The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 47 Power and Benefits

Returning to his residence in the outer city, Eric met several of his guards.

They were arranged to stay in a hotel not far away last night. They ate and drank as they pleased. Except for not being able to get close to the inner city, their movements were not restricted. It can be said that they were quite free.

"Master, have you met the Saint?" Willy asked.

"Yes." Eric nodded, without saying that the saint had actually met with him privately last night, in this room.

"Then the young master is now the successor of the Saint?" Another guard widened his eyes.

"That's about right." Eric said, his tone much more certain than his words.

Although the saint just said that she still needed to pray to God, the real decision had already been made last night.

Although the matter is now close to being successful, some of the twists and turns were beyond Eric's expectations.

To be precise, he did not truly understand the significance of the position of Saint.

[“The Saint is first and foremost a Saint of the Empire, and only then a Cardinal of the Vatican.”]

According to Saint Morwenna Toulus, the position of Saint originated from the exchange of interests between the nobles of the Teran Empire, mainly knights, and the Holy See. It was the product of the Holy See's compromise or concession to the former during the period when the power of the church and the aristocratic forces competed in the imperial court.

Just as there are high priests from the Holy See in the imperial court of the present emperor, the saints from the knight nobility also have a very high status in the Holy See.

In addition, the Saint also has some real power in the imperial court, such as managing the donations made by some nobles to the Holy See - because the Saint resides in the city of Lesier, this power is usually exercised by the representative of her family in the imperial conference.

Eric's problem was that the Kimino family had been away from the center of power in the empire for many years and had no distant relatives. He could not find such a representative at all and could not exercise this power unless he stayed in Lutia after taking over and handled those worldly affairs personally as a saint.

So the saint proposed a condition that Eric should continue to appoint people from the Tullus family as his representatives to exercise power. In exchange, she was willing to bear the "infamy" after her death and make an exception to allow a man like him to become her heir.

"If you want to break the rules, you'll have to pay the price... Power doesn't exist in a vacuum. If you don't use it, this power will soon be taken away by others openly and honestly, and it will be impossible to return it. If that happens, all the Saint Maiden families will hate you and your Kimino family."

It was not until then that Eric understood the true meaning of his uncle's advice to him not to feel burdened before departure.

Real power and interests are much more effective than Yela's words.

Of course, the saint was not too greedy. She said she would leave one-third of the profits for the Jimingno family.

Eric hadn't expected this benefit in the first place - the empire would be doomed if the demons came, so what good would it do? - so when the saint put forward the conditions, he immediately agreed, swore an oath to Ye La, made a promise, and then there was the superficial process of a performance in the saint's convent this morning.

"Now all that's left is the official announcement," Eric thought.

According to past practice, a ceremony to establish the successor would be held in the cathedral of the Convent of the Virgin Mary, and the Pope would send an envoy to observe.

If he acted quickly, he could be gone within a few days.

"Wait a few more days." Eric said to the guards.

In the afternoon, the saint sent someone to take him back in.

"Mr. Eric, Her Highness the Saint has issued an encyclical through the Saint's House, informing the representatives of the nine ecclesiastical provinces of the Terran Empire, the three northern kingdoms, the southern kingdoms, and all sub-races, designating you as the successor to the Saint. A ceremony to establish the quasi-Saint will be held tomorrow morning."

The person who came to pick him up was the same Sister Gabi who had come earlier in the day, and her attitude towards him had become much more respectful. She apologized to Eric and said that for now she could only call him by his first name, but after tomorrow's ceremony, he would have the same status as the Saint—only status—and would be called "Your Highness."

"Your Highness..."

Even though Eric was not very interested in this kind of false fame, he couldn't help but feel excited when he heard that his name would soon spread throughout all areas covered by the Yela faith on the continent, and then he had new questions.

"The ceremony is tomorrow, so why am I here now?" He glanced outside the carriage. The Saint's Palace was getting closer. "From now on, you are no longer an ordinary believer. It is not appropriate for you to live outside," Gabi said. "Besides, you still have a lot to prepare for tomorrow's ceremony."

It was probably etiquette training on what to say and when, Eric thought. This kind of ceremony had a fixed process and no room for free play, from the empire to the church.

This is a good thing, as it saves him from having to force himself to come up with some thoughts on his inauguration.

"in addition……"

The elder sister glanced out the window. The Apostolic Palace in the distance was clearly visible from this side. "From what Her Highness the Saint said, it seems that His Holiness the Pope intends to attend the ceremony in person."

Does His Holiness the Pope also want to see the male saint?

Eric nodded silently and said nothing.

The carriage stopped on the other side of the Holy Maiden Palace. Tomorrow's ceremony would be held in the church, and he would stay in the monastery today to prepare.

Gabi walked ahead, introducing him as she went. "We've prepared a special room for you here. You'll stay here tonight. Of course, only tonight. After tomorrow's ceremony, you'll move into the side room of the Saint's Abbey, which is prepared for would-be Saints."

It turns out that the quasi-saint has a special residence. Eric nodded as he listened, but didn't care too much. He wouldn't live here for too long anyway.

The monastery was incredibly large. Eric followed Gabi for a while and didn't know how many rooms they passed and how many nuns they met along the way.

There are many female relatives sent by nobles to the convent for "gilding", but the most important ones are devout believers recommended by local monasteries.

Just as Eric was about to follow Gabi around the corner, Alena came towards him in the aisle ahead.

Before he did, Gabi paused, looking at her blankly.

"..."

Alena noticed them almost at the same time, paused, then quickened her pace and stopped in front of the two men.

Eric noticed that she seemed to have changed into a nun's uniform. The main color scheme didn't change much, but it lacked many details such as patterns, and it looked similar to Sophie's.

"Sister Gabi." Alena bowed her head and saluted the two of them. "Mr. Eric."

"Sister Alena," Eric responded casually. She immediately looked up at him, but said nothing and lowered her eyes again.

Gabi said, "She made a mistake and has been dismissed from her position as Head Sister of the Seventh Monastery by Her Highness the Saint. She is now just an ordinary nun."

Eric was stunned. "What's wrong?"

Gabi said nothing, but lowered her head and said, "This is what Her Highness the Saint meant."

Eric was silent, and looked at Alena who was keeping silent with her head down. His intuition told him that this matter was related to him, so he decided to ask the saint in person after meeting her.

"You can leave now," Gabi said.

"Yes, Sister." Alena bowed her head and turned to walk to the other side.

"Please go this way." Gabi continued to guide Eric.

Eric followed, took a few steps, and turned back, but Alena was no longer in sight.

(End of this chapter)