Chapter 184: The Blood-Soaked Nun (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 184: The Blood-Soaked Nun (2)
Deep underground.
The sunless depths were illuminated by pure white magic stone lanterns.
Within a stark white, square room, devoid of anything else, stood eleven young girls.
They wore only large white shirts that reached their knees, leaving their legs and feet bare.
They were all aspiring nuns.
They were talented candidates from all across the continent, gathered to undergo the trial required to become a nun of the Holy Kingdom.
The girls giggled, chatting amicably.
“Ohoho! To think this is the first step to becoming a nun. I'm already so excited.”
A girl with golden hair spoke in a tone more befitting a noble lady than a nun.
The number tag pinned to her chest swayed.
01.
It was the girl's number.
The other girls were assigned numbers in the same way.
02.
03.
.
.
.
And finally, 11.
Elize's number.
“Really? I'm scared…”
“We have to pass this trial to become nuns of Kassilon. They said there's a special prize, too. Not that I need one, of course! I'm all grown up.”
The nuns were strict.
They’d scold you for talking at night, you couldn't eat snacks whenever you wanted, and if you dozed off during service, a flick on the forehead would follow.
The thought of such strict nuns giving out a prize was thrilling.
The aspiring nuns burned with determination to overcome the trial.
Clank.
The tightly shut door opened.
In walked a kind-faced priest with glasses, along with the nuns they knew from the convent. He smiled and waved, and the girls waved back.
“Number 01.”
“Yes!”
At the priest's call, the golden-haired girl answered energetically and stood up.
“You are the first child to receive this glorious trial. Congratulations. Please come out.”
“Thank you.”
The other girls waved.
“G-Good luck.”
“You can do it!”
Buoyed by their cheers, the golden-haired girl walked out of the room with a confident stride, showing no sign of nervousness.
Clank.
The door closed.
The remaining girls began to chatter again.
“What do you think the trial is?”
“I don't know… What if it's really hard? Does that mean I can't become a nun?”
“Let's ask her to secretly tell us what the trial is when she gets back. Then we can all pass.”
“That's a great idea!”
The aspiring nuns whispered so the adults wouldn't hear, giggling like girls their age.
*
How much time had passed since they entered the white box?
With no clocks and no sun, it was impossible to tell, their sense of time growing vague.
But food had been served three times, and they had slept once from drowsiness, so at least a full day must have gone by.
The meals were tasteless.
All they could eat was a watery, bland soup with no solid ingredients, and water. When they asked a nun why, she said they had to purify their bodies before the trial.
She explained that eating worldly food would taint their bodies with impure energy, preventing them from passing the trial.
They had worked so hard for this day. They couldn't ruin it for a moment's greed.
Even the nun candidates, who were prone to throwing tantrums, didn't complain this time.
“Number 03. Come out.”
The priest entered, and the third name was called.
The golden-haired girl who went first and Number 02 who followed had not yet returned.
The first girl, the one with golden hair, was said to be a rather famous candidate. From a young age, she had handled divine power exceptionally well, even accompanying the nuns to treat the sick despite only being a candidate.
And yet, she hadn't come back.
Could she have failed the trial?
Tension began to creep into the once-bright atmosphere among the girls.
“Ugh… Isn't this atmosphere just awful?”
A girl with striking, water-blue hair approached Elize. Her small frame inspired a desire to protect her, even though she was likely the same age.
“It feels like we're being punished by the nuns, right?”
“I've never been punished.”
“Huh?”
“If you just do as the nuns tell you, there's no reason to be punished.”
The girl frowned at Elize's impeccable logic. Her expression was like she was looking at some incomprehensible deep-sea creature.
“Is something wrong?”
“You sounded just like a nun just now.”
“Thank you.”
“That wasn't a compliment,” the girl pouted.
“I'm Karin. What's your name?”
“It's Elize.”
“That's a pretty name. Who gave it to you?”
The smile vanished from Elize's lips, and a shadow fell over her face.
“My dead younger sisters were named Eli and Lize.”
“Oh… I'm sorry.”
“I'm lying. A nun gave it to me.”
“Wow! You're the first person who's ever made me want to hit them.”
“Violence is wrong. Lord Ordo would be angry, you know.”
“It's your fault!”
Getting the exact reaction she'd hoped for, Elize covered her mouth and let out a stifled chuckle.
Though they had only just started talking, Karin already felt drained and let out a weary sigh.
“You're really strange, you know? You talk like a grown-up.”
“I hear that often.”
Elize was ten years old. She was certainly more mature than other children her age.
Her environment was a major factor.
Most of the nun candidates were orphans. Unlike children from ordinary families, they had no one to dote on them.
It was beneficial in many ways to mature quickly—for the nuns, and for themselves.
“What's your dream, Elize?”
“Do I have what you'd call a dream? To become a proper nun and do my part.”
“Ugh, such a diligent answer. If the nuns heard that, they'd tell us all to be more like you.”
“What about you, Karin?”
“Me?”
As if she had been waiting for this very question, Karin placed her hands on her hips and straightened her back.
“I'm going to become a Saint!”
“A Saint?”
“Yep, a Saint!”
Elize knew what a Saint was.
The woman chosen by God in fairy tales. The Saint who travels with the hero to defeat evil.
Just as boys dreamed of being heroes, girls—especially those living in the Holy Kingdom—dreamed of being Saints.
But they only appeared in fairy tales; the position of Saint didn't actually exist in the Holy Kingdom.
The same went for heroes. It was only natural, really, since there was no being in this world that could be called absolute evil.
“How does one become a Saint?”
“…Beats me?”
So, Karin couldn't answer Elize's fundamental question. But she wasn't discouraged.
“If I try hard enough, I'll figure it out somehow!”
“Well, I'll cheer for you.”
The door opened again.
“Number 04.”
It was the number written on Karin's tag.
“Eek! It's my turn. I'll be back, Elize!”
Karin waved her arms widely.
Elize gave a small, light flick of her fingers.
Karin left, and the door slammed shut with a heavy clank.
Time passed.
Karin never returned.
*
Of the eleven girls, only five now remained in the room.
The conversation had long since died. The initial boisterous atmosphere was nowhere to be found. Everyone had claimed a corner and was huddled there.
Clank.
The door opened.
The girls flinched reflexively at the sound.
Because every time the door opened, another girl disappeared.
But for the first time, something different happened.
The nun candidate who had left sixth returned with the priest.
She trudged back in, her steps listless, and collapsed into a corner. She hugged her shoulders, knees drawn to her chest, and trembled uncontrollably.
Her unfocused gaze drifted through the empty air.
She looked exactly like someone who had lost their mind.
As soon as the priest left, the other candidates, who had been watching cautiously, gathered around the girl. They began to pour out the questions they had been holding back.
“What did you do out there? What's the trial?”
“…”
“What about the others? Did they pass and leave?”
“…”
The girl—Number 06—did not answer.
The other candidates had no way of knowing why she was acting this way.
But Elize's nostrils picked it up. The faint scent of blood that had begun to permeate the white room, a room designed to deaden the senses.
It clung to the body of the girl who had gone outside.
Even without that, the candidates got something from the girl. It was a fear entirely different from the tension of facing a trial.
One of the nun candidates knocked on the door.
“Excuse me! Priest!”
The door only opened after a long while of knocking.
“What is it?”
“Can I… not take the trial? I'm too scared…”
“…”
“I-I'll take it next time! I don't think I'm ready to be a nun yet, I'm still too immature.”
The priest lowered his eyes, looking at the girl with a chilling gaze.
“…Very well. Take her away.”
As the nuns led the girl away, a look of relief finally spread across her face.
Like someone who had received God's salvation.
Clank.
The door closed.
Watching the priest and the departing girl, Elize thought.
There will probably be no salvation for her.
And perhaps, not even for myself.
She had a feeling.
*
The white room, once bustling with cute girls, now held only two.
The last in line, Number 11, Elize, and the girl who had gone out and returned, Number 06.
Other than her, no one had come back. The girls' cheerful voices had scattered like a momentary dream, leaving only silence.
Number 06 hadn't uttered a word since she returned. She seemed like someone whose mind had been completely broken.
Will I end up like that too? Or would I be lucky to even end up like that?
Anxiety began to creep up on Elize as well.
Then, the door opened. The reaper who had made everyone disappear entered.
“Number 11.”
Finally, it was the last turn.
Elize stood up. She glanced once at Number 06, who was cowering in the corner, then followed the priest out of the box.
The nun candidates wore only a single thin shirt. The cool underground air brushed against their delicate skin, and the floor was cold against their bare feet.
She didn't know what they were going to do, but she knew one thing for sure.
She knew instinctively that this was not the path to a trial.
“Where are the other nun candidates?”
“They have completed the trial and entered the embrace of Lord Ordo.”
“How many times have you given that answer?”
“…This is the tenth time.”
“One of them came back. Did she fail the trial?”
The priest did not answer her question.
But to Elize, that was another kind of answer.
“It's the opposite, then.”
The priest remained silent once again.
How far had they walked?
A sticky, lukewarm liquid squelched under her bare feet. As she walked, the foul stench of blood that had clung to the girl in the room grew stronger.
“…We're here.”
At last, the priest stopped walking.
A pure white room.
Or what used to be one.
The white was stained with splattered blood.
A crimson magic circle was carved into the floor.
Clumps of colorful hair were strewn about messily.
Gold, brown, and water-blue.
And in one corner of the room, a pile of blood-soaked lumps. There, she saw the girls from the room's—
“Sister?”
“Yes?”
The call snapped Elize out of her reverie.
Before her sat Tana, her wounds bandaged. Elize had come to check on her, worried.
But in truth, Elize looked to be in worse condition than Tana.
“Are you all right?”
Tana looked at her with concern.
Even to her, Elize's complexion looked poor.
Then again, Elize was so pale she always looked frail.
“Yes. I'm fine.”
Elize offered a faint smile.
She sometimes had nightmares about it, but she never thought she would recall it so vividly while wide awake.
It was probably because she had superimposed the image of that girl onto Tana.
It was a dark, viscous stain of blood that would likely never wash away.