The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 227 Love of Adventure

Head Maid Winnie hurried toward a secluded corner of the city lord's mansion. There, Miss Eileen awaited, waiting for a set of keys in her hand.

When Ms. Winnie arrived, she found that the young lady's two friends were also waiting.

"Miss, the keys are here. Please wait a moment."

She came to a wooden door that hadn't been opened for who knows how many years, and with a large handful of keys in her hand, she tried them one by one on the heavy iron lock hanging on the door.

After trying several keys without success, Ms. Winnie was about to try another one when Eileen squeezed in and said, "Let me try."

"Miss……"

"Watch closely." Eileen smiled at the head maid, then gripped the padlock with one hand and held the bunch of keys with one finger in the other. As she silently chanted, dozens of keys began to spin rapidly in her hand.

Ms. Winnie knew this was the effect of some kind of magic, and she stared wide-eyed.

After the whole bunch of keys had spun twice in Eileen's hand, it suddenly stopped, with one of them hanging there all alone.

Eileen grasped the key and inserted it into the lock.

Click, the lock opened.

"This is a spell taught to me by a senior student in the academy. She's in charge of managing some of the storage rooms in the academy's basement..."

As Eileen spoke, she pushed open the dusty wooden door.

The door hinges creaked painfully, and dust was still falling from her head. Eileen took two steps back and shoved the keychain into Ms. Winnie's hand.

"This is the only place we haven't searched yet; that thing can only be hidden here."

Elise frowned as she watched the dust motes dancing in the sunlight. She didn't want to speak, but she still said, "But the butler just said that this door hasn't been opened for at least twenty years."

"Dion is old, he probably remembered it wrong."

After waiting for a long time with dust still falling from her head, Eileen simply waved her staff, summoning a wind barrier above her head, and walked into the secluded storage room with the dust on her head.

The place didn't look big from the outside, but once inside, Elise found it was filled with all sorts of odds and ends.

From large items like bed boards and chairs to small items like badges completely covered in rust, the only space left in the entire room was a small area near the doorway, just enough to close the door.

"Should we look here?" Elise asked Eileen.

Eileen also looked bewildered, staring at the mountain of garbage in front of her for a while before quickly remembering that she was the young lady of this manor.

“Ms. Winnie, find some strong people to move everything out of here.”

"Yes, ma'am."

"Don't move it far, just leave it at the entrance. Don't forget anything."

"I understand."

The head maid went to find someone, and the three of them peered around in the storeroom for a while longer.

Eileen opened her arms and raised them high, "Fly here!"

There was no movement in the storage room.

She lowered her arms. "No... I don't even know what that thing looks like, so I can't summon it at all."

Molly closed her eyes, stretched out her staff, and pressed it against the wall. After a while, she opened her eyes and shook her head.

“I sensed several magical items, but judging from their shapes, they were either longswords or armor; none of them were what you described.”

Elise picked up a badge from the ground, flicked it with her fingers, and rust crumbled everywhere. The patterns on the surface had been completely eroded and were no longer visible.

"Can it be restored using magic?"

Eileen took the badge, looked at it, and shook her head. "I know a certain alchemical potion that can completely restore rusted things to their original state, provided that not a single trace of rust is missing..."

She glanced at the rust on the ground. "Let's just forget about it."

Elise asked casually, flicked her thumb, and the badge flew into the pile of junk, clattering and rattling as it disappeared into countless gaps before finally falling silent.

"Let's wait outside," she said to the two people who were looking at her.

A moment later, Ms. Winnie arrived with some maids and guards and began cleaning up the storeroom.

The three of them didn't leave; they just stayed outside, watching and occasionally picking up things that had been cleared out of the room to examine them.

“‘To Eleanor, happy fourteenth birthday’…Eleanor is your and Eric’s father, isn’t he?” Elise held a light short sword in her hand, with some words engraved near the hilt.

"Yes." Eileen took the short sword and swung it a couple of times. "It's so light. It hasn't rotted even after being stored for so long. Was it made by elves? Who gave it to Father?"

"Probably... There's another one like it here."

Elise picked up another identical short sword from a short distance away, which also had words engraved on it.

[This is for Edgar, go and conquer this continent!]

"It seems that the sword was given to your father by your uncle, and this sword is a gift from your father in return."

Eileen took the weapon, looked at the words on it, and smiled.

"If only I had opened this a few days earlier, Eric could have seen it too..."

“Keep these two swords separate,” Elise said.

Eileen nodded.

Besides the two swords, a number of things from Eleanor and Edgar's childhood were also found in the storeroom, most of which had decayed, with only a few magical items remaining intact.

Once everything was laid out on the ground, Eileen inspected each item, her brow furrowing deeper and deeper.

"Really not... How could there not be? Did Mother not bring that thing here at all?"

Eileen squatted on the ground, staring at the last thing in front of her.

“At least it wasn’t a complete waste of time.” Elise stood beside her, looking at the various items laid out from the doorway of the storeroom. “We found a few items that are of sentimental value.”

"Hmm..." Eileen responded.

“Perhaps Eric knows something, let’s ask him,” Molly suggested. “And your uncle too.”

"If they don't know, then no one really knows."

Elise glanced around and casually remarked, "That thing is probably already a secret, resting in the cemetery with your mother."

"..."

Eileen suddenly looked up, and Elise was startled.

“There’s still one place I haven’t looked for,” she said.

Elise crouched down, pressed her hand on her shoulder, and in that instant, she drenched in more sweat than she had in the morning sun. “Don’t tell me you’re planning to dig up your mother’s grave… Eric will kill me, really.”

Eileen ignored her and stood up, saying to Ms. Winnie, "Get rid of these things. Keep the useful ones and throw away the useless ones."

"Yes, ma'am."

Then she looked at Elise and Molly, "I'm going to the cemetery, do you want to come with me?"

"Young Miss, the young master really is going to kill me." At this moment, Elise wished she could go back a minute and sew her mouth shut.

“Mom will forgive me,” Eileen said, patting her on the shoulder. “Eric will too, don’t worry. I won’t tell him it was your idea.”

"I was just saying it offhand!"

"It was your idea!"

"..."

A moment later, two horses galloped out of the city lord's manor and headed toward the Lamare Monastery, where the Chimino family cemetery was located.

Hundreds of miles away, Eric and his party continued their westward journey.

In the only carriage, Natalia closed her eyes, passing the time on the journey by lost in thought.

This is a high-class carriage sent by the City Lord's Mansion. It has an alchemical device underneath to reduce shock, so even if the road is uneven, the people in the carriage will not feel anything. Moreover, they are traveling on the flat and open Hero Avenue.

Therefore, any other noises inside the carriage become particularly clear.

pat.

That was the sound of a small window at the front of the carriage being opened.

Natalia opened her eyes. The only other passenger in the carriage besides her was leaning against the small window, looking ahead.

Running ahead of the carriage were half of the accompanying knights and the leading saintess.

Another passenger's gaze might fall on him.

For as long as Natalia stared at her, she stared straight ahead for just as long.

"Ahem." She coughed lightly, and the widow came back to her senses, turning her head to look at her.

“Are you hungry, Mrs. Rodney?” Natalia asked calmly. “We’ll stop at the next resting place.”

The widow gave an embarrassed smile. "I felt a little nauseous when I woke up this morning, so I didn't eat much breakfast... Actually, I felt hungry two hours ago."

"..."

Are you really hungry?
Natalia paused for a moment, realizing that the person she was staring intently ahead might not actually be the saintess riding ahead, but rather the roadside tavern that was still nowhere in sight.

Why do I keep feeling like she's looking at Eric...?

“Actually, there are some dry rations in the carriage as well.” Natalia gestured with her eyes to the carpet in the middle of the carriage. “There are sealed dry biscuits and jerky underneath. If you are too hungry, you can eat some to tide you over.”

The widow looked down, then glanced back out the small window. "Fine, I'll just have to bear with it a little longer."

Natalia didn't say much, turned around and looked at the scenery rushing past the car window.

The roadside was a deep green, but the tenderness of the forests and wilderness had already faded when she returned to the south.

Summer was almost over, Natalia thought, suddenly realizing that she didn't seem quite ready for the changing seasons.

The carriage began to slow down.

Miss Widow exclaimed, and Natalia looked out the other car window and saw a cluster of taverns and hotels not far away.

We've arrived at our resting place.

She smiled at Mrs. Rodney, who smiled back and looked on with bright anticipation.

When the carriage stopped, Natalia jumped off first and then reached out her hand to Mrs. Rodney.

"Thank you, Your Highness Natalia."

"You're welcome."

She walked around the carriage and saw Eric, who had dismounted, looking in her direction. He turned and headed towards the tavern when he saw her.

Natalia's steps became lighter.

Another figure moved even faster and caught up with him first.

"..."

She quickly remembered something she had deliberately ignored these past few days: there were already several figures standing beside him.

"The further west we go, the more different the food becomes from that in Ori City. I wonder what we'll get to eat today," Eric said, looking at the tavern that was getting closer and closer.

“If you don’t like to eat them, I can go to the forest and find some wild fruits for you.” Kasha looked at his face.

Eric glanced at her, smiled, and shook his head. "It's not to the point where I can't eat it, I just find it novel."

Kasha looked slightly disappointed. "I still remember last year when we drank together and ate all sorts of food from the forest."

“Most of their food here also comes from the forest.” As Eric walked into the tavern, he glanced at the signboard that listed the tavern’s specialty: venison from the local forest.

"If we stop for a break early this afternoon, we can go to the nearby forest... uh, have a little picnic."

Kasha's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Really, but it depends on the conditions..."

As Eric spoke, the widowed lady hurried into the tavern, seemingly starving.

"Ah, do you have smoked venison here? I really miss it."

Without anyone asking, the widow herself began to recount how much she used to love the taste of venison roasted by her servants in the forest during winter, especially the delicate fragrance of pine needles covering the charcoal…

Eric was watching her perform when Natalia walked into the tavern.

"Miss Austin seems to highly recommend the smoked venison here. Would Your Highness like to try some?"

Natalia didn't seem very interested. She glanced at him, and finally nodded. "Okay."

So everyone ordered a serving of smoked venison, along with some other side dishes. As for drinks, since we had to travel in the afternoon, drinking alcohol at noon was absolutely not allowed.

Eric thought the venison tasted alright, but Kasha whispered that a certain spice had been omitted during marinating, a sentiment echoed loudly by the widow, though Eric sensed she ate very quickly and seemed to have little time to savor the flavor.

After eating and drinking their fill and resting for a while, Natalia continued on her journey. Before getting into the carriage, she decided to ride a horse in the afternoon.

Apart from the widow feeling a little lonely, no one had any objections, and Eric was even more pleased to see her back by his side.

"If it weren't for the demon invasion, I would have liked to ride my horse all over the empire... no, to travel to every corner of the continent. To see the world from a different perspective."

Natalia rode on horseback, adjusting her posture from time to time, unsure whether she was uncomfortable riding again or uncomfortable traveling with him.

"Your Highness has the blood of adventure flowing through your veins... Your uncle, Duke Edgar, also seems to have made his name through adventure in his youth."

Eric smiled. "Yes, in the end, it was his family that dragged him down, forcing him to come back and inherit the family business."

“Perhaps only His Highness would consider this a burden.” Natalia paused. “I mean among the nobles.”

She finally stopped twisting, and Eric turned his gaze back to the road ahead. "I think I've heard someone say something like that before."

“Another noble lady?” Natalia blurted out.

Eric turned to look at her again, thought for a moment, and said, "That's fine too."

"..."

"Sixty or seventy years ago."

Natalia frowned.

“It is Her Highness the Holy Maiden,” Eric said.

Natalia was speechless.

More than half a year has passed, and now he can mention that old man with a smile.

"Oh dear, that old lady is a true traditional nobleman, and she has the utmost contempt for adventurers who abandon their families and careers... Your Highness has no idea what the old saintess said about my father and uncle when she talked about the twelve knight noble families during my two years in the Holy Capital. She insulted the father in front of the son, it was unbelievable... It wasn't my father's fault that he died young."

Natalia paused for a moment. "Her Highness the Old Saintess comes from the most traditional noble family in the capital, the Turus family. It's not surprising that she would think this way. They are born with an aversion to barbaric adventures."

“Who remembers that their family was built up through brutal fighting hundreds of years ago?” Eric remarked. “Of course, I don’t mean to belittle them. After hundreds of years of peaceful life, such changes are inevitable.”

Natalia seemed to think of her own royal family as well, and lowered her gaze without saying a word.

But then the two started talking about other topics.

Influenced by what happened a few days ago, Natalia's tone still carried a deliberate coldness, but Eric also deliberately chose to ignore this coldness, making the emotional cost of maintaining this coldness increasingly high.

The awkwardness finally reached its peak when it was time to smile.

Eric glimpsed her turn her face away and smiled at the air, and shook his head.

Although they chatted along the way, their pace wasn't greatly affected. When they decided to stop and rest, it wasn't even dusk in the strictest sense.

Looking at the sky, Natalia felt she could still travel a little further and should be able to reach the next service area along the main road in time.

Eric thought about it and agreed to her somewhat risky choice.

After running a distance, he saw that Kasha looked rather sullen on the other side, and he suddenly remembered the promise he had made to her at noon.

If you want to have a picnic, that was a great opportunity.

He looked at her apologetically, but Kasha turned her head away. After a while, she turned back to him with her eyes rolled back.

“There will be other opportunities,” Eric said.

"Oh."

Natalia chose to ignore the flirtatious exchanges between the two, and had no intention of figuring out what the so-called opportunity meant—not that she didn't care, but that as the sun gradually set, the next place to rest still seemed far away.

They were chasing the sunset, but the sunset didn't wait for them. It shone brightly on its own, and then sank on its own, igniting the sky and leaving only its afterglow.

As darkness fell rapidly, she noticed that the splendor of the sunset had somehow transferred to the face of the druid lady on the other side.

This splendor reached its peak when Eric announced he would be camping out in the wild.

"It's all my fault. I thought I could make it to the next place in time." Natalia felt very guilty, and it was hard to see that at this moment, only she felt that this was a bad thing.

Eric reassured him, "It's nothing, Your Highness. In fact, it's quite a good experience. There are many of us, so we don't have to worry about wild beasts or bandits. It's just that we'll have to suffer a little when we sleep at night."

Natalia's mood improved when she noticed that the widow who got off the carriage also looked excited.

"Are we going to have to eat the dry rations from under the carriage?" the widow asked.

“If you want some,” Eric replied, mounting a reindeer that appeared out of nowhere and plunging into the forest beside the road.

"I'd rather eat something fresh."

(End of this chapter)