Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 822

◈ 822. Why Are You Here?

Cheru opened his eyes, but frowned as sand fell into them when he turned his head.

‘Sand rain?’

Cheru tried to push himself up from the ground, but stopped when he realized he was holding a glass ornament in his hand.

‘I caught it.’

He had desperately tried to catch it. It seemed his efforts hadn’t been in vain. However, as Cheru stood up in relief, he realized what the sand rain was and froze.

Sand was pouring from the sky, not falling everywhere, but drawing a circle as it fell. Cheru raised his head and looked up.

It was dizzyingly high, and he couldn’t see anything, but Cheru guessed that this sand rain was the sand waterfall he had seen in the forest.

‘Did I fall down here?’

Cheru looked around and found a small rock, and walked towards it.

As he walked, he couldn’t put much strength into his leg from his ankle to his knee. He must have been seriously injured when he fell.

The palm of his hand that wasn’t holding the glass ornament was also so deeply cut that it was hard to look at.

It was only when Cheru sat down on the rock that he realized blood was flowing from his head as well.

‘Well, I fell from up there. It’s more surprising that I’m not dead.’

Cheru looked up at the sky once, then at the glass ornament. A sense of despair surged up that he hadn’t felt even when his divine power had disappeared.

‘This is… inside the Demon Realm, but if I seal it here, will the effect reach up there?’

Besides, High Priest Iira had clearly said that there was a procedure required to perform the seal.

‘I have to go up. But how?’

The surroundings were barren. The place he had to go was physically too far away. Cheru was an excellent paladin and strong, but he didn’t have the ability to fly.

Cheru’s gaze landed on a winged monster flying far away.

‘I have to catch something like that and ride it.’

Cheru took a fallen branch, put it on his calf, and made a temporary splint with the bandage he carried for emergencies. He had to do something. Somehow.

A black dragon watched the scene from not far away, tilting its head.

‘That human looks like the human who was with Rembrary.’

* * *

Duke Ladderun, unable to get help from Duchess Luciche, remained glued to the window for a long while.

He stood there for a long time, looking out and contemplating what to do.

“Duke, please sit down and think.”

“Get out.”

It was no use, even when his secretary spoke worriedly. Even after the secretary left, Duke Ladderun didn’t move.

As he stood there, he saw the black magicians who had rushed out earlier returning in a hurry. It seemed they had been doing something amongst themselves again.

The black magicians were always like that. They worked hard on something among themselves, but Duke Ladderun never knew the important things they were secretly doing behind his back.

The black magicians thoroughly used Duke Ladderun, but hid many things from him.

‘Ah!’

That dissatisfaction sparked an idea in the Duke.

‘That’s it!’

The Duke went to the room the black magicians used as a conference room.

The black magicians stopped talking when the Duke came in. The Duke knew they were avoiding him, but he insisted on taking a seat and asked.

“What exactly do you do to summon the Demon King?”

“Are you going to help?”

When one of the black magicians cheekily asked back, the others laughed quietly. It was an open mockery, but the Duke persevered.

“It seems you’re really curious.”

When one of the black magicians muttered in admiration after seeing this, the others finally quieted down.

“We use priests or paladins with divine power. In fact, you can do it with ordinary people, but it’s inefficient. Divine power is the best material. Basically, the method is the same as summoning a demon. It just takes twice as many corresponding materials.”

The black magician who signed the contract with Duke Ladderun explained. Duke Ladderun thought for a moment and asked.

“How do you get their divine power?”

“We capture them and use them. We capture them and offer them as sacrifices in the summoning circle.”

One of the black magicians spoke cheerfully, out of context. Duke Ladderun thought of Rembrary as he listened.

“But why are you asking that?”

Just then, one of the black magicians asked very appropriately.

Duke Ladderun answered without being intimidated at all.

“Things have turned out this way, and I’m forced to be in the same boat as you. I can’t get off. So, wouldn’t it be better to help you with your work and then get rewarded when the world changes? You’ll give me a high position then, right?”

The black magicians twitched their lips. But this time, no one openly mocked him.

Duke Ladderun confirmed that the black magicians didn’t intend to abandon him like a hunting dog, and asked again.

“Do I just have to capture them?”

“Of course, there’s a way before offering them as sacrifices, but it’s useless even if you know it if you’re not a black magician. The best you can do is capture priests or paladins and hand them over to us.”

It didn’t seem like they were answering while mocking him.

Duke Ladderun nodded and thought. He should bring Rembrary.

Then he could also take revenge on Rembrary, and he wouldn’t have to worry about Rembrary bothering Jeremi or his family.

Not only that, but he could also gain merit in this new force, so he could get multiple benefits at once.

But how could he get the apprentice priest holed up in the Florandia Temple to come out?

If Duke Ladderun called, Rembrary would never come out.

No, if the Florandia Temple knew that the Duke was going to meet Rembrary, they would interfere.

“Duke? Is there anything else you want to say?”

When Duke Ladderun frowned and stayed in place, another black magician asked. The Duke was about to say no, but he suddenly had an idea and changed his question.

“Can black magicians create diseases?”

* * *

Mulu swung his sword silently. His whole arm throbbed because he had moved too much, but Mulu didn’t stop.

The training grounds used by the apprentice paladins were open until dawn.

Anyone who wanted to practice could practice as much as they wanted even after class.

However, the children went to bed when it was time to rest, so the training grounds were empty by around 8 p.m., and no one was there except Mulu in the middle of the night. It had always been like this until now.

‘Is that him?’

Mulu stopped swinging his sword for a moment, wiped the sweat from his hands, and looked towards the side where the sound of the wind kept coming from.

Jeremi was swinging his sword continuously on the opposite side of the training grounds.

The boy had appeared with a sword one day.

Mulu, like the other apprentice paladins, thought that Jeremi would try hard for a while and then stop coming after a few days.

However, Jeremi appeared steadily. When he lasted for five days, Mulu noticed Jeremi for the first time.

Jeremi didn’t just spend time idly in the training grounds. The boy swung his sword with all his might. It was like himself.

One day, Mulu approached Jeremi and spoke to him.

“Why are you working so hard?”

Jeremi was startled and lowered his sword. Mulu strode towards him.

“Aren’t you tired if you do this until late?”

Jeremi shook his head, fiddling with the hilt of the lowered sword.

Mulu walked to a nearby bench and sat down. Mulu originally trained until late, but recently he had been swinging his sword until dawn because of Cheru.

After hearing that Cheru had lost contact, Mulu couldn’t sleep properly.

“Why are you working so hard?”

When Mulu asked again, Jeremi was puzzled. *Why is he asking me that when we’re not even close?*

“I have something to do.”

Still, Jeremi answered. Jeremi was also a little tired because he was repeating the life of practicing until dawn and coming out early in the morning. He wanted to talk to someone.

“What do you have to do?”

“Clear my parents’ names and avenge my enemies.”
Mulu recalled Jeremi shouting in the bathroom the other day.

“Is Rembrary your enemy?”

Jeremi paused and nodded.

“What about the false accusation?”

“There’s something like that.”

It was difficult to talk about his father being caught by the Inquisitorial Court [a religious court] for being involved in black magic, so Jeremi made excuses.

“I see.”

Mulu just nodded instead of asking more, grabbed his sword, and went back to his training area.

Jeremi also picked up his sword instead of feeling disappointed. His father was only forced to be with the black magicians because of their threats.

But if he became a great paladin, he might be able to punish those black magicians.

‘I think it would be nice to really become a paladin after I get revenge,’ Jeremi thought as he swung his sword again.

* * *

“What are you thinking about?”

Rembrary raised his head while turning the pages of the Holy Scripture on his lap. Ridal was approaching.

“If you have high expectations, you’ll be disappointed. I was thinking about that.”

“Is it because of the kids who keep giving you food?”

Rembrary frowned when he saw the card in Ridal’s hand and thought of his gold-plated card. *Why doesn’t that demon return the card?*

That’s when Ridal was about to ask something more.

“Rembrary.”

Rishuer approached from behind and called Rembrary. Rembrary turned around, and Rishuer said with a serious expression.

“Heather is calling for you.”

Ridal’s eyes widened. If Heather, the person in charge of this temple, is calling, it must be a big deal.

“I understand.”

Rembrary got up without asking for specific details. He’d find out when he got there anyway.

Ridal sighed as he watched Rembrary and Rishuer walking away. *Is Rembrary going to be away again?*

“If only I were stronger……”

Ridal’s muttering from behind was not heard by Rembrary and Rishuer, who had already walked far away.

Rishuer knocked on Heather’s door when he arrived in front of her room and waited for an answer.

When he heard a voice from inside telling him to come in, Rishuer immediately opened the door.

“Heather, what’s wrong?”

Rembrary asked as he entered the room. After asking the question, he saw several unknown priests sitting on the sofa with gloomy faces.

Heather answered with a serious face.

“Rembrary, an unidentified disease is spreading in a certain village.”

“Why?”

“That’s why it’s unidentified, right? Anyway, those priests came to ask you for help.”

Heather frowned. Rembrary could cure everything, undo the curses of black magicians, and heal himself.

Rembrary wouldn’t be harmed even if he went to a place where an unidentified disease was spreading.

But since Rembrary was still a child, she was reluctant to even ask if he would go to such a place.

“What do you want to do?”

“Then I’ll go and heal them.”

When Rembrary answered willingly, the priests who came to ask for help were relieved and praised Rembrary for a long time before returning.

Heather requested a large number of paladins because a series of disappearances of priests was occurring.

The paladins were short on manpower, but they sent as many paladins as they could.

Rembrary moved to the troubled village safely surrounded by a group of paladins.

But when he arrived in the village, there was an unexpected familiar face there.

‘Why are you here?’