Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 497

◈ 497. Ardor’s Whereabouts

Shin Jo-woon noticed Jang Tae-ri’s expression and asked, feigning innocence,

“What’s with that look, Jang Tae-ri?”

“You’re not easy to deal with, are you?”

Jang Tae-ri immediately scoffed, but Shin Jo-woon, seeing an opportunity, only teased her.

“Jang Tae-ri must be happy. I’m here times two.”

“I don’t know. But weren’t you supposed to send that Shin Jo-woon back right away? There’s no time for him to meet me, is there?”

Seeing them bickering again, I figured they were entertaining themselves well enough.

Rembrary, the dignified high priest, watched Shin Jo-woon and Jang Tae-ri amusing themselves and, instead of joining their childish squabble, walked to the window and prayed to Redrin.

‘Redrin. I’ve found everyone but Ardor. Where should I go?’

But even after finishing his prayer and turning around, Jang Tae-ri and Shin Jo-woon were still arguing.

Over the trivial matter of whose name would be favorited on Rembrary’s new phone.

“You have to consider the time we’ve spent together, Jang Tae-ri. How many times does he even contact you? He just texts. I’m the one who calls often, so of course, he’d favorite me.”

“Whatever, Sardine. Get lost.”

“Resorting to force because you have nothing to say. You have no conscience.”

“Rembrary did idol activities, so it was easier for him to contact me than you. Now that he’s not an idol, it doesn’t matter, does it?”

“Habits are hard to break.”

Watching their endless fight, Rembrary took his phone from between them and announced,

“Moolu is favorited.”

Shin Jo-woon and Jang Tae-ri looked at Rembrary with bewildered faces, wondering what they had been expecting.

In reality, both of them were also favorited, but Rembrary didn’t bother to mention this fact.

Rembrary was a kind person, but because he had an excellent memory, he clearly remembered the time the two of them had bickered on his long-awaited SNS [Social Networking Service] post.

Seeing Shin Jo-woon and Jang Tae-ri staring blankly at him, Rembrary finally felt a little better.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Moolu peeked his head in, asking,

“High Priest. Would you like a snack?”

Then, Moolu noticed Jang Tae-ri and Shin Jo-woon looking at him with very strange expressions and asked, puzzled,

“What’s wrong?”

* * *

Strong sunlight streamed in through a window that took up an entire wall, casting a half shadow on the table.

Hwasaja rested his arm on the table, chewing on his straw, staring blankly at the shadow.

Rembrary, who was eating risotto across from him, was starting to wonder if Hwasaja was drinking the theade [a type of Korean honey drink] or eating the straw, so he finally asked directly.

“Why the long face? You look depressed, Lion.”

In truth, only his eyes and mouth were visible as expressions, but that was enough to read his mood.

Hwasaja raised his eyes to look at Rembrary, then asked, sounding defeated,

“Don’t you know why I’m like this?”

“Doesn’t the theade taste good?”

Theade? Is the theade the issue right now? Hwasaja made a face as if he was about to cry.

“I was going to stay by Mom’s side for a year. Why am I with you and that…”

Hwasaja abruptly stopped talking, glanced at Shin Jo-woon, who was on a call in the restaurant’s courtyard through the glass window, then lowered his voice and continued,

“…creepy human again, moving around together?”

“But you’re the most convenient for moving around.”

“Is that a compliment? If you’re going to use me, at least pretend to compliment me!”

“Wasn’t what I said earlier a compliment?”

“Don’t just casually throw out words like ‘convenient,’ ‘useful,’ or ‘handy’!”

“You are convenient, useful, and handy, Hwasaja.”

Just as the enraged Lion Lord was about to say something, Shin Jo-woon, who had finished his call, came inside and asked,

“Why is he angry?”

“He doesn’t want to be away from his mom.”

One corner of Shin Jo-woon’s mouth turned up.

It was a mocking face, and the Lion Lord, feeling scared, scoffed along.

“Why? What about you? You were helpless in front of the Empress Dowager, who looks exactly like your mom. You couldn’t refuse her request to lie in bed and even covered your head and lay down.”

Then, he tried to take a bite of his sandwich, but instead of soft cheese and bread, his teeth met a frozen lump of ice.

The Lion Lord, whose teeth were aching, glared at Shin Jo-woon, who smiled and asked,

“Are you done eating? Shall we go?”

“I… I haven’t eaten yet.”

Even the Lion Lord’s small voice of protest was useless.

“Are you going to eat that? Do you think you can eat it?”

At Shin Jo-woon’s kind question, the Lion Lord quietly put down the sandwich.

* * *

Thanks to Hwasaja’s ability, the three were able to quickly find the place Redrin had told them about.

“I think it’s here.”

As soon as Shin Jo-woon said that, Hwasaja quickly let go of Shin Jo-woon and Rembrary.

Rembrary handed Hwasaja the newly packaged sandwich that he had been carrying.

“Thanks.”

Hwasaja took it and ran far away, so Shin Jo-woon couldn’t freeze it again.

But Shin Jo-woon was no longer interested in the sandwich; his attention had shifted to the dense forest.

“Aren’t we just passing through? Why did he tell us to come to such a deep mountain?”

Rembrary called out to Redrin in his mind and answered,

“He’s about to manifest temporarily. Manifesting causes a lot of damage to the surroundings.”

“Damage? Ah. Like when he appeared at the research lab before?”

Shin Jo-woon, recalling the ‘damage’ at the research lab, immediately agreed.

It was like a horror movie. Does that kind of thing happen every time he manifests?

Just as he had that thought, the sound of huge, long snakes crawling on the ground came from all directions at once.

He looked down, feeling goosebumps, and saw that they weren’t snakes but large plant stems.

Those large stems were moving like snakes.

Not only that, but they wrapped around and crushed the nearby intact trees, and soon trees began to collapse from all sides.

Shin Jo-woon glanced to the side. Rembrary was calm even in this situation.

On the other hand, a faint scream could be heard from somewhere where a tree had fallen, and a moment later, the Lion Lord, who had been hiding and eating his sandwich, appeared with a surprised look.

“What’s going on?”

Instead of answering, Shin Jo-woon blocked a tree that was about to fall on their heads with an ice wall and created a protective barrier of ice around them.

Even as trees broke with a ‘crack’ and turned the surroundings into a mess, flowers bloomed in various places on the destructive stems that were knocking down the trees, creating a strange contrast.

Meanwhile, Redrin appeared in a hazy form in a dark place.

“Redrin!”

To Shin Jo-woon, the atmosphere felt much more imposing than before, but Rembrary was simply happy and ran to him.

Redrin smiled and stroked Rembrary’s head.

“It’s good to see you. But I should hurry back in case the other children are in danger.”

Shin Jo-woon realized that Rembrary had told Redrin everything and, recalling how Redrin had scanned Woo Yeon-woo’s soul before, moved closer to him.

As Shin Jo-woon approached, Redrin placed his hand on his head.

Hwasaja, watching carefully, also came closer.

But…

“What’s wrong?”

Redrin, who had placed his hand on Shin Jo-woon’s head, tilted his head.

Seeing this, Rembrary asked, and Redrin replied with a slightly furrowed brow,

“A twisted strand… is already here.”

“What? Emperor Shin Jo-woon is here?”

“Yes.”

As Redrin took his hand off Shin Jo-woon, Shin Jo-woon asked in a disbelieving voice,

“Are you sure?”

Rembrary glared at Shin Jo-woon with a fishy eye for his disrespectful attitude, then quickly said,

“That’s right, Redrin. Did Ardor arrive here safely? I can’t reach him at all.”

“He did come here. I heard his voice. But…”

‘But?’

“He couldn’t even explain where he was.”

“He doesn’t know where he is?”

“Yes, I’ve talked to him several times, but he keeps-”

Before he could finish speaking, Redrin raised his eyebrows and muttered,

“I hear his voice now.”

Then, Redrin pointed his index finger at the empty air, and a black sphere appeared there.

Hwasaja wondered what it was, and surprisingly, a voice came from inside the sphere.

-Redrin, Redrin.

Hwasaja, recognizing Ardor’s voice, was startled. What is that? Some kind of divine walkie-talkie?

“Ardor.”

-Redrin!

This time, Ardor’s voice was much louder than before, and Hwasaja frowned, covering his ears.

But Redrin, unfazed, calmly asked,

“Ardor. Where are you now? Do you still not know?”

-That’s… I don’t know… I don’t know, Redrin! It’s so strange here!

Redrin gestured to Rembrary with a look that said, ‘Did you hear that? He keeps saying that.’

Then, Shin Jo-woon, who had been listening quietly, asked,

“What if we ask him what he sees around him?”

Redrin accepted the suggestion and looked at the black sphere again, asking,

“Ardor. Then tell me what you see around you first.”

-Around me?

“Yes. Anything you see.”

-Around me… around me… I see Rembrary.

Rembrary, who had been listening to the conversation seriously, raised his eyebrows. I’m visible?

Looking at Redrin, Redrin also had a dubious expression.

“Rembrary? Are you sure?”

-Yes. I’m sure!

“…”

Despite hearing a strange answer, Redrin calmly continued to ask.

“Then where is Rembrary? Is he moving with you?”

-Which of the six Rembraries are you talking about?

“Six?”

Redrin flinched again.

Hwasaja shouted inwardly in panic. No, if there are six of them, it’s not Rembrary anymore, is it?

Before his doubts could be resolved, Ardor started to cry this time.

-Oh my god, Redrin. Rembrary said that Shin Jo-woon has been released into the sea, so now I’m his new right-hand man!

And as he cried again, Redrin looked at the black sphere with a serious face for a moment before opening his mouth.

“Ardor.”

His voice was as heavy as his expression had become.

-Yes!

“Rembrary is next to me.”

After telling him the truth, Ardor habitually answered, “Yes!” before belatedly asking, “Yes?”

-Rembrary? But the Rembrary here…

At that moment. A crackling sound, like that from a broken radio, came out, and the state of the black sphere became strange.

The inside of the sphere heaved strangely, as if blue blood vessels forcibly stuffed inside were wriggling.

“Ardor?”

Redrin called Ardor again, but no proper answer came back.

Then, with a faint scream of ‘Agh!’, the black sphere burst.

Since it was a sphere made with Redrin’s power, the broken fragments did not harm the surroundings, but Hwasaja was startled by the sound and ran far away.

When Hwasaja realized that he was the only one who had run away and returned awkwardly, Redrin was seriously informing Rembrary.

“Rembrary. It seems Ardor has fallen into some kind of illusion zone.”