Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 433

That evening.

Lying in bed, trying to sleep, Rembrary reopened his eyes at the sound of an instrument coming from the next room.

‘Is that Duran?’

The sound, which seemed to be 끊어질 듯 말 듯 이어지는 [fading in and out], sounded somehow lonely and sad.

‘Is he blaming himself for his cooking skills?’

Rembrary felt a little sympathy and then closed his eyes again.

“……”

But when the sound didn’t stop, he finally got up, opened the door, and went out.

Duran wasn’t in his room, but sitting on a chair in a room without walls or a door – essentially an open-air space.

He seemed absorbed in his playing, even closing his eyes, but he quickly noticed Rembrary’s footsteps and stopped playing.

Duran, with his hand on the instrument, smiled awkwardly when their eyes met and asked,

“Can’t you sleep either?”

“You woke me up.”

“Ah. Sorry.”

“Aren’t you sleeping?”

Rembrary approached Duran and plucked the strings of the instrument once.

“Just… I’m worried about whether the leader and the members are doing well. I was also thinking about how happy they would be to see the letters of recommendation when they arrive.”

Duran smiled awkwardly and watched Rembrary 계속 금을 ‘똥 똥 똥’ 하고 타 보는 [continuously plucking at the strings], then asked the question he had been thinking about all along.

“But what were you really doing before? Where did you come from?”

“As I said, I lost my memory.”

“For someone who’s lost their memory, you’re too…”

“Sharp.”

‘Sharp, my foot,’ Duran thought immediately, but he was kind-hearted. Duran couldn’t bring himself to say it honestly and vaguely glossed over it.

“That’s right. Sharp. Uh… What I wanted to say was, you’re too calm.”

“If there are people like this, there are people like that. Don’t worry about it.”

Rembrary plucked the strings of the instrument again.

Duran found Rembrary’s attitude somehow strange.

He was the type to be very conscious of other people’s opinions, which made it even more noticeable.

Of course, there were many people who lived like Rembrary, saying everything they wanted to say. But even those people wanted others to agree with them or didn’t want to hear criticism from others.

Rembrary, as Duran saw him, seemed not to care much about what others said, which was amazing. How does one have to grow up to develop such self-esteem?

Then Duran suddenly exclaimed, “Ah!” in surprise.

“Why, what is it?”

“Rembrary. Everything’s fine, but let’s make this clear.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You said you know how to use honorifics! But why aren’t you using them!”

“Because there’s no need to?”

“You don’t have to use them with us. You don’t have to use them with the thieves either. But use them with people like the lord! The lord here is generous and just lets it go, but if you meet someone who doesn’t like that, it’ll cause problems!”

* * *

The next day. Rembrary and Duran went to a meal to which they were invited by the lord.

The lord, still with yesterday’s favor, greeted the two with a hearty laugh.

“Did you sleep well? I lay down to sleep, but our Rembury’s voice kept lingering in my ears, making me very happy!”

Although the name he used while greeting them was quite strange.

“Rembury?”

When Rembrary asked back, the lord corrected himself with an ‘ah’.

“Rembrin, was it?”

Rembrary frowned when the lord arbitrarily shortened his wonderful name in a strange way.

Yesterday, the thief lord called him Rem as well. It seemed that people here liked to shorten names.

‘If so…….’

The lord, seeing Duran smile, noticed his mistake and asked.

“Huh? Isn’t your name Rembury?”

Duran, who was laughing to himself, opened his mouth to tell him properly, saying, “Yes.”

But Rembrary stepped forward and answered first.

“It’s Raveyriveryvery.”

In a nonsensical way.

Duran cleared his throat and looked at Rembrary in surprise. What kind of name is that?

The lord also tilted his head, bewildered.

“Huh? Did your name get longer in just one day?”

Even if he didn’t remember the name exactly, he seemed sure that it wasn’t that long.

But the lord didn’t ask further, so fortunately, this matter was passed over.

However, Duran was anxious to let it go like this, so as soon as they sat down, he protested to Rembrary so that the lord wouldn’t hear.

“Why are you saying your name so strangely? That’s not your name!”

“Don’t people shorten all names? If I tell them longer, I thought they would shorten it and say my name properly.”

‘What kind of logic is that……’ Duran was dumbfounded and opened his mouth, but when the maid came and placed food on the table, he closed his mouth and bowed.

When the maid smiled, bowed back, and moved to the side, Duran looked at Rembrary again.

But as he was about to continue the nagging he had been doing earlier, he saw Rembrary looking at the food with a pleased smile.

‘Does he like to eat?’ Seeing that expression, Duran didn’t think there was a need to nag him now, so he closed his mouth again.

* * *

As Duran expected, Rembrary hardly spoke throughout the meal and concentrated only on eating.

The lord was so impressed with how 야무지게 [thoroughly/heartily] well he ate.

“I wondered how he could sing so well. It must be because he eats so well! Bring him more. Let him eat a lot.”

Then, after receiving and eating the food three more times, Rembrary, who had been eating silently, suddenly spoke to the lord, perhaps because he was moderately full.

“Lord.”

Duran, who was eating slowly, was startled and looked to the side. Even though Rembrary didn’t call him, his heart sank.

“Yes. What is it?”

“If it’s okay, can I ask you something?”

Even though he was using honorifics properly as he had asked, Duran’s heart was still pounding.

The lord, on the other hand, calmly allowed it.

“Yes. Ask.”

“Have you seen a woman with green hair and carrying a 창 [spear], a silver-haired man with dark circles under his eyes and no color in his face, a man wearing a lion mask, a man with very black hair but very pale skin, or Shin Jo-woon, who has no distinguishing features other than being handsome?”

Fortunately, Rembrary’s question was not in the area that Duran was worried about.

But since it wasn’t something the lord would know, Duran chuckled and scooped up the 뜨끈한 [hot] soup with a spoon.

“I’ve heard of the lion mask story.”

But surprisingly, the lord answered that he knew one of the unique group Rembrary was looking for.

Duran was surprised and looked at the lord.

Rembrary’s face also brightened and asked.

“Where? Where is he?”

It became so bright that his tone returned to normal, but fortunately, only Duran noticed this.

The lord readily answered.

“His specialty is the lion dance. The troupe he’s in is so famous that it’s easy to know its location.”

“Lion dance?”

But the lord’s answer was a bit unfamiliar to Rembrary.

Rembrary tilted his head, wondering if the Lion Lord danced.

‘Well. I’m playing the role of a 가인 [singer] here, so the Lion Lord might be dancing too.’

However, the 고민 [worry] was short. Rembrary knew that if he came to this world, he had to survive by doing something, so he concluded that the person who danced the lion dance was definitely the Lion Lord and said.

“Yes, our lion is flexible and will dance well.”

After speaking, he wondered, ‘Is a lion flexible?’ but this was also 적당히 [suitably] passed over.

The lord thought for a while and then told him again.

“Maybe…… in the 11th 성 [district/castle]. He’ll be there.”

Rembrary’s complexion brightened, unlike before, and he grabbed the chopsticks.

‘11th 성. If he could find the Lion Lord there, it would be easier to find the other members than it is now. The Lion Lord has abilities that are very optimized for 이동 [movement/travel].’

On the other hand, Duran looked worriedly at Rembrary and the lord alternately.

‘The leader said he’s going to the 9th 성 next. The 9th 성 is in the opposite location to the 11th 성. ……Is it okay?’

* * *

At that moment. Shin Jo-woon was still at the starting point.

It was a dangerous location where he could fall and die with even a small mistake, so it couldn’t be helped. Shin Jo-woon carefully repeated the practice hundreds of times.

Fortunately, Lumena had left a jar containing things to eat and drink, so even though it was a place completely isolated from the outside, he wouldn’t starve to death.

And finally, on the latest day among the group, Shin Jo-woon succeeded in 쌓는 얼음 [stacking ice] evenly from the ground to where he was.

A single giant artificial cliff. He had created a cliff made of ice.

This was a much larger object than any ice he had created so far, and even he was exhausted after doing this.

He wanted to go down immediately, but he knew that rushing things would only ruin them.

Instead of going down on the ice right away, Shin Jo-woon went back into the room to conserve his strength and slept soundly.

The next day, he packed food and a bottle of water for emergencies and got on the ice.

If other people had ridden it, they would have been prone to slipping, but the ice did not reject its owner.

Shin Jo-woon stood on the high ice mass he had created and rode it down like an elevator.

‘Lumena’s clothes don’t seem to be from a familiar world. But it should be easy to find the pig. He’s noticeable no matter what he does.’

As the ice melted, light gradually entered the surroundings, which had been endlessly dark, and finally, a river and a small village could be seen below.

It was like a scenery seen from a low-flying airplane.

But instead of appreciating it, Shin Jo-woon thoroughly checked the building style and transportation, etc., one by one.

But as he approached the ground, he saw a very strange sight near his ice pillar.

“Aigoo…… 신령니임 [Oh, Divine Spirit]…… 신령니임…….”

“비나이다 비나이다 [I pray, I pray]…… Please fix our 영감 [old man/husband]…….”

“Please heal our 어매 [mother]…….”

“Please make me taller than my 오빠 [older brother]…… Or make my 오빠 shrink…….”

“Please cancel everything my 동생 [younger sibling] is 빌든 [wishing], 신령님…….”

Shin Jo-woon frowned.

People were 손을 싹싹 빌면서 절하고 [begging with their hands together and bowing] at the ice pillar he was riding on.

‘Did I make the ice pillar too high?’

Even in the world he lived in before the Awakened appeared, if an ice pillar this high was created in one day, it would have been more than enough to make overseas headlines, so Shin Jo-woon thought they were 충분히 이럴 만하다고 [understandably doing this].

Unfortunately, he was not the 신령님 [Divine Spirit] they wanted, and the ice pillar was not a mysterious phenomenon but just an ice pillar.

In the meantime. The ice pillar was melting more and more, and finally, Shin Jo-woon almost arrived on the ground.

But just as the ice pillar Shin Jo-woon was riding on melted, leaving about 5m to the ground.

One of those who hadn’t even looked at this side because they were 기도하느라 [praying] looked up.

Then, the moment his eyes met Shin Jo-woon.

The person opened their eyes as big as 밤알 [chestnuts], suddenly raised both arms, and shouted.

“The 신령님 [Divine Spirit] has come down!”

Those who stopped 기도 [praying] in unison at the shout and looked up also raised their arms in surprise at seeing Shin Jo-woon.

“The 신령님 [Divine Spirit] has answered!”

“Oh my god, 신령니임 [Divine Spirit]!”

Soon, those people lowered their arms and began to 절하기 [bowing] at three times the speed of before.