Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 731

731. The Child Who Tells the Truth

Everyone gasped.

Liche was on the verge of fainting. Was Rembrary lying?

That meant Rembrary had seen the demon who attacked the people but was pretending not to know.

“It’s not appropriate to ask Rembrary,”

Liche couldn’t bear it and intervened.

“The people who were attacked were trying to spread ‘rumors’ about Rembrary. Rembrary has no choice but to be grateful to whoever helped him.”

Rembrary thought Liche was a good person but a bit of a blabbermouth.

In the end, Rembrary decided to protect himself and spoke up before Liche could say anything more absurd.

“The Inquisitor is lying.”

“Well, I’m an Inquisitor, Your Highness. An Inquisitor is as different from a heretic priest as the sky is from the sea. And you’re saying *I’m* lying?”

The Inquisitor tilted his head.

Rembrary unfolded the Inquisitor’s fingers one by one, pulled his arm away, and said,

“Since I’m not lying, the Inquisitor must be lying.”

At Rembrary’s words, the Inquisitor almost corrected his title again but stopped and waved his hand as if to say hello.

“No, I can tell if people are telling the truth or lying once I get used to them.”

“Still, the Inquisitor is lying. Because you’re lying even though you know I’m not lying.”

At Rembrary’s firm words, the Inquisitor burst into laughter.

“Your Highness, you’re good at twisting words.”

Rembrary looked at the Inquisitor with a confident attitude.

His posture was so dignified that Liche and the others began to think that Rembrary was really telling the truth.

Besides, the actions of the strange Inquisitor, who claimed to discern truth and lies, were suspicious. If he were using divine power to discern the truth, shouldn’t there be at least some light coming from his palm?

“Hahaha, you’re a funny Highness.”

As if sensing the atmosphere, the Inquisitor burst into a hearty laugh.

Rembrary looked at the Inquisitor’s expression and prayed earnestly to Redrin [the god he serves].

‘Redrin, Redrin. Don’t be disappointed if I lie. Lying is bad, but that only matters if I’m safe. I’m flexible. Redrin is also flexible. So we’re righteous.’

Redrin, beyond the clouds, watched the situation and muttered with a soft laugh.

-Do I have to be righteous too?

That voice didn’t reach Rembrary, but it did reach Lumena, who was drinking tea next to him.

-That human child’s audacity is just like looking at you.

Lumena shook her head while drinking cloud tea.

Rembrary, unaware of the situation in the divine realm, left all the guilt of lying to Redrin and was able to maintain a clever and honest attitude.

Watching Rembrary, Inquisitor Sediter was beyond dumbfounded and let out a hollow laugh.

To have a young prince with the most honest expression in the world, not even blinking an eye, call him a liar.

Suddenly, Sediter was in a situation where he and a young child were arguing about who was lying.

If his colleagues had seen it, they would have burst out laughing.

But here, he was a complete stranger. As a result, the people around him strongly distrusted his abilities.

Sediter felt a bit wronged. *It’s not my fault that my abilities look so plain,* he thought.

Then Sediter decided to use the ultimate technique he had created for such cases.

“Okay, Your Highness. Then let’s do this.”

“What is it?”

Sediter reached out his hand again to the prince, who was surprisingly adorable despite the ominous rumors.

“Let’s do it one more time. This time, I’ll send a little more divine power. If you’re lying, there will be a black light, and if you’re telling the truth, there will be a white light.”

Sediter shook his hand with a triumphant look, confident that the child wouldn’t reach out.

Heretics who were good at lying sometimes acted boldly like this, taking advantage of the fact that Sediter’s abilities weren’t outwardly obvious.

Sediter had created this method to prepare for such times.

Of course, the story about black and white light was all a lie, and black light would come out of his hand no matter what.

If the truth were revealed, there would hardly be any need to use this method in the first place.

“How about it?”

Sediter smiled and continued to shake his hand teasingly.

But unexpectedly, the young prince grabbed his hand without hesitation, as if to shake it.

“Okay.”

“Oh ho.”

Sediter was impressed by the child’s audacity. Whatever else, the prince certainly had a lot of guts.

“Okay. Then I’ll check. Did you see the culprit?”

“No.”

Sediter smiled and judged the truth and lies coming from Rembrary’s hand. As expected, the child was still lying.

So Sediter made black light come out of his hand.

‘Huh?’

But what came out wasn’t black light. It was white light.

Sediter stared wide-eyed at the white light coming from between his hand and the child’s hand.

‘I’m not doing it.’

Sediter looked at the child. The child’s red eyes, visible through the white light, were staring intently at him.

‘Could it be… that prince?’

Sediter recalled the rumor that one of the apprentice priests under Liche had shown divine power at the level of a high-ranking priest.

He had heard that the boy named Lydal was the one. Could it be?

“Rembrary didn’t lie.”

“That person lied.”

Listening to the children chattering, Sediter gently cut off the divine power. But even then, white light still flowed from between the two people’s hands.

Moreover, the light was as different from the light he had created as muddy water from lake water. It was clean and clear.

Sediter slowly took his hand away from the child’s hand. As if to match that, the white light scattered like smoke between the two people and disappeared as if seeping into the air.

The children watched the beautiful sight with their mouths open.

Sediter looked at the child’s still calm and dignified eyes and smiled. Then he ruffled the child’s hair and got up, lying to Liche.

“I must have been mistaken. Liche, our prince is not lying.”

Rembrary looked up at the smiling Inquisitor and thought that he was still a con artist.

After that, the Inquisitor asked the other children if they had seen the culprit, but it was obvious to anyone that he was doing it half-heartedly.

Finally, when the task of examining all the children was over, Liche quickly stepped forward and said,

“Now that everything is done, we need to put our children to bed. They are still young and need a lot of sleep.”

Liche tried to separate the children from the Inquisitor, as if chasing them out the door.

The Inquisitor watched the scene with a face that didn’t show any displeasure.

Then the Inquisitor noticed that Rembrary was standing alone, not going out with the other children. Rembrary seemed to be standing there, waiting to be the last one to leave.

Watching him, the Inquisitor subtly approached him and asked,

“How did you do that just now?”

“What?”

The Inquisitor checked the positions of the other people, then bent down on one knee to make eye contact and said very quietly,

“A lie that seems like the truth.”

At those words, Rembrary’s eyes widened as he looked at the Inquisitor. *He thought he was a con artist? Did he know it was a lie?*

‘Did he pretend not to know even though he knew?’

As he was staring in amazement, Liche strode over and grabbed Rembrary’s hand.

“Let’s go, Rembrary.”

Liche pulled him away as if worried that the Inquisitor would take Rembrary away.

Rembrary took Liche’s hand and walked towards the door, glancing back.

The Inquisitor waved his hand from the same position, kneeling on one knee.

* * *

“Are you out of your mind!”

Heather, the head of the Florentia Temple, who had barely shaken off Lord Florent, returned to the temple and shouted, slamming her desk.

“I’m sorry.”

Gaieger, the second-in-charge who had allowed Inquisitor Sediter to examine the children, apologized with a flushed face.

Heather was seething inside at the simple apology. She wanted to scold him more.

However, she couldn’t scold a higher-ranking priest in front of a stranger, so she had no choice but to move on and said to Sediter,

“Unfortunately, Sediter, you must return now. Since you’ve already confirmed everything you needed to, there’s no need to stay here any longer.”

At Heather’s signal, two sturdy lay priests approached Sediter.

“Let’s go.”

However, instead of following them, Sediter smiled kindly at Heather and asked,

“Since I’m here, Heather, would it be okay to take a look at the apprentice priest named Lydal?”

Sediter, one of those who had created this situation, didn’t seem to feel sorry at all.

“No.”

Heather refused coldly.

“And you’ve already examined all the children under Priest Liche, haven’t you?”

Sediter smiled sadly. He had examined them. But he was too busy examining Rembrary earlier to pay any attention to the other children. He belatedly realized it, but Heather had already returned by then.

“The children are all asleep now. It’s already dawn, and I won’t wake up sleeping children just to satisfy your curiosity.”

Heather said firmly and turned around with her hands behind her back.

“Please leave.”

In the end, Sediter reluctantly went outside.

“Be careful going back.”

The two sturdy priests let Sediter go and went inside only after reaching the temple entrance.

*It can’t be helped. If the child named Lydal is so overshadowed by Rembrary that he’s barely visible, then his presence must be even less significant,* Sediter thought.

Sediter decided to think positively and turned around.

But as he was walking along the wide carriage path leading from the temple entrance,

Sediter noticed a small child sitting on a rock on the side of the road, not far from the temple.

“Little Prince?”

Sediter went closer to check the child’s face and called out in surprise.

“No, how did you get out here?”

“I walked.”

“No… I didn’t think you flew here when I asked.”

Sediter looked back and forth between the path he had walked and his current location. It wasn’t far. But he hadn’t seen the child coming here.

It seemed that the child had been waiting here for a while.

“Why are you here? Let’s go back. What if you encounter a monster alone at night?”

Sediter reached out his hand to the child. Whatever the reason, he needed to take the child back first.