The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 87 Alan Part 2
The title of a new pope is usually a metaphor for the future direction of governance after being elected.

When each pope is elected, he or she typically chooses a name from among the ten disciples of past sages, such as the prophet Raphael, as their title. Different sages have different styles, such as Innocent, who represents an active and worldly outlook, and Sergius, who represents a more reserved and focused church. Choosing a name signifies that one will inherit that spirit.

When the news of Clement XI's ascension to the throne in Lesire reached the Cathedral of Lutia, the high priest Sinmachus, who had already returned, closed his eyes silently.

Clement...Usually only the most conservative among conservatives would choose this name as their title.

The church was already in a state of dire straits, and now it has completely lost the possibility of change.

The decay will accelerate, and the Light will grow dimmer.

When he saw a hint of disappointment emerging in his heart, Simagu realized that after the old Pope passed away, he still had some illusions about the Church.

And this fantasy will no longer exist from now on.

Xinmagu looked back sadly, only to see that the roads he had walked on had collapsed, and his footprints were floating in the void.

And the road ahead...

There was no future for him anymore.

Aram stood aside, watching the changes in the high priest's expression, and seemed to be thinking about something.

"Archpriest, the messenger sent by the Holy See is still waiting. Do you want to respond to the Holy See?"

Xinmagu opened his eyes, stared at the letter on the table for a while, and shook his head slightly.

"Just say I know."

Alan lowered his head and said, "Yes."

Leaving the high priest's room and coming to the other side of the church, Aram chose to convey the original words.

Seeing that there was only this sentence "I understand" and not even a simple reply, the white-winged church messenger looked embarrassed, but in the end he said nothing, flapped his wings, and flew away again.

"It seems that the high priest is extremely disappointed with the Holy See..." Alan looked at the sky. The white figure became smaller and smaller, and soon disappeared.

Now was the perfect opportunity to win over the high priest, she thought.

In Lutia, the most prosperous city on the continent, the cathedral is particularly quiet. Because there are knights guarding the religion standing at the intersection, only devout believers come here, and there are few people passing by.

Alan turned and left, walking towards a more lively area.

She did not belong to the church or the church. She was considered to be Simmagu's personal follower and had considerable freedom of movement. The high priest seldom asked about her whereabouts. However, she was very careful and never met her special "friends" near the church.

After walking through the city for a while, she came to a busy market and stopped in front of a stall selling fruits and vegetables.

The stall owner who was selling things inside was also an Aramean.

The meeting of two silver-haired Arans would have attracted some attention elsewhere, but this was Lutia, and this block was the largest civilian area in Lutia, with all kinds of people mixed together, and there was no shortage of strange people.

Looking around, orcs were walking everywhere, lizardmen could be seen everywhere, dwarves were making loud noises, wood elves were selling sex, and dark elves were squatting in the corners, looking at every passerby with ill intentions. They were much more noticeable than the two Arameans.

Alan picked up a bunch of cabbage, looked around, and whispered, "The new Pope of the Holy See has taken office, and Xinmagu seems very dissatisfied with him. I think this is a good opportunity to make contact."

The Aramean inside gave a standard customer-facing smile and asked, "Are you sure?"

"What's there to be uncertain about? Apart from the old Pope who died last month, who else in the church would look up to him?" As Alan said this, a name emerged in his mind.

Eric...

No, that golden-haired kid is nothing right now.

"I understand. I will pass this news back home."

The Aramean inside nodded, then lowered his voice:
"Also, I heard that person seems to be planning to return from the south and will stay in Lutia for a while. If your judgment is correct, letting that person directly contact Xinmagu would be the best option."

Alan was startled and glanced around subconsciously, "What's the time?"

The companion shook his head. "Not sure, that's just the rumor. It could be a month, or six months."

Thinking about what happened in the south, Alan was silent for a while. "I heard that it was that person who decided to execute Garcia..."

"Iris!" her companion stopped her from continuing. "Garcia revealed our secret. He deserves death. Lu...that person's decision was absolutely correct."

When his original name was called, Alan fell silent again.

"What you need to find out is how much the Cardinal knew about us from Garcia," his companion continued.

"I've gotten everything he knows out of him," Alan said, "and he's a quasi-saint."

The companion was stunned, "What?"

"I said that person is not a cardinal of the Holy See, but a quasi-saint."

"A quasi-saint... a female?"

"..."

Alan felt powerless.

This was clearly news she had reported a long time ago, but the tribesmen didn't take it seriously at all... No wonder before that person arrived, the Arameans could only hide in the snow and ice and wander around, barely surviving.

Although she had concealed something due to her own mistakes...

"It's not important." Alan took a deep breath and said, "He doesn't take the Alans seriously at all. He won't pay attention to us."

"Hmph, Imperials..." The companion snorted coldly, and after a moment asked, "Any other news?"

"No more." Alan said.

"Then don't stay here too long." Her companion glanced at the passers-by behind her, "Buy it."

"..."

Looking at the cabbage in his hand, Alan rolled his eyes and took out the money.

At this moment, a figure suddenly jumped out from the side and ran past at an extremely fast speed. Alan felt a pain in his hand, and the bag of coins he had just taken out was snatched away.

Turning around, I saw that the figure had already run away after crashing all the way.

"Damn dark elves..." Alan gritted his teeth.

It was impossible to catch up with them. The dark elves were agile and cunning, and were natural thieves and robbers. There was no hope for the patrolling guards in the city, as they served the powerful and wealthy. Unless she brought in the high priest, she didn't want her coming here to attract too much attention.

The companions inside were not surprised by this, and even smiled, "These fallen elves will be wiped out sooner or later."

"No more!" Alan threw the cabbage back on the stall and turned away.

Walking through the noisy downtown, Alan felt irritated.

She had been lurking beside the high priest for six years. Due to the latter's embarrassing situation, she actually had access to very little useful information. The tribe had long since given up on her, but they hadn't made any other arrangements for her.

When will days like this end... After all, do the Arameans really have any hope of restoring their country?
Alan walked through the streets with his head down, his pace getting faster and faster, and he accidentally bumped into a knight on the side of the road.

Her arm hurt from the collision, and the knight, wearing light armor, was just startled by her.

"Uh...you are..."

"Sorry." Alan didn't want to make things worse, so he quickly apologized to the other party.

Fortunately, the knight seemed to be a nice person and didn't care about her collision at all.

Someone nearby noticed the commotion and asked, "What's going on, Leslie?"

"It's okay, Miss Irene, this lady bumped into me accidentally." The knight replied.

Alan subconsciously looked over in the direction of the voice, his expression becoming serious.

"you you……"

Eric!
Eric in women's clothing!

Half a year later, she still couldn't forget this face.

...Is that Eric?

Although their faces looked very similar, the person in front of her had longer hair and obvious female features. She had just heard her voice, so she was indeed a real woman - unless Eric was extremely perverted.

Alan quickly ruled out that absurd possibility.

She looked to be about the same age as Eric, and as tall as him. She was wearing a lake blue wizard robe and carrying a staff. She was obviously a student of the magic academy on the shores of the Elf's Tears Lake in the suburbs.

Alan looked at where they were staying. In front of them was a magic material store. It seemed that she was here to purchase some magic supplies.

"Are you okay?" The female mage who looked like Eric looked at her and spoke with concern.

"I'm fine." Alan smiled at her, then bowed his head and continued walking forward.

The two of them didn't care too much. One continued to select materials, while the other stayed by the carriage and continued to wait.

Alan was quite familiar with this area. He walked forward for a while, then came back from another path and found a secluded place to observe the two people.

The more I look at it, the more it resembles...

Is she Eric's twin sister?

Thinking of that weird male quasi-saint who made her quite embarrassed, Alan couldn't help but be distracted.

She hadn't seen him since she left Lesier - the high priest had gone to the Holy City to attend a funeral some time ago, and he had never thought of taking her with him - bringing a letter to the Moon Elf Archmage Agnes on his behalf was her last interaction with him.

Of course, based on the secrets of the Aram people that Eric knew, she hoped that they would never meet again...

Alan was thinking when he suddenly noticed that Eric's sister looked around as if looking for someone.

And the middle-aged man who looked like a knight from her family was standing next to her.

After searching in vain, she took off her staff and began to chant.

Then, Alan saw a very thin flame ignite on the ground, twisting and twitching, like a fire snake with life and self-awareness, crawling...

Coming towards her?!

Alan was startled and was about to move away when the tiny fire snake had already crawled in front of her, circled around her, and at the moment when the head and tail were connected, it suddenly rose into a thin wall of fire.

After the wall of fire dissipated, the face she had been staring at for a long time appeared outside, his eyes full of surprise.

"Are you... the lady from before?"

(End of this chapter)