The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 172 Dusk
The day after Eric left Tallinn, Molly and Elise, escorted by church knights, also set off for Lutia.

They weren't in a hurry, so when Eric arrived in Lessée, they were still on their way.

"Did you and Eric come this way?"

"Yes, but we were both riding horses."

Inside the carriage, Elise sighed, "Those two Lille warhorses were bought in Lutia, costing a lot of money, and now they're just left in North Town."

Molly glanced at the small window in front of her and whispered, "Could the people at the church do us a favor for Eric's sake? They could sell it directly or send it to Lutia on horseback."

Elise thought for a moment, "If he were to handle it himself, he would most likely choose to donate the two horses directly to the knights of the Northtown Church."

Molly pouted, "Your Highness is truly wealthy and powerful..."

"Anyway, we're not short of money."

"It's not that we lack it..."

"These material possessions are enough, that's what Eric said."

"I really envy the confidence of someone who has family assets to back them up even after squandering all their money."

Elise glared at her.

Molly stuck her tongue out at her, then leaned closer to the small window. "Where are we now?"

The driver replied, "We've arrived in Grandia."

How far are we from Lutia?

"It will take another two or three days."

“Okay.” Molly sat back down and looked at Elise across from her. “It’ll be another two or three days.”

“I heard you.” Elise lay down. “I didn’t expect to be back there so soon. When I left, I thought I would never go back.”

"It's been more than half a year, is that fast?"

"If you were to go back to Castelfell now, would you feel like you've been here a long time?"

"Hmm... okay, I understand how you feel."

Molly lay down too.

Elise turned her head to look at her, her gaze then falling on her own long silver hair.

"I hope this won't cause me any trouble..." she murmured.

The Arameans remain the targets of expulsion in Lutia, and Eric will shield her from all difficulties before they leave.

“Going into the city with these church knights shouldn’t cause any trouble, right?” Molly overheard her whisper.

“I hope so,” Elise said.

If all else fails, she can simply not go into the city; the magic academy is just outside the city, and she can go find Eileen there.

"When we get to Lutia, would you like to visit the Lutia Magic Academy?" she asked Molly.

“Hmm? Sure.” Molly nodded quickly. “Although I haven’t studied magic at the academy where I’m from, I do know a thing or two about it, so this will be a good opportunity to compare.”

“Eric’s sister, Eileen, studies magic there. She’s also my friend, but she’s a true magical genius,” Elise said meaningfully.

Molly glared at her and snorted.

The carriage continued forward, and the two people inside chatted idly until it stopped.

Both of them were already drowsy, but Elise was still somewhat awake. She sat up and looked outside, finding that it was already dark and the carriage was parked in the area where the inns were located along the main road.

In His Highness Eric's words, this is called a service area.

After waking Molly, the two got out of the carriage. The knights said they would rest at a nearby church, so Elise didn't bother with them.

The two found an inn to rest for the night, and when they woke up the next day, the church knights were already waiting for them by the carriage.

"lets go."

Once back on the carriage, Molly leaned against the window and watched for a while. The scenery rushed past on both sides, and under the rising sun, the thin mist in the woods on both sides of the road was dissipating.

She just looked at it and felt a warm feeling spreading through her body.

"The weather is really nice today."

"Hmm." Elise also looked out the window. "I wonder how the weather is where Eric is."

The weather is just as sunny in Lessier, Tebuniti.

However, when Eric went outside, he found that it was still a bit windy.

“The wind is very light in the yard,” Alena said. “Once the wind outside calms down, the wind inside will basically stop.”

Eric looked up at the sky. "I hope so."

It's still morning; the wind will eventually stop throughout the day.

The saintess was clearly not in as good condition as yesterday, but she was better than when Eric had just returned the day before yesterday. When he came over to greet her, she was able to raise her hand in response.

"It's a beautiful day today."

"Yes, but it's still a bit windy outside."

"Is it serious?" the old man asked, looking at him and seeking his opinion.

“It’s very important.” Eric took her hand. “Let’s wait, maybe the wind will stop by noon.”

The saint looked out the window again.

"Eric."

"I'm here, Your Highness."

"Have you finished telling your story?"

"...It will be soon, Your Highness."

“I don’t want to hear it now.” The saintess looked at him. “You’ve been back for two or three days now, and you haven’t even gone to greet His Holiness the Pope yet.”

"No."

“Go now.” The saint patted the back of his hand. “You’ve been out for more than half a year, and you’ve become wild. Don’t forget the proper etiquette.”

Eric looked at her silently.

The old man smiled. "I'm not so weak that I can't even hold on for a little while. Go on."

Eric had no choice but to get up and leave. Before leaving the room, he repeatedly reminded the nun serving him with his eyes that the saint's condition was not right and that she should come and inform him immediately.

Eric changed into a more formal suit in his room, and only Alena and Sophie followed him as they crossed the Piazza della Signoria and arrived at the Papal Palace.

The Pope is not someone you can just see whenever you want; the three of them waited for a while in the grand palace.

"Do you come here often?" Eric asked.

“I come here occasionally,” Alena said.

He nodded, then suddenly remembered something, "How did the monastery arrange the thanksgiving prayers last year?"

Alena glanced at him and immediately thought of the earlier thanksgiving prayer, but seeing that his expression was normal, she realized that she was overthinking it.

"Because Her Highness was not present, Her Highness ultimately asked Sophie to pray on her behalf at the Holy Mountain Cathedral for one night."

"So it was you who went up there."

Eric looked at Sophie, "Why didn't you tell me when you wrote the letter?"

Sophie blushed, lowered her head, and stammered, "There's nothing much to say."

Alena, standing to the side, hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.

“What happened?” Eric asked.

The two nuns exchanged a glance, their expressions differing.

Sophie quickly lowered her head, indicating her compromise, and Alena then spoke: "Sophie fell asleep. She was still woken up by the knights and nuns the next morning."

Eric grinned. "Wouldn't that be incredibly embarrassing?"

Sophie was embarrassed and annoyed. She glared at him and then turned her face away.

"It's my fault. This was originally my responsibility."

"No la……"

Just then, a monk hurried up to the three of them and bowed to Eric.

“Your Highness Eric, His Majesty is currently in the tower. Please come up.”

Eric bowed slightly. "Please lead the way, monk."

The three followed the monk through half of the Papal Palace and arrived at the magical floating staircase beneath the Papal Tower. The monk stopped at the entrance and invited the three to go up.

Upon arriving at the room at the top of the tower, Pope Clement XI, who already knew that Eric was coming to see him, did not see anyone else.

Upon meeting Eric, His Holiness the Pope first inquired about the saint's condition.

“The gates of the Kingdom of God are almost open, yet Your Highness still has some attachment to the mortal world,” Eric replied.

King Clement XI didn't say much, only instructing him to prepare himself—to prepare for the passing of the saintess and to prepare to succeed her.

He then asked Eric about his travels and experiences over the past six months.

Eric estimated that the Pope already knew about his plans six months ago, before he even left Leslie. The claim of a secret departure only applied to the ordinary nuns and monks.

He mentioned a few key things, such as the demon hunters outside Lutia City.

His Holiness the Pope's attitude was somewhat subtle; he neither inquired about the cause nor the aftermath, only stating that it was indeed too risky for him to personally participate in the battle. Eric indicated that the Virgin Mary had also reprimanded him in the same way, and that he would be more careful in the future.

The Pope then stated that if it weren't for his status as the successor to the sainthood, he might have allowed him to take over the entire Knights Apostolic of Lessée, as he could see his talent in this area.

Eric was flattered, but he didn't take it seriously at all—it was impossible anyway.

Perhaps because of the saint, he always felt that Pope Sergio VI was more sincere. In the past, when he routinely visited the old pope, the old man would always talk to him about topics that, while not very meaningful, made them both feel relaxed, and never engaged in such empty talk.

After spending most of the morning at the Papal Tower, before Eric left, the Pope said that if he could find the time in the next day or two, he would visit the saint at the monastery again.

Eric bowed and said, "I will convey His Majesty's message to Your Highness."

The Pope said no more.

Backing away from the room at the top of the tower, Eric looked at Sophie and Alena, who hadn't spoken all morning, and silently breathed a sigh of relief.

Sophie almost burst out laughing, but quickly managed to hold it in.

After descending from the Papal Tower and leaving the Papal Palace, Eric spoke only after reaching the square outside: "Is there any problem with the etiquette?"

He was asking about Alena.

The latter shook his head, "Even if the Holy Maiden were to accompany you, Your Highness would not be able to find fault with your manners."

Eric suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Alena and Sophie also stopped and looked at him.

He closed his eyes and sensed for a moment before saying, "There's no wind anymore."

"Yes."

Alena squinted at the sky. "The sun is quite high now, so the saintess can come out."

Back at the monastery, Eric went to see the saint. The old woman was lying in bed and woke up after a while.

"Is Your Highness tired?"

The saint didn't speak, but slowly blinked, and Eric suddenly felt uneasy.

"Your Highness..."

"You went to see His Majesty... Did he say anything?" The old woman's spirits gradually lifted, and she even asked him to help her up.

Eric helped the saint up. "His Majesty asked me about my experiences over the past six months and said he would come to visit Your Highness the day after tomorrow."

The old man gave a cold laugh and said nothing more.

Eric understood what she meant.

After sitting for a while, the saintess looked out the window. "Eric, is it still windy outside?"

“The wind has died down, Your Highness.” He looked at the old man. “If you would like to go out and bask in the sun, now is a good time.”

The saintess nodded. "Go out."

She added, "I'm in a wheelchair, and you're pushing me."

"Yes, Your Highness."

The wheelchair was already prepared. Eric lifted the saintess onto it and was about to push her out when he noticed the old man turning his head to look at something.

Eric stopped. "Your Highness?"

The saintess glanced at her room one last time, shook her head, and said nothing.

Eric continued to push the wheelchair out of the hut and into the courtyard.

In February, the weather was still a bit cold, but the sun was strong and the direct sunlight felt warm on people.

There was no wind in the courtyard. Eric pushed his wheelchair slowly through the monastery, and the nuns who passed by stopped to bow to the two lords.

"Eric..."

"Your Highness."

"Go on with your story."

Eric then continued recounting his adventure, picking up where he left off the previous night.

"Carrying that cartload of grey-patterned mithril, we crossed the border and returned to Dorne. We encountered some bandits along the way, but they weren't very strong and were easy to deal with. After a day or two, we returned to Tallinn and found the elven master craftsman..."

Eric spoke as he slowly pushed the wheelchair forward.

The old woman in the wheelchair spoke less and less, as if she were asleep, but whenever Eric stopped, she would let him continue, saying that she was listening.

Perhaps because everyone knew that the prospective saintess was pushing the saintess around the courtyard, the entire monastery was quieter than ever before.

No one disturbed them, and the followers were dismissed by the saintess—although Alena still kept a distance of more than ten meters from them—the only sounds in the courtyard besides Eric's voice were the slow rolling of the wheelchair.

The sunlight gradually slanted, adding a touch of gold, but also gradually losing its warmth.

There are more shadows now.

"...With the most sincere piety, we placed the remains of the convert back before the statue of Yela, and then withdrew from the underground cathedral. Upon returning to the surface, we received a decree from His Highness, brought by a church knight, summoning me back to Leslie."

Eric stopped. "Your Highness, my story is finished. There's hardly any sun in the courtyard anymore, let's go back to the hut."

The saint opened her eyes, looked at him for a while, then looked up at the sky, which seemed to be covered with a layer of egg liquid, and opened her lips.

Eric immediately leaned closer and heard her say, "Bring...bring the Toulouse family files...let me take another look."

Eric called Alena, who was following behind, and asked her to go to the Tower of Saintess to retrieve the files.

He tried to push the saintess back into her room, but the old man stopped him, saying he wanted to stay outside a little longer.

As she spoke, her voice became clearer.

“Eric… From birth to death, I have been lucky in my life… I enjoyed the wealth of the Toulouse family from birth, and for more than sixty years as the successor to the saintess, I have been bathed in the glory of God. Even when I was old and about to die, I did not suffer much… I am already very satisfied.”

“Yela has always been watching over you and has never been stingy with her blessings,” Eric said in a hoarse voice. “When you return to God’s Kingdom, you will enjoy eternal happiness like the old Pope.”

The saintess smiled, looked at the successor with tears in his eyes, and squeezed his hand.

“I just feel sorry for you, my good child. Eric, I have always believed you. The demons will march south, and the continent will soon be in chaos. I have always avoided this before, but now I want to take some of the burden for you... But the time has come to hand this heavy responsibility over to you.”

Eric managed to utter, "It's my responsibility."

The saint shook her head, as if she wanted to say something, but then swallowed it back and said instead, "Trust your own choice."

Eric nodded, and as he wavered, a single tear seemed to lighten the weight of his heavy head.

A short while later, Alena rushed over with the Toulous family's files, which were things the saintess often looked through and could find quickly.

"Your Highness..."

Upon receiving it, the old man did not start reading from the beginning as usual, but instead flipped through the pages backwards from the newly added sections.

She had practically worn out this family file; she hadn't touched it for over a month. She could spot any minor additions or changes at a glance, and the rest was all familiar content.

“When I was a teenager, I came to Lessier… A few months later, I became a saintess, and the first thing I looked at was the Toulouse family’s records… Seeing the words ‘saintess’ added before my name, I dreamed about it for half a month.”

The old man slowly flipped through the files in his hands. "At that time, I didn't realize that it would be the last time I appeared in the family files... I also never thought that my life would be longer than my father, mother, and sister combined."

Eric didn't know what to say, and the saintess didn't need his response. She simply lowered her head and flipped through the files slowly, as if each page she turned could evoke memories, whether clear or vague.

As the sun began to set, the courtyard was no longer bathed in sunlight.

Eric slowly pushed his wheelchair, trying to catch the lingering, waning sunlight that hadn't yet fully climbed the high wall.

"..."

Morvina Toulouse saw her name again.

She raised her hand, her fingertips slowly tracing over the words, first covering the first name, then the last name.

An indescribable chill suddenly enveloped me.

She looked up and found that the slanting setting sun had already passed over the high wall of the courtyard and could no longer fall on her.

“It’s a bit cold…” Morvina said, but the young heir pushing the cart behind her didn’t seem to hear her.

She waited for a while, and it seemed less cold afterward.

She looked down and found that the text on the file was no longer legible.

Everything around us dimmed.

Nothing has become meaningful anymore.

The file fell to the ground with a thud.

Eric stopped his wheelchair, picked up the Toulouse family's files, and said, "Your Highness."

The old man had his eyes closed, as peaceful as if he had simply fallen asleep.

Eric held her hand and felt no pulse, only a silent, icy coldness.

"...Your Highness?"

He opened his mouth, his teeth chattering.

The cold enveloped us from all directions, and an uncontrollable shiver spread throughout my body.

Boom--boom--

Before nightfall, the heavy tolling of bells echoed throughout the holy city.

Continuous and uninterrupted.

The contemporary saint, Morvina Toulouse, has ended her long journey on earth and returned to the embrace of the gods.

(End of this chapter)