The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 103 Weird Aunt

After Eric sat down, the waiter poured him a glass of water and introduced himself as Bennett.

"What happened just now?"

Eric pointed upwards, "That... old man."

“He’s an old mage, and he’s got a bad temper,” Bennett shrugged. “But he was here first, and he’s lived up here for years. He complained about how noisy we were, so he cast a silencing spell on our tavern for free. In return, we take care of his meals. It’s a win-win situation.”

Perhaps, if necessary, they could even be brought in as firepower...

Eric nodded, then looked around the tavern. It was a mixed bag, with all sorts of races, and the noise was certainly unbearable for most people.

"Are these all 'your' people?"

“Then we would have been finished long ago.” Bennett shook his head. “This is just an ordinary tavern, secluded and chaotic, perfect for people like us, and convenient for customers like you to find your way in, isn’t it?”

Eric picked up his water glass, but put it down again before drinking. "Without connections, I'm afraid I wouldn't have found this tavern even if I stayed in Lutia for a year."

“There has to be a threshold for people to experience the value of intelligence.” It was Bennett’s turn to ask, “Since you’re here to see Nightingale, state your needs: murder, theft, or kidnapping a young lady?”

The air was thick with the scent of crime, but Eric was already prepared to knock on the door. "I want to ask you something."

“You’d better ask someone influential or someone of importance, otherwise there’s nothing we can do for you,” Bennett said. “Or we can arrange for someone to follow you now.”

Eric looked at him. "High Priest Simago, is that enough?"

Bennett nodded, then held out his hand, "This is the only free glass of water here."

Eric pulled out a Charon gold coin, placed it on the table, and pushed it towards him. "Can I speak now?"

"You are very generous, and I am sure you will be able to get a satisfactory answer."

Bennett accepted the gold coins, then shook his head and stood up. "But I'm just a tavern waiter; I don't know anything."

Eric frowned, then quickly added, "But I know who can give you what you want. Come with me."

Bennett went inside, and Eric followed.

"So, you're just a guide?"

"Your summary is very accurate."

"Then it seems I gave too much."

"Haha, your generosity will always be rewarded."

Eric followed the waiter to the second floor of the tavern, walking between tables that were almost full on both sides. Every now and then, someone would cast a blatant stare at him, or directly ask him, reeking of alcohol, what a pretty boy like him was doing here.

They walked further in and came to a simple private room. Bennett knocked on the door, waited a few seconds, and then pushed the door open to lead him inside.

The private room was small and dimly lit. Apart from a wine table, there was only a bed on which lay a glamorous woman dressed quite provocatively.

“This is it,” Bennett said to Eric, and left the room.

With a click, the door closed, and the woman on the bed got up and lit the candle on the table.

Eric then realized that she was a dark elf, with gray skin and bright red lips, the same color as her eyes.

Even though she is disliked by everyone among the elves, dark elves are a long-lived species, and it is impossible to tell their exact age at a glance. However, judging from the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, she is obviously not that young.

She asked him to sit down, and as soon as he sat down, she wrapped herself around him from behind, like a strange aunt.

Eric held her hand down. "I'm not here to buy sex."

“Look at you, I’m not a prostitute.” The dark elf still clung to his arm. “But it has to look real. Looks like this is your first time here?”

"Yes."

“Alright, everyone has a first time.” The dark elf pointed to the candles on the table. “One candle, one gold coin. Ask away if you have any questions—pay first.”

Eric took out a Charon and placed it on the table. "I want to know the movements of High Priest Simmagu over the past two years, the more detailed the better."

"Sinmag? There are actually people paying attention to him."

The dark elf reached out to take the gold coins, but Eric stopped him, saying, "First of all, you'll get your share of the money."

“Alright.” The dark elf smiled, not minding at all. “I need to think about it first… Give me a specific time.”

Eric thought for a moment, “After he returned from Lesser at the beginning of last year.”

The dark elf pondered for a moment, "Sinmag is neither favored by the Papacy nor influential in the Emperor's Council, so he's not very valuable. However, since he's in that position, we're still keeping an eye on him. In fact, it's much easier to keep an eye on him than on others precisely because he's worthless. I have plenty of information. What exactly do you want to know?"

Eric asked, "Did he leave Lutia after that?"

"I've left twice so far," the dark elf replied.

Eric gasped. "Where did he go? Who did he meet?"

The dark elf thought for a moment, “He didn’t go far from Lutia either time. The first time he left, he went to a village church half a day’s journey outside the city to preside over the funeral of an old priest who had died. The second time he left, he stayed in a refugee camp outside the city for half a month, treating the poor, but was eventually driven away.” Eric was taken aback and quickly asked, “Tell me more about the second time you went out.”

The dark elf, however, extended a slender finger, gesturing for him to look at the candle on the table.

Eric then realized that the candle was almost empty.

"...Isn't it burning a little too fast?"

How many minutes has it been?

“It’s not easy to remember so much information, and this candle allows me to immerse myself in those sealed memories,” the dark elf said. “Conversely, the more I think, the faster the candle burns.”

Only she knows whether it's true or not.

Eric muttered to himself, then paid and pulled out a few more gold coins.

"If you light both of them together, will you be able to think more and faster?"

"Both at once? I've never tried this before..." The dark elf looked at him, licked his lips, "Do you prefer the front or the back, or... the top?"

Eric pressed down on her hand that was reaching for his thigh again. "Stop. I'm just here to buy information."

"You were the one who started it."

Eric ignored the woman pretending to be young, got up and sat opposite her, pushing a gold coin towards her, "Continue."

"..."

The dark elf remained silent for a few seconds, then accepted the gold coins, lit the candle, and continued selling information:

"You know the refugee camp outside the city, right? It's crammed with countless poor bastards who survive by scavenging through Lutia's garbage dumps. Getting sick or even dying from food poisoning is a common occurrence. When Sinmag would have free time, he would go out of the city to heal them with divine magic. It's amazing that he could stand being in such a stinking place."

"However, last summer was the last time he went there. It is said that while he was receiving treatment, he advised those poor people to leave Lutia as soon as possible, go back to their hometowns to farm, and that there was no future in scavenging for food here. This infuriated some of the poor people, who called him a hypocrite and said that if he really wanted to save them, he should give them money to buy bread."

Eric frowned.

The dark elf continued, "But someone recognized him as the high priest of the empire, saying he must be rich. After shouting a few times, almost everyone in the camp who could move came over to ask him for money."

"And then?" Eric asked.

"Then, Xinmagu didn't give up a single coin and was driven away by those refugees."

The dark elf beckoned with his finger, and once he had another gold coin, he replaced it with a new candle.

"To be honest, he was really just looking for trouble. He probably couldn't please either the Papacy or the Emperor, so he could only try to find some dignity from these poor wretches. But none of these poor wretches paid any attention to him... By the way, the day he was driven away, he stood alone in the wilderness outside the city for a long time."

Eric remained silent for a moment.

Xinmagu, who still insists on being herself, has almost no way out.

Although the background story doesn't go into much detail, one thing is very clear: before Xinmagu finally joined the demon race, he met a demon envoy.

Invited by him, he left Lutia and went north to the Demon Realm, where he received a promise from the Demon King. After returning, he began to plot a certain scheme until the incident came to light.

This is why Eric is particularly concerned about Sinmaggu's movements.

"Besides that, has Simmagu really never left Lutia again?"

“No. If you’re willing to pay, I can even dig up his daily movements, though not in great detail, since he’s always in the cathedral and our people can’t just go in.”

It seems that the demon messenger has not yet approached Xinmagu.

Based on our brief previous contact, it seems that what Simagu seeks is a perfect world that exists only in the Holy Scriptures: everyone is a saint, everything has a response, and the entire world, from emperors and nobles to commoners, can be maintained from birth to death solely through people's spontaneous morality and some rudimentary laws in the Holy Scriptures.

Sinmag may be a fool, or he may be a true sage who will usher in the next era, but Eric is certain that he is more realistic and has lower moral standards. He may be somewhat similar to Sinmag, but they are ultimately not on the same path.

That's why he had nothing to offer him; even making empty promises was difficult.

He pays attention to Simagos only because in another timeline he was the culprit who directly caused the deaths of the siblings, but in this world, he has almost no contact with them anymore.

The high priest was not the catalyst for the war that followed; whether he was there or not, the demons would have invaded anyway.

The best outcome would naturally be to encourage Simago to cheer up and contribute to the fight against the demons within the human camp.

Even if he can't win them over, it doesn't matter. He can continue to pursue his ideal world while the human world is in turmoil, as long as he doesn't side with the demons.

The more realistic Eric considered things, the less he pursued Simmagu.

The key reason why someone as stubborn as Simago chose to join the demon race was the Demon King's promise, which meant that he still had a chance before that.

—Try to stop him before Xinma Gubei goes forward, or simply intercept and kill the demon envoy.

Eric thought for a moment, then looked at the dark elves. "How much should I pay if I want you to keep a closer eye on me?"

The strange aunt swept her gaze over his face and body, "You let me play with you all night."

(End of this chapter)