The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 125 Elise

Hearing the commotion, Leslie quickly got out of bed and went downstairs to see the young master helping a soaking wet woman into the room.

Behind her was a large pool of blood, the stench of which was overwhelming.

"Close the door, go upstairs and keep a close watch on the surroundings, see if anyone is following us," Eric said.

Although she didn't understand what had happened, Leslie didn't hesitate for a moment, "Yes!"

“No one… I’ve already shaken them off,” Alan said weakly.

Eric glanced at her but didn't say anything, and Leslie did as he asked.

Eric helped Alan to an empty room on the first floor and sat her on the bed. He took out the Holy Spirit pendant from his chest, held it in his hand, and placed his other hand on the wound on her back, chanting softly as he began to heal her.

A holy white light emanated from his hand, aggravating his wound. Alan shuddered, but was quickly restrained by him.

Blood had almost soaked through the back of her clothes, and it looked like she had lost a lot of blood. The wound was actually not very big, located a little below her shoulder, and was not too dangerous.

"The wound is quite deep... but if you could stab me in the back, why didn't you just aim for a vital spot?"

Despite the pain and itching from her wound healing, Alan said, "It was a dagger that was thrown at me."

"Wow, a throwing knife!"

She said nothing.

Eric continued casting his divine spells, and at one point suddenly asked, "Are they Arans?"

"..."

She remained silent for a moment before giving a barely perceptible nod.

“They think you’ve betrayed us.” Eric could easily guess what had happened to her.

“Because His Highness Eric possesses information that, under normal circumstances, no one should know,” Alan said.

“Well, that’s my fault,” Eric replied quite frankly.

She opened her mouth, then closed it again.

"Miss Alan..."

"—My name is Elise."

Eric glanced at her profile; her hair was still dripping wet. "Is this your real name?"

"Yes."

“Elise…”

Eric repeated the name, which was still relatively unfamiliar to him, twice before asking, "So, Miss Elise, have you come to me to die, or to surrender?"

Elise remained silent for even longer.

“I want to leave the city, but there are patrolling guards on the road. I don’t know if the Aran people have been classified as the same kind of demons... I don’t know where else I can go, but I don’t want to die.”

Still injured, she could only choose this place nearby.

If he lets her go once, he might let her go a second time for the same reason.

Eric laughed, "I had no idea that the person who wanted to kill me just hours ago trusted me so much."

"...If I had a choice, I would never want to hurt Prince Eric."

What's more, she didn't hurt him at all; on the contrary, he almost strangled her to death.

"Just take what you said as true."

She turned her head. "Your Highness Eric, I..."

He pressed down on her shoulder. "Don't move."

“…I really don’t want to hurt you and Eileen,” Elise continued, turning to the side.

“Hmm.” Eric simply responded, then after a moment, he realized what he meant and chuckled, “It’s pointless to say these things if you want to live.”

She turned pale.

"While the wound is still healing, we can continue our conversation from this afternoon, but before that, let me tell you about what happened to you just now."

Elise lowered her gaze and began to recount how they had parted ways in the suburbs, all the way to how she threw a dagger on her escape route and, by sheer luck, managed to trick Zachary and escape successfully. With nowhere else to go, she ended up with him.

"How long did it take you to get here from over there?" Eric suddenly asked.

Elise paused for a moment. "Not long after. I escaped from over there and came straight here to Your Highness."

She had only been there for less than ten minutes.

Eric glanced at the wound on her back; although it hadn't fully healed, it had stopped bleeding.

"Just sit here and don't move. I'll continue your treatment when I get back."

Iris looked at him. "Your Highness?"

"Whether it's the bodies of the two men you killed or the intelligence, the person you mentioned should be kept alive to deal with. I also want to try my luck at finding the outpost," Eric said.

Elise paused for a moment.

She knew perfectly well that his so-called "taking a chance" meant finding Zachary and killing him.

"In a small alley near the market in the southern district, at the entrance of the alley..."

She gave him the location, and Eric repeated it, quickly memorizing it.

"Your Highness, please be careful."

He nodded, looked at her again, and casually said, "Now you've truly betrayed them."

"..."

For a moment, her expression became quite complicated.

Eric didn't say much, telling her to stay there, then went upstairs to change into clothes that were easier to move in, and took Leslie with him as they went out.

"Young master, with such heavy rain, where are we going?"

"Go check out the market, to eliminate any potential threats for this Aranian lady and for myself. Prepare for battle."

"Yes, Master."

Under the cover of night and braving the heavy rain, the two hurried toward the area Elise had mentioned.

Leslie, who was more familiar with the area, led Eric to the location he described, the route being very clear.

“There are many small paths over there. If that person isn’t at the ‘outpost,’ it will probably be hard to find him.”

No wonder Elise was able to escape after being hit by a throwing knife.

“Let’s try our luck.” Eric wiped the rain off his face. “Even if he leaves that area, he can’t leave the city. If we can’t find him tonight, I’ll have people search the city tomorrow.”

"I understand, Master."

Because of the heavy rain, there were hardly any people on the road. The two did not linger for a moment and quickly arrived at the market in the southern district. Then they went to the place Elise had told them to go.

“The stronghold is just ahead,” Eric said in a low voice. “If he’s on this side, try to capture him alive.”

Leslie nodded and walked ahead, sword in hand.

Using the sound of the rain as cover, the two controlled their steps and slowly moved forward.

The alley was narrow, and the raindrops fell incompletely, leaving long streaks of blood on the ground that had not been washed away by the rain.

This was left behind by dragging the corpse.

The last remaining Aramean knew he couldn't escape Lutia anytime soon, so he tried his best to erase all traces and reduce the chances of being discovered.

Eric and Leslie exchanged a glance, nodded, and continued following the trail of blood.

According to Elise, they were very close to the stronghold. The two quickly covered the remaining distance and arrived at the small house in the Aran stronghold.

The door is open.

Eric fired a ball of illumination, and Leslie walked ahead, quickly scanning the room. He saw only two corpses piled on the ground and the room reeking of blood.

"Young master, there is no one alive here."

Eric followed him in, and Leslie saw everything he saw at the same time.

The house was small and sparsely furnished, practically bare. Apart from Elise, the Aran people who were undercover were clearly not living in good conditions.

"They were all people with ideals... but unfortunately, their ideals were wrong."

Eric glanced around the small, shabby house, his gaze pausing for a moment at a few wads of old clothes seemingly casually tossed together in the corner.

He picked it up and saw that there were still some bloodstains on the clothes.

Unwrapping the heavily wrapped old clothes, inside were indeed various intelligence reports meticulously compiled by Luca.

He casually flipped through a few pages, seemingly lost in thought.

Leslie, watching from the side, asked, "Young Master, what is this?"

"This is evidence that the person we're looking for is still here."

With that, Eric quickly drew his sword, walked to the two piled-up corpses, and stabbed them with his sword. The blade pierced through the first corpse and struck the "corpse" below.

"what!"

A cry of pain came from below, and the "corpse" at the bottom started to struggle.

Leslie immediately followed up with a sword strike, pinning his hand to the ground, and the screams became even more painful.

After moving the real corpse aside and stepping on the still-struggling Aran, Leslie turned to Eric, awaiting his decision.

This person probably noticed their movements while cleaning up the area, and having nowhere to escape, he thought of pretending to be a corpse to get away with it.

Unfortunately, it was too rushed, and many things were missed.

Eric thought for a moment, "Zakari?" "Elise! That bitch really did come looking for you!"

The Aramean stared at him, his eyes blazing with fury. "Bitch! Traitor! You vile thing! A disgrace to the Arameans!"

Knowing he was doomed to die today, he hurled insults at the top of his lungs, indulging in his last bit of verbal venting, and soon joined in the insults against Eric and the other imperials.

Leslie kicked him right in the face.

Eric raised an eyebrow and suddenly laughed, "Yes, thanks to her, I have all the intelligence on you Arans now."

He pulled his sword from the corpse beside him and waved it in front of Zaka. "See this? The Aran Steel Sword. It seems to be a weapon that only the guards of your Arangu King can use. She gave it to me."

Leslie glanced at him silently, while Zakari on the ground had his face flushed red and his lips trembled as he couldn't utter a word.

Eric still felt it wasn't enough; his generosity was only reserved for beautiful women.

"Of course, she also told me about your Aran people's stronghold at Lake Ser. Guess why the Lutia Defense Force made such a big commotion today?"

He crouched down and patted his face with the cold blade of the sword. "I'm going to kill your whole family!"

"Ah—ah—I'll kill you! Ah—ah—"

Zachary was finally enraged to the extreme. He roared and struggled, kicking his limbs wildly, his eyes almost bleeding from their sockets. Unfortunately, he was pinned down by Leslie, a fifth-tier warrior, and couldn't get up at all.

“Luca won’t escape either.” Eric stood up and looked outside. “The elite knights in the cathedral will probably catch him before dawn.”

"..."

Zakari, who had been struggling and roaring, suddenly fell silent, his mouth agape, staring blankly at the luminous orb above his head.

Seeing his state, Eric knew that the man was practically dead, and he wouldn't get anything out of him.

"Break his arms and legs, but don't let him die."

"Yes."

Click!

"what--"

Eric also treated Zachary's hand wound, which had been torn during the struggle, to prevent him from bleeding to death.

"Send him to the cathedral, let them watch over him, and then hand him over to the emperor. Damn it, my uncle didn't take his letters seriously at all, but now that we have witnesses, let's see if they still believe the demons are about to attack."

Leslie paused for a moment, "Young Master, what demon race?"

The chief guard still doesn't fully understand the situation.

“I’ll explain when you get back.” Eric patted himself down and pulled out something he’d brought from the convent that could prove his identity. “Just show this to them.”

"Yes."

Leslie carried the half-dead Aran man away first, while Eric stayed in the shabby hut and searched for a while longer, soon finding another Aran man's body under the bed.

On such a dark, rainy night, even a torch couldn't illuminate the entire room, and the smell of blood was extremely strong. If he hadn't known the art of illumination, he might have been fooled by that Aramean.

Eric glanced at the wound on the corpse's neck and felt a chill run down his own neck.

The other corpse had wounds on its back, either in the heart or lungs, each wound hitting a vital spot.

"A dangerous woman..."

Eric flipped through the intelligence Luca had compiled again. He had no use for it and was about to burn it, but then he thought that it was also evidence of the demons spying on the empire, so he kept it.

He just said that Luca was about to be captured, simply to provoke the Aran man. He actually had no clue where that group of people had gone.

“Alan should know… no, he should just call her Elise.”

Eric was still a little unaccustomed to changing his address.

As the rain subsided, Eric returned to his lodgings. Leslie, carrying the Aran man, had gone to the East District and hadn't returned yet.

Seeing him return alone, Elise couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

"Your Highness, your guards..."

“Don’t worry, he’s fine.” Eric put down the intelligence wrapped in old clothes. “When we got there, we caught up with your tribesman. He was trying to pretend to be a corpse to get away with it.”

Elise was still wearing her soaking wet and bloodstained clothes, looking tense. Eric glanced at her and continued, "I had Leslie break his arms and legs and send him to the cathedral. He's still useful, so we can't kill him for now."

Elise paused for a moment, then nodded in understanding.

"Is colluding with the demons a plan in which all of you Aran's descendants participated?" Eric asked again.

She nodded in agreement, then recounted how, years ago, Luca had approached them, promising to help them restore their kingdom, thus persuading several elders. From that moment on, all the Arans took this as their goal and became active throughout the continent.

“Then they have no chance of escaping,” Eric said.

Elise didn't say anything, but suddenly tears streamed down her face.

"You should be happy for them. Even if the demons come, they'll still die. But if they fall into the hands of the empire, they might have a chance to survive."

She looked up at him. "Your Highness, your Holy See already knew, didn't it?"

"What does this have to do with the Vatican?"

"Then you are..."

Eric looked at her. "If I were a saint and told you that these things were told to me by the gods, wouldn't you be more likely to believe me?"

Elise looked at him for a moment, then nodded.

"Then I will become a saint sooner or later."

She stopped talking.

Eric didn't care whether she believed him or not. He checked the wound on her back and added the final touches: "Let's get back to the previous topic. How much do you know about Luca and the others? Where might they be hiding right now?"

"I have told Your Highness everything I know."

Elise had her back to him, feeling the pain and itchiness from the healing muscles on her back. "I don't know where they'll run off to."

She paused, then said, "However, I once went with my people to their lodging in the suburbs, a roadside inn not far from Lutia... but now that I have 'betrayed' them, they probably won't go there again."

"Things happened so suddenly, it's hard to say what will happen." Eric pondered for a moment and decided to take some of the church's truly capable elites with him tomorrow to take a look.

He lowered his hand, and the wound on her back finally healed completely.

"Now it's your turn, Elise."

"...Your Highness?"

Eric looked at her. "Your injuries have healed. What are you going to do next? Go find them and die, or find a place where nobody knows you and hide?"

Elise lowered her gaze and spoke after a long while: "I am an Aran."

Eric frowned.

She continued, "Even if I no longer associate with them, I want to see the fate of the Arameans with my own eyes."

She raised her eyes. "Can Your Highness still trust me?"

Eric looked at her too. "You want to stay with me?"

Elise nodded.

"Then you've really hit the jackpot. I happen to need your help, female spy, in many situations."

"What is... a spy?"

“That’s what I do,” Eric told her not to worry. “Simply put, I need you, so I’ll protect you.”

Elise looked at him intently for a moment, then knelt down on one knee.

“From this day forward, Elise will be loyal only to Prince Eric, until… until the end of her life.”

“I don’t need slaves or servants, nor do I need you to die. You can be my follower… or, my friend.” Eric looked at her. “I don’t want Eileen to misunderstand anything, so just treat me normally.”

She was stunned for a long time when she heard Eileen's name.

Eric looked away before she could look up again. "Don't tell Eileen about your situation yet. It's too complicated. Let her focus on magic."

"I understand, Your Highness."

There was nothing else to ask for the time being. Eric told her to change into dry clothes first. Since only he and Leslie lived there and there were no women's clothes, she changed into his clothes and wore them for the time being, staying in the empty room downstairs.

After all that fuss, it was getting late. Eric was thinking about his plans for tomorrow while waiting for Leslie to return.

Around midnight, there was a commotion downstairs.

As soon as Leslie returned, she told Eric, "Archbishop Simmagus has returned."

Eric was taken aback. "He's really back?"

Leslie glanced at him, unsure which outcome the young master preferred to hear.

"Yes. But I didn't see him."

Given his status, he shouldn't have been able to see the Archbishop of Lutia in the first place.

"When did you come back?"

"It seems they returned before dark."

Eric remained silent.

When Leslie turned his head, he saw the Aran woman from before dressed in the young master's clothes, leaning against the door of the room and looking at them. He was stunned for a moment, unsure of how to address her.

"That Aran, they accepted him, didn't they?" Eric asked. "Did Sinmagg know about it?"

"I accepted it. I don't know if he knows about it."

“Then you can…” Eric stopped halfway through his sentence, “It’s okay, I’ll go to the cathedral myself tomorrow.”

He needs to find out whether Sinmagu, who has been missing for most of the day, has actually seen Luca.

(End of this chapter)