Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 467

◈ 467. The Road to Meeting

After the Empress Dowager was completely cured, Rembrary would occasionally visit the Emperor to treat the injured, pretending to use acupuncture as instructed.

This was on the Emperor’s advice, to prevent him from standing out too much.

Rembrary willingly followed this advice, not wanting to reveal his abilities any further.

And this simulated acupuncture treatment was surprisingly effective.

“You fake anchovy [a derogatory term for someone untrustworthy]. Should I poke you with a needle?”

If someone was disrespectful, he could offer treatment and then prick them once with a thin needle.

In this hierarchical society, some would ignore the doctor even when their lives were on the line.

It was better when he went with the Emperor, but when Rembrary went alone, many would start with abusive language as soon as they saw him, saying, ‘I can’t be treated by that green, young brat who doesn’t seem to have any experience.’

In such cases, Rembrary would receive the needle Ardor handed him and stick it right into their impudent mouths.

“Ah!”

Then the person would scream, and later realize they were healed and be amazed.

Once they received treatment, everyone would be kind, as if they had never been abusive.

“Your Majesty, should I treat you with acupuncture too?”

“I already know that your treatment method isn’t acupuncture.”

It was a pity that this method didn’t work at all on the fake Emperor, who had already been treated.

But aside from occasionally treating people or calling Duran to practice singing, there wasn’t much else to do.

Hwachinqin hadn’t returned yet, as he had to travel around the country to gather recommendations, and he hadn’t sent a single letter.

He had given Gasora permission to write to Shin Jo-woon that ‘Rembrary is being held by us’.

Rembrary didn’t know if he was writing it well or not.

“I feel like I’ve forgotten someone…”

* * *

Redrin.

How are things going there? Well, what’s the point of asking?

After all, you can’t answer me from there to here.

If there was a cell phone here, I would have typed ‘TT’ just now, Redrin. [“TT” is a Korean emoticon representing crying eyes.]

When people on Earth used emoticons, they were too busy worrying about actor emoticons or idol emoticons.

Now that I think about it, it was convenient because it could show my expression as it is.

So Redrin, if I say ‘TT’ while praying, please think of it as a crying face.

Now, back to the main point. I’ve met a lot of companions, Redrin.

I met the Lion Lord, and I met Ardor. Joyful TT.

I haven’t met Mullu, Anchovy, and Sajamjae yet. Sad TT.

Our Mullu. I didn’t see it that way. It seems like he has as many dim-witted sides as Anchovy and Sajamjae. He still can’t find me.

I already knew that Anchovy and Sajamjae were dim-witted.

If there’s no expectation, there’s no disappointment. There’s a saying for those two, right? Smart fools.

But still, Redrin, even if you meet Lord Yama [the King of Hell in East Asian mythology], please don’t tell him that I was making fun of Gamjae.

By the way, Redrin, Anchovy has a shrewd side and is good at using his head, but Sajamjae is really a smart fool.

He was like that since he was my manager. He was always late and always disappeared.

Ah, back again. I met the Lion Lord and Ardor, but in fact, they didn’t come to find me. I went to find them.

Of course, I didn’t know and went to find them, but anyway, the conclusion is ‘I’ went to find them.

And what else is there?

That’s right. I’m staying in the Imperial Palace right now. Ardor and the Lion Lord also live here together.

Do you know what’s amazing? There’s a person here who looks exactly like Anchovy and is the Emperor.

The eunuch Anchovy I told you about before wasn’t an eunuch.

Anyway, I made a deal with that Anchovy-like Emperor and I’m staying here.

The Emperor is finding the three dim-witted people and I’m treating people by the Emperor’s side. That’s how we traded.

The Emperor is playing tricks, but I see through everything, so it’s okay.

And Redrin, I just remembered.

You can tell Lord Yama that Sajamjae is a dim-witted smart fool.

Sajamjae is Lord Yama’s subordinate, so Lord Yama is also responsible.

You need to know exactly what the state of your subordinates is.

But please keep the speaker anonymous.

* * *

“What did you just do?”

Rembrary blankly raised his head and muttered to himself towards the ceiling, and when he suddenly lowered his head, the Emperor asked.

“Prayed.”

Rembrary answered indifferently and looked at the table full of food.

Today, the royal physician examined the Empress Dowager in the afternoon and rejoiced that not only was the disease completely cured, but also her body, which had been weakened by the disease, had been completely restored.

This food, which had more dishes than usual, was a reward for that.

The Emperor watched Rembrary pick up his chopsticks and asked again.

“You pray so perfunctorily?”

“I didn’t do it perfunctorily. I did it sincerely.”

“It looks perfunctory.”

Rembrary thought, ‘Why is he picking a fight again?’ but still reached out for the food that smelled the most delicious.

Then the eunuch came over and put the food on the plate in front of Rembrary, and Rembrary picked it up and ate it.

The Emperor also started eating instead of asking more.

How long has it been?

Rembrary was still eating.

The Emperor, who had finished eating first, wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and then tried to pick another fight.

“Wherever you go, your nickname is pig, right?”

When Rembrary stared blankly, the Emperor smiled with an expression that said, ‘I don’t mean any harm.’

“No.”

When Rembrary answered immediately, the Emperor this time asked what religion he had that he prayed so perfunctorily.

Just as Rembrary was about to answer, a familiar voice was heard among the eunuchs.

“I thought you were doing well. You look peaceful alone.”

When he turned around, he saw the eunuchs were also surprised and looking at one intruder who had appeared among them.

Someone was standing among them before they even knew when he had come.

A man with a particularly pale face and dressed in black.

The eunuchs hurriedly moved away from him, but Rembrary recognized his face and stood up happily.

“Gamjae!”

It was surprising that someone suddenly appeared, but when Rembrary acted like he knew him, the eunuchs were even more surprised and looked back and forth between Sajamjae and Rembrary.

But they weren’t too terrified because they had experienced the Hwasaja suddenly appearing and disappearing here and there several times.

The Emperor was also not surprised that a person suddenly appeared in the air, but when he saw Rembrary acting like he knew him, he thought, ‘Are there many people with such abilities in the world Rembrary came from?’

But the Emperor was really surprised by what Sajamjae said as he glanced at the Emperor, “It’s been a while,” to Rembrary.

“But that person isn’t Shin Jo-woon. Are you playing without knowing, or are you playing knowing?”

Other people, even Rembrary, who saw through his lies, couldn’t immediately distinguish between their colleague Shin Jo-woon and the Emperor Shin Jo-woon. Sajamjae recognized him right away.

“That person’s name is also Shin Jo-woon, Gamjae.”

“It’s similar, but…”

Sajamjae, who muttered strangely, soon looked at Rembrary and smiled as if it didn’t matter.

“Now I’ve found two. I heard there are Hwasaja and fanatics here too, so is everyone gathered except Shin Jo-woon?”

“Mullu is here, Mullu.”

“I found Mullu.”

Rembrary’s expression brightened at Sajamjae’s words, but the Emperor’s eyes grew cold under his smile.

His gaze briefly touched the chief eunuch, and the chief eunuch quickly lowered his head.

But the Emperor’s gaze, which had turned cold, returned to normal when Rembrary looked at him and introduced Gamjae.

“Your Majesty, this is also my colleague. Gamjae is Gamjae.”

Unlike the Emperor, Sajamjae looked at the person who looked exactly like Shin Jo-woon with curious eyes.

* * *

As soon as Rembrary finished eating, he took Sajamjae to his room, then called Hwasaja and Ardor and asked.

“You said you found Mullu. Then where is Mullu?”

Ardor looked at the one more companion with dissatisfaction, and when the story of Mullu came out, his brow furrowed a little more.

“He was in a place called the Blood Cult.”

“Blood Cult? Where is that?”

But as soon as he heard that Mullu had entered the Blood Cult, Ardor smiled brightly and answered instead.

“It sounds like a religious group, High Priest. Mullu must have become a heretic. The commander of the Holy Knights can no longer be with us. Isn’t that right?”

When Rembrary asked, “Really?” at that, Sajamjae thought for a moment and shrugged.

“Well, I saw him in a place with a strong sense of community, but I don’t know if it’s a religious group. But it seemed certain that he was in a difficult place.”

“A difficult place?”

“I tried to bring him out, but the person there said that if you leave there recklessly, you will be chased as a target for assassination.”

“A target for assassination? Then how do you get out? Even if Hwasaja brings him out, they will chase after him.”

“So I came out alone for now.”

While Rembrary was troubled by that answer, Sajamjae looked around the group and asked.

“The real Shin Jo-woon? Has anyone found out where he is?”

Hwasaja shook his head, and Ardor spread rumors.

“Shin Jo-woon has defected, High Priest. It’s certain that he has no intention of meeting us and devising a way to return to the original world. It’s certain just by looking at the fact that that clever fox hasn’t appeared yet. Isn’t that right?”

Rembrary didn’t believe it, of course, but he was a little curious about what Shin Jo-woon, who had discovered him first and then gone somewhere, was doing.

By now, would he have heard the news that he had been kidnapped?

* * *

As usual, as soon as Shin Jo-woon went to a slightly larger city, he stopped by the information branch office to see if there was any news of finding his companions.

Even after making a request, he hadn’t heard a proper answer yet, but you never know.

“Ah, there is. There is.”

But for some reason, information had arrived.

Since the information agency is famous for its speed and poor quality of information, he would have to doubt its authenticity a bit.

When Shin Jo-woon reached out his hand, the information agency employee quickly folded the note that had come down from the higher-ups and handed it to Shin Jo-woon.

Shin Jo-woon handed over the reward and immediately unfolded the note to check.

-Blonde hair, red eyes. Yu Manna’s disciples. Kidnapped.

Shin Jo-woon frowned for a moment when he saw the note, but soon burst into laughter.

“Clever.”

The employee who had already checked the contents looked at Shin Jo-woon with wide eyes.

That Yu Manna’s successor… the person he’s looking for has been kidnapped, but is he praising the kidnappers? Besides, the ones who kidnapped the person he’s looking for are Yu Manna’s other disciples?

Of course, Shin Jo-woon wasn’t praising the kidnappers. Shin Jo-woon had simply misinterpreted the subject.

‘I guess I can’t find him because of Yu Manna’s disciples, so he just kidnapped them?’

Shin Jo-woon tore the paper and took out more money and asked.

“Do you know where they kidnapped him to?”

“There are several disciples. I don’t know if the location that just came in is the location of a disciple related to the kidnapping or not, but one location has come in.”

When he heard the location from the employee, it was unexpectedly not that far away.

Shin Jo-woon went there with light steps, stopped by a candy store on the way, and bought some candy to commemorate the reunion.

As he was only buying candy, he remembered that he liked meat, so he bought some meat too.

As he was buying meat, he remembered that he had to feed him vegetables well, so he bought some cabbage too.

Holding the bulging luggage like someone who had been shopping, Shin Jo-woon went to the place the employee had told him and knocked.

“Who is it?”

He heard a stranger’s voice, but Shin Jo-woon guessed that it was a new companion he had found here and answered cheerfully.

“Open the door.”