Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 551

—Come this way.

‘Suddenly?’

—Quickly.

Why is he calling me? Does he miss me already? Though puzzled, Rembrary happily asked himself.

‘Where should I go?’

* * *

“High Priest, you look very handsome. But where are you going?”

Rembrary, having finished his bath, emerged in neat clothes with a bag. Ardor, who was stirring the freshly boiled stew, asked.

Before even hearing the answer, Ardor put down the stew and grabbed his phone.

“Rembrary-nim. High Priest-nim. May I take a picture? If you allow me to take a picture, I will cherish this photo and do it once a day—”

As Rembrary struck a pose, Ardor, deeply moved, snapped ten pictures.

“There are too many shutter sounds.”

When Jookyung pointed it out firmly, Ardor quickly made an excuse.

“It’s burst mode, High Priest-nim. My hand only pressed it once.”

Ninrine was speechless at the absurd lie.

However, Rembrary didn’t seem to care much and walked back to the door, asking.

“Where are the car keys?”

Kim Jewoo quickly stood up.

“I’ll drive. Where are you going?”

But Rembrary firmly refused.

“No. I’ll go alone.”

At those words, Mullu checked the dark window outside and asked.

“Where are you going?”

“Yes. Redrin-nim asked to see me. I’ll be back.”

“I too—”

“It’s okay, rest, Mullu. I’ll be back soon.”

As Rembrary left, Jookyung’s eyes widened, and she asked.

“Do angels go to heaven too? By car?”

The thought of going to heaven by car made everyone’s faces turn pale reflexively.

* * *

Contrary to everyone’s worries, Rembrary met Redrin safely.

In the process, the car was dented here and there quite a bit, but Rembrary’s body was without a single scratch.

“Redrin-nim!”

Rembrary ran to Redrin, looking delighted as soon as he saw him.

Redrin was sitting on a cloud, stirring something in the cloud with his hand and looking down. When Rembrary approached, he reached out his hand.

“Did you call me?”

As Rembrary came closer, Redrin pointed in front of him.

“Come here.”

As Rembrary quickly came forward and sat down, Redrin touched Rembrary’s hair, which was a bit mottled in color, and asked.

“Why is it like this here?”

“I dyed it. They said the color would fade in a week, but there’s still a bit left. Does it look strange?”

“You look good to me in any form.”

But, perhaps curious, Redrin kept touching his hair.

Rembrary sat there blankly and asked.

“But why did you call me?”

“My child.”

“Yes.”

“Whose are you?”

“I am Redrin-nim’s.”

“That’s right.”

Rembrary blinked blankly and looked up at Redrin.

Redrin was looking down at Rembrary with the same expression as usual.

Rembrary stared at the sight for a moment and smiled.

“Were you suddenly curious about that?”

“Do not listen to words that confuse you.”

“Is it because the demons keep showing you strange things?”

“I know you are not shaken.”

“Yes. Of course, I am not shaken. I won’t fall for it either.”

Redrin took his hand off Rembrary’s hair.

“But you are curious.”

At the words that saw right through him, Rembrary did not deny it.

“Yes. But it’s just curiosity. I don’t understand why they are trying to use this method when they know it’s useless.”

“That curiosity is their disruption. Being curious means you are already listening to the demons’ whispers.”

“Is that so?”

Rembrary whispered, looking up at Redrin.

“Then I won’t be curious.”

Redrin stretched out his arms, and Rembrary went into his arms and leaned on him. Redrin patted Rembrary’s back in that state.

“Don’t think about anything until your heart is calm. Take a nap.”

As soon as those words were spoken, Rembrary closed his eyes and slumped.

Redrin laid Rembrary on his lap and looked down at the clouds again.

“Redrin-nim. His Highness—”

Sagamjae, who happened to be there on an errand for Yeomra [King of the Underworld in Korean mythology], discovered the scene and stopped in surprise.

Sagamjae looked at Rembrary, who was lying on Redrin’s lap, and at first, he thought the High Priest was crazy.

He knew he originally slept a lot, but even so, how could he use the god he served as a lap pillow?

Yeomra would drop a law book with a thickness of 100cm on Sagamjae’s head if he tried to use his lap as a pillow.

“Rembrary. Rembrary.”

Sagamjae called Rembrary, watching Redrin’s reaction.

But Rembrary didn’t move and just lay there.

Sagamjae watched Redrin’s reaction again and gave an excuse on his behalf.

“He must be very tired. He’s been busy lately…….”

“I put him to sleep, so it’s okay.”

Unexpectedly, the excuse was cut off by Redrin’s words.

“Yes?”

He put him to sleep himself? Sagamjae looked at Redrin in disbelief, but Redrin didn’t look like he was lying. Of course, he didn’t look sincere either.

What is it? Why is the god putting the High Priest to sleep? Is that the otherworld way? In the other world, does the god take care of the High Priest like that?

Sagamjae couldn’t manage his expression well due to the doubt. In the end, he asked directly.

“Why do you bother putting him to sleep like this……?”

“He looked very tired. He’s been busy lately.”

Redrin repeated the excuse Sagamjae had made for Rembrary.

Sagamjae looked back and forth between Rembrary, who seemed completely out of it, and Redrin, who was holding Rembrary, and when Redrin asked, “What brings you here?” he finally realized and handed over the errand Yeomra had given him.

“His Highness asked me to bring this.”

* * *

“The item? Did you deliver it well?”

When Sagamjae returned, Yeomra asked without taking his eyes off the long scroll report.

“Yes, I delivered the item, but…….”

Sagamjae trailed off.

“Then that’s enough.”

Yeomra still only looked at the report, but when Sagamjae hesitated nearby, he stamped the report and looked up.

“If you have something to say, say it.”

Sagamjae had been waiting for Yeomra to say those words, so he quickly revealed the scene he had witnessed.

“When I went to Redrin, the otherworld saint was lying on Redrin’s lap. At first, I thought the otherworld saint was taking the god too lightly. The otherworld god said he had put him to sleep himself.”

“Really?”

Yeomra made a face that said, ‘So what?’

Sagamjae asked awkwardly.

“Isn’t that a bit much?”

“It is. I can’t imagine you using my lap as a pillow either. I don’t even want to imagine it. Don’t even think about asking me to do it.”

“Same here. And it’s not just the lap that’s strange. If we’re talking about strange things, would it be just the lap?”

“Then?”

“The otherworld god said he ‘put’ Rembrary to sleep because he was tired. Judging by the fact that he didn’t move when I called him, it didn’t seem like he put him to sleep in the way humans do.”

Sagamjae asked in a slightly worried voice.

“Rembrary must have things to do too. Isn’t it a bit much to put him to sleep at will……?”

“He might have asked to be put to sleep first.”

“But Rembrary sleeps well even at his own house. He doesn’t have insomnia at all.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not our business.”

“…….”

“You seem to have grown fond of that otherworld saint.”

Sagamjae hesitated and then agreed.

“I guess I am a little.”

When Rembrary was in Woo Yeonwoo’s body, he was practically his manager, and even when they had troubles later, they helped each other, and later they even lived together in an unfamiliar world. It was harder not to get close.

Yeomra handed the report he had just stamped to the secretary next to him and advised.

“No matter what anyone says, the otherworld god cherishes the otherworld saint the most. They must have their own reasons. Don’t interfere unnecessarily.”

* * *

“When is the angel coming back?”

“Did the healer go to the dungeon again?”

It had been three days since Rembrary left to see Redrin, and there was no news.

The children couldn’t stand it anymore and started asking every time the adults passed by.

Usually, he would say he was going to the dungeon. This time, he left without saying anything and didn’t come back, so it seemed strange.

Thanks to that, the children, who didn’t even talk to each other, naturally started talking again, but Rembrary still didn’t come back.

“Rembrary-nim is in the safest place right now. He’s gone to rest for a while, so he’ll be back soon.”

Ninrine comforted the children kindly so they wouldn’t be anxious.

“Where is that?”

“Did he go to heaven? That heaven isn’t the heaven people talk about when they say ‘died and went to heaven,’ right?”

It wasn’t just the children who were worried.

When Rembrary had been out of contact for three days, Shin Joowoon came to the house and asked.

“That pig isn’t answering his phone or texts. Do you know what’s going on?”

Shin Joowoon handed the shopping basket to Kim Jewoo and glanced at Ardor, who was squatting next to the refrigerator.

Ardor looked like he had lost about half of his vitality.

Shin Joowoon frowned. A fanatic in that state. Is something really going on?

But if something had happened, they would have asked for help here too. But they weren’t doing that either.

When he checked, Jang Taeri hadn’t asked for any help either.

Mullu gave the answer that he had explained to the children so many times that he had now memorized it.

“Redrin-nim called him, so he went there for a while. He’s with Redrin-nim, so there won’t be anything dangerous. He’ll come back when the time is right.”

“Went to Redrin-nim’s side?”

“Exactly.”

Shin Joowoon, who was born and raised on Earth, found it difficult to understand Mullu’s words.

But he thought it wasn’t an area to understand, so he just skipped that part and asked.

“When is he coming back?”

“When Rembrary-nim’s fatigue is relieved. He’s been a bit stressed lately.”

Shin Joowoon frowned a little more.

“When is that?”

Mullu shook his head.

“It’s Redrin-nim’s will. I don’t know more than that.”

Shin Joowoon glanced at Ardor. If those words were fake, Ardor would show some reaction.

Ardor was just blankly still.

Is it real?

Shin Joowoon recalled the messages he had recently exchanged with Rembrary and the way he looked when they met.

He seemed no different from usual. Eating well, sleeping well, talking strangely.

‘Stressed?’

* * *

While Shin Joowoon went to the house and asked if Rembrary was okay because he couldn’t be reached,

Jang Taeri went to Worldboom and asked Daejoo about Rembrary’s whereabouts.

Daejoo initially greeted Jang Taeri warmly, but when Jang Taeri brought up Rembrary’s story after exchanging a few words, he looked momentarily flustered.

“High Priest-nim?”

Belatedly, Daejoo said with a slightly ambiguous timing.

“High Priest-nim is with Redrin-nim. Isn’t it possible that he can’t receive or send calls because he’s in a place far from here?”

“Where is that far place?”

“I don’t know the exact location either. But it’s definitely a place that even Hwasaja [a high-ranking official or powerful figure within Worldboom] would have a hard time going to.”

Jang Taeri was puzzled by Daejoo’s answer.

“Do you send him alone to such a dangerous place? I thought Rembrary-ssi was quite influential here.”

“Redrin-nim only wanted Rembrary-nim to come. And it’s not a dangerous place.”

“Is there a possibility of being scammed—”

“There isn’t.”

Daejoo cut him off firmly when the story of the scam came up.

When Daejoo’s expression still didn’t change from ‘Isn’t it really a scam?’, he told him a little more about Redrin’s explanation.

“High Priest-nim has been stressed lately. He’s taking care of him directly, so you don’t have to worry.”

After finishing the conversation with Daejoo, Jang Taeri sent a text to Shin Joowoon as soon as he came out of the building.

[Daejoo said Rembrary-ssi is stressed, so their god is taking care of him directly?]

A reply came right away.

[The people here are fifty-fifty.]

[Fifty-fifty?]

[Redrin’s followers say something similar to Daejoo. Redrin took him because of stress. But the kids and non-believers look worried. The kid told me a little bit, he went out like he was just going out for a while.]

[He sent me a text from the last dungeon, right? He told me to eat pizza when I got out. He disappeared after setting up an appointment time. It’s still a bit strange.]