Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 778

◈ 778. The Good Kid Test

“Wyder, just a moment.”

It was while the priests were preparing to take Rembrary back that Rishuer seized the opportunity to call Wyder aside.

“Yes, what is it?”

Wyder quickly went to Rishuer, displaying a normal and kind demeanor, just like any ordinary child.

Rishuer’s conviction wavered for a moment at the sight.

‘Wyder is just a child. Am I viewing him negatively because I’m looking at him from an overly adult perspective?’

“Priest?”

Wyder tilted his head and spoke when Rishuer didn’t respond after calling him.

“Wyder, why did you mention the feather in front of everyone?”

Rishuer steeled himself and asked.

Wyder widened his eyes and then asked with a tearful expression, “Should I not have said it?”

“If you talk about such things openly, thieves will target Rembrary.”

“I didn’t think that far ahead,” Wyder said, his voice laced with fear.

Rishuer wanted to believe him. But he couldn’t forget Wyder’s cold glare at Rembrary in the clinic.

However, a person’s gaze is subjective and can be easily misinterpreted.

It felt wrong to reprimand someone based solely on a look.

“I’m sorry, Priest. I was just so happy that Rembrary woke up. I thought good news should be shared, because it’s something to be proud of,” Wyder said, sobbing again.

“Everyone is saying that Rembrary is loved by Redrin [a deity in this world] and is amazing. Since it’s a gift from God, thieves won’t dare to target him easily.”

“……”

As Rishuer was about to respond, another priest approached and interjected, “Priest Rishuer, what are you doing, holding onto a child? He’s young, so he probably didn’t consider the consequences. Stop scolding him; it’s not even worth scolding him for.”

He had apparently overheard Rishuer’s questioning as he approached. The other priest patted Wyder and directed him toward the clinic.

Wyder bowed and quickly rejoined the group of children.

“I understand why you’re upset, but it’s not the child’s fault,” the other priest said, patting Rishuer’s shoulder in comfort.

As the priest left, Rishuer ran a hand through his hair, feeling frustrated.

‘Was I being too harsh on a child after all?’ He felt a pang of guilt, but the lingering suspicion remained.

“Rishuer.”

Rishuer looked up. Lydal was approaching hesitantly.

“Oh, yeah. Let’s go,” Rishuer said with a smile, hoping to ease the child’s possible anxiety.

However, Lydal came closer and said in a very quiet voice, “I have something to tell you.”

Rishuer instinctively bent down.

Lydal whispered, “Wyder, he acted strangely before, too.”

“Strange behavior?”

“When we went to the central mansion, a bottle containing monster blood was found in Rembrary’s pocket. It just looked like something in a small bottle, but as soon as he saw it, he identified it as monster blood and pushed Rembrary hard.”

“Really?”

“Yes. He said he recognized it immediately because he had taken the Holy Power test several times… Nothing like that has happened since, but I’ve still been a little worried.”

* * *

In the carriage on the way back, Rishuer carefully considered Lydal’s information.

“Rembrary, go to your room, wash up, and get a good night’s sleep,” Heather instructed Rembrary upon their arrival at the Florandia Temple.

As Rembrary walked away, Heather summoned a senior priest and said, “Just in case, please have guards posted in shifts outside the child’s room.”

“I will.”

As the senior priest followed Rembrary, the other training priests led the children in their care to the dormitory.

“Lydal, Kentry, can you take care of the children?”

Instead of tending to his own group, Rishuer asked the gentle Lydal and the oldest Kentry for help, then approached Heather.

“Heather, can I speak with you privately?”

Wyder glanced at Rishuer as he followed his training priest.

“What’s wrong?”

After entering the office and finding themselves alone, Rishuer spoke hesitantly, “Heather, this might sound strange, but Wyder…”

Rishuer recounted Wyder’s odd behavior that day, including the story Lydal had shared.

Heather listened intently.

“I see. I’ve also suspected that Wyder might be using his intelligence in a negative way.”

Unexpectedly, Heather agreed with his assessment, and Rishuer asked with a hint of relief, “Heather, couldn’t we send Wyder to another temple?”

Heather sighed. “I don’t think that’s possible.”

“I suppose not.”

“Yes. It’s unsettling, but Wyder is still a child, and there’s no concrete evidence that he’s deliberately trying to harm Rembrary.”

Rishuer sighed, and Heather rose and patted his shoulder.

“Let’s keep a close watch on him.”

“The culprit who attacked Rembrary… At first, I thought they were just robbers, but after listening to Rembrary in the carriage, that doesn’t seem to be the case either.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. The first person who appeared was a robber looking for the feather, but the second person, who killed the robber and attacked Rembrary, didn’t even mention the feather.”

“……”

“Are the people who bribed the priests to attack Rembrary now targeting him with the help of outsiders?”

* * *

Until late that night, the priests gathered and discussed the matter.

The attack on Rembrary, his miraculous recovery without a scratch thanks to Redrin’s gift in a life-threatening situation, and the public knowledge of the feather’s existence were all major concerns.

The priests were serious. After identifying and removing those who had been bribed, an assassin had come from outside.

They wondered what kind of enemy Rembrary had in the world to warrant such persistence.

The priests offered various suggestions, such as assigning a paladin [a holy warrior] to Rembrary or storing the feather separately in a secure location to deter thieves.

However, personally assigning a paladin to a trainee priest was unprecedented.

It went against the Redrin Temple’s fundamental principle of treating all trainee priests as equally as possible.

Storing the feather elsewhere was also problematic, as it would be seen as taking away a gift that Redrin had directly bestowed upon the child.

In the end, three hours of discussion yielded only the decision to increase security.

* * *

The person who commissioned the prince’s assassination stayed overnight in a nearby village due to the late hour.

He felt relieved after completing his mission with such ease.

However, the next morning, when he went down to the inn’s common room, everyone was talking about the prince’s resurrection through Redrin’s blessing.

“That feather… What does it look like?”

“I don’t know, but it’s amazing. Redrin wouldn’t have given such a sacred object to just anyone.”

“How many does he have?”

“Was it used up and gone?”

The client ate his meal slowly, listening to the conversations.

About thirty minutes later, he had a general understanding of the situation. He put down his fork and gritted his teeth.

‘I succeeded, but I failed.’

Moreover, if the prince possessed multiple such feathers, it meant he could be resurrected even if assassinated again.

A few days later, the client returned to the Duchess of Luciche and reported everything.

The Duchess listened, continuously tapping the floor with her cane.

“What should we do?” the client asked after finishing his report. “Should we continue the assassination attempts until he dies?”

Even while recounting the chilling story, the client didn’t even blink.

However, the Duchess scoffed. “Nonsense. If the prince is truly loved by God, as people say, what repercussions will we face if we kill him?”

The client nodded. “That’s true.”

The sound of the Duchess’s cane tapping the floor echoed rhythmically in the study as she pondered.

“Let’s do this,” she finally said, breaking the silence. “If God loves that child, then we simply need to make God stop loving him.”

“Is that possible?”

“We just need to make him display a side that God will find disappointing.”

The Duchess fell into thought again. The ticking of the clock filled the room.

After a moment, she spoke again. “Everyone prioritizes their own life. Let’s create a situation where that child has no choice but to ignore people who need help.”

* * *

To help people prepare for winter, the trainee priests of the Florandia Temple took turns volunteering.

November 20th was Rembrary’s scheduled day to volunteer.

“The adult priests will carry the firewood. You just need to distribute the food supplies you brought. Don’t go alone; remember to stay in groups,” Rishuer reminded the children as they dismounted the carriage.

The children answered perfunctorily, having heard the instructions repeatedly at the temple, before boarding the carriage, and inside the carriage.

“Yes!”

“Okay!”

It had been almost three weeks since Rembrary’s ambush.

Since then, nothing had happened, but Rishuer remained uncertain about taking Rembrary outside.

Fortunately, Heather had secretly assigned three paladins to this group alone.

They were brought under the guise of protecting the sacred feather to avoid violating the rules.

As Rishuer gestured, the three paladins moved to Rembrary’s side.

Rembrary felt uncomfortable, his vision obstructed by the large adults surrounding him, but he followed Rishuer and lined up with the other children, moving toward the village.

The lay priests pulled carts loaded with supplies, following behind the trainee priests.

However, as they stopped at the village entrance to verify their identity, Rembrary noticed a large crowd gathered inside the wide-open gate, all staring at them.

Everyone was focused on the group of priests, not even turning their heads.

People had watched before when the priests gathered, but Rembrary had never seen so many people gathered at once to observe them.

“Are those people watching us?” Rembrary asked the paladin next to him, his curiosity piqued.

“I don’t know,” the paladin answered dismissively, blocking Rembrary’s path.

Rembrary, completely blocked from view, stared at the back of the paladin’s head. He wouldn’t answer, he was just blocking the way!

Frustrated, Rembrary exercised patience. Instead of protesting, he calmly waited for the identity check to be completed.

Once they started walking, the paladin wouldn’t be standing directly in front of him.

However, the line remained stationary even after the identity check was over.

Instead, the sound of children chattering spread from the front to the back of the line where Rembrary stood.

‘Something must have happened,’ Rembrary thought.

Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, Rembrary peeked out from the side of the paladin and looked toward the gate.

The people who had been watching the priests were now approaching Rishuer, who was at the front, and speaking rapidly.

Rishuer was waving his hand and responding, his expression troubled, but the words were inaudible.

“What’s going on?” Rembrary asked the paladin again, frustrated.

Kentry, standing in front of Rembrary, said bluntly, “Families of patients with incurable diseases are asking if they can have just one feather.”

“Feather?”

Rembrary widened his eyes, grabbed the paladin, and stretched his head out further. The sound was still too faint to hear clearly.

But upon closer inspection, the number of people making such requests to Rishuer was significant.

All the people gathered near the gate seemed to be families of different patients.

Rishuer was initially flustered and waved his hand, but the people pleaded desperately.

The children grew anxious and continued to whisper.

As time passed, people began to get angry.

“Don’t stick your head out,” Kentry said bluntly, unable to watch any longer, and pulled Rembrary back.

Just then, someone ran past Rishuer toward the children and shouted, “Which one of you is Rembrary! Which child has the feather!”