Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 844

◈ 844. Who Said That to Me?

Jiremy fidgeted with the letter.

-Jiremy has nowhere to return to right now. Please pretend you don’t know, Lord Mullu.

Seeing this reminded him of the old days, when he often visited the palace to see Rembrary.

Once, while the three of them were playing on the staircase railing, he accidentally broke an ornament attached to the edge of the stairs.

It turned out that the ornament was a symbol of peace exchanged with a foreign king.

Breaking such a precious item! Jiremy was terrified and burst into tears.

-It’s okay.

But Rembrary didn’t get angry and calmly comforted him.

Then, when the chancellor saw the shattered symbol and jumped up, asking who had done it, he immediately tattled.

-Jiremy broke it.

The Emperor forgave him, but Jiremy was still scared and trembled.

-My father will scold me terribly.

To the terrified Jiremy, Rembrary kindly suggested:

-If you’re worried about going back, stay at our house until the Duke’s anger subsides.

“…….”

Recalling the memory, Jiremy’s hand clenched tightly. ‘This bastard hasn’t changed at all. Always giving poison and then medicine,’ he thought.

Jiremy crumpled the letter and stuffed it into his pocket.

Things were different now than they were back then. He and Rembrary were no longer children worried about breaking precious items and getting scolded by their parents.

‘Now, the two of us can’t live under the same sky. Since you and your parents messed with my parents, I won’t let you and your parents get away with it either.’

Jiremy packed his bags and left the Holy Knight training camp right away.

“Huh? Where are you going?”

He ran into Ninling, but Jiremy left without explaining. Ninling was a good roommate, but he would never see that friend again.

‘I can’t go home. Soldiers will be guarding to catch me.’

Trundling along, Jiremy loitered near the carriage rental place for a while.

Almost an hour later, Jiremy entered the shop.

The carriage, carrying the child, stopped near the Ladderun Duchy’s villa.

“Please drop me off here.”

Jiremy deliberately got off nearby and walked to the villa on foot.

This was not a large villa in a famous tourist or resort area, but a relatively small, secluded villa.

He came to this small, remote place because he was worried that the Emperor’s soldiers might already be at the large villa.

“Oh, young master!”

The caretaker, who was carrying hay, jumped up and approached Jiremy.

“Where have you been! Just two days ago, soldiers from the palace came looking for you. It’s a relief that you came after they left!”

“My parents……?”

“They are both in prison.”

The caretaker took out a handkerchief, wiped his eyes, and sniffled.

Jiremy went inside and headed to the room he always used. The room was well-organized.

“Would you like something to eat?”

The caretaker followed, leaving the cart behind, and asked.

“Yes. Just a little bread or something.”

Jiremy nodded, then, remembering the purpose of his visit, asked.

“Are there any of my father’s guests here?”

“There were. But they all left after the commotion.”

As the caretaker left, Jiremy rubbed his itchy palms vigorously.

Those guests were probably black magicians.

Even though the caretaker might betray him, Jiremy had come to the villa specifically to meet those black magicians.

“Young master, what are you planning to do now?”

Not long after, the caretaker brought three or four pieces of mushy bread on a plate and asked.

“What do you mean, what am I going to do?”

“The Duke and Duchess, and the Ladderun family… If the Duke is gone, you will have to lead the family now. You are young, so even if you are caught, you will be released soon.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Jiremy was frightened by the caretaker’s use of the phrase ‘caught’ and sent him out of the room.

His appetite disappeared, and he picked up the bread and put it down again when someone asked beside him.

“It’s a waste, why don’t you eat it?”

Jiremy screamed softly and turned around. A person with their face covered in a black cloak was sitting on the bed.

‘A black magician!’

Jiremy recognized who the cloak was. But without showing it, he tried to ask calmly.

“D, do you, do you want one?”

“It’s okay. I’m just an illusion right now. I can’t eat anything.”

The cloak showed his hand, which looked real no matter how you looked at it, and asked.

“You’re the Duke’s runaway son, aren’t you?”

“Y, yes.”

“It’s obvious where you’ve been. You smell unpleasant.”

“!”

“But why did you come back here? Why aren’t you at the temple?”

It wasn’t a temple, but a Holy Knight training camp. It seemed that the black magician couldn’t distinguish that far.

Of course, that wasn’t important right now.

“I want to avenge Rembrary and protect my family.”

“Huh?”

“Then what should I do?”

“Oh ho.”

The black magician crossed his legs at the request of the child, who was trembling but resolute.

“Interesting. Rembrary, you mean that kid, the Redrin High Priest candidate. The kid with healing abilities.”

“That’s right.”

“You and your father are strange. I don’t know why you keep bringing up that kid. What are you trying to avenge on that kid?”

When the black magician asked as if he was genuinely curious, Jiremy got angry and shouted.

“That’s none of your business.”

After saying it, he realized that it wasn’t none of his business, but Jiremy couldn’t take back his words.

Fortunately, the black magician didn’t seem too upset. He just stared at the window as if recalling something.

“There is a good way. But it’s not a good way.”

“I don’t care.”

“If you put that kid Rembrary into a demon summoning circle, you can avenge him without a trace. You will also have the power to protect your family.”

“How will I get the power?”

“You can make a temporary contract with a demon. In exchange for completing the summoning circle, ask them to give you power.”

The corners of the black magician’s mouth, revealed under the cloak, turned up sinisterly.

“Just don’t let the demon know who you’re trying to avenge.”

Jiremy pondered and nodded.

“Okay.”

Jiremy put his hand in his pocket and gripped the letter Rembrary had written. He knew where Rembrary was.

* * *

The group traveled non-stop from the Great Temple to the Cliff of the Departed.

Except for brief stays at inns at night, there was not even a moment of free time.

This was because finding the missing people was urgent.

Lydal was exhausted from the long-awaited trip and was half-hanging on the carriage window.

“How are you so energetic?”

The Highest Priest, also leaning weakly against the carriage back, admired Rembrary.

“It’s thanks to Redrin [divine energy].”

When the group arrived at a village near the Cliff of the Departed, they finally unpacked completely.

The Highest Priest, entrusting the carriage and horses to the inn, immediately met with the priests there.

“Thank you for coming.”

The priests there were deeply moved by the Highest Priest’s visit and were half-crying.

“These two children…….”

After a while, they belatedly discovered Rembrary and Lydal and cautiously spoke.

“They are children who are no different from High Priest candidates.”

The Highest Priest patted Rembrary and Lydal on the shoulders and asked.

“More importantly, what about the missing people? Haven’t you found them yet?”

“No.”

“How did forty-nine people disappear at the same time?”

“Screams near the Cliff of the Departed…….”

Rembrary and Lydal didn’t hear the rest of the story because the Highest Priest and the other priests went upstairs to the inn, talking among themselves.

“You two should eat something.”

Trying to follow, the secretary priest grabbed the two children, sat them down at a table, and ordered the local specialties.

However, after hearing such stories, the food couldn’t possibly go down properly. Lydal couldn’t eat more than a few bites and just held the fork.

Rembrary seemed to be eating well without a care, but by now everyone at the Great Temple knew that Rembrary always ate well.

But as the meal was almost over, Rembrary suddenly started walking towards the inn door.

“Where are you going?”

Lydal, who had been fiddling with the dishes, was surprised and stood up.

“We have to find the people.”

“Huh? What about the Highest Priest?”

“The story is getting too long.”

Rembrary answered nonchalantly, then went outside the inn and took out all the feathers and threw them into the air.

“What? We have to wait for the Highest Priest!”

Lydal tried to stop him, but the fluttering feathers were already rising to Rembrary’s eye level.

“The feathers are floating!”

“Oh my gosh, look at that!”

The onlookers were amazed and whispered as several feathers rose as high as the child’s height.

“That kid must be the one. That kid Rembrary. They say he’s a High Priest candidate.”

“Weren’t there two of them……?”

“That Rembrary is the one who uses feathers.”

Whether people whispered or not, Rembrary was calmly looking in the direction the feathers were pointing.

Looking at his calm attitude, Lydal suddenly felt motivated. He wanted to have a friendly competition with Rembrary.

Others treated him and Rembrary as one, but Lydal knew that Rembrary was more likely to become a High Priest.

But since it wasn’t decided yet, he still wanted to compete to the best of his ability until the end.

“Lydal.”

Lydal, who was full of motivation, came to his senses when he heard Rembrary’s quiet voice.

“Yeah?”

“Look at that.”

Rembrary pointed to the feathers with his eyes.

Lydal looked in the direction Rembrary was pointing and widened his eyes.

The feathers were all pointing in the same direction.

* * *

Another Holy Knight called the Highest Priest, and the group immediately began to move, following the feathers.

“I’ll send you away before the battle starts, but if the enemy suddenly attacks, Rembrary, Lydal, you two must protect each other and go down to the village first. Understood? Don’t worry about anything else, just focus on protecting each other.”

The Highest Priest kept urging Lydal and Rembrary as he climbed the mountain.

Lydal didn’t answer.

“Yes, yes.”

Rembrary answered diligently, but the Highest Priest trusted the silent Lydal more than the answering Rembrary.

Finally, the group arrived near the cliff.

But here they ran into trouble.

The direction the feathers were pointing this time was down the cliff.

“This is a big problem. I don’t know if we can go down here.”

The secretary priest muttered, looking down at the bottomless abyss.

“That’s right. Moreover, with this slope and height, going down is a problem, and coming up is also a problem.”

The Highest Priest also muttered worriedly.

Rembrary tilted his head, watching the scene from behind. Rembrary wasn’t doing this because of the height.

‘Why does this place look familiar?’

Even though he didn’t remember this place, he had a strange feeling that he had been here before.

‘Did I come here and forget about it?’

As he was rummaging through his memories, Lydal whispered from behind.

“Weren’t you missing here before?”

“Here?”

Rembrary muttered and looked to the side, raising his eyebrows.

There was no one next to him.

Rembrary looked at the Highest Priest. Lydal was next to the Highest Priest, cautiously sticking his head out and looking down.

Then who said that?

“Did someone say that to me?”

Still, just in case, he asked the Holy Knight next to him, and the Holy Knight turned his head as if he had just woken up, saying, “Huh?” He seemed to be distracted by looking at the cliff.

“Who said something to you?”

The Holy Knight asked back instead.

Rembrary looked at the sky diagonally above. A faint rose scent mixed with the wind.