The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 104 Fascinated by Scent

Under Eric's firm refusal, the Dark Elf had no choice but to give up his little hobby and return to his career.

How detailed do you want it to be?

“Keep an eye on anyone who gets close to him,” Eric said, looking at him. “Especially those who look a bit like you.”

The dark elf frowned. "You mean a dark elf? We have no interest in someone like him who has no money or power... well, it's hard to say."

Eric didn't explain it very clearly, but she understood when she actually saw it.

How is the commission calculated?

“Well…” the dark elf thought for a moment, “I wasn’t joking just now.”

Seeing Eric suddenly become wary, she added, "What I mean is, it's hard to say. We've done surveillance before, but people like him who never leave their homes are rare, especially staying in a tightly controlled place like the cathedral."

“This makes things easier for you, doesn’t it?” Eric said. “There aren’t many people who can get close to him anyway.”

The dark elf thought for a moment, then said, "Here's what we'll do. I'll give you two options: either give us a hundred gold coins at once and we'll keep an eye on things for a month, or give us one gold coin a day and we'll add more money if we see any activity."

Eric glared. "Why don't you just rob it?"

"We rob too. Burning, killing, looting, stealing, kidnapping, what don't we do?" the dark elf retorted.

"..."

Eric was speechless for a moment before finally realizing that this was a criminal organization.

"too expensive."

The dark elf smiled. "If you're sincere, we can talk about the money."

Eric became wary again, "How can I tell if someone is sincere?"

The dark elf beckoned, "Come sit here."

"...Is this how you Nightingales conduct business?" Eric protested.

"No, this is my style."

The dark elf raised his hand and tapped his head. "I'm so tired of having to remember so many things every day. Little cutie, I have to say you're very lucky. You found me on your first contact with Nightingale. The information others have is far less than mine."

Seeing that Eric remained seated, she sighed. "Okay, I promise I won't lay a hand on you. I just really like your scent and want to smell it again."

Eric was skeptical. He raised his arm and sniffed it, but there was no smell. Then he remembered that he had cast a spell to block out smells on the way here.

He canceled the spell, and a strong aroma of spices filled his nostrils. He immediately reapplied it.

"Divine magic?"

The dark elf looked surprised. "So you're a priest after all. No wonder you resisted so much."

Eric hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

She began to speculate: "Hmm, a clergyman asked me to keep an eye on Simmagu... Is your church planning to take action against him? Is the Archbishop of Lutia really going to be replaced?"

There were indeed such signs, but Eric was too lazy to explain, "That's none of your business."

“Alright.” The dark elf closed his eyes slightly and murmured to himself, “But I have to keep an eye on this.”

After a while, she opened her eyes and gestured for Eric to sit down again.

"..."

Eric had no choice but to sit down on the edge of her bed.

The dark elf immediately clung to him, but instead of touching him, she sniffed his neck closely.

It feels even more perverted...

Eric remained motionless.

"Hmm... what exactly is this taste? It's so subtle, I both like and hate it, I both yearn for it and resist it... You make me feel incredibly precious, yet I also want to crush you under my feet... It's so contradictory... It's almost like..."

The dark elf suddenly placed his hand on his neck. "Young man, you and the moon elf don't have any connection, do you?"

Her hand wasn't very strong, and Eric remained relatively calm. "What, do you have a grudge against the moon elves?"

"No, it's just that I don't really like them. No dark elf would like those so-called former royalty."

"I've never even seen them before."

“That’s true… There are only a handful of moon elves in Lutia, it’s not like you can just meet them whenever you want.” The dark elf murmured, even more curious, “What is it about you that fascinates me so much?”

"It's probably the taste of piety."

"Ah……"

The dark elf smiled and, after a while, finally agreed to let him go.

"I don't need a penny, just come over every day and let me smell it for a while, how about that?"

“Let’s talk about money,” Eric said.

The dark elf sighed regretfully. After some haggling, the two finally agreed on a monthly fee of forty gold coins for the task of monitoring Xinmagu.

"The Church's people are truly generous," the dark elf said, looking at the gold coins on the table. "But I don't understand why you've come to us. Although the Empire has limited the size of your knights, how many forces have you been secretly cultivating, such as those unforgiving madmen?"

The private room dimmed again. Eric looked at the few candles that had long since burned out and said, "Everyone has their own expertise. It's more suitable for you to do this kind of thing."

"But secrets can be accidentally leaked, can't they?" the dark elf said meaningfully.

"Are you asking for hush money?"

"That depends on how much of a secret I can uncover," the dark elf said with a smile.

Eric glanced at her, then, feigning superiority, said, "You said it yourself, the church has its own power, don't go looking for trouble."

The dark elf sighed, "Just kidding, you're so fierce. I had a little secret I suddenly remembered that I wanted to tell you for free."

"What secret?"

"About Simagu."

"What secret?" Eric repeated.

The dark elf simply looked at him.

Eric sighed and moved closer to her.

The dark elf immediately pressed close: "Oh, I thought you'd pay to ask, but I didn't expect you to get used to exchanging information with your body so quickly."

"...Stop talking nonsense."

"Heh." The dark elf chuckled, then grabbed him again just as he was about to distance himself. "Our people have discovered by chance that there seems to be something wrong with the people around Simmagu."

Eric immediately thought of Alan.

"His Arabian attendant?"

"So you knew."

The dark elf's interest waned immediately. "That Aran girl occasionally sends messages to her Aran companions, but what they say is unknown. The Aran are like the Simmagu; they're intriguing, but not of much value, and not worth expending too much effort on."

Eric also felt that he had let her take advantage of him for nothing.

"anything else?"

"If that's your question, there are plenty of options."

Eric pulled his arm away from hers. "That's settled then."

The dark elf remained seated, saying, "I will send someone to contact you if there is any news."

Do you know where I live?

"I don't know yet. But I'll find out when you get home," the dark elf chuckled. "We're only tracking your whereabouts for the sake of communication efficiency, so don't worry about it."

Eric said nothing, got up and left, and the dark elf didn't try to stop him.

After leaving the private room and going downstairs, the tavern waiter Bennett personally escorted him out.

More than being polite, Eric probably worried about the old mage upstairs, who still hadn't cleaned up the broken bottle fragments he'd thrown on the ground.

“I have been instructed that from this moment on, you are the Nightingale’s honored guest,” Bennett said, handing him a black badge shaped like a feather. “If you cannot find us next time you come here, then wear this badge and wait outside the South Gate at dusk. Our people will contact you.”

Eric looked at the badge and accepted it.

"Please go slowly."

Eric turned and walked back along the dark alleyway to the main road outside.

At one point, he suddenly turned his head and glanced back at the crowd of pedestrians, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"Never mind... she's not wrong."

He ignored the people following him and continued walking towards his residence.

When Eric returned to Leslie's place, he found that Leslie had already come back and was sitting downstairs in a daze.

"Master?!"

I went out for a casual stroll.

Leslie breathed a sigh of relief. "You disappeared when I came back, it scared me so much..."

As he got closer, he suddenly sniffed, and his expression became subtle.

Eric canceled the spell that blocked his scent, only to find that he still had a distinct spice smell on him.