Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 578

◈ 578. What are you?

Rembrary was deeply moved.

‘A sloth!’

How hard he had worked, watching sloth videos over and over to imitate them.

But he had never seen one in real life. And now, a sloth was right in front of him.

Judging by its size and facial features, it seemed to be a baby.

Rembrary picked up the sloth and smiled proudly, then belatedly realized this sloth was Shin Jo-woon.

“Oh. Are you an anchovy?”

“……”

Shin Jo-woon couldn’t respond like Ardor.

He simply stared at Rembrary with a somewhat cold expression for a sloth, looking displeased.

Rembrary, thinking Shin Jo-woon might not understand the current situation, eagerly explained, pleased.

“Anchovy, you’re in the form of a baby sloth right now.”

Seeing the sloth’s eyes slowly widen, Rembrary declared with joy,

“Let’s take a picture.”

“!”

Shin Jo-woon tried to struggle, but all his movements were as slow as if they were playing at 0.25x speed.

Rembrary ignored his futile gestures and took out a handkerchief, tying it around Shin Jo-woon’s neck.

Worried that Hwasa might feel left out, he tied a matching handkerchief around the lion’s neck as well.

“This is pretty good. Next time, I should bring our Mullu too. Our Mullu would definitely become a dignified and elegant snow leopard. It would be nice to give Gamja something like a hawk.”

Hwasa wanted to tell Rembrary that this wasn’t the time for this, to get a grip, but Rembrary was already happy on his own.

He couldn’t exactly hit the back of Rembrary’s head, who was in the form of a tiny child, so Hwasa put a hand on his forehead and groaned.

“That’s a good idea, Lion. Stay in that pose!”

Rembrary got even more excited and became busy taking pictures from various angles.

Shin Jo-woon, who couldn’t stand watching any longer, was wondering if he should strike a pose himself when a third voice was heard between them.

“What’s up, kid? Didn’t you used to carry around a parrotbill [a type of bird]? Why does the animal you keep by your side change all the time?”

Rembrary, who had been happily taking pictures, flinched and looked to the side. Warion was walking down the hallway of the mansion.

‘I thought it was all an illusion. To think he remembers me bringing a parrotbill. Does the timeline connect? The real ones definitely wouldn’t. Divine power doesn’t work on them. So, are these illusions with some level of intelligence?’

While Rembrary was seriously contemplating, Warion, who was right in front of him, muttered, looking back and forth between the sloth and the lion.

“Where did you even get these?”

“I picked them up.”

“Where?”

“……”

“Where?”

To think that an illusion has intelligence. How troublesome.

Rembrary clicked his tongue inwardly, but as Warion stared at him suspiciously, he reluctantly made up an excuse.

“From next door.”

“Next door is the Demon King’s castle. Did you go there?”

“No.”

“Right, you wouldn’t have. If you had gone in there, would you be standing here on two feet?”

‘Is it dangerous inside?’

As he was lost in thought, Warion concluded to himself, “Well, whatever.”

“Kids are bound to like different things when they’re young.”

Warion seemed to think that Rembrary had lost interest in the parrotbill and replaced it with a lion and a sloth.

But since he didn’t seem to be scolding him, he was indeed a demon.

Just then, as Warion was about to say something more, a singing voice was heard from somewhere.

Warion, who was about to speak, as well as Rembrary, looked towards the source of the sudden song.

Someone was entering through the front door.

One had slightly dark skin and silver hair, and the other had light brown hair styled in a half-updo.

The one singing was the silver-haired one, and Rembrary immediately recognized who the silver-haired one was.

He couldn’t not know. They had been to the dungeon together.

‘It’s the Black Dragon.’

Rembrary looked at the brown-haired one.

“Damn it, I hate going around with you. Can’t you stop singing that song?”

The brown hair was more embarrassed than the Black Dragon, who was singing the song, and Rembrary recognized who that one was too.

‘Another one of the Demon King’s closest aides. Aize. I don’t think he crossed over to Earth…….’

Meanwhile, the Black Dragon, who had entered excitedly, noticed Rembrary and asked Warion with a grin,

“Hey. Is that him?”

On the other hand, Aize quickly hid behind the Black Dragon as soon as he recognized Rembrary, only peeking out his eyes.

The reactions were different, but it seemed the Demon King had roughly explained the situation while calling for the two of them.

‘Since they’re illusions with intelligence, should I give them some leeway? It’s better to go with the flow until I find a way to escape the dungeon.’

“Hello. I’m Rembrary.”

Rembrary also calculated in his head and waved at them with a bright smile.

“Wow, he’s so friendly!”

As soon as the Black Dragon saw that and came closer to pat his head, his motivation immediately disappeared.

As Rembrary instantly erased his bright smile, the Black Dragon was surprised and asked Warion,

“Huh. Wasn’t there a bright and cute kid here just three seconds ago?”

“Kids grow up in the blink of an eye.”

“No, still. His smile is completely fake?”

Whether the Black Dragon was surprised or not, Rembrary placed the Shin Jo-woon sloth on the lion’s back.

Seeing that, the Black Dragon turned his attention to the lion and the sloth this time, and said in surprise as he looked at the Shin Jo-woon sloth,

“Hey, Warion? Why does this little sloth have such a cold expression?”

“Sloths’ expressions are all the same. And if anything, they’re menacing, not cold. What are you talking about?”

“No. It’s not menacing, it’s cold. Really. Look closely. Sloths are supposed to look warm, right? This sloth looks like it’s glaring at me!”

“Stop talking nonsense. I’m the one glaring at you, you idiot dragon.”

The Black Dragon was perceptive, but Warion and Aize didn’t seem to take his words seriously.

Rather, Warion checked the time and urged the Black Dragon.

“More importantly, hurry up. We need to start the meeting soon. Aren’t you guys 20 minutes late? Everyone’s waiting in the dining hall.”

‘Meeting?’

“And you, kid. You’re late, so go to bed. Take your animal friends with you.”

“What kind of meeting?”

“A meeting about things kids don’t know. Go to bed.”

Warion not only urged the Black Dragon but also urged Rembrary, even specifying a room for him, telling him to go to sleep quickly.

He must have remembered the time Rembrary couldn’t find a room to sleep in and wandered around, so this time he was telling him about an empty room.

“Good night.”

Rembrary took the lion and Shin Jo-woon and obediently went into the room.

But he had no intention of obediently falling asleep like this.

‘If you’re going to show me the past, you should show me everything. How am I supposed to know if it’s real or fake if you only show me bits and pieces.’

Besides, he still didn’t know what the escape condition for the dungeon was. The escape condition wouldn’t be something like ‘get a good night’s sleep in bed.’

Having finished his calculations, Rembrary closed the door, counted to 30, and then flung the door open.

“You’re quite the troublemaker, aren’t you?”

But as soon as he opened the door, he saw the Black Dragon standing in front of the door, looking down at Rembrary.

“You naturally don’t listen, do you?”

“Were you standing here the whole time?”

“Yeah. I had a feeling you might pop out right away. I just didn’t expect you to actually pop out right away. You’re not very smart, are you?”

“!”

Rembrary had no choice but to close the door again. Instead, this time he asked Hwasa.

“Lion. Even if you become a real lion, you can still use your abilities, right?”

“?”

“Go and listen to what the demons are discussing in their meeting.”

As Rembrary put Shin Jo-woon down, Hwasa nodded and prepared to leap forward.

“?”

“?”

But he only prepared. Hwasa couldn’t move forward any further.

His body didn’t leave Rembrary’s sight at all.

“Oh. It seems your abilities are blocked here.”

Come to think of it. The parrotbill didn’t seem to be able to use a gun before either. And he couldn’t figure out where the gun went.

“Anchovy Sloth. Can’t you use your powers either?”

Just in case, Rembrary checked with Shin Jo-woon as well, and Shin Jo-woon could use his powers.

Ice was being created at 0.25x speed, which was a bit frustrating, but still.

“Why can some people use them and others can’t?”

It was hard to see it as a difference between divine power and the power of dimensions, or abilities that arose after the Cataclysm, since Ardor, a priest, couldn’t use a gun when he was in parrotbill form.

In any case, that’s how it was.

‘I’ll have to wait.’

Rembrary squatted in front of the door and waited for 5 minutes. Surely the Black Dragon wouldn’t be standing there for 5 minutes straight.

And when he opened the door, sure enough. The Black Dragon was gone this time too. He must have gone to the meeting.

“Let’s go.”

Rembrary tiptoed out and went to find the dining hall that Warion had mentioned earlier.

Indeed. Almost all of the Demon King’s closest aides were gathered there.

Rembrary squatted next to the wall by the entrance. He wouldn’t be visible from inside the dining hall here.

As he settled down, he could hear the demons talking. The voice giving instructions was mainly Noir.

“Then, Aize, I’ll leave the task of tracking down the culprit to you.”

“Should I kill them if I find them?”

“No. I have something to make them do. Don’t kill them, keep them alive. Killing them is probably what their comrades are aiming for.”

“Got it.”

“Ah. Important. You mustn’t reveal that you’re a demon. It’ll be useless if you do.”

“And……”

But Noir’s voice wasn’t even finished. Someone suddenly picked Rembrary up.

“You’re a troublemaker, aren’t you.”

It was the Demon King. He wasn’t visible at first glance, so he thought he was just in a blind spot in the dining hall. He wasn’t even inside.

Hearing that, all the voices from the meeting stopped, and soon the Demon King’s closest aides poked their heads out the door.

“He came out again so soon.”

The Black Dragon chuckled as he looked at Rembrary.

In the end, Rembrary ended up going inside the dining hall.

But the meeting to catch culprit B was already over, so they didn’t talk about it anymore, and everyone only joked about Rembrary, who had been caught eavesdropping.

After a long time of that, the Black Dragon, who had been grinning and looking at Rembrary the whole time, suddenly asked the Demon King.

“Demon King, Demon King. Can I take this troublemaker with me on my next mission?”

Noir was dumbfounded and asked back.

“I told Aize to go earlier. You’re naturally talking like you’re going?”

Warion and Cloth also objected in turn.

“We’re going to catch the culprit who kidnapped him, and you’re going to take him with you. What’s the point of that?”

“Taking a kid will only create more work. And it’ll be a bigger problem if you lose him. Aize, go alone.”

Aize drooped his shoulders, looking dejected.

“I wasn’t saying anything……”

Only Rembrary didn’t show much reaction even though they were talking about him, and quietly stroked the lion’s mane.

Then Rembrary suddenly thought. Could this be the mission?

This dungeon was the Black Dragon’s territory.

So, following the Black Dragon might be the way to ‘get out of the dungeon’? Like catching the culprit together or something?

As soon as he had that thought, choices popped up.

―Follow the Black Dragon

―Stay home

―Suggest becoming friends with the Black Dragon

“Number one. I’ll come with you.”

Rembrary quickly raised his hand.

* * *

Warion continued to object, but in the end, it was decided that the Black Dragon and Aize would take Rembrary with them.

But they decided to rest for a day and leave the next day, so Rembrary was sent back to his room.

This time, Rembrary also lay down on the bed and obediently fell asleep instead of trying to escape.

The lion yawned and lay down at Rembrary’s feet.

However, Shin Jo-woon didn’t sleep. Instead, he moved slowly towards the desk.

‘This body. It’s frustratingly slow.’

Shin Jo-woon steadily moved, feeling frustrated with his slowed body for the first time in his life, and finally arrived in front of the desk with a mirror.

There, Shin Jo-woon found paper and a pen, then uncapped the pen and held it with both hands.

He couldn’t talk to Rembrary, so he was going to leave a letter. But just as he was diligently writing, albeit crookedly, Shin Jo-woon felt a strange sensation and slowly raised his head.

Noir was leaning on his arm in the mirror, looking down at the letter.

Then, as their eyes met, Noir smiled and asked,

“What are you? You don’t seem like an ordinary sloth?”