WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈
Chapter 212: Winter Has Come (4)
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Winter was supposed to be cold, but this winter was especially frigid.
Last winter had been difficult because it came out of nowhere, but this one was harsh despite all my preparations.
The temperature was one thing, but the wind was the real problem. A bitter, cutting wind often blew.
Every time it brushed against my cheek, it felt like I was being cut by a sword heated over a fire.
So I kept outdoor activities to a minimum whenever possible. Ludwig had advised me too.
He said being active in the cold winter drained several times more energy.
People burned an enormous amount of energy just to maintain their body temperature.
“Good, right?”
“Huuuh. Huu.”
“I'll take that as a yes.”
That was why I roasted sweet potatoes. I'd harvested them knowing this would happen.
Maybe because they were grown in the Forest of Four Seasons, the sweet potatoes were incredibly sweet.
Every bite of their golden flesh filled my mouth with sweetness and fragrance.
It would have been nice to have milk with them, but that was asking too much.
“Here. You guys eat too. Be careful, they're hot.”
“Ooh!”
“Grrr.”
I made plenty of roasted sweet potatoes and shared them with the animal friends in the brick house too.
They all found them too hot at first, but once they cooled down a little, they happily dug in.
“Good, right?”
“Moo.”
The deer was the same. It gobbled them down, enjoying a sweetness different from golden apples.
The problem was that they liked them too much. Once they had finished every roasted sweet potato, Kkobong looked all around the pot.
Then Kkobong even showed me the empty pot. Its face clearly asked if there was any more.
“No. Be patient.”
“Give me more! I want some!”
“Grrr.”
It wasn't just Kkobong. Largo started demanding more too.
Even the deer pretended not to care while subtly twitching its front hoof.
I had harvested quite a few sweet potatoes, but no way.
‘If they keep eating nothing but sweet potatoes, they're going to get fat.’
I'd heard about it somewhere.
Someone took their pet to the animal hospital, only to be told it had gained weight and needed to stop eating sweet potatoes.
Most animals liked sweet potatoes, but the Forest of Four Seasons was different.
They liked anything sweet. A bear wasn't going to come asking for roasted sweet potatoes next, was it?
“I'm leaving now. Take care.”
“Sweet potato! Sweet potato! Sweet potato!”
“Get away, you little brat. Keep this up and you'll get a belly.”
After barely peeling the clingy Kkobong off me, I returned to the cave.
It was only a short walk back and forth, but the cold was terrifying.
It wasn't like I'd been dropped into the middle of Siberia. How could it be this cold?
‘Come to think of it, it barely rained either.’
Last winter came right after the monsoon season, but this time was different.
I wasn't sure whether to call it autumn, but the weather had gradually grown chillier before winter arrived.
If it warmed up, I'd go outside, but that didn't seem likely.
At most, I'd go out around noon. Even meals were difficult.
“Piiiing.”
“Tyrano, you'll burn yourself.”
Fast Sloth and Tyrano had claimed the spot in front of the fireplace.
Fast Sloth had always been there, but Tyrano had claimed a place this time too.
‘Come to think of it, are dragons considered reptiles?’
Most reptiles were cold-blooded animals. Animals whose body temperature changed with the surrounding temperature.
Very little was known about dragons, so I was a little curious.
Someone might ask how that could be when dragon slayers existed.
‘Because nobody can observe them.’
The moment you enter their Territory, you get hit by their breath. Observation was impossible.
Still, dragons were probably more like mammals than cold-blooded animals.
I stroked Tyrano's head a few times, then turned away.
The Cain statue stood steadfastly in that direction.
‘Looks like the El Dorado protest is starting to wrap up.’
That was what the Gallery posts said. The Papal Palace had even brought in the army to make its case.
Their claim was that all the current protesters were under the Undying King's curse, and that they were still investigating the reason.
Seeing the army mobilized, the protesters wondered if it might actually be true.
One person had stepped forward and entered the Papal Palace.
The protesters had naturally dispersed after that, but they were still waiting to see what happened.
When I told Ludwig about the whole situation, this was his response...
[Post title] Title) What did this guy say?
[Author] Wild Grylls
[Post] (Video of Ludwig saying something)
[Post] I told him what was going on in El Dorado, and he snickered before saying this. Can someone translate?
└ [Heavenly Demon]: Just from the tone, it sounds like swearing.
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: It sounds like swearing to me too.
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Looks like he's saying, “Quit talking bullshit,” lmao
└ [AllHailTheSun]: I don't know the Holy Kingdom's language, but I can tell that person was swearing.
└ [DontAbandonTheHero]: “What a load of horseshit!” That's what he said!
└ [Wild Grylls]: Called it lol
That was about it. Swearing was a universal language.
Ludwig had even been purged by the Papal Palace. Of course he had no trust in them.
Even so, the protesters held onto a sliver of hope. The army being mobilized seemed to matter a lot.
‘At least the army didn't attack them directly.’
That would have been an absolute disaster. The kind of wound that stayed with them for life.
Either way, it seemed like I could forget about El Dorado for a while.
If something happened, I'd have to pay attention again.
[Post title] Title) What nonsense.
[Author] NecromancyIsLove
[Post] (Photo of the inside of a refrigerator)
[Post] Is Our curse still in effect?
[Post] If that were true, We would have ordered someone to take Us out of this cramped, cold place.
[Post] The Papal Palace says Our curse is alive while We ourselves are dead. How laughable.
└ What's with this old man again?
└ This person's roleplaying as the Undying King. It's funny because it really does sound like the Undying King's point of view lol
└ How did they take a picture inside a refrigerator?
└ If the real Undying King had enough power to curse people, they would've resurrected first lol
There were posts like that too. Even if the curse was real, rebuilding trust would take a long time.
The Undying King incident had caused repercussions far beyond what I expected.
Not that I'd wanted any of this in the first place.
‘It doesn't really have much to do with me, either.’
For now, all I had to do was spend winter in front of the warm fireplace.
And eat from time to time. I checked the time and headed outside.
It was about time to take food from the storage room...
“Uok?!”
“...”
The instant I stepped outside, I ran into a thief.
A white gorilla was tiptoeing away with its arms full of sweet potatoes.
Kkobong hadn't expected me to come out. Its eyes went wide as it froze.
“...Sigh.”
Fine. Eat as much as you want.
I waved a hand, telling Kkobong to do whatever it wanted.
Kkobong cautiously watched my reaction, then dashed into the brick house.
-Uho! Uhoho!
-Grrr!
Cheers came from inside the brick house. Were they really that good?
I snickered and looked up.
‘The sky is gloomy.’
It looked like it would snow soon.
* * *
A day had passed since Hans entered the Papal Palace as the protesters' representative.
Perhaps the testing was taking quite a while, because the Papal Palace still said nothing.
Hans's worried family asked the Papal Palace about it, but received the same answer.
[The examination is still ongoing, so please wait.]
In the end, the family had no choice but to leave empty-handed.
Some El Dorado citizens said they should protest again, while others said they should wait and see.
Even after thirty years, remnants of the Undying King remained everywhere.
Undead still ran rampant in the Balkan Kingdom in particular.
From ordinary ghouls and skeletons to Death Knights and liches.
The royal palace was even filled with wraiths and remained impossible to conquer.
“What the fuck are these bastards doing? How long can curse removal possibly take?”
With no progress after an entire day, Reina vented her frustration.
Asella felt the same way. She nodded.
Curse removal should take no more than a day.
And this was the Pope. The Pope's divine power was known to be as strong as the Hero's.
And yet, there was still no word... Something was suspicious.
People said no news was good news, but not in a situation like this.
“...I have to go.”
“Will you be okay going alone?”
When Asella stood up, Reina asked with a worried expression.
Reina wasn't confident in infiltrating the place, so it was wiser to send Asella alone.
But this was the Papal Palace. Security would surely be strict.
“I'll be fine. I know the Papal Palace's layout. Its blind spots too.”
“Blind spots? How do you know that?”
“I learned by wandering around when I was young.”
Asella had grown up in the Papal Palace from childhood. She had been chosen as the Hero.
She had been branded a traitor because of the prophecy, but that no longer mattered.
Reina had no choice but to let her go. Going together now would only get in Asella's way.
“Still, be careful. And... no matter what, hold yourself back.”
“...”
“Even if you get angry, hold yourself back. If you make things bigger in there, it'll only help them.”
Asella nodded heavily at Reina's practical advice.
She didn't know what was inside, but she needed to prepare herself.
“I'll check the interrogation rooms first.”
“Okay.”
Asella pulled her hood low.
Then, instead of heading for the Papal Palace's front gate, she made for the wall where security was relatively loose.
The wall was well over five meters tall, but it was easy for Asella.
Tap! Tap!
Asella kicked off the wall and ran upward as though defying gravity.
She cleared the wall with the lightness of a bird, then immediately concealed herself.
‘It's almost time for the guard shift. I need to move then.’
Thanks to her exceptional mind, she knew the Papal Palace's duty schedule by heart.
Asella circled the Papal Palace while avoiding people's eyes until she found an opening.
‘The interrogation rooms are underground. There's only one official entrance, but...’
There was another entrance. A ventilation shaft installed to air out the interrogation rooms.
After checking her surroundings, Asella tore off the vent cover.
It wouldn't budge with ordinary strength, but she was the Hero.
Something like this was easy. Of course, she didn't forget to cover the entrance again so nobody would notice.
Creak-
Past the ventilation shaft, she reached the framework supporting the underground level.
Asella stood atop one of the beams and looked down.
Most of the interrogation rooms relied on torchlight.
The upper area was dark, so it would be difficult for anyone to spot her.
‘Like Reina said, they won't expect me to come here.’
Just as the Central Plains proverb said, it was darkest under the lamp. They would never imagine that Asella had come here.
She had entered the capital while being pursued by a pursuit party. It should have been impossible.
Asella panted as she moved across the framework in search of Hans.
She felt like a thief. It was also a moment for her natural sense of balance to shine.
Before long, she searched through the dreary interrogation rooms for Hans.
-$%$%#!
The interrogation area was enormous. Yet one place was especially noisy.
Asella instinctively knew Hans was there and moved quietly.
‘It's a room, so I can't see from above.’
In the end, she had no choice but to quietly land on the interrogation room's ceiling.
She wanted to sneak inside, but holy knights were standing guard.
Still, it wasn't as if there was no way. She quietly scattered mana.
She spread mana through the entire interrogation area and used it to predict movement.
It was one of the abilities Ludwig had taught her. Like Aura Blade, it was an ability that depended on innate talent.
After filling the interrogation area with mana, Asella quietly pressed her ear to the ceiling.
She could predict movement, but to hear sound, she had no choice but to listen directly.
-I, I can never say it. Why should I?
-Listen, fruit seller. If you just admit it, everyone will be better off. You were the Undying King's lackey, and we'll say we took care of it. That's how it'll go.
...What was this?
Asella blinked at the shocking conversation.
But it didn't end there. Hans let out an angry roar.
-Y-you think the Goddess will forgive you for this?! You are the real Demon King! You are the ones who created the Demon King!
-My, my. The Undying King was persistent too, taking someone like this as a lackey.
The person Asella assumed was an Inquisitor snickered and spoke to someone.
-Hey. Start again.
-Yes.
-Let go of...! Gurgle...!
Asella felt the blood in her entire body go cold.
What was happening in that interrogation room.
What the kind, hearty Uncle Hans was being put through.
At that moment, she deeply resented the talent Heaven had given her.
‘Ah...’
El Dorado, the sanctuary Goddess Aris herself had founded and taken pride in.
‘How... How...’
The Demon King was here.
Footnotes:
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