WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈
Chapter 208: There's Space Behind the Pillar (2)
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Contrary to what Ludwig had said, the mimic was incredibly fast.
It already had limbs, and it could crawl too. It was straight out of a horror show.
Even Ludwig let out a hollow laugh, as if it was his first time seeing something like that.
“Why? Why is it only chasing me?!”
“Kuaaaaah!”
It didn't even glance at the others. It just kept coming after me.
Was it because I'd disturbed it while it was sleeping, or because I was the only one with abundant mana?
Maybe it was both. I shouted at Ludwig.
“Mister! Do something!”
He'd been running with me at first, but now that the mimic was only after me, he was taking a breather.
At my urging, Ludwig stared blankly at the mimic with limbs.
Then he picked up a piece of Orichalcum from the ground and threw it.
Thud!
The Orichalcum Ludwig threw struck the mimic's leg.
The mimic lost its balance and staggered. This was my chance.
Slice!
As it staggered, I turned and swung my sword horizontally.
Like I said before, the mimic was crawling like an animal.
My horizontal slash cleanly severed both its arms, and it collapsed.
Now all that remained was finishing it off. That huge tongue might still snatch me up, so I used aura for that too.
Crunch!
I thrust my aura-coated sword into the slightly open box's mouth.
The mimic shot its tongue straight up as if startled.
Despite its horrifying appearance, I thought it might go down easily...
“...Gulp.”
“Huh?”
“Gulp. Gulp.”
This crazy bastard was gulping down my aura.
It wasn't sucking it up like a Guardian or a sponge, but it was still pretty alarming.
Luckily, I'd dealt with something similar before, so I immediately used cold energy.
Crack! Crrrack!
The mimic began freezing from the inside. Its speed in eating my aura gradually slowed.
Soon, its entire body froze, and the mimic stopped moving altogether.
“Phew...”
I'd been worried cold energy might not work either, but thankfully, it did.
Once everyone realized it was over, they gradually gathered around.
They all seemed fascinated by a mimic with limbs and inspected it from every angle.
Clatter!
“Kkyuak!”
“Peep!”
Even though it had clearly frozen solid inside, the mimic shook violently.
It looked like it was still alive. We needed to deal with it properly.
And we needed to find out why it was glowing.
To do that, we'd have to stab around inside it with a real blade instead of aura.
“Tyrano. Can you use your breath?”
“Peep!”
“Mister. You know what happens when the ice melts, right?”
Instead of answering, Ludwig gripped his Mislicon sword.
With that, all preparations were complete. I told Kkobong to hold the mimic's mouth in place.
It might start thrashing as soon as the ice melted, so this was to stop that from happening.
“Tyrano. Fire now!”
“Peep!”
Fwoooosh!
A small breath attack burst from Tyrano's mouth.
Whenever Tyrano played with Wonmo, flames would sometimes come out of Tyrano's mouth. Seeing that made me realize something.
Even as a hatchling, a dragon was still a dragon. It should be able to use breath from a young age.
Sizzle!
As the ice melted, the mimic's wriggling gradually grew stronger.
It was only because Kkobong held it so firmly that it couldn't go wild.
“Now!”
Once the inside had melted enough, Ludwig and I stabbed our swords in at my signal.
We didn't just stab it. We thoroughly tore through its insides.
“Kueeeeh...”
Only then did the mimic stop moving completely.
Its tongue hung limp, so it was definitely dead.
Its sudden appearance had delayed us a little, but taking it down had been easy enough.
“So what do we do now?”
“#%?”
“Wasn't it supposed to spit everything out on its own?”
I mimed pulling something from a mouth as I asked Ludwig.
Didn't a mimic vomit out all the things inside it when it died?
Ludwig seemed to understand and kindly explained.
“#%#$%.”
Unlike me, he mimed putting a hand inside a mouth.
So we had to pull it out ourselves. I immediately turned back toward the mimic.
Its limp tongue was covered in slimy saliva.
The inside would be even worse.
Just imagining it made me sick. I turned to Ludwig.
“...Rock, paper, scissors?”
I cautiously held out my fist. I didn't know if they had rock, paper, scissors here.
Maybe Ludwig understood what I wanted.
He stared at me, then pointed to his own eyes.
He didn't have any scouting ability, while I did.
More importantly, I was the one who suggested coming here. I should fulfill my responsibility.
“...”
I had nothing to say, so I decided to take it out myself.
Making every disgusted face possible, I shoved my hand into the mimic's mouth.
A sticky, unpleasant sensation traveled up my hand. The mimic's slippery tongue was a bonus.
‘Please let it be something good...’
If something weird came out, I was smashing it immediately.
Praying desperately, I hoped to receive something worthwhile for all my hard work(?).
After feeling around inside, something caught in my hand.
The moment I realized I had hold of something, I pulled it out without hesitation.
“Hup!”
“...”
As I yanked it out, mimic saliva splattered all over Ludwig's face.
Let me be clear, it absolutely wasn't intentional. It just happened.
After apologizing to him, I checked what the mimic had been carrying.
“...What is this? A statue?”
There was some kind of stone statue inside the mimic. A very finely carved one, at that.
It was covered in saliva, but its shape was clear. What an absurd thing to find.
Flash! Flash!
The statue was even glowing. I wasn't seeing things.
The question was what this little statue was, and why it contained such powerful mana.
‘First, I need to wash off the saliva.’
I had brought water with me, so I washed it first.
Then I poured water over the statue and got a proper look at it.
The first thing I noticed was its thick armor. You could tell at a glance that it was a knight.
It had wings on its back and held a huge shield proudly before it.
I couldn't see its face because it wore a helmet, but even the helmet had been intricately carved.
The wings and shield both gave off an extraordinary air.
“...Cain?”
As I examined the statue, Ludwig quietly muttered.
When I looked at him, his eyes were wide.
It seemed he knew who the statue was supposed to be.
“Who did you say?”
“Cain.”
“Cain?”
When I asked again, Ludwig nodded.
It looked like the statue depicted Cain.
Naturally, I had no idea who that was. I'd have to ask the Gallery.
‘Still, why is this statue glowing so much?’
It had been in the Orichalcum Cave and inside a mimic at that.
There was definitely something unusual about it. I should take it with me.
I put the statue into my Subspace Backpack and started walking. We'd done everything there was to do in this cave.
All that remained was returning to the shelter. I didn't bother taking the mimic.
You could buy chests from the Gallery, and we'd gotten everything worth getting from the mimic.
When we finally came outside, we found an unusual sight.
“Cluck-cluck!”
“Peep! Peep!”
“...”
There was a chicken. The chicken we'd encountered before.
Behind it, countless chicks huddled together, chirping away.
That alone was absurd enough, but it got even stranger.
“Cluck-cluck! Cluck!”
“Grrumph.”
“Cluck! Cluck-cluck!”
A huge black chicken was circling Largo as if it were courting Largo.
Largo looked thoroughly annoyed. I couldn't help feeling dumbfounded.
‘Judging by that comb, it's male? Don't tell me Largo was female?’
They weren't even the same species.
Did it not matter as long as it liked Largo?
It was remarkably free of prejudice. I had nothing to say.
“...Mister.”
“Mm.”
“Let's go.”
We hurried away.
Thankfully, Largo listened to us better than the chicken.
And so, we left the Orichalcum Cave.
“Cluck-a-doodle-doo!!!”
The chicken's sorrowful roar echoed throughout the forest.
* * *
After returning to the shelter, I examined the statue in detail.
It was about the size of a model kit or figure.
It was carved with such detail that it looked ready to come alive at any moment.
It must have spent a long time inside a mimic's stomach.
Yet it was completely intact without a single damaged spot. There was definitely something to it.
‘It definitely contains powerful mana...’
After a brief thought, I took a picture of the statue and posted it on the Gallery.
Ludwig had said it was Cain, so surely someone would know.
[Post title] Title) Does Anyone Know Who Cain Is?
[Author] Wild Grylls
[Post] (Photo of Cain's statue)
[Post] I came out after killing a mimic. Ludwig says it's Cain.
[Post] Anyone know who Cain is?
└ [Heavenly Demon]: What a peculiar air this statue has. It looks like it could start moving at any moment.
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: A mimic? There are mimics in the Forest of Four Seasons too?
└ [Wild Grylls]: It was in the Orichalcum Cave. But do mimics have limbs? This one even crawled around.
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: I've never heard of such a grotesque mimic;;
└ Why would a mimic have limbs? Is that even structurally possible?
└ Maybe it's an adult mimic or something?
└ └└Adult mimics live in places much bigger than a chest.
└ Where?
└ There have even been cases where an entire cave was a mimic. Very rare, though.
└ So we can't just explore caves freely anymore lol
└ What if Grylls's house turns out to be a mimic?
└ [Wild Grylls]: Don't say unsettling things like that;;
└ [Starlight Princess]: If it's Cain, wasn't he the first holy knight? That's what I know.
└ [Wild Grylls]: The first holy knight?
└ [Starlight Princess]: Yes. He served as Goddess Aris's shield. He was someone who went beyond legend and reached the realm of myth.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Then there must be a lot of statues of him?
└ [Starlight Princess]: Yes. There should be a statue of Cain in El Dorado's capital right now.
└ [DontAbandonTheHero]: I've read about him too! Cain was the first to bear the title of Guardian! More recently, Ludwig bore it!
└ But Ludwig is in the Forest of Four Seasons now, right?
└ Then who's the Guardian now?
└ Nobody. That's why El Dorado is such a shitshow.
└ [DontAbandonTheHero]: A Guardian will appear again someday!
So, to roughly summarize, he was the first holy knight and a Guardian.
Since Ludwig had once held the title of El Dorado's Guardian, I could understand how prestigious it was.
‘So this guy was actually incredible?’
He had the same title as someone who went beyond legend and reached the realm of myth.
Then again, without that, El Dorado wouldn't have been turned upside down by a single exposé.
└ [DontAbandonTheHero]: If it isn't useful to you, could you give it to me?!
└ [Wild Grylls]: I'll look into it first. It could be a dangerous item.
└ [DontAbandonTheHero]: Dangerous?! It's a statue carved in Cain's image, so it can't possibly hurt anyone!
└ [Wild Grylls]: Isn't it strange enough that this was in the Forest of Four Seasons?;;
└ [DontAbandonTheHero]: Ah! That's true too! Then could you give it to me once you decide it's safe?!
└ [Wild Grylls]: No. I'm going to sell it.
└ [DontAbandonTheHero]: Don't do thattt!!!
└ A statue like that would sell for a lot lol
└ Collectors would probably love it too.
└ But who made it? Now I'm curious.
└ And why was it stuck in the Orichalcum Cave?
Well, if I got the chance, I might give it to the Head Mod.
It didn't seem like it would help to keep it here...
“...”
Or would it? I looked at Ludwig.
He was currently kneeling reverently before the statue and praying.
I didn't know what he was praying for, but it was probably for El Dorado's protection.
‘I should just leave it here.’
Faith was essential for religious people. And Ludwig was particularly devout.
Faith also strengthened a person's resolve, so it would be a huge help for survival.
Not that I was going to pray myself.
I hated gods because I didn't want to hate people.
‘Hey. Your country is a complete mess, so please help them out.’
Still, I could say a word for Ludwig's sake.
Countless people wanted El Dorado to return to normal.
When Ludwig finished praying, I spoke to him.
“Mister. Let's get to work.”
“...”
Work still needed to be done.
* * *
Grylls left the cave with Ludwig and all the animals.
It was almost time to prepare a meal, and there were things that needed a thorough check.
That left only Cain's statue inside the cave.
Until then, Cain's statue had shown no reaction at all...
Swoosh-
A light appeared from the eye area hidden behind the helmet.
[...At the call...]
It began muttering something.
[I shall... answer...]
Click-
As soon as the statue finished speaking, its light disappeared as well.
Footnotes:
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