The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 113 Frequent Contact

Alan chatted with Eileen in her room until three or four in the afternoon before saying goodbye and leaving. Eric then walked out of the academy with her.

"Can Your Highness Eric trust me now?"

Eric looked at her and asked, "When did I ever not trust Miss Alan?"

Alan rolled his eyes at him.

Eric smiled, unconcerned. "If the Aran people ever succeed in restoring their kingdom and the empire falls, I'll still be hoping Miss Aran can protect Eileen."

Alan looked at him and felt that he seemed to be joking, but he didn't seem to be joking at all.

She didn't pick up on that topic, but instead said, "Your Highness came so quietly this time. The cathedral didn't receive a single word. Even though you are still a prospective saintess, you should still have the ceremonial regalia of a saintess when you travel."

"Her Highness did have this plan before I left, but I don't like to be high-profile, so I came alone. Not to mention your Lutia Cathedral, there are still quite a few people in the Saintess Convent who don't know that I have left."

Alan smiled. "Your Highness is indeed quite different from ordinary nobles."

She paused for a moment and asked, "Is the promise I made with Your Highness two years ago still valid?"

“Of course,” Eric nodded. “I won’t interfere in your Aranian affairs…”

“The Arans would not willingly become enemies with Your Highness,” Aran continued. “Your Highness is the future saintess, and I truly cherish a friend with such a bright future as you.”

The two smiled at each other like friends.

Once outside the academy, Eric mounted his horse, and Alan followed suit, putting his arm around Eric's waist and letting his hands wander around him. "It's been two years since we last met, and Your Highness's body feels even better to the touch."

Eric held her hand down. "It's better if our relationship stays at the level of ordinary friends."

"Ugh, what is Your Highness saying?" Alan suddenly opened his mouth.

Eric shuddered, then swung the reins, "Giddy up!"

They rode back to the city. The cathedral was in the eastern part of the city, and Eric took Alan there directly, but they didn't go in. They stopped at the entrance of the block.

Horse racing is not allowed inside.

Eric looked inside. In "The Thorn Soul Crown," this entire neighborhood had been destroyed by Eileen, and he didn't know which building belonged to the Sophie family, also known as the Horn family.

"Is this your first time here, Your Highness Eric?" Alan asked as he dismounted.

"Yes."

Eric had assumed she was familiar with the area and was about to ask her a question, but he held back before he could speak.

Although he was now fairly certain that she meant no harm to Eileen, there was no need to reveal too much to her.

“Miss Alan, would you like to go to the countryside for the Demon Exorcism Anniversary in a few days? I can take you with me,” Eric invited.

Alan thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "Since Your Highness has invited me, it would be impolite to refuse. I can only accept."

The two parted ways there, and Eric turned his horse around and rode away.

Alan kept watching until his figure disappeared before turning around and walking inside.

Meanwhile, Eric returned to his lodgings, but Leslie had not yet returned. It was unclear whether she was still dealing with the alchemical materials or had already sold them all and returned the carriage to the inn.

He tied the horse in the yard and was about to open the gate when he suddenly sensed something and turned around to look.

On the other side of the road, in a corner, a figure wearing a hood and a long robe was looking this way. When he turned his head, the figure did not leave but walked over instead.

Eric stared at the other person, and only when they got closer did he realize that it was a dark elf wearing a veil.

"The news you've been following has new developments today. 'Mother' requests that you come over there, to the usual place."

Judging from her voice, she's a female elf, and quite young at that.

Eric was taken aback at first, then realized: this was one of Nightingale's people.

Has Simagu made a move?
"Kingfisher Tavern?"

The dark elf nodded, glanced around, and turned to leave.

Eric thought for a moment and decided to go there now.

Eric led his horse out again and headed towards the Kingfisher Tavern, only to soon run into the dark elf who was hurrying back with his head down.

This outfit is so suspicious in broad daylight...

Eric couldn't help but shake his head as he looked at the dark elf who practically had "I'm not a decent person" written all over his face.

He guessed she was probably just a low-level rookie in the Nightingale guild, only good for running errands and delivering messages; she might even be the one who had been following him a few days ago. Eric spurred his horse forward, called out, and the dark elf was visibly startled, stepping aside to the side of the road. She only stopped when she looked up and saw it was him.

"If you need to go back to the Kingfisher Tavern, I can give you a ride."

The dark elf glanced around, then tucked his face into his hood. "No need..."

Rejected, Eric ignored her, flicked the reins, and continued on his way to the Kingfisher Tavern.

When he got to the vicinity, he found a place to tie his horse and then walked to the alley where the tavern was located.

It was around four or five in the afternoon, the sun was about to set but hadn't yet, and there weren't many people in the tavern. Eric pushed open the door and went in, but he couldn't hear anything inside.

The waiter, Bennett, was still waiting at the door. When he saw Eric, he thought for a moment and remembered him. He smiled and said, "You've come early today."

“Your people sent me a message saying that ‘Mom’ is looking for me and has news to tell me,” Eric said.

Bennett suddenly realized, "So Clara went to deliver a message to you."

"Clara, that dark elf?"

"That's right. She just started this year and has no experience. If you ask her to steal something, she might lose herself. Right now, we're just letting her do errands and deliver messages."

Bennett then remembered something, "When you came last time, you said you were looking for her, which really startled me."

Eric chuckled, wondering how those two con men on the main road had gotten involved with such a rookie Nightingale.

"I accidentally said a few more words. Please come with me."

Eric followed Bennett upstairs to the same room he had visited before. This time, he didn't use magic to block out smells, so he could smell a strong aroma of spices as soon as he entered.

He cast a spell at the door before going inside, where the dark elf known as "Mother" was lying on the bed, seemingly asleep.

Eric coughed and slowly stood up. "It's not even dark yet, and you've already come. It seems you really care about that high priest."

“This is the job I hired you guys for. Now that there’s some progress, I have to come over immediately.” Eric stood at a distance. “Speak.”

The dark elf didn't mince words and went straight to what he wanted to hear: "This morning, the palace sent someone to the cathedral. Before noon, Simmagu left the cathedral and went to the palace to see the emperor."

Eric paused for a moment, "The Emperor summoned Simmagu?"

"Yes."

His interest immediately waned. Xinmagu was the high priest, and it was perfectly normal for the emperor to summon him.

But seeing that the dark elf was still looking at him, Eric quickly realized that she had something else to say: "You can also find out what's going on inside the palace?"

“Money is the key to opening doors, sir,” the dark elf chuckled. “There’s no door that money can’t open; if there is, it’s just that you haven’t spent enough money.”

"How much money do I need to pay for this information?"

The dark elf raised a finger.

“We judged this information to be of little value and originally intended to give it to you for free, but since you insisted on paying for it, we can only reluctantly accept one gold coin from you. You are truly the most respectful person to us intelligence gatherers.”

"..."

Eric pulled out a Charon. "Speak."

"The Emperor invited Xinmagu to the exorcism commemoration celebration to be held in the suburbs in a few days, but he declined." The dark elf put away the gold coins and looked at him. "Just like every year."

As expected, it wasn't worth much, and Eric started to feel bad about his money.

"Don't even mention it, we also feel it's a great pity." The dark elf sighed. "If Sinmagg were willing to leave the city, you would have had a chance to make your move, and that would have made this news valuable."

This dark elf still believes that the Holy See is planning to take action against Sinmagg and is using this as an excuse to constantly test the waters—information from any source is valuable to them.

Eric ignored her and thought for a moment before saying, "If there's any news of this magnitude in the future, just have someone give me a message."

The dark elf probably also felt it was inconvenient for him to come over so often, and said, "Then let Clara contact you privately from now on. You should have met the child. She's not very bright, but this kind of small matter shouldn't be a problem."

Eric had no objections and then left.

Just as they left the tavern, the errand girl, the dark elf girl who had run errands, Clara, returned to their side.

"Let's keep in touch," Eric said as they passed each other.

Clara stood there blankly, while he disappeared around the corner of the alley without turning his head.

(End of this chapter)