The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 179 Expectation
After entering April, the weather became much warmer.

Looking at the azure sky, Alena recalled that it was around this time last year that the near-saint Eric quietly left Lessier to go on an adventure.

"What's wrong? Why are you spacing out?"

“…Your Highness.”

She snapped out of her reverie and lowered her head. "I just suddenly remembered something that happened around this time last year."

Eric paused, then shook his head. "It's only been a year? It feels like it happened several years ago."

Alena followed in his footsteps, "Your Highness has been very busy these past two months since you ascended the throne, so it may feel like a long time has passed."

“Just a few months ago I was risking my life on the ancient battlefield.” As the Papal Palace drew closer, Eric quickened his pace. “There’s something I forgot to mention: the Lille warhorse you bought me before I left last year, I’ve lost it.”

Alena had almost forgotten about it and quickly said, "As long as Your Highness is safe, that's all that matters."

"Let's see what the meeting is about today. If there's nothing else, I'll tell you about how the horse went missing."

Alena smiled and said, "Yes."

Perhaps she has become more composed since becoming a saintess. In the past two months, no matter what the content of the cardinal meetings was, Her Highness the saintess has never missed a single one, nor has she left halfway through—she had such courage when she was a prospective saintess.

Perhaps he only saw the Cardinals' meetings as a way to relax during his busy schedule, since most of the time he didn't have to do anything but listen—or he didn't have to listen at all.

Alena was even more excited about this, not only because the Cardinals' meeting was a rare moment of relaxation for her, but also because it was the only time they had left to be alone together.

Sophie was in the Tower of Saintess, and Elise, the fake nun, was her constant companion in the Abbey of Saintess. Elsewhere, they were always watched by nuns and officials. Only at the Cardinal Council of the Papal Palace were they truly one.

Entering the Papal Palace and arriving at the chapel where the cardinal council was held, Alena stood close to Eric, waiting for the other cardinals to arrive one after another.

“Your Highness,” an old cardinal sat down next to Eric, “It’s been over a month since we last met. How have you been?”

Alena sighed inwardly.

They clearly chose the most secluded corner spot...

“I’m fine, Cardinal Gerard.” Eric glanced at Alena, then looked at the old man. “I heard His Holiness the Pope sent you to Lutia. Did you find anything?”

"It's all because of Sinmagu... He's disappeared without a trace, but the Emperor still insists on making him the High Priest of the Empire. I didn't get any credit for my trip this time either."

“It’s just a nominal position anyway.” Eric smiled, but only the corner of his mouth moved. “If the High Priest can do it, why can’t Archbishop Lutia do it?”

"That's true, but it's still a bit illegitimate... The high priest was originally established to act as an intermediary between the Papacy and the Empire, facilitating communication between them."

Eric was surprised. "I thought it was to facilitate the Papacy's interference in imperial politics."

“…Ahem, Your Highness still likes to joke.” The old man’s expression changed, and he lowered his voice, “You should know that His Holiness the current Pope holds a conservative attitude on this matter.”

"Then why is His Majesty so concerned about the power that Simmagu took away?" Eric asked again.

"It's just because His Majesty doesn't like this vacancy... it makes him uncomfortable."

Cardinal Gilard lowered his body. "His Majesty is currently sending people to search for Simmagu everywhere. If he is not found by June, the Holy See may relinquish the power of the High Priest."

Eric had no time to be surprised by the Pope's choice and said, "What's the point of looking for him? Sinmag has already sided with the demons. If you want to find him, go to the Northern Demon Realm."

Gerard lowered his head again. "Your Highness, you can't say things like that lightly. Do you have any evidence?"

Eric shook his head after a brief silence. If there were solid evidence, those cardinals who disliked Sinmag would have already taken action.

"What happens in the future is my evidence."

"Hehe..." The old cardinal just chuckled.

Eric then asked, "Even if we find Simmagus, what then? Does His Holiness the Pope think he will continue to serve as High Priest?"

“The position of High Priest is for life, and Simmagu was chosen by the old Pope. Since the Emperor of the Empire does not agree to replace him, we have no choice but to let him continue to serve,” Gilard said.

Eric sighed helplessly.

Before Sinmagusi reveals himself, it would be simpler to destroy him physically than to use the power of the church to defeat him.

Xinmagu is an eighth-tier mage and priest, while he is only seventh-tier. However, if given the chance to get close, the warrior should have a better chance if he unleashes his full power...

Eric began to ponder.

According to the original timeline, after secretly joining the demons, Xinmagu would return to Lutia for some purpose. It was this return that exposed him completely, and he only managed to escape thanks to Eileen's outburst.

Without Eileen, now a witch, backing Sinmag, he might have a chance to kill Sinmag in Lutia.

Seeing that Eric's eyes suddenly turned murderous during the conversation, Girard took advantage of the fact that the cardinal meeting had not yet started to get up and move to another seat.

"Noyce is calling me. Let's talk again next time, Your Highness."

"……it is good."

Eric watched as Girard sat down on the other side, and then heard the nun beside him let out a soft sigh.

He looked up at Alena, who glanced away briefly before quickly returning her gaze. "Your Highness?"

"Please sit down, no one should be sitting here."

Alena shook her head, indicating that she would wait until the cardinal meeting began before discussing it further.

Eric ignored her, and a moment later, he stood up himself—the Pope had actually come to attend the meeting.

May Your Majesty be enveloped in holy light—

As Eric bowed his head in greeting, his lips twitched. It seemed he wouldn't be getting any sleep today—he hadn't taken a nap at noon, and he was counting on the afternoon cardinals' meeting to get a rest.

"Please have a seat, everyone."

Pope Clement XI glanced around the chapel, then sat in the center and whispered a few words to the cardinal beside him.

Before the meeting officially began, the last few cardinals finally arrived leisurely. Upon seeing the Pope sitting in the middle, their expressions changed drastically, and they rushed over to bow and apologize.

Eric glanced at the wall clock, then looked at Alena beside him. She shook her head slightly, indicating that she absolutely could not sit down at today's meeting.

“At the next cardinals meeting, I will propose that each cardinal bring an attendant and that they all be given a seat,” he said to her.

The younger cardinals—under sixty—all came on their own. Apart from Eric, those who attended the cardinal council with entourages were mostly older cardinals. Without entourages, they might not even be able to stand up after sitting down.

Those attendants always just stood in the back.

"No, Your Highness...no." Alena quickly tugged at his arm; she couldn't bear such attention.

Then she saw him smile at her.

Just kidding...

She stood ramrod straight, facing the gaze of the entire chapel, and dared not show a smile.

Eric grasped the hand that was pulling at his arm, and Alena's hand trembled. Reluctantly, she had no choice but to pull her hand away.

And he didn't hold on tight.

She suppressed the thought of complaining before it even surfaced.

"Well, it's about time... Oh, Connor, you made it in time. Come in quickly, His Majesty is waiting for you."

"Oh! Your Majesty..."

As the last cardinal, who was almost late, entered, the chief cardinal announced the start of the meeting.

After listening for a while, Eric realized that the topic of today's meeting was what Gilard had mentioned before: if Simmagus did not return soon, the Vatican intended to relinquish the power represented by the position of High Priest.

"A chaotic and hazy era is about to arrive, and the Delan Empire will inevitably fall in the first wave of chaos."

Pope Clement XI spoke personally, saying, "It's time to stop the Church's disorderly expansion; we must now focus on ourselves."

The fact that the demons are about to march south is no secret, at least within the Church. The Pope's choice is to consolidate the Church's power and preserve itself in order to withstand the impact of the Chaos Wave, just like in Eric's previous life.

Giving up the position of high priest is only a seemingly insignificant part of the process.

The Pope's point of view was made very clear, and then it was time for the cardinals to vote. The vote was only on the position of High Priest. Apart from a few older cardinals who felt it was a pity, most of them followed the Pope's wishes and chose to agree.

Eric did not raise his hand when voting for or against, simply because he felt it didn't matter. He wasn't the only cardinal who abstained, but he didn't expect the Pope to notice him.

"Holy Maiden, you neither agree nor disagree, do you have another opinion?"

Alena tensed up immediately, while Eric quickly stood up and calmly bowed to the Pope.

“Your Majesty, I simply feel that whether or not the position of High Priest is retained is not my focus, so I have no intention of participating in the vote.”

"Oh?" Clement XI looked at him. "Where is the saint's gaze currently fixed?"

"It landed on the wave that Your Majesty mentioned earlier."

Eric replied, "More than seven hundred years ago, it was the founding of the Church that tore through the shadows of the Dark Ages and brought light to humanity and all living beings on the continent. Now that the demons are about to make a comeback, if the Church only focuses on itself, the living beings on the continent who have lost their protection will probably quickly fall into ruin."

"Humans are not the same as they were seven hundred years ago, Saint." The Pope remained facing him, his gaze sweeping to the left and right, his eyes passing over the faces of the other cardinals. "Moreover, the Church will never truly leave them. Wherever the Holy Light reaches, there are our priests and paladins. The changing times are also a test from God for the beings He has created, and we should not interfere prematurely. Trust in the resilience of the life God has created."

Eric lowered his head, indicating that he had finally truly grasped His Majesty's spirit and had benefited greatly from it.

The Pope glanced at him again and then asked him to sit down.

Alena let out a soft breath, exchanged a glance with Eric, and said softly, "We can't be lazy anymore. We still have to cast a vote when the Pope comes."

That's what he said, but she couldn't detect a trace of remorse in his tone.

The cardinals' meeting concluded, and they rose to see the Pope off before dispersing.

Eric and Alena mingled in the crowd as they walked out, and several old cardinals greeted them.

"Your Highness, you must carefully consider His Majesty's words."

"I will remember it."

The cardinals mostly work in the Papal Palace, except for the Saintess, who has to cross a large area of ​​the Holy City Square to attend meetings.

As Eric walked out of the Papal Palace, he looked back and said to Alena:

"With the demons advancing south, the empire's demise is inevitable. The Church is simply trying to avoid direct confrontation and preserve its strength."

"If the demons are strong, then retreat to Lesser. If humanity is truly resilient enough to withstand the demons' offensive, then the Church will join the war as saviors."

"Once the demons are driven away again, the empire will have already perished, and the power of the church will probably reach an unprecedented peak... The Pope doesn't want to focus on the church; he wants to be the supreme leader of the entire continent's secular and spiritual world."

Alena barely dared to respond to him.

"Your Highness..."

"Don't be nervous," Eric smiled at her. "I was just guessing."

Alena followed closely behind him and whispered, "His Holiness the Pope is the leader of the Holy See and countless believers on the continent. Your Highness should be careful with your words and actions."

Guessing is fine, but making baseless accusations is not; Eric understood what she meant.

"I only say this to my true friends."

"..."

Alena pursed her lips, her face flushed, and swallowed her words.

Eric glanced at the convent on the other side of the square and sighed, "I didn't expect the afternoon cardinal meeting to end so quickly without me even getting a nap."

"Is Your Highness tired?"

"A little."

Eric looked at her. "When did the previous saintess begin to relinquish power?"

"When I entered the Convent, Sister Gabi already oversaw most of its affairs. As for the exact time, I'll have to look into it..."

“No need.” Eric waved his hand. “It’s been more than two months. I feel it’s about time. I should let you and her handle some things for me.”

Alena stopped and bowed to him. "Alena will certainly not disappoint Her Highness the Saintess's expectations."

"I believe in your abilities, and even more so in your loyalty."

Eric stopped and looked at her. "And what about you? What are your expectations?"

Alena looked up. "Your Highness means..."

"Any expectations. Since you are one of my people, I will fulfill them within my power... provided you are willing to ask."

"..."

She felt a sudden jolt in her chest.

She wanted to know what the end of that sweltering heat was.

This was the first expectation that popped into her mind, and the first one that was forcibly suppressed.

That's not what Your Highness meant... I don't think so.

Alena glanced at Eric again, whose gaze remained calm.

“My wish…” she lowered her gaze, “is to stay at the St. Mary’s House, to stay by His Highness’s side, and to help His Highness with his troubles. As long as that is enough, I will be satisfied.”

Eric frowned slightly, out of her sight.

Wasn't his implication obvious enough?

Judging from various obvious or subtle details, he was 99 percent certain that Alena had the same desire for him.

In front of her, he did not deliberately hide his intimacy with Sophie or Iris, which could be said to have lowered her moral burden enough—the Holy Maiden was not a respectable person to begin with.

But that one percent uncertainty made him restrain himself from taking the initiative beyond the occasional handshake—he wasn't lacking in women, and in fact, he was currently troubled by it; if Alena didn't take the initiative, he wouldn't go any further.

“Well…” Eric continued walking forward, “I thought you’d want to be a high nun.”

Alena paused for a moment before continuing, "The decision of whether one holds a holy office rests entirely with Your Highness."

“I will meet your expectations for the first part,” Eric said.

Alena was taken aback.

“You can stay in the monastery as long as you want,” Eric said, turning to look at her. “But when I leave the monastery, you can’t come with me anymore. You must stay here as a representative of the saint’s will.”

These were the words he had said to her when he first arrived at the monastery more than two years ago, and they reflected his unwavering trust in her.

"Yes, Your Highness."

The two returned to the monastery and parted ways beneath the convent.

“Come up with Jia Bi later, and I’ll see what tasks I can assign to you.”

"Yes."

Sophie, who remained on the Saintess Tower, was surprised that Eric had returned so quickly.

"Has the Cardinals meeting ended? Today went by so fast."

“The Pope’s here, and the old men’s efficiency has increased.” Eric sat down behind his desk, stopping Sophie from getting close. “Don’t touch me. Alena and Gabi will be here soon.”

“Oh.” She stopped.

Because she was once again curious about the different treatment God gave to men and women when they were created, he was unable to take a nap at noon and hurriedly went to a meeting after pulling up his pants.

Sophie's intense curiosity in this regard reminded him of his college days in a previous life—which also fits her current age.

He stared at Sophie for a while.

"Your Highness?"

“I’m thinking, should I send you back to seminary to continue your studies, just like before?”

"Your Highness?!"

"You know nothing when asked, but you're quick to take off your clothes. Can you really be considered a proper academic advisor?"

"Your Highness!"

After a while, the high nun and the deacon nun appointed by Her Highness the Holy Maiden came up together.

Alena glanced at Sophie and noticed that her eyes were red.

Their eyes met, and Sophie pouted, looking somewhat aggrieved.

Eric, who was behind the desk, ignored them and assigned tasks to the two of them, using the pile of unprocessed documents in front of them as an example.

“Hmm, appoint a superintendent for the local convent. Sister Gabi has more experience and knows the nuns in the convent better. I'll leave this to you.”

"Yes, Your Highness."

"This is... why do people always want to see me every few days? Alena, you'll be in charge of receiving these messengers from monasteries or whatever."

"Yes, Your Highness."

When a task is assigned, the two of them take a document, and after everyone has finished distributing the work, there's not much left for Eric.

"That's all. Bring up all the invitation letters that were sent before, I'll take another look. Also, I need a detailed map of the mainland."

Sophie raised her head, while Alena lowered her gaze. "Yes, Your Highness."

(End of this chapter)