Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 613

◈ 613. Shin Jo-woon’s True Purpose

The person standing where the chain originated was the same one who presented the day’s agenda at the village hall earlier.

He held one end of the chain.

Rembrary tugged at the chain a couple of times.

It didn’t budge. The person holding the chain didn’t appear to be exerting any additional force.

“An Awakened one,” Rembrary muttered. He then completely relaxed his grip and asked, “Why are you stopping me?”

“Please step away from the cloak,” the person with the chain suggested, avoiding a direct explanation. His voice remained calm.

Instead of complying, Rembrary repeated, “This cloak attacked that person. Why are you stopping me?”

Still, the person with the chain didn’t release it. However, he seemed willing to engage, asking bluntly, “Are you sure?”

“I’m pretty sure.”

Upon hearing Rembrary’s reply, the person with the chain paused, seemingly in thought, before slightly moving his hand.

The chain, which had been taut against Rembrary’s wrist, now drooped, resembling an ordinary chain. It still encircled Rembrary’s wrist, but the restraint felt less firm than before.

The person holding the chain began to approach Rembrary.

As he did, Shin Jo-woon’s secretary quickly stepped forward, announcing, “Mr. Rembrary, this is Hunter Ki Seong-hyun, affiliated with the Laira Team of the Natural Disaster Response Division, Hunter Management Office.”

Shin Jo-woon’s secretary seemed familiar with the person holding the chain.

Rembrary asked blankly, “Natural Disaster… what?”

“He’s a government-affiliated hunter,” Shin Jo-woon’s secretary summarized before addressing Ki Seong-hyun directly. “Hunter Ki, this person is—”

“I know,” Ki Seong-hyun interrupted.

“Rembrary. Affiliated with Redrine. Nickname: High Priest.”

“Nickname, you say,” Rembrary’s eyebrows furrowed.

“It’s a job title.”

Ignoring Rembrary’s objection, Ki Seong-hyun addressed the fallen cloak. “Hey, are you conscious?”

The cloak feebly wiggled his fingers. He couldn’t rise on his own due to the ‘Divine Majesty’ Rembrary had used, but he appeared to be aware.

“Can’t you get up?”

In response to Ki Seong-hyun’s question, the cloak drew a circle on the ground.

Ki Seong-hyun assisted the cloak in standing, naturally removing the hood in the process.

The face revealed beneath the hood was unremarkable. He didn’t appear capable of producing three voices simultaneously.

“Excuse me, but who are you?”

The person weakly slumped against Ki Seong-hyun and answered quietly, “Someone who lives here.”

Secretary Yoon interjected quickly, “I don’t know if he lives here, Hunter Ki, but he was acting strangely towards that person!”

Ki Seong-hyun disregarded Secretary Yoon’s statement and questioned the cloak, “Why were you collapsed here?”

The cloak pointed towards Rembrary with his eyes.

“I don’t know… that person attacked me… I was going to tell him not to attack the person collapsed over there, but then he attacked me instead….”

Ki Seong-hyun glared at Rembrary with a cold expression. Rembrary tilted his head, puzzled. “Why are you only questioning him? Secretary Yoon also said he was acting strangely.”

Ki Seong-hyun replied expressionlessly. “There was the Kim Mu-rok incident recently, after all. That secretary’s boss is your friend.”

“Are you implying I’m giving false testimony?”

Secretary Yoon jumped up in frustration, but Ki Seong-hyun didn’t respond. Instead, he helped the cloak lean against the wall for support.

Rembrary gestured towards the collapsed villager. “Then ask him too. Who attacked him.”

“I was going to do that anyway.”

As Ki Seong-hyun spoke, the villager who had been collapsed managed to stand on his own.

Rembrary, who had been observing him, noticed that the villager’s eyes were completely white.

‘That appearance?’

However, the pure white eyes briefly showed pupils when he blinked.

Rembrary glanced at the cloak.

‘I suspected it when he made those strange voices. Is he a demon?’

“Ah, you’re up just in time.”

Meanwhile, Ki Seong-hyun approached the villager and asked, “Are you a villager here?”

The villager blinked innocently and pointed to a nearby house. “I live in that house.”

“The person wearing the cloak says Mr. Rembrary attacked you, and Mr. Rembrary says the person wearing the cloak attacked you.”

The villager widened his eyes, looked back and forth between Rembrary and the cloak, then pointed at Rembrary and shouted, “That person attacked me!”

“Are you crazy!” Secretary Yoon shouted, and the villager recoiled as if frightened.

“Ms. Yoon Seo-hwa, step back,” Ki Seong-hyun warned sternly. Yoon Seo-hwa protested with a wronged expression. “I didn’t move! And that bastard is lying!”

“Ms. Yoon Seo-hwa, step back.”

“Ah, I didn’t move!”

At that moment, Rembrary, who had been observing the situation, seized the opportunity while Ki Seong-hyun’s attention was on Secretary Yoon and struck the cloak with divine power.

“Rembrary!”

Seeing this, Ki Seong-hyun reactivated the chain and pulled, but Rembrary’s strike had already landed.

It appeared to be a simple slap, but the cloak screamed and began writhing on the floor.

Ki Seong-hyun frowned, unsure whether Rembrary had used some ability or if the cloak was feigning.

Rembrary, in contrast to his earlier rush, now stood calmly, looking down at the cloak.

‘As expected. A demon.’

The reaction to divine power confirmed his suspicion.

Ki Seong-hyun hesitated, considering that Rembrary had indeed done something. He sent another chain towards Rembrary’s other hand, warning, “Do not act rashly.”

“That guy is a demon,” Rembrary insisted, but Ki Seong-hyun seemed deaf to his words.

Instead, he conjured another chain from thin air and bound both of Rembrary’s arms tightly.

He now had three chains secured to Rembrary’s hands.

“Hunter Ki! Are you crazy?!” Secretary Yoon exclaimed, stepping forward, only to have her hand caught in the chain as well.

“Hunter Ki, is this perhaps… picking a fight with Worldboom [a fictional company]?” Secretary Yoon asked coldly. Ki Seong-hyun flinched but didn’t release the chain.

“I will seek understanding from Worldboom’s side.”

“Listen, that guy is a demon, I’m telling you,” Rembrary repeated, to no avail.

“Be quiet. How do you know that all of a sudden?”

“I have the power to distinguish demons.”

“The one rumored to be in league with demons has the power to distinguish demons? Yeah, right.”

“Has the rumor that I’m involved in the Cataclysm [a major disaster] spread that far?”

“……”

Ki Seong-hyun suddenly fell silent. Rembrary realized that the rumor had spread not to ordinary people, but to government hunters.

Nakru [a character in the story] works with the government. He must have already shared a strange prophecy about Rembrary.

* * *

“Ugh. Why is there such bad luck?”

After being apprehended by Ki Seong-hyun and confined to a warehouse-like space, Secretary Yoon vented her frustration by kicking the floor. “I didn’t think Ki Seong-hyun was like that, but he’s really mean. Ugh, there are two of us on this side and two of them on that side, so why is he only listening to those two? I guess the attacker is the attacker. But why is the person who collapsed first like that? He wouldn’t have known we were coming, so why is he suddenly blaming Mr. Rembrary?”

Her incessant grumbling puzzled Rembrary.

‘Why is she explaining the situation to herself?’

When Yoon Seo-hwa noticed Rembrary staring, she stopped grumbling and asked, “Why?”

“No. I was just looking because I felt sorry that you’re suffering alongside me because of these strange people.”

‘I didn’t say it was because of me.’ Rembrary was puzzled again.

Before he could inquire further, Secretary Yoon asked, “Mr. Rembrary, are we going to be stuck here forever? Is there no way to do anything…?”

“Hmm.”

Rembrary made an ambiguous sound.

He had considered using ‘A Sincere Bet’ [an ability Rembrary possesses] on the collapsed villager.

However, his capture made it difficult to approach him. Even if he managed to escape and confront the villager, there was still a problem.

‘A Sincere Bet’ was ineffective if the other person genuinely believed the lie to be true.

Rembrary suspected that the villager was being brainwashed or possessed by a demon, rather than simply lying.

The villager’s pure white eyes upon waking and his sudden recovery suggested something was amiss.

‘Before we arrived, the demon was whispering to him rapidly. He must have done something then.’

“Mr. Rembrary?”

“Ah, yes. There is a way.”

“Then shall we escape?”

“But if we cause a ruckus here and escape, wouldn’t that stubborn guy see us in an even worse light? Let’s observe the situation for now.”

At Rembrary’s suggestion, Secretary Yoon’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.

* * *

The situation seemed to be deteriorating.

When it was time for a meal, two villagers brought kimbap [Korean seaweed rice rolls] wrapped in silver foil. Upon entering, they began to berate Rembrary, having heard rumors about him.

“I heard that person attacked Mr. Kim from behind? You bad guy!”

“You became an Awakened one, but instead of catching monsters, you’re catching innocent people?”

“Hey!” Secretary Yoon shouted angrily, but the villagers ignored her, continuing to hurl insults at Rembrary. Eventually, they mocked him, “Hey. I heard rumors that you’re involved in the Cataclysm or something. Is it true?”

“Why are you silent? Are you scared? He must be scared!”

The two villagers, initially appearing genuinely angry, seemed to grow bolder as they perceived Rembrary as an easy target. They giggled amongst themselves before throwing the kimbap at him.

“These bastards are throwing kimbap?! At Mr. Rembrary? They brought it to eat and then threw it on the floor so he can’t eat it!” Secretary Yoon exclaimed, but the villagers ignored her and left, laughing.

As the door closed, Secretary Yoon took a deep breath and muttered, “Patience. Patience. Patience.”

However, the kimbap had rolled on the floor, its packaging torn, rendering it inedible.

“Really bad bastards,” Secretary Yoon muttered, glancing at Rembrary.

She wanted to gauge his reaction, to see if he was angry or making pathetic remarks.

Rembrary sat blankly, neither pathetic nor harsh.

‘Is this good enough?’ After confirming Rembrary’s state, Secretary Yoon reached into her pocket, retrieved a small device, and pressed a button.

“What is that?” Rembrary asked, noticing the device. Secretary Yoon smiled and replied, “A recorder. The president told me to take it just in case, since Nakru is involved.”