Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 859

◈ 859. Trap

After Rembrary intervened, Ridal was allowed to accompany the secretary priest.

Ridal, excited, packed carefully for days and boarded the carriage.

The secretary priests stood at the entrance, watching Ridal with worried expressions.

“I don’t know if he’ll be alright.”

“Exactly. Rembrary will be safe anywhere, but Ridal…….”

Ridal was not as defensively strong as before.

Moreover, the place he was going was full of high-ranking priests, and there was even a high priest.

As a lay priest, Ridal was not in a position to be prioritized for protection.

If he were a small child, high-ranking priests or holy knights could carry him around, but Ridal was not that small.

Since he would be pushed back in priority if anything dangerous happened, the high priests of the Great Temple, who had watched Ridal since he was a child, couldn’t help but worry.

“It’s the path that child has chosen. It’s hard to watch, but we must keep an eye on him.”

The highest-ranking priest approached from behind, and the secretary priests simultaneously closed their mouths. However, even the highest-ranking priest who said that had a worried expression.

However, Ridal himself didn’t know what the priests were worried about.

Ridal was just happy to be going on this trip with Rembrary for the first time in years.

“Since you’re here, we’ll be able to stop the black magicians this time.”

“Of course.”

“Can I be of help too?”

“It depends on Ridal.”

Kentree, who was in the same carriage, was horrified by Rembrary’s firm words, but Ridal burst into laughter at Rembrary’s clumsy attempt not to comfort him.

* * *

“They say it’s your turn to step up.”

High Priest Iira said with a half-sunken expression, but Jiremi couldn’t hide his excitement.

Kneeling, Jiremi looked up at High Priest Iira with hope in his eyes.

“I have trained for a long time. Now the results will come out.”

“…….”

“I will do well.”

High Priest Iira nodded indifferently at Jiremi’s enthusiastic remarks.

“In the new world, they say you will be the prince, not that child. Your parents will also be released from prison and enjoy glory.”

Jiremi’s expression clouded as he thought of his parents, who must be suffering, but he soon nodded firmly.

“Yes.”

High Priest Iira closed her eyes and touched her head.

“If the Demon King takes over this place, the order of the world will change. New rulers will appear, and the existing rulers will step down.”

“This time, I will rise.”

“If you do well.”

High Priest Iira raised her hand to her head as if she had a headache and didn’t lower it.

When she seemed to have nothing more to say, Jiremi cautiously got up, bowed, and went outside.

The highest-ranking priest, who had been standing next to her like he wasn’t there, approached High Priest Iira as soon as the door closed.

Only then did High Priest Iira lower her hand and sigh.

* * *

Jiremi finished preparing to leave for the Northern Continent and stopped by the post office for a moment.

Jiremi, who bought a newspaper, stood blankly on the street, looking for news from home.

Then, with a determined expression, he walked somewhere.

The place where Jiremi stopped was a street where foreign students stayed.

As he took a seat at a nearby outdoor cafe, he saw groups of boys and girls carrying bags and moving here and there from time to time.

They seemed happy as they talked among themselves, and they didn’t even seem to have any worries even in this dangerous time.

Since the Central Continent has relatively few black magician invasions, nobles from other continents often send their children to schools near the Iira Great Temple these days.

‘Yurishi.’

Finally, Jiremi found the face he was looking for among the people and put down his glass.

Jiremi took out a coin, put it on the table, and slowly followed Yurishi.

Then, as Yurishi separated from the other boys and moved alone to take a carriage, he followed him more closely.

Perhaps sensing his presence, Yurishi stopped first and looked back when he arrived at a deserted place.

“Looks like you’re having fun.”

Jiremi also approached without hiding his appearance now.

“I heard you were missing? You were here?”

Yurishi looked surprised for a moment, then added after seeing Jiremi’s outfit.

“And you became an Iira Holy Knight? That’s completely unexpected.”

“Looks like you’re doing well.”

“Yeah.”

As Yurishi smiled softly, Jiremi involuntarily cursed.

“You conscienceless bastard.”

The smile disappeared from Yurishi’s face.

“Why me?”

“You were the one who talked to the Rembrary kidnapper. I just kept my mouth shut. But why is our family like this and you’re doing so well?”

“Why are you feeling wronged? Anyway, you kept your mouth shut too, right? Did I tell you to keep your mouth shut? It was your choice.”

“I hate seeing you, who did worse than me, doing well.”

“Well, I watched the situation and stayed quiet, and you stepped up and made things bigger. Like your parents.”

“!”

Yurishi checked the time, frowned, and asked.

“Did you come here to talk about that? I’m busy.”

Jiremi hesitated.

He had already confirmed that Yurishi had come to study here several years ago.

However, he was reluctant to meet his old friend, who was still living well, in a changed form, so he only watched him from afar and did not show himself.

Then, when he was given a big mission this time, he came to ask Yurishi for help. He didn’t expect it to turn into a fight like this when he first started talking.

“If you have a conscience, help me.”

Jiremi muttered in a slightly subdued voice than before.

Yurishi put his watch back in his pocket and raised his eyebrows.

“With what?”

“With me finding my place.”

“How are you going to find it?”

“There’s a way. A way that will be easier if you help me.”

A smile closer to sympathy than before appeared on Yurishi’s lips.

“Jiremi, the only help I can give you is advice.”

“Advice?”

“What your parents did, say you were young and didn’t know anything and get your feet out of the mud [escape the situation]. Even now.”

“!”

“I guess you’re trying to do something too, but I recommend staying still.”

The moment Yurishi turned around after speaking. Jiremi couldn’t hold back any longer and punched him.

* * *

More monsters than before attacked throughout the journey, but there was no full-scale attack like when he met Mullu last time.

“You’re having a good time. When I came last time, the entire road was densely filled with monsters! Everywhere. And a demon was laughing in the middle of them.”

Kentree clung to the corner of the carriage whenever the holy knights fought monsters, but when the fight was over, he boasted to Ridal about the adventure he had experienced only once.

Ridal wanted to say that he used to go to dangerous areas often, but he gave up and just smiled and nodded.

“I see.”

Rembrary was mostly dozing off. He seemed to sleep well on trips, whether he was young or now.

Thus, the group safely arrived in the Northern Continent this time as well.

Without unpacking their luggage at the inn, they went straight to the Kamel Great Temple, and unlike last time, the holy knights let them in.

“Welcome, Rembrary. Let’s talk right away.”

Morso even stood in the main building’s entrance and approached Rembrary, talking to him right away.

It was when Rembrary and the holy knights were about to enter together. Morso drew a firm line.

“Guide the others to their rooms.”

As he indirectly told the highest-ranking priest of Kamel that he would only meet Rembrary, the highest-ranking priest quickly stepped forward.

“I will.”

Kentree and Ridal knew Rembrary’s personality, so they exchanged worried glances.

* * *

Morso’s room minimized unnecessary items, making it seem empty even though it was already large.

Rembrary compared the high priest’s room in the Redrin Temple to this room and laughed.

“Do you like it?”

When Morso asked after seeing that, Rembrary quickly answered.

“The interior here is a bit bleak.”

“…….”

“If you make it more colorful―”

“I like it. Don’t interfere.”

After asking himself. Rembrary looked at Morso sullenly, then discovered the Kamel statue and walked towards it.

Morso was about to tell him to sit down and talk, but he remembered a story he had vaguely heard before after seeing that.

It was the story that Rembrary had talked to not only Redrin but also Iira and Lumena.

‘Why is he doing that?’ ‘Did he perhaps talk to Kamel?’ Morso involuntarily became nervous.

“What do you want me to help you with that you called me?”

However, Rembrary did not talk about the Kamel God. He only looked at the statue for a moment and then turned around and asked him a question.

Morso was slightly relieved and answered.

“I did my best to stop the black magicians.”

“Ah, did you call me to comfort you?”

“And until right before I knew I had failed, I always thought everything was going well. You might find it funny because you keep hearing about my failures, but I was actually winning every battle. What do you think this means?”

“There’s an enemy inside.”

Morso was preparing to explain, thinking that Rembrary would say nonsense again this time, but he was surprised and raised his eyebrows.

“That’s right. I think so too.”

“Who is it? Do you have anyone you suspect?”

“No. That’s the problem. There’s no one I suspect.”

“So that’s why you called me? Because I’m someone you can trust?”

Morso smiled, recalling his bold first meeting with the young Rembrary.

He didn’t call Rembrary because he trusted him. He had to suspect those around him, so he called Rembrary, who had nothing to suspect or trust.

A high-ranking priest named Rabsus from the Lumena Temple also had similar conditions, but Morso chose Rembrary out of the two.

“That’s right. I can trust you.”

However, instead of telling such a story, Morso gave in to the child’s mood.

“And you tend to say everything you have to say in front of me. Instead of ambushing from behind.”

“I was actually going to become an Inquisitor. If the High Priest wants, I can check everyone I suspect one by one!”

“That’s not necessary. Listen. I have a plan―”

* * *

When Rembrary returned to the lodgings, Ridal was practicing creating a barrier with divine power.

Ridal quickly hid the barrier when the door opened and muttered in an embarrassed voice.

“I haven’t used it much lately, so I practiced. I have to use it well in real combat. What did the Kamel High Priest say?”

“He said let’s go to the suspected area together tomorrow.”

Ridal’s eyes widened.

“Tomorrow? Already? That’s fast. I should get plenty of rest today.”

“I’m going to.”

“Do I have to pack? What should I pack? Where are we going?”

“It’s a distance that can be reached in about a day, and there’s a village nearby, so from there―”

Rembrary closed his mouth when he was about to say the location where Morso had set up the trap.

“Why?”

The trap Morso set was dangerous.

The most dangerous role in that trap was Morso himself, but there was no knowing how things would go in real combat.

Rembrary looked at the weakened Ridal. There was no possibility that Ridal was Morso’s traitor. But did he really have to take him to that trap?

“It would be better for Ridal to stay this time.”

At Rembrary’s words, who had come to a conclusion on his own, Ridal asked back in confusion.

“Huh? Why?”

“This mission has nothing to do with Ridal.”

“!”