Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 484

◈ 484. No Way

Rembrary was briefly taken aback by the Demon King’s sudden address, but he quickly regained his composure.

His confidence in his acting skills surged to fill the momentary void.

The fact that the Demon King was not only mimicking him but also directly addressing him suggested that his performance was flawless.

However, Hwasa-ja, unaware of this internal assessment, simply called out his name, a question hanging in the air.

“Rembrary?”

“Ah, Saja. Rest assured. I will create a new one for you.”

“A mask?”

“No…….”

Rembrary almost continued with ‘for you,’ but realizing it wasn’t the right thing to say, he stopped himself.

A sigh escaped him. His acting had been perfect, but the Demon King’s interruption had thrown him off balance.

Anything he said now wouldn’t sound like the Demon King. Hwasa-ja wouldn’t perceive Rembrary as the Demon King.

But trying to imitate the Demon King again at this point would seem forced and out of place.

Hwasa-ja, seeing Rembrary unable to decide what to say, called out again.

“Um… Rembrary?”

“What is it?”

“Both before and now, is there something you don’t like about my beard? Is that why you keep gesturing at it?”

“More than your beard, how did my voice sound earlier?”

“Are you trying to change the way the Emperor speaks?”

“Anything else?”

“Are you expecting a specific answer from me? If you are, just tell me. I’ll replicate it exactly.”

“…….”

‘There’s no mention of me sounding like the Demon King at all.’

It’s all because of the Demon King. It’s because I stood there blankly for a moment, listening to the Demon King.

Rembrary shook his head in frustration and went back outside.

However, even after all this, the Demon King fragment, without any remorse, spoke again in his mind.

[I know what you want, High Priest.]

“You don’t know when to butt in and when to stay out of it.”

[Shall we join hands?]

“How can you join hands without hands?”

[I can help you, you know.]

“How can you help without a body?”

[Don’t you think my acting is better than yours, High Priest?]

Ignoring the Demon King’s absurd claims, he carefully walked around the yard, lost in thought.

He knew the Demon King was watching his every move, but the directness of their mental conversation made it all the more real.

Knowing the Demon King was watching made him realize something even more acutely.

That he only had one chance to deceive Gasora. He had to extract the Demon King’s purpose from Gasora, no matter what it took.

He had to discover the Demon King’s ultimate goal from Gasora in one fell swoop.

[What are we going to do now, us?]

‘How can I deceive Gasora?’

[Are you going to act? Does Redrin not permit that? If you come under my influence, I’ll let you do it. Every day. How about it?]

‘Is Gasora particularly perceptive? All I remember is that she cried a lot.’

[You’re so cold. Where did the benevolent High Priest go?]

When Rembrary didn’t respond, the Demon King seemed to grow bored and finally quieted down.

As the annoying voice in his head disappeared, Rembrary immediately made a decision.

‘There’s no use staying like this, paralyzed by indecision. Let’s go. Let’s go and find out what’s going on.’

Having made up his mind, Rembrary began walking towards the area used by the Imperial Theater Troupe.

Even though the Demon King fragment shared Rembrary’s eyes and ears, it couldn’t share Rembrary’s consciousness.

Naturally, the Demon King couldn’t know what Rembrary was planning until he saw it unfold before him.

But the Demon King fragment watched Rembrary with a relaxed, almost amused feeling.

* * *

“Isn’t that person a doctor?”

“That Rem… what’s-his-name.”

When Rembrary went to the area used by the Imperial Theater Troupe, specifically the area where the Wamanxi [a fictional theater group] members gathered, the troupe members recognized Rembrary’s face and whispered among themselves.

Many people knew Rembrary’s face because he had cured the Empress Dowager’s years-long illness in a single day, and he was a doctor favored by the Emperor, who even got to choose who he would treat.

Even if they didn’t know his face, they knew his distinctive hair and eye color.

Moreover, there was another reason why they immediately recognized Rembrary’s face.

“Are you Doctor Rem?”

One of the troupe members, who had been glancing at Rembrary with curiosity, bravely approached and asked.

“That is correct.”

As Rembrary answered, the member asked perceptively.

“Are you here to see the director again today?”

The member’s quick wit turned Rembrary’s suspicion into certainty.

‘So, the Demon King has indeed won Gasora over. Well, it’s not entirely surprising. There’s already a precedent with Kkokko.’

Rembrary clicked his tongue inwardly but answered nonchalantly.

“Yes. Where did she go?”

“Come this way.”

The member led Rembrary to Gasora’s room.

“Thank you.”

As soon as Rembrary said his thanks, he went to the door and simply opened it without hesitation.

The troupe member, who had been curiously watching Rembrary, was surprised, wondering, ‘Is that okay?’ but Rembrary had already gone inside.

‘Well… they must be close.’ The member reasoned to themselves and returned to the practice area.

On the other hand, Gasora was writing an application for the Imperial Competition when Rembrary suddenly entered, and she stared in bewilderment with her mouth open.

Moreover, seeing the eye color, it was the personality of the doctor who had threatened him, not the Rembrary who had joined hands with them.

“Doctor Rem? What’s going on?”

Since the only thing the doctor personality of Rembrary had done when he came to him was to get a performance invitation, Gasora asked awkwardly.

Rembrary was curious about what Gasora was writing, but he deliberately didn’t look in that direction.

The Demon King wouldn’t care about such mundane things.

Instead, he mimicked the Demon King’s sinister smile and asked.

“The task I gave you? Have you completed it all?”

Gasora flinched because Rembrary’s tone wasn’t the tone of the doctor but the tone of ‘Black Eyes’ [referring to Rembrary when possessed by the Demon King].

Wondering if she had misread the situation, Gasora looked at Rembrary’s eyes again.

But the whites of Rembrary’s eyes were clearly white. It was the doctor personality.

Gasora feigned ignorance.

“What are you talking about?”

Instead of explaining in detail, Rembrary smiled and said as briefly as possible.

“You keep looking at my eyes. It’s no use. My eye color won’t change anymore. I’ve adapted to the Demon King’s influence.”

“Adapted……?”

Instead of giving more explanation, Rembrary only gave a meaningful smile.

Although he hadn’t said it often, Rembrary thought that the Demon King wasn’t the type to explain everything and ensure the other person understood.

He had to imitate not only the tone but also the actions of the Demon King.

“The task? Are you almost done?”

As Rembrary abruptly changed the subject, Gasora became even more bewildered.

Judging by his words, it was definitely ‘Black Eyes’ Rembrary.

Still, it was hard to believe since he suddenly came with his eye color normal and acted like that.

Eventually, after hesitating, Gasora decided to test Rembrary.

“Yes, I’m changing the order of the competition as you instructed. Even if I can’t interfere with other things, I can at least make the order advantageous for you. The order doesn’t matter much, but it’s better to do it perfectly, right?”

But the answer that came back was a strange smile and a gentle rebuke.

“That’s not it.”

Gasora flinched but soon apologized obediently.

“I’m sorry. It’s just that you came without your eye color changing…….”

“It will become even more difficult to distinguish in the future.”

Gasora nodded at Rembrary’s warning.

“Yes. I will watch carefully. And I am continuing to investigate the task you gave me.”

Investigation. The Demon King told him to investigate something. But what?

“Not done yet?”

“It’s hard enough to investigate the god we currently serve, but it’s even harder to investigate the god before that. There are at least shrines or legends left about the current god, but there is almost no information about the previous god.”

‘Shrine. The previous god. That’s it.’

“Be cautious, but speed up your investigation. There is not much time left.”

“Yes. I will. Then…….”

Gasora looked at Rembrary with pleading eyes.

Rembrary put his hands behind his back and said gently but arrogantly.

“You will also get what you want.”

* * *

The Demon King is adept at exploiting people’s emotions and manipulating their desires.

Even if that desire is a seemingly beneficial one. All desires are nothing more than toy strings to the Demon King, tools for control.

When Rembrary said to Gasora, ‘You will also get what you want,’ it was with this understanding in mind.

Those words hit their mark, and Gasora nodded obediently.

But even though he properly imitated the Demon King and obtained information, Rembrary’s expression wasn’t good as he returned.

Because he knew what the Demon King was doing.

As soon as Rembrary arrived at his room, he took out Lumena’s card, held it in his hand, and began to pray.

* * *

Lumena.

The Demon King fragment knows that Mullet and Lumena are hiding something from him regarding the ‘Sleeping God’.

Because. The clever me found out.

Anyway, because of this, the Demon King fragment suspects that something harmful might happen to him when he enters the ‘Sleeping God’s’ domain.

I think so too. That’s why Lumena and Mullet tried to give the Demon King fragment false information while deceiving me.

Fortunately, the Demon King seems to be drawn to the ‘Sleeping God’ itself.

He’s using the shrine here to find out about the god who was worshiped before the god currently venerated by the shrine.

The god worshiped in this shrine is Lumena, so he’s looking for a very old, forgotten god.

I don’t know about the specific results of the investigation, but I’ll let you know this much for now.

Lumena and Mullet deceived me, but I’m telling you everything.

The difference in consideration is revealed in such small and trivial things.

That doesn’t mean Lumena’s heart is small. It’s just that my consideration is broader and more encompassing.

But I think Lumena needs to re-evaluate her standards for judging priests.

The person the Demon King fragment won over this time was Gasora, who considers Lumena her mentor.

* * *

“Investigating the shrine?”

The fact that ‘Rembrary’ was investigating the shrine through Gasora also reached the Emperor’s ears.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the palace had eyes and ears on the walls, so the Emperor could hear the things happening in various places even from his throne.

The same was true for the events unfolding where the theater troupes gathered.

He already knew that ‘Rembrary’ occasionally visited the Imperial Theater Troupe and spent time with Gasora.

Then, he learned that Gasora was investigating the shrine.

Before associating with Rembrary, Gasora hadn’t bothered investigating the shrine.

She started investigating the shrine after associating with Rembrary, so it must be Rembrary’s explicit instruction.

“The shrine.”

The Emperor recalled the time when Rembrary had entered the body of the eunuch and only his soul returned to the shrine.

Recently, he had stood alone in front of the shrine and had a conversation with something strange inside.

Could there be a connection between these events?

“They are a very strange group.”

The shadow, who had been listening to the report, muttered thoughtfully.

“Indeed.”

The Emperor nodded and tapped the handle of the throne, a nervous habit.

“I don’t know what they’re trying to accomplish, but it seems to be something detached from the mundane concerns of reality.”

The Emperor clenched his fist in anxiety and frowned.

Whatever they were trying to do, it ultimately didn’t matter to him.

What truly mattered to him was that the great doctor who could cure the Empress Dowager’s serious illness in less than half a quarter was likely to disappear once his purpose was fulfilled, and he couldn’t confine him, threaten him, or hold him in place with an official position.

Time continued to flow relentlessly, and his heart grew increasingly anxious.

At this time, the shadow carefully suggested a solution.

“If he’s trying to do something at the shrine, Your Majesty, how about moving the location of the shrine?”