Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 452

452. A Person to Fight Upon Meeting

Rembrary was absent-minded even during the meal.

This was something that would never normally happen, so Duran was worried about Rembrary for no reason.

The Grand Duke hadn’t known Rembrary for long either, but he had seen Rembrary’s voracious appetite several times, so he was puzzled and asked.

“Are you thinking about that ice-cold colleague?”

“Yes. It’s strange, so I’m worried.”

Rembrary readily admitted.

“Why didn’t Sardine call me and just leave?”

The Grand Duke shrugged and answered nonchalantly.

“He must have left because he was busy.”

“So busy that he couldn’t even say a word?”

“Or he was being chased.”

Rembrary frowned at the Grand Duke’s extremely realistic assessment.

“Sardine is weak, but he’s cunning. He’s not someone who would be chased.”

At this point, Duran became curious about the Sardine [Rembrary’s colleague, known for being aloof and perhaps slippery] Rembrary was talking about.

‘If he’s the ‘successor of Yoomena,’ he should have some secret power and be strong,’ Duran thought.

But from what Rembrary says, he sounds like a flimsy bowl of dog food.

Duran wondered which one was right.

In the meantime, the Grand Duke spoke again.

“Anyway, he fought with Yoomena’s disciples, so if he hurriedly left, it must be related to them. Whether he ran away because he was weak or because he was cunning.”

Rembrary muttered at the Grand Duke’s words.

“Then I should look for Yoomena’s disciples.”

However, at the same time as he said those motivated words, the motivation drained from Rembrary’s face and was replaced with annoyance.

He was looking for Yoomena’s disciples to find Shin Jo-woon, but he already had a lot of people to find.

Thinking about finding Yoomena’s disciples as well made him feel like there were too many people to find.

“You knew them well, didn’t you? Do you know where to find them?”

“Many people are looking for Yoomena’s disciples. But no one has found them. Do you know why?”

“I don’t even know who they are, so how would I know that story?”

“That’s right. You wouldn’t know.”

The Grand Duke nodded in agreement and explained.

“It’s because they always wear masks when they cause trouble.”

“Masks?”

The Grand Duke’s lips curled up on one side, and his contempt became clear.

“Yes. So, if they take off their masks, you can’t recognize them. It’s a trick of the weak.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than a sound of “Ouch!” was heard from somewhere, and something flew this way.

The Grand Duke snatched what was flying in the air. It was a cork from a wine bottle.

The group looked towards the direction the cork had come from, and a person wearing a bamboo hat, who seemed drunk, raised his hand and immediately apologized.

“I’m sorry. It slipped from my hand…….”

The Grand Duke’s subordinate tried to draw his sword even though he apologized, but the Grand Duke raised his hand to stop him.

“It’s okay.”

As soon as the subordinate put his sword away, the person wearing the bamboo hat gestured apologetically again and poured wine into his glass from the bottle.

Duran stared at the Grand Duke, amazed that he had caught the wine bottle cap that had flown from almost directly behind him.

The Grand Duke, feeling proud of the pure admiration in Duran’s eyes, looked at Rembrary this time.

With eyes that said, ‘Did you see that?’

Rembrary was more focused on the waiter.

“Waiter. Please give me some more noodles.”

* * *

After finishing the meal, Rembrary went up the stairs and headed towards the exit instead of going into the room.

Duran, who didn’t want to be left alone with the Grand Duke, got up and asked urgently.

“Where are you going? It’s dinner time.”

“I have something to think about. I’m going to look around.”

When Rembrary left without caring, Duran glanced at the Grand Duke and quickly followed him.

“Let’s go together. I need to digest a bit too.”

Duran bowed to the Grand Duke and quickly went out.

When he went outside, Rembrary was already walking ahead with his hands behind his back.

Duran was about to run towards him when he noticed a sight that he didn’t usually see when he was standing next to him.

The people passing by were all glancing at Rembrary.

Come to think of it, he doesn’t usually notice it because of the way he talks, but Rembrary walking quietly in the sunset looked like a painting.

‘He’s definitely not an ordinary person,’ Duran thought.

Duran thought again, as he always did, and became curious again.

How did someone like that end up in our small troupe? It was amazing that someone with such an unclear identity like Rembrary was in Hwachin.

“Aren’t you coming?”

Rembrary turned around and asked, as if he had felt the gazes. Duran, who had been standing there blankly, apologized and ran towards him.

“Oh, oh. I’m coming. I’m coming!”

“Why were you standing there blankly?”

“Oh, no, that’s…….”

“?”

“Ah! I was thinking about what you said.”

“It seemed like you were going to say something else just now.”

“When we go to the Five Stars, there’s the Murim Alliance [A martial arts association]. The Murim Alliance has that, what was it, a group that looks for Yoomena’s disciples.”

Rembrary knew that Duran had quickly changed the subject, but instead of pressing him, he just let it go.

“Yes. Isn’t it four letters?”

“……You forgot the name. It’s Giguiilya [A task force within the Murim Alliance].”

“Yes, that name. Of course, I knew it.”

Duran was sure that Rembrary had forgotten the name of Giguiilya, but that wasn’t important, so he quickly suggested.

“Let’s ask them for help.”

“How?”

“They always do that, right? Looking for Yoomena’s disciples. If your colleague is being chased by Yoomena’s disciples, wouldn’t they know about your colleague’s news too?”

Rembrary blinked for a moment and then exclaimed.

“You’re smart!”

“Right?”

Duran shrugged his shoulders proudly and then suddenly lowered his voice.

“But you have to be careful.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Demonic Cult and the Murim Alliance have a terrible relationship…….”

“Why is that?”

“The Grand Duke of the Demonic Cult is chasing you. But you go to the Murim Alliance. What will happen?”

“We’ll reconcile.”

“Is that easy!”

Duran flared up at the overly positive and simple answer, and Rembrary tilted his head.

“Then why did you bring it up?”

“Don’t get caught! When you go to the Murim Alliance to ask for help, don’t get caught and come back quietly!”

“Ah.”

Duran was lamenting that Rembrary didn’t have any sense of gravity even while talking about finding his companions, and didn’t realize that the Grand Duke was already listening to the story from behind.

No, in fact, if the Grand Duke had deliberately hidden himself, Duran wouldn’t have known of his presence even if he wasn’t talking to Rembrary.

If Duran had known about the Grand Duke, he wouldn’t have been able to sleep properly for about a month, but fortunately, the Grand Duke had no intention of showing Duran that ‘I heard everything you said.’

The Grand Duke had just followed them out, wondering what they were secretly talking about, and couldn’t help but laugh at the interesting story he had heard.

“Interesting. What kind of beauty is she that she knows Yoomena’s successor, Yoomena, and Yoomena’s enemies?”

* * *

At that time.

Ardor was leaving the Shaolin Temple, following Elder Soonmoo.

The Shaolin Temple monks were worried about taking Ardor away until the day of departure.

Chief Changpyeong, in particular, kept glancing at Ardor with a dissatisfied face and asked.

“Elder. Are you really okay? If he causes an accident in the Imperial Palace, the reputation of Shaolin Temple will unfairly fall.”

“If he causes an accident, I’ll say I don’t know him, so don’t worry.”

However, Elder Soonmoo didn’t know what people were thinking and kept making jokes even in this situation.

“Do you think people will believe that?”

When Chief Changpyeong sneered, Elder Soonmoo smiled kindly and made people dislike him.

“They’ll believe that Shaolin Temple has no responsibility.”

“…….”

When Chief Changpyeong narrowed his eyes and stared, Elder Soonmoo smiled again and patted Chief Changpyeong’s arm.

“Don’t worry. Don’t worry, my friend.”

Chief Changpyeong glared at the culprit and source of all this, who was hiding his personality and just smiling innocently next to Elder Soonmoo.

No matter how innocently Ardor acted, Chief Changpyeong could never forget the image of Ardor walking out violently with a weapon pointed at them, grabbing his disciples like mice.

“Oh, my head…….”

His head ached, so Chief Changpyeong eventually grabbed his neck and groaned.

Seeing Joon-eon and Joon-gwon, who he thought were troublemakers, looking at Ardor’s face, they looked like exemplary monks who were handling things diligently.

But since he couldn’t turn back now, Chief Changpyeong could only pray for the best and see off the group heading to the Imperial Palace.

* * *

However, unlike what Chief Changpyeong was worried about, Ardor was quiet throughout the journey.

“Have you seen a perfectly beautiful high priest with blonde hair and red eyes?”

He occasionally asked people this whenever they stopped at an inn, but that was embarrassing, not an accident.

“My eyes were right after all.”

Elder Soonmoo looked at Ardor and laughed, saying that people definitely had prejudices against Ardor.

Joon-eon and Joon-gwon were more wary of Ardor than Elder Soonmoo, but when Ardor didn’t cause an accident until they actually arrived at the Imperial Palace, they began to change their minds a little, thinking that they might have misunderstood him because of their first impression.

In that atmosphere, the group finally entered the Imperial Palace.

As they entered through a small door in the wall, a eunuch who seemed to be of a fairly high rank was pacing back and forth and quickly ran to greet Elder Soonmoo.

“Welcome, Ambassador.”

The eunuch, who seemed to already know Elder Soonmoo, greeted him intimately, and Joon-eon and Joon-gwon watched the scene with curiosity.

The eunuch greeted them one by one, then noticed Ardor, who seemed out of place from the monks, and glanced at him curiously.

Elder Soonmoo noticed the gaze and introduced the group one by one.

“I’m glad to see you healthy again, Gonggong [A respectful title for a high-ranking eunuch]. These are the two monks from Shaolin Temple who I brought to serve this time.”

“The one with different clothes…….”

“Ah. He’s a guest who is temporarily staying at Shaolin Temple for personal reasons.”

“Ah, I see.”

The eunuch muttered as if he expected it and said, “Come this way,” and walked ahead. The group all followed him.

However, when they reached a large building, the eunuch stopped and said to Joon-eon, Joon-gwon, and Ardor with an apologetic tone.

“Only Ambassador Soonmoo can go from here.”

As if it had happened before, Elder Soonmoo turned to look at the three with a ‘oh no’ expression.

The eunuch who had guided them looked at the scene and called another eunuch who had been silently following him and gave instructions.

“Hye-yeom. Guide the monks to their lodgings.”

“Yes.”

* * *

About two hours later.