WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈
Chapter 192: Omen (2)
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Making someone do hard labor when they had only just recovered and one foot was still giving them trouble.
If someone who knew nothing heard that, they'd probably curse me out, asking if I had no conscience.
But I wasn't doing it for no reason. Even with his bad leg, he was far stronger than me.
His leg was the only thing wrong with him, and he was gradually getting used to even that.
Wasn't it more efficient to have him do what he could instead of sitting around doing nothing?
‘Volunteer work is for when you can afford it.’
When survival was on the line, we had to work even if our bodies weren't in perfect condition.
Besides, winter would arrive soon after summer ended.
Having experienced firsthand what happened during winter, I needed to prepare even more thoroughly.
And now that Kkobong and the giraffe had joined us, I couldn't just sit around.
‘Building a house for Kkobong is one thing, but building one for the giraffe is difficult.’
The sorrowful, long-necked animal, the giraffe.
Its body was sadly huge too. Its legs were long as well.
As a result, a whole crop of complications blossomed when it came to designing a house or pen.
It was roughly as tall as the second floor of an apartment building. I had no choice but to build it bigger than the cave I lived in.
‘I need to consider insulation too. It has to be spacious enough for Kkobong to live with it.’
It was practically like making another cave. There was a reason I'd enlisted Ludwig.
First, we had to clear the site by logging trees and level the ground. Then came laying the bricks.
And laying bricks on the floor wasn't the end of it. We had to keep out the cold too.
‘Mats should be enough for the floor... but a fireplace is essential.’
We needed ventilation as well, and there were plenty of things to consider.
There also had to be an emergency exit in case snow piled up high.
None of it was easy, but it all had to be done.
‘I need to make an emergency exit for the cave too.’
It would have been hopeless if I were alone. But now I had excellent workers here.
Kkobong went without saying, and Ludwig was human.
“Spread it there. No, you've already spread it there.”
“%^^#?”
“Yes. There.”
Sometimes our communication got crossed up, but once he understood what I wanted, things went very smoothly.
Thanks to that, we finished the flooring quickly. This would make things much more comfortable.
We were terribly short on sand, though, so we'd need to head downstream tomorrow.
“Grrruung.”
Maybe the giraffe understood that this was its home now, because it slowly approached.
I told it to wait and connected to the Gallery.
All I needed now were suitably soft, comfortable mats.
“Here. Sleep on this. Kkobong, I'll give you one too.”
“Gruuung.”
“Ooh.”
Kkobong and the giraffe headed to the mats I'd assigned them.
They both checked the mats' softness with their hands or feet, then promptly lay down.
“...”
“Ooooooh...”
They were both clearly satisfied.
They'd probably spent their whole lives sleeping on hard ground. The softness of a mat must have been a whole new world to them.
Even if they gathered leaves and somehow made something similar, it wouldn't be this soft.
‘Come to think of it, what's that giraffe's name?’
Ludwig was its owner, so he might know.
I approached Ludwig, who was finishing up the cleanup, and asked him.
“Mister. What's the giraffe's name?”
“?”
Ludwig looked at me as if asking what I meant.
I pointed at myself so he would understand.
“Grylls.”
Then Ludwig.
“Ludwig.”
Finally, the giraffe.
Ludwig understood what I was asking and nodded.
“Largo.”
“Largo?”
Its name was Largo. Ludwig kindly wrote it down on paper for me.
I knew how to pronounce it, but did it have some kind of meaning? Curious, I posted it on the Gallery.
└ They say it means neck?
└ [Wild Grylls]: Neck? A human neck?
└ Yeah, a human neck. Its neck was so unbelievably long that they probably named it that.
└ [Wild Grylls]: ;;
└ That's a really fucking uninspired name lol
└ Still, it doesn't have any trait more obvious than its neck lol
The meaning was strange, but the name sounded cool, so I let it go.
The important question was whether the giraffe understood it.
I called out to Largo, who was sitting blankly on the mat.
“Largo?”
“?”
The giraffe looked at me like it was asking whether I had something to say.
Had a bond formed in that short time, or was it simply intelligent?
At the very least, it seemed to recognize its own name clearly.
‘Time to eat.’
The sun had begun to set.
It was summer, so it hadn't fully gone down yet, but it was already evening.
As usual, I'd eat the same thing, but Ludwig was different.
At least until tomorrow morning, I planned to feed him fish porridge.
He was almost fully recovered thanks to honey and Elixir, but I couldn't recklessly feed him food from here.
I needed to carefully control the amount and type so his body could adjust to this world's food.
Getting him used to the food was the priority.
Otherwise, he might end up running to the bathroom all day like I had.
“But can you cook?”
“$%&^#”
When I gestured to ask if he could cook, Ludwig nodded.
Still, he didn't seem very confident. He was a combat soldier, so that made sense.
In the end, I cooked. Until he adjusted, that would be my job.
“Let's eat.”
“Kyuu!”
“Food. Food.”
“...”
Only one human and one animal had been added, but mealtime suddenly felt crowded.
Fortunately, the giraffe could eat leaves from the trees, so it ate separately.
Part of me wanted to give it a Fasting Pill, but Fast Sloth would probably glare at me, so I decided against it.
Still, it was family now, so I'd have to give it one eventually. I'd just need to read the room.
Speaking of Fasting Pills, Dad Raccoon had also been regularly bringing medicinal herbs in return.
‘Come to think of it, what was that yellow herb I got before?’
After dinner, I checked the yellow herb.
Normally, it would have withered and drooped by now, but it was still holding its head high.
I didn't know what kind of herb it had brought, but it was clearly no ordinary one.
‘I should give it to Heavenly Demon right away.’
Heavenly Demon would quickly identify the herb.
Her knowledge of medicinal herbs was just as impressive as Allfather's or Starlight Princess's.
Soon after I sent her the herb, I received a reply.
[Heavenly Demon]: Following Snow Ginseng, you have brought another rare medicinal herb. The herb you gave me is called Lesser Yang Herb.
[Wild Grylls]: Lesser Yang Herb?
[Heavenly Demon]: It is ranked directly below Sun Herb. It is famous for its abundant yang energy. I would recommend that you eat it yourself instead.
[Wild Grylls]: It's fine. Fasting Pills are more important than me eating it, and there are more mouths to feed now.
[Heavenly Demon]: I understand. Still, it would be best to sell this one as well, like the Snow Ginseng. It is far too precious a herb.
[Wild Grylls]: Go ahead.
As long as I could keep receiving Fasting Pills, it didn't matter. They might be the most important thing of all.
Tributes were the decisive reason I'd survived this long.
[Heavenly Demon]: Also, according to rumors I have heard, the Blood Cult intends to enter the Forest of Four Seasons.
[Wild Grylls]: What? All of a sudden?
I received some unexpected news during my conversation with Heavenly Demon.
The Gallery was currently full of political posts due to Ludwig's revelations.
Everyone was focused on El Dorado, so there had been no time to worry about the Blood Cult.
[Heavenly Demon]: A close aide informed me. Though it seems they are hesitating because of that holy knight's testimony.
[Wild Grylls]: Because they can't use mana?
[Heavenly Demon]: Correct. They may even ask you for weapons.
[Wild Grylls]: Like I owe them something?
If they really did that, I intended to ignore them without hesitation.
The Blood Cult would probably throw a fit, but why should I care?
Unlike Ludwig, I had never wanted anything to do with them in the first place.
Even if they survived through absurd luck like I had, there was a high chance they would become enemies.
[Heavenly Demon]: An excellent attitude. The Blood Cult bastards ought to be exterminated.
[Wild Grylls]: Did the Blood Cult hurt you too, Heavenly Demon?
[Heavenly Demon]: Nothing like that. I simply dislike them.
Why did the last Real-Life Fight incident suddenly come to mind?
Thanks to that incident, the attention that should have gone toward the Blood Cult had shifted to Heavenly Demon.
I didn't know if the real-life Heavenly Demon and registered user Heavenly Demon were the same person, but it did not matter much.
The fact that she was helping me enormously had not changed.
More importantly, real-life matters could stay in real life.
Things would be different the moment they entered the Forest of Four Seasons.
[Wild Grylls]: Thank you for telling me. I can prepare now.
[Heavenly Demon]: It is nothing. If you need help, tell me anytime.
[Wild Grylls]: Thank you.
I could ignore El Dorado. That was their problem.
But the Blood Cult was different. They might enter the Forest of Four Seasons.
They would also make thorough preparations based on the testimony of Ludwig, a survivor.
‘Ludwig said entering was a problem too, right?’
I'd heard that they would be dropped in random locations when they entered.
Ludwig had started in a grassland, but he had no idea where the others had started.
If they were unlucky, they might have landed somewhere like the volcanic region, a place where survival was practically impossible.
‘The most important thing is that they can't use mana, though.’
I was a little curious how the Blood Cult would deal with that.
Still, my survival was the most important thing, along with Ludwig's role.
“Mister. What do you want to do from now on?”
“...”
I was using him as labor, but that alone was a waste.
It would be best to avoid combat whenever possible too. Every creature here was a monster.
‘Should I teach him the language too?’
Trying to communicate through gestures was frustrating.
It was fortunate Ludwig was perceptive. Otherwise, wouldn't I have gone crazy?
“#%%”
Ludwig seemed to roughly understand my question and replied with gestures.
It looked like he was plowing a field, then scattering seeds over it.
Thanks to that, I quickly understood what he wanted.
“This, right?”
“#%#”
I even drew a picture to make sure he meant farming.
Ludwig looked at my drawing and nodded.
It was a little unexpected, but it wasn't a bad option.
‘Ludwig's foot gives him trouble.’
Unlike me, long-distance travel would be difficult unless he took his time.
Riding the giraffe around would be difficult in practice too.
Unlike the wide-open grassland, this place was a dense forest.
There were only so many places a huge giraffe could enter.
‘This might not be bad after all. Though we'll have to wait until winter is over.’
Winter would arrive soon. Farming would have to begin after that.
I explained this to Ludwig as clearly as I could. That was difficult too.
The weather was blazing hot right now, so who would believe winter was coming?
And since he had lived in the grasslands, it would be even harder for him to believe.
“If you really can't believe it, it wouldn't be bad to experience it yourself.”
“#%%#”
“I'll try to get farming tools and seeds. Let's discuss where we'll do it.”
If Ludwig farmed, our food problem would be greatly reduced.
Once humanity began farming, food shortages had eased to some degree.
It wasn't as if I disliked farming either. I actually liked it.
I'd only been unable to do it because I lacked manpower.
Now, with Ludwig here as an excellent worker, I could finally start.
“Do you know how?”
“%^^”
I didn't know what he said, but this much was clear.
He didn't.
He was just someone who wanted to farm.
It was a little ridiculous, but he was fairly old, so I let it slide.
Retiring to the countryside to farm was something like a dream for older people anyway.
‘Let's find what we need first.’
At the very least, I needed to figure out how before winter came.
* * *
The Messiah Empire's succession ceremony. Ludwig's survival and revelations. El Dorado's turmoil.
When one country fell into chaos, other countries tended to become chaotic too.
Especially when those countries had unresolved issues of their own.
Like how the Central Plains had failed to completely root out the Blood Cult.
They had originally been devising a plan to enter the Forest of Four Seasons, but the situation had changed.
It was because of Ludwig's testimony. In particular, the fact that mana, or Internal Energy, could not be used had become a major variable.
Even if every member of the Blood Cult possessed great power, it was meaningless if they could not use Internal Energy.
They had no choice but to exchange opinions. There were almost no brainless suggestions like last time.
“Our Blood Cult's martial arts will not be a problem. We possess enormous Internal Energy, so surely we can withstand the external pressure!”
Of course, there were still people whose brains had not only hardened but melted away.
Those people shrank back under the stinging glares they received.
After discussion upon discussion, they arrived at an unexpectedly simple but reasonable answer.
“What if we shift our training from Internal Energy to External Martial Arts?”
“External Martial Arts?”
Shifting their training from Internal Energy to External Martial Arts. It sounded like a decent method at first.
What were External Martial Arts? Muscles, skin, bones, and so on. It was close to basic defense.
They were not talking about physically enhancing the body. That was also undeniably Internal Energy.
Only the pure body. Put simply, their basic physical build.
“That is right. If we cannot use Internal Energy, then should we not train our External Martial Arts instead?”
“Is that even possible? If Vajra Indestructibility were easy, everyone would be invincible.”
The elder was right. There was a reason people focused on Internal Energy rather than External Martial Arts.
Internal Energy had a higher limit, but External Martial Arts were also difficult to train.
Besides, the remaining members of the Blood Cult were old. They were relatively lacking in muscle.
But the person who suggested it proposed an unexpected method.
“I am not asking for Vajra Indestructibility. We simply need to work until we gain purely physical strength.”
“Do you think such a simple-minded method will work?”
“Then do you suggest we all hold hands, go in, and die? If you have another method, speak.”
“...”
No one raised a hand. There was no suitable solution.
Since they could not use Internal Energy, they would train External Martial Arts, in other words, build up their basic physique.
Was there another method as simple yet reliable as that?
“What about asking Wild Grylls? They said the new survivor received items too.”
“Do you think Wild Grylls would give them to us? And what if Heavenly Demon catches wind of it? We must go secretly.”
In truth, they wanted to ask Grylls to give them just one sword.
But Heavenly Demon might notice. Fear of Heavenly Demon still remained within the Blood Cult.
They had to go in secret. That was what the Blood Cult believed.
“Whew. Fine. Then we will focus on External Martial Arts.”
“A good idea. Are there any other opinions?”
“Not from me.”
“Me neither.”
Their opinions had converged.
They would only know whether this method worked or was meaningless once they entered themselves.
But did they know? Even at this moment, their information was leaking out in streams.
“...That is what they say.”
“They are doing something interesting.”
Everything was reaching Heavenly Demon's ears.
Footnotes:
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