The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 16 Comfort
At the villagers' request, the holy messenger Alena came to the cemetery behind the town church and prayed for the Eddie brothers who unfortunately died at the hands of corpses, praying that God would spare the two men's pain and allow their souls to return to the kingdom of God in peace.

"…Merciful Yela, I pray to you on behalf of these two unfortunate deceased individuals: Please grant all the deceased the freedom from the shackles of death as soon as possible, allowing them to enter the kingdom of eternal light and enjoy eternal life because of your mercy."

She opened her hands in prayer, and faint rays of light as light as smoke emanated from her body, radiating outwards and covering the deceased's relatives and friends who were weeping beside the grave.

The tears finally stopped flowing, and the sad expressions gradually became peaceful. This was not an intentional gift from God, but the nun's compassionate comfort, so that they would not sink in sorrow and forget themselves.

After the prayer, Alena bowed her head and watched the villagers sprinkle flowers on the dead in the grave and fill it with soil before turning and leaving the cemetery.

"Please wait, Mother Alena!"

She stopped and saw that it was the eldest sister of the Eddie brothers who had caught up with her.

The latter kissed her hand, repeated words of thanks, and could not help lamenting his brother's misfortune. Finally, he gave her a small bag of coins, mixed with a few mottled jewelry.

"Please accept this..."

Alena couldn't refuse, so she picked out a relatively new ring and accepted it, pushing the others back.

After a few more words of comfort, Alena turned and left. Outside the church, she found that the little nun Sophie was looking for her.

"Sister Head, they said you were here... When did you get out of the mines?"

"It's been a while." Alena smiled at her. "Are you bored staying in the camp alone?"

"return……"

Sophie subconsciously fell silent as she watched a group of villagers emerge from behind the church. She waited until they had passed before continuing, "It's fine. I wandered around town during the day and listened to a lot of stories from the locals. Time flew by."

"is it?"

"Well! The villagers here are all worried that the undead will pour out of the mine, but when they know that the City Lord's Mansion has sent people here, they seem relieved. It's really different from other places." Sophie continued.

Alena nodded, wanting to say that this was the influence of Lord Edgar's personal example, but the first thing that came to her mind was Eric's face.

She took a deep breath, clearing her mind of distracting thoughts. "In a few days, the undead in the mines will be cleared out. Then the villagers can finally rest in peace."

"Hmm. Did everything go well today?" Sophie asked.

"It wasn't too smooth. There were some minor problems, but they were quickly resolved and won't affect the subsequent cleanup." Alena said. Seeing the little nun rolling her eyes and hesitating to speak, she quickly guessed what she was thinking.

"Sophie, do you want to come in too?"

"Ah... If Sister Alena is okay with it, I'd like to see it for myself."

Alena thought for a moment and didn't answer directly, "Let's go back to camp first."

"it is good……"

When they returned to the camp on the hillside, they saw that all the guards of the City Lord's Mansion, including the captain of the guards, were standing in a row. Standing in front of them was the young master of the City Lord's Mansion who was chattering and lecturing.

"...Can you please be more normal and stop trying to forcefully take the men away? This is easy to understand, right? Talk to them, talk to them, right? Just tell them that the undead here are under our control now, they can't escape the mines, and they'll all be wiped out in a few days. So the town is safe, and there's no need to flee. Don't act like we, the City Lord's Mansion, are forcing them to stay and die. Do you understand?"

"clear--"

The guards responded in unison.

Eric glanced around a few times and just pointed out one of the guards, about to ask him what he understood, when he turned around and saw two nuns watching the fun.

He paused.

When it comes to ideological work, who could be more suitable than these clergymen?

At the very least, it's better than these arrogant, rude and impatient warriors, right?

"I understand. Let's all go." With a new plan in mind, Eric was too lazy to say more to the guards. He waved his hand and asked them to disperse first.

Leslie came over to take away his straight sword, which was almost bent, and had it sharpened and repaired. He also asked them if they wanted to continue to appease the villagers.

"No need. Rest, patrol, make a fire, cook, repair equipment, whatever you need to do. Oh, and don't forget to seal the exit of the underground mine. Seal it tightly."

"Yes!"

The captain of the guards took the order and left, while Eric stopped the nuns who were watching the excitement and preparing to return to their tents and asked for their help.

"...appease the villagers?" Alena and Sophie looked at each other. "No problem."

This was something they were good at, especially since Alena had just presided over the funerals of two young villagers and her reputation was at its highest.

Eric clasped one hand over his chest and bowed his head slightly. "Then I'll leave it to the two Holy Envoys."

"Aren't you coming with us?" Sophie asked suddenly, then she ducked her head and glanced at the head nun beside her.

The latter didn't react, and Eric was stunned for a moment. After thinking about it, he realized that there was nothing else to do for the time being, so he nodded and said, "Just happened to look around. I came here in a hurry and didn't even stay in the town."

The little nun's joy was beyond words. She turned around and walked forward, leading them on the way. "I've been around the town several times today. Everyone knows me."

"You're amazing. Did the villagers say anything?" Eric asked following up on her words.

"Yes, I have!"

Sophie repeated to him word for word what she had said to Alena on the way here, chattering away, her eyes never leaving his face.

Eric listened with a calm expression, nodding occasionally, but in his heart he felt a little amused.

It seems that because of the uncle, the City Lord's Mansion's favorability here has almost been maxed out. If they do nothing, the effect will be better than actively appeasing it.

He could only be thankful that he discovered it early enough, before Leslie and his brothers had time to scare too many villagers...

Eric breathed a sigh of relief, and when he looked up again, he found Sophie staring at him. As soon as their eyes met, she looked away again.

At her age, in his previous life, she would be at most a high school student. She was too young, and like a high school student, her thoughts were too easy to guess.

Although they are the same age now, the difference of more than ten years in their mental age is equivalent to a generation.

On the contrary, Sister Alena seemed closer to him...

Eric was lost in thought for a moment, then came to his senses and saw Sophie still stealing glances at him. He casually asked, "By the way, Miss Sophie isn't practicing for life, is she?"

"Ah? I'm not..."

Sophie was stunned for a moment, then quickly shook her head. "I only entered the monastery three years ago. In two years, I'll complete my five-year training period and then go home."

"Going home... Where is Miss Sophie from?"

"Lutia," the little nun replied.

"From the Imperial Capital?"

Eric looked at her for a moment longer. Lutia was the capital of the Delan Empire and the largest and most prosperous city in the entire continent. The only city that could be compared with it was the Holy City of Lassel.

Born in the imperial capital and trained in the holy city, he estimated that the greatest hardship this little girl had ever suffered in her life was running to their remote hometown.

"Yeah." Sophie's face showed a bit of pride and pride. "When the Hero King established his capital in Lutia, our Horn family lived there!"

Noticing the gaze of the head nun beside her, Sophie looked at her in confusion, and then suddenly realized who was walking on the other side.

"...Of course, it's still no match for Mr. Eric's Kimino family..."

No matter how glorious and long-standing her family is, its reputation is not known outside the imperial capital. How can it be compared with the family of the twelve knights who followed the Hero King to drive out the demons?
What on earth was she so proud of... Sophie felt a little embarrassed.

Eric didn't notice her change of mood. He just suddenly felt that the name of the Horn family sounded familiar, as if he had heard of it somewhere.

And not in any good way.

The Horne family...the Horne family of the imperial capital.

"..."

He remembered.

Eric took a breath and asked tentatively, "I seem to have heard of the Horne family. I wonder how far Miss Sophie's mansion is from the Lutia Cathedral?"

Seeing that he had heard of her family, Sophie's face lit up with surprise. "It's very close! I can see the church spire from my room!"

"..."

"Is Mr. Eric familiar with that place?"

Not really, it was just that in another timeline, his sister had bombed that place with magic, razing the entire area to the ground.

Eric took a deep breath.

In other words, even if Sophie had not been killed here, she would still not have escaped death after completing her training and returning to her family two years later.

The name of Witch Irene was stained with the blood of the Horn family.

"I wouldn't say I'm familiar with it. I've never been to the imperial capital, but I've only heard of it." Sophie was still waiting for a reply. Eric said perfunctorily, "If I have the chance, I'd like to go and see it with my own eyes."

"what……"

Seeing the little nun's face suddenly turn red, Alena raised her arm and touched her, feeling a little helpless.

He was obviously just being perfunctory, and he didn't know what she was thinking about.

"Where's Sister Alena?" Eric noticed Sophie's expression change and changed the subject. "Where is she from?"

Alena didn't answer, and the silence lasted so long that Eric thought she hadn't heard his question.

"north."

She finally spoke, "I left my hometown a long time ago and I don't even remember what it was called."

Born in the north, he left home at a young age and even served in the army for a while...

Eric already had some guesses about the head nun's background, but he didn't ask any further questions.

"Miss Sophie."

A village woman on the side of the road greeted Sophie, and the three of them stopped.

She dared to greet Sophie proactively, but she only looked at Eric and Alena with respect and did not dare to look them in the eye.

Eric didn't say anything, but just watched the two nuns comfort the other person with gentle words, allowing her and her family to stay here with peace of mind.

The other party said that he and his family were now very safe and had no plans to leave. He just heard from other villagers that the guards of the City Lord's Mansion said they would not let them go, and he didn't quite understand what this meant...

"..."

The two nuns looked over at him, and Eric was overwhelmed.

"Wait a minute...I'm afraid there's some misunderstanding here."

(End of this chapter)