Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 888

◈ 888. Rembrary’s Invitation (8)

‘Redrin, I’m sure Anchovy [Shin Jo-woon’s nickname] is hiding something from me, but what could it be?’

Rembrary stood by the window, deep in thought.

Since being found at the Camuel Temple, Shin Jo-woon had acted as if nothing had happened.

But Rembrary couldn’t believe he had ‘just’ visited the Camuel Temple alone.

Even though his friend was a High Priest, and he had actually met Redrin, Shin Jo-woon, who had shown no interest in Redrin, would ‘just’ visit another temple?

The next day, even during breakfast, Rembrary thoroughly observed Shin Jo-woon.

“Anchovy, do you want to go to the Camuel Temple again today?”

“Are you so upset that I went to play alone?”

“I’m upset, but more than that, I’m suspicious.”

“Where are you going today? Do you have any plans?”

“You seem to be changing the subject again.”

Jang Tae-ri recalled what Shin Jo-woon had said yesterday and ignored the sharp exchange between Rembrary and Shin Jo-woon.

‘Jo-woon probably doesn’t want to tell Rembrary about his enemy. Well, even he knows that Rembrary is a different person, even if he talks like that.’

“High Priest.”

Just then, the castellan [governor of the castle] approached and cautiously joined the conversation.

“It seems the envoy sent by the King will arrive this afternoon.”

He couldn’t dare tell the High Priest not to go out and wait for the King’s envoy, but he subtly suggested it, just in case.

“Is that so? Then I shouldn’t keep them waiting too long. I’ll be back soon.”

But as the High Priest seemed intent on going out regardless of the King’s envoy, the castellan smiled awkwardly and stepped back.

Jang Tae-ri, who had been out of the conversation, immediately noticed this and casually suggested.

“Rembrary, we might be leaving tomorrow, so why don’t we just relax today?”

“If we’re leaving tomorrow, we should see more today.”

“Most people don’t have as much stamina as you, Rembrary.”

Jang Tae-ri laughed, recalling how excited Rembrary had been while walking through the endless forest without showing any signs of fatigue.

Rembrary wanted to show his friends more of this place, but when Jang Tae-ri said that, he had no choice but to nod.

“We’ll stay here today, so let us know when the King’s envoy arrives.”

The castellan gave Jang Tae-ri a grateful look and quickly left the dining hall.

Rembrary sullenly asked Shin Jo-woon.

“Anchovy, did you hear? We’re all staying here together. What about you?”

“Am I excluded from ‘we’?”

“Will you be? Are you going to the Camuel Temple alone again?”

“I’m not going. I’ll stay here.”

Shin Jo-woon answered sincerely. However, it wasn’t because he had given up on finding the person who looked exactly like his enemy.

He had searched the Camuel Temple thoroughly but hadn’t found that person, so that’s why he said that.

Besides, yesterday he had told Jang Tae-ri that the person seemed to be a Camuel priest, but when he actually went to the temple, their robes looked different from the priestly robes his enemy had worn.

‘He’s not a Camuel priest. But he must be a priest from somewhere.’

In any case, when Shin Jo-woon readily promised not to do anything rash, Rembrary stopped questioning him and focused on his meal.

* * *

Afterward, the group leisurely spent time together, strolling around the castle and listening to the guide’s stories about the castle’s history.

Jang Tae-ri listened with fascination to the history of this world, where gods, monsters, and different races frequently appeared.

Whenever the story of Redrin came up in the history, she would naturally look at Rembrary.

However, Shin Jo-woon nodded as if he were listening to the story, but he was still thinking about his enemy in this world.

As Jang Tae-ri said, that enemy was from this world and not the enemy himself. He knew it in his head. He knew it, but he still wanted to find him.

The problem was that just as Rembrary had no base on Earth despite being a High Priest, Shin Jo-woon also found it difficult to find a single person here.

It didn’t matter here that he was a high-end hunter with a large hunter company on Earth.

Moreover, the only information Shin Jo-woon had about that person was that he wasn’t a Camuel priest, and even that wasn’t certain.

‘Tae-ri won’t be of any help here either.’

Shin Jo-woon glanced at Rembrary’s profile as he examined the flowers blooming in the garden.

‘Would Pig [Rembrary’s nickname] help with something like this?’

But right now, Rembrary was the only person he could ask for help.

* * *

After finishing the castle tour, the group dispersed to their rooms to rest until the King’s envoy arrived.

However, Shin Jo-woon opened his door but didn’t go inside.

He waited until Ardor and Jang Tae-ri had entered their rooms, then went into Rembrary’s room.

“Pig, there’s something I want to ask you.”

Rembrary was sitting in an armchair, just about to open a snack he had brought.

“Want to share?”

Rembrary held out a half-cut cookie, but Shin Jo-woon shook his head and walked over to sit on a nearby sofa.

“It’s okay. More than that, I want to find someone. Is it possible?”

“Someone? Someone here?”

“Yeah.”

“You have someone to find here?”

As Shin Jo-woon expected, Rembrary asked back, bewildered.

“Anchovy, haven’t you only been here for a few days? You’ve only met people from here. Who are you trying to find?”

Shin Jo-woon briefly pondered whether to tell the story of his enemy.

“I thought I saw someone I knew.”

After hesitating, he told a half-truth.

“Someone you know? Here?”

Rembrary still asked with a puzzled look, then smiled as if he understood, “Ah.”

“That’s not someone you know, but another person who looks exactly like you. There was an Anchovy who looked just like you even where Lumena was.”

Rembrary burst out laughing, recalling Emperor Shin Jo-woon, who imitated Shin Jo-woon really well.

“That could be. But I want to check, just in case.”

“There’s nothing to check. I’m sure it’s someone else. I was the first to properly use that passage [portal between worlds].”

“What?”

Shin Jo-woon asked, flustered by the information he was hearing for the first time.

“Are Tae-ri and I the second users?”

“Ardor is the second user, and you guys are the third users. But you guys are probably the first to come here from your world.”

“It’s supposed to be a safe passage. If Tae-ri and I are the first Earth users, you shouldn’t call it a safe passage, should you?”

At Shin Jo-woon’s retort, Rembrary proudly pointed at himself.

“I told you, I used it first.”

Shin Jo-woon pressed his throbbing temples and asked.

“Assuming that’s true, can you help me find someone?”

“Of course. You’ve helped me a lot too, Anchovy. Now I’m going to help you. Tell me everything you want to ask for. If you want, I’ll let you try on all kinds of crowns.”

Rembrary readily answered. He didn’t suspect at all that Shin Jo-woon would do anything bad with the information he had given him.

Shin Jo-woon, who found it hard to face that proud smile, averted his gaze and picked up the cookie that Rembrary had cut in half.

“Hey, Anchovy! You said you weren’t going to eat it!”

* * *

The King’s envoy, who was supposed to come in the afternoon, arrived around five o’clock.

The envoy immediately greeted the castellan and then asked a few questions about what kind of person the High Priest was.

The High Priest of Redrin was a well-known figure, but he was so famous that conflicting information spread at the same time, making it difficult to judge how to treat the High Priest based on the known information alone.

“He seemed to like to eat. He kept bringing snacks to eat throughout his stay here. Since it’s almost dinner time anyway, how about having dinner together?”

The envoy accepted the castellan’s invitation.

Thus, Rembrary, Jang Tae-ri, Shin Jo-woon, and Ardor saw the King’s envoy for the first time at the banquet prepared by the castellan.

The envoy came to the dining hall first, and when Rembrary’s group entered, he stood up from his seat and greeted them.

“I greet the High Priest. I have heard of your great fame from before. It is an honor to meet you like this.”

As the envoy greeted as politely as the castellan, Jang Tae-ri was once again impressed. It was as surprising as when she saw the castellan treating him politely.

Jang Tae-ri began to expect that if she ever met someone like a king or emperor, they would treat Rembrary like that too.

On the other hand, Rembrary smiled contentedly as if it were natural and walked to the head seat without even asking.

Jang Tae-ri’s eyes widened, but the castellan and the King’s envoy seemed to take it for granted. Not only that.

They even yielded the seat next to Rembrary so that the group, who were ‘friends of the High Priest,’ could sit around the High Priest.

Was this okay? Jang Tae-ri was perplexed, but when there seemed to be no locals who were dissatisfied with this seating arrangement, she awkwardly sat down.

When the castellan and even the King’s envoy had all taken their seats, Rembrary once again naturally asked.

“Is King Noskrow doing well?”

Jang Tae-ri coughed lightly, choking on the water she was drinking.

The envoy glanced at Jang Tae-ri, who was coughing, and politely replied.

“He is doing well, thanks to your concern.”

“King Noskrow had weak airways.”

Jang Tae-ri didn’t even touch her water cup, fearing she would choke again.

The envoy was reluctant to talk about the King’s health, so he just smiled quietly and changed the subject.

“I heard from the castellan that our Camuel High Priest will also be returning soon.”

“That’s right. I don’t know the exact date, but since a way to return has been found, I think Morso will be back soon too.”

“If Morso returns, the situation here will improve a bit.”

“I heard the number of monsters has increased.”

“Yes, around this area―”

Jang Tae-ri wasn’t very interested in the recent events of this world, so when Rembrary and the envoy started a serious conversation, she lost interest and looked across the table.

Fortunately, Ardor and Shin Jo-woon didn’t seem to be as interested in the conversation as Jang Tae-ri.

Ardor was sitting next to Shin Jo-woon instead of next to Rembrary, and his face was full of annoyance.

Shin Jo-woon was mechanically eating his food, lost in thought, and Jang Tae-ri became uneasy when she saw that.

‘Is he thinking about the person who looks like his enemy?’

Jang Tae-ri’s appetite disappeared as she recalled Shin Jo-woon’s strange behavior after mentioning his enemy at the graduation ceremony.

Shin Jo-woon had acted really strangely for a while, with blood splattered on his face and suddenly becoming difficult to contact.

Even though it was a long time ago, Jang Tae-ri kept thinking about that time when she saw Shin Jo-woon’s expression now.

* * *

The King sent a carriage that he had made in preparation for long-distance travel through the envoy.

It was a carriage with little shaking and good defense against external shocks. It was well-made, but the King had hardly any need for long-distance travel, so he had only used the carriage once.

The next day, after finishing breakfast.

Rembrary’s group planned to take that carriage to the southernmost country on the northern continent and then decided to have about two hours of free time before moving.

It was easier to get motion sickness if they got on the carriage right after eating, so they planned to digest their food and repack their luggage.

Jang Tae-ri initially walked towards the garden.

But when she thought about it, she seemed to have already walked around the garden and the castle walls a lot, so she took her phone and decided to look around the inside of the castle.

‘I brought a lot of batteries, but I don’t know if this will be enough.’

While worrying, Jang Tae-ri wandered around, filming the magnificent interior of the castle with her phone video.

Then, she arrived near a completely remote tower.

She was wondering if she could go up the tower, so she only went halfway up the round stairs and looked up when she heard someone whispering.

“Is it okay not to tell you in advance? The High Priest―”

‘The High Priest? Rembrary?’