“Why did Solomon, despite being the wisest man, dishonored God?”

The woman dumbfoundedly looked at the question. It wasn't about her or anything, but to Solomon himself. Her brows raised, patience knocked. The urge to throw the old looking scroll wasn't slim.

Only if it wasn’t the key to solve this screening...

Hesychia opened her glass device to take a picture of the surroundings first before putting the scroll down. Straightening it, Hesychia crouched, taking another picture.

In lieu of an insensitive exasperating question, the question was rather ordinary. Was she wrong about her presupposition? Did Erza and Icx see this kind of question but was too confused to even say anything? Their expressions were grim so Hesychia concluded that she didn't need to pester them anymore.

The young woman cannot muster a solution on her own and decided to regroup at the starting point. There was a certain habit of taking down notes developed not long ago, such as electronic notepads that were used as a medium to arrange certain observations. Upon closer look, she was confused when her eyes managed to get a hold of a sight. Hesychia was about to walk away when she noticed her communicator was receiving a stable signal.

The woman immediately opened her messages and contacted Artemis and Elara just in case they do discover the same awareness in this kind of situation. She tried calling her father's phone too, however no one answered after five minutes of calling back and forth. The line was ringing but no one answered.

Hesychia’s expression was not stirred, suppressing the foreboding feeling inside her chest. The woman did not force it and focused on the current problem. Opening an app, Hesychia started typing on the search bar:

“If King Solomon was wise, how could he dishonor God? What does wisdom mean in this context?”

Many sites popped up almost immediately, working without a hitch. Hesychia can't help but expect that the world has gone back to normal, perhaps she's just dreaming of the world's future destruction.

Clicking on a link, a long verse greeted her:

「 “But King Solomon loved many foreign women besides the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women. They were from the nations about whom Jehovah had said to the Israelites: “You must not go in among them, and they should not come in among you, for they will surely incline your heart to follow their gods.” But Solomon clung to them and loved them. And he had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 concubines, and his wives gradually inclined his heart. For Solomon’s old age, his wives inclined his heart to follow other gods” - 1 Kings 11:1–4 NWT 」

Israel had been warned not to make marriage alliances with the surrounding nations because those people did not worship the same God. God knew that they could corrupt the pure worship that he demands of his subjects. Solomon dishonored his God by not only allowing his wives to worship their pagan gods but he even assisted them. That is highly offensive to his God Jehovah.

「 “It was then that Solomon built a high place to Chemosh, the disgusting god of Moab, on the mountain in front of Jerusalem and to Molech, the disgusting god of the Ammonites. 8 That was what he did for all his foreign wives who were making sacrificial smoke and sacrificing to their gods.” 1 Kings 11:7,8 NWT 」

From God’s viewpoint worshiping other Gods is an act of betrayal similar to a man cheating on his wife. He requires exclusive devotion and in his old age Solomon betrayed his God by listening to his wives and allowing and even assisting them to worship other gods.

Reciting the long answer, the woman turned silent for a while.

“For a wise man to be this stupid, the path was clear yet he still went astray.” Hesychia’s head tilted to the side while thinking.

Another answer said by an anonymous account, 「“No earthly person is so wise that they are immune to temptation and sin. Temptation proved stronger than his adherence to the wisdom God gave him.”」

The problem wasn't wisdom or the lack thereof.

The woman closed her eyes.

The problem is that although Solomon had a lot of wisdom, he was still a free moral agent and had the capability to choose his own will. He had the power to choose what he personally wanted by his own will.

The woman started tapping the ground using her black shoes to think of an answer, after three hundred or so taps—Hesychia opened her eyes.

“Got it.”

Minor Screening, Day Three. Third Attempt.

Icx informed, “The time...”

“Although basing the time on Earth on our game was useless, I still counted.” Hesychia took out her device, “We only spent seven hours at this turn yet when Erza arrived, the day changed.”

Reaching the starting point was equally dependent on the players' speed of walking and answering the questions correctly. The Labyrinth was huge, the three of them would reach the meeting place at different hours too.

Erza looked up, confirming that the others were right. It exactly changed the moment he stepped at the starting point. This is no longer a coincidence.

“So, were you able to confirm anything?” The man asked with his usual warm expression.

“Yes,” Hesychia sat down. “One week was the given limit to us to clear this minor screening, however we don't have anything to base on.”

“That's true.” Icx answered.

Hesychia gave them one round of glance before instructing, “This Labyrinth doesn't consume time at all, for this is not time based. Even if we spent seven twenty-four hours here—that would be equivalent to one week on earth—if we won't do anything, we won't pass or fail this screening. If you don't believe me we can test it out, let's just sit here for 168 hours to prove this theory.”

“If we’re in school, you won't pass your test if you'll defend your subject that way.” Erza commented.

“I know,” Hesychia looked up at the standing man. “It is enough proof that an error happened on day two. Or perhaps you're still not convinced since you're probably thinking that I've spent 15 hours solving sixteen questions and going back to the starting point. Don't ignore what I said though, I am sure that I've spent an hour to reach one question. Time did not move while I was going back.”

Erza nodded, “I know that time is a unit created by humans as their reference. But, is it really possible for it to completely stop?”

“‘Created’ to guide, for reference, not an absolute basis,” Hesychia gave a start. “Time is relative.”

Icx cleared her throat, “Then, what's the meaning of the one week time limit of the strange voice?”

“‘Three, each player is required to finish the Minor Screening for a maximum of one week.’ That's what the mechanical voice said, it didn't mention that it's a time.” Upon reciting the rule, Hesychia looked at the confused person with a comforting expression, “Don't worry, I know that when it comes to months, weeks, days, and hours—everyone would associate it as a deadline or supposedly, a time limit.”

Erza and Icx didn't refute anymore, their faces wanting answers already.

“One week consists of seven days, but let's cross out the smaller unit—24 hours, 1440 minutes, seconds and so on... what leaves us is the number seven. Seven days.” Hesychia maintained their eye contact. “What if I say, these seven days actually meant seven attempts?”

Erza's eyes widened, looking at the ceiling with a huge number three before going back to the woman.

“You mean the restrictions of how many attempts we could do?” Icx murmured, as if chewing the words.

“I suppose not only that.” Hesychia stood up from her seat and walked around the small starting point. “Since we already did 2 attempts, we only have 5 attempts left. However, how were these attempts counted? I found the answer and proved it accidentally on day one.”

The other two, “How?”

“On day one, I purposely answered one question wrong to test the labyrinth's punishment. You two valued your lives and didn't want to encounter unexpected accidents, I assumed.” Hesychia stood in between them. “The punishment was indeed dangerous so it's good that you two were wary and careful. But there’s always had to be one to try out those dangerous things.”

Erza and Icx looked at the latter as if she had lost her mind, no one would normally consider putting their lives at stake except if it's worth it and reasonable. In this place, none was confirmed to be safe and worthy to risk their lives. They were already being morally harassed by those questions, who would think of wanting to die by physically testing things out?

The riddles were easy, no need to work hard at all. It took an hour or less to travel because the path is a “maze.”

Erza and Icx looked at each other before looking at Hesychia, strangely. “So what happened, did you get punished?”

“I can't defeat those moving silverwares so I retreated back to the starting point. The day didn't change, meaning one person can't trigger the number of attempts.” The woman stated leisurely, “Only when all players who entered the labyrinths go back to the starting point would the number be engraved at the ceiling change.”

Erza suddenly felt a premonition from the other person's laidback attitude, the change of her outer treatment towards them changed in an instant. The man can't help but nervously chuckle, “Silas, did you already figure out the solution?”

“How am I supposed to figure it out?”

There was a thick mist of sarcasm submerging her words. Her tone seemed to ooze negotiation; however underneath, it was commanding. “I might figure it out after testing something a few times, all I need is Sir Erza and Icx's cooperation.”

Erza and Icx gulped at the same time.

The woman's eyes shone with morbid cruelty (or maybe they were just imagining it, stuck with an unreliable narrator), a facade of happiness enlightening her own mood that scared others (or Hesychia was only delightful but her face was completely uncooperative due to unfamiliar emotion). Her face plastered a huge bold sign of “are you ready to be my test subjects?” while grinning at them (or perhaps she was trying to be friendly but was misunderstood).

After asking the confirmation about the question at the center of their labyrinths, Hesychia gave them a rare praise. Everything slowly fell to their places, the answers revealing itself.

“This time, Erza goes to the center, Icx goes to the right, and I'll be going to the left.” She instructed with a light tone, “Once you've confirmed that the questions don't belong to you immediately go back to the starting point, however if the questions are still the same as our first order—go to the very center and remember the labyrinth's questions. Understood?”

The other two wanted to protest but still answered, “Yes...”

Seriously, are they having a screening with a psychopath?