Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 713

◈ 713. Let’s Go Together

Shin Jo-woon and Jang Tae-ri were greatly shocked by Rembrary’s words.

For almost three minutes, without exaggeration, neither of them could say a word.

“What’s the difference between a garlic set meal and an onion set meal? Since I don’t know, I’ll just have both.”

Even as the server came in, placed the menu down, and left, and Rembrary had chosen all the food he wanted and turned the menu back to them, Shin Jo-woon and Jang Tae-ri remained silent.

Jang Tae-ri opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, and Shin Jo-woon looked like a broken, non-functioning machine.

Seeing that they couldn’t easily shake off the shock, Rembrary excitedly suggested,

“Shall I pick something for you two as well?”

As he took the menu back towards himself, Jang Tae-ri finally grabbed it and spoke.

“Just a moment.”

“Tae-ri, is there anything you want to eat?”

Rembrary asked, disappointed, and Jang Tae-ri forced a smile.

“That’s not what’s important right now.”

‘It is important. I won’t be able to eat this food when I return to my world.’

“What are you talking about? Suddenly returning?”

Anxious that her words might be misunderstood, Jang Tae-ri quickly added,

“It’s not that Rembrary shouldn’t go home. No, it’s a good thing, but it’s just so sudden.”

Rembrary looked at Shin Jo-woon. The anchovy [referring to Shin Jo-woon, likely a nickname] was still broken.

However, he seemed to be listening to the conversation, as his unfocused eyes flickered towards Rembrary.

Rembrary returned the menu and replied,

“People don’t associate me with Redrin. No matter how good my actions are, it just increases my popularity; it doesn’t lead to faith in Redrin.”

“The number of believers has increased a lot, hasn’t it?”

“Before it was revealed that we were from another world, the increase in believers and my good deeds definitely helped Redrin. But after the demonization, it’s not helping anymore.”

Jang Tae-ri asked again with a confused expression,

“But what does that have to do with returning?”

“Right now, Redrin’s power is diminished, and he can’t close the rifts quickly enough. If I return to my original world, Redrin’s power will recover faster. It’s more helpful to Earth in the long run for Redrin to quickly build up his power and close the rifts.”

Jang Tae-ri glanced to the side. Shin Jo-woon was still broken.

She recalled him saying, ‘Even pigs would understand where others are coming from,’ on the way to the restaurant, clicked her tongue, and asked,

“Then when are you going back, Rembrary?”

“The sooner, the better.”

Jang Tae-ri glanced at Shin Jo-woon and thought, ‘A double whammy.’

Once Rembrary was sure that they weren’t taking his words as a joke, he brought up the most important part of the story.

“So, before I go, I want to resolve the issue of the place where the Demon King is sealed. I met Warions and demons there……”

Rembrary told them the story he had heard from the Warion and looked back and forth between the two.

Perhaps because the story was quite serious, Shin Jo-woon seemed to have recovered somewhat in the meantime.

Not missing the opportunity, Rembrary concluded very fairly,

“It’s a very dangerous situation. So, let’s solve it together this time. I won’t go alone. That should do it, right?”

Rembrary glanced at Shin Jo-woon.

The once wrinkle-free forehead was now creased in several layers. It was as if the word ‘dissatisfaction’ was written all over his face.

Just as Jang Tae-ri was about to say something, looking embarrassed, Shin Jo-woon, who had been a still screen the whole time, finally snapped out of it and said firmly,

“If that’s the case, you shouldn’t touch it anymore.”

“Why?”

“That’s right.”

“So, why?”

Rembrary frowned, not understanding Shin Jo-woon’s words. Jang Tae-ri took a sip of water and rolled her eyes.

The server, who had come to ask if they were still choosing their order, was fidgeting in front of the thin sliding door.

Shin Jo-woon said in a cold voice that left no room for compromise,

“You barely managed to return after all these years, and you’re going to do the most dangerous thing as the last thing? What if you actually die this time?”

“I usually don’t die!”

Rembrary said brightly, but Shin Jo-woon retorted with an even fiercer look,

“Where are you lying? Didn’t your god come down himself because you were about to die?”

“That was an extremely exceptional case.”

“But if you go to a dangerous area, the odds of that exceptional case will increase.”

Shin Jo-woon said firmly, then picked up the suit jacket he had taken off when he sat down and stood up.

“Where are you going?”

Rembrary asked, surprised, and Shin Jo-woon answered as he put on his shoes,

“I remembered another appointment. Eat well. Jang Tae-ri, I’m leaving first.”

Shin Jo-woon left abruptly, and the server who was troubled in front of the door came into view.

“Ah, I’ll order.”

Jang Tae-ri said to the server, who was relieved and quickly came inside.

After the server took the order and left, Rembrary blankly stared, his eyebrows drooping in disappointment.

“The anchovy doesn’t seem to miss me as much as Hwasaja even though I’m going far away.”

Rembrary muttered, and Jang Tae-ri smiled bitterly and said,

“He’s saying that he’d rather you live safely far away than die or be in danger here. He must miss you a lot. You saw him broken earlier.”

“I don’t know why he hates getting help so much.”

“Rembrary, you don’t think about yourself when you help others. Jo-woon really hates that because of what happened when he was young.”

“How mean.”

Jang Tae-ri burst out laughing.

“No, it’s not that he hates helping others. It’s that he doesn’t take care of himself while helping others, and he hates that the people around him get hurt because of it.”

Jang Tae-ri gazed at Rembrary as he drank water and smiled faintly.

“You said you were a very high and great person in your original world, Rembrary?”

“Of course. Much greater.”

“So, he’s probably trying to cut you off more decisively. He knows you’ll be much better off there than here. He knows you’ll be fine when you return, so he doesn’t want you to be in danger because of things here.”

“But he doesn’t seem to miss me at all even though I’m leaving.”

Rembrary muttered sullenly, and Jang Tae-ri patted him on the shoulder.

“He doesn’t want to stop his friend from going to a place where he’ll be happy because of his own selfishness.”

Still, Rembrary couldn’t completely ease his mind.

“I’m worried about Anchovy and Tae-ri, just like Anchovy cares about me. And Woo Yeon-woo, who’s so scared. I want to keep my friends safe before I leave. If I’m here, I can heal anyone who gets hurt right away, but I can’t do that when I leave. Tae-ri is handling it calmly, but I don’t know why Anchovy is acting so much like an anchovy.”

Rembrary grumbled, and Jang Tae-ri said seriously,

“I also don’t want Rembrary to take on dangerous things.”

Rembrary’s shoulders drooped even more as Jang Tae-ri sided with Shin Jo-woon.

As a high priest, it was natural for him to bestow grace upon people. He didn’t know what to say when his two closest friends rejected it.

If they were ordinary heretics, he would say, ‘It can’t be helped,’ but they weren’t ordinary heretics.

“You’ve suffered a lot so far. I don’t want to see you suffer any more.”

“……”

“While you’re here, see a lot of fun things, eat a lot of delicious food, and go out a lot. Just take a lot of good memories back with you.”

However, even after parting with Jang Tae-ri, Rembrary’s expression didn’t brighten at all.

He was worried about the Warion, who was concerned that they might never see Aquar again if the sealed area exploded, and he was also worried about Shin Jo-woon, who seemed to be trying to handle something he couldn’t handle alone.

On top of that, Jang Tae-ri sided with Shin Jo-woon, unlike usual. Rembrary’s head became complicated.

‘Heretics have strange ideologies.’

Besides, if Shin Jo-woon doesn’t properly stop the phenomenon happening at the Demon King’s tomb right now, he won’t be the only one affected. The entire Earth is in danger.

Even a small rift caused this much chaos, so if an even bigger rift is created with the explosion, it will be even harder for Earth to regain its original form.

Could Woo Yeon-woo, who is already a scaredy-cat, handle something like that?

* * *

While Rembrary was having various conversations with Jang Tae-ri.

Shin Jo-woon, who left the restaurant without eating, contacted Sa Gam-jae as soon as he got into the car.

“Can we meet now?”

[I have something to say too.]

“That’s good. Where shall we meet?”

[Come to the place where the Demon King is sealed.]

By the time Rembrary was lost in thought and walking alone after parting with Jang Tae-ri, Shin Jo-woon was meeting with Sa Gam-jae.

As a high-end hunter, even the national hunters sent by Moros couldn’t stop Shin Jo-woon.

The grim reapers who were secretly guarding the area also knew that Shin Jo-woon and Sa Gam-jae had been meeting here for the past few days, so they didn’t stop him.

They just glared with a frown.

Shin Jo-woon brushed off the curious and hostile gazes he felt from all directions and approached Sa Gam-jae to speak.

“I heard a serious story from Rembrary. He said he met demons in this area.”

Unexpectedly, Sa Gam-jae already knew about it before Shin Jo-woon brought it up.

“Ah. I heard it from another grim reaper. They said they were talking nearby, so they heard the whole conversation. I also got a text from Rembrary.”

“Then the story will be quick.”

Shin Jo-woon nodded and said,

“As I said before, don’t tell Rembrary about what’s happening here.”

“……”

“Especially if it’s dangerous.”

“He seemed angry at me.”

“I told him. I said that you’re not answering because I asked you to.”

Shin Jo-woon once again restrained Sa Gam-jae and looked at him with a gaze that asked if he would keep his promise.

However, Sa Gam-jae, who had immediately agreed a few days ago, avoided his gaze and didn’t answer today.

“Why aren’t you answering?”

Seeing that, Shin Jo-woon realized that there had been a change in Sa Gam-jae’s feelings and asked, and Sa Gam-jae said worriedly,

“If the demon’s words are correct, we need the help of the high priest from another world.”

“You need help?”

“Isn’t the current seal close to a seal that the Demon King made himself? Someone else just pressed the switch. So, it may be more affected by the Demon King’s soul. King Yama [a deity in East Asian religions] heard and said that if we put another layer of our seal on top of it, we might be able to block or disrupt the pulling force.”

“Then do that.”

Shin Jo-woon frowned.

“But what does Rembrary have to do with that?”

“It seems easiest to get Rembrary’s help.”

Shin Jo-woon said immediately without thinking.

“No way.”

“But if we don’t, we might suffer even more damage than before. We must prevent innocent lives from being harmed.”

“Then I’ll do it.”

Sa Gam-jae made a reluctant expression.

Shin Jo-woon walked towards the wall made of thorny roses and touched its surface.

As a part of the surface turned white with the ice from his hand, Shin Jo-woon tapped that part lightly and reiterated the conclusion the two had reached after examining this place for several days.

“I said that my power and the power here are similar in origin, so if I grasp the flow well, I can pass through this rose wall. If you tell me how to seal it, I’ll do it.”

Sa Gam-jae shook his head.

“It would be easier to enter if you were with us. But to seal it properly, we need the power of a saint. And Rembrary is the saint of saints, so he’s the strongest. You’re strong, but you’re not a saint, are you?”

Even as Shin Jo-woon didn’t back down and tried to argue, someone walked over and interjected.

“I’ll do it.”

Shin Jo-woon and Sa Gam-jae turned their heads, and Jang Tae-ri was coming this way with Sa Jik-jae.

Shin Jo-woon’s eyes widened. Jang Tae-ri came to Shin Jo-woon’s side, tapped his arm, and smiled.

“I thought something was up when you suddenly left. I’ll go with you.”

“!”