Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 362

362. Finding a Home

With no functional cars remaining in the city, they were forced to venture into the neighboring settlement to procure some.

However, Mulu was still unconscious, and the prospect of walking for hours with the child seemed daunting. After a brief discussion, Saint 305 and Ardor volunteered to make the trek and “borrow” two vehicles.

“What if they refuse to lend them to us?” Saint 305 asked anxiously just before they departed. Rembrary simply patted Ardor’s shoulder, radiating confidence.

“He’ll handle it. Don’t worry.”

The villagers overhearing the exchange, remembering Ardor’s wild eyes and the gun, exchanged nervous glances and whispers.

“What if he starts shooting in the next town too?”

“It’ll be chaos.”

“Shouldn’t we try to stop him?”

“Why should we? Did they come to help us when our village was falling apart?”

“That’s true. If the bomb can’t be disarmed, we should just roll it next door.”

But after a short, somewhat callous discussion, they decided there was nothing to worry about and waved Ardor and Saint 305 on their way.

* * *

After Ardor and Saint 305 left, Rembrary entered the ruined cafe and gently laid the unconscious Mulu on a long chair.

Mengwoo Shin, declaring he wanted a comfortable nap, stretched out on the long sofa opposite. Rembrary sat at a small table for two, facing the child.

However, even after settling down, the child simply stared blankly at the ‘Kids’ Menu Set’ advertisement behind the cafe counter, remaining silent.

Just as Rembrary began to wonder if the child had some specific memories associated with the cafe, the child slowly spoke.

“I’ve never had that before.”

Rembrary glanced at what the child was looking at and replied, “I haven’t either. But it’s okay. When food is labeled ‘for kids,’ it usually means one of two things: either the portions are tiny, or it’s incredibly bland. Either way, it’s usually not worth it.”

The child giggled at Rembrary’s words.

“Didn’t Healer [Rembrary’s nickname] have that when he was young? Didn’t you get to eat it when you were little either?”

“I probably did. But I didn’t live around here back then, so I couldn’t have eaten it.”

“Is Healer a foreigner?”

“Yes. I came from very far away.”

“What did you do there?”

“I just lived, being loved.”

“That sounds nice. If the world wasn’t like this, would I have lived being loved too? Without being treated like I don’t exist?”

“Don’t I love you? My love is better than all the love in the world combined.”

“Why?”

“Because I am great.”

The child, momentarily forgetting the kids’ menu and his earlier sadness, stared blankly at Rembrary. Even to the child’s ears, Rembrary’s claim sounded absurd.

But he delivered it with such confidence that it was hard to argue. However, it’s natural for both adults and children to feel a bit annoyed when someone brags too much, so the child grumbled, seemingly without a specific reason.

“Healer says he loves me after seeing me yesterday? It’s only been a day since we met!”

“Did your parents love you because they saw you for a long time? They loved you as soon as they saw you, didn’t they?”

“!”

“Right?”

“Healer isn’t my parent.”

“But I am the High Priest.”

“What’s a High Priest?”

“Someone who loves God, loves those whom God loves, and loves the world that God loves. And it’s High Priest, not High Scammer.”

“Is loving many people your job?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t that an idol?”

“I used to be an idol.”

“Why don’t I recognize your face? Are you an old idol?”

While the child, who had forgotten his earlier gloomy thoughts, began listing all the old idols he knew, Rembrary answered no to each one.

When Seonwoo Sil’s name came up, Rembrary couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“That senior [a respectful term for someone with more experience] should be here.”

“Oh? You know Seonwoo Sil? My mom liked Seonwoo Sil. She said he looked a bit like my dad.”

“Does your dad also use Photoshop?” [referencing the heavy editing idols often undergo]

“!”

* * *

On the way back to the city where Redrine Company was located, they traveled in two cars.

Ardor insisted on riding with Rembrary, and the child adamantly refused to ride with Saint 305. Mulu, who might regain consciousness at any moment, couldn’t be placed with Saint 305 either.

Considering all these factors, Mengwoo Shin and 305 naturally ended up in one car, while Rembrary, Ardor, Mulu, and the child occupied the other.

“Rembrary-nim [a respectful suffix]. Rembrary-nim. Are we, are we really living together?”

“Not two, but five.”

“Can I use the room next to Rembrary-nim? But if there aren’t enough rooms…!”

“I have to get enough rooms.”

“But if there aren’t enough, I’ll just sleep on the floor! Rembrary-nim, please sleep comfortably in the bed!”

“You’ll share a room with Ninring [Ardor’s nickname].”

“Yes?”

However, Rembrary began to regret his impulsive decision to live with Ardor as Ardor continued to ask him dozens of times if they were really going to live together.

‘Ardor seems to have a house here. Should I have just told him to live separately?’

In the end, Rembrary decided that if Ardor asked a similar question just five more times, he would order Ardor to find his own place.

But Ardor miraculously didn’t ask that question again. He suddenly started boasting about his cooking skills, claiming he knew what foods people of different age groups preferred.

Rembrary welcomed this change of topic and nodded with satisfaction.

On the other hand, the other car was eerily silent.

Mengwoo Shin and 305 didn’t exchange a single word.

Although the immediate crisis had been averted, Mengwoo Shin was still upset by the harsh words 305 had spewed while he was stuck in the white mud. 305, feeling guilty, tried to initiate a conversation a few times, but each attempt was met with stony silence, so he eventually gave up and shut his mouth.

In such contrasting atmospheres, the two cars drove straight towards the same destination.

* * *

As soon as they arrived at Redrine Hunter Company, Rembrary went to the CEO’s secretary and asked to borrow a phone.

“Let me call the CEO. And charge my phone, please.”

Rembrary handed his phone to the secretary and immediately dialed the CEO’s number using the secretary’s phone.

Thanks to the secretary frequently calling the CEO, he only had to press the recent calls button without searching for the number.

However, the CEO didn’t answer. Mengwoo Shin, standing anxiously beside him, asked as Rembrary frowned.

“He’s not answering?”

Rembrary nodded, and Mengwoo Shin twisted his body, clearly frustrated with the situation.

“Ugh.”

Rembrary eventually handed the phone back to the secretary.

The secretary took the phone and looked back and forth between Mengwoo Shin and Rembrary before asking, “You couldn’t find the CEO?”

“No. He was taken somewhere else.”

“Where to?”

Rembrary gave Mengwoo Shin a look that clearly said, ‘You explain this,’ and Mengwoo Shin squatted on the floor and mumbled, “The CEO and I were walking together, and suddenly the ‘black cloud’ phenomenon started. I was trying to escape to a nearby place, but suddenly something snatched me from behind. It looked like a wyvern, but a bit bigger.”

“Then the CEO…?”

“I think another wyvern took him.”

The secretary’s face turned pale, and she asked, as if she was about to grab Mengwoo Shin by the collar, “What should we do?”

The secretary clearly believed that this was Mengwoo Shin’s fault, since the CEO disappeared after the two of them went out together.

Rembrary took two steps back, worried that the secretary and Mengwoo Shin would start fighting, and said, “If we investigate the places where the Bald Eagle monsters appear, we might be able to find the CEO.”

“Ah! That’s right. Then I’ll focus on investigating places where such rumors are circulating.”

“And, CEO’s secretary.”

“Yes! Is there any other information?”

“I’m thinking of buying a house.”

“Yes?”

“I don’t have money.”

The secretary, whose face had brightened up a bit at the prospect of finding the CEO, tilted her head, giving him a look that clearly said, ‘Why are you asking me that?’

“Help me find a house. The CEO would have helped me.”

It wasn’t just the expression. Rembrary tried to leverage the CEO’s name, but the secretary firmly refused.

“I’m sorry. I need the CEO’s permission for this.”

At this, Rembrary looked at Mengwoo Shin as a second option, but Mengwoo Shin firmly refused with an X sign made with his hands.

“I can’t do that much either.”

Rembrary’s shoulders drooped, but he introduced the awkwardly standing Saint 305 to the secretary.

“This is a new Saint, so a room…”

However, before he could say ‘give him a room,’ Saint 305 interrupted Rembrary’s words.

“I, I want to live with my benefactor too. My benefactor is who I trust.”

At those seemingly touching words, Rembrary flared up and retorted, “Didn’t you just see me get rejected while trying to find a house? There’s not even enough room for five people, and you’re telling me to find a house for six people?”

“No, that’s not what I meant… I just, there are two children… and that green-haired person seems injured, and that hollow-eyed person seems crazy, so shouldn’t there be someone to actually work? That’s what I meant…”

Saint 305 waved his hands frantically as his offer to repay the favor was strangely misinterpreted, trying to avoid being seen as someone trying to freeload at all costs.

Fortunately, Rembrary thought about it and acknowledged Saint 305’s words, saying, “That’s true.” Besides, when he thought about it, weren’t he, Mulu, and Ardor all from another world?

Although Ardor was well-adjusted, it seemed much better to have a native person to help raise the children than to rely solely on people from another world.

Having made a decision, Rembrary started looking for a house again and asked Ardor this time.

“Do you have money?”

“I used to.”

“Now?”

“I spent too much while opening the store, so now I don’t have enough money to get a house for six people in the city. If it’s a three-room house, it might work out somehow. Well, a three-room house would be fine too. Since we’re using one room for two people, I’ll use a room with Rembrary-nim…”

Rembrary cut off Ardor’s words and immediately asked Saint 305.

“Do you have money?”

“The place where I lived wasn’t a place where money was important because the market was already dead.”

“So you don’t have any?”

“…Yes.”

There were five people to take care of, but he couldn’t even secure a house, so Rembrary wanted to call Woo Yeonwoo and tell him to hand over even half of the money he had earned.

But Woo Yeonwoo, whose heart was as small as a mouse’s poop [a Korean idiom for being stingy], would faint if he heard those words. In the end, Rembrary pondered for a while and borrowed the phone from the secretary again to call Shin Jo-woon.

Unlike usual, when he would answer the phone right away, Shin Jo-woon only answered after the phone rang about ten times.

[Who is this.]

“Anchovy [Rembrary’s nickname for Shin Jo-woon]. Help me.”

* * *

Shin Jo-woon was in a meeting when he received a call from an unknown number, and he was surprised to hear someone suddenly asking for help.

“What’s wrong? What’s going on?”

The president was so surprised that he jumped up, and the employees all got up together. Shin Jo-woon gestured for them to sit down and continued the call.

“You’re not hurt… you wouldn’t be. What’s wrong?”

As the employees sat down awkwardly, Shin Jo-woon’s voice, asking as he went outside, gradually faded away.

“What? You want something? …What? You want a house?”

The employees wondered what this conversation was about and exchanged glances with each other. The moment the door closed, they all ran to the door and pressed their ears against it.

But Shin Jo-woon had already gone far away while talking on the phone, and the conversation could no longer be heard.

The employees were dejected and returned to their seats.

Meanwhile, Shin Jo-woon calmly asked Rembrary what was going on, but he frowned when the answer he got was, ‘There are two children, Kwanwoo is back, and even a snail has appeared.’

He didn’t understand any of it. He went into the pantry and tried to calmly decipher the pig language [a Korean idiom for nonsense] while filling the coffee pot with water, and finally came to the best conclusion.

“Let’s talk in person. When are you free?”