Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 442

442. This Den of Heresy…

Why is he suddenly nagging when he said he’d repay me?

When Rembrary glared at him with narrowed eyes, the young man from the Murim Alliance cleared his throat.

“Anyway, I want to do something to express my apology. Money is…”

The young man’s face turned red.

“Due to some circumstances, I don’t have much on hand right now.”

He seemed embarrassed to admit that a member of the prestigious Murim Alliance was short on cash.

Nang Gil, who had no intention of receiving money in the first place, hurriedly waved his hand.

“No, Rembrary was just joking about the money. It’s okay. It’s not like we saved you, or anything…”

Rembrary wasn’t joking, so he looked at Nang Gil with dissatisfaction.

The young man saw that expression but pretended not to notice and asked Nang Gil.

“Is there any other help you need?”

“No, I’m fine.”

*I’d be happy if you just disappeared.*

Nang Gil thought to himself, but changed his mind when he saw the young man’s expression.

The young man looked like he would be even more worried if they didn’t ask for anything in return.

He seemed to have a strong sense of pride.

Eventually, after hesitating, Nang Gil asked for a reasonable favor.

“Our troupe is collecting letters of recommendation from the lords to become a royal troupe.”

“Ah. The lords?”

“Yes. If you happen to have any good performance opportunities…”

*Should I ask him to introduce us, or arrange something?* Nang Gil paused, choosing his words carefully.

Unexpectedly, the young man smiled brightly and answered immediately.

“That’s fortunate. Since the Murim Alliance is based in the Five Fortresses [a strategically important area], I have some acquaintance with the Deputy Fortress Lord there.”

The group looked at the young man in surprise.

Nang Gil was also surprised and opened his mouth, as he didn’t mean to ask him to introduce someone as high up as the Deputy Fortress Lord.

But the young man was completely relieved and asked.

“I’ll mention to the Deputy Fortress Lord to watch your troupe’s… what’s the name?”

“Hwachinqin.”

“Yes, I’ll tell him to watch the Hwachinqin performance. We’re heading straight to the Five Fortresses, so I’ll mention it as soon as we get there. You can visit the Deputy Fortress Lord anytime you pass by and mention my name.”

Nang Gil was both pleased and surprised by the unexpected offer, and bowed abruptly.

“Thank you, sir!”

“I’m more sorry. Ah, I’m Seol Ryu. You can say that Seol Ryu from the Murim Alliance sent you.”

“Yes!”

With those words, the young man stood up.

“We’re heading straight to the Five Fortresses. Then.”

As the young man left, the other young men followed him out.

As soon as only the Hwachinqin troupe members were left in the spacious tent, they looked at each other excitedly.

“We might be able to get a recommendation there too, Leader!”

“I know. Rembrary must be bringing good luck. We’re getting recommendations easily since Rembrary joined us.”

“Are you curious about the secret to bringing good luck?”

“Huh? There’s a secret?”

“Shall I recommend a good god?”

“…”

Sanmyeong, who had raised his hand asking for the secret to bringing good luck, immediately lowered his hand. Nang Gil thought Rembrary was joking and smiled as he packed his things.

“Alright. Now that it’s settled, let’s go to the Five Fortresses.”

However, Duran, who had many worries, was the only one with a dark expression amidst everyone’s joy, and asked while holding his gold.

“But Leader. What if we arrive there before them? Wouldn’t it look strange?”

Sanmyeong scolded him for worrying about such things, but Duran still couldn’t brighten his expression.

“They’re Murim people [martial arts experts]. They’ll get there faster than us.”

Nang Gil watched the scene and suggested.

“That’s true. But just in case, let’s perform in other places and go slowly. It’s quite a distance from here to the Five Fortresses… and if we’re lucky, we might get other recommendations along the way.”

* * *

Although there were no bodies, traces of battle remained in the tents, with blood scattered everywhere. As soon as their future course was decided, the group left the tents and headed straight out of the village.

After that, it was generally peaceful.

They performed occasionally when they had the chance, and passed through the dangerous areas between fortresses as quickly as possible to avoid camping out.

While passing through the Ten Fortresses.

In one village, the troupe members overheard a group of people talking about the Demonic Cult.

Previously, they would have just passed by, but after the incident in the Eleven Fortresses, the group was a little concerned about the Demonic Cult, so they naturally listened to their conversation.

Most of it was praise for the Demonic Cult, but the group was particularly surprised by one piece of information.

That the Demonic Cult was located near the Ten Fortresses.

As the people who were talking about the Demonic Cult passed by, Sanmyeong asked in a flustered voice.

“Leader. Is it okay for us to pass through here? Should we have gone around?”

Nang Gil had similar concerns, but he didn’t want to show weakness as the leader, so he replied nonchalantly.

“What about us? What did we do wrong? People like us in a troupe have nothing to do with such places.”

“Nothing to do with it? Why, the Demonic Cult people targeted Rembrary before and asked him to come sing there.”

Hocho, who had been walking quietly, also sided with Sanmyeong, unlike usual.

“That’s right. The Murim Alliance Elder was there then, so they just left, but what if they try to take him by force this time?”

Hearing the negative words one after another, Nang Gil’s anxiety grew stronger.

She hurriedly turned to Rembrary and advised.

“Did you hear that, Rembrary? Just in case, be careful…”

But Nang Gil couldn’t finish his sentence and had to widen his eyes.

Rembrary was gone.

“Where did Rembrary go?”

The troupe members were also surprised and looked around.

Before, Rembrary had always followed the troupe members from behind, asking people about finding his group.

Because of that, even though the group knew that Rembrary wasn’t around, they thought he was following behind.

But now, he wasn’t even visible in the back.

Perhaps noticing the troupe members’ surprised expressions, a beggar who had been watching clicked his tongue and approached.

“Are you looking for a tall, blonde young man?”

“Yes! Do you know where he went?”

“Someone was carrying him away.”

“Yes?!”

“He was fast.”

As the beggar went back to his way, the troupe members looked at each other in confusion. *What is this…?*

* * *

The passing beggar was right.

Rembrary was actually being carried away like luggage by someone.

In fact, it wasn’t an urgent situation. Rembrary could stop this person at any time with ‘Divine Majesty’ [his holy power].

However, Rembrary was a high priest who valued dignity, so he knew that if this person succumbed to his majesty and fell forward, he would fall as well.

So, Rembrary patiently waited for the kidnapper to stop for a moment.

Then, the kidnapper, who had gone outside the fortress, put Rembrary down on the ground. Rembrary made eye contact with him.

But before he could use Divine Majesty, he was even more surprised and asked.

“Aren’t you the dance teacher?”

The kidnapper took a breath and raised his head, saying, “What?”

After confirming his face, Rembrary asked with even more certainty.

“You. You’re a good dancer, aren’t you?”

The kidnapper was flustered and made a fierce noise.

“What is this guy? How did he know I’m a good dancer?”

“Oh my. Why did someone who danced become a kidnapper?”

“Who’s a kidnapper!”

The kidnapper was taken aback by Rembrary’s words, but soon realized that he was indeed a kidnapper and closed his mouth.

Even that expression was familiar, so Rembrary smiled brightly and patted his back.

“Still, it’s so nice to see you again.”

The kidnapper was even more uncomfortable and stepped back.

“What. Do you know me? Why do you keep pretending to know me?”

Fortunately, the person he was waiting for came to this place and intervened, saying, “Do you know each other?” The kidnapper was a little relieved.

Rembrary turned his head towards the person who suddenly joined the conversation and recognized his face as well.

“You, that… Demonic Cult.”

The person who appeared was the Demonic Cult person who was in the inn.

The person who exchanged uncomfortable glances with the Murim Alliance Elder.

However, even though he recognized him well, Yeon Seung-gyeong, the Great Lord [a high-ranking member], frowned unpleasantly because Rembrary used the name of the Demonic Cult, which was a figure of terror to people, like a nickname.

The kidnapper glanced at him furtively and answered Yeon Seung-gyeong’s question a beat late.

“I don’t know this person, Great Lord. I just brought him because you told me his description and told me to bring him.”

Rembrary cleverly realized that the kidnapper was Yeon Seung-gyeong’s subordinate and asked.

“Dance, are you also a member of the Demonic Cult?”

The kidnapper, who wasn’t there when Rembrary was searching the inn, flinched and asked the Great Lord Yeon Seung-gyeong.

“What is this? Is he crazy? Why does he keep calling me like he knows me, this human?”

“He always talks like that. Ignore him. We’re looking for someone who sings well, not someone to chat with.”

The kidnapper glared at Rembrary, dissatisfied even though he was the one who brought him.

But when Rembrary took the basic steps that the dance teacher had taught him, saying, “Right, left, tap, tap, right, left, tap, tap,” the kidnapper flinched and stepped back.

Strangely, the way he smiled brightly while keeping the beat looked like a definite madman in the kidnapper’s eyes.

But Rembrary was just happy to see the dance teacher he hadn’t seen in a long time and smiled gently, and the Great Lord Yeon Seung-gyeong looked at him with a headache and opened his mouth.

“Hey, blonde beauty.”

“My name is Rembrary.”

“Hey, blonde beauty.”

“…”

“Think of it as saving a person’s life. Just sing one song in front of our Grand Prince. We’ll pay you more than other places for the song.”

At this point, Rembrary became a little curious.

“There must be many beauties besides me. Why are you going to such lengths to bring me here?”

“There are two reasons.”

“Two reasons?”

“Reason number one. Our Grand Prince is picky, so you have to be very skilled.”

“Aha.”

“Reason number two. Even the beauties who sing well get nervous and can’t sing in front of the Grand Prince. But if it’s you…”

Seeing the Great Lord Yeon Seung-gyeong’s eyes sink seriously, Rembrary realized that the Grand Prince was not an ordinary insomniac.

*Well. If you have ordinary insomnia, you would take medicine, not look for people to sing lullabies as a group. Even kidnapping people.*

‘Is it a disease?’

After thinking for a while, Rembrary recalled that he had some time left before going to the Five Fortresses and that he hadn’t found any of the group who came with him from Earth yet.

Then, he thought that if he helped the Grand Prince, he might be able to get help finding his group later.

After thinking, Rembrary decided to accept the offer.

“Alright. I’ll go. But, there’s a condition.”

“A condition?”

* * *

At that time. Mullu was staring blankly at the cloudy gray sky.

‘I… seem to have fallen into the worst place.’

Mullu had spent all his time figuring out where this was, and finally, he vaguely understood. That this is a religious group.

Mullu closed his eyes tightly.

Everywhere he looked, it was heresy, and all around him was heresy.

In Mullu’s view, this place was like a temple in his original world, but it seemed that the temple was the size of a village here.

Mullu wanted to get out of this place full of heresy as soon as possible.

But how? He put his hand in his pants pocket and took it out, but there was nothing to grab.

Unfortunately, Mullu was unemployed here without a penny.

Daily necessities such as a place to sleep, food, and clothes were provided, but new recruits to the Blood Cult did not receive money because they did not do any work other than receiving education.

“I have no money.”

He had nothing but a spear, so even if he managed to escape from here by force, it would be just as hopeless.

Mullu looked blankly at the sky again.

“It’s okay. The High Priest also had a time when he danced because he had no money. This is a hardship for my growth.”

She forced herself to comfort herself.

“The High Priest overcame that ordeal and became an idol. If I overcome this ordeal, I will become… a heretic.”

But it was no use. Mullu covered his green hair with both hands.

“No.”

I have to get out of this den of heresy quickly. How?