Regnum Aetern: Dual Rebirth

Chapter 142: Priest candidate

The indoctrination continued for several hours. And during that time, the room was filled with the sound of the boy’s muffled screams and Kodam’s shouts.

Still pinned against the wall and held by his neck, the boy’s entire torso was filled with the same letter burned into his skin. This was the result of Kodam constantly engraving the word ’Truth’ on the boy’s body for hours.

By now, the boy’s sharp gaze had become clouded, and there was a dazed look on his face. Compared to before, his reaction to the engraving was not that strong either.

Kodam rubbed his long white beard.

’Let’s test it one last time.’

He released his grip on the boy, causing the boy to fall to the floor helplessly. Crouching down, Kodam grabbed him by the hair and brought the boy’s face closer to his own as he looked into the boy’s eyes.

"Tell me, child," Kodam spoke sternly. "Who are you?"

The boy’s lips slowly parted.

"...A believer of Truth..."

Kodam paused and observed the boy. The child still looked a bit out of it, yet his answer had been instant.

’Hmm...’

He continued.

"What is your life’s purpose?"

"...To spread the glory of my Truth..."

"What are the people who deny the Truth?"

"...They are heretics..."

"What about the people who don’t believe in the Truth?"

"...They... they are also heretics..."

"What do heretics deserve?"

"...they deserve to die horribly and return to our god... so that he may take back what had always been his..."

Kodam released his grip on the boy’s hair and stood up.

’It’s done.’

He had accomplished what he wanted. Turning toward the metal door, Kodam raised his voice slightly.

"You may all enter."

Moments later, the metal door opened, and priests wearing bluish-black cloaks entered. But the moment they saw the boy on the floor, they all paused. Some of them even looked away after seeing the letters burned onto his skin.

Pointing at the boy, Kodam spoke to the priests.

"I am done with him, so take him back and tend to him. Oh, there is no need to lock him back in the cell anymore. Give him a room and prepare new clothes for him. I will leave the rest of the details to you all."

The priests all bowed collectively.

One of them picked the dazed boy up from the ground, and they all soon left.

As the metal door was shut once again, Kodam walked and sat down in the chair. Sitting in silence, a frown slowly appeared on his wrinkled face as he continued rubbing his beard.

He knew that he had done everything perfectly, and he had even made sure to check.

But for some reason, he was getting this strange feeling. The feeling that...

’...Something isn’t right.’

***

Lying on the bed in her room, Nelliel thought back to the incident that had happened yesterday. The commotion it had caused was so bad that nobody could think rationally.

She, too, had been frozen in shock as some of the priests hurriedly dragged that human boy away.

"Ugh, that mess isn’t gonna clean itself anytime soon."

This was one of the reasons why she didn’t feel like getting out of bed, even though it had been about an hour since she woke up.

Still, she couldn’t stay like this much longer since she had duties to fulfill as a priest candidate.

Just then, Nelliel heard a knock on the door, causing her to finally get up.

As she opened the door while lazily rubbing her eyes, she found Uncle Rolf standing in front of her room. He offered her a casual smile and then... ’casually’ entered her room.

Nelliel frowned.

"Hey, ’old man,’ why are you coming inside my room without permission?"

Uncle Rolf casually sat down on her bed and smiled shamelessly.

"Oh, come now, Nell, we’re all family, aren’t we? You’re almost like a daughter to me. So does your ’old man’ need permission to enter her daughter’s room?"

Nelliel grabbed his arms and began pulling him towards the door.

"Like hell! Get out of my room and only enter after I give you permission!"

Sadly, she was not strong enough to make him budge even a little. Uncle Rolf chuckled at her futile attempts, which made her feel very annoyed.

After a bit more back and forth, she got tired and sat on a nearby chair. When she spoke, her tone still contained hints of annoyance.

"So, what brought you here, ’old man’? Another request from the priests? Or is it an order from the Prophet like last time?"

Uncle Rolf shook his head.

"It’s not that. I am here to share some news with you."

"News?" She tilted her head. "Did something big happen?"

Well, she wouldn’t be surprised if something big had indeed happened, considering the atmosphere after yesterday’s incident.

’Ugh, another headache.’

But Uncle Rolf shook his head once again.

"I wouldn’t say that something big has happened. But the news is significant. You see, that human boy that we captured, the center of yesterday’s incident, was made a priest candidate today."

Nelliel paused.

Indeed, this news really was significant considering that boy’s significance. Still, it wasn’t something shocking. In fact, it could even be the expected outcome depending on how one thought about the situation.

It was just that...

"Why are you telling me this, ’old man’?" she asked with a frown. "I could’ve learned this information a few hours later, and nothing would’ve changed, so why did you come here to tell me this?"

Uncle Rolf smiled at her. It was a smile she found hard to describe in words. But if she had to describe it anyway, then she would call it an adult’s smile.

And she... hated that smile.

"Nell, we were the ones who brought the boy here, and now that he is a part of us, isn’t it our responsibility to help him fit in and look out for him? We’re one big family, Nell, bound together by our faith. So can’t you look after—"

"No!"

She cut him off with her shout, gritting her teeth.

’I don’t like it.’

That talk about being family, she had always heard it from the moment she became part of this cult. But why did she have to be the only one to hear it? What about those other brats? They were also the same age as her, so what about them?

And why does no one look after her? Wasn’t she a kid too?

’It’s so unfair!’

With her fists clenched, she rushed out of her room.

"Wait, Nell!"

Uncle Rolf called out from behind, but she ignored it.

Climbing the long stone stairs, she left the underground settlement and arrived at the surface. The rubble of various buildings stretched before her in all directions. It was a familiar sight at this point.

She had duties to fulfill and tasks she needed to complete, but for now, she pushed it all to the corner of her mind and walked amidst the rubble.

No, she definitely wasn’t here to sulk. She was here to get some alone time.

But her steps suddenly came to a pause.

Some distance away, someone was sitting on the rubble, quietly gazing at the sky. It was the same boy she had helped capture. But now, he wore a bluish-black cloak.

His deep, jet-black hair covered half his face, hiding his grey eyes.

And just as it had always been, the boy’s face was still expressionless.

Staring at him for a bit, Nelliel quietly turned away and returned to the underground settlement below.

Days passed, but she didn’t spot him again since then.

But three days later, a news created another commotion within the cult.

The news that the boy from the ritual incident was about to attempt the trial of faith.