Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 725

725. Who Did It?

Was it that child? Redrin finally located the source of the voice. Inside an annex of the temple, a small child was hugging a pillow and praying.

Redrin watched the soft, downy hair – like a chick’s – fall over the pillow and felt a flicker of recognition. *Had* he seen that cute creature somewhere before? He asked a passing angel,

“Where have I seen that kid before?”

“Pardon?”

The angel, puzzled by the question, glanced at the child under the cloud Redrin was observing.

“Oh, how cute! Such a precious little human.”

Hearing the angel’s exclamation, Redrin remembered.

“That’s right! That child… I remember now. I saw him when he was a baby. He’s grown up so quickly.”

The angel was even more confused. “You saw a human child in person? Where was this?”

“Cradle.”

*If it was when he was a baby, of course, it would have been in a cradle… That’s not what I was asking*, the angel thought, but Redrin seemed too engrossed in watching the child to notice his internal frustration.

Deciding not to press the issue, the angel quietly slipped away.

Redrin, smiling and completely unaware of the angel’s departure, suddenly frowned. *But does that child remember when he was a baby? How does he know I came to see him?*

From that day on, the child’s prayer frequency increased dramatically. Even when Redrin was resting on his cloud, he would check on the child first whenever he heard a familiar voice.

* * *

Redrin. Hello. I’m Rembrary.

I told you my name last night, but I’ll tell you again in case you forget.

Redrin, I’m going to eat breakfast now. I’ll talk to you again when I get back.

*

Redrin.

I had breakfast. Toast and eggs… eggs… eggs and milk. To be honest, it was all pretty bland.

But Rishuer [the training clergyman] keeps asking me, “Is it good?” every time I eat something.

Rishuer must have a tongue, so he must know it’s bland. I don’t know why he keeps asking.

I suspect Rishuer is having trouble complaining about the food because he’s an adult, so he’s pushing me to do it for him.

*

Redrin.

My suspicion is turning into certainty. Something weird with almonds and peanuts came out for lunch. Rishuer asked again while I was eating it.

“Is it good?”

Don’t you think Rishuer is a little suspicious, Redrin?

*

Redrin.

Strawberry pie came out for dinner, and Rishuer asked again while I was eating it.

“Is it *really* good?”

So, as the meal was coming to an end, I got up from my seat to get some water and approached an unnamed clergyman who was helping with the serving and told him.

“Rishuer said everything from last night’s dinner to tonight’s dinner was not good.”

The clergyman asked with a flustered face. “Is that true?”

He seemed to think he shouldn’t listen to just one person’s opinion. I thought it was a good idea, so I told him my opinion too.

“I think it’s a little bland too.”

The clergyman said he understood and walked away somewhere. I got some water and returned to my seat.

I think it’s fortunate that I was able to help Rishuer. Redrin, Rembrary is such a good boy.

*

Redrin, I’m in bed. I’m a little worried again. You’re listening to me, right?

* * *

Lumena, who came to see Redrin, clicked her tongue when she saw her old friend leaning her head into the clouds as if she would fall, with the corners of her mouth tilted up in a goofy grin.

“Have you thrown away your dignity?”

However, even though Lumena came to her side, Redrin waved her hand dismissively without even looking, her eyes fixed on the clouds.

Lumena was dumbfounded, unsure whether she was being told to stay or go, and asked, “Who are you looking at like that?”

“There’s a child who talks to me all the time.”

Redrin rested her chin on her hand and smiled contentedly as she watched the child.

“The kid is smart.”

“Why? What does he say?”

“He’s singing now.”

Lumena didn’t understand for a moment and asked again. “A hymn?”

“No. He’s praying with a song. He said things get mixed up when everyone chatters together, so he’ll try it with a song.”

Lumena still didn’t understand. “Is he singing well?”

Redrin looked at Lumena with a meaningful smile and gestured for her to come closer. When Lumena leaned in, Redrin whispered in her ear, “He’s really cute.”

“You mean he can’t sing?”

Redrin grinned and looked back under the clouds. The angel under Redrin brought a cloud-made drink and handed it to Lumena, tattling, “These days, he’s just looking down at the clouds every day. He’s watching a human child.”

* * *

After spending about a week in the temple, Rembrary gradually became familiar with the system here.

In fact, it wasn’t difficult to adapt because the novice clergymen repeated the same actions every day.

The daily routine was like this: In the morning, they would wash up, put on the clothes that the novice priests commonly wore, and then wait for Rishuer, their training clergyman, to arrive.

When Rishuer arrived, he would check the number of children, order them to stay in front of the dormitory, and then go to pick up other children.

When all thirty children were gathered, they would line up and walk to the dining hall together.

Even in the dining hall, they had to eat in a line, so they couldn’t even choose their seats as they pleased.

After finishing their meal, they would all sing hymns and then go to the study building, where they would sit in the classroom, read the scriptures, and take classes.

At lunchtime, they would go to the dining hall again for a meal, and then they would exercise by walking around the huge temple grounds in a line for an hour.

An hour before dinner, they would all gather together and sing hymns, and after finishing dinner, they would have free time until bedtime.

But it was only free time in name, and by the time ten children had taken turns washing up, it was almost bedtime, so it was a schedule that made it difficult for any change to come to their daily lives.

In other words, during the novice clergyman period, all they had to do was follow Rishuer well.

Of course, even so, the other children got along well with each other, played in small ways, and had a good time.

But because the children shunned Rembrary, Rembrary always told Redrin about his daily routine whenever he had free time.

If he learned a hymn, he would let her listen to the hymn, and sometimes he would tell her a little about when he was a prince.

The clergyman who brought him here told him to ‘forget about the secular world since he came to the temple,’ but he thought Redrin was a god, so it would be okay for her to know.

He lived among many children, but except for the times when he talked to Rishuer, Rembrary’s only friend was the unresponsive Redrin.

* * *

About ten days after arriving at the temple.

Rembrary was reading the scriptures as usual, asking Redrin, ‘Did you *really* write this, Redrin?’ when he dozed off.

Then, he woke up when he heard the sound of someone tapping the blackboard in the front. Rishuer was standing there with a more nervous face than usual.

*Why is he like that?*

He was still half asleep and staring blankly when Rishuer took out a white chalk and scribbled on the blackboard, starting to speak.

“Some of you may have heard, and some of you may not have, so I’ll explain it again. Today is the day for the divine power vessel test. Is this your first time for all of you?”

Vessel test? Rembrary thought of a real vessel [a container] and was puzzled. *Are they going to make a vessel?*

*Is that why there are so many vessels piled up in the dining hall – because they collect the leftover vessels?*

“This test is taken every four months in all temples. The higher your divine power, the higher clergyman you can become. If you live a righteous life, your divine power will increase rapidly.”

Rishuer’s voice trembled a little more than usual as he spoke.

The children instantly buzzed and poured out questions.

“How do we take the test?”

“Is it a written test?”

“Is it like running?”

“Do we sing hymns?”

“If we have high divine power, do we become ordinary clergymen right away?”

Rishuer wrote ‘Ten years old’ on the blackboard and answered.

“That’s right. If you have a certain level of divine power, you become an ordinary clergyman right away. But novice clergymen under the age of ten – that is, most of you – will be evaluated as a group. From the age of ten, you will be evaluated separately.”

Rishuer turned around and looked at the tall blonde who called Rembrary a minion of the devil on the first day and the gang that followed him, and said, “In our class, Kentry and Meridi are ten years old, right? The two of you will be evaluated individually.”

Rembrary noticed that the two children’s expressions immediately hardened. Rishuer also noticed this and added with a smile, “It’s okay. Usually, you can’t become ordinary clergymen at your age.”

Only then did the two children’s hardened expressions ease a little. But they couldn’t swagger around as usual.

Rishuer looked around at the children and said, “Okay, everyone, line up and follow me.”

The children didn’t think they would be taking the test right after the explanation, so they got up buzzing.

But perhaps because they were taking the test as a group, the children under the age of ten didn’t seem very nervous.

*Redrin, Redrin, how do you do the divine power test?*

Rembrary continued to ask Redrin without much fear and walked in the back row.

The place Rishuer took the children to was a building of unknown use that they rarely visited. When they entered the building, they saw novice clergymen from other classes.

Rembrary definitely noticed that the slightly older novice clergymen had completely nervous expressions. In particular, the novice clergymen around the age of sixteen or seventeen looked like they were frowning or about to cry.

“Okay, this way, follow me without looking elsewhere.”

The place Rishuer took the children to was a room even smaller than the dormitory they lived in.

In the center of the space, which was less than half the size of the bathroom Rembrary used to use in the imperial palace, there was a pillar as tall as Rembrary, and on top of it was a small, palm-sized tub.

And inside the tub was a sticky-looking liquid that went back and forth between black and bright red.

“What is that?”

When someone asked, Rishuer said in a warning tone, “Don’t touch it because it’s monster blood. It’s dangerous.”

The children were surprised and stepped back in droves. Rishuer smiled as if he found the sight cute and said, “Just don’t touch it. Okay, everyone, now pray. Send the divine power inside you there and purify it.”

No one understood what he was saying. The children all stared blankly. Rishuer quickly added, “Think of returning the water color to a normal water color, and think of sending an invisible force there.”

But since this explanation was also unclear, an unnamed child raised his hand and asked, “How do we exert power?”

Rishuer smiled as if he was embarrassed. “Just…? Just with the feeling of drawing out the divine power inside you… Just concentrate and try to make that monster blood clean.”

As if he had nothing more to explain, Rishuer gestured for the children to do it quickly.

The children didn’t understand Rishuer’s words, but they put their hands together tightly, frowned, and stared at the water.

Rembrary stood on tiptoe and looked at the water, asking Redrin.

*Redrin, how do you purify monster blood?*

The moment that question ended, the sticky, dark-colored monster blood instantly turned into shimmering lake water.

The children exclaimed in surprise. Rembrary was also amazed and opened his mouth. *So that’s how it’s purified!*

But the most surprised was Rishuer.

*That level of clarity is high clergyman level…!*

Rishuer stared at the vessel with a dumbfounded face and turned to look at the young children.

*Who is it? Who did it?*