Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 694

◈ 694. Realistic Question

Rembrary didn’t know what Shin Jo-woon had discussed with the Association President.

That’s because Shin Jo-woon hadn’t yet told Rembrary what the Association President had said.

The Association President told Shin Jo-woon that he could tell Rembrary about Blackrin or not, leaving the decision entirely up to him.

‘He looks like a hawk with glasses, but he acts like a complete raccoon,’ Shin Jo-woon thought to himself. (Meaning he’s cunning and sly.)

It seemed like he was acting this way even more since Shin Jo-woon had entered the dungeon right after the talk of choosing a leader among the high-end Hunters came up.

The Association President seemed to think that Shin Jo-woon, who had a higher chance of becoming the leader, was cleverly avoiding it because he didn’t want the responsibility.

While Shin Jo-woon was vaguely lost in thought, time flew by, and soon it was time to return to Korea.

However, Shin Jo-woon still hadn’t decided whether to tell Rembrary what the Association President had said.

“Aren’t you going to tell him?”

The Association President, unable to wait, subtly approached Shin Jo-woon and asked, but Shin Jo-woon just brushed it off.

“I plan to ask him casually when we’re on the ship since we’ll be talking anyway. There’s no need to rush it.”

“You just want to prolong the time I have to wait.”

In the meantime, the ship finally arrived at the Korean port, and Shin Jo-woon and Rembrary boarded.

Three hours after boarding and settling into their respective cabins, Shin Jo-woon, who had been pondering alone in a quiet place, finally made a decision and went to find Rembrary.

* * *

“It takes four days to get back?”

In the meantime, Rembrary had managed to find a crew member who could speak Korean and was asking him all sorts of questions.

“Yes, four days. By the way, you’re Rembrary, right? The one who heals…”

“Why does it take four days? Yes, that’s me.”

“Because there are monsters in the sea. If we’re lucky, we can get there faster, but if we have to fight several times, it can take much longer. Four days is just an average. It’s hard to calculate the exact distance these days because we don’t know how the monsters will appear. Can I take a picture with you?”

Shin Jo-woon appeared just as Rembrary was taking a picture with the crew member.

“Anchovy, do you want me to take a picture of you too?”

“No, come here. It’s almost mealtime.”

Rembrary said goodbye to the crew member and quickly followed Shin Jo-woon.

The restaurant inside the ship was almost no different from a regular high-end restaurant, except for the scenery outside the window and the slight swaying.

There was even a buffet with a variety of delicious-looking food, so Rembrary happily grabbed a plate.

Shin Jo-woon followed Rembrary, watching to make sure he didn’t take too much food at once. Fortunately, Rembrary didn’t pile up the food to a surprising extent, so he was relieved and led Rembrary to a secluded spot.

“Why are you sitting in such a dark place? Let’s eat in that bright spot while watching the sea. Who knows if your kind will pass by.”

Rembrary wanted to sit in front of the bright window, but Shin Jo-woon shook his head because he had something to say that others shouldn’t hear.

Reluctantly, Rembrary also took a seat in the corner, and Shin Jo-woon began to talk about the employee who died on the island a few days ago, the Hunter who killed him, the reason the Hunter killed the employee, Blackrin, and so on.

Rembrary was cutting ribs to eat when the story of Blackrin came up, and his lips turned down.

“Why are you bringing up those guys here?”

To Rembrary, Blackrin was an unpleasant group that dared to challenge the dignity and status of Redrin by creating a color combination with his name.

If they were doing that while still adoring Redrin, he might have considered them just foolish people with good intentions but misguided methods, but they weren’t even doing that.

Now that the name was coming up again here, Rembrary frowned with the dignity of a high priest.

“That’s why the Association President has a headache. A pseudo-religious group that was simply causing trouble while selling your name has suddenly started targeting a group that they can’t even compete with in terms of power.”

“If the scale is so different that they can’t compete, shouldn’t we just ignore them?”

“One of our employees actually colluded with them. If that hadn’t happened, we would have ignored them, but now it’s complicated. If we ignore them, we’re worried, and if we pay attention to them, they’re too insignificant. But we can’t put pressure on them in earnest, because high-end Hunters aren’t a power group, are they?”

Rembrary shrugged and started cutting the ribs again.

“Anyway, don’t talk to me about those guys. I’ll be happy to ignore them as long as I hear that the mosquito [a nickname for someone annoying] has gotten better.”

“I wish I could.”

“?”

“The Association President wants you to join the High-End Association and asked me to persuade you.”

Shin Jo-woon’s voice didn’t sound persuasive at all.

However, Rembrary was dumbfounded when this matter suddenly concluded with his joining the high-end Hunters.

“Why did that conclusion come out of nowhere?”

Before Shin Jo-woon could explain, Rembrary immediately noticed and muttered.

“They’re trying to use me. They’re trying to use me as bait.”

Shin Jo-woon smiled as he leisurely ate grapes.

He was always amazed by this pig [a term of endearment], who seemed like a saint but was eccentric, seemed like a foolish small-minded person but was occasionally smart and generous, whenever he was like this.

“Exactly. And one more thing. They also want to check if you’re really not related to Blackrin. Originally, they thought you had nothing to do with them, but this incident seems to have made them a little suspicious.”

Rembrary slyly took the fruit that Shin Jo-woon had brought and put it in his mouth.

Shin Jo-woon pushed the bowl towards Rembrary and asked.

“What are you going to do? Are you going to join?”

“Is there any need to be used?”

“No. I’m against it too.”

“Are there any advantages to me joining there?”

“Being with me? Nothing else.”

“Nothing at all.”

“…….”

Shin Jo-woon took back the bowl he had given to Rembrary. But the bowl was already completely empty.

Shin Jo-woon was dumbfounded and stared at the empty bowl that had been emptied in such a short time.

Rembrary pretended not to notice and looked away, resting his chin on his hand with a thoughtful expression.

“Hmm. I’ll think about it.”

“You don’t have to do anything troublesome because of me.”

‘That anchovy is so arrogant. Who said it was because of him?’ Rembrary was dumbfounded by Shin Jo-woon’s worried words.

However, if he denied it by saying ‘it’s not,’ he thought the anchovy’s pride would be shattered, so Rembrary kept his mouth shut and just gave him a gentle smile.

“Hmm. I understand. But I’ll still think about it.”

* * *

Several more days passed since then. The voyage was hard to call peaceful, to say the least.

The ship would move smoothly for a couple of hours and then encounter a monster, and then move smoothly for a couple of hours and encounter another monster.

If they were lucky, they could travel without incident for about three or four hours, but if they were unlucky, they would encounter one in just 30 minutes.

However, it had already been several years since the Cataclysm, so people were prepared to deal with monsters.

In particular, this ship traveled to the ‘island’ where the World Hunter Association was located, where summits were held, and where high-end Hunters frequently traveled.

As such, excellent Hunters were hired and took turns going out to deal with the monsters whenever something happened, so the incidents didn’t escalate too much even when monsters appeared.

People would laugh and play leisurely, but when a danger signal was issued, they would quickly run to their cabins and close the doors.

Then they would spend time there and come out again when the safety signal was issued.

“Airplanes can’t do this. Everyone is trying to figure out a way.”

As Rembrary was watching the Hunters fight without going into the cabin, Shin Jo-woon gave him some explanations related to this.

“I guess so. No matter how strong the Hunters are, it would be difficult to fight monsters while flying in the sky.”

Rembrary nodded and watched the Hunters who had finished the battle examine the traces left on the ship by the monster before it ran away.

“They’re checking for poison.”

Shin Jo-woon told him from the side. Rembrary nodded again this time.

Shin Jo-woon leaned against the railing and watched the scene, but eventually couldn’t help but ask.

“Have you made a decision?”

The Association President was smart but hated waiting.

Because of this, even if Shin Jo-woon remained silent for just 5 minutes, he would end up stepping in and pressing him.

Rembrary was the opposite. He sometimes seemed smart and sometimes seemed not, but the thing that Shin Jo-woon valued most about Rembrary was his patience.

Contrary to his appearance, Rembrary had a lot of patience. With that unique gentle smile, he was capable of waiting without budging until others were about to die of frustration.

As far as Shin Jo-woon knew, Rembrary’s patience only shortened when he had food in front of him.

So, this time too, Shin Jo-woon ended up asking first. Rembrary stared blankly at the Hunters below and asked.

“What do you do when you become a high-end Hunter?”

“Blue told you a lot about it before, didn’t he?”

“He only did things that high-end Hunters didn’t have to do. After seeing that, I thought I should never become a high-end Hunter. But when I think about it, it seems like you don’t do those things, Anchovy.”

Shin Jo-woon thought for a moment and said.

“Except for regular meetings, they mostly work individually. Then, if there’s an issue that other Hunters can’t solve, they get called in.”

“Then is there really a need for such Hunters?”

“It’s good to have regular contact so that they can join forces later?”

“I guess.”

“There’s also a showy purpose.”

“Showy?”

“Monsters are swarming. It helps just to promote that there are very strong people, that such beings exist.”

Shin Jo-woon looked at Rembrary suspiciously.

“Are you interested? I thought you weren’t very interested.”

“No. I’m not interested in that side. I’m interested in the opposite side.”

“The opposite side?”

Shin Jo-woon looked at Rembrary with a ‘no way’ expression.

“Blackrin? Didn’t you hate them?”

“Yeah. It’s a hateful interest.”

Rembrary crossed his arms and frowned.

Even before being offered to become a high-end Hunter, Rembrary had begun to have a question while living peacefully on the island and on the ship. It was a question related to Redrin’s demonization.

‘My image and Redrin’s image are improving rapidly. Why isn’t Redrin’s demonization getting better?’

While he was thinking about that, Shin Jo-woon brought up the story of high-end Hunters and mentioned Blackrin, so a ‘maybe?’ suspicion was spreading in that direction.

“Anchovy.”

“What.”

“Maybe… Is it because of those Blackrin guys who cause trouble while claiming to follow me that Redrin’s demonization isn’t being resolved even though Redrin’s image is improving?”