Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 440

◈ 440. Lumena Here

“No, Alliance Leader. What are you talking about? Sa Gamjae is gone? I heard people whispering that he hadn’t been here long?”

Elder Geomjang turned sharply, questioning the news of Sa Gamjae’s departure. The Alliance Leader frowned, replying,

“There are… complications.”

Elder Geomjang was genuinely surprised. Complications? Could there be more complications than the current situation?

“More complicated than the Alliance Leader having a secret son?”

At the question, which was hard to tell if it was sarcastic or teasing, the Martial Arts Alliance Leader felt a tingling at the back of his neck and mumbled, placing a hand there,

“I told you, he’s not a secret son…”

‘Sure,’ Elder Geomjang thought with disbelief, turning completely and finding an empty chair to sit, beginning to question in earnest.

“What circumstances would cause a guest to leave as soon as they arrived?”

“A guest should be treated as a guest. Elder Geom, that guest was not human.”

“Not human?”

“It’s a long story. Are you sure you want to hear it?”

* * *

“I see. I understand the Alliance Leader’s concern that he might be a dangerous figure. Hearing this, it’s understandable.”

The Martial Arts Alliance Leader trusted Elder Geomjang, so he told him everything – from the unbelievable fact that Sa Gamjae was a Grim Reaper, to the Grim Reaper’s search for a group, one of whom was in the Blood Cult, and that the blonde [Rembruary] was central to the group.

He wouldn’t usually tell others about Sa Gamjae or the Blood Cult, but he could confide in Elder Geomjang.

Elder Geomjang had formed a relationship with the blonde, Rem, completely unrelated to Sa Gamjae.

Sharing the truth made him feel relieved, so the Alliance Leader gazed at Elder Geomjang with the expression shared between those who know the truth.

However, Elder Geomjang firmly denied the Alliance Leader’s words.

“But the young hero Rem I met was a very kind person. In fact, he’s not even a martial artist, so I don’t know if I should call him a hero.”

“A kind person, you say?”

“He took responsibility and helped someone he mistakenly saved, even though they mistook him as a colleague, without showing any displeasure. And he didn’t expect anything in return.”

“Hmm. I don’t know.”

Could someone who is associated with a Grim Reaper, a fanatical religious person, and a member of the Blood Cult, and who uses a person like a horse or carriage, really be kind? When the Martial Arts Alliance Leader reacted indifferently, Elder Geomjang spoke well of Rembruary again.

“Besides, the young hero Rem was just singing and living his life, not involved in any strange religion. Even when I or the Demonic Cult invited him [to join], he refused, saying he would become an imperial theater troupe. What strange religion are you talking about?”

However, the Martial Arts Alliance Leader still believed his own assessment was more accurate than Elder Geomjang’s.

Since they couldn’t easily agree, the Martial Arts Alliance Leader offered the quickest and most accurate compromise.

“The fastest way is to see for ourselves. If what you say is true, just letting him know that Sa Gamjae is here will bring him this way. Since you made the promise, you go and tell him and bring him back.”

* * *

Meanwhile, Rembruary’s Hwachinchin [troupe name] had just arrived in a village on the outskirts of the 11th Star.

The group, having quickly gathered two recommendation letters, was excited and chattering or lost in thought.

Duran wanted to ask Rembruary, ‘But those people, the Demonic Cult and the Martial Arts Alliance, how will they contact you if they find your group?’ but he was too shy to ask. Hwanmae and Hocho showed interest in Myosu’s thoughts on a group song.

Sanmyung was angry that her best friend Hwanmae was only talking to Myosu, and Nangil was deep in thought about the next destination.

Rembruary followed the group, asking everyone he saw, “Have you seen someone with dark circles under their eyes…?” a question that even the Hwachinchin members now knew by heart.

“Hey, look at this, Rembruary.”

“What is it?”

“The Imperial Palace is looking for a golden pig. Why would they be looking for something like that?”

“The Imperial Palace people like gold, and they like unusual things.”

“They’re offering a huge reward to anyone who finds and reports a golden pig?”

Rembruary also saw the official notice that the Emperor had put out at Hwasaja’s request, but he turned away without much thought.

He never even considered that the golden pig they were looking for was him.

As they moved along noisily, the group arrived at an inn where they would stay for a day or two.

Nangil generously booked for three days, and the group ordered food as soon as they sat down.

It was after several hours of eating, drinking, and resting without a care that she began a serious conversation.

“As some of you may know, we gathered the recommendation letters much faster than we expected.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No, it’s good. Of course, it’s good. But the problem is that the original plan has been completely messed up in the process.”

“What plan?”

“Originally, we were going to the 14th Star and then the 9th Star. In the 14th Star, we would perform directly in front of the Star Lord, and the 9th Star’s Star Lord openly holds a competition for recommendation letters. They like that kind of thing.”

“Then why don’t we go to the 9th Star?”

“We were kidnapped by bandits and went to the 11th Star, so the dates are off… No matter how fast we go now, we can’t get to the 9th Star in time. The next competition will probably be held next year or the year after.”

Suddenly, the atmosphere darkened, and Nangil chuckled and waved her hand.

“No, this isn’t the atmosphere for that. Anyway, we have two recommendation letters.”

Duran, who always had a mountain of worries even when alone, asked with a serious, weighed-down voice, as if he was already anticipating all sorts of concerns, even though Nangil was speaking brightly.

“What do we do now, Captain?”

“Originally, we were going to decide our next destination in the 9th Star. I thought we could get all sorts of information there because many troupes come there. But that’s not going to happen… So, while we look for the next place to go, I thought we’d travel leisurely while performing. Let’s rest here for three days and then move on.”

* * *

However, Nangil’s plan was disrupted again this time.

“You people. Are you a troupe?”

The next morning. As the group was eating breakfast and talking about their experiences in the 11th Star, a person wearing a large cloak with a hood that covered their entire face came and spoke to them.

“Yes, we are.”

Nangil, who was eating inside, answered to indicate that she was in charge. The person moved to Nangil’s side and said in a voice with almost no inflection.

“Our lord is tired and bored from a long journey. If you don’t mind, could you put on a fun and lively performance, mainly with dancing?”

Even if the lord was bright, wouldn’t anyone get tired and bored if the subordinate next to them had such a monotonous voice?

Nangil felt uneasy because the person who hid their appearance even had such a tone, but because she felt uneasy, it was even harder to refuse the offer.

People who gave such a bad feeling were almost always martial artists, and it was always a loss to be on bad terms with martial artists.

‘This person is not ordinary.’

Nangil realized that this strange person was not ordinary and quickly answered without thinking further.

“Haha, we will. But we have a schedule, so we can’t perform for long. Is that okay?”

The person who covered their face nodded, and Nangil felt relieved and relaxed her shoulders.

It was better to quickly get rid of the requests of these suspicious and dubious people and be done with it.

“When should we leave?”

“They are about three or four hours away, so it would be good to leave immediately.”

The members had similar thoughts to Nangil, so they all quickly put away the atmosphere of playing and eating and got up.

Rembruary still wanted to eat more, but he couldn’t stay alone, so he reluctantly got up.

The members immediately packed their bags and left the inn, and Nangil checked the numbers and followed the suspicious person.

Later, the group arrived at their destination a little over three hours later, just as the suspicious person had said.

There, a fairly large group with six large carriages had set up two large tents and were camping.

They wanted the members to perform for their tired lord right away, and Hwachinchin quickly rested for about an hour and decided on the stage order and who would go out.

“Rembruary, you must be tired from performing all the time, so take a break this time.”

“Yeah. You only sing anyway, you don’t dance.”

Half an hour later. The group began performing in front of a person who had half of their face covered with a veil, but Rembruary quickly ate the well-prepared food.

But as he was eating, he noticed something strange.

‘Why is that here?’

Something that shouldn’t be in a place like this was clearly visible.

‘Why is Lumena’s symbol here?’

Lumena’s symbol was drawn on the back of the person sitting in front.

Rembruary traced the symbol once with his finger and was sure that it was Lumena’s symbol.

‘So Lumena is in this dimension after all.’

Then, what if he prayed to Lumena and somehow let her know that he was here? Would Lumena be able to hear him?

‘It might not hurt to try.’

Rembruary decided and took his hand off the symbol. But then another strange thing happened.

As soon as Rembruary took his hand off the symbol, someone nearby came over and grabbed Rembruary’s chin and lifted it up.

Rembruary was taken aback and frowned slightly, and the person who came over muttered sadly, “Never mind,” and let him go.

What was that? Rembruary rubbed his chin, which had been grabbed out of nowhere, and saw the person who had suddenly appeared sit next to him, wrap their arms around his knees, and bury their face in them.

They seemed very dejected.

‘Does this person know Lumena too?’

Rembruary, curious about their attitude, was about to say something when…

There was a sound of a large tree splitting in two, and then a chilling sound of something very sharp ‘whizzing’ from behind.

The performance stopped, and everyone turned their heads in that direction.

Rembruary did the same. The door was torn off.

‘It looks like it was broken artificially,’ he thought, and as soon as he thought that, a group of people began to rush in from beyond the torn door.

The goal of those who had weapons from the moment they entered was clear.

They swung their swords and thrust their spears at those who were watching the performance, and those who were watching the performance calmly took out their own weapons and responded even in this situation.

The Hwachinchin people grabbed their instruments and stuck to the wall, afraid of getting caught in the crossfire.

But Rembruary, who was watching the performance among the guests, couldn’t go there right away.

Even if he tried to walk, it was difficult to take a few steps because they kept fighting back and forth.

Moreover, since Rembruary was among the guests, the attackers seemed to think that Rembruary was also an accomplice of the enemy and immediately poured out attacks.

At some point, someone’s large sword flew towards Rembruary and hit him in the shoulder.

“Rembruary!”

“Agh!”

“What do we do!”