The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 163 Mutual Benefit
"Look! This is armor from the Third Kingdom! Even Lutia couldn't find many sets of ancient kingdom armor as complete as this!"

"This is a standard-issue battle sword from the same period or even earlier! It's still sharp today!"

Young Master Boas excitedly showed the others in the tavern the spoils of his adventure and generously announced that he would cover all the expenses for the day. They could simply call out "Brave Mr. Boas!" when ordering and the bill would be on him.

"The valiant Mr. Boas!"

Everyone looked at Eric, who had been the first to utter those words.

He raised his glass in a gesture of greeting to young Master Boas, then glanced at all the onlookers in the tavern.

There were fewer averted gazes than before, and some people even raised their glasses to toast him.

Of course, prejudices are never completely eliminated.

"This kid has been completely outmaneuvered by Eric..."

"That's three times already, and he's come out alive and well, making a fortune. Why hasn't Eric taken any action against him yet?"

"This……"

"Maybe Eric really is a good person?"

"Look at what you're saying! So my brother's a bad guy? He almost got killed by Eric!"

"Hey, your brother owes me three gold coins and hasn't shown up since. Thanks to Eric, this silly young master has bought me drinks three times already. It's really hard to say who's the good guy and who's the bad guy."

"you……"

Amidst cries of "Heroic Mr. Boas," Max's tavern quickly became noisy.

Eric raised his glass and approached Boas, clinking it against his. After listening to the latter excitedly chatter on for a while, Eric finally said, "Young Master Boas, we should start preparing for our next expedition."

Boas's expression hardened. "This...so fast...we just got back today?"

"We must strike while the iron is hot. To be honest, we've only been dabbling so far, and your reputation hasn't even reached the ancient battlefield. If you want your family in Lutia, especially your father, to hear about your heroic deeds, you have to keep taking risks, discovering more treasures, and challenging more powerful undead."

His words, mixed with alcohol, were the best stimulant. Boas's eyes lit up and his cheeks burned. "Then you should make the arrangements, Eric."

"it is good."

Eric smiled and then loudly announced that young master Boas was preparing for his next adventure and needed some more powerful adventurers as teammates. Anyone interested could come and find him.

The tavern was quiet for a short while, but it was soon filled with noise again, with whispers and discussions in every corner.

Eric glanced around and, seeing no one responding, returned to his table, where only he, Molly, and Elise were present.

Molly had already collapsed.

“That silly young master is completely fooled by you,” Elise said.

“It’s just a mutually beneficial arrangement.” Eric put down his glass. “He wants fame, I want combat experience. We help each other without harming each other. Is there a more perfect cooperation than this?”

Elise rested her chin on her hand. "But he risked his life with us at every turn, and he almost died several times."

"He was just being foolish and insisted on fighting the ghoul one-on-one... But I definitely won't let him die before I reach the seventh rank."

Eric said, glancing at the almost untouched glass in front of her, "Are you still drinking?"

Elise paused, then shook her head.

He took the glass and drank it all in one gulp.

She felt her cheeks getting hot. "I think you're getting a little too excited too..."

Eric just smiled and got up to leave.

After staring at his back for a while, Elise beckoned to a waiter to fill her glass, then picked it up and took a small sip.

"You still say you don't like him..."

"..."

Her hand trembled, and she looked at Molly, who was slumped on the table, her head slightly raised, revealing half of her face, her eyes glazed with drunkenness.

She pretended not to hear what she had just said and said, "I'll take you back to your hotel."

“No… I can have a little more.” She reached for her glass.

When Eric turned around, he saw Elise holding up her cup, while Molly reached out her hand, chasing and dodging like she was teasing a kitten.

After glancing at it a few times, he looked away and then at the silent middle-aged soldier in front of him.

"What do you think?"

"Do you really need me? I see you already have enough warriors." The middle-aged warrior looked at the young master's guards who were sitting at two whole tables.

"Their strongest members are only at the fifth rank. They rely on numbers, but their individual combat strength is still quite different from yours."

Eric raised his hand and called over a tavern waiter, pouring him another large glass of wine. "When venturing deeper into the ruined city, the key to a successful team is quality, not quantity. Too many members would only be a burden. They will stay on the outskirts as backup; you and I will be the main force for exploration."

The middle-aged soldier remained silent for a while, then said, "But I can't take that risk. My family still needs me to support them..."

"—One hundred gold coins. Just nod your head, and I can give it to you right now."

Eric was too lazy to waste words and just threw money at it. Anyway, the gold coins came quickly and in large quantities, so he didn't feel bad at all. "After we come out of the ancient battlefield, I will give you another hundred gold coins. This part is not included in the equally divided spoils."

"..."

This huge sum of money stunned the middle-aged soldier, leaving him speechless for a long time. Then, just as Eric was about to turn and leave, the soldier grabbed him and said, "I promise you!"

“Next time, be more decisive.” Eric tossed the money bag aside and continued searching for his next target in the crowd.

Through verbal persuasion and substantial financial investment, and more importantly, by leading Boas and his group through three incursions into the ancient battlefield to restore their immense reputation, Eric assembled a carefully selected elite adventure team in a single night.

"We'll set off tomorrow morning," he announced, indicating the time for re-entering the ancient battlefield.

"Tomorrow? Isn't that too soon?" someone commented. "Everyone's had quite a bit to drink."

"Our destination is a ruined city deep within the ancient battlefield, and the journey will take quite some time. This will give us a good chance to sober up." Eric didn't back down, and only after speaking did he look at Boas, "Right, young master Boas?"

The latter, supported by a guard, was so drunk he could barely keep his eyes open. "I'll listen to you... I'll listen to you."

"Alright. Meet here at 10 a.m. tomorrow. If you're late, you'll have to return my money, or I'll definitely hunt you down."

The group looked at each other, then all said they would meet on time.

Eric then smiled. "Then everyone should get some rest. See you tomorrow."

The team members dispersed, and Eric and his two companions returned to their hotel. Molly tried to pull him away, wanting to say something, but Elise dragged her back to her room.

After a while, she came out of Molly's room and saw that his door was open, so she went back in and chatted with him for a few minutes.

"Are you sure there won't be any problems? We didn't get much rest this time before going in again."

"If by rest you mean lying in a hotel doing nothing."

Eric took off his light armor. "When we retreated from the ruined city, we were already resting. Besides, the main force this time was recruited again after we returned. They have rested long enough."

"And what about you?" Elise asked in return. She and Molly weren't under much pressure and were quite energetic.

“Don’t forget, I am a prospective saintess of the Holy See; I have plenty of ways to restore my energy,” Eric said.

"I almost forgot if you hadn't mentioned it..."

He stood by the window, the moonlight illuminating the muscle lines revealed after he removed his light armor. Elise stood there for a moment, then slowly exhaled, "I'm going to rest."

"Good night."

Eric secretly breathed a sigh of relief as he watched her close the door and leave.

He almost couldn't resist asking her to stay, and she would definitely have agreed; he was just prepared for the physical intimacy.

It's not that I can't control myself when I drink too much, it's that I don't want to control myself at all...

Eric shook his head, cleared his mind, went to bed, and closed his eyes.

Night and day alternated several times, and when another day came, he was already in the ruins of the city, standing on the only remaining mage tower, looking down at the many undead wandering below.

"It's been a whole night, and it's still not all gone?"

Along with him came another agile teammate, in addition to Elise.

“The actions of these undead are random and difficult to predict accurately.” Eric looked further into the distance. “If there are still so many undead blocking the main roads by noon, I will lead them away, and you will move out as soon as possible.”

The new teammate quickly nodded, not only out of trust, but also because Elise indicated she wanted to go with him. "We'll see."

The three returned to the ruins below the mage tower, where the other teammates were hiding.

"How is it?" Boas asked.

Eric shook his head.

He couldn't help but worry, "I really shouldn't have left all my guards outside. If there were more people, we wouldn't have to worry about being surrounded."

“We wouldn’t have gotten here then,” Eric said, then added reassuringly, “Don’t worry, Master Boas, these undead are no threat to us right now, they’re just blocking our way.”

Boas still had a lot of faith in him. "Then it's up to you, Eric."

Eric smiled and looked at the others. "It depends on everyone."

By noon, some of the undead outside had dispersed, but many ghouls were still lingering around the ruins.

Eric climbed the mage tower again, observed for a while, and confirmed that there weren't many other undead on the two selected routes. Then he had his teammates begin to move.

He rushed out first, making a commotion to attract the attention of the undead, and then ran to the other side.

At his command, Elise did not follow, but instead moved with her teammates toward the designated objective.

"Quick, quick!"

In terms of practical experience, the young nobleman Boas was the least experienced in the entire team. However, he was not weak in terms of strength, having reached the fifth rank. He was also quite agile in action, and at least he did not hold the team back this time.

Molly had spent more than half a year with Eric and Elise on the ancient battlefield. Although she wasn't as agile, there was no need to worry about her making foolish mistakes.

The entire squad moved in unison and quickly moved to the target building, which was in a dilapidated state.

This is the location Eric chose. It looks dilapidated on the outside, but the interior is relatively well-preserved. However, it's hard to say whether it has been explored.

The group divided the tasks: two warriors immediately kept watch over the surroundings, Molly, Boas, and another teammate searched the building for any undead that might be hiding there, as well as the entrance to the interior, while Elise climbed to a high place and looked in the direction Eric had left.

A moment later, she saw Eric, his face glowing with golden light, rushing towards her from afar, his speed far exceeding that of her wood elf mentor.

The blade of his sword was stained with blood, indicating that he had been in another battle.

Elise first breathed a sigh of relief, then frowned.

He could have just been lured away, but he always insists on getting involved in the fight at these times, saying things like, "Why not take advantage of all this experience?"

After the New Year, he became increasingly obsessed with improving his skills.

A short while later, Eric ran over and saw Elise keeping watch above, so he knew that nothing was wrong on their end either.

Upon entering the ruins, Molly and her companions found the entrance to the interior of the building and were working on deciphering it.

"This iron gate is so heavy, and I don't even know how thick it is. It's probably impossible to force our way through," one of the soldiers said.

“I recognize the patterns on this; it’s one of the mainstream patterns from the Second Kingdom period.”

Young nobleman Boas stroked the patterns on the iron gate, saying, "Although it's vulgar to talk about money at this time, this historic iron gate can fetch at least five or six thousand gold coins if it's transported to Lutia."

Talking about money is not vulgar at all...

The others silently thought to themselves that at least most of the people present were there for the money.

"I'm sorry, young master Boas, we can't possibly move this thing."

Eric walked to the iron gate, touched it a couple of times, and turned around, saying, "Let's look around. There must be a mechanism nearby that can open this gate."

The group split up to search for the mechanism, and Elise jumped down from above, landing next to Eric.

"Can't you find it?" she asked in a low voice.

Eric didn't speak, but instead raised an eyebrow at her.

"..."

He knew where the headquarters was.

Just as Elise was about to say something, Molly leaned in and said, "You definitely know where it is, stop being so mysterious."

Eric lowered his voice: "It's really dangerous inside. We can't give them any easy false impressions. We have to keep them careful and focused, especially that young nobleman. We need to hold them off for a while longer."

Molly glanced at him sideways. "You said yesterday that time was precious."

"Yes, precious time should be wasted in moments like these."

The female sorceress was speechless, and then went around to another place pretending to look for a mechanism.

“You go up and keep watch,” Eric said to Elise, “to see if any undead cavalry approach.”

“Hmm.” Elise returned to her high position, stared outside for a while, then looked inside. Eric pretended to walk around a few times below, finally stopping in front of the iron gate. He flipped up a paving stone and found the mechanism to open the door.

"Come and see, this looks like a trap."

Elise wanted to laugh.

However, the sound of the iron gate rising exceeded everyone's expectations. The rumbling noise continued, seemingly shaking the entire building.

Elise, who was on higher ground, was even more uneasy, because she had seen a group of small ghouls wandering around nearby, and normally they wouldn't notice this place.

Eric noticed this as well, raised the iron gate to a height where people could bend down and pass through, then stopped the mechanism and let the group go in quickly.

"Elise, come down quickly," Molly called to Elise, who was on top.

She glanced around one last time to make sure no undead were approaching before climbing down.

The two of them squeezed through the heavy iron gate one after the other. Just as they were about to pass through, Molly turned to Eric and asked, "Why aren't you coming over yet?"

She bent over, the loose collar of her robe almost completely open, revealing...

Light armor that fits snugly against the skin.

"Here it comes." Eric's gaze skipped over the sliver of skin visible beneath the light armor, covered the floor, and slipped through the iron door. He then groped around on the other side of the floor, found the mechanism inside, and controlled it to bring the iron door down again.

The rumbling sound worried Boas. "Is it necessary? Only we should be able to get here."

"It's necessary," was the unanimous reply from the other team members.

They exchanged glances, and one of them continued, "If we don't close this door, there might be a whole team of adventurers lying in ambush outside. They'll strike when we're least alert and kill us all."

The others nodded in agreement, and Eric didn't say anything, but the glances he received from one or two of his teammates hurt him a little.

Clearly, according to the rumors circulating outside, he was the kind of person who would ambush and kill other adventurers.

Although these teammates were people he had chosen all night and who trusted him relatively well.

Trust takes time to build, he thought, and this expedition was the best proof of that.

This is the entrance, and ahead lies a dark corridor. Eric cast a ball of illumination and turned to say, "Watch your step. According to some records I stumbled upon, this is the site of some ancient kingdom..."

“It is the Second Kingdom of Serai,” Boas added.

"...It's a library that was originally built during the Second Kingdom of Serai. There shouldn't be too many undead wandering inside, but the mages of the ancient kingdom left behind quite a few magical traps before they left, so we must be extremely careful."

Eric explained the details of the dungeon to his teammates as thoroughly as possible, based on his memory of it.

“There are three levels, and we will explore them step by step. My intuition tells me that the higher we go, the more dangerous it will be. Follow me. Don’t be greedy. What is rightfully ours will not run away, but coveting what is beyond our capabilities will only lead to the deaths of everyone.”

The adventurers became serious, at least on the surface, and it soon turned out that Eric's caution was not an exaggeration at all.

Countless azure arrows shot in from all directions, constantly striking the magical shield that Eric had raised with his left hand. They exploded, shattered, and roared, completely drowning out his incessant cursing of his mother and ancestors.

"I told you not to fucking touch me, but you wouldn't listen to me..."

Boas, who was tightly protected within the shield, was completely terrified.

Finally, the light arrows triggered by the mechanism stopped before the shield shattered.

"Alright, I've run out of my only means of survival."

Silence returned to the ruins. Eric's face had returned to calm as he watched his teammates escape to the other side of the passage, and his tone became peaceful.

“If this trap is triggered again, I can only watch you die, Master Boas. But you can rest assured that your body will not remain here as an immortal. I will send your whole body back to Lutia for the family to remember you.”

(End of this chapter)