The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 43 Winged Woman

According to the winged woman, she was just resting in the tree and had no intention of disturbing anyone. Unexpectedly, Sophie landed right under her tree. Raindrops fell, and she fluttered her wings. Sophie, who was under the tree, was frightened by the sudden movement and screamed.

"I'm so sorry."

She apologized to Sophie again, and Sophie looked at Eric and several guards who had rushed over. She was no longer concerned about the shock she had just experienced. "It's okay..."

The female winged person was probably in her thirties, with a cylinder hanging on her chest. She was completely wet, but the cylinder didn't seem to be stained by many raindrops, obviously she was protecting it very well.

"Are you the messenger?" Eric asked, looking at the mailbox.

"Yes." The female winged man nodded.

She flew from Gradia to deliver a letter to Dorne, but because of the sudden heavy rain, she had to stay in the woods. Unexpectedly, the rain lasted for several hours, so she had to give up her plan to continue flying.

Eric looked up at the treetops, "So you're planning on staying here overnight?"

The female winged person nodded, and seeing the look of confusion on the face of the little nun who had been frightened by her, she said, "For us winged people, this is nothing."

"Have you eaten?" Eric asked suddenly.

She was silent for a moment and shook her head.

"That's our camp over there. Come over, make a fire and have something to eat." Eric said, then put away his weapon and walked back.

Seeing him walk away quickly, Alena looked at Sophie and asked in a low voice, "Are you okay?"

Sophie blushed and glanced at the wet leaves on the ground. "...Okay."

"Then go ahead."

The two men brought the female winged man back to the carriage. The guards made room for the female winged man by the fire so that she could sit down and warm herself by the fire to dry her body, especially her huge wings.

They had almost finished their meal, so they left the remaining dried meat and broth for her.

"Thank you..." Being watched by so many people, the female winged man felt a little restrained and could only express her gratitude with repeated words.

Eric asked the guards to go back to the carriage to rest first.

"Young Master..." They also wanted to talk to the female winged man.

Eric pretended not to hear and said, "We have to travel tomorrow, so go to bed early."

"Ok."

Watching the four guards reluctantly climbing onto the same carriage, Eric suddenly thought of a question: there were already four people squeezed in, how would he sleep later? Was he going to have to squeeze into the nuns' carriage?
When there were only three people left by the fire, the female winged person was obviously much more relaxed and ate faster. She must have been very hungry.

Eric took the opportunity to observe this unique sub-human race from the side. The first thought that came to his mind was that the wings of the winged people were indeed unusually large.

However, if the wings were small, they would not be able to lift their heavy bodies into the sky - except for an extra pair of wings on their backs, the body structure of winged people is no different from that of ordinary humans.

The feathers on their wings were no different from those of birds. Eric stared at them for a few seconds and was reminded of a falcon that a minor noble had given to his uncle.

"...Can Winged People communicate directly with birds?"

When Eric noticed that the other three people by the campfire were looking at him, he realized that he had accidentally spoken out his random thoughts.

"No, sir." The female winged man put down the broth in her hand and said, not thinking this was a strange question. "The best we can do is understand the sounds of some birds and use them to determine the direction... or the weather. We can't communicate directly with birds. Unless..."

"Unless what?" Sophie was also interested.

"Learn the skills of the Naturalist Druids." The winged woman looked at the nun's clothes on her body and gave an answer.

Sophie glanced at the head nun and didn't dare ask any more questions.

All sects that are not of the Yela faith are considered pagan to them, including the natural sect.

However, paganism is not a cult. A considerable number of non-mainstream beliefs, including the god of nature worshipped by druids and the god of truth worshipped by mages, are now recognized by the Holy See. Yela's believers at most do not talk about it, and have not yet reached the point of hatred.

"Since you can judge weather changes by the sounds of birds, why didn't you find a place to shelter from the rain in advance?" Eric brought the subject back.

"I'm used to it, sir," the winged woman said. "If we had to hide from every rain, we wouldn't be able to deliver more than a few letters a month."

Eric was silent for a moment. "Does a downpour like this count as 'every rain'?"

The winged woman lowered her head and looked at the broth in her hand. "I thought I could find a place to hide from the rain before dark."

"Are you used to this?" Sophie asked.

The female winged man looked at her and nodded slowly.

"..."

Sophie clasped her hands together in a prayer gesture, her brows unconsciously furrowed.

Eric gestured for the winged woman to continue drinking her broth and added a few more pieces of firewood. After a while, he asked, "Where are you sending all these letters?"

"Lord Dorne, there are also a few letters to be sent to Otville." The female winged person replied.

"Then please take a letter for me to Dent County in Otterville," Eric said. The winged woman was stunned for a moment, then quickly nodded, "Yes, sir, as long as you give me the letter and the address."

Eric got up and went to the carriage to get paper and pen.

He had only been away for two days, so there was no need to write a letter at all. He thought about it and, based on what he had seen and experienced today, wrote a letter of greetings to Irene and his uncle.

As he was about to stop writing, he suddenly remembered the two Arameans he had met two days ago, and asked his uncle to keep an eye on them if he noticed their movements.

After finishing the letter, Eric folded it, wrote the address on the back, and handed it to the winged woman along with a few gold coins.

"Here is the fee. Please be sure to deliver the letter to my family."

"This, this is too much, sir... a few silver coins will be enough." The female winged man hesitated and refused.

"I am a noble, and my letter is important and worth the price," Eric said. "Only if you accept these gold coins will I be able to give you the letter with confidence."

The female winged man looked at him for a while, then took the letter and the gold coins.

"Thank you, sir... I don't know how to express my gratitude to you... I promise to deliver the letter before sunset tomorrow."

Eric simply nodded and watched her solemnly place the letter in the mailbox.

After they had eaten and drunk enough and their bodies had warmed up again, the female winged man expressed her gratitude to the three people again and then said goodbye to them.

"The rain has stopped. I will take your warm kindness and find a suitable place to stay for the night."

Sophie looked at Eric with an anxious look, openly expecting him to say something.

"Are you going to travel again tonight?" Eric asked.

"That's not necessary..."

"Then stay here and keep watch for us."

Eric pointed to the fire in front of him and said, "With the fire burning, no wild animals should dare to come over. You can rest after guarding until midnight. I can pay you."

"No reward!" the female winged person said immediately, and looked at them again, "It's just... won't it disturb you?"

“No, no!” Sophie said, and Alena shook her head.

The winged woman stayed and began to dry her wings by the fire. If conditions allowed, she didn't like her wings to be wet all the time.

And when the communication can continue, some people's curiosity can no longer be suppressed.

"Do winged people also molt seasonally like birds?" Eric asked.

"Can I touch it?" Sophie held out her hand.

“…” Alena looked at the two of them.

Seeing that the two people's combined ages might not even match hers, the gentle female winged person was happy to answer any of their questions.

It wasn't until late at night that Sophie couldn't help yawning and Alena urged her to go to bed.

After saying goodnight to each other, the two nuns got into their carriage and spent the night in it for the first time since they set out from Dent County.

The previous problem was put before Eric again. Looking at the carriage filled with four guards and cheering loudly, he looked at the other carriage.

…No, forget it. It’s impossible in every sense of the word.

He returned to sit by the fire.

"Mr. Eric?" The female winged man looked at him. "Aren't you going to rest?"

"I can't sleep anymore."

Eric told his troubles and threw a few dry branches into the fire. "Let's just stay here tonight. We can catch up on some sleep in the carriage tomorrow anyway."

In the flickering firelight, the female winged man looked at him, stood up, sat behind him, and put her hands on his shoulders.

"If you don't mind, you can lean on me to sleep tonight."

Eric was stunned and struggled a little, "That's not necessary... You don't have to go to this extent."

"This isn't forced... because even if I'm not holding you, I'm used to sleeping hugged to a tree trunk when I'm outdoors at night."

The winged woman whispered in his ear, "Hugging your body, in this dark night, makes me feel more at ease."

"Well... okay." Eric didn't insist too much. His body fell back with her movements and he fell deeply into the soft warmth.

Huge wings covered from both sides, interlacing to block the jumping flames.

The embrace of the Winged Sister... is so warm...

This was Eric's last thought before he fell asleep.

(End of this chapter)