Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 887

◈ 887. Rembrary’s Invitation (7)

“I want to visit the Camuël Temple.”

Jang Tae-ri asked, as surprised as Rembrary.

“Why there?”

“I heard there are many Camuël Temples here.”

Shin Jo-woon said casually. Jang Tae-ri quickly agreed, thinking like a tourist. Even if you’re not Buddhist, you’d probably want to visit famous temples.

“Okay, let’s go.”

But this time, Rembrary firmly refused.

“You can’t go there.”

When Shin Jo-woon asked, “Is it far?” Rembrary replied even more emphatically.

“It’s not close, but it’s not that far either. But even if it were right in front of us, you can’t go.”

Shin Jo-woon frowned.

“Why? Are priests from different temples not allowed to visit each other?”

“They can. But I don’t want to take you guys there.”

Rembrary’s reason wasn’t even a good excuse.

When Shin Jo-woon didn’t seem like he would back down, Jang Tae-ri nudged his leg and shook her head, signaling him to drop it since Rembrary clearly didn’t want to go.

Fortunately, Shin Jo-woon didn’t press the issue, and Rembrary just walked around the streets, buying them food from various stalls.

They didn’t visit any major tourist attractions, but Jang Tae-ri was quite happy just watching the people go by and taking pictures of the unfamiliar scenery with her phone.

That’s how the first day passed, and the group returned to the castle in a good mood.

Shin Jo-woon’s desire to visit the Camuël Temple seemed forgotten.

But the next day, when it was time for breakfast, Shin Jo-woon was nowhere to be seen.

“Tae-ri, have you seen Anchovy [Shin Jo-woon’s nickname]?”

“No. Why? Isn’t he in his room?”

No matter how much they searched, they couldn’t find him, so Rembrary asked the coachman, hoping he might know something. Fortunately, there was a clue.

The coachman, who seemed to have just returned, was putting the horses back into the stable when he replied.

“Shin Jo-woon, is that the gentleman? The one the High Priest brought as a friend, one of those two with the unique outfits.”

“That’s right. Where did he go?”

“I took him to the Camuël Temple about 30 minutes ago.”

Jang Tae-ri’s eyes widened. Shin Jo-woon went to the Camuël Temple alone? Is he crazy?

“Come to think of it, Jo-woon wanted to go there yesterday too, didn’t he?”

Remembering Shin Jo-woon’s sudden interest in the Camuël Temple, Jang Tae-ri became even more puzzled.

Aside from Rembrary, neither she nor Shin Jo-woon had any connection to this world.

It’s not like Shin Jo-woon, like Dae-ju, lived on Earth and believed in gods from another world.

But why would Shin Jo-woon go there alone so early in the morning?

“Let’s go too.”

Rembrary suggested, and Jang Tae-ri immediately nodded.

“Coachman, take us to the place where you took that man earlier.”

At Rembrary’s command, the coachman, looking bewildered, led the horses back out of the stable.

As soon as the carriage was ready, Rembrary and Jang Tae-ri immediately left for the Camuël Temple.

Only later did they realize they had left Ardor behind, but they didn’t think it was necessary for all three of them to go, so the carriage continued towards the Camuël Temple.

“Here it is.”

Before they could even gather their thoughts, the carriage arrived at a wide-open area. The temple was surprisingly located outside the walls surrounding 23 Town, and it wasn’t as grand as Jang Tae-ri had expected.

“Are all the other temples this size?”

“No. This temple just isn’t a big one. Each temple varies in size.”

Rembrary explained briefly, looking around.

Perhaps because Rembrary wasn’t wearing his Redrin priest robes, the few priests glanced at them but didn’t seem to recognize Rembrary’s status and didn’t approach.

“Rembrary, should we try to find Jo-woon quietly first?”

Jang Tae-ri asked quietly, so the surrounding priests wouldn’t overhear.

They hadn’t come secretly, but they didn’t know much about the relationship between the Camuël Temple and the Redrin Temple, so they were unsure how to proceed.

Rembrary casually said, “It’s okay,” and immediately called over a nearby Camuël priest.

“Hey you. Come here.”

*Is this okay?* Jang Tae-ri became slightly anxious, but since she didn’t know anything about this world’s customs, she kept her mouth shut and observed.

The Camuël priest, who had been summoned so abruptly, pointed at himself and looked around.

He seemed flustered by the sudden order from someone he didn’t know.

“What is the matter, brother?”

Even so, the priest approached and asked, and Rembrary clearly drew a line, saying, “I’m not your brother,” and then asked.

“Didn’t a very handsome guy, Anchovy, with unique clothes come here this morning?”

“A monster?”

“A person.”

Jang Tae-ri quickly added, “A man, black hair. About this tall,” and the priest exclaimed, “Ah!” as if something came to mind.

“So you saw him. Where did he go?”

“He went that way.”

“What’s over there?”

“Most of the buildings are gathered there.”

“You don’t know exactly which one he went to?”

“No. He walked so confidently, like someone who had been here several times, so I just let him pass. I didn’t sense any particularly evil energy either.”

Belatedly, the priest seemed to realize something was strange and looked back and forth between Rembrary and Jang Tae-ri before asking.

“But who are you?”

“Go do your work. I don’t want any commotion.”

“Yes?”

*Rembrary doesn’t always brag about being a High Priest, does he?* Jang Tae-ri thought, surprised that Rembrary hadn’t revealed his identity, and walked ahead.

Jang Tae-ri gave the priest an awkward smile and quickly followed Rembrary. Fortunately, Rembrary hadn’t gone far and was standing still again.

Jang Tae-ri immediately understood why Rembrary had stopped.

“There really are a lot of buildings here.”

The three buildings were lined up facing each other, making it difficult to figure out where Shin Jo-woon had gone.

Rembrary looked at the three buildings in turn and suggested.

“Let’s go to the one Tae-ri chooses first.”

Jang Tae-ri chose the center one without much thought, and the two of them headed straight there.

Luckily, Shin Jo-woon was inside. He didn’t seem to be bleeding or injured anywhere.

He was just standing there with his hands in his pockets, not moving at all.

“Shin Jo-woon!”

As Jang Tae-ri shouted while running, Shin Jo-woon finally turned around as if waking from a daze, looking a little surprised.

“How did you know to come here?”

“The coachman told us.”

Rembrary replied in a lower voice than usual because he didn’t like Shin Jo-woon coming to the Camuël Temple.

“Pig, why are you angry?”

Shin Jo-woon’s teasing was useless.

“How could you come so far alone without saying anything?”

As Jang Tae-ri scolded, Shin Jo-woon pretended to be wronged and patted his chest with one hand.

“Jang Tae-ri is angry too. Aren’t you both being too much?”

Rembrary nodded towards the Camuël statue and silently grabbed Shin Jo-woon and Jang Tae-ri’s sleeves, walking towards the exit.

Only after getting back into the carriage did Rembrary ask what he had been wondering all along.

“Why did you come here alone?”

“I was curious. You’re a Redrin priest, so I thought you wouldn’t want to go to other temples.”

Shin Jo-woon answered immediately, as if he had rehearsed it, but Rembrary wasn’t convinced and asked again.

“I don’t like meddling in other people’s business, but this is the first time you and Tae-ri have come here, and I’m your protector, aren’t I? So I’ll ask one more time.”

“Why are you setting the mood like this to ask something?”

“You were constantly looking down at the bottom of the castle walls yesterday, weren’t you? Is it related to that?”

“!”

Jang Tae-ri didn’t know anything about that, so she looked at Shin Jo-woon, surprised that Rembrary had asked a sharper question than usual.

“What are you talking about? What happened between you two when I wasn’t there?”

“It’s nothing. I just looked down at the bottom of the castle walls because I saw something. The pig is acting like that because he saw it.”

Shin Jo-woon smiled casually and shook his head at Jang Tae-ri.

“Anchovy, you said you were thinking about food yesterday.”

But when Rembrary pointed that out, the smile on Shin Jo-woon’s face briefly disappeared.

Jang Tae-ri nervously tapped the carriage seat. Shin Jo-woon was the type to lie convincingly.

Seeing him change his excuses in one day and getting caught even by Rembrary, Jang Tae-ri also started to worry.

“What did you see that made you like that?”

“It’s nothing, I tell you.”

Shin Jo-woon still smiled and brushed it off, lifting the curtain on the window to look outside and asked.

“Where are we going today? High Priest, you’ll take us to a more fun place than yesterday, right?”

He was obviously changing the subject.

* * *

After spending the whole day touring the town and returning to the castle, the lord of the castle came to tell them that someone sent by the king would arrive tomorrow or the day after.

Since they had already had dinner in town, the group dispersed to their respective rooms to take a bath instead of going to the dining hall.

Jang Tae-ri finished her bath faster than usual and then went to Shin Jo-woon’s room.

After knocking on the door several times, Shin Jo-woon opened the door with a sigh, as if he knew Jang Tae-ri would come.

“What is it now?”

Jang Tae-ri closed the door and went inside, staring intently at Shin Jo-woon.

“Tell me honestly, Shin Jo-woon. What are you hiding?”

“What would I be hiding?”

“A lot.”

“Our Tae-ri is now oppressing people.”

Even though Shin Jo-woon pretended to be hurt and feigned illness, Jang Tae-ri didn’t fall for it.

“If this were Earth, I wouldn’t be questioning you like this. You have your business, your work, and your High-End Hunter job. But here, we both have no foundation at all. You have nothing to hide here. But you’re obviously hiding something, so I’m worried.”

As Jang Tae-ri continued to press, Shin Jo-woon shrugged his shoulders and walked to the sofa as if he couldn’t help it.

Jang Tae-ri quickly followed and sat opposite him.

However, even after sitting down, Shin Jo-woon couldn’t easily open his mouth.

He sat with his long legs crossed, only looking out the window where the curtains were completely drawn. Jang Tae-ri didn’t urge him.

As the sounds of people from this world moving things and shouting could be heard from beyond the window, Shin Jo-woon finally opened his mouth.

“Jang Tae-ri. Do you remember what I told you on our graduation day?”

“Graduation…”

Jang Tae-ri nodded quickly. Come to think of it, Shin Jo-woon had a strange atmosphere and showed strange behavior that day as well.

That morning, he told Jang Tae-ri about the enemy who killed ‘that kid’. But since then, Shin Jo-woon hadn’t tried to bring up that story.

Even if Jang Tae-ri asked, he would just make excuses that he was looking into it.

“Why?”

As Jang Tae-ri asked, Shin Jo-woon asked again.

“You know about the person who came to Earth from another world, who looked exactly like me, right?”

Shin Jo-woon changed his posture and frowned.

“I think I saw the enemy. He was wearing what appeared to be priest robes. There wouldn’t be any Redrin priests here, so it must have been Camuël priest robes.”

Jang Tae-ri’s eyes widened.

“What?”

Jang Tae-ri was also speechless for a moment with a blank expression. But soon she regained her composure and calmed down.

“I know why you’re surprised. But why were you trying to find him? It’s surprising, but the person you saw is from this world, so he’s a different person anyway.”

Shin Jo-woon rested his chin on his hand and shrugged his shoulders.

“I know. That’s why I wasn’t going to talk about it. I was just a little surprised.”

The enemy in our world was already dead when I found him.