Roneh cackled like a hunter looking at a trapped beast as she observed the darkened faces of some students.

“Now hurry up and carry your luggage. Be good and go to sleep, and tomorrow morning the Chief Priest himself will personally bestow blessings upon you, so don’t have any foolish thoughts.”

Roneh’s Firma slammed into the ground with a great recoil.

“By the way, holy knights will be guarding the doors, so don’t even think about trying to leave.”

Along with a fierce wind, clear cracks appeared where the Firma had passed. Seeing this, the students became as quiet as dead mice.

“…Nigel.”

Allen and Noah showed worried expressions towards Nigel.

“It’s alright, it’s just one night. Nothing will happen.”

Nigel rubbed her neck and lightly picked up her luggage bag.

“Damn, we finally arrived.”

“Ugh, I feel like I’m going to die.”

The students who arrived at the temple in the middle of the beautiful mountain scenery put down their luggage bags with a thud, panting heavily.

“You’re tired from just that much?”

The muscular swordsmanship department students lowered the three or four luggage bags they had been carrying on their backs.

Nigel watched her classmates growling and throwing off their masks as soon as they left the secular world.

“Nigel, Nigel. The mountain right next to here is the Mountain of Fragments.”

“…Ah.”

“Al… Are you taking good care of it?”

“…”

Ignoring Yenica and Nubilus’s whispers, two priests wearing long, pure white robes that dragged on the ground appeared. They welcomed everyone, telling them to feel as comfortable as if they were at home during their stay here.

And following them, a familiar male priest appeared.

‘That person is definitely…!’

He was the one who had guided Nigel, who often got lost, to her lodgings several times when she went to the Northern Great Temple to take the apprentice priest test around the age of 10.

With graying hair and beard and deeper wrinkles, he seemed to recognize Nigel at once, his mouth falling open.

After making eye contact with Nigel for about 5 seconds, he reluctantly withdrew his gaze and introduced himself to the students as the Chief Priest of the temple.

“…Nigel, be careful.”

“Hey, that Chief Priest just looked at you suspiciously.”

Noah and Allen whispered almost simultaneously into Nigel’s ears on both sides.

The two had been on guard since the temple came into view from afar, and after entering the temple, they surrounded Nigel as if guarding her.

Don’t you know that the more you do that, the more noticeable it becomes?

Nigel opened her mouth and then closed it. It was clear that even if she tried to dissuade them, saying it was cumbersome, the two’s stubbornness wouldn’t be swayed.

10 minutes later, the priests’ guidance came to an end. And the Chief Priest approached Nigel.

“Shall we have a little chat?”

Nigel slowly nodded at the kind smile that was exactly the same as in her memory.

A room where the orange of the sunset and the shadows of trees are reflected.

A cup of steaming tea and a plate with a few cookies were placed in front of Nigel.

As she drank the hot tea, Nigel’s stiff body gradually loosened. Nigel’s joints always creaked awkwardly whenever she was near a priest.

“By the way, I didn’t expect you to remember me, Nigel.”

“I should say the same. I didn’t think you’d even remember my name…”

There were about a hundred candidates who passed the strict conditions and participated in the final priest appointment ceremony. The apprentice priest test, which was easier to pass, attracted several times that number of children.

“Well, Nigel, you stood out from the moment you first came to take the test. A child who hadn’t even manifested mana yet had high divine power affinity and perfect scores.”

“…You flatter me.”

“I thought you were exactly the kind of talent the Goddess wanted, but it seems we’ve lost another talent to the Imperial family.”

He smiled slightly, looking at the robe embroidered with the Imperial crest.

“Anyway, it seems you’ve adjusted well to the academy. You’ve made some good friends.”

Nigel’s face, which had been calm throughout, contorted, and she bit her lip hard.

The three people who had been blocking the way between Nigel and the priest, with Yenica joining in, were caught by Roneh and dragged to the dormitory. In the meantime, the three pairs of hands were stretched towards Nigel until the end.

The embarrassment was entirely Nigel’s. Thoroughly flushed, Nigel lowered her head.

“…I apologize for the rudeness.”

“It’s alright. That’s how all students are. But…”

At the meaningful look, Nigel’s eyes narrowed.

“After you finish your studies at the academy, have you ever thought about joining the temple?”

“No, not at all. I’m not capable enough to handle the temple.”

As soon as the tension eased, refusals tumbled out of Nigel’s mouth one after another.

“That’s a shame. The last time I saw someone with such high divine power affinity as you was when I met the Great Priest… about that time.”

He couldn’t hide his regret and smiled bitterly.

“Instead, would you keep this old man company until you finish your tea?”

Well, if that’s all, Nigel nodded readily. The tea was fragrant without any bitterness, and the cookies served with it were delicious with a deep buttery flavor.

The conversation continued, one topic leading to another. In between changing topics, the priest deliberately brought up stories of Nigel getting lost in the past, enjoying Nigel’s reactions.

When Nigel complained, telling him to stop, he mischievously chuckled, saying it was punishment for leaving the Goddess’s embrace.

“…Ah, come to think of it, there was something I wanted to ask.”

Nigel’s eyes shone as she looked straight at the priest.

“Feel free to ask.”

It was such an important question that Nigel felt pathetic for not bringing it up earlier.

After all, this was the person who had planted the dream of Sienna in Nigel, who had been living a life not worth living.

“Do you remember the priestess who was there when I took the test at the Northern Great Temple?”

The priest’s face contorted with various emotions. He frowned, showing a confused expression.

“…That’s strange. There were no priestesses at the temple at that time.”

“What…?”

Nigel opened her mouth stupidly. After gaping several times, she finally managed to speak.

“That, that can’t be. I definitely met and talked with her.”

“But Nigel, at that time, all the priestesses residing in the temple were away on a mission to help unwed mothers. I was the main planner of that aid project, so I’m certain.”

Then whose voice is it that comes to mind so vividly? Is it the mischief of a ghost that fearlessly snuck into the temple, or the mercy of the Goddess taking pity on her?

Nigel looked at the wall dyed in the burning sunset.

‘I wanted to… meet her and talk to her someday.’

The red light filled with vitality was dazzlingly beautiful. As if it would swallow her futile hope in one gulp.

“Ah, perhaps…!”

Just as the sunset was about to steal Nigel’s hope, the priest’s mouth opened.

He paused for a moment to choose his words and then spoke again.

“Nigel, did she perhaps wear her robe pulled down low?”

“…Yes.”

“In long clothing that didn’t reveal any skin except for her two hands, and she often appeared near the old tree, right?”

“How do you know that, sir…”

His following explanation was as vivid as Nigel’s memory, so much so that Nigel momentarily mistook the priest for having the ability to read others’ memories.

“…Now I know who Nigel met.”

The priest rubbed his face and stared at Nigel.

“The late Princess Abellina.”

The purple eyes that met his shook so violently that it was painful to look at.

“…At that time, Princess Abellina was secretly recuperating at the Northern Great Temple. We thought the old tree blessed by the Goddess would be beneficial to her health. Nigel, I’m sorry for causing you confusion and pain.”

Instead of Nigel’s voice, only air freely floated from her open mouth before it closed.

The unfocused purple eyes touched on the priest, then on the window. Life suddenly returned to Nigel’s face as she blankly stared at the irregular forest.

“Nigel…”

“I apologize for arbitrarily asking a question that might have been rude, and for causing offense on my own.”

The priest couldn’t add any words to Nigel, who was politely greeting and rising from her seat as if nothing had happened.

Whatever he said would be a big thorn to that child trying to hide her wounds by acting composed.

Left alone in the room, the priest looked at the sunset slowly being engulfed by darkness.

The priest closed his eyes and murmured, hoping that child’s night would be peaceful.

“…She’s coming over there.”

“Ah! She’s finally here.”

Arriving at the dormitory with quick steps. Allen and Noah were guarding the door like sentries.

“Nigel, nothing happened, right? Like, they didn’t find out about your, you know…”

“Even if they did find out, considering the shift times of the holy knights, I’ve secured the shortest escape route, so don’t worry.”

Nigel chuckled at the worried voices of the two and muttered that everything was fine, nothing had happened.

“…Nigel? Are you back?”

Creak, the door opened and Yenica gently hugged Nigel’s arm.

“If that priest said anything strange, leave the aftermath to me.”

Nigel quickly shook her head and stroked Yenica’s lush hair.

‘I’m sorry for pressing you, Yenica. It seems I’ll have to bet on a small possibility after all.’

Nigel looked at the mountain stretching high beyond Noah, who was avoiding her gaze, and Allen, who was snickering at Noah’s behavior.

The Mountain of Fragments.

Nigel will go to the Mountain of Fragments tonight.