Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 860

◈ 860. Who Set the Trap

Ryder stared at Rembrary, shocked, struggling to process what he’d just heard.

A wave of disappointment washed over him. “This mission has nothing to do with me? You think it’s better for me to stay behind this time?”

*Does this mean I’m useless, so I should stay put? That I’m no longer an asset, and bringing me along would only be a burden?*

Tears welled up in Ryder’s eyes.

Rembrary had been the one person who had treated him with unwavering consistency from the beginning, even when others pitied him.

To have even Rembrary point out his perceived uselessness was almost unbearable.

“Rembrary, I… I…”

Ryder stammered, unable to articulate his feelings.

Just then, the door slid open with a creak.

Rembrary turned his head, his expression indifferent.

It was Kentry who entered.

“Man, the Camuel Great Temple is so depressing. Seriously, even the bathroom is depressing,” Kentry grumbled as he walked in, then noticed the heavy atmosphere in the room. “Uh…? Did you two have a fight?”

Ryder was known for his gentle nature, and Rembrary was usually laid-back.

*What reason would these two have to fight, especially here in someone else’s Great Temple?* Kentry looked back and forth between Rembrary and Ryder, puzzled.

Rembrary, his voice unchanged, simply said, “No,” and then gave Kentry the same instruction: “You stay behind too.”

“Huh?” Kentry and Ryder asked in unison, though with different inflections.

“What are you talking about?”

“This mission has nothing to do with you either. You’re staying here,” Rembrary stated, repeating the words he’d used with Ryder.

Ryder looked at Rembrary, confused. *So, it wasn’t because I was weak that he told me to stay? Why is he telling Kentry to stay as well?*

Kentry stared blankly at Rembrary before asking, “I think about this sometimes, Rembrary. Do you sometimes just naturally talk down to people…?”

“You stay too, Kentry.”

Rembrary immediately repeated the same words, his tone unchanged, but the message clear.

Instead of being shocked, Kentry asked, a puzzled tone in his voice, “Why?”

“Tomorrow’s mission doesn’t involve either of you.”

“Still, wouldn’t it be better for us to go? Even one more ally could be helpful.”

“No. For tomorrow’s mission, the more reliable the ally, the more important it is for them to stay behind.”

At Rembrary’s meaningful words, Kentry and Ryder simultaneously opened their mouths.

“Could it be…?”

Kentry started to ask, but stopped when Ryder covered his mouth.

Rembrary yawned as if he’d said all he needed to, then walked into the bathroom.

Kentry watched the closing door and grinned. “I don’t mind not going. Safety first.”

Ryder, however, wanted to go. Even if it was dangerous, he felt he needed to take the risk to grow.

But unlike before, he wasn’t as devastated. Rembrary wasn’t telling him to stay because of his perceived lack of ability.

“I… want to go.”

But Ryder’s enthusiasm quickly faded.

Rembrary always spoke like that. So, there was no reason to feel newly hurt by it.

Ryder recalled how he hadn’t been so easily swayed by Rembrary’s words in the past.

*Just like how Kentry wouldn’t be hurt at all if he heard the words ‘don’t come’ today.*

*I… I’ve become weak, so my self-esteem has taken a hit.*

Ryder curled up on the sofa, feeling powerless.

“What? What’s with the atmosphere again?” Kentry looked back and forth between the bathroom and the sofa, bewildered.

* * *

The next day, Rembrary packed a simple bag and left the Great Temple.

Kentry waved excitedly. “Have a good trip!”

Ryder watched the departing carriage with a worried expression.

“He’ll be fine. He’s Rembrary, after all,” Kentry said, patting Ryder’s shoulder.

“Yeah. That’s right.”

Still, Ryder nodded weakly.

* * *

Rembrary traveled on horseback with Moroso and the Camuel Holy Knights.

Moroso held the reins with one hand and occasionally glanced at Rembrary.

Because the matter was serious, he had requested help from the young High Priest, but he was still concerned.

However, Rembrary showed no signs of fatigue, and his posture was perfect. His posture while riding a horse looked like it was straight out of a picture book.

What was surprising was that Rembrary had just crossed two continents until yesterday. Yet, the child showed no signs of fatigue.

Maybe it was just his imagination, but even the horse Rembrary was riding looked particularly energetic.

Just then, Rembrary noticed his gaze and turned his head, asking, “Why?”

Moroso frowned and turned his head away. “No. I was just watching because you ride well.”

“I am good at riding.”

Moroso let out a hollow laugh. *That kid never humbles himself.*

But Rembrary didn’t seem to care what anyone thought and looked ahead again.

Moroso thought Rembrary was a very strange kid.

Others felt uncomfortable around him, the High Priest, but Rembrary seemed to have no ulterior motives while treating him, which was amusing.

*Was it from confidence? Or just his personality?*

Moroso turned his head back forward and said with conviction, “For quite a long time, only Mary and I have gathered for the High Priest meetings. Next time, three of us will gather.”

* * *

After Rembrary left with Moroso, the already bleak atmosphere of the Camuel Great Temple felt even more desolate.

*Rembrary is right. The interior here is too drab.*

Ryder took a walk in the garden, but the atmosphere seemed to get heavier, so he eventually returned to his lodgings.

Ryder entered the room and stood facing the wall, feeling empty for a moment.

*I wish I had homework like when I was a child.*

Ryder smiled bitterly as he recalled his days in Florandia, filled with a regular routine, enjoyable activities, and friends.

But as he took off his coat and folded it, he noticed a strange letter on the bed.

*What is this? Did it get delivered to the wrong place?*

Ryder approached it, puzzled. The letter hadn’t been there before he went out for a walk. Moreover, upon closer inspection, there was no name written on the envelope.

*Can I look inside? Is it even for me?*

Ryder picked up the envelope and checked the front and back.

If a name was written, he could at least consider it someone else’s letter. But since both the sender’s and recipient’s names were omitted, it was even more perplexing.

Just then, someone knocked on the window.

Ryder raised his head and saw someone standing outside.

Ryder’s eyes widened as he recognized the visitor.

“You…!”

* * *

Rembrary, Moroso, and the Camuel Holy Knights finally arrived at the location Moroso had identified as the next dangerous area.

The group left their horses and luggage in a nearby village and walked into the mountains with only a single bag each.

Rembrary arrived in front of a cave in the middle of the mountain and said, amazed, “They often set up secret passages in caves, don’t they?”

“Was it like that in the Southern Continent too?”

Rembrary nodded.

Moroso simply acknowledged the comment, but he wasn’t very interested in the topic, so instead of saying more, he signaled the Holy Knights with his eyes.

The three Holy Knights who received the signal quickly lit long torches and entered the cave ahead of them.

Moroso followed them with Rembrary, keeping a safe distance.

They followed the torchbearers for a long time.

At some point, the cave passage suddenly widened, and a space large enough to accommodate about 50 people appeared.

Two Holy Knights lit more torches and stood against the wall at regular intervals with the three who had lit the torches earlier.

As the entire space brightened, the Holy Knights looked at Moroso with tense faces.

However, unlike usual, Moroso did not give them instructions but looked down at Rembrary and asked, “Rembrary, do you remember what I explained?”

*Explained?* The Holy Knights looked at Rembrary, hearing this for the first time.

Rembrary nodded.

“You said the High Priest would enter through the large passage.”

“That’s right. I’m going to go in there and turn whatever black magician or monster is inside into dust. It would be cumbersome if anyone came in, so you must absolutely prevent anyone from entering.”

“I understand. I remember.”

Moroso pointed to the left this time.

“That’s a side path. The side path and the right passage might be connected separately. So, black magicians might escape through the side path. What did I say to do then?”

“You said to stop them, whether by killing or capturing.”

Moroso patted Rembrary’s shoulder.

“Good.”

Then, Moroso said loudly, as if for everyone to hear, “Rembrary, you must hold back anyone who appears from the ‘large passage’ that I entered, no matter who they are, *until I return*. Got it?”

Having said all he needed to, Moroso gave Rembrary an intense look. His eyes seemed to be asking, *Do you remember all the conversations we had yesterday?*

When Rembrary nodded, Moroso patted Rembrary’s shoulder again and went straight into the right cave passage.

“I will go with you,” one of the Holy Knights said.

The Holy Knights tried to follow, but Moroso raised his hand to stop them.

“That won’t be necessary. You’ll just be in the way.”

Moroso eventually entered the cave alone.

Rembrary was left in the same space with the Camuel Holy Knights.

The Camuel Holy Knights were awkward and kept glancing at Rembrary.

They knew that Moroso had asked this young High Priest for help.

They had no idea what kind of help he had requested.

Because ‘guarding the side path and attacking anyone who comes’ that Moroso had said earlier was something that could be done even without Rembrary.

The clever Holy Knights guessed that Moroso had entrusted Rembrary with something else besides the words he had shouted as if for them to hear.

*Something that required calling a famous High Priest from the farthest continent.*

However, perhaps because it was a dangerous situation with four passages already completed, Moroso became increasingly tight-lipped about the mission as the days went by.

In this atmosphere, it was awkward for the Holy Knights to ask the unfamiliar Rembrary what Moroso had said.

It was when everyone was keeping their mouths shut and letting time pass that a rustling sound began to come from beyond the cave.

*What’s that sound?* The Holy Knights tensed up and looked towards the source of the noise.

Rembrary also grabbed a bow that looked more like a decoration and looked towards the sound.

The dry grass rustled again.

But only the sound came, and no one entered.

After a while, someone finally came in from outside.

Unexpectedly, it was a lay priest of Rembrary’s age.

The person who appeared touched the cave wall as he came in, then looked around, seemingly embarrassed to see the gathered people.

The Holy Knight next to Rembrary recognized the lay priest’s face and subtly asked Rembrary, “Isn’t that lay priest the one who came from the Redrin Temple with you, High Priest?”

Instead of answering, Rembrary immediately raised his voice slightly higher than usual.

“Why have you come?”

The lay priest looked at the many Holy Knights with a flustered expression and explained, “Ah, I heard that you were in danger, so I came to save you. I didn’t know it was… this kind of atmosphere. What’s going on right now?”

As the lay priest awkwardly looked around, the Holy Knight near the entrance bluntly suggested, “Hey, Priest. It’s better to go back now because coming here will cause misunderstandings.”

“Huh? Misunderstandings? What kind of—”

Before the lay priest could finish speaking, Rembrary pulled out an arrow in the blink of an eye and shot it straight at the lay priest.

“!”