Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 481

◈ 481. I Knew It

The eunuch was heading to the quarters where the group stayed, as usual, to escort Assemblyman Rem.

However, a man with half of his face covered by a veil approached him as he walked along.

It was Shin, who looked exactly like the Emperor and shared the same name.

“What brings you here, Lord Shin?”

The eunuch bowed with a smiling face.

It was a habit deeply ingrained in his bones; the eunuch reflexively bent his waist whenever he saw this man who looked astonishingly like the Emperor.

However, even as he greeted, he wondered why Shin Jo-woon was speaking to him.

Shin Jo-woon usually had no contact with him, so there was no reason to talk.

“I wish to see His Majesty privately here.”

But Shin Jo-woon’s words were even more unexpected.

“His Majesty?”

Shin Jo-woon nodded.

What was going on? The eunuch was bewildered.

Shin Jo-woon didn’t talk to the eunuch often, nor did he seek out the Emperor separately.

In the eunuch’s view, the Emperor and Shin Jo-woon seemed wary of each other because they looked so alike.

But suddenly, he wanted to see him ‘privately’?

“So… you mean you want to see His Majesty without Assemblyman Rem?”

If he wanted to see him together, he would have asked if he could accompany Rembrary when he went to see the Emperor.

That would be the quickest way. As the eunuch asked shrewdly, Shin Jo-woon nodded.

The eunuch hesitated, then subtly lowered his waist.

“I will ask His Majesty and return, Lord.”

* * *

The eunuch immediately returned to the Emperor and conveyed Shin Jo-woon’s request.

The Emperor was taken aback to see the eunuch who had abandoned Rembrary midway, but after a moment of thought, he granted permission.

“Bring him.”

The eunuch quickly returned to the place where he had met Shin Jo-woon and brought him back to the Emperor’s office.

The Emperor was skimming through petitions when Shin Jo-woon entered. He glanced at him once, then lowered his gaze and asked,

“I didn’t expect you to want to see me.”

“I assumed you wouldn’t want to see me, but I requested it anyway.”

Shin Jo-woon’s manner of speaking was quite similar to that of the officials here, so the Emperor closed the petitions and stared at him intently.

Rembrary’s way of speaking was strange on its own, but the way others spoke always felt out of place, except for Shin Jo-woon, who had adopted the local manner of speaking, which aroused curiosity.

“Not really. I don’t mind seeing you.”

“That’s a relief. I will come to see you often.”

But perhaps he wasn’t completely accustomed, as Shin Jo-woon’s manner of speaking reverted to its previous form after only a few words.

The Emperor knew that they were from another world, so he didn’t care much about that part.

“Even if you come often, you won’t see me often. So, what brings you here?”

The Emperor asked directly without beating around the bush.

He knew that Shin Jo-woon avoided him as much as he avoided Shin Jo-woon, so he was curious about the sudden visit.

This was much more intriguing than his manner of speaking.

Shin Jo-woon answered immediately.

“I heard you took Rembrary to the night market.”

But the answer that came back was too trivial.

The Emperor waited for more to follow, then chuckled and asked,

“You came all the way here to talk about that?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Rembrary is a renowned doctor, but there is one ailment he cannot cure himself.”

Shin Jo-woon lied without blinking an eye.

“Ailment?”

“He has narcolepsy [a sleep disorder that causes excessive daytime sleepiness], so he suddenly falls asleep and dreams while walking. He also wanders around like a sleepwalker. Sometimes accidents happen because of it, so I was worried. Was he alright at the night market?”

He was trying to lie, but after speaking, it wasn’t entirely untrue.

At least the symptoms were similar. The cause was not an illness but a fragment of the Demon King.

Shin Jo-woon watched the Emperor’s reaction. Fortunately, the Emperor had a look on his face that suggested something came to mind.

“Ah, so that’s why.”

Without any intention of hiding it, the Emperor muttered immediately.

Clearly, something had happened at the night market.

“He did act like that at the night market. He got lost on his own and then complained that we had left him behind.”

As the Emperor explained the specific situation, Shin Jo-woon’s expression darkened.

This confirmed that Rembrary sometimes lost control of his body to the Demon King’s fragment. It was not a good sign.

What was more dangerous than an external enemy was an internal one.

If Rembrary, who should be at the center of this group, became an internal enemy…….

Then, Shin Jo-woon felt the Emperor’s blatant gaze and snapped out of his thoughts.

Unpleasant at the gaze, he stared back at the Emperor. However, he became even more unpleasant when their eyes met. The Emperor suddenly raised one corner of his mouth and asked,

“Are you really asking because you’re worried?”

Puzzled, he stared, and the Emperor leaned back comfortably in his chair, pointing at Shin Jo-woon’s face with his finger.

“That expression. It’s an expression I know well.”

“?”

“It’s not the expression you make when you’re worried.”

“What are you talking about?”

As if he had given all the answers he would, the Emperor ignored Shin Jo-woon’s question and asked,

“Can I ask you something too, while we’re at it?”

He would be upset if his question was ignored, but Shin Jo-woon nodded without showing any such emotion.

The Emperor smiled as if it was a good thing and glanced at the petitions he had been looking at before asking,

“What are you trying to do here?”

‘If that Emperor is similar to me not only in appearance but also in personality, he must have been wondering about that and holding back a lot.’

Shin Jo-woon immediately grasped the emotion hidden within the leisurely question.

No, if the Emperor was truly the ‘same’ person as him, he would not just be holding back but would also be launching an investigation behind the scenes. It wouldn’t be easy, though.

The Emperor was also thinking as he looked at Shin Jo-woon.

‘If that guy is similar to me in personality, he knows what I’m going to do, but he won’t tell me the truth…….’

And in the midst of all that, Head Eunuch was curiously watching the spectacle of two people who looked exactly alike staring at each other with the same eyes.

* * *

‘The Emperor has begun to suspect something, but he covets Rembrary’s abilities, so he won’t harm him outright.’

Shin Jo-woon, having finished his interview with the Emperor, put on his veil again and came out of the office, carefully calculating the words exchanged inside.

Next, he tried to anticipate in advance whether there was anything that could be caught in the Emperor’s investigation, or any parts that could arouse suspicion.

There were no such parts.

No matter what, they were beings who had fallen from another world.

Although they had each fallen in different places and had short adventures, the Emperor knew the most about their special circumstances, so he wouldn’t have unnecessary suspicions about that.

If he had the same level of intelligence as him.

‘The problem is still the pig [derogatory term for Rembrary].’

The Shin Jo-woon here was in a different situation from him. There was no time to build friendship with Rembrary or anything.

He was now very covetous of his abilities and tried to approach him as carefully as possible, but if he found out that there was a dangerous being inside Rembrary’s body, he would change his attitude.

But fortunately, the fact that what was inside Rembrary was a fragment of the Demon King was something they could never know unless they opened their mouths, and among those who knew the truth and followed, there was no one who would do that.

‘For now, I can leave the Emperor’s side alone…….’

What the Demon King’s fragment is doing outside. I need to find out about that.

‘I heard that the pig periodically visits a few people.’

* * *

The next day.

Shin Jo-woon after having breakfast.

After waiting for Rembrary to be summoned by the Emperor to do his medical work, he left the palace alone.

It would have been easier to bring Hwasaja, but he didn’t bring Hwasaja on purpose because it was something that needed to be done carefully.

Shin Jo-woon fixed the veil he was wearing on his face more firmly and began to wander around various inns.

After excluding very fancy inns, dirty inns, inns that were too far away, and the inn he had stayed at before, he was able to narrow down the candidates.

After that, he went around on foot, searching for a person named ‘Duran’ one by one, starting from the inn closest to the palace.

Fortunately, he was able to find Duran not long after.

“Huh? Uh……?”

Duran was confused when he saw Shin Jo-woon’s face and acted awkwardly, but he still behaved quite calmly.

Shin Jo-woon took Duran, who was flustered and unable to sit, stand, or greet, to a corner seat, naturally ordered food, and asked.

“There’s something I want to ask you about Rembrary.”

Duran kept glancing at Shin Jo-woon’s face and quickly nodded.

“Yes. Yes. Ask me.”

It was an unavoidable reaction from people who knew that he had the same face as the Emperor, so Shin Jo-woon didn’t feel bad and asked as usual.

“I heard you went around a lot with Rembrary.”

“Went around a lot…… Ah, I guess I did go around a lot. Yes. Among the troupe members, I went around the most…….”

“Does Rembrary ever act normally and then suddenly act a bit differently?”

“Yes?”

“It doesn’t have to be an extreme change. Did you ever just feel like he was a different person, even a little bit?”

“Uh…… I don’t know.”

Duran shook his head.

“I don’t really know. He just? Says what he wants to say and makes the expressions he usually makes, so…….”

“I see.”

‘Does he deliberately not appear when he’s with someone he always sees?’

Then this musician wouldn’t know what he’s doing in that form either. Shin Jo-woon calculated inwardly and got up.

“You must be busy. Thank you for your time.”

“No, I’m not busy at all…… It’s okay.”

But just as Shin Jo-woon was about to turn around.

“Ah.”

Duran belatedly recalled something and sighed.

When Shin Jo-woon heard the sound and turned around, Duran opened his mouth hesitantly.

“Um. It’s just a fleeting feeling to say he ‘changed’…… and it’s not like he said anything strange. It’s just a feeling. Um, there was one time when Rembrary felt different.”

When Shin Jo-woon looked at him, Duran hesitated as if he didn’t know whether he should say this or not.

It wasn’t that it was something he shouldn’t say, but he seemed to think it was too trivial to say.

Still, just in case, Duran opened his mouth.

“There was a time when Rembrary was trapped in some kind of formation and came out…… He felt a bit different from usual then. Just for a moment.”

“Atmosphere?”

“He didn’t say anything. He just smiled while looking at me, but the atmosphere…… Ah. I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but one of his eyeballs seemed to have black sclera [the white part of the eye]. But it was really brief. I might have seen it wrong…….”

Duran muttered uncertainly.

But for Shin Jo-woon, Duran’s statement was nothing short of a decisive blow.

‘Black sclera. He has definitely awakened.’

* * *

After Shin Jo-woon thanked him and left.

Duran followed him to the door, bowed, and returned to the inn.

Then, he looked back at the door Shin Jo-woon had left through several times and went up the stairs.

When he entered the room where he was staying, Rembrary was sitting comfortably and eating snacks.

“Have you come.”

Duran looked at the stairs once more, closed the door, and quickly approached Rembrary, whispering softly.

“As you said, the person you call ‘myeolchi’ [멸치, Korean for anchovy, a nickname] came and asked about you.”

“Really, what did he ask?”