Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 470

◈ 470. A Familiar Back of the Head

“Here.”

Rembrary, who had gone to see the Emperor, brings back a strange token and hands it over.

Sa Gamjae received the black token. The vivid dragon engraved on it was clearly no ordinary object.

“What is this?”

“I heard it’s a token representing the Emperor’s authority.”

Sa Gamjae gave him a puzzled look. He was a Grim Reaper, but he sometimes disguised himself and worked in the human world.

He naturally knew that such a thing was not easy to obtain. No, wasn’t there no way to obtain it at all?

But suddenly, he brought it and handed it over. Yet, to call it a fake, Rembrary had just met the Emperor.

“He told me to show this and find Mullu.”

“He’s generous enough to give you something like this.”

“It’s a loan. He told me to return it after using it once, so don’t forget. With this, you should be able to find Mullu, right?”

Sa Gamjae thought for a moment before nodding.

“It should work.”

If it were a small to medium-sized group, they might wonder, ‘What is this?’ even if he showed them this token.

However, the Blood Cult that Sa Gamjae had visited was quite large.

Almost the size of a village. If they were running a place of that size, they were likely to recognize this token.

But…….

“What if they don’t recognize it even after I show them this?”

He had to consider even such a small possibility.

“He said that if they resist even after seeing this token, it’s treason, so report them.”

At Rembrary’s words, Sa Gamjae smiled in satisfaction.

“I certainly will.”

“Gamjae likes to tattle.”

“It will take some time to come back.”

“Why? Is there a big time difference between the Underworld and the mortal realm here?”

“That’s not it. But it’s difficult to bring Mullu-ssi [Mr. Mullu, using a respectful suffix] along this path in the Underworld. We have to travel by land together, so even if I ride a horse urgently, it will take some time.”

* * *

As Sa Gamjae left to bring Mullu, the tightly packed room became a little wider.

Even if you don’t know when someone is there, you know when they’re gone. Even though they had only been together for a few days, Sa Gamjae’s absence was noticeable.

Hwasaja was sad, but Ardor secretly cheered.

Except for the incident where Rembrary ran into Eunuch Woo Yeon-woo and was happy to approach him, only for Woo Yeon-woo to be horrified and run away, time passed peacefully.

Then one day,

Rembrary, who went to the inn to meet Duran as usual, saw him with a serious expression, holding and reading a thin piece of paper.

“What’s wrong?”

As he approached and asked, Duran was startled, but after confirming it was Rembrary, he sighed in relief and muttered.

“You surprised me by suddenly talking to me.”

“Should I call out ‘Duran-ah’ [Duran, in a familiar way] from afar first from now on?”

“No, thanks.”

“Okay, so. What’s that letter?”

“The leader sent it.”

As if it wasn’t something he couldn’t show, Duran handed the paper he was holding to Rembrary.

Rembrary took the paper and unfolded it.

“Another cup of tea, please.”

While Duran was ordering, Rembrary slowly read the contents written in the letter.

“Oh my.”

Before he even finished reading half the letter, Rembrary clicked his tongue.

Duran, who had read the letter first, had a flushed face and poured the remaining tea into his mouth at once.

“Not being able to get a single recommendation?”

As Rembrary clicked his tongue, Duran’s expression hardened even more.

Aside from that, there wasn’t much else in the letter.

Although it was clear from the letter that the leader was also quite shocked.

Rembrary handed the letter back to Duran. Duran hurriedly took the letter and put it in his pocket.

“Here you go.”

As the server brought the newly ordered tea to Rembrary and left, Rembrary picked up the teacup and blew on it.

Duran, seeing that Rembrary didn’t seem to be making fun of the situation, asked worriedly.

“What if we can’t participate in the competition, Rembrary?”

“My skills must have been the reason we got three recommendations.”

“……I was asking for comfort.”

“Isn’t it better not to participate due to lack of skill than not to participate even though you have the skill? Don’t be too hurt.”

Duran opened his mouth and stared at Rembrary.

Of course, it would be more unfair not to participate due to various circumstances even though you have the skill…… but should that be included in the realm of comfort?

Hearing those words didn’t make him more depressed, but it did make him feel bad.

“Isn’t there a more typical form of comfort?”

“Since you’re not there, the troupe can’t perform to their full potential, Ace. Actually, aren’t you a hidden talent? You are the pillar of Hwacheonchin [the name of their troupe]. Hwacheonchin can’t function without you. No, you must be the wheel.”

“Ugh! Stop it!”

Duran’s face turned red, and he covered his face with both hands.

He didn’t know what Ace meant, but it only made the listener more embarrassed than when he was showing off.

Realizing that he wouldn’t receive proper comfort anyway, Duran quickly changed the subject.

“About the Great Prince these days. It seems like he’s going around looking for a new suitable beauty. But it doesn’t seem to be going well. Pitiful.”

“You’re even kind, Ace.”

“Don’t!”

“You have too many demands?”

Duran’s face turned completely red, turning as red as a jujube [a type of red fruit]. Rembrary shrugged and then exclaimed, “Ah.”

“Why?”

“I wondered. I felt like I kept forgetting someone.”

“……You forgot about him completely.”

Rembrary calculated the time for a moment, decided to go see the Great Prince, and asked.

“Where is he now? I can’t see him.”

“I told you. He’s out looking for another beauty. He must have gone out again this time.”

Rembrary thought about coming next time, but then he thought that the Great Prince wouldn’t be able to sleep for a few more days if he did that, so he decided to wait here and ordered another cup of tea.

“It must be hard for someone not to be able to sleep.”

“It seems so. I’m still scared of him, but when I see him struggling because he can’t sleep, I feel a little sorry for him.”

Rembrary thought about the god deep in that cave who had taken sleep away from the Great Prince.

‘Should this also be seen as a curse? It would be nice if I could solve it. I should ask Lumena-nim [a respectful suffix] about it if I can meet her later.’

* * *

Time passed by again, and it was around the time when he started to wonder, ‘I wonder if our Mullu will be back with Sa Gamjae soon.’

The possibility of Hwacheonchin participating in the competition was decreasing as they still hadn’t received additional recommendations, but Rembrary, who was still practicing singing, went to the inn to meet Duran today as well.

Then, after practicing for a while, the story of the Imperial Troupe ‘Wamanxi’ came up.

“What? You know the leader there?”

Duran had been living alone and had heard various information about the Imperial Troupe. He asked Rembrary, ‘You live in the palace, haven’t you seen any members of the Imperial Troupe?’ But when Rembrary replied, “Wamanxi, was it? I know the leader there,” Duran was taken aback and asked again.

He was very surprised.

Rather, Rembrary asked, “Why are you so surprised?” at his reaction, and Duran became even more flustered.

“Wamanxi is said to be the most skilled among the Imperial Troupes. In fact, Wamanxi has a monopoly, and the others are just struggling below them.”

“Is that so?”

Duran was so surprised that he couldn’t even speak properly and just kept gaping like a goldfish.

“Oh my gosh. How did you get to know someone like that? Did His Majesty introduce you? Are you in a troupe, and that person is also in a troupe?”

“No. That guy tried to kidnap me but failed.”

“!”

Duran, who had widened his eyes, couldn’t speak for a different reason than before, and eventually shook his head while laughing.

“Just kidding.”

It seemed he had decided to take Rembrary’s words as a joke.

Instead of explaining that it was real, Rembrary just laughed along and pulled on a string of the zither [a stringed instrument] that Duran had placed on his lap.

But as he was playing with the zither, Duran kept glancing at Rembrary.

He had a face full of things he wanted to ask, so Rembrary stopped strumming the zither and asked.

“What’s wrong?”

Duran smiled awkwardly and strummed a few strings of the zither himself before cautiously asking.

“Um…… Rembrary. About that Wamanxi. Could you invite me to one of their performances?”

His face was red as if it were a difficult question. Rembrary readily replied.

“I’ll ask and let you know tomorrow or the day after.”

* * *

Afterwards, Rembrary returned to the palace, took Hwasaja, and went to see Gasora to ask if there were any public performances, and if there were, if he could give a ticket to his friend.

Gasora gave him a look that said, ‘We’re not that close,’ but she readily gave Rembrary two tickets.

“We’re performing at Hyeongnangak outside the palace in four days. Bring him then and watch. I can’t even invite you to performances inside the palace.”

“Thank you.”

Rembrary gave the tickets to Duran the next day, and Duran jumped for joy.

And three days later. Rembrary went to a place called Hyeongnangak with Duran to see Wamanxi’s performance.

Even though they would eventually become rival troupes if they obtained a recommendation later, Duran was excited and kept chattering.

“I’ve never seen them in person, but I’ve heard a lot of rumors. They’re really amazing. It would be nice if the other members could see them too. If you watch performances like this, your level as a viewer will also increase, right?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

Rembrary’s lack of a proper response wasn’t enough to stop Duran’s excitement.

The two of them mingled with the people lined up and went inside, showing their respective tickets to the person checking tickets near the entrance.

“You can go that way.”

Rembrary rescued Duran, who kept getting swept away by the crowd, and walked to a seat slightly in front of the middle.

“There are too many people.”

Duran complained, looking a little haggard than when he came, as if he had lost all his energy from being bumped around.

“Should we go back if you can’t watch?”

“No. It’s not that bad.”

Even after taking their seats, they were pushed to bad seats and then back again by the people for a long time.

Just when they were wondering if they were waiting too long, a well-dressed man and woman finally appeared on stage and blew out the fire set up on the stage.

Then, the lights set up here and there in the large room gradually went out, and eventually, the inside became completely dark.

The people also became quiet.

About half a quarter of an hour passed like that.

Finally, the light slowly began to rise only on the stage, and an elaborate device appeared as if dawn were breaking.

The people were impressed, and Duran also made sounds of “Wow. Wow.” from the side.

Then, as someone landed 멋지게 [meotjige – stylishly/coolly] from the top of the stage, the exclamations grew even louder.

“Look at that, Rembrary. Wow.”

Duran kept telling Rembrary to look at that, showing his excitement.

However, Rembrary was looking ahead but not at the stage.

Rembrary discovered a familiar back of the head between the stage and the audience and stared intently at it.

‘That head?’

Even though it was a back view, that figure looked familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere.

A small, round head. A long neck. An upright posture. Especially that hairstyle, which is hard to see in this world.

Still, he couldn’t be sure since it was just the back, so as he was staring intently at it, the person turned his head towards the waiting room where the troupe members were gathered, revealing his side profile.

As soon as he saw that side profile, Rembrary confirmed that his prediction was correct and opened his mouth in surprise.

‘Squid?’