The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 63 Teachers and Students
In the Apostolic Palace, in the Pope's apartment, when Sergius VI opened his cloudy and lifeless eyes, the sky outside the window was dim and dawn had not yet arrived.

But he was no longer sleepy.

The long stay in the world not only took away his vitality, but also his sleep. Sergius VI could not remember when he last had a deep sleep.

This is something he cannot change even as Pope, and he has long since calmly accepted it: the human body always has flaws, and only by returning to the Kingdom of God and in God's arms can one enjoy eternal happiness.

A little wandering thought upon waking up can easily turn into uncontrolled long thinking. When His Holiness the Pope comes to his senses again, the light of dawn has already appeared outside the window.

He raised one hand, a white light appeared at his fingertips, and then the whole room lit up.

"Your Majesty." The waiter, who always seemed to be awake whenever he opened his eyes, quickly came over to help him get up and dress.

As usual, after getting up, the Pope first went to his private chapel in the Apostolic Palace to meditate on morning prayer and pray for grace for the ordinary believers.

At the end, the Pope said: "Let Xinmagu come in early."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

His Holiness the Pope prefers a simple diet, and his breakfast is no different from that of ordinary monks. He may occasionally have one or two slices of smoked meat from his hometown of Dorne, a habit he has maintained since he was an ordinary bishop.

After he finished breakfast, someone came to report: "The high priest Xinmagu has entered the holy city."

At the top of the Papal Tower, Sergius VI finally saw his students after a long absence.

"Sinmagu." The Pope looked at the "young man" in front of him who was less than half his age.

"Your Majesty." Simagu, who was wearing a bishop's robe, bowed deeply and looked up to respond to his gaze.

After staring for a moment, His Holiness the Pope smiled and said, "Eight years have passed, and you don't seem to have changed much."

Changes do exist and cannot be ignored, but what he sees first is the part of him that remains unchanged: his sharp gaze - which others may see as stubbornness and paranoia, but he particularly admires, and his determination in himself.

"Your Majesty has grown older."

Simagu, however, was forthright, and continued, "During the eight years in Lutia, I have always missed Your Majesty, and today I finally see you again."

After a long separation, His Holiness the Pope actually had a lot to say to his students, but when it came to his lips, he felt embarrassed and couldn't find the words to say, because many topics would turn into empty talk that could never be realized.

He didn't want the last impression he left on him to be one of compromise.

In the end, he just smiled and let the students speak.

As expected, the latter immediately posed a difficult question to him. "Your Majesty, have you received any results regarding the messenger's assassination?"

"Oh, Simagu..." His Holiness the Pope sighed and said his name, but he also missed this long-lost feeling.

"There is a 'result', but it may not be what you want." The Pope casually flipped through the files in front of him, took out a copy and handed it to Simagu.

Xinmagu took it, quickly scanned it, and frowned.

"...the wood elves in the forest accidentally killed the messenger?"

His Holiness the Pope was not surprised by his reaction. "This is the preliminary result of the Knights Defending the Faith, and I approve it. Let them stop here and stop torturing those poor long-eared people."

Simagu put down the file and looked at the Pope, still frowning. "Your indulgence will only foster their arrogance."

The old man also looked at him, his eyes calm. "So do you want me to investigate it myself, Xinmagu?"

"..."

This is obviously unrealistic.

But if you leave it to others, you can only get this result.

"I can investigate for you, Your Majesty," said Simagu.

"——Don't forget your identity. You left the Church long ago and are now the High Priest of the Empire."

His Holiness the Pope shook his head, not wanting to dwell on the matter. "Let's talk about your own affairs. Simagu, how have you felt about these eight years in Lutia?"

After a moment's silence, Simagu could only sigh silently at the Pope's compromise, and then began to talk about the various difficulties and obstacles he had encountered during his years as high priest.

The position of high priest was originally the representative of the church in the court of the Teran Empire. In its heyday, it was even able to influence the emperor's decisions in the imperial court. Even now, hundreds of years later, it still has some power to intervene in the affairs of the empire.

But it is just some superficial power.

The Pope just listened most of the time, and when he spoke occasionally, he always said, "You have done a good job."

"...The empire is already decaying. No matter how much I do, it's nothing more than useless repairs on a sinking sailing ship. Even the repairs themselves are accelerating the sinking of the ship... I still remember what His Majesty said when he sent me away eight years ago, 'Go to a place where you can truly perform and do what you want to do', but I sometimes wonder if all this is really meaningful." "But you won't stop, right? You know what you are really saving. Xinmagu, the gods have seen everything you do."

"A god shouldn't just watch in silence!"

"...Xinmagu, you're going too far. The gods simply created this world for the sake of convenience, and they have no obligation to take care of us."

Even though there was no one else in the small room at the top of the tower, His Holiness the Pope spoke to shift the focus of the discussion to something unimportant before the topic became more sensitive.

"I'm dying, Sinmagu."

"..."

"Since you haven't been back for a long time, why don't you stay in Lesire for a few more days?" The Pope smiled at his student. "Before you leave, remember to come and see me one last time."

Simagu's gaze passed through many titles such as the Pope, Raphael's Representative, the Chief Bishop of the Teran Empire, and the Head of the Holy City of Lassel, and finally fell on the white-haired old man in front of him.

"Yes... Your Majesty."

Afterwards, Sergius VI took the student aside and chatted about some unimportant but more relaxing trivial matters.

Perhaps because it had been a long time since we last met, His Holiness the Pope was in high spirits and seemed to be in high spirits.

He talked about their first meeting more than a decade ago during a tour of the south, when Simagu was still an ordinary church priest. He also spoke of his regret at not being able to see his student, who was away for some reason, when he was invited by the emperor to Lutia five years ago. Finally, he talked about the first male saint-to-be in hundreds of years who had recently arrived in the Holy City, and the meteor shower he had predicted...

But the old man's energy is limited after all.

Before showing any signs of weakness, the Pope stopped talking, held the student's hand, and looked at him with calm and gentle eyes.

Xinmagu understood that it was time to end today's meeting.

"Before I leave, I will come to see Your Majesty again."

The Pope smiled and patted the back of his hand.

After coming down from the Papal Tower, walking through the cathedral and various chapels, and finally walking out of the Apostolic Palace, Simagu stopped and looked back at the entire building behind him.

The palace, which has stood for hundreds of years, is tall and majestic, exuding a decadent atmosphere of sacred light.

He had lived here for several years and was the chief monk of the Basilica of St. Raphael, which was the most respected by the Pope. Although he was too young to be a cardinal, the powers granted to him by the Pope in those years were no different from those of an ordinary cardinal.

But even so, he ultimately failed to change anything.

Let the church actively participate in the affairs of the continent, transform their thinking from top to bottom, starting from the level of nobles and princes, promote reforms, and then benefit the common people of the entire continent... All the ideas he had talked about in front of His Holiness the Pope came to nothing.

Pope Sergius VI did admire his sharpness and talent, and secretly hoped that he could bring about a change to the increasingly outdated church, but the Holy See could never be run by him alone, and resistance was everywhere.

——The people who make up the Holy See today are no longer the most devout and hardworking practitioners.

The cardinals of the Holy See are all bishops promoted from various dioceses on the mainland, and the vast majority of those who can become bishops are of aristocratic origin: they may not be pious, but the donations from their families to the church must be so great that it is difficult to refuse.

It is nothing but a pipe dream to expect these people to support his reforms, reduce their own wealth and provide relief to the common people.

Although he gained more power on the surface after becoming the high priest of the empire, Simagu himself knew that he was expelled from the Church as a loser.

"High Priest." The attendants who were waiting outside the Apostolic Palace came forward at this time.

Xinma Gu retracted his gaze and said, "Let's go."

The followers' gaze suddenly turned to the other side of the Holy City Square. Xinmagu also looked in the direction and saw a group of people carrying someone over.

That's the Holy Maiden Palace, and the only person who can come here is the Holy Maiden.

Simagu suddenly remembered that the Pope had just mentioned that the male quasi-saint was interesting and he might be interested in her, and he was indeed interested, so he stopped and waited for a while.

When the saint saw the middle-aged man waiting outside the Apostolic Palace from afar, she had a gloomy look on her face. Even when she was carried in front of him, she had no intention of hiding, let alone stopping.

Xinma Gu took the initiative to speak at this time.

"Your Highness, I want to talk to you."

"..."

Eric's eyes twitched when he caught a glimpse of the saint's gaze.

What’s going on? Why did Xinmagu come to him as soon as he arrived?

(End of this chapter)