The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 181 The Saintess's Pilgrimage
In mid-April, Lessér was bathed in the bright sunshine of spring. Outside the holy city, patches of green were already quite noticeable, creating a vibrant spring scene.

The procession, departing from the Convent of St. Mary, left the inner city of Lessér under the morning sun, and set off northward amidst the cheers of countless devout believers lining the streets of the outer city.

A whole procession of knights guarded the temple, and another procession followed behind. The saintess's magnificent carriage was in the very center, receiving the most stringent protection.

Inside the enormous carriage, Eric, dressed in a holy robe, sat by the open window, waving to the believers lining the road outside. His smile was almost frozen; it was the first time he had ever felt how long the outer city roads were.

"Tell the people in front to go faster," he said in a low voice.

Sophie opened the small window in front of her and conveyed her message. After a short while, the pace of the procession quickened slightly.

"The people ahead said there are too many believers on the road, so we can't go very fast," Sophie repeated the reply from ahead. "Everyone wants to squeeze through and catch a glimpse of His Highness."

"The last sentence is what you wanted to say yourself, right?"

Sophie chuckled, "I guess the people in front of me thought the same thing."

Eric was somewhat helpless, but fortunately the caravan was about to leave the outer city. Looking at the devout believers outside who were still calling out to Her Highness the Saintess, a more genuine smile appeared on his face.

He raised his scepter and cast a magical spell overhead that had no real benefit, but was bright, warm, and luminous.

May the light of Yela always shine upon you—

Even though it was a bright and sunny morning, the divine light that floated in mid-air was still dazzling, and believers on both sides of the road knelt down in a rush.

"Your Highness—"

Eric wished he were on the path of a "Priest of Light" or an "Oracle," so he could give these believers real buffs instead of just empty gestures. Unfortunately, his skill in this area was not even as good as the knights who were escorting him.

"I'm probably the only one in the more than two hundred years since the position of Saintess appeared to have taken the 'unforgiving and fanatical cultivation' path..."

“Besides that, you’re also a warrior.” Iris, sitting on the other side of the carriage, completely concealed herself behind the window. “To put it bluntly, in over two hundred years, has there been another saintess besides you who can wield a longsword?”

“I should still be able to lift it.” Eric glanced at her. “If Sophie casts a power-enhancing spell on herself, she can even swing my sword.”

"Didn't you almost kill His Highness?"

"Just tell me whether you swung it or not."

Elise smiled and moved closer to the carriage window, revealing herself. Eric looked out his window and saw that the carriage had already left the outer city of Lessier.

"Once we get onto Hero Avenue, we'll be able to speed up."

He slightly lifted the curtain behind the carriage, revealing two more carriages following the saint's carriage, carrying the accompanying nuns. The number of nuns had been greatly reduced compared to previous saintly journeys, retaining only the minimum necessary for the ritual ceremony.

Eric raised his gaze again, looking at the two towering towers in the inner city. He guessed that someone on either tower was looking this way.

He lowered the carriage curtain. "Speaking of which, since His Majesty ascended the throne, he has never toured the dioceses under his jurisdiction."

“Saintess…the old Saintess said that His Holiness the Pope was the kind of person who rarely went out,” Sophie said. “When His Holiness was still the Archbishop of Gradia, he did not leave the city where his cathedral was located for seven or eight years.”

"So he's just an old nerd," Eric muttered.

After a short while, the carriage suddenly increased its speed considerably.

Eric glanced out the window; they had indeed arrived at Heroes' Avenue.

With fully armed knights clearing the way, none of the pilgrims dared to kneel and remain motionless on the road.

Eric's order was for the knights to send out warnings from a distance: if the pilgrims didn't give way, then they wouldn't either; whoever was underneath would act as a speed bump.

Sophie moved closer, gazing at the receding spring scenery outside the car window.

"The last time I left Lesser was three years ago when I went with Deacon Alena to pick up His Highness and bring him to the Holy Capital."

“Hmm.” Eric also looked outside. “However, the only part of the route that is the same is the section right after leaving Lesser.”

According to the itinerary Alena gave him, their trip north would take about seventeen or eighteen days.

Starting from Lesel, they would first leave Tebnity, then traverse most of Guradia and almost the entirety of Northria, to reach the northernmost monastery of the empire, nestled in the snow and ice.

Safety is the top priority for the Holy Maiden's carriage. No matter how fast the carriage goes, it can't go very fast, so the time will naturally be longer.

For safety reasons, they only stopped at monasteries to rest along the way—Alena had already sent messengers to inform them in advance—and sometimes they might have to stop to rest in the afternoon because the next stop was far away.

The first day's journey didn't end until evening. The Saintess's caravan stopped outside a monastery in the heart of Guradia. Eric got off the carriage and saw that all the monks and nuns of the monastery came out to greet him, while his side was surrounded by iron cavalry, making it seem more like they were there to rob him.

"Your Highness—" The people of the monastery bowed in unison.

Eric raised his scepter and slowly swept it around from left to right, then tapped the old nun on the shoulder in front of him. "Get up, all of you."

After some polite formalities, Eric was welcomed into the monastery and enjoyed a sumptuous dinner.

Eric had also lived in a monastery in his hometown for a short time and knew that the conditions of monasteries varied greatly. Some were extremely wealthy due to countless donations, while others were extremely poor and barely making ends meet. The monastery in front of him was probably in the lower middle range.

As the dinner was drawing to a close, Eric whispered to Sophie beside him:

"Didn't I tell Alena in advance that I'll eat whatever they're supposed to eat?"

Sophie swirled a glass of low-alcohol wine, her eyes darting around. "Butler Alena did make the arrangements... but they probably took it as His Highness's politeness and wouldn't dare to actually comply."

“It’s fine with wealthy monasteries, but I don’t want those poor ones to secretly resent me.” Eric shook his head. He was counting on having more people working for him in the future. “Tell the messenger to send a message to the monastery ahead after he finishes eating, and to receive them as requested. Otherwise, we won’t stay.”

Sophie looked at him. "Your Highness... it's just a small meal, it shouldn't be a big burden, right?"

"Go quickly." Eric frowned.

Sophie had no choice but to put down her wine glass and leave the table.

She went outside, where the two church messengers who had come with the group were being received along with the knights and ordinary nuns, and were already full.

She relayed Eric's message, and the two messengers discussed it amongst themselves. One of them then ascended into the night sky and quickly disappeared.

Back in the restaurant, Eric had already left his seat and was talking to the old abbot of the monastery.

She glanced at Elise, who had almost finished eating. When Elise looked at her, she swirled the wine in her glass and then raised her chin towards Elise's glass.

"Drink it, it might be gone by tomorrow."

Sophie sighed inwardly, sat down, picked up her wine glass, and clinked it against hers from a distance.

Eric glanced at the two of them, then turned to the old dean in front of him and continued the previous topic.

"I would like to donate some gold coins to your monastery in my personal capacity to thank you for your generous hospitality today."

“Oh, Your Highness…this is what we should do, you don’t need to…”

“Donation is my personal choice, you don’t need to feel burdened, Dean Anna.”

"I truly don't know how to express my gratitude to you, Your Highness..."

After the dinner, the group stayed at the monastery. At the abbot's warm invitation, Eric took a complete tour of the monastery and talked a lot before returning to rest close to midnight.

When they were out and about, Sophie and Elise could not be as free as they were in the monastery. Eric's room, where he lived alone, was guarded by knights all night long, making it impossible for the two of them to sneak over. Eric had to spend the night alone.

After all that commotion, he had no energy left to do anything else.

After a good night's sleep, the saint's caravan left the monastery early the next morning and continued northward.

“Your Highness, do we really need to get up this early… Ha—” Sophie was still yawning. “We didn’t get up this early even in the Holy Capital.”

"I have a lot of travel to do today. If I don't get up early, I'll have to walk in the dark tonight."

Eric got up even earlier than her. "Anyway, the carriage is so big, you can sleep as much as you want."

Sophie lay down, while Elise on the other side was full of energy, saying she had gone to bed early last night.

"You seem quite relaxed."

“After all, the only person I truly care about is Your Highness.” Elise looked at him. “But I also regret it a little. If we don’t sleep during the day, the journey will be too long.” Eric smiled. “Then when we get to the next place, I’ll get you a horse to ride.”

Elise shook her head. "I'm worried that His Highness will be unprotected in the carriage."

"..."

Sophie, who was still awake, turned her head and glared at her.

Eric chuckled again, peering out the window. The guards on horseback were leading the way with imposing figures, their tall horses exuding a powerful aura. Eric even felt a pang of envy and thought he might want to ride one himself.

He glanced at the itinerary; he would be staying at the monastery around 3 or 4 pm tomorrow. He had plenty of time in the afternoon and could ride around the area.

But that's for tomorrow.

The day's itinerary was indeed very rushed. By the time we arrived at the monastery where we were staying in the evening, it was already dark.

His words of encouragement yesterday had an effect; the ordinary monastery did not offer a lavish meal when they received us, but the people were very hospitable.

After dinner, Eric took a stroll around the monastery, as it was a monastery he frequented during his missions in his past life. He also knew that a relatively rare divine magic skill book was hidden somewhere in the monastery, but since he had already learned that skill, he didn't bother searching for it in any nooks and crannies—especially since he didn't know how many eyes were watching him.

The third and fourth days were still peaceful. The saint's caravan was busy traveling and rarely entered cities except when necessary. They sped along the main roads the whole way and therefore did not encounter many people.

On the sixth day, before setting off, everyone wore an extra layer of clothing.

They had entered the vast northern border of the Empire, Northria. The temperature had been steadily dropping as they traveled north; they would finally need to put on more clothes here.

"We've only just entered Northria." Despite the cold, Iris seemed more energetic than in the previous days. "If we travel for another day or two, we should be able to see snow."

"So you've returned to your hometown?" Eric asked, huddled inside his clothes.

“It’s still a long way off…” Elise looked out the window. “At least in places where we don’t see snow, it’s too far to call home.”

Eric knew the approximate location of Lake Sergei on the map, but in reality, it wasn't so clear.

"We'll be passing through there about the day before we arrive at the Saint-Rozelle Abbey, so you can go back and visit then."

Elise stared blankly, lost in thought for a moment, "That place must be a ruin by now."

After all, the Aran settlements had long been besieged by the Empire, and most of her people were imprisoned in various jails throughout Northria.

"It's hard to say," Eric said, without elaborating further.

After a long while, Elise finally said, "We'll talk about it later."

After traveling for two more days, we were finally able to see snow.

The northern border is mostly plains, stretching to the horizon. Snowfall is not abundant here, and large expanses of exposed black ground can be seen. Due to this harsh environment, Northria is the least populated of the larger provinces of the Delan Empire.

The temperature was dropping, and Eric had already changed into his full winter clothes on the day he saw snow. Before setting off in the morning, the nuns pasted many fire crystals in his carriage, with one in almost every palm-sized area.

Do you have any in your car?

"Yes, Your Highness."

"That probably isn't much. Cultivation involves hardship, but there's no need to force yourself to endure it. We can take half of it and stick it on your car."

Eric casually picked off a few fire crystals. "With so many fire crystals, what's the point of wearing this mink coat?"

The nuns looked at each other, then said that the old saintess had pasted the plaster according to this standard when she went out before.

“Do I look like I’m in my seventies or eighties?” Eric leaned closer. “Look at all this collagen.”

"..."

The nuns quickly removed the excess fire crystals and pasted them into their carriages.

We were a little delayed before setting off, but fortunately, today's itinerary wasn't rushed.

Once back on the carriage, the fire crystal had warmed the entire cabin. Eric soon felt hot, while the two women riding with him seemed to be doing fine. He could only loosen his thick clothes a bit himself.

After traveling for several more days, the Saintess's caravan ventured deeper into the heart of Northria. The temperature dropped further, and the snow on the road became thicker, inevitably slowing their pace.

"We're not far from the Saint-Rozelle Abbey, but it's snowing all the way, so we'll have a long way to go."

Eric leaned his head out of the carriage and exhaled a large puff of white mist. "When this Hero's Avenue was built to this point, they didn't even plant some trees on both sides of the road. At least they could have blocked the wind and snow."

"Your Highness, it's cold..." Sophie moved to the other side when he opened the window, squeezing in with Iris.

“There are fire crystals stuck to everything, so it’s not that cold.” Eric pulled his head back, closed the car window, moved over to her side, and put his hand inside her heavily wrapped nun’s habit.

"So cold—" Sophie screamed, burying her mouth in Iris's shoulder.

“Drool…” Elise frowned.

Eric placed his hand on her back for a while, then moved his body and reached out to her front. Sophie twisted her body, looked up at him, and her eyes were filled with sorrow.

"It's much warmer now, isn't it?" Eric looked at her, his hands tightly wrapped around hers, warmth filling his fingers.

"It's all the temperature that originally belonged to my body..."

Eric withdrew his hand after a while, only to find his gaze even more mournful. This was the best they could do for a while on the road.

He looked out the car window and saw that a snowstorm was starting to blow outside.

The snowstorm lasted for several days, and every day after they stopped and before setting off again, they had to clear the snow off the carriages.

According to Elise, this is common weather in the north of Northria; she even saw snow falling for six months straight when she was a child.

"Of course, it's also possible that too much time has passed and I've misremembered... Children's concept of time is naturally vague."

She gazed out the window, her eyes unwavering. After traveling for so many days, they were getting closer and closer to their destination, and also closer and closer to Lake Sergei, which was considered her hometown.

"Do you have a plan?" Eric asked, holding a fire crystal in his hand, which he kept switching between his two hands because it was too hot.

“I’m not going,” Elise said quickly, then, as if to convince herself, she added, “If someone sees me over there, it’ll be another problem.”

“Traveling by carriage is a bit slow, but it shouldn’t take too long to ride a horse from St. Rosell’s Abbey,” Eric said meaningfully.

Elise turned her gaze back to him, and he nodded in response.

She smiled faintly, "If there's enough time."

Sophie looked at the two of them and said, "Your Highness, you can't take risks so easily..."

“Of course I won’t take any risks,” Eric said. “How can it be called an adventure if there’s no risk at all?”

Two days later, the saint and her entourage finally arrived at the Saint-Rozelle Abbey amidst a blizzard.

As the northernmost monastery in the empire, the Saint Rozelle Monastery is quite large, covering a considerable area. However, the monastery was built hundreds of years ago and has been ravaged by wind and snow, so it is now somewhat dilapidated.

As Eric stepped off the carriage, the cold wind made him almost shiver, but he endured it because hundreds of people from the monastery were there to greet him in the snow.

Those who can persevere in their practice here are truly devout believers, he thought to himself, as he trudged through the deep snow toward the monastery.

May holy light surround Her Highness the Saintess—

Eric, holding the scepter, walked to the group of monks and nuns kneeling outside the monastery and helped up the abbess at the front, an old nun who looked to be in her sixties or seventies.

"The wind and snow cannot obscure Yela's compassionate gaze; the gods will witness your piety through my eyes," Her Highness the Saint said calmly.

Sophie finally jumped off the carriage, with most of her foot sinking into the snow. She almost lost her footing before being pulled back by Elise beside her.

"Thank you... Achoo!"

(End of this chapter)