Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 483

483. The One Who Heard Everything

While pinpointing Rembrary’s location, HwasaJa teleported bit by bit into blind spots.

He didn’t like following Shin Joong-woon’s orders, but they had to combine forces now.

They had to work together to get things done quickly so he could return to Earth and see his mom.

Besides, he didn’t want to do this twice, so HwasaJa focused intently, trying not to lose sight of Rembrary.

Perhaps it was thanks to his efforts. HwasaJa followed Rembrary without much difficulty.

In truth, it was just the existence of a Demon King that he disliked.

Tracking someone wasn’t that difficult for HwasaJa.

Still, he couldn’t let his guard down, not knowing when the Demon King might suddenly stop and say, “Come out. I know you’re following me.”

Whether ‘Rembrary’ walked straight through dark alleys, entered eerie buildings, or piled stones in strange shapes in a corner where not even moonlight reached.

It felt like about 40 minutes of that.

‘Everything he does is suspicious.’

HwasaJa clicked his tongue.

‘His movements are suspicious, and the places he goes are suspicious. Everything is just unidentifiable.’

It’s as if he’s advertising his suspiciousness. It would be hard to pick only suspicious actions like that.

HwasaJa reluctantly had to admit that Shin Joong-woon’s instruction this time was correct.

The Demon King Fragment clearly seemed to have a purpose. It wouldn’t be doing this otherwise.

After a long while, ‘Rembrary’ finally entered the palace and returned to his chambers.

HwasaJa lingered outside for a while even after Rembrary went into his room, and only returned to his own room when there was no sign of the closed door reopening.

Shin Joong-woon was the first thing he saw upon entering the room, as if he had been waiting there the whole time.

Though it was unpleasant, HwasaJa tried to hide his feelings and said,

“I’m back.”

Shin Joong-woon, who had been in the same position the whole time, asked without a hint of boredom in his voice,

“How was it?”

“Suspicious. Every single action was suspicious. He just went around to strange places and did strange things. There was no one he met.”

HwasaJa tried his best to sound as serious and grave as Shin Joong-woon.

“If that’s the Demon King Fragment, what is he aiming for? If it were me, I’d just pretend to be gone and slip into the sleeping God’s side. Isn’t it strange that he’s revealing his existence and wandering around?”

As he spoke, HwasaJa felt a little excited, as if he were having a conversation about the fate of the Earth.

It felt like he had become a character in a movie.

However, Shin Joong-woon coldly poured sand on his mood.

“Still, it’s useful.”

HwasaJa’s mood sank like wet charcoal at Shin Joong-woon’s words as he got up from his seat.

He had worked hard to track him, but would it hurt to have a discussion together? What an unlucky bastard.

“I’ll write down where he went and give it to you. Take it and go back. I don’t want to see your face.”

* * *

The next day.

As soon as Rembrary woke up and washed his face, he changed his clothes and left the palace without even eating breakfast.

He was leaving much earlier than usual, but the palace was already bustling with energy from early morning, with many maids and eunuchs already wandering around.

The inn that Rembrary went to was also bustling with energy and filled with customers, even at this early hour.

Rembrary bought some food on the first floor of the restaurant and then went to Duran’s room on the second floor.

Duran was sitting on the bed, dozing off, looking much more tired than usual.

“Here.”

Then, when Rembrary placed a plate full of food in front of him, he was startled and barely opened his eyes.

“Are you going to eat all this for breakfast?”

“Aren’t we going to eat together?”

“Are you saying we should eat all that for breakfast?”

“You can eat a little. I’ll eat a lot.”

Rembrary, seeing that Duran seemed to be awake anyway, pushed a bowl and chopsticks in front of him, then pulled up a chair across from him and asked,

“So, did you see well last night? Did anyone approach me?”

Duran muttered, looking down at the plate piled high with meat.

“You seem a little dim. But sometimes you seem smart.”

“Did you observe that last night? That I’m smart?”

“No. You were right. A suspicious person kept following you.”

Duran cut off a very small piece of meat and brought it to his mouth.

Rembrary smiled contentedly and proudly.

“I knew it. Who was it?”

After learning that the Demon King had awakened and was wandering around as he pleased,

Rembrary recalled that the Demon King always created and used his own minions.

This made Rembrary uneasy.

It was because the Demon King had an amazing ability to turn even people who seemed like they would never do such a thing into his pawns.

So, last night, Rembrary had set a trap.

He deliberately chose paths that the Demon King might take and then wandered around there as suspiciously as possible.

He had asked Duran to stay up all night and watch through the window to see who was secretly watching or following him.

He had also repeatedly told him not to come out of the room, as they might notice the pursuit.

Then, he wandered around places that the Demon King might go, in order to lure out the Demon King’s pawns.

Even with such caution, the pawns did not appear in front of Rembrary.

But there was no need to meet them directly. It was enough that Duran had seen them.

Rembrary looked at Duran with expectant eyes.

Duran, not knowing why, shrugged at the gaze and answered,

“It was someone wearing a lion mask.”

“A lion mask?”

“Yeah. He was just circling around you.”

Rembrary paused for a moment, then asked again, thinking he must have misheard something.

“Who did you say?”

“Someone wearing a lion mask…….”

Before he could finish speaking, Duran read Rembrary’s expression.

“Oh, never mind. It’s not that person.”

* * *

“Why, why?”

HwasaJa, who was eating, widened his eyes, wondering what was going on when Rembrary suddenly came in and grabbed his beard without warning.

“What’s wrong?”

Rembrary shook his head silently, sighed, and left.

“Why, what is it!”

HwasaJa, who had been a little scared because of yesterday’s incident, belatedly protested in frustration, but Rembrary had already left.

* * *

Instead of catching the Demon King’s pawn, he caught a member of his own party.

It felt like lifting a heavy fishing net only to find a fish-shaped stone inside.

Rembrary frowned and walked forward aimlessly.

He was displeased.

Since Duran had told him that he had been acting strangely, Shin Joong-woon would know that the Demon King Fragment had awakened, and he would have told HwasaJa and Sa Gam-jae about it too.

Perhaps HwasaJa had been following Rembrary yesterday as a result of the three of them talking.

To find out the Demon King Fragment’s movements…….

“It’s not helpful.”

Rembrary shook his head, dumbfounded by the situation where the fishing line he had cast and the fishing line that Shin Joong-woon’s group had cast were colliding and tangled.

Then, Rembrary bumped into someone.

While lost in thought and unable to see properly ahead, the other person was also unable to see ahead and bumped into him.

“Ah, damn it!”

The person who bumped into him was carrying a large box full of things, and he became annoyed when some of the items fell out of the box due to the collision.

“Be careful.”

Rembrary, though he was also troubled, spoke kindly as befitting a High Priest and went back on his way.

“Hey, we bumped into each other, you know?”

But before he could take two steps, the other person grabbed Rembrary’s leg and shouted.

Rembrary, grabbed by one leg, turned to look at the other person.

But for some reason, the person who had grabbed Rembrary with a loud voice was startled when Rembrary stopped and turned around.

Not only did he hesitate, but he even stared intently at Rembrary’s face.

‘Why is he doing that?’ As he watched with curiosity, the other person suddenly jumped up, bowed, and hurriedly left without even picking up the dropped items.

‘What is it?’

As he stared blankly at the retreating figure, Rembrary saw the items that the person had dropped.

Picking up one of them, it was something that looked familiar.

He didn’t know its use or name, but he had seen it several times in Hwachin [a type of traditional Korean performance or entertainment].

‘A troupe? That guy from earlier. A troupe member?’

Once he thought of ‘troupe,’ he also remembered where he had seen that person.

He was someone who had been moving alongside Ga-sora before.

“!”

Following that, Rembrary remembered that Ga-sora had also acted a little strangely before.

It was as if she was checking Rembrary’s face. Then she turned away.

‘Could it be that the person the Demon King has joined hands with this time is Ga-sora?’

* * *

‘Instead of wandering around the streets at night, I should imitate the Demon King and approach Ga-sora. If I’m lucky, I might be able to find out the Demon King’s purpose.’

The existing fishing rods were tangled and twisted, causing trouble.

Still, it was fortunate that he found a new fishing rod quickly.

Rembrary carefully thought as he walked back to his room with the unknown wooden piece he had picked up earlier.

But imitating the Demon King would not be an easy task.

It seemed that the Demon King Fragment’s eye color changed when he came out.

It was too noticeable a change, so Ga-sora wouldn’t believe it unless he imitated it very well.

Even if he spoke well and imitated well, he would only be able to deceive Ga-sora once.

Once he had a conversation with the Demon King Fragment, no, even before the conversation, the Demon King Fragment would be watching this scene…….

‘I have to do it in one go. I can’t fail.’

Since he must never fail in the actual battle, Rembrary decided to practice first.

If he imitated the Demon King Fragment in front of his colleagues who had seen the Demon King Fragment, wouldn’t he be able to know how well he was imitating the Demon King Fragment?

‘Sa Gam-jae is out. No matter how much I imitate the Demon King Fragment exactly, Gam-jae will be able to distinguish between me and him. He’s definitely an exception.’

Mulu is always by my side, so the difficulty of deceiving him is too high, so he’s on hold.

Ardor is on hold because if I deceive him too well, there will be a gunfight.

Shin Joong-woon is a quick-witted fox, so he’s also on hold.

After making these calculations, HwasaJa was the only one left, so Rembrary decided to imitate the Demon King in front of HwasaJa as the first step.

If he deceives HwasaJa well, he will gain confidence and try to deceive others, and finally, he will have to deceive Ga-sora.

Having made the decision, Rembrary changed his steps from heading to his room and went to find HwasaJa.

HwasaJa hurriedly covered his beard with both hands when he saw Rembrary.

“Why again? What is it again?”

Normally, he would have responded gently, but Rembrary, in order to imitate the Demon King Fragment, paused for a moment to catch his breath and silently looked at the Lion Lord.

“What…… why?”

HwasaJa lowered his voice a little at the attitude.

Rembrary, who always treated others with a smile, was looking at him seriously, so he seemed puzzled.

“What’s wrong?”

Instead of answering, Rembrary recalled the Demon King Fragment he had seen from the front before.

Smiling brightly, he asked, “Where did the thorns go?” and when Rembrary sneered something, he ridiculed, “Is that the only thorn left?”

Then, he said something meaningful, mocking, “No matter how great you are, you are ultimately vessels. You are pitiful beings who can only shine when you contain someone,” and what did he say…… He said something while saying “Be glorious.”

HwasaJa tilted his head.

Standing here blankly any longer wouldn’t be like the Demon King.

There was no time to think more, so Rembrary imitated the smile that the Demon King had made brightly and slowly approached, grabbing HwasaJa’s chin and lifting it.

“?”

HwasaJa still seemed bewildered.

He didn’t seem to be fooled that this side was the Demon King. But he did seem to recognize that the behavior was different from usual.

Rembrary recalled the question that the Demon King Fragment had asked him and implemented the tone as much as possible.

“Where did the beard go?”

“Huh?”

“Is this all the beard that’s left?”

“Huh huh?”

“No matter how great you are, you are ultimately fake. You are a pitiful human who can only imitate a lion by wearing a mask.”

“Huh huh huh?”

“Be glorious. You are…….”

HwasaJa had a somewhat confused face. If he did a little more here, he seemed like he would be fooled.

Rembrary was doing well but stopped talking for a moment.

He couldn’t really remember what the Demon King had said after that.

As Rembrary hesitated for a moment, someone told him in a voice mixed with laughter from beyond consciousness.

-Because you will be completely reborn by me.

‘Demon King!’

-I’m seeing the Redrin High Priest imitating me as I live. It’s an honor.

‘!’