Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 800

◈ 800. Suspicious Group

The black magician’s neck flushed crimson. He was absolutely livid.

The thought of being utterly humiliated by a mere child was enough to drive him to the brink.

“You refuse to listen to reason!”

The black magician roared and advanced on Rembrary.

He knew that ordinary people weren’t affected by the strange divine light Rembrary emitted. Only monsters were vulnerable. If the curse didn’t work on the child, he could simply seize him without resorting to black magic.

However, just as the black magician took a few steps forward.

“What are you doing?”

Another black magician emerged from behind. This one also had his face concealed.

‘Now there are two black magicians.’

Rembrary was already struggling with one, and the appearance of a second one made him wonder what to do. He carefully observed them, knowing he wasn’t strong enough to fight multiple adults.

“That child…”

“No time to play with kids. Let’s go.”

“But that child…”

“The moon is favorable tonight. The gate to the Demon World will open wider. We have much to prepare. Are you going to waste time fighting a child?”

The second black magician didn’t seem interested in Rembrary.

The first black magician, still seething from Rembrary’s trickery, clenched his fists. But the newcomer was clearly the stronger of the two.

“We’ll meet again, kid.”

The black magician had no choice but to threaten Rembrary before turning away.

Watching them disappear into the depths of the mountains, Rembrary spun around and sprinted in the opposite direction.

The monsters had all fled from Rembrary’s halo earlier, so there were no immediate dangers.

‘It would be nice if I could soothe people as well as monsters with the halo. Is that even possible?’

Lost in thought, he stumbled, but quickly regained his footing and continued running. Then, the moment he emerged from the mountain entrance.

“Found him!”

He collided with a group of paladins who were just about to enter the mountain path.

Rembrary stopped, leaning against a tree. Soon, the paladins appeared at the entrance.

“Rembrary!”

A Redrin paladin, whose face he recognized, shouted in a scolding tone.

“How did you get here?”

“How did I get here? You shot some kind of light in the mountains!”

“Ah.”

The Redrin paladin clicked his tongue and lifted Rembrary onto a large rock.

“Gieger is furious right now, so you better be prepared.”

“Where is Gieger?”

Gieger had been running into the mountains with the paladins when he tumbled down a hill near the center and sprained his leg.

Rembrary was climbing the hill to return to the central mansion when he found Gieger sitting near a rock.

“Rembrary!”

Gieger shouted as soon as he saw Rembrary.

“You’re yelling, so you don’t seem to be badly hurt, High Priest. That’s a relief.”

Rembrary placed his hand on Gieger’s leg, who was about to erupt in anger again. Gieger opened his mouth, then closed it.

When Rembrary removed his hand, Gieger felt no pain in his leg at all.

“High Priest, when we arrived, Rembrary was already coming down,” the paladin who had met Rembrary at the entrance of the mountain path offered.

Gieger got up, leaning on a rock, and asked Rembrary bluntly.

“So, did you achieve the desired effect of startling people?”

“Yes.”

Rembrary smiled brightly.

“I can cure Lyder.”

* * *

Rembrary, Gieger, and the paladins quickly ascended the remaining half of the hill. As soon as Rembrary passed through the main gate of the mansion, he ran inside, shouting.

“Lyder! Lyder!”

Rembrary hurried to the main building of the central mansion, but Gieger’s room was empty.

‘Isn’t he in Gieger’s room?’

Rembrary went to the room he and Lyder used, just in case. But Lyder wasn’t there either.

“High Priest!”

Rembrary jumped and went down the stairs to find Gieger.

“What’s wrong?”

Gieger was halfway up the stairs when he barely caught Rembrary, who was suddenly rushing towards him.

“Lyder is gone!”

At Rembrary’s shout, Gieger quickly ran up the stairs himself.

“This can’t be.”

Gieger muttered, staring at his wide-open door.

“Lyder should be here, right?”

Rembrary looked at the large, sturdy cup on the table.

It was a cup specially made for Lyder, wrapped in rough cloth so it wouldn’t fall even if a wolf’s paw grabbed it.

“Yes. I told him to stay here. I told him not to open the door for anyone but me or you, and to keep the door locked. He was drinking juice.”

Gieger frowned.

“I’ll have to ask the paladins if they’ve seen him.”

“He ran away!”

Then someone shouted angrily from behind.

Rembrary turned his head. Four Lumena paladins were approaching.

One was standing at the front, and the other three were behind.

The strange thing was that one of the ones in the back had his arm hanging limp and was being supported by the other two. Blood was dripping from his dangling arm.

“Ran away?”

Gieger asked bluntly, and the paladin at the front pointed to the injured comrade they had brought.

“Do you see this? That werewolf kid bit my friend like this and ran away.”

“What? You’re lying.”

Gieger immediately retorted.

“Lyder promised to stay in the room and even locked the door. Why would he bite that guy and run away?”

“Well, we don’t know.”

The Lumena paladin at the front spoke, barely suppressing his anger.

“All we know is that he suddenly jumped out and bit him.”

“Lyder keeps his promises.”

When Gieger stated this firmly, the Lumena paladin’s neck veins bulged.

“Are we supposed to consider whether he keeps his promises when he’s a werewolf?”

“Then where did he run away to?”

“We want to ask that. He’s dangerous. How can such a dangerous being be allowed outside…”

The paladin, who was about to continue, frowned when Rembrary produced a feather.

“What are you doing?”

The paladin’s sword blade had been severely damaged by the feather Rembrary had recently thrown.

The paladin considered the feather Rembrary possessed to be a weapon. And now he was suddenly taking out that dangerous weapon in the middle of a conversation.

“Are you going to threaten us?”

The paladin put his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist. He wouldn’t hurt the child, but he had no intention of being caught off guard by the child’s attack.

“I’m going to find Lyder.”

However, Rembrary didn’t even look at them. When Rembrary infused divine power into it, the feather floated gently upwards.

“What is that…?”

When a Lumena paladin, who was seeing this for the first time, muttered in a daze, Gieger shouted proudly.

“That feather of Rembrary’s was personally bestowed by Redrin [a high-ranking deity or figure]. You can find the location of anything with it.”

The feather spun around a couple of times in the air and then pointed in one direction.

However, just as Rembrary and Gieger were about to follow the feather, one of the Lumena paladins who had come to protest hurriedly tried to snatch the feather.

“Ugh.”

But as soon as the paladin tried to grab the feather, he groaned and collapsed instead.

“What is that!”

“Is that a monster feather!”

The Lumena paladins who saw it shouted in anger.

Rembrary didn’t respond, but followed the feather. The feather went out of the mansion’s main building, across the large garden, and even out of the main gate.

The feather, which had been moving purposefully, stopped near a group that was going down the hill towards the village.

Seeing that everyone in the group was carrying weapons and was well-built, they appeared to be mercenaries.

“Wow, the feather is floating by itself?”

The mercenaries stopped and watched as the feather floated towards them.

This was fortunate for Rembrary. He quickly approached them. As soon as Rembrary arrived near the mercenaries, the feather scattered into the air.

Because of this strange phenomenon, the mercenaries now stared at Rembrary in surprise.

“Huh? Who are you, kid?”

“Are you a priest too?”

One of them asked, seeing that Rembrary was wearing an apprentice priest’s uniform.

Without a word, Rembrary walked to the cart the mercenaries were taking down and scattered the straw piled on it.

“Hey, kid! What are you doing!”

A mercenary got angry, but Rembrary continued to scatter the straw.

The feather had indicated that Lyder was here, but he couldn’t see Lyder among those walking. Then the only place Lyder could be was in this cart.

Indeed. Not long after, Lyder appeared, his hands tied tightly behind his back.

“This little brat!”

Another mercenary got angry and shoved Rembrary’s shoulder.

“What are you doing!”

“That’s what I want to ask.”

Rembrary pointed to Lyder and looked at the most calm-looking mercenary.

“Why are you taking my friend without permission?”

“Friend? We’re catching a monster.”

At Rembrary’s question, the red-haired mercenary retorted in an absurd voice.

“Can’t you see that monster’s face?”

“That kid is not a monster, he’s my friend. He’s just cursed and his appearance has changed like that. Besides, why is a friend who was in the mansion where the priests stay here?”

Rembrary explained firmly, but the mercenaries didn’t release Lyder.

“Don’t lie. We caught that rampaging kid. He was running wildly through the fields. And a werewolf is your friend? Don’t talk nonsense.”

The mercenaries acted as if Rembrary was lying.

“Lyder!”

Rembrary called Lyder again. Lyder shook his body from side to side and barely raised his upper body.

“[Keng!]”

Lyder also called Rembrary.

“This little brat!”

Seeing that, one of the mercenaries suddenly pushed Rembrary’s shoulder violently.

“Get out of here!”

Rembrary was pushed back, but quickly regained his balance and said calmly.

“That friend is really cursed. And I know how to break the curse. If you don’t believe me, let me heal Lyder. Then you’ll be able to believe it.”

“No way. That’s a monster we caught. Do you know how hard it is to catch a monster when it’s a baby?”

However, the mercenaries refused outright.

“If you let me try to heal him, you can tell whether he’s a monster or not.”

Even though Rembrary answered cleverly, they acted firmly.

“No. How do we know you won’t do something dangerous while trying to heal him!”

Rembrary realized that they were acting suspiciously. If they were ordinary mercenaries, they would be uncomfortable and tell him to try to heal him.

If they were worried that Rembrary would untie Lyder, they could watch him from the side.

But they didn’t let Rembrary even go near Lyder.

‘They’re not going to listen to words, Redrin.’

“That kid! Is not! A monster!”

Gieger shouted belatedly and ran over, but before the mercenaries arrived, they started going down the hill again.

“Hey!”

Gieger, who barely caught up, approached panting, but the mercenary turned around and punched Gieger in the face with a rock-like fist without saying a word.

“!”

As Gieger fell, the mercenary threatened Rembrary with a fierce expression.

“Don’t bother us and get lost!”

Rembrary was convinced that the mercenaries were suspicious. Then they wouldn’t let Rembrary heal Lyder.

Besides, he didn’t know what the Lumena paladins had done at the mansion, but the Redrin paladins didn’t come, and only Gieger, who wasn’t helpful in battle, came.

It didn’t seem like stalling would be effective.

‘I have to heal Lyder here.’

Rembrary looked at the baby wolf trembling on the cart. The distance between Rembrary and Lyder was about seven steps.

And in between, there were the fallen Gieger and two fierce mercenaries. Would it be possible to break the curse by passing three people and seven steps?

What could reach Lyder from here…

“Lyder!”

Rembrary shouted, putting divine power into his voice.