Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 770

◈ 770. Apprentice Priests’ Relationships

“Something weird fell out of your clothes.”

It was after dinner, and everyone was getting ready for bed. Wider, who had volunteered to tidy up the clothes, held up a small glass bottle as he spoke.

Rembrary, who was pushing his bag to one side, turned around.

“What is that?”

“It came out of your clothes.”

Wider examined the glass bottle from side to side.

“What is it?”

Another child approached.

“This looks like monster blood. Rembrary, why do you have monster blood?”

Wider handed the glass bottle to the approaching child.

The child recoiled at the mention of monster blood.

The children looked at Rembrary strangely.

Heather frowned as she was clearing the dishes.

“Rembrary probably didn’t mean anything bad.”

The child Dailsh, who had come with her, quickly spoke up.

“But why does he have monster blood?”

Another child mumbled blankly.

As the atmosphere among the children turned strange, Heather put down the dishes and asked.

“Rembrary, why did you bring that?”

At Heather’s question, Rembrary blinked and asked.

“Is that monster blood? I don’t know. I’ve never seen the bottle before either. Can that kid tell what it is just by looking at it?”

“!”

Wider hesitated for a moment.

Ridal defended Rembrary while spreading out the blanket.

“I wouldn’t know what it is just by looking at it either.”

“How can you not know after taking the test so many times!”

Wider was flustered and made excuses.

“Well, Rembrary and Ridal have only been here for about a year, right?”

As Dailsh muttered, Wider quickly shouted.

“Yes! I can tell right away!”

Ridal said again.

“But it might not be, you know.”

“We can just check what it is.”

Then Rembrary approached and took the bottle from Wider. He then tried to open the lid and pour it directly onto his hand.

“Rembrary!”

Heather rushed over and knocked the bottle away. The liquid that spilled from the bottle narrowly missed Rembrary’s hand.

As smoke rose from the liquid that touched the floor, the children screamed.

“Rembrary! Don’t pour just anything on your hand!”

“I was going to try eating it, Heather.”

“It’s even worse to eat it! Are you a dog?!”

“Do dogs check by eating it?”

Heather had a headache and rubbed her forehead.

“Heather! Is it because of the smoke?”

Ridal ran over in surprise.

“No. It’s not that.”

Heather patted Ridal’s shoulder and then instructed Rembrary.

“Rembrary, you try to eat everything, but you absolutely must not do that. It’s dangerous. Got it?”

“Of course. I know.”

“Don’t just answer casually.”

“Yes, yes.”

“You can check things like this with divine power.”

After speaking, Heather waved her hand over the liquid spilled on the floor. Then the sticky liquid immediately turned into clear water and soaked the carpet.

“I’ll have to compensate for the carpet.”

Heather muttered and then said to Wider.

“Wider. The glass bottle probably isn’t Rembrary’s. If it were Rembrary’s, he wouldn’t act so dangerously.”

The children nodded as they looked at the hole in the middle of the carpet.

If it hadn’t been for Heather, that monster blood would have fallen on Rembrary’s hand.

Ridal began to spread out the blanket again.

Heather cleaned up the bottle and then rolled up the carpet.

In the meantime, the children stuck to the wall to wait so as not to disturb her. Wider stood in the farthest corner, biting his lip.

‘How can a prince act so ignorantly?’

Wider never imagined that Rembrary would pour monster blood on his own hand.

Other children retreated as soon as they heard the story of monster blood. That was the reaction that ordinary people would show.

‘This is troublesome. It’s even more troublesome because the kid is so thoughtless and ignorant.’

* * *

Aside from Heather getting scolded by the innkeeper and paying for the carpet, this incident passed without much trouble.

‘Who put that bottle in Rembrary’s pocket?’

However, unlike in front of the children, Heather took this matter seriously.

The next day. While alone in another inn, she picked up the bottle that had come out of Rembrary’s pocket and observed it.

The bottle had been specially treated so that it would not corrode even if it contained monster blood. It was not a bottle that ordinary people carried around.

The only people who used such bottles were those related to the temple, adventurers who traveled to dangerous places, and mercenaries.

‘It’s not a bottle that a child can get. I thought Sediter had caught all the embedded priests. Did they bribe someone again in the meantime?’

Heather recalled the faces of those he knew one by one.

After some of the priests he trusted were caught by the Inquisitors, he couldn’t even sleep properly for a while. He didn’t want to experience such a thing again.

‘……No. Duke Ladderun was lucky enough to be released, but he wouldn’t do anything again in just a few weeks. He’ll be lying low for his own sake for the time being. So, did he use someone outside this time?’

Heather couldn’t sleep and was lost in thought.

* * *

At that moment. Ridal also couldn’t sleep. Ridal was squatting next to the stairs of the inn, watching the people coming and going.

This inn was right in front of the guardhouse, so it wasn’t dangerous for a child to be out alone at night.

“What are you doing?”

Then Ridal quickly turned around. Rembrary approached from the side and stood next to him.

“Why did you come out without sleeping?”

Ridal asked in surprise. Rembrary was a child who slept well even when the carriage was on a gravel road.

He slept the most and slept the deepest. But to come out when everyone was sleeping.

“I saw a night market earlier.”

“You can’t go alone! Rishur told you. Never go! Rishur will worry if he knows!”

“Rishur will never know about this.”

“!”

Ridal opened his mouth and looked at Rembrary.

“Do you want to go together?”

Rembrary asked as he went down the stairs without a care.

“I said you can’t go!”

Ridal grabbed Rembrary’s arm and hung on. But it was Ridal who was being dragged along.

Ridal was shocked. During playtime, the other children ran around the playground, but Rembrary would squat alone and draw pictures on the dirt floor or stare blankly at the sky.

When he played with him, they played card games.

Ridal thought that Rembrary must be physically weak.

However, Rembrary was strong enough to easily drag Ridal along, even though Ridal was hanging on with all his might.

“You’re strong!”

“Yeah!”

Rembrary smiled contentedly and continued walking.

Ridal was dragged along, but then he belatedly realized and let go of his hand.

“I said you can’t go!”

“If you’re not going with me, the baby shouldn’t follow me.”

“How can you do that! Rishur told me to take good care of you.”

“That was about homework.”

“No. He also told you not to wander around alone.”

Then Ridal saw colorful balloons floating in the sky not far away. Strings were tied between the roofs, and balloons were attached to them.

“Pretty.”

“I’m going to go there and buy a delicious barbecue.”

“I said you can’t go!”

Rembrary sped up. Ridal followed him in a daze, but he couldn’t catch up with Rembrary and fell.

Ridal, who had fallen to the ground, got up crying. His knees hurt and his palms hurt. Under the night market lights, his red, scraped palms were clearly visible.

“Rembrary…… Rembrary!”

Ridal was so surprised that he couldn’t stop Rembrary or catch him that he cried.

The people passing by glanced at Ridal in embarrassment.

“The kid’s crying?”

“The kid’s parents aren’t here.”

“Is the kid alone?”

Ridal became even more scared as people looked at him and whispered.

Then a hand popped out from among the large people and grabbed his arm.

“The baby is a crybaby.”

As the people around him stepped aside, Rembrary, who was standing leisurely, was visible.

Rembrary even had two chunks of barbecue in one hand, as if he had bought them in the meantime.

“You…… you…….”

Ridal was so upset that he couldn’t even speak properly and sobbed.

“Here.”

Rembrary handed a chunk of barbecue wrapped in paper to his hand.

“It looks like he came to play with a friend.”

The people who were worried because the child was crying alone were barely relieved and left the vicinity.

Ridal was so angry with Rembrary that he wanted to ignore the barbecue.

But a savory and spicy scent rose from the chunk of meat in his hand.

“They’re doing a play over there. Let’s watch it while we eat.”

Rembrary pulled Ridal’s arm.

“Where did you hear that?”

“The person selling the barbecue told me.”

Ridal obediently followed Rembrary. But there were too many people around the outdoor stage.

Some people made room for the children to go forward, but that wasn’t enough to see the stage.

“I need to grow taller quickly.”

Rembrary sighed and pulled Ridal again.

“Let’s go eat over there.”

The two children found an empty bench and sat side by side.

Ridal watched the people coming and going and slowly tore off pieces of barbecue to eat. Then, once in a while, Ridal looked to the side.

He was amazed at Rembrary, who was eating the meat bit by bit without getting any sauce on his mouth.

Ridal hesitated and asked.

“Weren’t you upset with me?”

“About what?”

“……I didn’t keep my promise.”

“It’s okay. Don’t mind it.”

“What does ‘don’t mind it’ mean?”

“It means eat the barbecue.”

Ridal tore off another piece of barbecue to eat. But Ridal soon called Rembrary again.

“Hey, Rembrary. You know. Are you close to Wider?”

“No. I’ve only received gifts twice.”

“Hey. Rembrary, I think it’s better to stay away from Wider.”

Rembrary finished eating the barbecue and took out a handkerchief, looking to the side.

“Why?”

“He seems like…… a bad person.”

Ridal’s face turned red after speaking.

Ridal was not used to slandering someone from behind. He felt like he had done something very wrong.

Then Ridal was startled and turned around when he heard the sound of someone stepping on the grass behind him.

“Why?”

“No…… I thought someone was behind me.”

But there were too many people passing by.

Ridal tilted his head and ate the barbecue again, belatedly discovering that all the wounds on his palm had disappeared.

‘The wound disappeared…… How did that happen? Did I heal myself?’

* * *

‘Why is he interfering?’

The footsteps that Ridal felt were made by Wider.

Wider squeezed his fist as he joined the crowd and returned to the inn.

He followed Rembrary after seeing him slip out at night. He never imagined that he would be having such a conversation with Ridal.

‘I thought they were on bad terms. Was I wrong?’

As soon as Wider returned to his room, he shook the dirt off his shoes and quickly got into bed.

‘I need to get rid of Ridal first.’

To bring Rembrary down, you have to get close to him. Niran had told Wider to ‘become friends with Rembrary.’

But it was difficult to do that if someone else was next to him.

Wider decided to kick Ridal out first.

* * *

The children went to the Great Temple and met five apprentice priests who had gathered from other temples, and without even having time to greet them, they left on another journey the next day.

Heather had originally planned to take the children only to the Great Temple.

But after experiencing the monster blood incident, he was too anxious to leave alone. He asked the highest-ranking priest to follow the trip to the end.

When the long journey finally ended and they arrived at the mansion in the central region, the apprentice priests jumped out of the carriage like puppies who hadn’t been able to take a long walk.

“I’m alive.”

“It’s too hard.”

“I don’t want to ride a carriage anymore.”

“Rembrary, how did you keep going here?”

While the children were grumbling. Rembrary felt someone’s gaze and turned around.

The highest-ranking Lumena priest he had treated before was standing side by side with a purple-haired child, staring intently at them.