Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 461

◈ 461. Distrusting Each Other

Thanks to Elder Soonmu appearing unharmed despite seeming seriously injured, Ardor’s riot didn’t escalate into a major disturbance.

Ardor had made impious and rude remarks by demanding the Emperor be brought forth, but that incident was also smoothed over thanks to the Emperor.

“Everyone, keep this matter quiet. If I hear this story from elsewhere, I will strictly interrogate those involved to find the loose-lipped individual.”

With the Emperor’s firm command, the soldiers reluctantly lowered their weapons and retreated, and Elder Soonmu was escorted to his quarters to rest.

“I’d like to speak with my companions,” Rembrary said to the Fake Anchovy, who was looking at him with displeasure. He then took Ardor and Hwasa with him to his room and informed them that the Emperor was not Anchovy.

“He looks exactly like Shin Jo-woon, but he’s not Shin Jo-woon?” Hwasa asked, shocked after hearing the story.

“He looks completely identical?”

Having met the Emperor before Rembrary and firmly believing he was Shin Jo-woon, Hwasa seemed very bewildered.

“His name is Shin Jo-woon too? And he said he has a friend named Jang Tae-ri?”

“I was also surprised that he wasn’t a eunuch, but he is not. The Shin Jo-woon who came with us is currently mistaken for Yoo Mena’s successor, spending money like water and being chased around.”

On the other hand, Ardor didn’t seem as surprised, perhaps because he hadn’t mistaken the Emperor for Shin Jo-woon for very long.

“It seems Shin Jo-woon has a surprisingly common face, High Priest.”
Hwasa was dumbfounded that Ardor treated Shin Jo-woon’s face as common, but as someone who had wasted weeks being fooled by the Fake Shin Jo-woon, he had nothing to say.

“You don’t have to be ashamed of being deceived, Lion. The Fake Anchovy was a very clever person.”

Ardor firmly refuted Rembrary’s consolation.

“No, High Priest. If you’re deceived, you should be ashamed. You should be made to face the wall and starve for a week. Stupid.”

Hwasa, who had been dragged into this strange world because of Ardor, couldn’t bear it and began tearing at Ardor’s hair.

Ardor immediately pointed his gun at Hwasa’s forehead, but that was like throwing himself completely into Hwasa’s domain.

In an instant, Ardor’s gun was in Hwasa’s hand, and Hwasa smiled as he aimed the gun at Ardor and fired without hesitation.

It all happened in the blink of an eye, but it was useless.

Ardor’s gun had no bullets, and only Ardor could fire it.

In the end, nothing happened.

Hwasa was flustered and ran away with the gun, and Ardor chased after him.

While the two squabbled like children, Rembrary ate a very sweet snack, though he didn’t know its name, and organized his future plans.

‘I need to revise my plan since Hwasa and Ardor have appeared.’

Originally, Rembrary intended to use Hwachin [a magical artifact or technique] to summon his companions, knowing the Emperor would try to keep him.

Of course, he would keep that fact a secret from the Emperor.

But now, the Emperor knew that he was looking for his companions.

He hadn’t said it outright, but considering the Fake Anchovy’s quick thinking, he was more than capable of guessing.

Even meeting Hwasa without any information, he had managed to deceive him well.

‘The Anchovy Imposter has seen my abilities twice, so he will still try to keep me.’

Hwasa isn’t someone you can catch just because you want to, but once a powerful person sets their mind to it, even Hwasa won’t have an easy escape.

Even if he can escape without being caught, if he can’t eat and rest comfortably, his path will be full of hardship.

The same goes for Rembrary himself if he relies on Hwasa’s abilities to escape.

If the Emperor issues an arrest warrant, he will have to keep teleporting without properly eating or sleeping.

As he was pondering this, Ardor and Hwasa, who had run off, appeared with the Emperor Anchovy.

“This is perfect timing.”

Rembrary smiled at the Fake Anchovy, as his thoughts were gradually becoming clearer.

“Let’s talk.”

The Emperor didn’t refuse and sat across from Rembrary.

Hwasa and Ardor sat to Rembrary’s left and right to support him, but since it was a round table, they just ended up sitting together in a friendly manner.

As the atmosphere for a conversation was set, the Emperor looked at Rembrary, curious about what he would say.

Rembrary proposed with his usual nonchalant attitude.

“As you might have guessed, Fake Anchovy, I am looking for my friends. Help me find my friends.”

The Emperor raised his eyebrows.

“Why should I do that?”

“Because it pleases me.”

“…….”

“If I am pleased, I will gladly help you too.”

The Emperor nodded and muttered, “I see,” then asked.

“It sounds benevolent, but it’s a threat.”

“A threat?”

“Doesn’t it mean that if I don’t find your companions, you won’t help the Empress Dowager anymore?”

Rembrary realized that the Fake Anchovy was misunderstanding his healing abilities.

It was clear that the Fake Anchovy thought Rembrary was treating the illness over several sessions, like other doctors, rather than curing it all at once.

That’s why he misunderstood it as a threat regarding the Empress Dowager’s complete recovery.

“How negative.”

“?”

However, Rembrary had no intention of using the Empress Dowager’s treatment as a threat, so he honestly denied it.

“That’s not it. I will continue to treat the Empress Dowager regardless of this matter. I’m talking about the difference between treating injured people with joy or helping them half-heartedly in the future.”

“What’s the difference between joyful treatment and half-hearted treatment?”

“My heart.”

“!”

The Emperor looked at Rembrary with a somewhat surprised expression, and Rembrary gave him a benevolent smile.

The Emperor thought for a moment and then asked again.

“If you find your friends? What are you trying to do by finding them?”

“I’m not trying to do anything by finding them.”

Rembrary didn’t mention that he had a Demon King fragment inside him or that he was looking for a way to return to his original world.

This was something difficult to tell anyone outside of them.

Fortunately, the Emperor didn’t ask further about that and instead made an unexpected proposal.

“Then let’s do this. I will help you find your friends. In return, you will stay here even after finding your friends and be a royal physician. How about it?”

It wasn’t a bad offer, but it was one that Rembrary could never accept. Hwasa scoffed at the absurdity of it from behind his mask.

Of course, his mask didn’t cover his mouth, so the smile was fully visible.

“Sounds good.”

But unexpectedly, Rembrary readily accepted without hesitation.

Stay here? As a royal physician? Hwasa’s eyes widened as he looked at Rembrary.

Ardor also frowned and glared at the Emperor.

The Emperor smiled, satisfied with the deal.

“Good choice. If it’s difficult to mingle with the other royal physicians because of your unique treatment methods, I will consider that and give you a different position.”

As the Emperor, having completed the deal, left, Hwasa fidgeted anxiously and asked urgently.

“Are you really going to stay here and live as a royal physician? I thought we would find a way back together once we all gathered.”

Rembrary immediately replied.

“Of course, we have to find a way back.”

Hwasa tugged at the beard of his mask.

“Then you’ll find a way and leave me behind?”

Again, Rembrary replied immediately.

“No.”

Hwasa made a dazed sound, “Huh?” and tilted his head.

“But you clearly said earlier-”

Ardor interrupted with a snort.

“Stupid Lion. Of course, he was lying.”

“Lying?”

Hwasa looked at Rembrary with a ‘Is that true?’ nuance, and Rembrary nodded with a gentle smile.

“!”

* * *

As the Emperor, having finished the deal, walked away with his hands behind his back, the close aide eunuch walked beside him and said cautiously.

“Still, it’s fortunate that you communicated well, Your Majesty.”

“Communicate?”

“Yes. When we were leaving here earlier, didn’t I subtly ask you, Your Majesty, if it would be better to give them a position after helping them with what they were trying to do first? Your Majesty also said that would be the easiest way. But it worked-”

“Do you believe those words?”

The eunuch’s voice faltered at the words the Emperor said with a smirk.

“Yes?”

* * *

Inside a small world made of wood, black and white stones were densely packed.

A finger holding a white stone slowly moved in one direction over it.

Finally, when the hand reached a certain point and placed the white stone down, a ‘hmm’ sound was heard from the other side.

“This is quite something. I’ve lost.”

The opponent sitting across from him scratched his head and kept looking down at the Go board as if trying to figure out how he had lost.

Shin Jo-woon closed the lid of the Go stone box and said to his opponent.

“Now, please accept the request as promised.”

The opponent who had played a Go match with Shin Jo-woon was the head of the Information Gate, which currently handled the ‘fastest and most accurate information’ in the Murim [martial arts world].

Unable to directly describe the group’s faces because of Yoo Mena’s disciples, Shin Jo-woon decided to borrow the power of an existing force.

“It’s the first time I’ve lost at Go.”

The head of the Information Gate grumbled, but Shin Jo-woon didn’t engage in personal conversation.

He cut to the chase, said what he had to say, and got up.

“Please contact me when you have the information.”

Shin Jo-woon, who had turned around, took a few steps to leave the pavilion. But he had to stop before long.

As he was about to go down the stairs, those who were surrounding the pavilion to guard the head of the Information Gate simultaneously pointed their weapons at him.

Shin Jo-woon raised his eyebrows and looked back.

The head of the Information Gate, who had been looking down at the Go board, was picking up the Go stone that Shin Jo-woon had placed last.

“By the way.”

The head of the Information Gate, holding the Go stone with two fingers, smiled slyly and looked at Shin Jo-woon as he asked.

“I heard you’re Yoo Mena’s successor. Is that correct?”

“The Information Gate handles information the fastest, but I heard that information is a bit flimsy. That seems to be true.”

The head of the Information Gate tilted his head.

“Does that mean it’s not true?”

As soon as the question ended, the Go stone that the head of the Information Gate was holding became covered in white ice and froze.

“!”

As the Go stone turned into an ice lump with a cracking sound, the head of the Information Gate was surprised and dropped it.

The dropped Go stone fell onto the Go board that the two had been using, and in an instant, the cold air spread to the Go board.

The head of the Information Gate’s heart was pounding, and he looked down at the scene before slowly raising his gaze.

Shin Jo-woon was looking down at him without lifting a finger, and when their eyes met, he smiled and said.

“Now you can revise the information.”

As he turned around and said, “Contact me when you find it,” and went down the stairs, the guards who had pointed their weapons at him hesitated and lowered their weapons.

The head of the Information Gate alternated between looking at his upright back and the frozen Go board before belatedly exclaiming, “Ah.”

A subordinate who had been attending to him from behind asked, “What’s wrong?” and the head of the Information Gate clicked his tongue and replied.

“No. I just realized why they said our information is flimsy.”

The head of the Information Gate picked up the Go stone he had dropped again and clicked his tongue.

“He was mocking me for looking down on him because I didn’t have enough information.”

The subordinate rubbed his arms, feeling cold for no reason as he looked at the still-frozen Go board and Go stones.

“He didn’t even lift a finger. He really uses strange abilities.”

“Indeed.”

The head of the Information Gate frowned as he put down the Go stone.

“No, so does that mean he is the successor or not?”