Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 598

◈ 598. It’s Your Fault

The Demon King gazed at Rembrary’s tiny fingers before extending his own.

Rembrary silently recited prayers in his head. He couldn’t believe he was about to make such a promise with the Demon King!

However, young Rembrary’s mouth seemed to have a mind of its own, blurting out unnecessary words.

“I was told I have a great talent as a priest. I’ll become the High Priest of the Rose Order for you.”

The Demon King smiled brightly, appearing pleased with Rembrary’s offer. But even as he smiled, his tone suggested he didn’t hold much hope.

“I’m grateful, but you’re too young. You’ll forget me as you grow up.”

“My memory is extraordinary, so I’ll be fine.”

“Extraordinary.”

“It is extraordinary.”

“…….”

The Demon King smiled ambiguously, as if he didn’t quite trust young Rembrary.

Still, young Rembrary emphasized his memory once more.

“I’ll remember you as the god who loves roses.”

The Demon King didn’t confirm, but he picked up Rembrary in one arm and stood up.

For the next two days, young Rembrary began preparing to return home. There wasn’t much to prepare.

“What do you do if someone speaks ill of you?”

“Poke their eyes out.”

“What do you do if someone provokes you?”

“Say what I always say.”

“Good. You may descend.”

Noir taught young Rembrary how to deal with people who provoked him, and Clot gave Rembrary paper to write down any food he wanted to eat.

“Can I write down anything?”

“Write it down. I’ll get it all for you.”

When young Rembrary handed over a list of 300 dishes, Clot rubbed his eyes for a moment, stared at the paper, and postponed fulfilling the promise.

“I’ll get it for you later.”

“Chef is a liar.”

“It’s not a lie if I get it for you later.”

The demons realized for the first time that young Rembrary had an exceptional memory.

“Isn’t it really smart to memorize three hundred dishes at that age?”

“He’s just a big eater.”

“We knew he was a big eater since he ate Clot’s food.”

Warrion found some nice clothes, adjusted them for Rembrary’s comfort, ironed them crisply, washed his hair, and cleaned his face before dressing him.

Once young Rembrary was elegantly dressed, Warrion crouched down to meet his eye level and urged him.

“Hey, kid. Don’t be intimidated when you go back, no matter what anyone says. Got it?”

“Of course. I’m great.”

“Don’t act too great, either. People don’t like it. They might not hate you now, but they might hate you if you keep acting like that.”

“Everyone likes me, so why shouldn’t I like them?”

Warrion couldn’t answer the question and simply opened and closed his mouth, while Binak clutched his stomach and laughed.

“Warrion, you can’t even exchange more than three words with a six-year-old!”

While Warrion glared at Binak with gritted teeth, Aize approached young Rembrary, brushed his hair, took out a pin from her pocket, and pinned it in his hair.

“What is this?”

“I don’t have much left of what I used to use. I was angry and threw it all away. But this thing is what angels use, so it might help.”

“Help with what?”

“When you leave the Demon Realm, you’ll inevitably carry the energy of the Demon Realm with you.”

The preparations for departure were complete, but the Demon King was still worried about sending Rembrary away, and kept asking, ‘Are you really going?’ even during their last meal.

Rembrary, having regained control of his body, answered firmly each time.

“Yes. I’m going.”

He didn’t cling to the Demon King as young Rembrary had done.

Because the current Rembrary possessed the dignity of a high priest.

Aize watched the scene and muttered coldly.

“Humans believe bad things without seeing them. They believe rumors and speculations and torment others. But they don’t believe good things even when they’re shown right in front of them. They suspect it’s a lie and that there must be something bad hidden inside.”

Rembrary clicked his tongue inwardly. *She’s still so negative*, he thought.

But since no one refuted Aize’s words, it seemed that the demons generally felt that way.

*Is it because they saw the Demon King being chased out?*

“Don’t say such things in front of a child, Aize.”

“But, Your Majesty―”

Aize was furious, but she fell silent when the Demon King told her to stop.

The Demon King pondered for a moment and then said to the Black Dragon.

“Even if you secretly take him, you won’t be able to erase the energy of the Demon Realm anyway. Humans will gossip. So, Dragon.”

“Yes.”

Noir nudged him in the side, and the Black Dragon replied again.

“Yes.”

“You should take that child there openly. So that they can’t easily touch him, even if it’s out of fear.”

* * *

After the meal.

As Rembrary, having finished saying goodbye, was about to climb onto the back of the Black Dragon, the Demon King handed him three fruits and said.

“Eat this if you get hungry on the way.”

Rembrary hesitated to accept them and looked at the Demon King.

Partly because the fruit was strange and unfamiliar, but also because the wise High Priest Rembrary saw the Demon King hesitate for a moment before offering the fruit.

*Surely he didn’t poison it.*

He has grown up safely, so that can’t be the case.

As he was thinking, Clot grumbled, “Will that be enough to fill you up?” and handed Rembrary a pouch.

“Just keep the fruit, and eat this if you’re hungry.”

When he opened the pouch, it was filled with snacks.

The Demon King stared at Clot with strange eyes for a moment, but Clot avoided his gaze and only explained the flavors of the snacks.

After a while, Rembrary was on the back of the Black Dragon, flying home.

The Black Dragon flew very slowly, so fortunately, it wasn’t scary even though he was riding without a seatbelt.

Rembrary sat on the Black Dragon’s back and looked at the miniature scenery below.

As he did so, the Black Dragon asked.

“Son, where is your house?”

“You’ve been near it before.”

“I went from below then, and now I’m going from above.”

“It’s very big, so you’ll see it right away.”

He was about to give a rough description of the palace, but then the choices reappeared in front of Rembrary.

1. Follow the previous choice

2. Don’t eat it because it’s unsettling

3. Only eat the snacks

These were choices related to the fruit the Demon King gave him and the snacks Clot gave him.

He wasn’t hungry yet. It seemed that young Rembrary had eaten something right away at this time.

*The choices for snacks and not eating are separate. Does choosing number 1 mean eating the fruit?*

“Number one.”

“Huh? What?”

As he chose number one as usual, his hand moved on its own.

He didn’t choose number 3, but surprisingly, his hand went straight to the snack pouch.

“Rembrary. Don’t drop snack crumbs on my back.”

Young Rembrary ate all three snacks in an instant, and after looking down for a while, he ate the fruit the Demon King gave him.

It seems that choice number one is ‘Eat it all up!’

After some time, the palace where Rembrary lived finally came into view below.

“That’s it.”

When Rembrary pointed to the palace, the Black Dragon asked.

“How many things did you eat?”

“Two fruits and all the snacks. I’ll keep one fruit as a souvenir.”

Unexpectedly, the Black Dragon said in a bitter voice that he rarely used.

“You ate it after all.”

*What?*

“The remaining fruit will spoil if you keep it, so eat it. That will make you feel better.”

If it were the wise High Priest Rembrary, he would have noticed something strange in those words and asked, but six-year-old Rembrary didn’t have that much wisdom yet.

Instead of following those words or asking questions, young Rembrary glanced at the Black Dragon and brushed off the snack crumbs that had fallen on his back.

Meanwhile, the Black Dragon finally began to descend slowly.

People who were calm because they didn’t know what was flying above when flying through the clouds began to make a fuss in surprise when a huge black dragon suddenly landed on the palace roof.

Some tried to shoot arrows, but hesitated because they saw the young prince riding on the back of the Black Dragon.

When the Black Dragon landed on the ground, several knights ran up, picked up young Rembrary, and ran back.

The Black Dragon looked at the humans surrounding him, made a “Krrng” sound as if he had thought of something, and soared upwards.

As the Black Dragon disappeared, the frozen people belatedly began to scream.

“The prince has returned!”

“The Black Dragon left the prince behind!”

Some people tried to check Rembrary’s face, and some were afraid and didn’t want to come.

Rembrary stood blankly in the middle of them, watching them run around in a commotion.

* * *

Jang Taeri and Shin Jo-un were sitting face to face in a quiet Korean restaurant, having a meal.

They occasionally exchanged short words, but most of the time they just ate in silence.

It went on for a long time.

Even as the meal was almost over, Shin Jo-un was lost in thought and hardly spoke, so Jang Taeri sighed and said.

“Hey, Shin Jo-un. Rembrary is not a seven-year-old child, but a grown adult. You don’t have to take care of him from A to Z like that.”

She said that because she knew why Shin Jo-un was acting that way.

Rembrary called Shin Jo-un a ‘burden’ and went to the 2-4 dungeon alone. One car was stolen in the process.

Shin Jo-un, knowing that, checked the location of the other car just in case, and that car was parked in front of the 2-5 dungeon.

Rembrary had gone in alone again.

“Rembrary is smart. Even if he seems unreliable to you, he’ll have his own thoughts.”

Jang Taeri said firmly, but after saying that, she added, feeling even more pathetic.

“Your attitude might be a burden to Rembrary. Just because you’re friends doesn’t mean you should try to control everything.”

“I know.”

Shin Jo-un answered calmly, but Jang Taeri realized that those words were empty.

She could tell by looking at those eyes that were still lost in thought and couldn’t break free.

She was probably racking her brain.

Jang Taeri drank the *sikhye* [sweet rice drink] while continuing to stare at Shin Jo-un’s pupils, and when she saw that he was still lost in other thoughts, she finally gave advice that she didn’t usually give.

“Shin Jo-un. No matter how similar Rembrary is to my younger sibling, he is not my younger sibling.”

“…….”

Only then did Shin Jo-un look at Jang Taeri with properly focused eyes.

Jang Taeri felt a pang. The story of her deceased sibling was not a topic that Jang Taeri liked to bring up either.

Jang Taeri sighed, took another sip of the *sikhye*, and checked the time.

After confirming that it was time to go back, Jang Taeri picked up her coat.

As she was about to say, ‘Let’s go now,’ Shin Jo-un said.

“You weren’t with that child before they died, so you don’t know.”

“!”

Jang Taeri stared at Shin Jo-un with her coat in her hand.

As their eyes met, an old memory surfaced. A long time ago. The words she regretted the most.

That day was her sibling’s funeral, and young Shin Jo-un was standing there with a pale and white face, as if he was about to collapse.