Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 758

◈ 758. The Direction Was Wrong

The doctor adjusted his glasses several times, his arm a blur as he disinfected the wound and stitched the torn flesh back together. Beads of cold sweat slicked his neck.

The highest-ranking priest of Lumena was, in the Grand Priest’s absence, the most important figure among the clergy of the Eastern Continent.

The doctor was skilled, but he had never operated on someone of such high status.

Fighting his trembling hands, the doctor repeatedly set down the needle, flexing his fingers. Every so often, he glanced at the child standing nearby.

It was remarkable that the child was providing light with his… head, but even more astonishing that he didn’t so much as blink while staring at the gruesome wound.

“You’re not afraid at all.”

He couldn’t help but speak to the child.

“Please be quiet; I need to concentrate,” the child requested in a small, careful voice.

“…Alright, I will.”

The doctor shut his mouth and refocused on the treatment. Even if the patient had no chance of survival, he had to give his best effort in this moment.

Finally, after stitching the wound closed, the doctor disinfected the area one last time and placed the used needles and cotton on a metal tray.

The waiting assistant quickly approached and carefully wrapped the wound with bandages.

The doctor removed his gloves, pulled out a handkerchief, wiped his brow, and said gloomily, “Well, I did my best. But the wound is too extensive…”

The doctor trailed off, looking at the purple-haired child who was now sobbing.

He couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence, but everyone gathered understood what he was going to say and fell silent.

“High Priest…”

Tears streamed down Lapsus’s face.

Rembrary deactivated his halo and massaged his neck.

Just then…

“Your medical skills are excellent,” the highest-ranking priest of Lumena, who had been lying with his eyes closed, muttered in a hoarse voice and abruptly sat up.

“You should lie down a bit more!” the doctor exclaimed in surprise.

However, instead of lying down, the highest-ranking priest of Lumena fumbled with the bandages on his wound and said, “I don’t feel any pain at all now. My condition has also improved.”

*Poor thing.* The doctor thought to himself. It was clear that the highest-ranking priest was experiencing a brief surge of energy before death, a common occurrence.

Unaware of the doctor’s thoughts, the highest-ranking priest asked in admiration, “Doctor, your skills are truly amazing. Did you use anesthesia? I don’t feel any pain at all.”

“Well, I did use anesthesia, but…”

“I feel like I’m completely healed. I’m not even dizzy.”

As the highest-ranking priest of Lumena even began to raise himself, those watching reached out to steady him.

“No, I’m really okay,” the highest-ranking priest maintained his balance and waved off their help.

Heather’s eyes widened.

She had assumed he was pretending to be alright to reassure Lapsus. But in reality, the highest-ranking priest of Lumena’s movements seemed perfectly normal.

Moreover, his complexion had improved noticeably. His lips still lacked some color, but he looked much more lively than he had just fifteen minutes ago when he seemed on the brink of death.

“No, are you really okay?” the doctor asked in confusion, also noticing the rapidly returning color.

“Yes.”

As the highest-ranking priest answered, Lapsus looked at the doctor and exclaimed, “You are really amazing!”

The highest-ranking priest also politely thanked the doctor.

“The wound must have been very severe. Thank you for treating me so well. I feel much better.”

The doctor was sweating profusely as the high-ranking priests greeted him simultaneously.

He genuinely had no idea what was going on.

However, he couldn’t possibly say to someone who seemed to be recovering, ‘You’re mistaken. You’re going to die soon.’

After writing down the medication the priest should take, the doctor hurriedly packed his medical bag while the atmosphere was still positive and left with his assistant.

As the doctor departed, the highest-ranking priest of Lumena looked down at the sobbing Lapsus.

“I was scared, thinking I was going to die.”

Lapsus clung to the highest-ranking priest and began to cry even harder.

“…”

The highest-ranking priest of Lumena couldn’t bring himself to scold the child today.

She stroked the child’s head and nodded to the highest-ranking priest of Redrin as a sign of gratitude.

* * *

As Lapsus continued to cry for more than five minutes, Heather, worried that the child might collapse from exhaustion, stepped forward and asked Rembrary, “Rembrary, would you like to have cake with Lapsus?”

“Shall we?”

Rembrary quickly approached, took Lapsus’s hand, and gently pulled him along.

“Baby, let’s go eat cake.”

Lapsus continued to sob, but obediently followed.

As the children left, the highest-ranking priest of Redrin sighed in relief and approached the highest-ranking priest of Lumena.

“I’m glad you recovered. It seems Redrin [the god they worship] blessed you.”

“Yes, we must thank Lumena [another god].”

The secretary priest brought a few simple chairs from the back and placed them behind the priests.

As the highest-ranking priest of Redrin sat down on the chair next to the bed, the highest-ranking priest of Lumena also sat back on the bed and said, “I went through a dangerous experience, but this incident made one thing clear: the black magicians’ movements are unusual. I don’t know how far they have infiltrated.”

Heather quickly interjected, “Rembrary also encountered a monster when the High Priest was injured.”

The highest-ranking priest of Lumena had been injured immediately after finding Lapsus, so she hadn’t heard about it.

“Is that true?” the highest-ranking priest of Lumena frowned and asked.

“Where?”

“It seems the monster lured the child from the storage room at the end of the mansion. The monster then fled to the town square. There are many witnesses. Fortunately, Rembrary has abilities that are well-suited for dealing with monsters, so he captured it alive.”

Heather tried to lower her voice, not wanting to brag too much about the child in this serious situation.

However, as she thought of the child who confidently captured the monster alone and rode a large horse, she couldn’t help but feel proud, and the corners of her mouth kept tilting upward.

The highest-ranking priest of Lumena felt the seriousness of the situation and frowned even more.

“Monsters have appeared not only in the Redrin Grand Temple and the Inquisitorial Office but also in the mansion in the central district. Moreover, a powerful black magician was waiting nearby, who inflicted a serious injury on me.”

“But the High Priest was injured while protecting Lapsus. The black magician ambushed you. If that hadn’t happened, the High Priest wouldn’t have been hurt like that,” another priest of Lumena pointed out.

It was true in a way, but the highest-ranking priest of Lumena shook her head.

“The fact that they devised such a scheme means they are not ordinary. The enemies are intelligent and strong.”

The highest-ranking priest of Redrin agreed.

“That’s right. The enemies seemed to target Rembrary, then kidnapped Lapsus, and then targeted Rembrary again while we were looking for Lapsus.”

The enemies could have attacked Lapsus on the spot and left. But they deliberately took the child away to draw out the staff.

The enemies were not simply attacking but were acting with several steps of calculation.

They also had the ability to slip in and out undetected.

“Did they recruit an insider? Or do some of the enemies have related abilities?” the secretary priest asked worriedly.

If there were people who had been recruited by the enemies not only in the Grand Temple and the Inquisitorial Office but also in the mansion in the central district, whether it was through persuasion, money, or ability, it was truly terrifying.

Everyone fell silent.

“If only the Grand Priests were here at times like this…” the secretary priest muttered.

“Should we join forces with the Northern and Central Continents?” Heather asked.

“We need to find out about their situation first. There have been many cases where demons only targeted some continents for invasion,” the highest-ranking priest of Lumena said in a heavy voice.

* * *

The silver-haired child, who had been rescued by Rembrary, ran barefoot through the chaotic alleyway.

“Dad! Mom!”

The child threw open the wooden door so hard that it slammed against the wall, but the children filling the one-room apartment didn’t even look up.

“Where’s Mom? Where’s Dad?”

The child asked his oldest sister, who was closest to him, but she shook her head.

“I don’t know.”

The child went to the shared room and started taking out his belongings to pack a bag.

“What are you doing?” his older brother approached and asked. It wasn’t because he was worried about the child but because there were many shared items.

“I’m going to become a paladin,” the silver-haired child said confidently and slung the diligently packed bag over his shoulder.

“You?”

Another older sister who was passing by laughed at the child.

The older brother also looked skeptical.

“Yes!” the child shouted without losing heart and squatted down in front of the door, waiting for his parents to return.

He planned to inform them of his firm decision and leave when they returned.

It was only when the sky turned reddish that his parents returned with tired faces, pulling a large cart back and forth.

“Why are you sitting there?” his mother asked, wiping her forehead with her arm.

“I’m running away from home,” the child said with a bright smile.

“What’s our little rascal thinking about today?” his father’s cheerful voice was heard from behind the cart.

“He’s talking nonsense again after being quiet for a while,” the oldest brother clicked his tongue as he rolled up his sleeves and came out to help his parents.

The child was the eighth of ten siblings. Being in such an ambiguous position, the child had difficulty receiving enough attention from his family.

“Let’s go inside and eat,” his mother pinched his cheek and smiled.

“I’m serious!” the child shouted excitedly.

“I almost died today, but a paladin who looked like an angel saved me. I want to be a paladin too. I want to go to the Lumena Temple and become a paladin. That paladin was about my age. He’s a trainee paladin!”

As the child jumped up and down and shouted, the parents exchanged glances.

The wish the child was expressing now was the most modest and realistic of all the wishes he had ever expressed.

The parents discussed it for several days and inquired about how to become a trainee paladin. And they finally decided to entrust the child to the temple.

The temple did not charge money for trainee priests or trainee paladins.

There were children who couldn’t become priests or paladins and returned to the village, but the temple didn’t charge for the cost of feeding and raising the child during that time.

Although temple life was said to be difficult, if the child’s will was that strong, there was no reason not to send him.

“Are you really going to the temple?”

Even before sending the child, the parents asked him one last time.

“If you go to the temple, you’ll only eat bad food, you can’t get married for the rest of your life, you can’t play, and you have to do the same thing all the time. Is that okay?” the parents told the child about the temple life they had heard from others.

“It’s okay.”

However, the child didn’t give up and even shouted with sparkling eyes.

The child’s mind was filled only with the image of the paladin named ‘Rembrary’ who appeared on a large horse and subdued the monster.

“But Ardor, hyung [older brother],” the younger sibling right below him came over and shook the child’s arm.

“But why are you going to the Lumena Temple?”

“My benefactor is there too!”