The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 81 Asking God
Xinmagu took the initiative to talk about things that he thought were still meaningful today. Eric listened and quickly came to a conclusion in his heart.

Xinma Gu really came for him...

To be precise, he came here because of the Yela Oracle he heard.

The high priest was extremely disappointed with the empire, but as for the church and his own faith, besides the late Pope, he still had another concern, that is, the god that countless people believed in.

He wanted to know what Yela thought of the church that claimed to spread her will, and of the world in general.

If she is just, why doesn't she punish the church, which is now rotten to the core?
If she is kind, why doesn't she save the hungry and cold refugees on the continent?

If she knew everything, why did she never respond to his questions?

He didn't want to use any church texts to interpret their fictional gods. From ancient times to the present, countless people claimed to have heard Yela's oracle, and only Eric's words were credible.

—The prediction about the meteor shower in Dent County still played a role in Eric's most unexpected situations.

The two had met once before, and Simagu didn't expect Eric to answer his questions. He just wanted him to describe in detail the god he sensed.

"...I really hope I can help the High Priest, but it's hard to describe... I can't find the words in human language to accurately describe that moment."

Eric is really hard to describe.

He made it up!
He had never heard of any oracle, so if he had to describe it, he could only make up something based on his own understanding of the power of God.

But another problem is that he is still an atheist at heart.

The more you talk, the faker it seems.

Xin Ma Gu looked at him and said, "Your Highness, the Quasi-Saint Lady, only needs to fully explain the process without any embellishment."

Eric looked at him.

"On the morning the Holy Maiden's messenger arrived, a voice suddenly appeared in my mind, telling me not to let Irene become a quasi-holy maiden. Then, I saw countless meteors falling from the sky..."

"--You mean 'scene'?" Xinmagu suddenly asked.

"Uh..." Eric thought he couldn't understand.

Are you saying that there's suddenly a video in my mind?

Xinmagu quickly explained his real focus. "I mean, did Her Highness the Quasi-Saint actually see the meteor fall, rather than just knowing that it was going to happen?"

Eric nodded with all his strength, "Yes...I saw it."

"Is it the same as what Your Highness saw later?" asked the high priest.

"Exactly the same." Eric replied, and then he saw Xinmagu frown.

"The meteors are scattered by gods. Does that mean the gods have the same perspective as humans on earth?"

Xin Ma Gu made a scattering motion. "Your Highness, have you ever scattered seeds? I think this is what it felt like when Yela scattered meteors... Sorry, I forgot, Your Highness is also from a noble family."

"..."

There were so many complaints that Eric didn't know where to start.

If you are not a true believer, you will never think of such an angle.

But Eric also had an explanation. "Yela let me see it, so it must be understood by ordinary people like me. If it was the perspective of a god scattering meteors, I probably wouldn't understand anything."

Xinmagu pondered for a while before nodding, and it was unclear whether he accepted his opinion.

"Has Your Highness ever heard Yela's voice since then?"

Eric looked at him and suddenly something moved in his heart.

If he asked Xinmagu not to make such extreme choices in the future in the name of Yela, would he believe it?

……no.

Eric quickly gave up the idea.

Since it involves him, Xinmagu will definitely dig deep into the matter. For a while, he will not be able to make up a completely flawless "oracle" and will end up making things worse.

Eric shook his head.

Xinmagu let out a long sigh.

This conversation with the quasi-saint girl not only failed to resolve the doubts in his heart, but instead gave him more questions.

Continuing to ask would not yield any further results, so Xinmagu chose to stop there.

However, he could see that this quasi-saint lady of noble birth did not have the same prejudice against him as the other cardinals.

Perhaps it was because he was still young and had not yet been contaminated.

The high priest bowed to Eric and said, "Thank you for your answer, Your Highness."

Seeing him bow his head, Eric felt a complicated mood. "You're welcome, High Priest. I just told you what I saw." The two continued to descend the mountain. Eric asked, "High Priest, are you going to return directly to Lutia?"

"Yes. There is no need for me to stay here any longer." Xinmagu replied.

Eric looked at him and said, "I can sense that the high priest is always concerned about the suffering civilians."

Xin Ma Gu looked over and asked, "Is Your Highness also like this?"

"I was raised by my uncle Edgar and was greatly influenced by him. I care about the lives of civilians, but I can't do it to the same extent as the high priest. While I care about them, I still care about my own interests." Eric said.

Xinmagu was silent for a moment. "Even this is much better than other nobles."

Eric continued, "I'm not here to curry favor with the High Priest. I simply want to remind you that nothing destroys civilian life more than war."

Xinma Gu frowned, "Your Highness, do you think I will bring war?"

"What I mean is that the high priest is in the court and may be able to prevent wars in the future," Eric said.

Simagu wanted to say that the empire no longer had the ability to wage war, and that he did not have as much influence in the imperial court as Eric thought. However, there was too much to explain, and he did not want to disappoint his seemingly naive vision.

"I will do my best to stop the war," said the high priest.

Eric said no more.

Whether or not Xinmagu exists, the demons will invade. I just hope that when the time comes for the final decision, what he said now will have some effect...

For the rest of the journey, the two of them had their own thoughts and only had a brief exchange.

Before arriving at the holy city, Xinmagu said goodbye to Eric and left alone without looking back.

Looking at the lonely figure in the wind and snow, Eric still found it hard to connect him with the cold-blooded villain in the future.

"Your Highness."

The Vatican knights at the entrance to the inner city saluted him.

The old Pope's funeral has ended and the inner city has been closed again. During the time he was on the Holy Mountain, the ordinary believers who had originally flocked to the inner city to watch the ceremony have been asked to leave.

Back in the inner city, Eric guessed that the Saint was still at the cathedral. He looked over and saw that the College of Cardinals and bishops from all over the continent were indeed gathered together, discussing something.

Inside the cathedral, all traces of the funeral had vanished, and the place had returned to its former cold and sacred state.

"Eric?" The Saint quickly noticed him and beckoned him over. "Why did you come back alone?"

"The cardinals need to rest before going down the mountain, so I'll go down first." Eric sat down next to the old man and answered in a low voice.

The Saint glanced at him and said, "It's not too late. Did you go down the mountain with Xinmagu?"

The Saint really understood him... and also understood Xinmagu.

"Yes." Eric did not deny that he went down the mountain with Simagu, and the cardinals and knights on the mountain saw it.

"Where are the ancient Xinma people?" asked the saint.

"Left." he replied.

The old man frowned, "Left?"

Eric replied: "The archpriest said he would not participate in the election of the pope."

The Saint was stunned for a moment, "Are you sure?"

"This is what the high priest Simmagu said himself." Eric looked at her with a firm gaze.

The saint immediately raised her hand and released a dazzling lighting spell, attracting the attention of other cardinals in the hall.

"Stop, stop, no need to discuss anymore, let's just follow the rules from previous years. Xinma Gu has already left."

The cardinals fell silent and looked at the saint.

"I know you won't elect him, and I don't want to disgust myself by choosing a new Pope from among you. So I simply gave up my right to vote and be elected and returned to Lutia."

The cardinals looked at each other for a moment, and then someone said, "The Lutia Diocese is currently the most populous diocese. Is it justifiable that their representatives are missing from the conclave to elect the Pope?"

"Did we force him to give up?" the Saint asked. "He wanted to leave on his own, so we can't be blamed. If I were to ask you, this was the only correct choice he made in the past few decades. I almost admire him."

"He won't come back suddenly, will he?" someone else said.

Another cardinal chimed in, "Then let's announce a conclave to begin in three days. After that, it will be useless for him to come back."

Then someone else suggested: "Three days is too long, one day is enough."

"One day is too ugly... Your Majesty just went up the mountain."

Eric watched silently, and at one point he turned his head to look outside the church, suddenly wanting to breathe some fresh air.

(End of this chapter)