Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 462

◈ 462. It Was Quite Easy

The eunuch blinked rapidly, looking bewildered.

He was confused whether ‘that word’ meant the Emperor’s words or the blond physician’s words.

The eunuch cautiously observed the Emperor’s expression before finally asking after a long pause,

“Are you saying that the blond physician is lying?”

He couldn’t possibly ask, ‘Was Your Majesty lying?’ so this was the only way he could phrase the question.

The Emperor calmly instructed,

“Help him find his companion, but have one on standby to be disposed of.”

“Whom are you referring to…?”

“The one with a face like mine.”

“!”

The chief eunuch had already figured out that there was another person who looked very much like the Emperor.

However, when the Emperor ordered him to dispose of that person, the chief eunuch asked in surprise,

“Would that be alright? I am concerned that if things get complicated, Your Majesty, who is out on a secret mission, might be captured.”

“Their memories are completely different, so there will be no confusion.”

“What if the one who resembles Your Majesty is as eloquent as you are?”

“Those who are swayed by mere words and cannot recognize their own lord are truly useless.”

The chief eunuch was startled and shut his mouth.

“I misspoke.”

* * *

The next day.

After receiving confirmation from the fake Anchovy [a high-ranking official] that he would reopen the Imperial Arts Competition now that the Empress Dowager had recovered, Rembrary prepared to go out and meet Duran.

He had considered the possibility that the fake Anchovy might prevent him from leaving the Imperial Palace altogether, but perhaps because of HwasaJa’s presence, the Anchovy impersonator didn’t restrict his movements that much.

“Great Priest! Me too! Take me too!”

Rembrary, who had planned to travel with only HwasaJa, also took Ardor, who came running in a flurry. They moved near the inn outside the Imperial Palace, and then walked into the inn so as not to startle the troupe members.

“I wonder what Rembrary is doing right now. I hope he’s alright in there.”

Just as Hwachin-chin’s dancer, Hocho, was muttering with a sigh inside the inn, Rembrary appeared as soon as she finished speaking, startling her into a shriek.

“Oh my! Rembrary!”

“Have you been well?”

“Where have you been?”

Having heard Hocho’s voice, the troupe members quickly gathered around, and Rembrary soon found himself surrounded by them.

“Wow. So the companions Rembrary was talking about really exist.”

Sanmyung looked back and forth between the lion mask and the gaunt, silver-haired Ardor standing on either side of Rembrary, and muttered in amazement.

“Is your business in the palace all finished now? Duran went after you and said you went to the Imperial Palace with scary people. I was so surprised,” Nangil asked worriedly, after checking to see if there were people nearby.

Rembrary nodded readily.

“I am fine. I went to find my companions. Where is the Grand Master?”

The troupe members couldn’t bring themselves to ask what kind of companions were in the Imperial Palace, and just exchanged glances.

Duran, who had seen Rembrary talking with the fake Anchovy, cautiously asked, realizing that the lion mask and the gaunt, silver-haired man were not among the people who had been there at the time,

“Did you meet these people after following those scary people back then?”

Duran’s question made it clear to the troupe members that the two people he had brought with him now were not included among the ‘scary people’ Duran had mentioned.

Explaining that the companion he had followed was someone who looked exactly like the companion impersonating him was a bit too complicated to explain here, so Rembrary glossed over it and asked,

“Yes. They were here first. But more importantly, Troupe Leader, about the Imperial Arts Competition. I heard from His Majesty that it will be reopened.”

Nangil’s eyes widened. He was more surprised that Rembrary had heard the story from the Emperor than that the competition was being reopened.

The group exchanged glances again.

They had thought of Rembrary as a beautiful person with a unique personality who had lost his memory, but now he suddenly seemed like someone from a different world.

“Actually, I kind of had a feeling from the way he spoke. He spoke so casually. He must be a nobleman.”

“Why would a nobleman go around suffering with us? He’s not a nobleman, but he has acquaintances among the nobility.”

“Is the nobleman the problem? It’s His Majesty!”

“If he’s acquainted with His Majesty, then?”

“That makes him a nobleman!”

While the troupe members were whispering among themselves, Rembrary was just smiling contentedly.

On the outside, he was smiling, but in reality, he was wondering how to tell the troupe leader that he wouldn’t be able to leave the capital for a while.

However, before Rembrary could bring up this story, Nangil cautiously opened his mouth first.

“Hey, Rembrary. Actually, I’ve been thinking about something ever since we saw the performance in the Second Star. I didn’t say anything because they said the competition itself wouldn’t happen, but…”

“What is it?”

“About the two remaining recommendation letters. I was thinking it might be better for us to get them ourselves.”

“Hmm?”

As Rembrary tilted his head, Nangil hurriedly added an explanation, worried that Rembrary might be upset.

“The Fifth Star Lord was really annoying and irritating, but when I think about it, he wasn’t entirely wrong. All three recommendation letters we got were thanks to you. That’s, it wouldn’t be a problem if you were going to stay with Hwachin-chin. We’d be happy too. But you made it clear from the beginning that you would leave someday.”

“That’s right.”

“So. It’s no use becoming an Imperial Troupe with your power. I heard from Myosu that there’s still competition even after becoming an Imperial Troupe. What good would it do if we relied on you and then you left?”

Nangil seemed sorry to say this to Rembrary, but there was no need to worry at all.

“That is good. I was about to say that I would not be able to go with you when you go to receive the recommendation letters this time.”

“Huh? Really? Why?”

“His Majesty does not want me to travel far.”

“Huh?”

Nangil and the troupe members didn’t understand right away, but after blinking three times, they all stepped back at the same time.

HwasaJa saw the illusion of large question marks floating above their heads.

“Ah. I see. His Majesty said so.”

Nangil mumbled blankly, suppressing the urge to ask specifically, ‘Why would His Majesty say that?’

Rembrary, not caring about the awkward atmosphere, asked again,

“But then I won’t be able to participate in the practice at all. What should we do?”

Rembrary had asked the fake Anchovy to find his companions as well, but separately, he was planning to continue with his plan to make his name known through Hwachin-chin so that his companions would come to him.

‘I can’t just trust the fake Anchovy, who might show his scammer tendencies again somewhere.’

Nangil, still unable to escape from Rembrary’s His Majesty remark, stammered, “Uh… I see,” and then belatedly understanding the words, pointed to Duran.

“Then let’s do this. I’ll give you the last part of the performance, so you can do a solo there. We’ll need a musician, so I’ll leave Duran behind. You two are the closest.”

“Huh? Me?!”

Duran’s eyes widened as he looked around at the troupe members. Nangil and the other musicians avoided his gaze at the same time.

Sanmyung shrugged and patted Duran on the shoulder.

“You’re Rembrary’s best friend, right?”

Duran, who was about to shout, ‘No, I’m not!’ noticed the gaunt, silver-haired man, who had been smiling the whole time, glaring at him with wide eyes as soon as the words ‘best friend’ came out, and shrank back in fear.

“That’s true, but…”

The moment he reluctantly admitted it, Duran’s face was perfectly etched into Ardor’s retinas.

“He’ll be dead soon. Amitabha [a Buddhist expression of reverence].”

The heretic HwasaJa offered a small prayer.

* * *

If you were to name the most outstanding troupe among the current Un-Guk Imperial Troupes, everyone would say Waman-shi.

This troupe, which had a rather unique name under the founding leader’s belief that ‘troupe names should not be common,’ was currently the most favored troupe of the Empress, and had never been relegated from the Imperial Troupe since the founding leader’s time.

Waman-shi, which had accommodations and practice rooms inside the Imperial Palace, was the second to hear the news that the Imperial Arts Competition would be reopened.

After gathering the troupe members and telling them the news he had heard from the Empress, the leader, Gasora, said firmly to the troupe members,

“Don’t be complacent just because the result is obvious. Show everyone once again who is the best. Make sure that no matter what unexpected events happen beneath us, no one can deny that we are always the best.”

After a meeting that was almost arrogant, the executives left the conference room one by one, but Gasora did not follow immediately.

Unlike the other leaders, he stayed in his seat until the end, and then grabbed the end of his nose and closed his eyes.

He was overwhelmed with pressure.

Gasora slowly regulated his breathing, working hard to calm his mind like a vast ocean.

Fortunately, it worked, and after a short while, the trembling in his fingertips barely subsided.

‘Calm. Calm.’

Gasora steadied himself, slowly got up, neatly arranged the chairs that were scattered haphazardly in a row, and walked outside.

The things he had to do in the future lined up in his head.

He had to disguise himself and see what the other Imperial Troupes were preparing for this competition, he had to look through information about his teacher, he had to check whether the troupe members were practicing properly and not being lazy, he had to check the weather records for the past few years to calculate what the weather would be like on the day of the competition, he had to read the book in which his teacher’s words were written, he had to see if there were any trends that the current royals wanted, he had to wash the rice bowl that his teacher used to use, he had to see if there were any promising sprouts who were not Imperial Troupes but were newly rising, and he had to perform rain rituals hoping that his teacher would come… There was so much to do.

But as he was walking, prioritizing the things he had to do in his head, an aide approached him and handed him a pure white, flat envelope.

The troubled expression on Gasora’s face disappeared completely when he saw the pattern drawn on the edge of the envelope.

Looking serious, he opened the envelope and took out the note. As expected.

This was a note from his fellow disciples for him, who had not been able to attend this meeting.

“Find a man with blond hair and red eyes. A woman with green hair and green eyes. A man with a lion mask. A man with silver hair and gray eyes. A man with pale black hair and black eyes…?”

Gasora frowned as he read the letter aloud in a small voice.

“These are the people the teacher’s successor is looking for? If we find them, the successor will find us on his own?”

His expression became even more distorted. He knew what his fellow disciples meant by setting up this plan. But…

‘How are we supposed to find people with just this much information?’

Their hair colors are unique, but just because their hair color is unique doesn’t mean rumors will spread around them.

There’s no guarantee that they’ll only be in Un-Guk, and it’s too vague.

“They can’t handle work properly.”

Thinking that he had no choice but to go himself, Gasora crumpled the letter and raised his eyes, then was startled and hurriedly unfolded the letter again to cover his face.

Only his eyes peeking out over the letter, he breathed rapidly in embarrassment.

Beyond him, the three of them, the blond with red eyes, the lion mask, and the silver-haired with gray eyes, were moving side by side, carrying lunch boxes.

‘I found them.’