Deep underground, where no sunlight reaches, the space is lit by white magic stone lamps.
In this stark white square room, there are eleven young girls.
They wear long white tops that cover down to their knees.
Barefoot, bare-legged. Apart from that, they wear nothing else.
They are all nun aspirants.
Gathered from across the continent, these talented candidates must endure this trial to beco nuns of the Holy Kingdom.
The girls chat and laugh warmly among themselves.
"Ohoho! The first step to becoming a nun. I'm already looking forward to it."
A girl with golden hair spoke in a tone more suited to a noble lady than a nun.
Her chest badge swayed.
Her number. The other girls also had numbers assigned.
... ... Last, 11. Elise's number.
"Really? I'm actually scared..."
"To beco a nun of Kassilon, you must pass this trial. They say you get a special reward, too. Well, I'm grown up enough not to need it."
The nuns are strict.
They scold if you talk at night, you can't just snack anyti, and if you doze off during prayers, a flick on the forehead awaits.
The idea of receiving a reward from such nuns was delightful.
The nun aspirants were fired up to overco the trial.
Click.
The firmly shut door opened.
In ca a priest with a kindly deanor, wearing glasses, and so nuns from the convent, all smiling and waving, which the girls returned.
"Number 01."
"Yes!"
At the priest's call, the blonde girl stood up energetically.
"You will be the first to take on this glorious trial. Congratulations. Co outside."
"Thank you."
The girls waved to her.
"Be strong."
"Fight on!"
With cheers from her peers, the blonde girl walked out of the room confidently, without a hint of nervousness.
Click.
The door shut.
The remaining girls resud their lively chatter.
"What kind of trial is it?"
"What if it's really tough? What if I can't beco a nun?"
"We should ask her to secretly tell us about the trial when she cos back. Then we can all pass."
"That would work!"
The girls whispered among themselves, giggling like typical girls their age.
***
Ti was elusive in the white box, with no clocks or sun to mark its passage.
But with three als served and one nap taken, at least a day must have passed.
The food was tasteless.
Only a bland, broth-like soup and water. When asked, the nuns said it was to purify the body before the trial.
Worldly food could bring impure energies that might hinder passing the trial.
This was the culmination of their training.
They couldn't spoil it over a mont of greed.
Even the typically stubborn candidates didn't complain this ti.
"Number 03. Co out."
The priest entered and the third call was made.
The blonde girl who went first, along with the second girl, number 02, hadn't returned yet.
The blonde was a well-known candidate, renowned from a young age for her ability to handle divine power, helping the nuns treat patients despite being just an aspirant.
Her absence was unnerving.
"Ugh... Isn't this atmosphere just too uncomfortable?"
A girl with aqua hair approached Elise. Her petite fra invoked a protective instinct despite their similar ages.
"It feels like we're always about to be punished, right?"
"I've never been scolded, actually."
"What?"
"Just follow what the nuns say, and you won't get scolded."
Elise's matter-of-fact response made the girl grimace as if she was looking at an unfathomable sea creature.
"Why are you like that?"
"You just sounded exactly like a nun."
"Thank you."
"That wasn't a complint."
The girl pouted.
"I'm Karin. What's your na?"
"Elise."
"That's a pretty na. Who gave it to you?"
Elise's smile faded, shadowed.
"My dead siblings were nad Eli and Lise."
"Oh... Sorry."
"That was a lie. A nun nad ."
"Wow, you make want to hit soone for the first ti."
"Violence is bad. Lord Ordo would be angry, you know?"
"It's your fault!"
Karin sighed wearily, already drained from their brief exchange.
"You're really unique, aren't you? Even your way of speaking is mature."
"I hear that often."
Elise was ten. Certainly more mature than most children her age.
That was the influence of their environnt.
Most nun candidates were orphans. They didn't have the luxury of childish tantrums like children from normal hos.
Growing up quickly was beneficial, for both the nuns and themselves.
"What's your dream, Elise?"
"Do I have one? To beco a proper nun and fulfill my role."
"Ugh, such a diligent answer. The nuns would tell us to take you as a model."
"What about you, Karin?"
"?"
As if she had been waiting to say this, Karin straightened her back, hands on her hips.
"I'm going to be a saint!"
"A saint?"
"Yes, a saint!"
Elise knew what a saint was.
Like in fairy tales, a woman chosen by God.
A saint who travels with a hero to vanquish evil.
Just like ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) boys dream of being heroes, girls, especially those in the Holy Kingdom, dream of being saints.
But just like in fairy tales, there was no official role of saint in the Holy Kingdom.
Nor heroes. In a world without a true embodint of evil, it was perhaps inevitable.
"How do you beco a saint?"
"...I'm not sure."
Karin didn't have an answer to Elise's fundantal question but she wasn't disheartened.
"If I work hard, it'll sohow work out!"
"Um, I'll cheer for you."
The door opened again.
"Number 04."
It was Karin's number.
"Eek. My turn. Elise, I'll be back!"
Karin waved her arms dramatically. Elise rely flicked her fingers lightly.
Karin left and the door clanged shut.
Ti passed.
Karin did not return.
***
In the room that once held eleven, only five remained.
Long gone was the lively chatter that filled the air at the start. Everyone had retreated to their own corners, crouching silently.
Click.
The door opened.
The girls instinctively flinched at the sound—every opening had ant the disappearance of one of them.
But this ti, there was a change.
The sixth girl who had left returned with the priest, her steps feeble and devoid of energy as she collapsed into a corner. She hugged her knees, shivering uncontrollably, her eyes staring blankly into space, the very image of soone gone mad.
As soon as the priest left, the remaining aspirants crowded around her, their pent-up curiosity bursting forth.
"What happened outside? What was the trial about?"
Silence.
"What about the others? Did they pass?"
Silence.
The girl, Number 06, did not respond.
The others had no way of knowing what had caused her state.
But Elise sensed it.
A faint scent of blood began to erge in the sterile white room—a scent that clung to the girl who had returned.
Even if it wasn't the blood, the fear that radiated from her was distinct from the nervous anticipation of the trial.
One of the candidates knocked on the door.
"Excuse ! Priest!"
After persistent knocking, the door finally opened.
"What is it?"
"Can I skip the trial? I'm too scared..."
Silence.
"I'll try next ti! I don't think I'm ready to be a nun yet."
The priest looked down at her with a cold gaze.
"Fine. Take her away."
The nuns led the girl away, and relief washed over her face as if she had been saved by a divine power.
Click.
The door closed.
Elise watched the priest and the girl leave, thinking to herself that salvation was likely not in store for her—or perhaps for any of them.
***
Now, only two remained in the once bustling white room.
The last in line, Number 11—Elise—and the returned girl, Number 06.
No one else had co back. The cheerful voices of the girls had scattered like a montary dream, leaving only silence behind.
Number 06 hadn't spoken since her return, appearing utterly broken.
Would she end up the sa? Would that even be a rcy?
A creeping unease began to rise within Elise.
Then the door opened again.
The harbinger of disappearance had arrived.
"Number 11."
It was finally her turn.
Elise stood up, glancing at the trembling Number 06 in the corner, and followed the priest out of the box.
The aspirants wore only thin tops; the cool underground air brushed against their tender skin, and the cold floor felt harsh under their bare feet.
She wasn't sure what was to co, but she intuitively knew it wasn't just a trial.
"Where are the other candidates?"
"They have entered into Lord Ordo's embrace after completing their trials."
"How many tis have you given that answer?"
"This makes the tenth."
"One returned; did she fail her trial?"
The priest did not respond.
But to Elise, that was an answer in itself.
"The opposite, then."
The priest maintained his silence.
How long had they walked?
A sticky, tepid liquid clung to her bare feet. With each step, the foul sll of blood that had emanated from the girl intensified.
"We're here."
The priest finally stopped walking.
The white room—once pristine—was now marred with copious amounts of blood. Magic circles of dried blood were etched into the floor, and brightly colored strands of hair—gold, brown, and aqua—were scattered ssily around.
And in one corner, a pile covered in blood, where the girls from the room lay—
"Nun?"
"Yes?"
Startled, Elise snapped out of her thoughts.
Before her sat Tana, bandaged at the wounded areas, the concern for whom had brought Elise here.
But it was Elise who looked worse for wear.
"Are you alright?"
Tana's worried gaze fell on Elise, who always looked frail with her pale complexion.
"Yes, I'm fine."
Elise forced a small smile.
She had dreamt of nightmares like this but never thought she'd recall them in full consciousness.
Perhaps the sight of Tana and the girl had overlapped in her mind.
It was a dark, sticky stain of blood that she might never forget.
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