The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 102 Blonde Girl
Eric came straight to us after entering the city. He was hungry, so after settling in, Leslie took him to a nearby tavern.

Leslie, having already eaten and drunk her fill, sat opposite Eric, answering his various questions.

"The main reason for staying here is that the houses are cheap... That little road leads to the main road, and it's very convenient to go to the academy through the west gate to find Miss Eileen... Chaotic? It's not too bad. Young Master is just new here, so he might feel this way. He'll get used to it in a couple of days."

Eric shook his head. "I've seen much more chaotic places here."

"Huh?" Leslie asked, bewildered.

“It’s nothing.” Eric waved his hand. “I won’t be staying here for long. If I don’t feel comfortable, I’ll find a hotel in another part of the city.”

Leslie nodded without saying anything.

Eric continued waiting for his dinner, and was about to ask why it hadn't arrived yet when his gaze lingered on Leslie's back.

"Do I need to go to your house again to 'clean' today?"

A voluptuous middle-aged woman walked over, put her arm around Leslie's shoulder, and patted his chest. "Didn't you say yesterday that it wasn't clean yet?"

“Catherine…no need, no need.” Leslie brushed her hand away, quite embarrassed. “I have something to do right now, please don’t bother me.”

"What could possibly be wrong with you? You can't even find time to clean the house."

As the woman spoke, she glanced at Eric across from her, her eyes lighting up. Just as she was about to say something, Leslie got up and shooed her away.

"Humph……"

The middle-aged woman turned and left, and the two remaining people remained silent for a while.

“She’s a widow… I asked her to help clean the house because the young master was coming over,” Leslie explained.

"It's been cleaned quite well," Eric said without adding anything further.

“Yes…” Leslie could only awkwardly agree.

After a while, with Leslie calling out five times in three minutes to urge him, Eric's food finally arrived.

After filling his stomach, Eric returned to his lodgings. Having traveled all day, he didn't have the energy to wander around Lutia at night and went straight to bed.

Eileen's Imperial Magic Academy is located on the shore of Lake of Elf's Tears, on the western outskirts of Lutia. He plans to visit his sister first tomorrow before considering other matters.

"Leslie—why are you hiding at home all day? Go out for a drink!"

A shout suddenly came from downstairs. Eric opened his eyes and then heard slightly hurried footsteps from the next room.

"Stop shouting! Stop shouting!" Leslie whispered.

"Haha, what's wrong? You've run out of money and are hiding from your debts?" The crowd below remained undeterred, their shouts full of energy.

Leslie was completely baffled.

He craned his neck to look out the window of the young master's room on the other side, but there was no movement. He would rather the young master get up and give him a good scolding right now.

"Get lost, we're not going today! Hurry up and go!" Leslie waved his hand repeatedly at the people below, urging them to leave quickly.

But they wouldn't let it go. "Catherine said you brought a blonde girl home. Is it true? Let us see!"

"..."

Leslie almost wanted to kneel down.

The next moment, the golden retriever's "little girl" appeared from the other window.

There were no lights, only darkness. Eric almost laughed as he looked at the unknown person below whistling at him.

He raised his hand and lit up a ball of light, and the area below immediately fell silent.

“Young Master…” Leslie looked at him from the other window, feeling utterly helpless.

“Go if you want… no, you should go, let me have some peace and quiet,” Eric said.

Seeing that his expression didn't seem fake, and to prevent his cronies from continuing to harass him, Leslie went down and dragged them away from there.

Eric thought to himself, watching the group walk away. "It seems the captain of the guard has a much richer nightlife than I do."

He didn't think there was anything wrong with it. It would be strange if Leslie, a bachelor in his prime, could hold back in a place like the capital.

The problem is that their noise made him restless and unable to lie still.

Eric stood by the window, gazing at the bright night sky reflected in the lamplight. He first thought of Alena, then of Sophie, and then of the female druid he had just said goodbye to two days ago.

Then he remembered the Giles brothers, whom he had met on the first day of his journey.

"nightingale……"

Besides the Demon Realm, traces of this underground mercenary organization can be found all over the continent, especially in wealthy places like Lutia. Even after the demons occupied Lutia, it remained their main stronghold.

Since he couldn't stay in bed anyway, Eric decided to follow the clues provided by the Giles brothers and investigate the underground organization. The place they told him about that could connect him with the Nightingale was in the southern part of Lutia.

"Laogeda Bridge... If it's that bridge, then it's not far from here."

Leslie's residence, Eric followed the location in his memory that matched the name "Old Bridge," and first came to a small river that was only two or three meters wide.

This river connects to the outer moat, and most of the people who were not originally allowed to enter the city swam in through this river.

The river was shallow and far from clean; you could smell an unpleasant odor emanating from it if you got too close.

This river is mixed with sewage from most of the city. It is said that the main business of the Lutia Alchemist Association is to pour purification powder into this river every day, otherwise the smell would be even more intense and unpleasant.

Eric covered his nose and walked along the river for a while before finally remembering the magic spell Sophie had taught him to block out smells. He pinched his nose.

All the smells vanished instantly, and Eric continued forward, stopping in front of an old bridge that was almost level with the road.

He looked around the area but didn't see any underground bars, so he pulled aside a passerby and asked for directions.

"Old Geda Bridge? This is it... Kingfisher? Never heard of it, but I know an underground tavern nearby, it's in that alley ahead, just go forward and down two steps."

Eric followed the trail and found it to be a rather dark path. As soon as he stepped down a step, he noticed someone following him.

He turned his head and saw that it was the same stranger who had given him directions earlier.

He swung his dagger closer, "Kid, I'll teach you the first thing to do for surviving in Lutia: Don't trust strangers. Hand over the money!"

Eric pushed off with his foot, flashed behind him, and delivered a sideways knee strike that caused him to spasm, easily snatching the dagger from his hand.

“Our people in Lessier are so kind and honest…” Eric shook his head. “Tell me, where is the Kingfisher Tavern?”

"Uh..." The petty thief who had been kicked in the knee by him didn't seem to have recovered yet.

Eric lightly poked him in the back with his dagger, and he immediately sprang up.

"I'll tell you! It's right ahead! I'm not lying to you!"

Eric had him lead the way.

He went down another set of stairs, and after a few steps, he heard a faint commotion coming from his right.

He looked over and saw a small window, no bigger than a palm, embedded in the corner of the alley, from which the light and sound were coming.

"Where's the entrance?"

"Go straight ahead and turn the corner."

The man ran away as soon as he finished speaking, and Eric ignored him. He took a few steps forward, turned a corner, and found the tavern's main entrance tightly closed, so he couldn't hear anything.

As soon as the door was pushed open, the noise from the tavern immediately poured out, as if the door had been enchanted with soundproofing magic.

The tavern is quite large, with two floors, and you can't even tell how deep it is inside from the entrance.

"Don't just stand there, come in quickly," urged a man who looked like a tavern waiter near the door. "Close the door."

Eric was about to go inside when he heard a sharp crack behind him. He turned around and saw a bottle had shattered.

"I knew it." The tavern waiter sighed and quickly came out.

Eric looked up and saw a window open above, with an old man with white hair peering down. "Quiet down! Want me to throw a fireball down?"

"I'm sorry, Master. We'll close the door immediately."

Eric was pulled into the tavern. The waiter closed the door and gave him a once-over. "First time here?"

"Yes."

"Are you here for a drink or to find someone?"

"Looking for someone, Clara."

"She's not here," the waiter quickly replied. "But if you need to find her, you can ask me."

Eric looked at him for a moment, searching his memory for his face. "You're a nightingale too?"

The waiter nodded. "I don't know who recommended you, but they sent you to see Clara. She's one of my subordinates, a newcomer who hasn't made a name for herself yet."

Eric said it was the Giles brothers.

The waiter shook his head, indicating that he had never heard of them, and stretched his hand toward the empty table next to him.

"Let's sit down and talk."

(End of this chapter)