soul stone

"Just now, are you sure?"

The deep male voice crashed into the high hemispherical painted dome, and turned back to the empty and narrow room.If you were young, you may not have a good voice; unfortunately, after a little bit of daily wear and tear for decades, it has already exceeded the qualified service life, and now it is as thick as discarded strings.

"Yes, Father," Villars replied, "I'm sure."

The bald priest turned his face sideways, with his slightly protruding belly, and looked at him with the same eyes that stared at the moth-eaten ancient Bible beyond recognition.

"Okay, my child," the priest grunted, turned around and picked up the glasses on the table and put them on, "you can go back."

no respond.

When I looked back, the boy in the audience had disappeared.Behind his head came the sound of the doorknob being turned.

Looking at his back, the [-]-year-old priest opened his mouth, but couldn't even utter a word.

On both sides of the corridor, the older children were sitting or leaning on sporadically, waiting for the results of the graduation test.They were the last group to be tested and the only group of children under the age of ten to be eligible for early graduation.

Villar stopped in the middle of the long corridor.When the older children saw him, they gave up a space one after another.Villar sat down by the window with a blank expression, his obsidian eyes faintly revealing some starlight.

He is waiting for the test to be over.

The so-called test can also be said to be a sentence of life and death.Those who pass the test can graduate smoothly, leave the monastery, and work for a certain underworld family; those who fail will be punished to varying degrees.

The heaviest punishment is the death penalty.

The nuns and priests did not want their hands to be stained with the blood of children.They handed over the hopeless children to mafia officers who were in charge of this work, and asked them to tie ropes, wear blindfolds, and stand in a row in the open space outside the monastery wall, like targets in a shooting booth on the street. The same was shot at will.Then, they put the child's body into a burlap bag of the same texture as their clothes, dragged it to the cemetery in the back mountain, dug a big pit and buried them together.There is no cross in this kind of mass grave—they probably think that even the gods will not take a second look at those who refuse to repent of their sins.

Time always seems to be deliberately slowing down while waiting for a life-threatening outcome.Villar hugged his knees, buried his head in his crossed arms, and began to recall the test questions of this "graduation test".

Children with graduation qualifications are divided into multiple groups according to certain criteria, with at least two and no more than four in each group.Everyone in each group was ushered into a different room at the same time.The topics for each group are different, and the questions asked to each person are also different.The results of the test will not be announced until all groups have completed the test.And the topic given to him by the priest was:

"Villar Lynch, can you admit that you killed Lily and Quedi together with Oyagi Yukiyo?"

Before Villar could speak, the priest added: "In the room across the corridor, that child is also receiving the same question... According to the answers of the two of you, we will deal with it differently."

"If both of you deny it, then you will both lose your qualifications for this graduation, at least until this time next year; if you both admit it, then the Lord will spare you and send you to Meteor Street; but, if either of you One admits and the other denies, then the one who admits will graduate this time, while the one who denies... will die."

"You have only two options for your answer: 'yes' or 'no'. A silent or meaningless answer counts as acquiescence."

"You have three ten minutes. Think about it, kid."

Villar rolled his eyes.

This is a typical prisoner's dilemma.In simple analysis, there are four different possibilities:

1. Xue Ye admitted, and he also admitted.Result: Both were thrown to Meteor Street to fend for themselves;

2. Xue Ye admits, but he denies.Result: Xue Ye graduated successfully, but he was executed;

3. Xue Ye denied it, but he admitted it.Result: Xue Ye was executed and he graduated successfully;

4. Xue Ye denied it, and he also denied it.Result: Both were deferred from graduation.

From the perspective of maximizing personal interests, whether Xue Ye admits or denies, it is more beneficial for him to choose to admit.

These analyzes and conclusions were drawn by Villar within half a minute after listening to the topic.He looked up at the priest's small eyes, and there was determination in his eyes:

"No, Father." He said every word and every word, "There is nothing worth confessing."

"There's nothing worth confessing to." ——In another identical room, Xue Ye said.

Familiar footsteps.Villar looked up and saw a pair of thin little feet standing in front of him.Further up, there is a familiar smile.Xue Ye was wearing the uniform summer dress of the girls in the monastery—a pure white cotton dress that reached to the ankles, and black round-toed cloth shoes.The extremely simple attire complemented the black hair and white skin, and on the contrary showed the unique oriental softness of Xue Ye.

Villar opened his mouth, but didn't know how to speak.Xue Ye put her hands behind her back, bent slightly, and asked with a smile: "What's the matter? You look dejected."

"How's the quiz...?"

"Yes, what's the matter?" Xue Ye raised her index finger and tapped her chin lightly, "I didn't know at first, but I knew it when I saw you like this."

"..." Villar's heart tightened.Did she admit it? !No, isn't it clear that, no matter how you say it, it's always better to admit it.The strange thing is not her, but herself who gave up her superior choice and was willing to bear the consequences of death.

While thinking wildly, Villar felt someone pulling his hand.

Xue Ye smiled happily, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.She dragged him through the crowded corridors, making way for everyone she went.Villar's eyes followed the steps, bobbing up and down on her straight back.

Rusty iron gate.

Xue Ye let go of her hands, and lowered her head with her back to him, her long black hair was scattered around her fair neck, and her hands were clenched into fists on both sides of her body.

"My answer... seems to be the same as Villar's." She turned her face and smiled brightly.

The noise of cat's paws scratching the blackboard.

The strong wind gushing in from the opening of the door sweeps away the summer heat.Xue Ye took Villar's hand, walked to the fence outside the clock tower, and looked down vertically.

"If you fall from such a high place, you will definitely die, right? If you accidentally fall from here, there is nothing you can do about it, right?" Lal seemed to be talking to himself again.

"I think so." Villar nodded.

"Why?" Xue Ye turned around and leaned against the low fence, staring straight at him with a pair of black crystal eyes, "So sure I will keep my mouth shut? Even though you didn't do anything, the conspiracy is true. Oh. Just to hide it for me... Aren't you afraid of death?"

The little boy was silent for a moment.

"I knew what the consequences would be, but I didn't want to admit it at the time. If I want to say why, it's probably because I don't want you to die, nor do I want you to be sent to Meteor Street."

Xue Ye opened her eyes wide, her lips parted slightly, and then quickly widened into a smile.

"It really is a weirdo."

Over the course of a year and a half, Villar saw her smile in all sorts of ways.The laughs are numbered from 1 to 25 and range from polite sneers to slightly suppressed satisfaction.And the smile she showed just now obviously does not belong to the range of these 25 numbers at all.It was a smile that was only shown to him, and it was his secret treasure.

"Then why are you…" he asked.

"Of course." She turned around and looked up into the distance.Under the blue sky, thin white clouds, like the milk skin on the surface of milk, are stacked in parallel and staggered over the mountains.

"No one pushed them, they fell down by accident. What is there to regret?" Xue Ye cast her gaze to a point in the void, "Hey, are you right, Villar?"

"Well, I think so too. We didn't do anything wrong..." the boy replied, "If there was, it was God."

The girl turned her face and stared at the boy's face for a long time.Villar felt the warm touch on his cheeks, and found that Xue Ye's long eyelashes were close to his eyes, like two small brushes.

"Thank you, Villar... this is a thank you gift."

"You are here, you have been looking for it for a long time."

Sister Moelle leaned out the upper half of her body from behind the iron gate, and her sky-colored pupils emitted a soft and inclusive light like a loving mother.Villar and Xue Ye turned around almost at the same time, and put on their usual expressions for her—awe, indifference, alienation, and hostility hidden in tight seams.The nun couldn't help but wonder secretly, although it was only for a moment, the two children seemed to have become two completely different people.

"Okay, let's go down quickly," the nun said with a smile, "the test results will be announced soon."

"I already know." Villar said coldly, "I will stay here for another year, won't I?"

Moelle pursed her lips and smiled.The bond between these two children was far deeper than that of other children in the monastery, and even exceeded her original expectations.

"Both of you performed very well. In fact, the four possible consequences of that question are also part of the question."

Xue Ye pursed her lips, her brush-like eyelashes trembling slightly.

"The correct answer to that question is that both of you 'deny' at the same time." The nun said, "Trust each other [-]%... This sense of trust is really admirable."

"Can you graduate?" The girl raised her eyes and stared at her, "Can both graduate?"

Smiling, the nun nodded slowly and solemnly.

"Great..." Xue Ye held Villar's hand, "That's great, Villar!"

"Hmm..." The boy was about to say something when he suddenly saw another face appearing behind the door.His eyes widened in surprise, and the second half of the sentence changed on the back of his tongue: "Uncle Raphael?"

"Hey, Villar, don't come here without any problems." The middle-aged man grinned, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes appeared, "Ah...you are Snowy Night, it's the first time we meet, I'm Rafael Lynch... I'm Raphael."

The girl blinked: "Are you Villar's uncle?"

"That's right." Raphael took off his gray cap. The color of the hat is not the lifeless gray of the monastery wall, but the matte high-grade gray, which belongs to the color of the upper class.He put his left hand behind his back, pressed the hat on his chest with his right hand, and bowed in a gentlemanly manner.

"It is a great honor to invite the king and queen here to join us."

Villar gave him a questioning look, which meant, "Are you asking me to work for my dad?"

"Don't worry, it's not your father." Raphael stepped forward and patted his nephew on the shoulder, leaning over and whispering, "I want you myself. You have the one-in-a-million talent...and I want to polish this talent , let it shine brightly until people dare not look directly, but can only prostrate on the ground, secretly awe, admiration, and admiration, from a few kings who peep at the heights... At that time, your father will regret even his bowels Turned green, and regretted it while begging for your forgiveness..."

Villar evoked an imperceptible sneer.Uncle Raphael, funny as he was, was sometimes more childish than the kids in the monastery.It made no difference to him whether his father's regrets or his prayers, because neither was of any value.

"Okay, I'll go to your house." He replied lightly, and glanced at the girl next to him, "As long as...she will go too."