Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 797

A collective gasp filled the air. Everyone inhaled sharply at once.

The paladin, his palm bearing a fresh cut, stared silently at Rembrary before asking, “You’re refusing treatment? Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

Rembrary answered flatly. The paladin’s lips twisted in disbelief, as if recounting something utterly absurd.

“Kid, you’re a priest.”

“I know.”

“A priest is someone who bestows the grace of God. Are you aware of that?”

“Of course.”

“Knowing that, you say such things? A priest doesn’t pick and choose who deserves divine favor. I may not like you, but if a monster threatened you, I’d still defend you.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. If you only want to heal people you like, you should resign from the priesthood. No matter how talented you are, your character is…unsuitable.”

At the paladin’s harsh words, Rembrary shrugged.

“What can I say? If there are paladins who kill children, there can also be priests who refuse treatment.”

The paladin, who had been turning away, visibly flinched and snapped his head back around.

Rembrary met his gaze unflinchingly. The paladin tensed his neck, his voice tight as he corrected himself.

“That child is not a child.”

“You’re not my patient either.”

“!”

A blue vein throbbed on the paladin’s forehead. A nearby Redrin paladin quickly intervened, clapping his hands and shouting, “Alright, alright, break it up! This isn’t the time for infighting.”

However, his words were lost on the injured paladin, who felt publicly slighted and criticized.

“The Redrin Temple needs to invest more in training its novice priests.”

The injured paladin sneered. The Redrin paladin rolled his eyes before retorting, “Are you just jealous because Rembrary is stationed at the Redrin Temple?”

“Why are you being so hostile!”

The injured paladin protested, stepping forward aggressively, but the other paladins quickly formed a barrier, separating the two.

Rembrary seized the opportunity amidst the commotion, grabbing Lydial’s hand and slipping out of the conference room.

* * *

Inside their room, Rembrary broke the bread the staff had provided in half, offering a piece to Lydial.

“Here, try it.”

Lydial sat with his back against the wall, shaking his head.

“You don’t want to eat?”

“…….”

“Lydial, you were talking just a little while ago. Have you lost your voice completely, perhaps?”

Lydial nodded, resting his chin on his knees. His vacant eyes seemed lost in the air, haunted by the scene he had witnessed.

Rembrary watched him for a moment before sitting down beside him.

“It’s okay. I understand everything, even if Lydial doesn’t speak.”

As Rembrary spoke, holding out the bread, Lydial hesitated before finally taking it.

Lydial looked at Rembrary, his eyes questioning if he was truly sincere.

“You want me to brush your fur, right?”

But as soon as Rembrary asked, Lydial lightly tossed the bread back at him.

Seeing this, Rembrary burst into laughter. Lydial looked briefly surprised before joining in, his laughter sounding strained and fragile.

* * *

Rembrary spent several days confined to the room with Lydial.

The staff delivered food at mealtimes, leaving the dishes outside the door and collecting them later.

This time, Gaieger didn’t bother scolding Rembrary for not bringing Lydial to the dining hall.

“Yes, it’s better for you two to be together right now.”

Gaieger clicked his tongue, observing Lydial, who still had the face of a baby wolf, picking at his salad.

When Lydial flinched at the sound, Gaieger unexpectedly patted the child’s shoulder.

“You are a child loved by Redrin, Lydial. If you overcome this ordeal, you will become an even greater person. You have a good friend with you, so you will be able to overcome it well.”

Tears welled up in Lydial’s large, round eyes.

Rembrary watched the scene with a pleased expression before interjecting, “It gives me goosebumps to hear you say that, Gaieger. Did you eat something strange?”

“You better watch your mouth, Rembrary.”

* * *

A week passed in this manner. But there was still no news regarding Lydial’s treatment.

Lydial seemed to be eating well enough, but two days ago, he had reverted to only sipping water.

Rembrary grew worried when Lydial refused the bread slathered with butter and sprinkled with a generous amount of sugar.

Even now, Lydial’s wrists were noticeably thinner than when he was in human form.

Finally, about thirty minutes after Gaieger had disappeared, claiming he had a meeting, Rembrary grabbed Lydial and ventured out into the hallway.

When the staff saw them approaching, they gave them a wide berth, avoiding them as much as possible.

Lydial’s whiskers drooped at the sight.

Rembrary stared at the whiskers, momentarily mesmerized, before snapping out of it and pulling Lydial closer.

The place they arrived at was in front of the same conference room they had visited before. Rembrary tugged on the tightly closed door.

“Huh?”

But the door wouldn’t budge.

Rembrary grabbed the handle and shook it, but the door only rattled slightly, as if it were locked from the inside. Furthermore, no one answered or opened the door.

Rembrary shook it a couple more times and then turned to Lydial.

“Lydial, break it down.”

Lydial opened his mouth, staring at Rembrary, then his whiskers stiffened. Lydial’s eyes conveyed that he thought Rembrary’s request was utter nonsense.

Rembrary said solemnly.

“It’s obvious what they’re discussing in there. So, we need to join the conversation.”

Lydial hesitated for a moment, but soon nodded with a determined expression, crouched low, and charged at the door.

As the lock splintered and the door swung inward, the people seated around the table leaped to their feet in surprise.

“Rembrary?”

Gaieger, who was seated near the head of the table, widened his eyes and called out to Rembrary.

“Lydial said he has something to say, so I brought him.”

Rembrary gestured towards Lydial.

Lydial froze, his eyes widening as he quickly looked back at Rembrary.

Gaieger frowned.

“Lydial? Lydial can’t talk. He can’t even write anymore.”

“I can talk to Lydial because I’m his friend.”

At those words, one of the paladins of Lumena asked with a dubious tone.

“Really? What does he say?”

“Lydial recites the Holy Scriptures every day and prays to Redrin.”

Suddenly, Lydial raised all his whiskers and stared at Rembrary.

The reaction looked just like someone caught red-handed, so the paladins also stared at Rembrary with surprised expressions.

Rembrary looked around at them and explained.

“Lydial is a child loved by Redrin. Redrin would want Lydial to live. Lydial ate salad yesterday and potatoes the day before. A complete werewolf wouldn’t do that.”

One of the Redrin paladins tilted his head and muttered.

“Well, he might eat grass in front of us and meat behind our backs.”

“I eat meat too.”

“I meant raw meat.”

“We had chicken soup for dinner last night too. About half the people here probably ate it.”

“?”

Rembrary firmly shook his head at the paladin, then looked around at the people again and said.

“Now that I’ve told you about Lydial, it’s my turn to speak. If Lydial dies, I won’t heal anyone anymore.”

At those words, Lydial raised his whiskers and jumped. Lydial perked up his ears and stared at Rembrary.

The paladins and priests also widened their eyes and looked at Rembrary.

One of the paladins pointed to the paladin who had clashed with Rembrary with a sullen expression.

“You mean you won’t heal that person?”

“No. All of you.”

The paladin sitting to Gaieger’s right clicked his tongue.

“That’s outrageous. You won’t heal everyone for the sake of one child? I could understand if you only refused to heal the paladins. But you won’t heal ‘everyone’?”

Another paladin said with a desolate expression.

“You’re not worthy of your ability. God didn’t give you that ability to use it like that, Rembrary.”

“What Lydial needs is healing. Everyone should have the opportunity to be healed. If you make Lydial an exception, I will make everyone else an exception too.”

The paladins closed their mouths and stared at Rembrary as if they couldn’t believe it.

Rembrary looked around at them with a dignified expression, then grabbed Lydial and went out the door.

Rembrary didn’t go in to negotiate, but to declare.

So, he didn’t care if they cursed or opposed him from behind.

Rather, Rembrary was hungry after the battle, so he stopped by the kitchen on the way and took a large cake back to his room.

Lydial silently followed behind, and when the door closed, he drooped his ears and shed tears.

* * *

Rembrary tried to heal Lydial a few more times after that.

“Lydial. Open your eyes wide and hold on while counting to three in your head.”

When Rembrary asked, Lydial nodded and gathered his two small wolf paws.

Lydial had been showing a strong desire to be healed since Rembrary’s declaration to the paladins.

He realized that the more he slumped, the more Rembrary, who was taking his side, would be in trouble.

Rembrary tightly grabbed the fluffy wolf paws with his hands and sent divine power with a determined expression.

[Kkeeng!]

Lydial always screamed before he could even count to two and ran away. Today, the fur ball easily slipped out of Rembrary’s hand again.

Rembrary looked at Lydial stuck to the wall and sighed.

When he tried to heal him in a one-sided way, Lydial dozed off, and when he sent divine power as if he were eliminating a monster, Lydial suffered like that. There was no progress in the treatment at all.

Lydial drooped his ears and cautiously approached, watching Rembrary’s expression.

“I’m not angry at you, baby.”

Rembrary was lost in thought until late that night, eating snacks. And the next day.

“Lydial. I’ll be out for a bit, so stay here. Don’t open the door for anyone else.”

Rembrary earnestly told Lydial and left the room alone.

Lydial readily nodded, as Rembrary occasionally went to the kitchen to get snacks.

But this time, Rembrary walked to the basement instead of the kitchen.

As he went down the stairs, three paladins standing at the entrance to the basement asked with surprised expressions.

“Rembrary?”

“Why are you here?”

“Are you alone?”

The paladins’ gazes turned to the top of the stairs. It seemed that it was because Rembrary had been taking Lydial around with him lately.

“You brought two black mages from the mountain before, right? I came because I want to meet that person.”

As Rembrary spoke clearly, the paladins exchanged glances with each other.

“You alone?”

The brown-haired paladin asked again.

“Yes.”

As Rembrary answered confidently, the paladins exchanged glances with each other again.

“Uh… why?”

The brown-haired paladin asked again.

“I have something to do.”

When the paladins hesitated, Rembrary tried to slip past them.

“Uh, uh, you can’t.”

But the black-haired paladin grabbed Rembrary.

“You have to get permission first. You didn’t get permission, did you?”

In the end, Rembrary was only able to enter after telling the paladins that they could follow him if they were suspicious.

“It’s here.”

The black-haired paladin said, standing in front of the door where the black mage was imprisoned. He didn’t mention that he had deliberately placed the two black mages at opposite ends of the hallway.

“Are you really going in?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

Since the black mage was tightly bound so that he couldn’t do anything anyway, the paladin opened the door.

As Rembrary went inside, the black mage recognized Rembrary and muttered, “It’s you,” and grinned.

“Did you come to see me?”

Half of the black mage’s face was completely bruised. It seemed that the paladins and staff had lost their comrades and retaliated in anger.

As Rembrary approached the black mage, the paladin quickly stuck close to him.

The black mage also tilted his head.

“Did you really come to see me? Why?”

“Put a curse on me.”

“!”