Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 441

◈ 441. Discernment or Taste

The members of the Huachinqin shouted in alarm, but Rembrary wasn’t concerned about the sword sticking out of his shoulder.

His mind was completely consumed by the voice he’d heard nearby.

“Those abandoned by Yoomena.”

It was what the attacker had said while targeting the person in the hooded cloak. Yoomena.

‘Lumena? Yoomena?’

Rembrary frowned, the name ringing a bell.

‘If you say Lumena carelessly, it could become Yoomena.’

People in this world often changed names as they pleased.

Rembrary’s own name had been mangled into Remburi, Mr. Rem, Rem Hyung [older brother or male friend], and Rem So-hyeop [Rem the Knight Errant].

Could they be changing Lumena’s name in a similar way?

It seemed plausible.

If he’d only heard the name Yoomena, he might have dismissed it as a coincidence. But he’d just seen Lumena’s emblem, hadn’t he?

‘Is this the world Lumena-nim [honorific title] crossed over to?’

Just then, the Huachinqin members screamed, snapping Rembrary back to reality.

“Not him!”

“The blonde isn’t a Murim [martial arts world] person!”

“He’s a singer! He’s with our troupe!”

The Huachinqin members realized the attackers were only targeting those in hooded cloaks, ignoring them completely. They assumed Rembrary was being attacked by mistake, and that the misunderstanding would clear up soon.

Even while shouting, they were still plastered against the wall, but Rembrary appreciated their thoughtfulness in trying to help.

Though it seemed like they were only offering words, it was a dangerous act.

Drawing attention in a place like this could get them attacked by either side if they were disliked.

As if hearing the commotion, one of the attackers glanced at Rembrary and quickly approached.

“Are you with the instrument players? Or are you one of Yoomena’s disciples?”

“I’m with the performers.”

“Damn it. Then why are you here!”

“I was resting.”
The man looked at the sword sticking out of Rembrary’s shoulder, clicked his tongue, and lifted Rembrary with one hand.

Then, avoiding the fighting, he carried Rembrary to where the troupe members had retreated.

As soon as the man set Rembrary down and left, the troupe members rushed over, crying and apologizing.

“Are you okay?”

“We couldn’t get to you. We’re so sorry.”

“This sword… what do we do about it?”

“Let’s pull it out!”

“Are you crazy? You’re not supposed to pull out a sword right away! You’ll die from blood loss!”

“But we can’t just leave it there! Your flesh will get all mangled!”

The tearful apologies quickly devolved into a heated argument over the sword in Rembrary’s shoulder.

Everyone was worried, and their anxieties made them snap at each other.

However, the group arguing so fiercely over the sword abruptly stopped and stared when Rembrary raised his hand.

Rembrary glanced at the sword and started pulling it out, saying, “Ah, this.”

It would have been less gruesome if he’d pulled it out quickly. But as he slowly tugged, Duran collapsed to the side, having witnessed the horrific sight.

“Duran!”

“Troupe leader, Duran’s collapsed!”

Attention briefly shifted to Duran. Rembrary pulled the sword free and carefully placed it on the ground.

Then, pretending to be concerned about Duran, he casually asked, “Are you okay?” as if Duran was the cause of all this.

Thankfully, those fighting in the distance didn’t pay much attention to the commotion.

People fainting at the sight of Murim battles wasn’t uncommon.

Even if they had heard the sounds from the Huachinqin, the attackers wouldn’t have been able to focus on it.

The hooded figures, who had been holding their own, suddenly began to retreat en masse.

‘Why are they leaving? They weren’t losing, were they?’

The attackers were confused by their sudden escape and tried to give chase, but the hooded figures were too fast.

With their targets gone, the fighting stopped, and the camp quickly became quiet.

Sanmyung finally sighed in relief and grumbled softly.

“I really don’t know what’s going on.”

“Me neither. It was suspicious from the start when they asked us to perform.”

Even while grumbling, the Huachinqin members remained wary of the attackers.

For now, they seemed to be enemies with the hooded figures.

But they couldn’t let their guard down. They might suddenly attack, claiming they were going to massacre everyone.

Then, the young man who had carried Rembrary over approached, and the members relaxed slightly.

The young man had a sincere and kind face, perfect for reassuring people.

“Rest assured. We are ‘Gigwiilya,’ an organization affiliated with the Murim Alliance. We don’t harm innocent people.”

Moreover, he revealed his affiliation with the Murim Alliance, making them seem even more trustworthy.

No one had ever heard of Gigwiilya, so they didn’t react, but the young man brushed it off cheerfully.

“It’s natural you don’t know. We operate under a special purpose.”

“A special purpose…?”

“To hunt down Yoomena’s disciples. Like today.”
The young man smiled, then turned to Rembrary and apologized.

“I was very rude. I assumed you were one of them because you were nearby.”

‘What’s the point of apologizing after stabbing someone?’ the Huachinqin thought, but they couldn’t say anything to a Murim person, so they just smiled awkwardly.

“Does stabbing someone and then apologizing make it okay?”

Rembrary’s blunt question startled the troupe members.

The young man also seemed surprised by the directness, and he apologized again with an awkward smile.

“I am truly sorry.”

As if that wasn’t enough, he turned to one of his colleagues and instructed.

“Bring a stretcher!”

Some of the attackers disappeared. The young man seemed to be in a position of authority.

As his colleagues brought a stretcher, he looked at Rembrary again and kindly offered.

“We’ll treat you properly since you were injured because of us. Fortunately, we have a skilled doctor here.”

It seemed Rembrary’s grumbling about the apology had struck a nerve.

However, Rembrary shook his head and demanded,

“Give me money instead of treatment.”

“Pardon?”

“Actually, I wasn’t stabbed.”

“Oh, is that so?”

The young man almost believed him for a moment, seeing Rembrary’s perfectly fine face.

However, upon seeing the blood-stained knife lying on the floor, he frowned and asked,

“Then what’s with all the blood?”

Rembrary shrugged and nonchalantly lied.

“It was there from the start.”

Myo-soo, who had seen the whole process of Rembrary pulling the knife from his shoulder, widened his eyes, wondering why he was lying like that.

Wouldn’t it be better to just get treatment from those Murim Alliance [martial arts alliance] people?

Still, as Rembrary remained calm, the young man approached and sharply examined the area where Rembrary had been stabbed.

As he claimed, his shoulder was fine. Only his clothes were torn, and there was no injury at all.

However, the young man had clearly seen the knife stuck in Rembrary, so he found it difficult to accept Rembrary’s claim.

If the knife hadn’t been stuck in him, it would have fallen to the floor while he was being carried here, not remained so firmly fixed.

After a moment, the young man, who had been puzzled, became wary, and he stepped back abruptly.

Rembrary just stared, wondering why the young man was acting like that, but as soon as the atmosphere changed, the attackers rushed around the young man and surrounded Rembrary.

Everyone looked so wary that the Huachinqin troupe members were inadvertently pushed back again.

“What are you doing!” Nangil shouted, angered by this, and the young man replied in a cold voice.

“I’m sorry, entertainers. But I need to check if this person is the same kind as Yumaena’s disciples.”

“Yumaena’s disciples?”

“Yumaena’s specialty is using strange abilities.”

The young man looked sharply at Rembrary’s shoulder.

“Yumaena used those strange abilities to help people, but her disciples only cause harm.”

His expression clearly showed his wariness, and Nangil could tell that the young man was serious.

Rather than simply harassing a non-Murim person, the young man himself looked more nervous.

On the other hand, even in this situation, Rembrary was muttering strange words with his usual gentle smile.

“Judging by your poor judgment, it seems Yumaena is indeed Lumena.”

The young man coldly demanded of Rembrary.

“Hold out your hand.”

He looked ready to snatch it if he didn’t, but Rembrary obediently held it out.

The young man, wary even of Rembrary’s willingness to offer his hand, cautiously checked Rembrary’s pulse to confirm his internal energy [qi or chi, vital energy flow].

Nangil thought this whole situation was a mess, but the Murim Alliance warrior who had come with the young man asked very seriously.

“What do you think, brother?”

After a moment, the young man took his hand away and replied in a calmer voice.

“No internal energy. Not a Murim person.”

“Then just an entertainer?”

“Yes. It seems he was just grazed.”

Hwanmae, who had been watching the situation all along, shouted in anger.

“Then quickly release Rembrary! Rembrary is just a person who can sing!”

They threw a sword at a perfectly fine entertainer, brought him over to apologize, and now they’re acting suspicious again.

From the perspective of a non-Murim person, they seemed too eccentric and mean.

The young man nodded, and the warriors of Gigwiilya dispersed the formation surrounding Rembrary.

The young man apologized to Rembrary again.

“I’m sorry for apologizing twice. It’s just something that needs to be confirmed…….”

Rembrary replied, still gently, this time as well.

“It’s alright.”

At this point, even the members of Gigwiilya were impressed by Rembrary’s kind attitude.

Even the kindest person would be angry by now. It was amazing that he wasn’t angry at all.

Of course, there were those who didn’t get angry because they were afraid of them, but even those people couldn’t hide their dissatisfaction or were wary and cautious.

Rembrary was not a Murim person, yet he was not afraid of them and did not get genuinely angry, which was amazing.

Seeing this, the young man thought Rembrary was a man of great composure, and feeling sorry and also developing a liking for him, he offered.

“Since it has turned out this way, we would like to do something for you as an apology.”

However, what came back was an unexpected question.

“Have you ever seen Yumaena in person?”

“Pardon?”

“What was she like?”

“Why are you asking that…….”

“Seeing you guys act like this makes me curious.”

“……It’s better not to even be interested in such things.”

“Why?”

“As I said, Yumaena herself is good even if she uses wicked arts. But her disciples are not. Especially after Yumaena disappeared, they have been causing trouble little by little, searching for their master. The damage isn’t significant yet, though.”

* * *

Lumena. Are you near here? Can you hear my voice?

I rarely pray to Lumena, so this is a bit awkward. But I feel like I need to say this today.

As I thought, Lumena has strange taste.

If you deny that, I’ll correct myself. Lumena has weird preferences.

Of course, if Lumena isn’t Yumaena, you can ignore everything I just said.

Still, don’t worry. I like Lumena, though not as much as Redrin.

* * *

Lumena, who was walking, suddenly stopped and put her hand to her ear.

A person who was 10 feet tall with light green skin, walking beside Lumena holding a large lantern, smiled along as Lumena smiled faintly and asked.

“You seem to be in a good mood.”

“Yes.”

Lumena took her hand from her ear, looked around, and smiled.

“The sound is good here.”

“It’s a place that holds millions of sounds.”

“Thank you for allowing me to enter.”

“You want to know about the sleeping god?”