Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 752

◈ 752. Rembrary Is Scary

Ridal still had a visible scratch on his nose. It was a slight scratch, neither worsening nor healing.

Rembrary clicked his tongue in disappointment. He had hoped to heal Cheru once his healing abilities became more reliable.

“You look fine.”

Rembrary muttered, causing Rishuer and Ridal to stare at him in disbelief.

“Fine… what do you mean?”

Rishuer asked, bewildered. The Rembrary Rishuer knew was strange but kind.

He wouldn’t say such a thing upon seeing someone unharmed.

However, the child had been through a lot recently. Experiencing too much hardship could change one’s personality.

“Ridal’s nose.”

“Nose? Not eyes?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Huh?”

“I thought shining the halo on him might heal Ridal’s nose.”

At Rembrary’s words, Rishuer and Ridal burst into laughter.

“That’s not how it works!”

Ridal playfully nudged Rembrary’s foot.

“You thought shining divine power on it might heal it,” Rishuer said teasingly. But inwardly, he was relieved that Rembrary hadn’t become twisted after experiencing harsh events.

“But I would be really happy if I could heal others.”

Ridal, whose eyes were now completely healed, stood up and said.

“You like helping people.”

Rishuer looked at Ridal with a pleased expression.

“That kind of ability would suit you well.”

Ridal’s ears turned red.

“But your eyes? Are they okay now?”

Rishuer patted Rembrary’s shoulder while repeatedly checking on Ridal.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Really? If you’re just saying that so Rembrary doesn’t get in trouble-”

“No, I’m really okay.”

* * *

Although Ridal said he was fine, Rembrary had to transcribe the holy scriptures as punishment for playing a dangerous prank.

‘Redrin, Redrin. Does transcribing the holy scriptures deepen faith? I don’t think so. Transcribing the holy scriptures only makes you memorize them. In my opinion, Redrin, what deepens faith is…’

Redrin listened to the child’s babbling until it trailed off, then gently parted the clouds to look down. Rembrary was dozing off.

Redrin assumed he could hear the rest of the child’s words when Rembrary woke up, so he sent a gentle breeze over the child’s forehead.

After a sweet nap, Rembrary completely forgot what he had been saying earlier.

‘Redrin, my hand hurts from transcribing the holy scriptures. Redrin, did you create these holy scriptures? If so, how about compressing them into ten pages? If ten pages are too many, five pages would be fine too.’

Rembrary proposed a deal to Redrin, but it was not accepted.

‘Redrin, think about it. People’s minds change over time. If you said you changed your mind, no one would think it’s strange. Other people are probably secretly hoping the holy scriptures would be shortened too!’

[……]

Pleased with his idea, Rembrary compressed the holy scriptures into five pages, submitted them to Rishuer, and left the classroom.

“Rembrary? What about the rest?”

* * *

October 5th was letter-writing day.

Rembrary decided to write to his parents about how Niran was a bad priest.

That way, his parents would somehow transfer Niran to another temple. Even if they didn’t, they would definitely come up with some kind of solution.

However, after writing three lines, Rembrary realized something and put down his pen.

“What’s wrong?”

“Something very important came to mind.”

“Huh?”

Ridal craned his neck to look at the letter Rembrary had written.

Rembrary turned the letter over to block Ridal’s view.

“That’s mean.”

Rembrary recalled the time he had written a letter before and was called in by the adult priests. After that, Rembrary had to completely revise the letter.

If he wrote about Niran and that happened again, his arm would hurt too much.

“Rishuer.”

To avoid making the same mistake, Rembrary called out to Rishuer, who was walking between the desks.

“What is it?”

“Is it okay to write bad things about someone in a letter?”

“Huh?”

Rishuer, who had been smiling kindly, hurriedly approached Rembrary.

“Who are you trying to write bad things about?”

As he asked urgently, the children in the classroom simultaneously fell silent. The children wondered if they had ever fought with Rembrary.

“How about not writing it in a letter and telling me instead?”

Rishuer asked with a forced smile.

The Emperor and Empress wouldn’t punish a child for hearing about a fight between friends. Still, it felt a bit uneasy.

“I don’t know.”

Rembrary answered carefully. Rembrary thought Rishuer was a good priest, but he wouldn’t be able to solve the Niran problem.

“Who are you talking about?”

Rishuer changed the question.

Rembrary then leaned in and whispered in Rishuer’s ear.

“Priest Niran.”

Rembrary slightly raised himself up, then sat back down, staring intently at Rishuer.

“Is it okay?”

Rembrary asked again. Rishuer couldn’t answer.

“Is it not okay?”

The child asked with a ‘Why not?’ expression. Rishuer hesitated before telling him.

“Well, Rembrary. Priest Niran died in an accident.”

* * *

For several days, Rembrary speculated about what had happened to Niran.

While the little children played ball in the playground, Rembrary sat on an outdoor chair, deep in thought.

Rembrary’s quiet and thoughtful demeanor unexpectedly began to spark a slight interest in the children.

“Rembrary seems really handsome.”

“He doesn’t play mean pranks either.”

“He’s calm and thoughtful.”

In particular, girls around Rembrary’s age showed him more generous attention.

Rembrary walked with a straight posture even when walking down the hallway, and sat with a straight posture even when sitting.

He always acted quietly and spoke well with adults. He also traveled here and there with other high-ranking priests.

When eating, he would say the food was bland, but he didn’t pick at it and finished the whole bowl.

No matter how bad the food was, Rembrary never left any behind. That was really difficult.

Not only that! If he accidentally bumped into someone in the hallway, Rembrary would kindly ask, “Baby, are you okay?”

None of the children had ever seen Rembrary get angry.

In the eyes of seven-year-old girls, Rembrary seemed to have no flaws.

However, ten-year-old girls scoffed at the seven-year-old girls whispering that Rembrary was cool, saying they were immature.

“They’re still too young to know anything.”

“I know. You can’t marry anyone if you become a priest.”

“It’s okay. They’ll all realize it when they get to our age. It’s useless no matter how cool a classmate is.”

Ordinary priests tried to ignore the children’s whispers and pretended not to notice.

They wanted to protect the young children’s pride.

But most of them couldn’t do it, and they always laughed before they could take five steps.

* * *

Before uncovering the reason for Niran’s death, Rembrary heard strange news.

“Did you hear?”

Ridal came over and said quietly.

“An older novice priest is being haunted by a ghost.”

“A ghost?”

Ridal frowned and pondered before asking.

“What’s the difference between a ghost and a monster?”

“Monsters are a species, and ghosts are what you become when you die wrong.”

“No, I know that. But this is a temple.”

“That’s right.”

“How did a ghost get into a temple?”

Rembrary had already seen three monsters in the Great Temple and the Inquisition.

“Monsters come into the temple too, right?”

When Rembrary pointed this out, Ridal shook his head as if frustrated.

“No, that’s not what I mean.”

“?”

“Everyone knew right away when a monster came in. But the novice priest being haunted by a ghost is just a rumor, and the adult priests aren’t going to solve it. Why is that?”

Rembrary thought the ghost rumor was nonsense.

But a few days later. The novice priests were playing outside when suddenly hail began to fall.

“It’s rocks!”

“It’s snow!”

“It’s hail!”

As the children shouted and tried to scatter, the discipline priests urgently called out to the children they were in charge of.

“Come here!”

“Everyone, come this way!”

The children ran to the nearest place.

Rembrary was sitting on the outdoor stairs, drawing in a sketchbook, so he leisurely walked alone, using the sketchbook as an umbrella.

“Ah!”

Then Rembrary heard a low scream not far away. Rembrary turned his head. Someone was falling.

The person who fell was wearing a novice priest’s uniform, but he wasn’t very young. The children who were closer ran towards him.

“You guys, step back!”

Ordinary priests with umbrellas shouted loudly as they approached. They handed the umbrellas they had brought to the children.

But the children didn’t leave and craned their necks to see what was happening.

Rembrary also went over there.

Slipping through the crowd, Rembrary caught a glimpse of the fallen person’s face. Rembrary recognized him.

‘Salle? Shalle?’

It was the older novice priest who was behind the feather incident a week ago.

‘That forehead?’

Rembrary noticed the pattern he had briefly seen on the forehead of the person lying as if dead, just before the door closed. The pattern was still there.

As the pattern slowly disappeared, the hail stopped.

An ordinary priest looked at the sky, then lowered his umbrella and shouted.

“Bring a stretcher!”

“Is the child breathing?”

Another ordinary priest asked.

Another person put his hand under the older novice priest’s nose.

“He’s breathing. But he’s unconscious.”

“He was hit in the head!”

Another older novice priest shouted in panic.

“Rembrary! Let’s go!”

Rishuer’s voice was heard from behind, and Rembrary’s body floated up. Rishuer placed Rembrary among the children he was in charge of.

“Don’t wander around alone.”

Rishuer instructed Rembrary, but his gaze was on the fallen novice priest.

“What’s going on?”

Ridal asked Rembrary. All the children were listening.

“He must have been hit by hail.”

Rembrary couldn’t decide whether to talk about the pattern that had appeared on the person’s forehead.

A few days later. Rembrary heard that the novice priest who had been hit by hail had decided to leave this place.

* * *

Late at night. A sobbing sound was heard. Ridal woke up and looked around.

Someone was lying on the bed closest to the door, crying under the covers.

“What’s wrong?”

Ridal went over and asked. The crying child was the one who had fought with Rembrary over the feathers a few days ago and had been moved to this room.

The child wiped away tears with his sleeve and said very quietly.

“Rembrary is scary.”