I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 174

"Huuu..."

Arnold, Crown Prince of the Messiah Empire, let out a long sigh.

In two days, the succession ceremony would take place. That meant he could place the dream-worthy Emperor’s crown upon his head.

The process hadn’t been particularly difficult. His brothers, who could have been rivals, had each found their own paths.

"Soon, I will have to address you as Your Majesty instead of Hyung-nim."

As Arnold struggled to calm his nerves, someone approached his side.

Arnold turned his head at the familiar voice.

Unlike Arnold, who was a classic handsome nobleman, this man had a shaggy beard.

His frame was also far larger than Arnold’s, making him look more like a general than a noble.

Nevertheless, except for the beard, the facial features of the two men could be said to be identical.

He was Arnold’s younger brother, currently serving as the Minister of Culture.

"...Paulo."

"Just because you become Emperor, don’t throw work at your younger brother."

Paulo sat down beside Arnold with an easygoing attitude.

Since it was not an official function and only the two of them were present, they could speak candidly as brothers.

Arnold stared at Paulo, who was enjoying the life of a free spirit (written as free spirit, read as unemployed bum), before opening his mouth.

"So, how is the team you’re rooting for doing?"

"Fairly well. They met a good manager, so they’re winning."

"Embezzle from the Imperial budget, and you’ll be executed immediately."

"I’d be beaten to death by the fans before that."

Arnold let out a chuckle. No matter when they met, this guy lived with total leisure.

An eccentric who had zero interest in power and focused purely on his own entertainment.

Even that entertainment was sports, far removed from a dissolute lifestyle.

Well, word had it he occasionally squandered money on gambling, but it was at a level that could be brushed off.

"Anyway, congratulations on becoming Emperor. Do you have any policies in mind?"

"I have plenty in mind. Though before that, there’s a mountain of issues to resolve."

"Come to think of it, didn’t you say the Iris Kingdom’s Magic Tower floated into the sky?"

"Is that all? Starting with Alfheim to the Holy Kingdom, problems abound."

"Father really passed down the throne at a mind-bogglingly perfect timing."

Arnold wore a bitter smile. He couldn’t think of anything to refute Paulo’s words.

But Robert was already frail. Wasn’t that the reason they moved up the schedule for the succession ceremony?

He couldn’t say he was postponing it now.

"Come to think of it, what does Father plan to do going forward?"

"He said he plans to build a mountain retreat. He wants to live alone somewhere with fresh air."

"A mountain retreat? Where?"

"I don’t know either. He didn’t tell me the details."

Robert, who was soon to become the Retired Emperor, was preparing various things behind Arnold’s back.

The behavior went beyond suspicious to plain weird, so when Arnold secretly investigated, lo and behold!

Hearing that Robert had ordered wooden planks supposedly good for house building, he was left utterly speechless.

He couldn’t figure out the intention, but he could at least tell that Robert no longer held an ounce of interest in the throne.

"By the way, Hyung-nim. Have you heard news about Reva?"

Reva was the youngest of the three brothers, a devout paladin driven by deep faith.

With El Dorado in turmoil, they had no choice but to pay close attention to news about him.

"I heard. Thankfully, it seems nothing has happened to him so far."

"Did you also hear that he was originally a target for purge, but the Holy Kingdom removed him after walking on eggshells around our Empire?"

Paulo said casually. Though it was a remarkably heavy topic in contrast to his tone.

At that question, Arnold also nodded with a stiffened expression.

"I heard it all. Was it Ludwig? Supposedly Reva was aligned with his faction."

"And that Ludwig entered the Forest of the Four Seasons. From what I overheard, he’s still alive."

"From the Holy Kingdom’s perspective, it’s a problem if he’s dead and a problem if he’s alive."

For El Dorado, Ludwig was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

Normally, they could have reported him missing under the pretext of entering the Forest of the Four Seasons.

Socially, it was no different from being dead.

However, currently residing in the Forest of the Four Seasons was an individual capable of communicating with the outside world.

"If Ludwig meets that person and exposes the secrets..."

"The Holy Kingdom will instantly plunge into a civil war."

Paulo spoke in a confident voice. Arnold did not deny his words either.

Even though he sat in the position of Minister of Culture, Paulo’s political instincts were top-tier.

Whenever they had free time, they shared opinions like this to predict the global situation.

"A civil war might be stretching it. They don’t have the Hero, after all."

"That’s true. But if a civil war does break out, they won’t be able to keep Alfheim in check."New chapters come out on novelping(.)com first.

That was the biggest issue: being unable to keep the elven nation of Alfheim in check through the Holy Kingdom.

Originally, El Dorado was sandwiched between Alfheim and Mephisto above and below.

Thus, when Mephisto ran amok in the past, El Dorado kept him in check.

But now as time passed, Mephisto had become peaceful while Alfheim’s movements were becoming unstable.

Therefore, El Dorado needed to keep Alfheim in check, but if it fell into civil war, it couldn’t do so.

’If that happens, Alfheim might turn its gaze toward our Empire.’

The Messiah Empire was practically right next to Alfheim, separated only by the Forest of the Four Seasons.

Furthermore, the Messiah Empire bordered the Iris Kingdom.

They needed to stay vigilant, as they could be hit from both flanks if things went wrong.

Of course, Alfheim might strike El Dorado first. Alfheim’s devout faith was no less intense than El Dorado’s.

They might interfere in domestic affairs under the pretext that the Pope was corrupt.

If that happened, it would be troublesome in its own way, as the Messiah Empire would have no justification to intervene.

A situation where they had to sit back and suck their thumbs might arrive, giving Arnold headaches in various ways.

"It’s all well and good, but since we don’t know Alfheim’s true goal... this is really tricky."

"According to the Queen, she claims they are planting trees..."

"You don’t take a crazy person’s words at face value. Right now, the Elves are collectively insane because of that Queen."

Arnold didn’t particularly deny it. In reality as well as on the Gallery, the state of the Elves was far from good.

Older generation Elves mostly had sane minds, but the new generation Elves were the issue.

Whether under collective hypnosis or not, most of the new generation Elves pledged absolute loyalty to the Queen.

Completely different from their gentle and peaceful image.

"I’ll just have to do my best. We might figure out what Alfheim wants soon enough."

"If worse comes to worst, shouldn’t we recall Sir Menethil?"

"Sir Menethil..."

As Paulo brought up Sir Menethil—that is to say, Ash—Arnold mumbled softly.

Robert had also advised that if any trouble arose in the Empire, he should ask Ash for help.

Even if Alfheim caused chaos, having Ash would be enough to deter them.

But in a world where martial power translated directly to political power, what if they placed Ash at the forefront and became overly reliant on her?

A mere title of Count wouldn’t be enough to gloss over it. He had to consider the centralizing of political power.

"I must consider that carefully. Depending on her too much isn’t good. Above all, isn’t her own intention most important?"

"True. So, do you have anyone in mind? Hyung-nim, you need to raise at least one prominent figure like Father did."

A sharp observation. Arnold let out a low groan upon hearing it.

The decisive reason why Robert earned the nickname of "Domestic Emperor."

It was his discovery of numerous talents, starting with Ash.

As long as strength and competence supported them, he appointed them immediately without caring about social status.

Ash stood out particularly, but the talents sponsored by Robert were active all across the Empire.

"I’ll just pick someone suitable from the Academy. Or..."

"Or?"

"..."

Arnold couldn’t finish his sentence. For reasons unknown, one person came to mind.

A person who was probably doing all sorts of crazy things to survive in the Forest of the Four Seasons right now.

He couldn’t meet him in person, nor could he crush him with political power.

In his heart, he wanted to completely turn off his concern for Grylls.

But the rewards returned when trading were far too attractive. He couldn’t give up.

’Under normal circumstances, I’d leave it to Count Gorgon, but...’

Count Gorgon had pulled off a massive trade: obtaining a Mature Mandrake from Grylls.

Thanks to that, Robert recovered his wits, enabling them to hold the succession ceremony.

’And recently, he discovered Ambergris in addition to the Sky Whale.’

The Sky Whale, known as a mythical being, and the golden ambergris.

Allfather and Praise the Sun, who were on friendly terms with him, received portions without giving anything in return!

Items worth more than handing over the entire Imperial Palace budget!

The ambergris alone was terrifying, and no one knew what he would discover next.

’Do I sponsor him in earnest, or pretend he doesn’t exist and act accordingly?’

It was far too sweet a fruit. Proportionately, the difficulty of harvesting it was extremely high.

Moreover, he had to consistently support him while keeping his identity secret.

He refused to let that damn handle be exposed, even if it killed him.

"Hyung-nim?"

"...I need to take my time thinking about this. It’s not like an extraordinary talent is strictly required right away."

"Hmm. I suppose so."

Worst case, he could put Count Gorgon at the forefront.New chapters come out on nov⁠elping.com first.

He could just trade with Grylls through him.

Since Count Gorgon was an ambitious noble, he would willingly accept.

’The more prominent Count Gorgon’s achievements become, the stronger my power naturally grows. Not bad.’

The more he mulled it over, the better it sounded.

Even if a trade with Grylls failed, there would always be other opportunities.

"So, Hyung-nim. When are you getting married?"

"Mm? What?"

"Marriage. Marriage. You need an Empress."

"An Empress..."

There was a duty that could be considered the most crucial for emperors and kings.

An heir. This was an obligation, not an option.

Therefore, normally he should have had a partner already, but because circumstances had twisted a bit, he didn’t have one yet.

"I’ll have to start looking soon. There are so many busy tasks."

"Weren’t you originally engaged to Lady Mercedes?"

"We were. But you know as well. Lady Mercedes caught an incurable disease and was on the brink of death."

The incurable illness of House Mercedes’ eldest daughter, Selena, was quite a famous story.

At first, people thought she just had a weak innate constitution, but before long, it became known that she had contracted an incurable disease.

Why? Because she firmly annulled the engagement with the Imperial Family. Even for a Ducal house, it was an act that trampled on the Imperial Family’s pride.

Since it was far from a normal decision, an independent investigation was conducted, resulting in the intelligence that it was an incurable disease.

Strictly speaking, it was a severe chronic ailment rather than incurable, but House Mercedes kept it secret, so they couldn’t uncover that level of detail.

"However, according to recent rumors, Lady Mercedes goes out for walks quite frequently."

"Could her illness be completely cured?"

"Perhaps. Though I don’t know what method they used."

Selena had cut off all public activities starting a year ago.

Because of that, all kinds of rumors circulated, the most prominent being the worsening of her chronic illness.

She suffered an illness severe enough to annul an Imperial engagement, and then suddenly recovered?

’She must have received extraordinary help. If she attends the succession ceremony, I must speak with her.’

He needed to find out who she received help from.

If it was a benefactor capable of curing an incurable disease, they were bound to be an extraordinary individual.

One person popped into his head immediately, but... he brushed it off as impossible.

Because Lady Selena was famous for scorning and outright loathing the Gallery.

Furthermore, it was unknown whether a Mature Mandrake could resolve an incurable disease.

Elixirs might cure physical trauma and poison, but they couldn’t cure disease.

"Even if she fully recovered from her illness, our public relationship broke down, so reinstating the engagement is awkward. Is there no other suitable match?"

"You have to find that yourself, Hyung-nim."

"Huu. Why are there so many things to do?"

Becoming Emperor was nice, but actually taking the position left him with far too many tasks.

To the point where he almost envied Robert, who was dumping all the work on him and leaving.

Arnold paused in thought for a moment, then turned his head to stare at Paulo.

"No."

"I haven’t even said anything yet?"

"I told you. I’m going to play and eat my fill for the rest of my life."

"Thinking about it pisses me off! You want to keep your spot as Minister of Culture? Then work and help me out."

"How could I possibly help? You’d be better off summoning that fellow Reva."

"That guy is a muscle-brained stonehead who doesn’t work. Plus, I don’t want to work with a religious fanatic."

The brothers were genuinely worried about the state affairs overflowing with chaos, and...

"Hmm-hmm~ This fishing rod should be plenty. Most satisfying."

Robert, soon to be the Retired Emperor, looked forward to joyful days after dumping everything onto his son.

Having already prepared a suitable lot and materials to build a home, all that remained was the succession ceremony.

Once the ceremony was concluded, he planned to finish the handover and build a mountain villa in a nearby mountain right away.

’What is that guy up to right now, I wonder?’

What was he up to?

"Whoa. They sure fight well."

He was doing exceptionally well in the Forest of the Four Seasons.

Right before his eyes, two kangaroos were engaging in a bloody duel.

Surrounding them, other kangaroos formed a ring, making it feel almost like an arena.

"Should I post a bet on the Gallery about who wins?"

An unseasonable ’arena’ had been born in the Forest of the Four Seasons.