Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 882

◈ 882. Rembrary’s Invitation (2)

A world overflowing with Redrin’s blessing—could it be a place where light shines from the ground?

Jang Tae-ri didn’t understand Rembrary’s words, but the lengthy introduction did ease some of his tension.

As Rembrary turned and exited the cave first, Jang Tae-ri followed behind, filled with a sense of adventure.

Stepping outside, the view was slightly brighter than inside the cave, revealing a lush forest. The cave opened directly into the forest.

Suddenly, Jang Tae-ri stopped abruptly, noticing a sparkling light flitting past.

As Jang Tae-ri watched in amazement, Shin Jo-woon came out, asking, “What’s wrong?”

“Light…? Light…?”

Jang Tae-ri mumbled, following the passing light with his head. When he lost sight of the cluster of light, his face brightened, and he turned urgently to Shin Jo-woon.

“Did you see that just now?”

Shin Jo-woon replied, “No,” looking down at the ground between Rembrary and Jang Tae-ri.

Wondering what he was looking at, Jang Tae-ri also looked down. A huge shadow was cast over that area.

Like a shadow created by a massive creature passing over the clouds, a huge shadow appeared on the ground and quickly disappeared.

“Interesting.”

Shin Jo-woon muttered, reaching out to touch the soil. Then he heard the sound of large feathers fluttering and looked up.

An invisible, massive being was flapping its wings and flying through the sky, creating wind with each flap.

Jang Tae-ri couldn’t close his mouth as he looked up at the sight, and then excitedly asked Rembrary.

“Mr. Rembrary, Mr. Rembrary, is this your world? Are there many animals like that in your world? It’s so beautiful!”

Ardor crossed his arms and scoffed, even though Jang Tae-ri hadn’t asked him.

Rembrary kindly replied.

“What you’re seeing now are all monsters. They suddenly increased when the Demon King invaded.”

His voice was gentle, but Jang Tae-ri froze with the same smiling expression.

*I think I said something I shouldn’t have,* Jang Tae-ri mouthed, shaking Shin Jo-woon’s arm.

Then, he saw the frozen monster in Shin Jo-woon’s hand and was shocked, letting go of his arm.

“Why are you carrying that around?!”

“I’m checking if my power works here too.”

“What?”

“It works well.”

Shin Jo-woon muttered, placing the ice-covered monster on the ground.

Jang Tae-ri also realized and checked if his power worked here as well.

Seeing their actions, Ardor’s expression became even more displeased.

Ardor didn’t want to see those heretics doing well at all. He wished their powers had disappeared when they came here!

Ardor grumbled inwardly, but when he met Rembrary’s eyes, he put on a kind smile.

“I’m glad that the High Priest’s… *unconventional* friends don’t seem to be a hindrance. It seems they won’t die somewhere if they get lost, so we won’t have to look for them.”

Rembrary turned his head and gave Jang Tae-ri a further explanation.

“Although the number of monsters has increased, their basic nature is still derived from our world.”

Rembrary pointed to a path blocked by trees.

“And we can go that way now. Follow me. Anchovy, you come too.”

Rembrary’s voice was a little excited, and Shin Jo-woon’s lips reflexively turned up.

In fact, Rembrary, who was walking ahead, wasn’t walking with his usual relaxed pace. His stride had become shorter and faster.

Jang Tae-ri also got excited and quickly followed behind.

* * *

The group walked excitedly for the first 30 minutes.

Jang Tae-ri and Shin Jo-woon were curious about the many plants and animals they saw for the first time, pointing here and there and asking questions frequently.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a monster.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a monster.”

“Then that, that cute animal?”

“It’s a cute monster.”

“That’s not a monster either, right?”

“You’re getting good at recognizing them. Don’t touch it. You’ll die instantly if you touch it.”

However, no matter how fantastic and beautiful the scenery looked, their excitement gradually faded as they were told that everything around them was a monster.

After about an hour, Shin Jo-woon and Jang Tae-ri didn’t say a word. What questions could they ask when the only answer they got was ‘that’s a monster’?

Rembrary was the only one who still maintained his initial excitement.

“I’m glad that Tae-ri and Anchovy came here. I’ll treat you to a lot of delicious food from our world when we go to the Grand Temple. Look forward to it.”

Rembrary was good at talking even when he was alone.

Then, after walking for an hour and a half, Shin Jo-woon grabbed Rembrary and asked.

“Are we far?”

He wanted to follow quietly if possible. No matter how much they walked, the same mountain range stretched endlessly, and the scenery didn’t change.

Rembrary thought about the terrain in his head and asked.

“Which do you prefer, a positive answer or a negative answer?”

“As positive as possible.”

“It’s far.”

“What’s the negative answer?”

“It’s very far.”

He answered Shin Jo-woon, but Jang Tae-ri collapsed next to him. Jang Tae-ri just plopped down on the ground and shook his head.

“Let’s rest, let’s rest. I’ll use up my entire month’s vacation just traveling back and forth.”

“Are you very tired? I regret not bringing Hwasaja with us as well.”

Rembrary fanned Jang Tae-ri and remembered the person he had forgotten.

“He wouldn’t have come even if you called him anyway,” Shin Jo-woon said mockingly, taking off the jacket he had put on again when leaving the cave and hanging it over his arm.

Ardor was satisfied with their tired appearance and offered a prayer of thanks to Redrin.

“Redrin, please let these heretics get tired here and return.”

However, Jang Tae-ri was now too tired to care what prayers Ardor was offering.

Jang Tae-ri laid down on the dirt floor, using a handkerchief as a pillow on the protruding tree root.

Shin Jo-woon also sat down on a nearby rock with a handkerchief laid out.

Then, Shin Jo-woon clicked his tongue as he saw Ardor taking off his coat and laying it down for Rembrary.

“High Priest, High Priest, you sit here. You shouldn’t sit on the dirt floor.”

Rembrary sat down on the other person’s coat without refusing once.

Shin Jo-woon wondered if there might be many people like Ardor in Rembrary’s world, and then he remembered that Nin-ling and Mullu weren’t like that.

“Tae-ri, drink this.”

In the meantime, Rembrary took out green tea from the food bag he had brought and handed it to Jang Tae-ri.

“What about me?”

“Anchovy, you drink this.”

Then, Rembrary handed Shin Jo-woon deep sea water.

“?”

Shin Jo-woon frowned and looked at Rembrary. Rembrary was handing *Sikhye* [a traditional Korean sweet rice beverage] to Ardor. Shin Jo-woon tilted his head and opened the lid.

* * *

After moving for another two hours, Jang Tae-ri and Shin Jo-woon realized why Rembrary had packed so much food.

Rembrary must have known the scale of this incredibly vast forest in advance and prepared for it.

In fact, it was only when they had eaten almost all the food that Rembrary had brought that a different sight than the mountains finally unfolded below the endless mountains.

A vast prairie and a pure white wall surrounding the prairie, and toy-like houses located here and there inside it.

Tall towers were visible here and there on the wall, and a castle-like place was also visible further inside. But it was still too far away to see more details.

“We’ve moved all the way here!”

In any case, seeing the unique village, Jang Tae-ri was excited at the thought of finally leaving the forest and asked.

“Is this where Mr. Rembrary lives?”

“Yes.”

Jang Tae-ri excitedly pointed to the largest castle.

“Then does Mr. Rembrary live in that castle?”

“No.”

Jang Tae-ri quickly pointed to another large building, wanting to guess Rembrary’s house correctly.

“Then, is it that building with something like a soccer field?”

“No.”

This time, Jang Tae-ri couldn’t ask right away and furrowed his brow. At first glance, the only two largest and widest places were those two.

*Then, contrary to Rembrary’s claim, is the Grand Temple not such a great place?*

“Then? Is the Grand Temple smaller than I thought?”

Ardor gave an unpleasant sneer at those words and said.

“Heretic, that’s 23 Town. It belongs to the country of Noscrow in the Northern Continent.”

“What’s that?”

Rembrary smiled proudly and took over the explanation to finish it.

“Redrin is the god of the South and West. The Grand Temple is in the Southern Continent. Kamuel, whom Moros worships, is the god here.”

*Then it’s a completely different place? Do we have to move further from here?* Jang Tae-ri was completely taken aback by those words.

Shin Jo-woon muttered.

“I shouldn’t have taken a month off.”

* * *

Although they were flustered because the distance to go seemed longer than expected, Jang Tae-ri and Shin Jo-woon were relieved that they could at least get out of the forest.

Throughout the move, the group couldn’t camp and had to keep walking, only stopping to eat.

This was because Rembrary used divine power to dispel fatigue twice a day and urged them to keep walking because he was busy.

Then, when they finally left the forest completely and arrived near the checkpoint in the white walls they had seen from the mountain, Jang Tae-ri and Shin Jo-woon were sincerely relieved.

The two wanted to quickly go to their accommodation, wash cleanly, sleep soundly in bed, and eat warm food.

However, a problem occurred when they arrived in front of the checkpoint. One of the four soldiers looked around the group and demanded.

“Identification pass.”

It seemed like a demand that wouldn’t be a problem, as he demanded it as if it were natural.

However, Jang Tae-ri was taken aback by the unexpected demand. Jang Tae-ri naturally didn’t have an identification pass here.

*No, in the first place, I thought that if I went to Rembrary’s world, Rembrary’s Grand Temple would naturally appear right away, so I hadn’t even thought about the need for identification.*

But as soon as he left the forest, he was asked for an identification pass.

Jang Tae-ri and Shin Jo-woon, who had resident registration cards but no identification passes, looked at Rembrary.

However, Rembrary was just smiling as if it wasn’t a difficult matter at all.

Moreover, fortunately, Ardor seemed to have prepared something in advance and took out four elaborately carved passes and handed them to the soldier.

Jang Tae-ri and Shin Jo-woon were relieved to see this. They didn’t know why he was carrying four identification passes.

*Did he come with the intention of inviting me and Jo-woon from the beginning?*

However, it was when Jang Tae-ri was comfortably looking at the scenery of the town visible beyond the checkpoint while thinking that…

The soldier, who was blunt but not aggressive, suddenly threw the identification pass he was holding on the ground and shouted.

“Where are you trying to present a forged identification pass? What purpose did you come here for!”

Shin Jo-woon also thought it would be a simple procedure and was paying more attention to the surrounding scenery, but he heard the soldier’s loud voice and looked that way.

Even the three soldiers who had retreated were approaching. Shin Jo-woon looked at Rembrary.

But surprisingly, Rembrary also had a bewildered expression.

“The identification pass is fake?”

Rembrary rather asked the soldier himself, and then said as if it were absurd.

“There’s no way. Pick it up and check again.”

However, instead of checking the identification pass again, the soldier seemed displeased with Rembrary’s order and shouted loudly to his colleagues.

“Arrest them all!”

A world overflowing with Redrin’s blessing, you said?! Jang Tae-ri looked at Rembrary with hollow eyes.