect Amon.
‘And that Horde…’
When the Horde had acted like they were going to arrest Amon, her mind had gone completely blank.
It was a joke in the end, but the hollow feeling left in her chest afterward was too intense to be from a simple prank.
‘I’m not enough.’
There were too many things in the world she couldn’t defeat.
She couldn’t beat the police, the gorilla, or the Horde.
At this rate, she wouldn’t be able to protect Amon.
In this cruel world, she couldn’t keep him safe.
Sonia thought about how long it would take to become strong enough to defeat a Horde squad.
‘Probably a few decades.’
Maybe even a lifetime.
But that didn’t matter.
Amon had once told her, “A gentleman’s revenge is never too late, no matter how long it takes.”
If she couldn’t protect Amon, she would become stronger, even if it was for the sake of revenge.
‘I’ll show them what happens when you point a gun at the wrong person.’
If she had to take revenge, how would she do it?
First, she’d wipe out the team that framed him.
‘If there was someone who ordered Amon’s arrest, they’d be dealt with too.’
‘If, by any chance, he ended up in prison, she wouldn’t spare the judge who sentenced him either.’
As her thoughts reached that point, Sonia’s gaze darkened.
But her negative thoughts didn’t deepen any further.
The warmth of Amon’s hand in hers melted them away.
‘No. This isn’t what Amon would want.’
Amon was kind.
The Amon she knew would be heartbroken if he found out Sonia had changed because of him.
And that was something Sonia never wanted to happen.
To love someone is to respect them just as much.
Forcing her feelings onto him would be nothing but selfishness.
Because she respected Amon, she cast aside her negative thoughts.
Instead, she imagined a peaceful and happy life together with him.
‘Yeah. Amon would want that too.’
As they walked toward the orphanage, the events of that day left a deep mark on Sonia’s heart.
Not just on her, but on Amon and the city as well.
The families of the dead citizens wailed, but the indifferent city offered no sympathy.
Or rather, it deliberately turned away.
Sympathy would lead to expenses disguised as compensation, so they treated the incident as a tragic accident and moved on.
If it had been election season, perhaps they could have hoped for some hypocritical gestures of concern, but it wasn’t.
And so, the bereaved families had no choice but to bury their grief deep inside.
Even in the aftermath of such an unspeakable tragedy, time marched on indifferently.
Soon, Christmas Eve was approaching.
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