Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 748

◈ 748. The Inquisition Dungeon

A young child was busily wandering the underground corridors of the Inquisition, a place even grown adults feared.

The underground corridors were dimly lit with only minimal lighting, making it difficult to discern even the color of someone’s eyes.

Yet, the child seemed unafraid, moving about with a light gait.

There was no guardian in sight.

The guards, who were secretly watching the child, exchanged quick glances. They were in a state of utter confusion.

If someone other than an Inquisitor were to roam this place, they would immediately be seized and checked to see if they were an escaped prisoner in disguise.

And until their identity was confirmed, they would be held in a temporary prison and not released.

If those caught seemed even slightly suspicious, they might face torture before their identity was verified. After all, they had all disobeyed the warnings and broken the rules by entering.

There were many prisoners trying to escape and people trying to help them break out.

Enemies were constantly trying to sneak in. Even without flexibility, the guards had to meticulously filter out intruders within this temple.

However, no matter how formidable the guards were, they didn’t know what to do with a child who appeared to be six or seven years old.

Such a case was not mentioned in the rulebook, nor was it part of the advice passed down from their seniors.

‘What should we do? It’s a kid.’

‘I know.’

‘Do we arrest the kid?’

‘I said, I know!’

Even the most skilled prisoners of disguise found it difficult to transform into a young child. So, the child who entered this area was truly a child.

‘That’s a novice priest’s uniform.’

‘I know that too!’

The guards worked in shifts of fifteen days. They spent those fifteen days in the basement, and when they missed the sunlight, they went up to their own garden connected to the basement.

That garden was thoroughly sealed off so that even the Inquisitors belonging to this place could not enter.

During their fifteen-day shifts, the guards were never allowed to inquire about ‘external’ matters. Knowing something inevitably led to bias.

They didn’t need to know who the visitors to the Inquisition were. If an unauthorized person entered, their only job was to capture them, no matter who they were.

Just then, one of the guards who had been quietly watching the child strode towards him.

Seeing that his colleagues were doing nothing, he decided to step forward. He felt sorry for having to scold a child, but rules were rules.

As a large shadow fell behind him, Rembrary stopped and turned around.

A person wearing the same robes as the Inquisitors, with a plain, stiff apron over them, was standing there.

“Hello.”

As soon as Rembrary looked up and greeted him, the person shouted loudly enough to make the veins in his neck bulge.

“Get out of here right now!”

Rembrary’s eyes widened at the sudden outburst.

The person’s voice was so loud that it echoed through the underground passage.

“Get out now! This is no place for a child like you!”

The guard who had shouted at Rembrary lowered his voice a tone when he saw the child’s eyes widen.

“I heard there was something interesting here.”

Rembrary quickly explained. He hadn’t actually come believing that, but he needed to let them know he wasn’t just here to play.

“Who told you that?”

“Priest Niran. The Inquisitor probably doesn’t know. He arrived today.”

“I am not an Inquisitor! And don’t call an Inquisitor ‘nim’ [a Korean honorific]! Also, don’t associate with the person who told you that!”

The guard, shouting loudly, pointed to the way out with his finger.

“I’m related to this place.”

Rembrary explained about himself again.

“I heard that people who are related to this place are allowed to enter.”

“Aren’t you a novice priest?”

“Yes.”

“A novice priest cannot be related to this place! We don’t accept novices!”

“But I was invited?”

“A person who is invited is a guest, not related!”

The guard, thinking the conversation was going on for too long, made his expression stern. Rembrary was convinced, ‘Niran is a bad person after all.’

“Okay.”

Anyway, he had confirmed that, so he had achieved his original purpose.

Now, he just needed to go outside, wait for an opportunity, inform the Prime Minister or his parents about Niran, and ask them to send him somewhere else.

“I’ll be on my way.”

Rembrary reached out his hand, but the guard didn’t take it.

As Rembrary withdrew his hand, the guard felt uneasy, wondering if he had been too harsh.

But he didn’t even have a conversation with ordinary intruders like this. Compared to usual, he was letting him go very gently.

The other guards barely breathed a sigh of relief as the child began to walk towards the exit.

“Wait a minute!”

However, before Rembrary could take a few steps, another guard ran up and grabbed him.

“What is it?”

“What’s wrong?”

The guard who had shouted at Rembrary to leave also approached, wondering what was going on.

“Intruders must stay here until their identity is confirmed.”

The second guard said in a small voice.

“Are you saying we should lock this child in a temporary prison?!”

The guard who had shouted burst out again at that.

“That’s the rule.”

The second guard waved his hand as if it wasn’t his fault.

“I’ll go out and get his identity confirmed quickly. I’ll run and come back.”

The second guard said, trying not to look at Rembrary as much as possible.

As the second guard ran down the hallway, Rembrary looked up at the guard who had shouted.

The guard who had shouted was sweating at the thought of having to lock a child in a dark and scary place.

“Follow me!”

But the guard didn’t show it and led the way.

Rembrary followed behind him.

The guard stopped in front of a rusty iron door.

“Go in.”

The guard, who opened the door, instructed.

As soon as he entered the room, he smelled a cold, metallic odor. Rembrary stood in the center of the room and looked around. Weapons were embedded here and there on the walls.

“Why are the weapons embedded there?”

“If we hang up the weapons, the prisoners might try to use them.”

“Then why don’t you just not leave them there?”

“It has to look scary, doesn’t it?”

The guard came inside and closed the door. The child had to be here, but he couldn’t leave the child alone.

“Why are you coming in with me?”

“I’ll play with you. You’ll only have to wait for about thirty minutes or an hour.”

“Then I’ll take a nap. I’m tired from riding in the carriage for ten days.”

“……”

Rembrary yawned and walked to the iron bed and lay down.

The guard clicked his tongue. He seemed truly fearless, just like when he was wandering around the basement alone.

“Call me if you’re scared. I’ll be nearby.”

As the child closed his eyes, the guard went out of the temporary prison.

Rembrary nodded in his sleep, but he wasn’t conscious enough to check if the guard had heard him.

The words that he was tired weren’t just an excuse. In fact, Rembrary’s entire mind was being crushed by sleep.

To avoid camping, Niran went into an inn as soon as the sun began to set.

Thanks to that, he had never slept outside, but sitting in a small carriage all the time was quite tiring and difficult.

With the feeling of the floor pulling his head down, Rembrary lost consciousness without even dreaming.

How long had he been asleep? He heard a strange noise. It was the sound of someone gently scratching the iron door with their fingernails.

The sound faintly woke him up, but Rembrary was too lazy to open his eyes and just lay there. He wanted to fall back asleep.

But the door-scratching sound continued to bother him. Rembrary squinted and looked towards the door.

The temporary prison was dark, with only the faint light flowing in from the hallway.

But it didn’t seem like anyone was in front of the door. At least not inside the room.

‘The loud Inquisitor is in the hallway.’

Rembrary thought and closed his eyes again. Maybe that sound was just the guard making noise out of boredom.

[Are you there? There? Are you there?]

Rembrary opened his eyes. A whispering voice was heard between the sounds of fingernails scratching the metal.

It was the kind of voice someone makes when they’re trying to keep their voice down as much as possible. It wasn’t the guard’s voice.

Tock, tock.

Then he heard the sound of something like a walnut falling.

[Are you there? There? Are you there?]

Rembrary opened his eyes a little wider and looked at the door. A thin, bony finger could be seen through the iron bars at the top of the door.

The finger slowly came through the bars and inserted a round object through the bars.

The round object fell to the floor with a tock sound.

[I can’t see well. Which way are you, baby? Make some noise?]

Someone continued to whisper. The finger reappeared and inserted another round object inside.

Rembrary realized that the round objects were eyeballs. The eyeballs that fell on the floor rolled around haphazardly.

[Baby. Baby. Make some noise?]

The whispering voice continued to put in eyeballs.

[Scream. I need to know where you are. Baby?]

The rolling eyeballs hit the walls here and there, then sent out four spider-like legs from their bodies.

The eyeballs with legs began to move around, making a rustling sound. Rembrary stared at them.

‘Are they looking for me?’

What would happen if I turned on my halo here? I don’t think those eyeballs would be able to come close.

But then whatever is whispering beyond the door would find out Rembrary’s location.

“!”

At that moment, something like a sharp needle pricked Rembrary’s leg.

Rembrary waved his hand. Something he touched with his hand flew towards the wall.

[There you are!]

The one whispering beyond the door shouted, and the eyeballs that had been moving stopped at the same time.

After about a second of silence. The eyeballs rushed towards Rembrary all at once.

At that moment.

The door opened.

“Rembrary?”

More light came in than before. The people who came in were one person he didn’t know, the loud guard from before, and the Inquisitor with glasses.

The person he didn’t know was wearing similar robes to the Inquisitor.

Rembrary looked around. The eyeballs that had been densely gathered had disappeared without a trace.

“Come here quickly. You shouldn’t be here.”

The person he didn’t know said to Rembrary. Rembrary quickly got up from the bed, but his strength gave out in one leg and he staggered.

“Are you okay?”

The loud guard strode over.

“My leg hurts.”

“Your leg?”

“Something strange pricked my leg.”

The guard sat Rembrary on the bed and awkwardly rolled up the hem of the bent leg.