WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈

Chapter 184: Holy Knight Riding a Giraffe (2)

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A holy knight riding a giraffe.

Just hearing it was a bizarre combination.

Like seeing a zebra in the middle of a city.

Either way, what mattered was that I had finally met someone.

And I couldn't ignore the fact that he was on the verge of starving to death.

‘S-Should I make porridge? I need to get something into him first...!’

If someone ate after going hungry for days, their stomach would be shocked. In other words, they would get sick.

I needed to give him something easy to digest, like porridge, but where was I supposed to find porridge out here?

He looked like he could die at any moment. After some thought, I hurried into the cave.

Could the honey I gathered yesterday work as a substitute for porridge?

Even if it didn't, it could buy me some time. I could make fish porridge in the meantime.

Drip.

I poured honey into the holy knight's mouth as he lay there with his eyes half-open.

Maybe it was the sweetness he hadn't tasted in a while, but he started moving his mouth.

This was honey that made your skin plump in a single day. It had to help.

‘After this...’

It was time to make fish porridge. Making porridge wasn't difficult.

After my parents passed away, I got seriously sick once and made porridge for myself.

This was fish instead of rice, but it shouldn't be a major problem.

“Piiing...”

I should give the giraffe fish porridge too.

When the holy knight collapsed, the giraffe had let out a pained cry and sat down as well.

Still, it seemed to be in better shape than the holy knight. At least it had enough strength to lift its head.

Bubble, bubble, bubble.

While the fish porridge cooked, I kept checking the holy knight's condition.

This was probably Ludwig. Seeing that he had ridden in on a giraffe, I was sure of it.

‘He's... not in good shape.’

I didn't know how many days he had gone without food, but his cheeks were hollow.

His armor was tattered too. I could only imagine how much he had suffered.

The Head Mod said Ludwig was incredibly strong, yet even he had barely survived.

It reminded me once again just how harsh and dangerous the Forest of Four Seasons was.

Shhhhhh.

The sword was what finally confirmed that this was Ludwig.

When I poured mana into it, a green Milky Way appeared.

It was definitely the sword I had given him.

Since he still had it, he must have found it useful.

‘This isn't the time for that.’

His armor was a complete mess. How much worse would it be underneath?

I brought the Elixir out of the cave to treat him.

Then I struggled to remove his thick armor.

At first, I fumbled around because I didn't understand how it was put together, but I somehow managed to take it all off.

“Ugh...!”

The moment I removed the armor, an awful stench hit me.

He must not have washed for days. A sour, vinegary smell filled the air.

Once he got better, I'd have to wash him immediately. After he was fully healed, of course.

‘There aren't many wounds on his body... The armor did its job. Thank goodness.’

Maybe because the armor was so thick, there were no visible injuries.

Still, just in case, I poured Elixir into his mouth.

Perhaps he barely had any consciousness left, but he swallowed it down without any trouble.

I should give him half orally and use the rest on his wounds.

That was when I removed not only his upper armor, but his lower armor and shoes as well.

“...”

Everything up to his lower armor was fine, aside from the sour vinegar smell.

But when I looked toward his feet... I couldn't smell that sour stench anymore.

His left shoe was still on, but the right one had come off.

‘What the hell...?’

Maggots crawled all over the wounds on his bare right foot.

Then there was the skin. It had turned black, as if it had all died.

‘There are burn marks too...’

There were burn marks from emergency treatment.

It looked like he had burned it to disinfect the wound, but he hadn't been able to stop the maggots from infesting it.

That minimum emergency treatment was probably the only reason he was still alive.

After staring blankly for a moment, I hurriedly poured on the rest of the Elixir.

Maybe the Elixir could heal it.

Sizzle!

As soon as I poured it on, the maggots writhed and died.

Elixir could kill parasites too.

Maggots probably counted as parasites. Now that they were gone, all that remained was treatment.

‘Why... isn't it changing?’

But the foot showed no sign of healing. It was still black.

For a moment, I panicked. Then I remembered what Starlight Princess had said before.

Elixir was an excellent medicine, but it wasn't a cure-all.

There were exactly two things Elixir couldn't heal.

The first was disease. It could heal symptoms caused by an infection, but it couldn't cure the infection itself.

The second was reviving dead living beings or tissue.

Elixir only pushed regenerative ability to its limit. It couldn't revive something that was dead.

‘When I heard it couldn't even cure baldness, I just laughed it off...’

Seeing something similar in front of me felt completely different.

Necrotic tissue couldn't be restored. It was practically just a lump of meat still attached to him.

This was a situation where amputation had to be considered. But I wasn't an expert.

Bubble, bubble, bubble.

‘...First, I should feed him the porridge.’

While I was thinking, the porridge finished cooking.

I had done all the emergency treatment I could.

Right now, the priority was helping him regain his strength.

“You eat too.”

“...Lick.”

I gave some fish porridge to the giraffe too. It licked at it, then quietly began eating, probably because it was hungry.

Then I fed Ludwig fish porridge little by little.

Maybe the Elixir had restored some of his strength, because his eyes were darting around.

“#%$#”

“Quiet. Just eat.”

I had no idea what he was saying, but I kept feeding him.

Maybe Ludwig understood his own condition. He quietly accepted the food.

Before long, he finished an entire bowl of fish porridge.

I wanted to take him into the cave right away, but I held back.

Looking at his foot, I might have to amputate it here.

“Grrr...”

“...”

Well, look at that. Now he was sleeping peacefully.

I let out a laugh in disbelief, then thought about everything he had been through.

I'll say this first. I was lucky. Extremely lucky.

I had a cave that solved the shelter part of food, clothing, and shelter, and I could use the Gallery too.

Ludwig, on the other hand, must have crossed this hellish place with nothing but himself.

He had even started out in the grasslands. Unlike here, the grasslands weren't particularly abundant in food.

He had to hunt to get anything to eat. Even finding water must have been difficult.

‘Anywhere with water would have other beasts too.’

I didn't know how he had tamed the giraffe, but it wasn't ordinary either.

I watched Ludwig, who had fallen asleep to recover his strength, then connected to the Gallery.

Shouldn't I spread this good news throughout the Gallery?

[Post title] Holy Knight Riding a Giraffe

[Author] Wild Grylls

[Post] (Photo of Ludwig sleeping on the ground)

[Post] (Photo of the giraffe eating, then sleeping as well)

[Post] I met a holy knight riding a giraffe. This guy's condition is awful.

[Post] I've done everything I can for now. But his foot is pretty bad, so I think I'll have to keep an eye on it.

[Post] Meeting another person is definitely a good thing, but I don't know if I should be happy... I'm not going to end up disposing of a corpse, right?

└ [Heavenly Demon]: You have finally met someone. I am glad you will no longer live in loneliness.

└ [Wild Grylls]: I think so too, but I should probably hope he's a good person.

└ [Heavenly Demon]: He will be a good person. Can you not feel his steadfastness from the picture alone?

└ [Wild Grylls]: He just looks like a bum to me. He smells terrible too.

└ [Heavenly Demon]: It is difficult to deny.

└ lmao She can't even say no

└ He really does look like a beggar lol

└ But what is that animal? Why is its neck so long?

└ What kind of animal looks like that?;;

└ [DontAbandonTheHero]: Oh my god! Is that really Ludwig?! It's not a fake, right?!

└ [Wild Grylls]: I don't know. But seeing as he's holding the sword I gave him, there's a good chance it is.

└ [DontAbandonTheHero]: Thank you! I'd like to reward you from the bottom of my heart, but I don't have the means right now...! It may take time, but I will repay you somehow, I swear!

└ [Wild Grylls]: You don't have to reward me. More importantly, his foot is in really bad shape, so it might have to be amputated.

└ [DontAbandonTheHero]: What?! What do you mean?!

└ [Wild Grylls]: (Photo of the blackened, dead foot) As you can see, it looks like this. It was originally crawling with maggots, but I washed them all off with Elixir.

└ [DontAbandonTheHero]: Ah... It looks kind of... really... bad...

└ How bad is it if the Head Mod doesn't even use an exclamation mark?

└ That's basically just a lump of meat;; It needs to come off right now.

└ What happens if it stays attached?

└ The necrosis has already progressed inward. He could get sepsis. Cut it off fast.

└ [Passing Dwarf]: Hey. I'll give you a bottle of liquor, so give it to him. It'll hurt less when you cut it off.

└ [Wild Grylls]: Do I really have to cut it off?

└ [Passing Dwarf]: If you leave it like that, he'll actually die. Stop talking and take it.

└ [Wild Grylls]: Fine, okay;;

Even the dwarf immediately handed over liquor.

Alcohol dulled the senses. That was probably why the dwarf wanted me to use it as anesthesia.

It was actually a method people stranded in harsh environments often used.

No matter how strong someone was, they couldn't endure the pain of having a body part cut off.

“Uuugh...”

I had just received the liquor from the dwarf and was considering what to do.

Only thirty minutes had passed, but Ludwig regained consciousness.

Maybe the combination of honey and Elixir had worked, because he seemed to have regained his strength in that short time.

“Are you awake?”

“...”

Ludwig opened his eyes halfway and looked at me.

He looked terrible, but he couldn't hide the intelligence shining in his eyes.

“#$%!@?”

I still couldn't understand what he was saying.

I pointed to my ear and shook my head.

Ludwig seemed to understand and nodded.

‘Should I ask the Head Mod to translate?’

Among the registered users I knew, the Head Mod was the only one from El Dorado.

But unlike Heavenly Demon, the Head Mod was busy. The Head Mod was being pursued too.

In the end, I had no choice but to figure things out through gestures and context.

If that didn't work, I could make a post on the Gallery and ask for help.

“...”

As an awkward silence settled between us, Ludwig looked at his right foot.

The foot was already black and dead. The moment he saw it, he furrowed his brow.

He looked as though he was thinking about something, then turned to me.

“#%#%”

I still couldn't understand him. This time, though, he gestured.

He mimed drinking something, then spun his head around.

Since we had just been talking about it, I could roughly guess what he was planning.

“Here.”

So I handed him the liquor I received from the dwarf.

Ludwig took it and easily opened the cap.

He smelled it to confirm it was alcohol, then stared at his foot with a troubled expression.

“$%@$%?”

He then gestured for me to help him.

As a bonus, he made a chopping motion with the side of his hand, as though he wanted to cut off his foot.

I blinked at that, then pointed at myself.

“I cut it off?”

“%#%!@#?”

Ludwig's expression seemed to say, Who else would do it if not you?

It was absurd, but realistically, he was right.

If he did it himself, he might cut it wrong.

More than anything, he was weak right now. It would be difficult for him to make one clean cut.

“Are you sure?”

“#%#^”

Still, I felt deeply uncomfortable. This wasn't an animal. It was a person's flesh and bone.

I asked several times because of my instinctive resistance, but Ludwig didn't back down.

In the end, I had no choice but to perform the amputation myself.

Doing it on bare ground wouldn't be hygienic, so I made sure to prepare thoroughly.

‘Of all the things I'd do in my life...’

What was my surgical tool?

Heavenly Demon’s Sword.

The sword that had cleanly cut through Mad Dog's bones and flesh.

If it could do that, cutting through a rotten foot should be easy.

“Phew... Fuck.”

The curse slipped out as I finished all the preparations and looked at Ludwig.

He was already fully prepared. He had drunk every drop of the liquor the dwarf gave him.

I wondered if he was going to die of acute alcohol poisoning.

“Um... I'm doing it?”

Ludwig nodded at my question.

I hesitated for a moment, then placed Heavenly Demon’s Sword against the spot I would amputate.

And then...

Slice!

I put strength into my arms and began the operation.

Footnotes:

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