Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 697

◈ 697. I Don’t Know What’s Going On

Rembrary found Shin Joong-woon’s words hard to believe.

“Are you talking about Moolu?”

Shin Joong-woon readily admitted it.

“I’m guessing it’s Moolu.”

Rembrary immediately retorted.

“No way. Why would Moolu be there?”

The Moolu that Rembrary knew was serious and prudent. He wouldn’t join such a place even as a joke.

“Maybe he dyed his hair.”

Rembrary thought of another green-haired person and asked.

“Isn’t it Amarina? Her hair is green too.”

Shin Joong-woon thought of Amarina, who had dyed her hair green. However, Shin Joong-woon was immediately certain that it wasn’t her.

Aside from personality and trust, Amarina was already a celebrity.

If she joined such a place, rumors would spread immediately. There was no reason for her to join. If Amarina had joined, the rumor wouldn’t be about a green-haired person, but about a high-end hunter or Amarina joining, and Black Lynn wouldn’t need to persuade people to extract information; she would just ask Amarina about things. That would be faster.

“In many ways, it’s not Amarina.”

“Then it’s not our Moolu either.”

Rembrary drew a firm line.

“Mr. Rembrary, you trust Mr. Moolu a lot.”

Jang Tae-ri, seeing this, was amazed.

Normally, Rembrary would just accept it and ask about the next story, but he was curious about Rembrary’s firm stance on Moolu.

Rembrary replied as if it were obvious.

“Moolu is the person I trust the most.”

At Rembrary’s words, Jang Tae-ri and Shin Joong-woon’s expressions became subtle.

Since they both thought the three of them were the closest, they felt strangely unpleasant when Rembrary said he trusted someone else the ‘most’.

Worshipping Red Lynn was one thing, as Red Lynn was a god and he was a clergyman, but Moolu was a person.

Besides, Rembrary had already admitted that these three were the closest. But he trusted Moolu the most.

‘We’re close, but he trusts someone else?’ Both of them thought at the same time, but they couldn’t bring themselves to say it, feeling like they would be petty.

Rembrary, unaware of the shock he had given them, silently pondered and drank his water.

Jang Tae-ri gestured to Shin Joong-woon to say something.

Shin Joong-woon calmly opened his mouth.

“There’s no need to feel bad. It’s not like I think there’s something wrong with Moolu.”

“Then?”

“The employees working on that island were all thoroughly selected. They were all capable and had clear identities. Their ideologies and values were also examined. They were trusted people. So they could access all sorts of information.”

“…….”

“Anyway, they weren’t the kind of people who would sell information to Black Lynn. But they joined hands with Black Lynn. Not only did they join hands, but they also leaked all sorts of information. It might be the same with Moolu.”

“You’re saying that our Moolu might do that, even though he doesn’t seem like the type?”

“No. I think there’s an Awakened one in Black Lynn who can persuade or entice people. I heard they thoroughly investigated the connection between the betrayed employee, why they betrayed, and why they suddenly colluded with Black Lynn, but they couldn’t find it. They weren’t threatened, and they weren’t interested in it, but they suddenly joined hands. Isn’t that strange?”

“!”

Rembrary’s eyes widened. He hadn’t thought about that aspect.

Shin Joong-woon calmly drank water, waiting for Rembrary to sort out his thoughts.

A moment later. Rembrary nodded.

“That could be the case. Moolu hasn’t come to see me even though he heard I was back.”

Jang Tae-ri, who was watching this, asked.

“Mr. Rembrary. You captured Moi Gi before, right? Why don’t you interrogate him? Even if Moi Gi doesn’t know about Moolu, he might know if there’s such an ability user.”

Rembrary replied gloomily.

“He escaped again.”

“Ah… again?”

Rembrary nodded.

After interrogating Moi Gi, Rembrary handed him over to Ki Sung-hyun.

Moi Gi looked at Rembrary with shocked eyes when Rembrary captured him and handed him over to the National Hunter.

Then, a few days later, Ki Sung-hyun told him that Moi Gi had escaped.

“I don’t know if his specialty is escaping, or if the National Hunters’ surveillance is poor.”

Shin Joong-woon muttered as if he was dumbfounded.

* * *

After the meal that day. Rembrary urged Daeju, Morceau, Ki Sung-hyun, Jang Tae-ri, and Shin Joong-woon to find out if Moolu was really with Black Lynn.

But they all gave similar answers.

Most of the people with known faces in Black Lynn were dangerous figures of the 4th and 3rd rank, and nothing was known yet about those who were relatively quiet.

“What is 4th rank and what is 3rd rank?”

“1st rank is the most dangerous, 2nd rank is as strong as 1st rank but rarely causes trouble, 3rd rank causes trouble often and is strong, 4th rank causes trouble often but is weak, and 5th rank relatively causes trouble less often and is weak. Of course, the fact that the number of accidents is small here is only relative. If it was absolutely small, they wouldn’t have been listed as dangerous figures. There are also potential dangerous figures who have not been assigned a risk rating, but there are no separate wanted posters for dangerous figures without a rating.”

Rembrary was disappointed after listening to Daeju’s explanation. In other words, only those who caused trouble had their faces known.

“I should have checked who was affiliated when I caught Moi Gi before.”

“We didn’t know things would turn out this way back then.”

Daeju carefully comforted Rembrary.

After spending a few days like that. Finally, news came out that ‘the number of high-end hunters is insufficient, so it has been decided to officially increase the number’.

Rembrary was sitting on the sofa, eating strawberries sprinkled with sugar by Ardor, when he heard the news.

When Shin Joong-woon told him the story, he said they would be selected live, but when he actually heard it now, it seemed that some rules had changed again. The preliminaries were private, the first round was broadcast, and the second round was partially open.

“The rules must have changed. Only the first selection conducted in each country has been changed to live broadcast.”

Ardor looked back and forth between the TV and Rembrary and asked.

“Are you really going to participate?”

Whether it was a live broadcast, a recorded broadcast, or a private event, the most important thing for Ardor was whether Rembrary would participate.

Rembrary hugged his legs and stared at the TV screen. When the announcer started talking about other news, he nodded.

“I’ll have to compete at least until the first round. Black Lynn is only active in Korea, so I’ll be able to meet them in the preliminaries or the first round. I’ll have to find those who are Black Lynn there and ask about Moolu’s whereabouts.”

“Will they be willing to talk?”

“They will talk.”

“I know that the High Priest is from the Inquisition, so he’s good at that kind of thing. I’m worried about the live broadcast… I’m afraid people will be surprised if you open their mouths in the High Priest’s way.”

Rembrary closed his mouth when he was pointed out something he hadn’t thought about. Ardor was right.

If his image, which had improved with difficulty, became scary again after showing his interrogation skills, it wouldn’t work.

Rembrary pondered for a while, then came up with a good idea and smiled.

“Doesn’t healing me cause side effects? I’ll heal them and then make them listen to me to find out.”

* * *

Several days after the news broke, a notice was posted on the Hunter Management Office website that they were accepting applications from people who wanted to participate in the high-end hunter recruitment.

Rembrary submitted his application with the help of Daeju.

The items written on the application were a bit insufficient, but Rembrary was sure that he would be selected because the association president had asked Shin Joong-woon to do so.

“Aren’t you going to participate, Daeju?”

“I’m too busy just running this place right now. I don’t have time to worry about other things.”

Daeju only wrote Rembrary’s application and didn’t write his own, but Ardor and Hwasaja watched from the side and secretly wrote their own and stacked them on top of Rembrary’s application.

“Saja, are you going to participate too?”

Rembrary was a little surprised that Hwasaja, who was full of laziness, was trying to participate, even though Ardor was going to.

Hwasaja replied in a listless voice.

“Private hunters have to do everything alone. That’s why I don’t want to do it. But National Hunters, because of their actions during the lord era… I think they’ll drop me in the interview even if I get good grades. Even if I pass, the Black Dragon said it openly. He said I wouldn’t be able to become a high-ranking official. That means I can’t get promoted. So I have to find another way.”

Meng Wu-shin looked at them and wondered if he should apply too.

But he didn’t think he would pass, so he decided not to submit an application at all. His abilities were limited to defense, so he didn’t think it would be suitable for this.

Rembrary sent a text message to Jang Tae-ri to ask him while submitting it.

[Tae-ri, are you going to participate too?]

But Jang Tae-ri also refused.

[Noㅠ Aegis is too busy.]

In the end, only Rembrary, Hwasaja, and Ardor applied.

* * *

A week later. Rembrary, Hwasaja, and Ardor were talking about who else might be among the other applicants when the three of their cell phones rang almost simultaneously with a slight difference.

Rembrary immediately turned his cell phone over and saw that it was a text message from the Hunter Management Office.

“Oh!”

Ardor also checked his cell phone almost at the same time and shouted.

“The preliminary schedule is out! Mine is on the 20th, High Priest! It says to come to the front gate of the Hunter Management Office by 10 a.m.!”

As soon as he heard that, Hwasaja’s expression hardened.

“Mine too.”

Ardor looked at Hwasaja and smirked.

“Then you’ll be eliminated in the preliminaries.”

He seemed to think that Hwasaja would definitely be eliminated. Hwasaja was about to say something in anger, but stopped when he heard Rembrary muttering, “Oh, dear.”

Hwasaja stopped trying to say something to Ardor and looked at Rembrary.

“What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong, Rembrary-nim?”

However, Rembrary said ‘Oh, dear’ and focused his attention, then stared blankly at the cell phone screen without saying anything else.

Hwasaja and Ardor were curious about what he was going to say next and stared at Rembrary, but Rembrary moved his cell phone screen back and forth without saying anything.

After about 3 minutes of doing that. Hwasaja finally couldn’t stand it and asked.

“Oh, dear, what’s next? What’s wrong? Are you the only one with a different date?”

“No.”

Rembrary answered calmly, then put his cell phone on the table and frowned.

“It says I failed the document screening.”

“!”