"Let me introduce myself. My name is Jonas Lucifer. I may have the name of a devil, but I'm as kind as they come."
Jonas spread his hands as he said it, clearly expecting at least a small reaction.
He got nothing.
The twins stared at him with completely dead expressions, as if he had just announced the weather.
"…Tough crowd," Jonas muttered.
He let out a dry laugh, coughed into his fist, and gestured politely for them to introduce themselves.
The girl spoke first.
"Sylvia."
Her voice was cold and steady, and the suspicious look in her eyes made it clear she didn't trust him in the slightest.
The boy stepped slightly behind her and glared.
"Ethan."
Jonas watched the way the boy positioned himself, half hiding behind his sister while still trying to look intimidating.
'She's the older one, huh?' he thought with a small smile.
He slowly took a step back, deliberately creating more distance between them. Then he lowered himself and sat down on the ground in a relaxed posture.
"How about we take a seat?" he said casually. "I'm sure you guys are tired."
He patted the ground beside him.
The twins exchanged glances.
Their eyes silently communicated the kind of complicated conversation only siblings could have in half a second.
After a moment of hesitation, they walked over and sat down across from him, though they kept enough distance that they could react if he suddenly moved.
"So?" Sylvia asked cautiously. "What do you want?"
Her eyes never left his face.
They had already lost the upper hand. The moment Jonas had effortlessly disarmed them earlier, their situation had become clear. Their fate now rested in the hands of someone they barely knew.
And that made her uneasy.
Jonas could see the distrust written plainly across both of their faces.
Honestly, he couldn't blame them.
Kids stranded on an island, forced to survive on their own… of course they would be suspicious of strangers.
But that didn't mean he was going to leave things like this.
At the very least, he wanted to make sure they didn't stab the next human being they ran into.
"What every good soldier wants," Jonas replied. "To see the citizens safe."
He pointed at the two of them.
"In this case, that means you guys."
The twins didn't look convinced.
Jonas sighed internally.
'Kids should be able to be fooled by adults,' he thought. 'That's the kind of world I want to make.'
Unfortunately, these two had apparently skipped the "trust adults" stage of childhood.
"A good soldier doesn't hit kids," Ethan suddenly said.
Jonas immediately shot back.
"A good kid doesn't swing a knife."
Ethan opened his mouth, then closed it again.
Jonas nodded in satisfaction.
"Anyways," he continued, waving a hand casually, "if you guys don't mind, how about I take care of you? I can get you off this island."
Both twins blinked repeatedly.
It was the kind of blinking people did when their brain needed a moment to process what they had just heard.
"…Why?" Sylvia asked slowly.
Jonas answered without hesitation.
"Because it is my duty."
He held up one finger.
"As a soldier."
Another finger.
"As an adult."
And a third.
"And as a fellow human."
For a moment, no one spoke.
From the moment a human is born, it depends on others. Parents, teachers, strangers… someone is always there to help them survive.
And eventually, if things go well, that child grows up and becomes someone others can rely on.
Jonas had been lucky enough to reach that point.
He had become an adult who could protect others.
And for that, he was always grateful.
Which was why he wanted to give these two the same chance.
"We don't have anything to offer you," Sylvia said after a while.
Jonas smiled.
"Then grow up to be dependable people," he replied. "That's all I want."
The sincerity in his voice surprised them.
…
A short while later, Sylvia and Ethan moved away from Jonas to talk privately.
They walked far enough that their voices couldn't be overheard.
Sylvia crossed her arms and looked back at him.
"He… doesn't seem to have any ill intent," she admitted.
Jonas was currently sitting on the ground, staring up at the sky and humming to himself like someone who had absolutely nothing to worry about.
It was strange.
The determination in his eyes earlier hadn't looked fake.
If anything, it looked like the kind of resolve someone developed after seeing far too much of the world.
Ethan scratched his head.
"He still punched me."
"You tried to stab him."
"…Fair point."
Sylvia took a deep breath.
"Let's follow him," she decided. "If he's really a former soldier, he should know more about survival than we do."
Ethan thought for a moment.
Then he nodded.
"…Okay."
Sylvia walked back toward Jonas.
"…Thank you."
She bowed her head slightly.
Jonas immediately grinned, like someone who had expected that outcome all along.
"My pleasure."
…
For some reason, the three of them eventually ended up inside an abandoned, half-ruined school.
The windows were broken, the walls were cracked, and the desks were covered in dust.
Yet Jonas looked completely satisfied.
"This will do perfectly!" he declared.
A few minutes later, he stood at the front of a classroom holding a wooden pointer he had found lying on the floor.
Sylvia and Ethan sat at desks while staring at him in disbelief.
Jonas had somehow acquired a pair of fake glasses from… somewhere.
Neither of them wanted to ask where.
"Welcome to class," Jonas announced.
Ethan leaned toward his sister.
"…Why are we in school again?"
"I don't know," Sylvia whispered back.
Jonas tapped the board dramatically with the pointer.
"First rule of combat," he began in a lecturing tone, "is to analyze your opponent."
He turned and pointed the stick directly at them.
"When you saw me, the first thing you should have done was decide whether the two of you could actually defeat me."
He paused.
Then suddenly pointed at Ethan.
"Firstly—Ethan!"
Ethan straightened instinctively.
"The fact that I was able to evade your senses and match your speed mid-flight should have told you I was stronger," Jonas said. "That was your first clue."
Tap.
The pointer hit the board again.
"And you should have looked at whether I was taking the fight seriously."
He adjusted his fake glasses.
"I was taking it far too easy."
Ethan frowned.
"Well, you're an idiot," Jonas added casually, "so I suppose expecting long-term thinking from you was too optimistic."
"HEY—!"
Jonas ignored him and turned toward Sylvia.
"Now then. Sylvia."
She sat up straight.
"The first rule of being a sniper is mobility."
He pointed at her with the stick.
"Regardless of whether your first shot landed, you should have changed positions immediately."
Sylvia frowned.
Thinking about it logically, he was right.
Staying in the same place had been a mistake.
'Not that it makes me feel any less annoyed,' she thought.
"And another thing," Jonas continued.
He raised a finger.
"You rushed to help your brother."
Sylvia looked away slightly.
"You got emotional," he said. "That caused you to slip up."
His tone became a little more serious.
"No matter what happens, always keep a calm head."
Silence filled the room for a moment.
Then Jonas coughed and pushed his glasses up again.
"Any questions?"
Both twins raised their hands.
Jonas blinked.
"…I wasn't expecting participation."
Sylvia spoke first.
"If we had done everything you said… would we have won?"
Jonas smirked.
"No."
Both twins stared at him.
"The power gap was too wide," he continued cheerfully. "No strategy would have worked."
Ethan half stood up from his desk.
"THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT?!"
Jonas wiggled his index finger like a teacher correcting a student.
"No human is born strong."
He slammed his right fist into his left palm.
"If you're weak now, then simply become stronger."
His grin widened.
"Strong enough that your strategies actually matter."
He pointed dramatically at both of them.
"And I'll help you."
The twins had a very bad feeling about what he was about to say next.
Jonas raised both hands triumphantly.
"Get ready for your Spartan training!"
Ethan slowly sat back down.
"…We made a mistake."
Sylvia sighed.
"…We really did."