WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈
Chapter 143: Neighbor (1)
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A raccoon that breathed fire like some ninja from who knows where.
As if breathing fire were not enough, it was capable enough to store fire in a bottle.
I had no idea what it used the fire in the bottle for, but it was a unique ability. It had to be useful somewhere.
More than anything, I liked its personality.
‘That’s the biggest thing.’
It wasn’t just gentle. It even had manners, which made it impossible to dislike.
Even Fast Sloth, who was touchy about its territory, had only smacked the raccoon on the back. It hadn’t done anything beyond that.
That alone showed what a good little guy the raccoon was. It made me like it even more.
‘Should I let it stay with me? It seems perfectly capable of looking after itself.’
If nothing else, this guy definitely handled fire well.
Just like before, I’d have plenty of reasons to use fire going forward.
Wouldn’t there be things I could do if this fire-controlling raccoon pitched in?
Even if I didn’t know what use it had right now, I could get more fire in a bottle while I was at it.
It must have fallen through the chimney because it was drawn to the fire, so surely we could come to some kind of agreement.
I’d provide a place to stay, and the raccoon would use its abilities.
I immediately made my offer to the raccoon, using words and gestures with my hands and feet.
“Keng.”
The raccoon turned me down.
It was surprising enough that it understood me, but it even held out a paw to make its refusal clear.
No matter how rare its ability was, it had come all the way here. It clearly didn’t have a safe shelter.
This forest was a hellhole. Having a safe shelter was incredibly important.
When I asked why it had refused, the raccoon picked up a branch that had been lying near the firewood.
Scritch. Scritch.
It began drawing on the ground. I studied the picture closely.
With a brain that sharp, its drawing skills were no joke either.
‘Is drawing a basic survival skill for animals living in the Forest of Four Seasons? Fast Sloth was like this too.’
Somehow, it seemed better at drawing than me.
By the time I finished that thought, the raccoon had completed its picture. There were three raccoons in total.
At a glance, they looked like a family. Did raccoons live in family groups?
“Keng!”
“Ah. That’s you?”
The raccoon pointed to the largest one in the family.
If it were a human, it was the head of the household. In other words, the father.
The two smaller raccoons with it seemed to be its mate and child.
‘Then I can’t really argue with that.’
Whether it was an animal or a person, the head of the household was important.
I nodded to show the raccoon I understood.
I wanted to give it something to eat as a gesture of friendship, but I had enough problems of my own.
The only thing I had was salty smoked food, so it wasn’t suitable anyway.
“Keng. Keeeng.”
“Huh? You want fire?”
“Keng.”
“If you want some, take it.”
It wanted fire instead, so I gladly gave it permission.
I could start a fire whenever I wanted, and it was hard to call fire a resource in the first place.
At my approval, the raccoon gave a deep bow and held the branch it had used to draw against the fireplace.
Whoosh!
The flame at the tip of the branch blazed up.
It was an incredibly tiny branch to me, but in the raccoon’s paws, it looked like a torch.
Normally, it should have burned up quickly, but I had no idea what it did. It burned like a candle.
The raccoon looked at the brightly burning torch with a satisfied expression.
“Keeeng!”
“Right. Take care. If you change your mind later, come back around here.”
The raccoon headed off with the torch in one paw.
It was disappointing, but maybe we’d meet again someday.
It might not have been strong, but it was smart. It would find a way to survive.
‘Unlike certain others, it’s polite and decent.’
Some assholes stole all my Fasting Pills, then expected a banana to settle the score.
I hoped we could keep in touch. First, though, I needed to figure out what the fire in the bottle was.
I watched the raccoon until it disappeared from sight, then logged into the Gallery.
[Post title] Met a fire-controlling raccoon.
[Author] Wild Grylls
[Post] (Photo of a raccoon bowing)
[Post] (Photo of a raccoon scooping up fire from the fireplace)
[Post] (Photo of a raccoon breathing fire)
[Post] (Photo of fire in a bottle)
[Post] (Video of a raccoon leaving with a torch in one paw)
[Post] I stepped outside for a bit, then came back and found a raccoon in my house. It’s the one that came by last time, but it fell through my chimney.
[Post] So I wondered what it could do, and it handles fire insanely well;;
[Post] Does anyone know of raccoons that can control fire? Let me know if you do.
[Post] Oh, and I wanted to recruit it as a companion, but it said it was the head of its household and turned me down. Kind of disappointing.
└ [Heavenly Demon]: What a rare little creature, putting on such charming tricks. It accomplishes what would be difficult even through Daoist arts.
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: I’ve never seen a raccoon like that in my life. It breathes fire like it’s some dragon;;
└ [Wild Grylls]: It ate fire and breathed fire afterward. Can mages do that too?
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: Well... I’m not really sure.
└ [Starlight Princess]: If a person did that, their mouth and tongue would burn completely.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Even eating the fire?
└ [Starlight Princess]: It’s not like a mage would put on a fire-eating show. There’s no reason to eat fire;;
└ The act of eating fire itself is weird, man;;
└ Aren’t there monsters that eat fire?
└ There are, but not raccoons lol
└ [Allfather]: How fascinating. Water, I could understand, but a raccoon associated with fire.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Do raccoons shoot water from their mouths?
└ [Allfather]: Not quite, but they have a habit of washing their food in water. Perhaps this one does the opposite and cooks its food over fire.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Oh;;
└ [Allfather]: But what is that fire inside the bottle? It has piqued my interest.
└ [Wild Grylls]: It’s hard to believe, but the raccoon scooped up fire and put it in the bottle. It scooped flames from the campfire like it was cupping water in both hands.
└ [Allfather]: Hmm... I would like to study it, but regrettably, I don’t believe I have enough time. If it would not be an imposition, could you wait two days?
└ [Wild Grylls]: All right. It’s not urgent.
└ [Allfather]: Thank you.
└ That’s not essence too, is it?
└ Who knows. Could be nothing special lol
└ By the way, do raccoons live in groups?
└ I think it differs by individual.
Everyone was fascinated by the raccoon.
They seemed especially unwilling to believe the part about it eating fire.
Well, it was the Forest of Four Seasons. I should probably just accept it.
‘It probably won’t come around often, anyway.’
I hadn’t seen the raccoon until winter came.
Outside winter, it probably stayed within its territory and the nearby area.
Once winter arrived, food around it must have grown scarce, forcing it to travel farther.
Could such a tiny creature really keep surviving in this forest? I was a little worried.
‘It has a special ability, so it’ll manage.’
It might already have adapted to the Forest of Four Seasons so well that it had a better chance of survival than I did.
Anyway, with the raccoon gone, I counted the Ice-Snow Flowers I had left.
I still had about two, so they seemed like they could be useful somewhere.
I could probably find more if I searched around here.
‘Should I put off building cold resistance for now?’
Without Starlight Princess’s help, mixing and eating these could end badly.
Still, leaving them like this felt like a waste.
‘Mixing them with Mandrake and giving it to AllHailTheSun could work too...’
I checked how much Elixir I had left.
After mixing it with Mandrake, I had about three and a half bottles of Elixir remaining.
Wonmo, Fast Sloth, and I could all get hurt at once, so that was the absolute minimum I could keep.
‘It seems like that would be perfect to mix with it, though.’
The fire the raccoon had put in the bottle. What if I mixed it with an Ice-Snow Flower?
It was only a guess, though. I needed an expert’s opinion.
Unfortunately, even Allfather was unavailable right now, which made things awkward.
‘I’ll just get it next time.’
I still had plenty of time. There was no need to rush.
More importantly, didn’t I need to train myself to control cold energy first?
Once winter ended, I’d have exponentially more things to do.
‘The bricks, cement, and sand can go here...’
I prepared in advance for when the weather warmed up.
As soon as it did, I planned to make an oven and a blast furnace.
I was also considering an emergency exit, so there was plenty to do.
‘How should I build things so I don’t get swept away by an avalanche?’
An avalanche would probably come once a month.
It wasn’t just avalanches, either. I had no idea what kind of natural disasters could strike.
After surviving another fifteen days or so, I’d finally know this fucked-up forest’s rules.
‘It has to be sturdy. Should I just build a small building?’
I had bricks and cement, so I could build a structure for the oven and blast furnace.
It would take a long time, but I could guarantee it would be sturdy.
Of course, that changed if some out-of-spec monster like the Chief Gorilla showed up.
There was nothing I could do about that. As long as it could withstand natural disasters, it would be enough.
‘Need to use the space as efficiently as possible, make a separate drainage channel too... My head hurts.’
Maybe it would have been different if I had gone to college, but unfortunately, I was only a high school graduate.
I was short on money, and I had been too busy scraping by each day.
The little I learned in the military was at least some comfort.
I bought a large sheet of paper and drew the cave and its surroundings.
‘A rectangular layout should be the safest choice, right?’
I’d need to cut down more trees for that.
I planned to clear out the path the Chief Gorilla had made myself.
I spent the entire day working on the design, and before I knew it, night had fallen.
Snow came down that night, but it wasn’t a blizzard. Just ordinary snow.
‘This must be proof the weather’s warming up too, right?’
According to the journal left by my illustrious predecessor, the weather would warm up in two or three days.
I needed to get everything I could done by then. If I was lucky, I might even be able to hunt.
I added firewood to the campfire and sat beside Fast Sloth.
Other than when it ate, this guy seemed to be in front of the fireplace all the time.
‘Winter has its upsides, but I still hate it.’
The most inconvenient part was that the sun set early and rose late.
It was definitely nice that the other animals were less active, but the same went for me.
I sat quietly in front of the fireplace until something suddenly occurred to me, and I got up.
‘This isn’t the time to relax. Snow could pile up overnight again.’
So I spread salt everywhere. I didn’t have calcium chloride, so salt was my only option.
The emergency exit was still only at the design stage, so it was best to prepare ahead of time.
With that, I finished getting ready for the end of the day. The nights were long, and there was nothing to do.
‘At least the Gallery has something new to talk about now.’
Thanks to the recent sports matches, almost all the talk about El Dorado had died down.
In other words, it was about to be buried.
That probably wasn’t good news for the people outside, even if I didn’t care.
‘The people outside can deal with that themselves.’
I just had to wait for winter to end.
I made a post in the Gallery to wrap up the day, then quietly passed the time.
“Hey. Aren’t you sleeping?”
“...”
“Ugh, forget it.”
Fast Sloth could keep zoning out by the fire on its own.
Hoping a blizzard wouldn’t sweep in before dawn, I quietly closed my eyes.
I had no idea what would happen next, but it would be hard, never easy.
‘If I’d known this would happen, should I have forced the raccoon to come with me?’
I went to sleep with that thought in mind, and the next day dawned.
“Keeeng!”
“Uh...”
The moment I woke up, the raccoon greeted me outside the cave.
It wasn’t alone, either. It had brought its family.
One raccoon that seemed to be its mate, and a baby raccoon hiding behind them.
They looked exactly like a raccoon family saying, “We’ve moved in.”
“Keng!”
“...What’s this?”
The head raccoon held something out to me.
It looked like an ordinary bellflower root or wild ginseng, but its color was extraordinary.
It was as white as snow, practically advertising itself as an elixir.
“Keeeng! Keng!”
I accepted the herb in a daze, and the raccoon bowed deeply.
Its mate and child did the same. The baby raccoon’s shy greeting was especially cute.
‘...Did they come to give me moving-in gifts?’
It looked like I had suddenly gained some neighbors.
Footnotes:
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