Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 759

◈ 759. The Suspicious High Priest

“Defending against external black magic users is important, but identifying the enemies hidden within is even more crucial.”

Rembrary rested his arm on the carriage window. Mixed with the steady rhythm of the horses’ hooves, High Priest Redrin’s voice sounded almost like a lullaby.

“That’s right. Whether it’s the Grand Temple, the Inquisitorial Office, or even this neutral mansion, problems often start from within.”

The secretary priest agreed in a quiet voice.

Rembrary’s eyelids drooped.

“Isn’t the neutral mansion case a bit of an exception?”

With Heather’s voice as the last thing he heard, Rembrary drifted off to sleep.

When he opened his eyes, Rembrary was lying with his head on Heather’s lap. A small decorative string hanging from the carriage ceiling swayed rhythmically.

“Where are we?”

Rembrary asked without getting up.

“We still have a ways to go,” Heather replied, glancing at her watch, yawning, and leaning her head against the back of the chair. “Ah, I’m tired.”

Rembrary watched Heather doze off and closed his eyes again.

Heather was right. The return journey was even more tiring.

* * *

The group rode in one carriage from the intermediate mansion to the Grand Temple, then changed carriages there. The group composition also changed.

“Goodbye, Rembrary. See you later.”

The secretary priest, who had accompanied them, got off at the Grand Temple.

“May Redrin’s blessings be with you on your path.”

High Priest Redrin also disembarked at the Grand Temple.

“See you next time.”

Rembrary waved at them from inside the carriage.

Now, only Heather and Rembrary, along with the coachman, were left to travel to the Florandia Temple.

“Sad to say goodbye?” Heather teased, smiling as she watched Rembrary stare intently at the empty seats.

“It’s okay, I’ll see them again later,” Rembrary answered matter-of-factly and unfolded the homework he had been putting off for days. He wanted to finish it quickly before arriving at the Florandia Temple.

Heather watched him fondly, then, realizing something, called out to him. “Rembrary.”

“Yes?”

“You’re smart, so you understood everything the High Priest said, right?”

“The High Priest said I would become great.”

Heather burst into laughter.

“Oh, he did. What else did he say?”

“The secretary priest said I need to control my temper.”

“…Did he happen to mention me?”

“He said he wants to keep Heather by his side because she’s smart.”

Heather smiled contentedly, then remembered that this wasn’t what she wanted to talk about.

“Rembrary, as you know from the conversation in the carriage, there might be bad people hiding in our temple.”

Rembrary was only seven years old. Heather didn’t expect him to fully understand her concern.

But the child was clever. If she explained it to him to some extent in advance, even if he didn’t understand everything, he would be wary and try to protect himself.

“Of course. I know that too.”

Rembrary answered firmly to show off his intelligence. Then, after pondering for a moment, he added, “The heretic told me that before, too.”

“What?”

Heather’s eyes widened.

“A heretic told you that?”

“Yes.”

Heather’s eyes grew even larger.

“Which heretic?!”

“Why, the person who came to our temple without permission before. That’s why Heather got so angry. The person Priest Niran let in on his own.”

“You’re talking about the Inquisitor, right?”

“Of course.”

Heather barely managed to calm her surprised heart, then asked again, still surprised, “Inquisitor Seditor told you there are bad people in our temple?”

“Yes. He said there were several.”

“Who?”

“He didn’t say exactly who.”

Rembrary raised his chin.

“I haven’t told anyone, just in case.”

The child’s decision was wise. It also gave Heather a way to understand the frustrating reality she was facing.

When they arrived at the Florandia Temple, Heather immediately ran to her office. Without resting, she took out a piece of stationery.

-Could you send Inquisitor Seditor to the Florandia Temple? It’s urgent.

Heather wrote the letter briefly, then immediately put it in an envelope and sealed it.

Seditor had visited before the Grand Temple was attacked. The ‘bad priests’ he had hinted about to Rembrary were Rembrary’s own enemies.

But Rembrary’s worldly enemies were also connected to the black magic users.

If they could catch Rembrary’s worldly enemies, they might be able to find clues about the black magic users.

If they had to fight a full-scale war with the demons, the damage would be significant. They had to catch the black magic users as quickly as possible before they caused a major incident.

* * *

The last day of December was a holiday enjoyed by people all over the world.

Each temple prepared a grand festival, and believers visited their own temples, famous temples, or large temples.

The Florandia Temple was a large temple, so the number of visitors increased many times over on such days.

Because of this, from the beginning of December, the priests were busy preparing to welcome guests.

Even small apprentice priests like Rembrary couldn’t just rest.

“Okay, attach this pretty fur to the clothes from here to here. Can you do it?”

The priest in charge of clothing went around to the children, teaching them how to attach feathers to the costumes that the young apprentice priests would wear on the festival day.

As taught by the priest, Rembrary picked up the fabric instead of studying during self-study time.

All he had to do was put glue on the fluffy ends of the fur, let it dry slightly, and attach it to the marked area.

“Wow, Ridal, you’re really good with your hands!”

Exclamations burst out from here and there, wondering if Ridal was also skilled at this.

Rembrary looked at the feathers he had attached and tilted his head.

After making fluffy fur cloaks for each of them to wear, they also had to practice the hymn.

Because the apprentice priests’ class was also open to the public that day, Rishue selected some children to answer his questions and had them memorize the answers.

Ridal was naturally included, and Rembrary was also selected to answer after a simple test.

The answer Rembrary had to give was, ‘It’s all thanks to Redrin.’

And finally, the last festival day of December arrived.

“Rembrary, wake up.”

Rembrary was awakened earlier than usual by the tall blonde [Heather]. Forcing his eyes open, Heather pointed out the window.

“Look at that.”

Reluctantly getting up, he saw the golden balloons that the adult priests had hung up all night, sparkling particularly beautifully in the rising dawn sunlight.

“It’s really pretty, isn’t it?”

“The baby has a rich sensibility.”

Rembrary yawned and lay back down on the bed.

“Come on, everyone, wake up!”

But not long after, Rishue came in to wake them up, so he had no choice but to get up again.

As the children washed in order and put on the fur-trimmed cloaks they had worked hard to make, Rishue shouted with joy.

“You guys are so cute! Like chicks!”

Rembrary thought that the adults’ taste was truly bizarre.

Seeing the children gathered together in the dining room wearing the same fur cloaks made that thought even more firm.

But doubts about someone’s taste melted away as he saw the menu prepared for today.

Rembrary received strawberry ice cream, a large chocolate, and bread filled with cream, and moved to the long table with a pleased expression.

But as he sat down at the table, Rishue hurriedly approached and sat next to Rembrary.

The thirty children always sat in order, and according to the order they lined up today, Rishue should have sat at the front, but he didn’t.

As Rembrary looked at him suspiciously, Rishue said with a smile, “Rembrary, is the food bland again today? Check it out.”

As Rembrary immediately dispelled his suspicion by tasting the ice cream, Rishue was relieved and picked up his spoon.

-There are many visitors coming to the temple today. You need to pay more attention to security. In particular, Rembrary has many worldly enemies, so pay more attention to him. Keep him by your side and never let him out of your sight, Priest Rishue.

Rishue recalled the words Heather had told the priests early in the morning and steeled himself for the day.

* * *

“You’re Ridal.”

“You’re the kid who’s said to have as much divine power as a high priest even though you’re young?”

“There’s a saying that the Lumena Temple has Rabsus and the Redrin Temple has Ridal. Have you ever heard of it?”

But Rishue soon faced a crisis.

As he was preparing for the public class, somehow the spectators came into the classroom and started asking Ridal questions.

Because people were blocking the way, it became difficult for Rishue to check on Rembrary.

“I’m sorry, please go out!”

Eventually, Rishue shouted at the spectators.

It was a public class, so it was okay to stand at the back of the classroom and watch the children study, but in order to follow Heather’s orders, he had to send the people out.

“Isn’t it okay to watch the class today?”

A visitor who came to the Florandia Temple every year to spend the holiday asked in embarrassment.

“Yes, but the children get scared when you crowd around like that,” Rishue said, trying to smile.

“Everyone, please step back!”

Rishue kept shouting.

“I heard you can defeat monsters with your halo?”

Then Rishue heard the word ‘halo’ and was surprised and went down from the podium. Someone is approaching Rembrary!

But Rembrary was sitting blankly with the other children and there were no spectators around him.

Rembrary is the one emitting the halo? Rishue was puzzled and looked around, then discovered someone surrounding Ridal.

“Can I see your halo once?”

One of the spectators asked Ridal excitedly.

“I can’t use a halo,” Ridal said with a reddened face, and the spectator shouted.

“No way! I’ve heard all the stories about you defeating monsters wonderfully!”

“Rembrary defeated the monsters?”

The children whispered softly, and Ridal’s face turned even redder.

“It wasn’t me…….”

Ridal muttered, but the spectators didn’t seem to be listening.

Rishue was angry and strode over and shouted coldly, “Please leave immediately. We’re letting you watch the class, not harass the children.”

Eliza watched the scene from the hallway through the window, then smiled and turned around.

“Was that you?”

Another priest followed closely behind her and asked.

“What.”

“You mixed up the rumors about Ridal and Rembrary, didn’t you? Aren’t you trying to stimulate that kid and make them drift apart?”

Eliza didn’t panic at all, even though the other person had correctly pointed out her intentions.

“That’s right.”

Eliza readily admitted it. She knew that the priest who was talking to her, Kicksil, had also received a request from the same person as her.

“You’re so passionate.”

Kicksil clicked his tongue.

“I have to earn the money I received.”

Eliza said vaguely, smiled, and mingled into the crowd.

Watching her receding figure, Kicksil frowned.

After Niran, who had received money with him, was murdered, he wanted to stop tormenting the child.

But he was afraid that if he quit, those who killed Niran would try to silence him too.

Besides, after Niran was murdered, the request that his client changed was too dangerous.

* * *

Meanwhile, at that moment, the High Priest of the Lumena Temple was looking at his wound in the mirror.

The large wound had healed without a single scar, and there was no trace of the injury.

The High Priest looked at the bandage on the side table. The doctor told him to replace the bandage if there was a slight trace of blood on it.

He strictly told him not to touch the bandage before that.

But even after time passed, there was no trace of blood.

After wearing the bandage for so long, the High Priest was worried about hygiene, so he ignored the doctor’s instructions and unwrapped the bandage.

The result was surprising.

‘The flesh has completely disappeared, but can it heal to this extent?’

The High Priest of Lumena frowned. That was impossible.

The High Priest of Lumena thought back to the day the doctor treated him in detail.