Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 828

◈ 828. Ardor is Tempted

“It’s Duke Ladderun.”

Who was Duke Ladderun again? Ridal blinked. Anyway, being a duke meant he was someone important.

“Is he your friend?”

“His son used to play with me sometimes.”

Gahiger, who was coming down the stairs, overheard this and approached, asking,

“But why would he be attacking you?”

“The people who attacked said they didn’t know either. They said they were just doing what they were told for money.”

‘And you? You don’t suspect anyone?’ Gahiger swallowed the question that had risen to his throat.

But by then, Rembrary was already recalling two children he had long forgotten: Jeremi and Yurishi.

They were friends assigned to him because the adults deemed them ‘most suitable to play with the youngest prince.’

There weren’t any major problems when they played together back then, except for the very last incident.

‘Is Duke Ladderun attacking me because of that incident?’

Gahiger noticed something in Rembrary’s expression but pretended not to and ordered food.

While Gahiger ate, Rembrary quietly ate his sugar-laden food as well.

Then, when everyone was finished eating, he spoke as if ordering more food.

“I need to meet Duke Ladderun.”

Gahiger was appalled. A man who sends assassins after a child couldn’t be in his right mind. And he was going to meet him!

“It’s dangerous. We can just hand those assassins over to the prison and let it be known that Duke Ladderun attacked you. There’s no need for you to go meet him yourself.”

Ridal nodded vigorously at those words. Right, there was no need to meet him in person.

“Um… High Priest.”

However, the paladin, who had been watching, carefully interjected.

“The assassins bit their tongues and killed themselves.”

Ridal’s eyes widened.

Gahiger was also surprised by the unexpected words and looked at the paladin.

“I thought you might not be able to eat if you heard it during the meal…”

Come to think of it, the paladin had only been eating thin soup.

Ridal glanced at Gahiger.

Gahiger hurriedly changed his words, worried that Rembrary might say again, ‘I’ll meet him after all.’

“Then write a letter, Rembrary. Tattle to your parents in a letter.”

“I’ve left the secular world.”

“Leaving the secular world doesn’t mean cutting off all ties.”

As Gahiger spoke, he worried that the child might insist out of pride and arrogance.

Being such a remarkable child, he might try to solve everything with his own power.

“I will.”

Contrary to his worries, Rembrary immediately changed his mind. Gahiger sighed in relief.

* * *

Unfortunately, the letter Rembrary sent was discovered by the black magician first.

When the horse fell, knocking both the horse and the messenger unconscious, the black magician walked up to them and picked up the scroll letter that was rolling away in the wind.

‘I knew Duke Ladderun would do something stupid again. I’m glad I followed him.’

After reading the letter, the black magician dropped a drop of dark red liquid on the messenger’s head. As soon as the liquid touched him, the messenger turned into a lump of mud and disappeared.

The black magician went straight to Duke Ladderun.

“You never do anything right.”

The black magician threw the scroll letter, and Duke Ladderun, bewildered, took the paper. The duke’s face turned pale at once after reading the letter.

“This is…”

The duke couldn’t finish his sentence and looked up.

“The assassins you sent failed again. You’d be more helpful if you did nothing at all.”

The black magician spoke coldly and looked down at the duke, asking what he was going to do now.

The duke paced anxiously around the room. He felt more bewildered than angry.

Prince Rembrary had informed his parents that Duke Ladderun was sending assassins.

They wouldn’t arrest him immediately just based on the young prince’s words, but this alone was fatal to the Duke’s family. The Emperor and Empress could find fault with him on any pretext.

“What are you going to do now?”

The black magician asked coldly, and the duke stupidly asked back.

“What should I do?”

“Damn it. I didn’t know the assassins wouldn’t be able to handle one little kid!”

The duke spat out a curse.

The black magician wanted to throw those words right back at the duke.

He wanted to cut ties with the duke and turn away, telling him to do as he pleased.

But the hideout, secular power, and vast wealth provided by the duke were quite useful to them.

Right now, the black magicians were preparing something that could change the landscape of the world.

The massive upheaval, where those who were at the very bottom of society would rise to the top, and gods and demon kings would be overturned, was just around the corner.

There had been attempts to summon the Demon King before, but it was extremely rare for the Demon King to be this actively involved.

“Let’s do this.”

The black magician suggested in a heavy voice after much deliberation.

“There’s a lake in Libulen Palace, right? I heard that the power crystals of several former high priests are submerged in it. Is that correct?”

Duke Ladderun nodded.

“That’s right.”

Not only Libulen Palace, but any royal family with a long history had at least one such treasure.

The power emanating from it protected the palace, so black magicians dared not use their power around the palace, and monsters could not invade.

“If you take care of that crystal, we will use the Emperor, Empress, princes, and princesses to protect you from being touched by them.”

“!”

* * *

They worried that assassins would keep coming, but after one attack, no more enemies came.

The carriage carrying Rembrary and Ridal safely entered the Great Temple a few days before December.

Rembrary got out of the carriage and looked at the dining hall with brave eyes.

Rembrary knew he would come here again. Rembrary had never failed to eat the food he wanted.

“Come on, let’s go. Let’s go.”

Gahiger patted the children’s shoulders, urging them to go forward.

Rembrary held the bundle containing his precious belongings tightly in his hand and followed Gahiger closely.

* * *

While Rembrary entered the Great Temple, unexpectedly reunited with Kentry, and became accustomed to life there, Duke Ladderun carefully reviewed the black magician’s proposal several times.

It was a time not far from the festival.

Ordinary people made various glass ornaments and prepared various gifts to commemorate the festival, but the duke had no time to pay attention to such things.

“I think that man has become a bit strange lately.”

The Duchess, seeing the Duke wandering alone in the garden even at night and associating with suspicious people, said worriedly to the maid.

“It must be because the young master ran away from home.”

The maid also thought the Duke had become a bit scary, but she tried to speak kindly for the Duchess’s sake.

“He seems to have changed since he went to the Inquisitorial Office.”

The Duchess whispered in a small voice, then stopped speaking as a cold wind blew, giving her goosebumps.

Even during that time, Duke Ladderun was lost in his own thoughts and 고민했고 [agonized], and finally made his own decision.

“Alright. Our family can’t be enemies with the black magicians anyway. If I can’t get off the carriage, I have no choice but to help with all my might.”

As soon as Duke Ladderun made his decision, he went to the palace. It wasn’t just the people who were busy preparing for the festival.

The royal family was also twice as busy as usual. If he wanted to do something in that gap, now was the right time.

“I’m sorry. The carriage from the Ladderun Dukedom cannot enter.”

However, the carriage carrying Duke Ladderun could not even pass through the gate of the massive wall.

“What are you talking about? What do you mean I can’t enter?”

Duke Ladderun raised his voice, feeling unnecessarily guilty, but the guards didn’t budge.

“Didn’t you go to the Inquisitorial Office? There were instructions to block your entry in case of an emergency.”

“That matter has been resolved as nothing.”

“But the entry ban has not been overturned.”

Duke Ladderun was dumbfounded.

Before coming here, he was still at a loss as to how to bring the crystal in the lake even after entering the palace, but now he felt unfairly blocked right in front of him, as if everything would go well if he could just get inside.

Duke Ladderun eventually returned home.

When he consulted the black magician about this, the black magician replied as if it were someone else’s business.

“How to handle that is up to the Duke. If it were something I could do, why would I have entrusted it to the Duke?”

In his bedroom, Duke Ladderun glared out the window at the people running around the streets and playing happily.

What should I do? He had to do something quickly. Prince Rembrary might notice that his letter had disappeared midway and send another letter, even tomorrow.

* * *

“Rembrary, do you think your parents received the letter you sent?”

It was a day in mid-December, busy with preparations for the festival. Ridal sat facing Rembrary, doing homework, and whispered.

Rembrary glanced at the homework Ridal was doing and shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

Contrary to Duke Ladderun’s worries, Rembrary had completely forgotten about the letter after sending it.

What Rembrary was most concerned about these days was news about Cheru.

Unlike the Florandia Temple, all sorts of information gathered at this Great Temple.

Rembrary had thought that Cheru would be safe until now because she was strong. But recently, he learned that there had been no contact from Cheru’s group yet.

But Ridal couldn’t know because Rembrary didn’t voice his concerns.

Ridal just thought Rembrary was really carefree and sighed.

But no matter how much Rembrary worried about Cheru, it wasn’t as much as her own brother, Mullu.

Mullu couldn’t even eat properly if he didn’t check the mailbox three or four times a day.

On the other hand, Lapsus was preparing for the festival relatively calmly. As the opportunity to meet the Redrin Temple novice priests disappeared, Lapsus’s heart quickly found peace.

And the novice paladin Ardor heard tremendous news that would change his future for the first time that day.

* * *

Ardor put down his sword and wiped the sweat flowing from his forehead.

A young man who looked about ten years older than Ardor gasped for breath and muttered as if complaining.

“You’re… really… crazy.”

The young man lowered his sword, startled when someone struck his sword with a wooden sword from behind, causing him to jump.

“You’re crazy, you! Where did you learn to swear at my disciple!”

Soon, a sharp rebuke scolded him. The young man knew who had appeared before he even turned around and protested.

“The way he charges at you makes him look like a baby beast! The kid’s eyes go crazy, and he rushes in without looking back!”

“If this were the wild, senior would have been bitten to death by me.”

Ardor muttered, and the young man shouted even more vehemently.

“He’s got no manners either!”

“Where did you learn to swear at my disciple!”

However, Ardor’s teacher, who had appeared, was biased. The young man slammed his sword on the ground in frustration and grumbled.

“Why can’t the captain hear him swearing?!”

But Ardor was no longer interested in either the young man or his teacher. Ardor was thirsty and walked alone to the water fountain.

“So, are those two the high priest candidates in the Redrin Temple too?”

Ardor only poured water into his cup, not caring about other temples’ affairs, even though he heard the whispering conversation across from the water fountain.

“Wouldn’t they be? They took only those two directly to the Great Temple.”

“But I heard Lapsus is still a novice priest even though he’s the same age. Then isn’t Lapsus more outstanding?”

“I heard that’s because the Redrin Temple has an age limit.”

“I still think Lapsus is more amazing.”

“It’s not something to dismiss like that. One of them is from a prince, and he can even revive the dead.”

“That’s blatantly exaggerated. Is that even human?”

Ardor wiped his mouth with his sleeve and turned around after finishing his water, hearing them giggle among themselves across from him.

“Even if it’s an exaggeration, there must be something to it. There was a commotion in the Warubu Territory before. Many of our paladins were injured too.”

Ardor paused for the first time when the story of the Warubu Territory came up.

That was where he had gone with his teacher after hearing about Lapsus, wondering, ‘Could he be my benefactor?’

Lapsus wasn’t his benefactor after all, and his teacher had immediately taken him away when the situation seemed to be getting bigger than expected.

Anyway, he met his benefactor there for the second time. It was strange whether it was reality or illusion.

“I heard his performance there was amazing?”

Ardor tilted his head. What is this story?