WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈

Chapter 147: Spring (2)

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Kadir, the Wizard King.

The stories told of Kadir's life were full of tales fit for a storybook.

Kadir had defeated a dragon alone, brought down every mage worth their salt, and so on.

But the most fairy-tale-like part of all was Kadir's friendship with the Hero.

A Hero in the lead, with a wizard as support. A classic pairing in fairy tales.

Their accomplishments were just as storybook-like. Together, they had defeated the Undying King.

The Undying King had appeared due to the Holy Kingdom's atrocities, at a time when demonkind had begun to shed its Demon King image.

Whatever the Undying King's past had been, the previous Hero and Kadir had joined forces to subjugate the Undying King.

The previous Hero died in the aftermath, a tragedy recorded as a noble sacrifice.

Kadir, the Hero's closest friend, had quietly mourned while temporarily burying the painful truth.

But after confronting the ugly, dark truth El Dorado had hidden away, even that painful truth felt meaningless.

‘Since ancient times, the ones who say they don't care about money are the ones who care about it most.’

Justice was the same. Anyone who went around proclaiming their own righteousness was out of their mind.

El Dorado was exactly like that now. Those who should have kept their distance from greed were consumed by it.

They acted devout and respectable on the surface, but Kadir had noticed long ago.

El Dorado's image as a Holy Kingdom had already crumbled.

‘I'm looking forward to hearing what nonsense they'll come up with.’

So Kadir thoroughly prepared before making the trip to El Dorado.

Kadir did not seek separate permission from the Iris Kingdom, the country the Mage Tower belonged to.

Kadir was the Mage Tower itself, a mage with power on par with a nation. Who could stop him?

There was a reason Kadir was called the Wizard King. Even the king of Iris had to watch his step around him.

Thus, Kadir visited El Dorado, the Holy Kingdom, alone.

El Dorado was deeply flustered by the unexpected visit, but promptly received Kadir as a distinguished guest.

Kadir had already given them some warning, and they had ties through the Undying King incident.

Before long, Kadir was able to enter the Papal Palace without obstruction.

“...What did you just say?”

“We merely follow God's will. What will could servants possibly have?”

At the Papal Palace, or rather, during the meeting with the Pope and cardinals, Kadir had no choice but to be dumbfounded.

As the previous Hero's friend, Kadir knew well how corrupt El Dorado's upper ranks had been.

But the people in power then and now were different. Human lives were short, so generations changed quickly.

Kadir had thought things might have improved at least a little, but after only a brief conversation, he realized they had become even more rotten.

‘These bastards are truly hopeless.’

Kadir calmly looked at Pope Louis II.

The Pope appeared to be a kindly old man, but a crafty snake writhed within.

One ready to devour people at any moment.

‘Everything ugly about El Dorado is concentrated in this one Pope.’

Kadir clicked his tongue to himself.

Kadir looked younger than the Pope, but they were about the same age.

Kadir looked over the other cardinals. They were already the Pope's lackeys, and none of them spoke.

“Servants of God... How vague. Then was the ruthless massacre of the Undying King's people also God's will?”

“Do you think we enjoyed it? We merely followed orders.”

“Orders from the previous Pope, or from God?”

“The Pope's words are God's message.”

That drivel about God was useful in every situation.

All they had to do was call something God's will, and they could use it for both attack and defense.

In the distant past, Aris would have personally delivered divine punishment for such blasphemy.

But as time passed and human civilization advanced, the gods no longer interfered with the world.

‘Maybe they left because they were disappointed.’

It was highly possible. Even Kadir, who did not believe in gods, felt profound disappointment.

No. Kadir's disappointment had gone beyond that, and disgust was steadily rising within him.

All because Kadir knew how noble the previous Hero had been.

“You say God gave such an order... Is that true?”

“Are you saying God could not have made the right decision?”

“No. I'm asking whether God delivered a divine oracle or prophecy. The Hero said their homeland pushed them into it, not God.”

“...”

You did that, didn't you? Who are you trying to lie to?

I'm the Hero's friend. And I have recent evidence too.

Kadir's question carried that meaning, and Louis II's expression stiffened slightly.

The other cardinals were the same. They could not hide their discomfort.

Kadir habitually stroked his full beard and continued quietly.

“There is a saying in the Central Plains. Can you cover the sky with your palm? Do you truly believe the world will never learn the truth? It would be better to reflect on your actions now, at least.”

“I apologize, but...”

“Ah. Of course, you were likely the ones receiving orders then, not giving them. It is regrettable. It would have been better to emphasize that point and apologize.”

“...”

If you were not the ones who gave those orders, I can understand.

But if you cannot even apologize for it, you are hopeless trash.

Or just empty-headed fools.

“Sir, your words are too...”

One of the cardinals was about to snap, unable to endure any longer, but Louis II raised a hand to stop them.

The cardinal had no choice but to swallow their anger.

Louis II then spoke, still wearing the smile of a good-natured man.

“I understand perfectly what you are saying, Lord Kadir. But I hope you understand that we simply follow God's will.”

“I wonder whether God would agree with that.”

Kadir snorted.

It was a mocking remark, saying that people would no longer believe what they said.

Kadir could mock them to their faces because he had been the previous Hero's partner and possessed a reputation and strength no one could ignore.

Had anyone else said it, their head would already be on a pike.

Even Kadir had not expected it, though.

Even rock bottom had a basement.

“Wizard King, do you know why we, and humanity as a whole, believe in God?”

“What do you mean?”

“Because we are dull and foolish. We always make the wrong choices, so God guides us. Of course, God does not always make the right choice either, but God's choices are far better than ours.”

Put simply, this was what he meant.

[Humanity is nothing but dogs and pigs.]

Strictly speaking, he meant the people of El Dorado rather than humanity as a whole, but it made little difference.

Everyone was equal before God anyway, so what did it matter?

Kadir could only laugh hollowly.

Kadir could not tell whether they were shameless or insane.

“I understand your thinking well. Thanks to you, I feel as if my eyes have been opened.”

“I'm glad I could help.”

“That shameless front won't last forever.”

Snap!

Kadir snapped his fingers as he spoke. Louis II understood what that act meant.

It surely meant Kadir had used magic. Startled, the Pope hurriedly spoke.

“What are you doing...?”

“Ah, nothing much. I simply opened the people's eyes, just as mine were opened.”

“Do you think you will get away with this?”

“You don't even know what I did. How can you say that?”

The answer Kadir had reached was to answer shamelessness with shamelessness.

Whether Louis II flew into a rage or not, Kadir casually rose from his seat.

One of the cardinals realized what was happening and hurried to call the holy knights, but then,

“Your Holiness! We have a serious problem!”

“What is it?”

“T-the meeting footage is being broadcast all across El Dorado right now!”

“What do you mean?”

Louis II could not understand the messenger's report.

It was not even Broadcasting Magic, yet footage of their meeting was being leaked throughout El Dorado?

Unable to make sense of the situation, Louis II glared at Kadir.

“Ah, it is nothing. I simply imitated the Gallery you have deemed evil.”

“You imitated it?”

“To record and replay everything one sees without the aid of a device... Isn't that a fascinating spell?”

Kadir chuckled. It was an eccentric laugh.

By the time Louis II's face twisted like that of an evil spirit, Kadir leisurely raised a hand.

“You will have a hard time for a while. You brought this upon yourselves, so do not blame anyone else.”

“Do you think God will not know the truth? Have you also become a believer in that Gallery?”

I got a book there and deciphered it myself, you bastard.

Kadir forced the words down. It was not time yet.

Kadir needed to save that for when more time had passed, when it was time to take the next step.

“The Gallery? I have no idea what you are talking about. It seems you have something weighing on your conscience.”

“Damn it...!”

“Well, take care of things yourselves. I will be going now.”

Start a fire and run. Kadir tossed firewood onto the dying embers.

As El Dorado grew so chaotic that it neared civil war, the whole world was thrown into an uproar.

Kadir returned leisurely to the Mage Tower and thought,

‘This is when the Hero is needed... No. It may be better that the Hero is absent for now.’

The Hero was currently fleeing under the stigma of being a traitor.

No matter how fierce the protesters became, without a central figure, they would eventually scatter.

Would the Hero return, or would the Papal Palace act first?

‘This will be quite a long fight.’

While El Dorado descended into chaos, Kadir quickly returned to the Mage Tower.

Teleportation was easy with magic. Of course, that was only possible because Kadir was Kadir.

The moment Kadir returned to the laboratory he loved so dearly, he opened the refrigerator first.

“The blue mushroom I received before... Here it is.”

[System] [Kill.]

“Later.”

Kadir lightly ignored the Undying King's request and closed the refrigerator.

* * *

The Gallery was ablaze over the statement that humanity was made up of dogs and pigs.

To me, it was basically like watching a fire from across the river, so it wasn't that important.

It was more like, ‘Huh, something weird happened in the world~.’

Nothing I said would've been much help, and the Gallery wouldn't be able to help me either.

I simply found it amazing that the small ball I had sent flying had turned into a massive meteorite and was now coming down.

‘The weather has warmed up a lot.’

Maybe winter was nearing its end. The weather had warmed enough that I could tell winter was coming to an end.

My thick winter clothes were starting to feel hot. Still, I would probably wear them through tomorrow.

It was time to take care of my home again. First came the ground, which had frozen solid and thawed again.

It had rained, winter had suddenly arrived, and now the warmer weather had thawed the ground again.

That made it somewhat muddy and difficult to manage.

Still, it wasn't so bad that my feet sank into it like a swamp or mudflat. It was just annoying.

‘I should get some gravel from the river later.’

The most important thing when building was the ground itself.

Even compacting the earth firmly took up more than half the total construction time.

I planned to make a blast furnace and an oven soon, so I intended to compact the ground hard.

I could get river gravel, spread it over the ground, and press it down firmly.

“Wonmo, come here.”

“Kyuu?”

“Heheh.”

As the sky gradually darkened and evening came, I hugged Wonmo tightly and rolled around with him.

Winter was ending, and Wonmo was awake now, so I would finally be able to get moving in earnest.

Once I finished everything I needed to do, I could explore the area too.

‘As long as there isn't any damn yellow dust.’

Or there might be sandstorms rather than yellow dust.

This wasn't Korean spring, so maybe there wouldn't be anything like that at all.

I had prepared all the essentials for spring.

‘Just in case, I should put up the tarp.’

Once I covered the cave entrance with the tarp, I was ready for bed.

After that, I threw firewood into the fireplace to keep warm.

“Achoo!”

I sneezed while getting ready. My nose was so itchy.

It wasn't a cold. My nose had just suddenly gotten itchy.

‘What is this? I have a bad feeling about it.’

Maybe I should sleep with my face covering on, just in case. It was uncomfortable, but it wouldn't interfere with sleeping.

I told Fast Sloth, who had started zoning out in front of the fire, “I'm counting on you,” then went to sleep.

Ah, I didn't forget to practice my Inner Energy Cultivation Method before falling asleep.

I had to keep at things like that if I wanted to improve even a little.

So I spent the night in the cave, looking forward to the coming spring.

The next day.

Whoooosh!

The moment morning came, I pulled back the tarp and a bright yellow world greeted me.

Yellow dust really had come. I only had that thought for a moment.

“Achoo! Achoo! Puh-choo!”

I sneezed over and over. My nose was so itchy that it stung.

I thought it might be because of the yellow dust, but it was strange that I was sneezing instead of coughing.

Even through my face covering, it felt as though something bright yellow was seeping in. I barely managed to open my eyes.

‘Wait. This is not yellow dust, is it...?’

The pollen that tormented me whenever spring came.

“Puh-choo!!!”

Pollen blew through the air like yellow dust, dyeing the world yellow.

Footnotes:

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