Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 644

◈ 644. Not Someone Who Would Do That

“What’s wrong?”

Shin Jo-woon asked, noticing Rembrary frowning with his phone in hand.

“It sounds like some bad news is going around.”

It seemed like Dae-ju’s voice could be heard somewhat from beyond the phone.

“What did Moroso do?”

Rembrary muttered to himself instead of relaying Dae-ju’s words.

“Moroso isn’t someone who would do something like that.”

Shin Jo-woon didn’t ask further what ‘something like that’ was. Instead, he took out his own phone and quickly exchanged texts with someone.

A moment later, Shin Jo-woon sighed, “Ah.” Looking beside him at the sound, he was putting his phone away.

When their eyes met, Shin Jo-woon spoke as if he had heard all the details.

“The Deputy Director has caused a major incident.”

“Have you heard about the hunter whose skin turned like a jellyfish? At first, they were a victim of a rift demon. Now, they’re going around attacking people.”

“That happened when I didn’t have my memories, right?”

“Probably.”

Rembrary kept turning the phone in his hand, then noticed the car moving forward. It seemed Shin Jo-woon had already started the car again.

“Are you going?”

“They’re picking a fight about the Deputy Director destroying the demons’ territories. If you go into a territory again in this situation? Who knows what they’ll use to find fault after you come out?”

Rembrary searched for ‘Deputy Director Moroso’ on his phone.

Before he could click on anything, search results flooded the screen.

The small screen was filled with Moroso’s face. There were also many sensational phrases of unclear truth.

Rembrary’s name was listed alongside it in many places.

“I guess so. You’re right.”

Rembrary turned off his phone and leaned back completely in his seat.

* * *

Shin Jo-woon dropped Rembrary off in front of the Redrine headquarters and got out himself.

Rembrary got out of the car and went straight up to the 5th floor where Dae-ju was staying.

When he got off the executive elevator, Mullu and Ardor were visible in the 5th-floor hallway.

It seemed the two of them had also gathered after receiving a call from Dae-ju.

“Where’s Nin-ling?”

Rembrary asked instead of greeting them.

“I left her behind because the children might get anxious.”

Ardor answered, glaring at Shin Jo-woon, who was standing behind Rembrary.

Ardor stared at Shin Jo-woon with eyes that seemed worried, then urgently asked Rembrary.

“High Priest, why is that person here? High Priest, isn’t that heretic someone who doesn’t even deserve to associate with Rembrary?”

Instead of answering Ardor’s senseless outburst, Rembrary asked Mullu.

“Where’s Dae-ju?”

“He’s here.”

As soon as the words were finished, Dae-ju opened his door and came out.

“Come this way, High Priest. And the others as well.”

Rembrary walked over there.

After entering the room and sitting on the sofa, Dae-ju handed him green tea and asked.

“Have you looked into the situation I mentioned any further?”

“I searched it on my phone on the way here.”

Dae-ju’s gaze reached Shin Jo-woon.

“President Shin Jo-woon is…….”

He seemed worried about including Shin Jo-woon, who had lost his memories, in this group.

“I’ve recovered my memories.”

When Shin Jo-woon answered, Dae-ju nodded and asked Rembrary again.

“Is Moroso’s claim true?”

Rembrary shrugged.

“In some ways, it might be true.”

“Yes?”

“The demons, I mean. They might have come out because they were angry that the territory they created was collapsing. In other words, it’s an incident that happened because the territory collapsed.”

Mullu looked at Dae-ju with a troubled expression.

Ardor also took his eyes off Shin Jo-woon and looked at Dae-ju.

Rembrary wasn’t used to the sudden, rapidly changing situation, so he half-closed his eyes.

He took a breath in that state.

After a while, Rembrary pointed out the strangest thing that came to mind.

“I don’t know why Moroso said that. Even if he holds a grudge, he’s not someone who would do that.”

Even if Moroso resented Rembrary, it wouldn’t be as much as he resented the demons.

Even if the size was similar, Moroso wasn’t someone who would carelessly speak out.

Because Camuel was still in the original world, continuing to fight the demons.

Moroso wouldn’t try to reduce the power of Rembrary, an ally, and give power to the demons. He had to.

But Moroso didn’t. Rembrary was puzzled by that.

Dae-ju looked at such Rembrary and said with difficulty.

“High Priest, you evaluate people too favorably.”

“You think I’m too gentle, benevolent, and compassionate?”

“……Including your self-assessment.”

“?”

When Rembrary narrowed his eyes, Dae-ju avoided his gaze.

* * *

That day, Rembrary stayed at the Redrine headquarters.

It was to watch the repercussions of Moroso’s claims.

He also had to check how much people were swayed by Moroso’s claims and work hard to care for the believers who might fall for those words.

Rembrary tried to prevent the general Redrine believers from being shaken by Moroso, gently treating the injured.

Thanks to that, the internal defense was relatively good, but the public opinion on the internet was chaotic.

―I knew this would happen

―What are the idiots who sided with the Kim Mu-rok case report thinking now?ㅋㅋㅋ

ㄴThey’re probably just covering their ears, still believing in Rembraryㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

ㄴThey all ran away and can’t be seen^^.

ㄴI’m here, you ******* * *** ** ** ******

ㄴㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Rembrary’s fans are all stupid like Rembrary^^.

ㄴEverything is filtered, so I can’t understand a single wordㅋㅋㅋ I don’t even feel like fighting

―But is Moroso’s statement true? I’m not really a Rembrary fan, but isn’t it strange? The fact that demons are popping out because they touched the demon territory means that demons hate it when their territory is touched. Then isn’t Rembrary doing a good job?

ㄴOh, anyone can tell you’re a Rembrary fan

ㄴDoing a good job? Is it doing a good job to kick a beehive among people without knowing how to handle it? If you can’t handle it, you shouldn’t have touched it

ㄴIt was getting bigger and bigger before he touched it. It would have been a problem if he just left it alone

ㄴHow do you know if it would have been a problem or not?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

―His personality of abandoning Jang Tae-ri and running away is all coming out here

―If he abandoned Jang Tae-ri and ran away, would Shin Jo-woon keep sticking around?

Rembrary was checking the comments where people were chattering about Moroso’s interview, but when similar words were repeated, he stopped looking.

In Rembrary’s view, the ones who were most excited to write malicious comments seemed to be the same people who had previously criticized Rembrary for attacking Kim Mu-rok and stopping the documentary.

Those people had been greatly ridiculed by others and quieted down when Shin Jo-woon’s secretary released the recording file, but it seemed that their resentment had grown even more because of that incident.

When this happened, those people took the lead in tearing Rembrary apart as if to make up for their past humiliation.

You could tell they were the same people just by the way they talked.

* * *

For the next two days, Rembrary stayed at Redrine, working hard to care for the internal believers.

Many people believed Moroso’s words, but perhaps because there were many cases where Rembrary was criticized and then overturned with counter-examples in the past.

As time passed, those who said, ‘Let’s watch the situation a little more’ also appeared little by little.

Rembrary not only treated the injured one by one and soothed them with a gentle voice but also told the believers that it was nonsense when they asked about Moroso’s remarks.

“The reason demons are rampaging is that it’s not good for them when their territory shrinks. The Deputy Director is misrepresenting the cause and effect.”

On the third day, Rembrary was convinced that the defense here was sufficient even without him, and he decided to go outside Redrine and visit the dungeon again.

“Are you going in already?”

Dae-ju seemed to have been greatly helped by Rembrary’s presence, and he asked with regret at the mention of going to the dungeon.

“The believers seem to like it when the High Priest is here with them. The atmosphere outside is still harsh, so do you really have to go into the dungeon now?”

“I’m worried about Tae-ri.”

“Ah. She’s still inside.”

When Jang Tae-ri’s name was mentioned, Dae-ju couldn’t stop Rembrary any longer.

Instead, he packed a travel bag with various foods to eat in the dungeon, a portable charger, and clothes to change into.

“Are you going to take Hwasa and Shin Jo-woon with you this time?”

“No. I’m going alone. It’s more troublesome to take them both.”

Rembrary greeted Dae-ju and went to the 1-1 dungeon.

He came while Shin Jo-woon was at the company in case he said he would come along, and Hwasa wouldn’t come even if he asked her to because of the shock of almost dying in the dungeon before.

He had also deliberately sent Ardor on an errand, so only a travel bag was next to Rembrary.

“Huh? What is that?”

But as he took the travel bag out of the car trunk, he saw people standing at regular intervals along the dungeon wall.

They didn’t have cameras, so they weren’t reporters.

“What could it be?”

One of the Redrine hunters who had driven Rembrary here was also puzzled and muttered along.

“They have weapons, so they seem to be hunters?”

Rembrary was puzzled and stared at the hunters.

The hunters were also staring only at him from the moment Rembrary got out of the car.

“Those clothes. They look like the Hunter Management Administration hunters’ uniforms?”

The Redrine hunter whispered to Rembrary.

“Really?”

“Yes. It seems like it.”

‘Are they there under Moroso’s orders?’

Rembrary looked around at the hunters and then dragged his bag toward them.

He didn’t deliberately speak to them first. Instead, he just approached the door and tried to open it.

But as soon as Rembrary came within reach of the door, the hunters blocked the door and said sharply.

“I’m sorry. All demon territories are currently prohibited from entry.”

Rembrary asked, puzzled.

“Since when? It wasn’t like this just three days ago?”

“It’s been like this since three days ago.”

When Rembrary stared blankly, the hunter standing right in front of the door added bluntly.

“The order is to keep it closed until it is revealed whether reducing the demon territory will help people or not.”

“Then what about the people trapped inside? The people who need to be rescued as soon as possible.”

Rembrary asked with difficulty, but the hunters didn’t budge at all.

Rembrary realized that the higher-ups were following his words to defend Deputy Director Moroso’s remarks.

‘This is a big problem.’

Rembrary looked at the door with difficulty.

At first, the door was causing a fuss by rejecting Rembrary. Now, people were blocking Rembrary from approaching the door.

‘I need to save Tae-ri quickly.’

He was worried, but it was ambiguous to break through them with force.

It was easy to break through with force, but what about the aftermath?

If Rembrary suppressed them and went in, the reputation of Rembrary, which had been barely maintained, would be overturned badly in an instant.

Rembrary’s reputation being overturned meant that Redrine’s reputation would worsen, which meant that Redrine’s power would weaken.

Rembrary had to act carefully.

“I see.”

Rembrary, who had retreated for now, called Moroso, but he didn’t answer.

* * *

“Is it because of me?”

That evening. As Rembrary stood on the veranda, lost in thought, Woo Yeon-woo came to him with a dejected look and asked.

“What are you talking about?”

“Moroso. Is he angry at you because of me and doing this now?”

Judging from his expression, he must have heard from somewhere that Rembrary couldn’t even enter the dungeon and came out.

“That might be the case. Don’t worry about it.”

Rembrary said nonchalantly, seeing Woo Yeon-woo’s shoulders drooping.

In fact, Rembrary wasn’t blaming Woo Yeon-woo for this.

But Woo Yeon-woo couldn’t help but be concerned and kept anxiously biting his lip.

“Your lips are going to fall off.”

Only after Rembrary healed him with divine power because he couldn’t stand it anymore did Woo Yeon-woo stop biting his lip.

But even then, he kept anxiously hovering around Rembrary and finally couldn’t stand it and said.

“I, I’ll just go and tell them everything! It’s not because of you that he was caught!”