The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 228 Barbecue
Riding on the reindeer that Kasha had transformed into, Eric gripped her large antlers, crouched low, and galloped with her into the darker forest, weaving through the branches and leaves.

Tiny twigs and bushes kept brushing against his body. Eric leaned down a little more, wrapped one arm tightly around the reindeer's neck, and raised the other hand to cast a portable light spell.

A milky light instantly enveloped the man and the deer, illuminating the nearby bushes as well. Kasha stopped abruptly, looking at the light source in his hand with one eye.

Eric took the opportunity to adjust his posture and then asked, "Should I turn it off?"

The reindeer seemed to think for a moment, then shook its head.

"What is our prey?" Eric asked again.

The reindeer stretched out one of its front hooves and tapped the ground to its right, which Eric regretfully admitted he couldn't understand.

The reindeer beneath him vanished in an instant, and he fell, landing on Kasha, who had regained her human form.

She groaned softly as he pressed her down, "What I mean is, you should get down first..."

“You should make me understand with more force. Or just throw me off.” Eric climbed off her and pulled her up as well.

Kasha looked at him wistfully, "I thought we already had this kind of understanding."

Eric was sweating. "The last time I rode you was over a year ago."

She moved a little closer. "Eileen told me that you have many women now."

"...Not many." Eric was a little embarrassed by the sudden change of topic, but he continued, "And you've basically seen them all."

"Is that princess also one?" Kasha asked.

“It’s the Grand Princess. She’s not yet,” Eric corrected and replied.

Kasha didn't say anything, but took another step forward and hugged his waist.

Eric paused for a moment, then hugged her back, the light at his fingertips going out.

Light seems to be a barrier to sound and smell; when the lighting is turned off, the sounds and movements of the forest suddenly become clear.

The chirping of insects filled the air, rising and falling, and the aroma of earth and trees mingled with a faint scent of a woman, constantly wafting into Eric's nostrils.

Since she found him, the two of them haven't had a chance to be alone together like they do now.

"Are you still willing to follow me?" he asked, bowing his head.

The hands around her waist tightened their embrace. "Mmm."

“Then just stay with me,” Eric said.

Kasha pressed her head against it as well.

Eric knew exactly what to do next to solidify the relationship, but circumstances didn't allow it.

“There are people outside waiting for us to bring back fresh food,” he said, looking down.

Kasha nodded and then released him.

"What is our prey?" Eric asked again.

“I don’t know,” Kasha said. “I need to see what’s here first.”

She glanced at him, then transformed into a black panther with an even more acute sense of smell.

Stepping on the soft fallen leaves in the forest, she seemed to be searching for something. She took a few steps forward and then stopped.

Eric turned on his light spell again, watching her sniff around, trying not to disturb her, and only followed her when she was far away.

A short while later, Kasha returned to human form and said to him, "There are wild deer, bears, wild boars, rabbits... um, and wolves too. What do you want to eat?"

"No need for something so tough, just hunt some wild rabbits."

Considering that there were more than a dozen people in their group, Eric thought for a moment and then said, "Or a smaller wild boar."

“I smell wild boar; we can roast it,” Kasha said.

"Can you tell the size of a wild boar by its smell?"

"Yes, the smell left by a wild boar will be stronger."

Eric had no doubt about the ranger's professionalism. "Let's make that our goal."

“It’s them,” Kasha said. “I smelled several wild boar pups together, and a big wild boar too.”

"They seem to be a family."

"I'll go and persuade the wild boar mother to give us one."

"..."

Eric opened his mouth, "Is it okay?"

“I don’t know if the wild boars here are easy to talk to.” Kasha said calmly, making a startling statement. “In the forest where I lived before, there was a family of wild boars who were very friendly. Every time I went there, they would give me a child.”

"...Then let's give it a try."

Eric took a deep breath. "There's more than one way to communicate."

"Ah."

Kasha transformed into a reindeer and carried him toward the source of the scent.

About ten minutes later, the reindeer beneath him suddenly stopped, and Eric, without waiting for her to say anything, got off her.

Kasha reverted to human form and said to him, "It's just ahead. Animals are generally wary of humans, so don't go over there yet. I'll go say hello."

Eric nodded, waiting where he was, watching her transform back into a black panther and quickly disappear into the darkness.

Looking up at the gradually clearing night sky, Eric had a premonition that her persuasion methods might not be very successful.

The thought had barely formed when a wild boar roared from ahead.

...Negotiations broke down, and preparations were made to launch a decisive attack.

Without a second thought, Eric drew his longsword and rushed forward, his body and face flashing with golden light.

He ran faster and faster, and in just a few breaths, he arrived at the scene of the standoff between the female druid and the wild boar family.

He casually tossed out an instantaneous illumination orb, illuminating the surroundings, and just then saw Kasha, in her transformed black panther form, slap the wild boar on the head with one paw and then bite down hard on its neck.

The wild boar was enormous, and the black panther was pressing down on it from behind, seemingly struggling, while several smaller wild boars were nudging her from the side.

Eric dodged forward, about to strike, when the black panther slapped the wild boar on the head again, and the boar let out another howl.

The situation seemed to be different from what he had expected...

Seeing that Kasha had the energy, Eric changed his target and kicked away the small wild boars that were attacking her, one after another.

The little wild boar, whose first kick wasn't controlled properly, crashed into a tree and could only grunt.

Another slap knocked the wild boar unconscious. Kasha briefly regained her human form, her mouth full of blood: "Is one enough?"

"Half a chicken is more than enough, and there are only a few of us!"

“I’m talking about the little one.” She looked at the wild boar that he had kicked half to death.

"That's enough."

"Let's go!" Kasha transformed into a black panther again and roared at the remaining wild boars, scaring them so much that they trembled. They dared not leave the fallen boar and could only watch as Eric carried their brother away with the black panther.

Not long after they left, the brother's screams echoed through the forest.

"Although it's not really necessary, I used a few divine spells with side effects. If I don't kill it now, it'll be the one carrying me around in a bit."

Eric explained to the black panther beside him, "I slapped the little wild boar to death."

Kasha returned to human form. "I'll carry it."

She then transformed into a reindeer, and Eric carried the little wild boar on her back, supporting her from the side. "Go ahead and run, I can keep up with your speed."

The reindeer nodded and ran back the way it came.

By the time the two of them ran out of the forest on all six legs, it was completely dark.

The other companions who remained by the carriage had already found a suitable place to camp by the roadside and lit a fire.

The reindeer stopped, and Eric was about to take the little boar off its back when it took a step forward, then raised its head, sniffed around a few times, and turned to the other side.

Eric continued to follow, and before long, he saw a stream originating from the forest.

The reindeer put the baby boar down, then returned to human form and first washed its face, which was covered in boar blood, by the water.

“Clean it up here, then take it back to bake,” Kasha said.

Eric drew his sword, she glanced at it and said it was too long, then drew her dagger, placed the boar on the flattened grass, skillfully bled it, and then cut it open.

"When I went there just now, the mother wild boar said that this forest has no owner, and that they have lived there for generations and do not want to give me a baby wild boar."

As Kasha tidied up, she recounted what had happened before the battle broke out.

"It said that it had encountered countless hunters in its life, but none of them could defeat it and they were all driven away by it."

Eric pursed his lips. "In such a short time, it said so much?"

“Animal languages ​​are very concise.” Kasha turned to look at him. “This is my translation.” “It’s a very good translation.”

She smiled, turned her head, and continued tidying up.

"These offal can also be grilled; they're very chewy."

“The Jera sect doesn’t eat animal organs,” Eric said. “And those are staunch church knights. What’s that saying again…right, one believer dies of overeating, while a dozen or so starve to death.”

“Alright, then we’ll leave it for the other animals in the forest.” Kasha placed the entrails he had pulled out aside.

A short while later, Natalia followed the light from the illumination spell and arrived at the location, where she also saw the prey that the two had harvested.

"This is... a wild boar?"

"I didn't expect Your Highness to know him too."

Natalia glanced at Eric. "I've seen him before."

However, despite having seen it before, given her status, she had never actually managed it herself and didn't know how to help. Kasha asked the two of them to go into the forest to find some common herbs to use as spices for pickling.

"Hilarious, I don't even know them."

"..."

Eric coughed lightly. "We also have spices on the carriage, so let's use what we have, lest we come back with a bunch of inedible wild herbs."

Kasha had no objection.

Natalia fetched some water and went back to find spices, while Eric returned to the forest, cut some tough branches, propped up the little wild boar that Kasha had almost finished tending, and carried it back to the temporary camp.

The wild grass here had been swept away by the holy flames. The knights set up a fire in the middle to roast some dried biscuits brought from the carriage, and set up another fire next to it to roast the wild boar after it had been marinated.

After a long time of fussing and turning, with the sky full of stars overhead, the little wild boar finally began to be roasted.

Kasha was visibly exhausted. Eric accompanied her to the stream to wash her hands, where they saw several wolves devouring the entrails of wild boars, letting out menacing growls as the two approached.

Kasha lay down on the spot, transformed into a black panther, growled a few times, and meowed a few more times. The wolves then ran off with the entrails in their mouths.

She returned to human form and went to the stream to wash her hands.

Eric watched the whole process. "Do you need to turn into an animal to communicate with them?"

“No, but communication is more efficient when both are animals,” Kasha said.

“I’ve learned something.” Eric plopped down on a clump of grass next to her, watching her carefully wash each finger, then looked back at the campfire over at the campsite.

“If it weren’t for the difficulty of the process, I would even wish to have this experience every day.”

“It’s not hard at all, I feel fine,” Kasha said, looking at him. “Back in Grandia, I did all these things by myself.”

Eric smiled and shook his head.

"We are not adventurers now."

Kasha didn't say much, washing her hands repeatedly until Eric told her that he would stay with her a little longer after she finished washing.

The two sat on a clump of grass, with Kasha close to his arm and extending her hand in front of him.

Does it still taste good?

Eric lowered his head and sniffed; the smell of blood was completely gone.

The luminous orb above her head emitted light, illuminating her wet fingers, which appeared as smooth and lustrous as jade. Despite having lived alone in the forest for over a decade, doing everything herself, her hands remained delicate and supple; Eric guessed the nature cult possessed some kind of secret beauty regimen.

Eric opened his five fingers and slowly circled them in front of him. He opened his mouth and caught one of the glistening fingers in his mouth.

"..."

The druid beside him trembled slightly and slowly leaned against his shoulder.

Eric took her hand again and kissed the back of it.

The breaths hitting my shoulder became heavy and rapid.

"I'm so glad to see you again," Eric whispered.

She leaned right up against me. "Me too."

The stream gurgled through the woods, and the random ball of light shining overhead didn't last long before it went out naturally.

The two kissed in the darkness, one still awkward, the other quickly guiding her to the rhythm.

Eric closed his eyes, and in his mind floated images of a bright moon over a high cliff, and graceful reindeer leaping through the air.

The damp moonlight was soft and smooth.

There were still quite a few people waiting on the other side, and Eric wasn't about to take advantage of the moonlight to the point of exhaustion. He pulled the nearly dizzy Kasha back to the camp.

"We encountered some wolves, but luckily the wild boar entrails we had thrown away earlier were enough for them to eat."

Natalia glanced at him and Kasha, then at the little wild boar leaning against the fire, and didn't think the wolves posed any real threat to him.

The wild boar wasn't fully roasted yet, but the aroma already filled the air, tempting everyone's appetite—the dry biscuits on the other side of the rack had long since softened, but no one ate much of them, all waiting for the fresh roasted wild boar meat.

“It’s a pity we didn’t bring any alcohol in the car,” Eric said.

The widow was quite disappointed and even considered sending the winged people in the sky to the nearest place to buy them some mead.

"Then forget it. What if we miss the intelligence from the north..."

Eric looked up and saw the winged man carrying the cold flame lantern descending. When he landed by the campfire, they saw another winged man falling with him.

The messenger has arrived today.

Eric quickly scanned the letter after receiving it. The situation at the front hadn't changed much. He handed it to Natalia after reading it.

The latter had already guessed what was going on from his expression, and still carefully read the letter from beginning to end.

There's still no sign of peace talks, but both sides have indeed ceased hostilities, and small-scale battles are decreasing.

“The conditions for a complete ceasefire are still under negotiation, but I estimate that it will take at least a few years until the next large-scale battle breaks out,” Eric said.

Natalia slowly nodded. The most basic demand from the humans was that the demons completely withdraw from Rutia. Even this was something the Demon King could not accept.

Both sides are well aware that the current ceasefire is merely preparation for the next major war, and serious peace talks are out of the question, with each side offering increasingly outrageous conditions.

"Next, the Demon Clan will shift its focus to the Northern Territory."

Natalia looked at Eric and said, "Your Highness said last time that the demons might launch a surprise attack on Tebnidti by going around the Qifeng Mountains. That area is mainly church territory. I wonder how the Holy See will react."

"It's hard to say about other places, but the Vatican will definitely guard Tebunith against it with all its might."

Eric was quite certain, “Before we left Lutia, didn’t those winged people say that there were more and more white winged people observing the situation from afar? I’m afraid that before the demon army even gets close to the Qifeng Mountains, the knights of the Holy See are already waiting on the other side of the mountains.”

Natalia's gaze turned cold. "If the Church's power had come to Lutia's aid sooner, the demons wouldn't have been able to hold their ground."

Eric sighed, "It's all because our ancestors drove the demons too far away."

Natalia also sighed deeply, her head hanging low, lost in thought, her face shrouded in shadow.

Eric didn't want to see her sink deeper into her gloomy mood, so he looked at the roasted wild boar on the rack, tore off a piece of meat, tasted it, and felt it was about right. Then he tore off a large piece, wrapped it in leaves he had picked from the woods and washed, and handed it to her.

"..."

Natalia looked up.

The aroma of roasted meat wafted over along with his voice, "Let's eat first."

Natalia accepted it. "Thank you, Your Highness."

Eric called to the other knights to eat as well, "Eat, eat, don't wait."

"Yes!"

You take a piece, I take a piece, and the roasted wild boar on the rack keeps getting smaller.

The roast meat was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with the spices applied just right. The meat was tender and flavorful, with a rich and layered taste. Eric wrapped it in a soft, toasted biscuit and took a bite. The meat juices seeped in, and the aroma filled the air. He felt it was a pity that there was no alcohol.

“Miss Kasha,” the widow said, licking her fingers as she ate, “would you like to stay in Sunset City? I’ll have my father allocate a forest for you to look after. You don’t have to hand over anything; just make me a roast once a week.”

Kasha glanced at Eric, then shook her head and refused.

"What a pity... I haven't had such delicious barbecue in a long time."

Eric, standing to the side, didn't say anything, but raised an eyebrow dismissively.

This widow from a wealthy family has just been going through a tough time lately, which is why she finds today's barbecue so delicious.

Although Kasha's roasted wild boar meat was indeed very delicious.

"what……"

Eric took another bite, exhaled the hot air, and gazed at the starry sky above.

I hope this night can last a little longer.

(End of this chapter)