Given what Wick and Cross had been through, it was almost impossible for them to return to being completely ordinary people after retirement.
Without Morin's intervention, even legendary assassins would find retirement a massive challenge-perhaps an impossible one. In hitman movies, whenever a top-tier killer tries to retire, some brain-dead guy inevitably shows up to block the way or seek revenge. God knows if they were kicked in the head by a donkey, but the ending is always the same.
Either the killer wipes everyone out and retires anyway.
Dies together with them.
Or is dragged right back into the life.
It could be said that once a legendary hitman attempts retirement, they automatically gain a protagonist aura-maxed-out combat power, evasion, and luck. And that buff even comes with delayed activation.
Take Wick, for example.
He retired.
Years later, his dog was killed.
Then he nearly wiped out the entire High Table by himself.
Of course, that hadn't happened yet.
That dog probably hadn't even been born.
Speaking of which...
He could heal Wick's wife.
Wasn't it cancer or something?
"That sounds a bit weird..." Because of Morin's earlier words, Cross fell into hesitation.
"There's nothing weird about it. I won't let you down-trust me," Morin said, patting their shoulders. "Go. Keep doing what you're doing."
After Wick and Cross left, Lucy spoke up.
"What they did doesn't conform to normal physics."
"That's exactly what I told you before," Morin replied. "Different worlds have different rules."
"For example, in their world, they can change a bullet's trajectory by shaking their wrist at the moment it leaves the barrel."
"This is Gun Kata."
Morin pulled a handgun out of his inventory-one that had been collecting dust-and fired a shot at Lucy.
The bullet curved mid-air.
It passed around her and struck a teacup directly behind her.
"You used other abilities," Lucy said flatly.
"No need to expose me like that," Morin replied. "Anyway, the principle is still the principle."
"When I asked them, that's exactly how they explained it. But when I use the same force and motion, my bullets fly straight. Ordinary people in this world are the same."
"To do that, you need assassin blood."
"And the funniest part? I have Templar blood, and I still can't do it."
"It's ridiculous."
Morin grew more annoyed the more he spoke.
Wasn't this just a counterfeit product?
"The Templars," Lucy said. "Is that the organization you created in this world?"
"Yes," Morin nodded. "I built it myself."
"Then I ran into a major enemy, fled, and forgot about it until I came back."
"What was your purpose?" Lucy asked. "You could've just passed through this world. Instead, you created an organization and changed the fate of so many people."
"Why?"
"Maybe because I lack emotions," she added calmly. "I feel like I would simply observe it all, like watching a movie."
"At first, it was to complete some tasks and obtain certain things," Morin said. "But I've always followed one principle-doing what I want."
"So when I saw an organization I didn't like, I intervened."
Morin didn't mind talking about this with Lucy.
As a traveler, loneliness was inevitable. There were many things he couldn't share with others. But Lucy was different.
In a sense, she was a true peer.
Talking like this even helped Morin understand himself more clearly.
It was mutually beneficial.
"If you ignore my abilities and appearance, I'm just an ordinary person," Morin continued. "Very ordinary."
"A little kind, but not a saint."
"Sometimes an asshole, but not a villain."
"I insist on doing what I want. That's how I keep myself intact during this nearly endless journey."
"I feel sad when I see tragedy. Happy when good people reunite. And I cheer when bad people get what they deserve."
Morin brought Lucy to the rooftop of the Continental Hotel and looked out into the distance.
"That's the function of emotion, Lucy."
"It affects your actions. Makes people complicated. Unpredictable."
"But that's exactly what makes humans human."
"I understand the function of emotions," Lucy said softly. "But I can't feel them."
"I can perceive what surprise is like now. I want to analyze it."
"It's pointless."
"Because it's meant to be spontaneous," Morin laughed. "Once you analyze it, you won't even know whether the emotion is real anymore."
"That's why people say that sometimes, knowing less is a kind of happiness."
"So what now?" Lucy asked.
"You have the power to crush every force in this world."
"Why aren't you acting directly?"
"Why only provide protection and let them fight on their own?"
"That's human nature," Morin replied. "What people gain without effort, without paying a price, is what they never truly cherish."
"I can help them for a while."
"But I can't help them forever."
"Fighting for belief. Searching for meaning. Finding value in life," Lucy said. "I can understand all of it."
"I just can't feel it."
"Then we chose the wrong method," Morin said. "Theory won't give you emotions."
"With your brain development, you can understand all logic. Debating is meaningless."
"So let's use practice."
"Seeing is believing."
"Doing is believing."
Morin pulled out a cross, held it in his palm, and handed it to Lucy.
"Miss," he said with a smile, "are you interested in learning about the Templar Order?"
Sunlight fell across his handsome face.
His eyes shone like stars.
"No," Lucy said, shaking her head.
"...You're supposed to say yes in this situation," Morin said flatly.
His expression collapsed as he forcibly shoved the cross into her hand.