Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 890

◈ 890. Rembrary’s Invitation (10)

Rembrary leaned against the wall and gestured towards the window the coachman had entered through. It seemed like a signal to escape through the window.

However, the coachman glanced back and forth between the window and Rembrary, then backpedaled towards the door.

The coachman didn’t trust Rembrary. *There’s no way someone who just tried to kill me would let me go this easily*, he thought.

“You wouldn’t want to go that way,” Rembrary muttered, but the moment the coachman’s back touched the doorknob, he reached behind him and opened the door.

But just as he opened the door and was about to turn around, something long poked him in the back.

“Should I just shoot him?”

The coachman was horrified and whirled around. Ardor was standing there, pointing a gun at him. He hadn’t noticed Ardor’s arrival.

His face, which always looked gloomy, appeared particularly bleak in the dimly lit hallway.

Ardor wasn’t alone. Two strangely dressed people, whom the High Priest had introduced as friends, were also standing in the hallway.

“Oh, you guys knew?” the coachman muttered, looking back and forth between Rembrary, Ardor, Jang Tae-ri, and Shin Jo-woon, before involuntarily stepping back into the room.

“I told you to go through the window,” Rembrary clicked his tongue.

Ardor continued to move the gun in the direction the coachman was moving, asking, “Rembrary-nim, should I just shoot him? I can drive the carriage.”

Shin Jo-woon didn’t stop him and entered the room.

Jang Tae-ri closed the door and followed. He considered stopping Ardor, but given the situation—the coachman had ambushed Rembrary—it was difficult to object.

The coachman clenched his fists as he was cornered. *I’m going to die here. Without even getting revenge!* he thought.

“That’s enough. Let him go,” Rembrary said, surprising everyone.

“Ah, should I kill him outside?” Ardor blinked, reinterpreting Rembrary’s words.

“No. I mean, let him go alive,” Rembrary clarified calmly.

Jang Tae-ri, Shin Jo-woon, Ardor, and even the coachman himself were surprised and stared at Rembrary.

When Rembrary’s words finally registered, Ardor exploded in anger. “Rembrary-nim, this guy dared to sneak into Rembrary-nim’s room and try to kill Rembrary-nim! With that dagger stuck in the bed! And you’re just going to let him go? Rembrary-nim, if we hadn’t been waiting in front of Rembrary-nim’s room, we wouldn’t have even known this commotion had happened!”

Jang Tae-ri and Shin Jo-woon, startled by Ardor’s outburst, quickly distanced themselves from him.

“It wasn’t me! Jo-woon called me out, and I saw it,” Jang Tae-ri exclaimed.

“I was also in the hallway on other business and saw that guy take out a gun,” Shin Jo-woon added.

Rembrary’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t think this was the time to address that, so he repeated to the coachman, “Anyway, you can go now. Whether you try to assassinate me again is up to you, but keep in mind that you’ll fail again.”

At Rembrary’s signal, Ardor reluctantly stepped aside from the door. “Consider yourself lucky.”

However, instead of running away, the coachman just stared blankly at Rembrary. Jang Tae-ri felt a flicker of hope. *Was the assassin moved by Rembrary’s generosity?*

“Don’t pretend to be nice,” the coachman spat. “Do you think I’ll forget what you’ve done and be moved, saying, ‘As expected, High Priest-nim!’?”

His expression turned fierce, and he glared at Rembrary as if he wanted to kill him again, gritting his teeth.

When Rembrary raised his eyebrows, Ardor raised his gun again.

However, the coachman, as if he had suddenly lost his fear, walked towards Rembrary and said, filled with regret for not killing him on the spot, “The praise for High Priest Redrin has always been abundant. We used to think those words were all true. But when the world became dangerous, what did High Priest Redrin do? He sold us out and joined hands with the demons. Redrin-nim may have forgiven his most beloved High Priest, but we don’t. We’ve learned about your true nature. We’re not fooled anymore!”

Each word from the coachman was laced with a hatred that made the listener’s hair stand on end.

“Meeting you in this immigrated place must be Redrin-nim’s blessing. A signal that it’s okay to take revenge!”

Jang Tae-ri glanced at Rembrary, worried that he would be hurt by the coachman’s words, which hinted at a terrible story. But Rembrary’s expression remained unchanged. He didn’t show any sympathy.

Rembrary simply stared down at him with a smile, and the coachman, who had been glaring and sticking his face close, reflexively stepped back.

Even though Rembrary was smiling gently, the coachman felt a chill down his spine.

He had expected Rembrary to react to his words in some way—to be upset, angry, deny, comfort, or be ashamed. But Rembrary just repeated the same words.

“Get out. I’m tired. And you don’t have to drive the carriage anymore.”

Pointing at the coachman, who was stunned by the unexpected reaction, Ardor insisted again, “He has a grudge against Rembrary-nim, so we must kill him to prevent future troubles.”

Shin Jo-woon, who usually avoided commenting on matters related to the Otherworld, agreed. “It’s not my style, but I agree with the crazy priest this time.”

But Rembrary shook his head again. Unable to help himself, Ardor grabbed the coachman by the back of the neck and threw him out the door.

“Get lost!” Ardor snorted and slammed the door shut as the coachman rolled down the hallway.

Jang Tae-ri frowned at Ardor’s actions but didn’t intervene, sensing a complicated situation.

Ardor was still huffing and puffing, unable to shake off his anger even after chasing the coachman away. “Rembrary-nim, why did you just let that guy live? Wouldn’t it be annoying if that guy came at you with a knife again!”

“Weren’t you dragged around by the demons when Woo Yeon-woo was in my body? He must have held a grudge then. Just leave him alone,” Rembrary soothed him, but Ardor still couldn’t accept it.

“But that’s not what High Priest-nim did!”

“That’s right. But that’s not my problem.”

“!”

“Whether it was something Woo Yeon-woo did when he was in my body or something I did directly, it was done in the name and appearance of the High Priest, and someone was harmed by it. There’s nothing I can do.”

Ardor still couldn’t accept it, so he huffed and puffed and went to the corner and squatted down.

Jang Tae-ri sighed and patted Rembrary’s shoulder. “When we were in 23 Town Seong [a specific district or area], I overheard someone talking about the High Priest. There were more than one Rembrary-ssi, and it wasn’t in a good way, so I didn’t say anything. But now I see that they were talking about people who held a grudge against Rembrary-ssi. I should have told you in advance.”

“It’s okay. And I already know that there are more people who hold grudges, so you don’t have to worry, Tae-ri-ssi.”

“You know……?”

“Yes. And our continent’s people are still better. The Camuelson Temple people will hate me more.” Rembrary glanced at Shin Jo-woon and added, “The only ones who don’t hate me at the Camuelson Temple are Anchovy and Morceau.”

Shin Jo-woon frowned and protested. “Why do you keep associating me with that side?”

Rembrary sent the group out of the room to rest. There was talk of the four of them sleeping in one room because it was dangerous, but Rembrary sent them all out because it was annoying.

After that, nothing happened, and the matter seemed to be settled.

Ardor was still huffing and puffing at the time, but he also knew that the high praise for Rembrary had changed after the demons’ invasion.

Unexpectedly, this incident affected Shin Jo-woon.

Late at night, Shin Jo-woon checked that everyone was asleep and went out of the inn. The coachman had stolen the carriage and run away, probably to take his last revenge.

The inn’s stable keeper was eating a late-night snack, unaware that his guest’s carriage had been stolen right in front of his eyes because the person who had brought the carriage had driven it away.

Shin Jo-woon walked alone through the deserted streets and decided that it was better not to tell Rembrary about the revenge story after all.

Although he didn’t show it, he had been worrying about it all along.

*Should he tell Rembrary the truth since he had asked for help in finding someone?* But after experiencing this incident, he became convinced that it was better not to tell him.

* * *

The next day, Rembrary knew that the carriage was gone, but he didn’t care and instructed Ardor. “You go get a carriage and a coachman.”

When Jang Tae-ri asked, “Are you okay?” Rembrary nodded. “It’s not a small town, so it’s not difficult to find a carriage and a coachman.”

As Rembrary said, Ardor returned with a carriage before long, and the group was able to get back on the carriage after finishing their meal.

It wasn’t as comfortable as the carriage the king had given them, but Jang Tae-ri thought it was better to have changed to this carriage as he looked out the window. Perhaps because the carriage didn’t have the Redrin Temple mark, people didn’t stare and whisper.

Fortunately, after that, no one else raided Rembrary’s room like the coachman, so the group was able to cross the border of the southernmost country in the Northern Continent quite peacefully.

At the border, they checked the badge proving that he was a Redrin high priest and immediately let the group inside.

Jang Tae-ri, who had been anxious that they would be caught by strange soldiers again, was relieved only after about 15 minutes after passing the border and asked, “If we pass through this country, is the next border right away to the Southern Continent?”

Rembrary unfolded the map and explained, “There is a small mountain range that divides the Northern Continent and the Southern Continent. We have to cross that.”

Jang Tae-ri couldn’t read the letters here, but he could tell that the letters for the ‘small mountain range’ that Rembrary was pointing to were very large.

“……Are you sure it’s a small mountain range?” Jang Tae-ri asked with a queasy feeling. Ardor snorted and covered his mouth with his hand.

From that happy expression, Jang Tae-ri realized that the mountain range they had to cross was not a small mountain range.

“It’s not a small mountain range, is it?” When Jang Tae-ri asked again, Rembrary avoided his gaze and quickly packed up the map.

“Rembrary-ssi, it’s not a small mountain range, is it? Is it?” But they were moving along happily, bickering with each other. The coachman stopped the carriage, opened the small window on the coachman’s seat side, and announced, “Guests, Camuelson priests are standing in front, blocking the road. They seem to have business with the guests.”

Jang Tae-ri recalled the explanation Rembrary had given him the day the coachman raided Rembrary a few days ago. People in the Southern Continent also held grudges against Rembrary, but the Camuelson Temple people held even greater grudges.

*Then, do those Camuelson priests know that Rembrary is in this carriage and came here?* Jang Tae-ri looked at Rembrary with tension.