Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 173

Tiger Head went straight to Daeju. He only glanced at the map once, but finding the way wasn’t difficult. He had lived in this country for a very long time. He could find his way even with his eyes closed.

‘This is it.’

Soon, Tiger Head found the cafe Rembrary had told him about and entered the building without hesitation. He passed through the cafe and into a room marked “STAFF ONLY,” easily finding the secret passage with its entrance blocked by various devices.

After passing through the long passage, a spacious area with a desk appeared. There, half a dozen humans were busy with their own tasks.

Tiger Head looked around, worried that someone might recognize him. He didn’t want a human with the ‘eye’ suddenly appearing and causing a commotion.

But there didn’t seem to be any humans with the ‘eye’ here. Tiger Head wandered around, but no one even glanced at him.

‘I had hoped this place, where humans who can grant my wish reside, would be more impressive. It’s just ordinary.’

Disappointed, Tiger Head entered a room located particularly far inside.

“Is the demonic beast that the High Priest mentioned you?”

Fortunately, the human in the room recognized Tiger Head and spoke to him. Tiger Head confirmed that the human’s hair color, eye color, and appearance matched what Rembrary had told him about ‘Daeju’ and replied.

[Yes. Are you Daeju?]

Daeju nodded and pointed to the sofa.

“Would you like to sit?”

[I’m fine.]

Despite offering him a seat, Daeju didn’t sit on the sofa himself but stood and asked.

“What exactly brings you here? All I heard was that the High Priest sent you, so I should listen to your story without chasing you away.”

[I want to become human.]

“Human….”

[I heard you have the ability to grant wishes.]

“That’s right. But I’m not yet powerful enough to change someone’s race.”

Tiger Head couldn’t hide his disappointment at Daeju’s answer. Although he had the face of a tiger, his expression was so vivid that it clearly showed how much Tiger Head regretted it.

Daeju, who liked cats, felt a slight stirring in his heart when he saw Tiger Head looking dejected. There was nothing more heart-wrenching than watching a drooping, full mustache.

“I can’t make you human. But I can change your face to a human one for a month.”

[Is that true?]

Tiger Head’s white whiskers stood straight up. Daeju fixed his gaze on those whiskers and nodded.

[Then please do so! I will repay you for this! I used to be a notorious chain smoker, but I’m a tiger with a strong will who even quit smoking!]

“Not right now.”

[Do you need a sacrifice?]

“I need time. My ability can only be used once a month. I’ll grant your wish next month.”

[Thank you!]

Tiger Head jumped for joy. But Tiger Head hadn’t forgotten Rembrary’s instructions, so even as he rejoiced, he scrutinized Daeju.

‘Let’s see… a cold impression. Compared to Lady Im [likely referring to Im Yu-Han, a character Tiger Head admires], tsk. His face is blurry. Compared to Lady Im, tsk.’

Tiger Head judged Daeju based on Im Yu-Han, the human he liked the most among all the humans he knew. As a result, he concluded that Daeju had a bland impression with no particular characteristics.

In Tiger Head’s view, the only noteworthy aspects of Daeju were that he had the ‘eye’ and possessed a useful ability.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

[No. I was looking because you have a good impression.]

* * *

Tiger Head returned while Rembrary was reading a fan letter delivered by the company.

Jeongseo was across from him, so Rembrary took the fan letter and quickly went out to the veranda. Then, he remembered being caught by Oh Jeong-Shin while talking to Tiger Head here before, so he went back into the room.

“Ugh, so annoying!”

Hye-Gyeol grumbled, but he didn’t care even 1g [a very small amount]. Rembrary closed and locked the door, then asked Tiger Head. Tiger Head conveyed Daeju’s words exactly.

“Really?”

[This body will be able to have a human face in a month!]

Even if you get a human face, Im Yu-Han won’t be able to see you. Rembrary couldn’t bring himself to say this to the rejoicing Tiger Head, so he patted him on the back, saying he was proud.

“Good job, Uh-Heung.”

Tiger Head felt so good that he howled Uh-Heung, Uh-Heung. Then, he belatedly remembered that he had one more thing to say and became serious.

[I also examined Daeju thoroughly.]

“How was he?”

[Aside from the eye and ability, he was an ordinary human.]

“Anything suspicious?”

[His impression was so blurry that I couldn’t tell if he was suspicious or not.]

Just as people see all tiger faces as the same, does Tiger Head see all human faces as the same? Rembrary tilted his head, recalling Daeju’s handsome face.

[Then I’ll be going!]

Tiger Head, who was in a good mood, hurriedly opened the window and left, but he returned in less than a minute.

[Ah, I have one more thing to say.]

“What is it?”

[The place you told me about had thorough security, but that security was only capable of stopping humans. There wasn’t even any defense against us [supernatural beings].]

“Really?”

[But there was one place, just one place, that even this body couldn’t enter.]

“Was there a barrier? Like those used by exorcists or such?”

Rembrary asked indifferently. Even if there was only one place with defenses in a building without defenses against supernatural phenomena, Rembrary didn’t think there was anything strange about it.

In any case, Daeju had the ‘eye’ and used strange abilities, and seemed to use artifacts sometimes, so he might have focused the defenses on just one place.

[No.]

But Tiger Head answered no.

[That barrier wasn’t made by a person.]

* * *

Woo Yeon-Woo stepped back. The other person seemed to recognize her and was approaching, but it still felt awkward.

Besides, that person had just thrown a huge spear and killed a giant mantis in one go. An unidentified sticky fluid from the mantis was still dripping from the spear she held.

As Woo Yeon-Woo, who had lived in a world where the absence of monsters was acknowledged at the age of seven, it was an incomprehensible sight.

“High Priest?”

Her appearance seemed even stranger to the other person. The person holding the spear jumped down from the large horse and approached Woo Yeon-Woo.

“Are you alright?”

She reached out her hand, but Woo Yeon-Woo was even more horrified and stepped back. This time, it was because of the blood and unidentified shell fragments all over the person’s hand. That shell was definitely from some monster, and that blood….

“High Priest!”

When Woo Yeon-Woo, who had been backing away, faltered, the woman, unable to watch any longer, quickly jumped forward and grabbed Woo Yeon-Woo’s arm tightly. Thanks to that, she didn’t fall, but Woo Yeon-Woo let out a stifled scream.

“I, I’ll stand on my own!”

Woo Yeon-Woo held out her palm, signaling the woman to please let go. She wanted to be at least five steps away from that blood-stained hand and terrifying spear.

Fortunately, the woman recognized the signal, released Woo Yeon-Woo’s arm, and stepped back two steps. It wasn’t the five steps she wanted, but Woo Yeon-Woo was relieved enough to sigh.

“The High Priest has a wound on her hand!”

She tensed up again as soon as she felt relieved.

Before she could even finish exhaling, Woo Yeon-Woo widened her eyes and looked at the woman. Unexpectedly, the woman, who had remained calm even while looking at the giant monsters, looked slightly surprised when she saw Woo Yeon-Woo’s palm.

Seeing the other person react like that, Woo Yeon-Woo wondered if her hand had turned colorful due to some curse, so she hurriedly examined her own hand. But it was an ordinary human hand. Her palm was a bit scratched, though.

Or was the other person making such a fuss because the ‘High Priest’ had a wound on her hand? She didn’t understand, but even a single scratch on the bodies of emperors or kings would cause a commotion around them.

Besides, the woman kept calling her High Priest, so it seemed she had entered the body of a sloth [referring to the character who previously inhabited the High Priest’s body]. According to the sloth’s expression, the High Priest here seemed to be in a very high position.

“I just got hurt. It’s okay. It’s just a little scratch.”

In any case, Woo Yeon-Woo desperately signaled that she was okay. At the same time, she tried to calmly sort out the current situation.

‘The person named Daeju always called the sloth Daeju-nim [a Korean honorific], so it must be right that I entered the sloth’s body, right?’

She had been told to weaken the sloth’s power, so she wondered, ‘What am I supposed to do?’ She never expected that they would completely switch bodies. Woo Yeon-Woo grumbled inwardly and slowly lowered her injured arm.

But the woman looked even more surprised, even though she said it was okay.

“The High Priest has a wound on her hand….”

Woo Yeon-Woo was troubled by the mumbling voice that couldn’t even finish the sentence. The sloth must have grown up incredibly precious.

Woo Yeon-Woo didn’t realize that the other person would react like that because the High Priest’s wounds usually healed immediately.

“Is she a survivor?”

As she was doing that, another man wearing similar clothes to the woman approached on horseback and asked.

“We need to go quickly. Take her.”

The man was also wearing the same cloak as the first woman. It seemed they were both from the same group. Moreover, the man, like the woman, belatedly exclaimed in surprise when he discovered Woo Yeon-Woo standing alone.

“High Priest?”

Having come to this, it would be foolish not to guess whose body she had entered. Woo Yeon-Woo was convinced that she had entered the body of the sloth.

But even after being convinced, she still stood there blankly, just rolling her eyes. What good was it to know that she had entered the High Priest’s body, the sloth’s body? She had no idea where, how, or in what way the High Priest and the sloth had lived.

The two people who approached wearing cloaks also looked at each other with troubled eyes. Then, the man reached out his hand to Woo Yeon-Woo with a much kinder voice.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but this place is dangerous, High Priest.”

The woman also pointed to her red horse and offered.

“Please ride.”

Woo Yeon-Woo moved away from both of them and hurriedly said.

“It’s okay. I, I can’t ride a horse.”

The woman’s expression turned sour at those words.

“You’re saying the High Priest can’t ride a horse?”

Her questioning voice also seemed to be asking, ‘Really?’

‘Come to think of it, the sloth once boasted about its riding skills. It was real.’

Woo Yeon-Woo thought she shouldn’t have brought up the horse riding.

However, in this case, even if she hadn’t brought up the horse riding, she would have had to get on that big red horse anyway, so her inexperience in riding would have been revealed anyway.

That’s when it happened. The woman who had been constantly urging Woo Yeon-Woo to get on the red horse suddenly contorted her face. Just by changing her expression, the atmosphere instantly turned ominous.

Wondering why she was suddenly acting like that, Woo Yeon-Woo tensed up. In the blink of an eye, she drew her spear and held it to Woo Yeon-Woo’s neck.

“Who are you? Who are you to have that person’s face?