I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 241

I decided to stop exploring for today.

Partly because running into a dinosaur out of nowhere had completely drained my energy.

However, just because I stopped exploring didn’t mean there wasn’t work left to do. I couldn’t afford to waste time since I needed to set up the area where the squirrel was staying.

Of course, I had to respect the kids’ nap time. I waited about an hour for the kids to wake up.

"Alright. Shall we go now?"

"Kkyuu!"

"Ppiik!"

Taking the kids, who had gotten plenty of sleep, I headed back to the squirrel’s location.

Before long, we arrived at the squirrel’s place and resumed working.

This time, I didn’t wander around either.

If I wandered around pointlessly, I might run into a beast attracted by the scent of blood.

’There’s nothing I can do about the scent of blood, after all.’

It was a shame; if I could erase the scent of blood, safety would be much more guaranteed.

Well, thinking about it that way, it was a miracle that our Shelter had been safe all this time.

Even with Tyranno around, there were animals that weren’t afraid of a hatchling.

Thinking such thoughts, I slowly fixed up the squirrel’s shelter.

There was no need to overdo it; as long as it could serve as a place to rest in an emergency, that was enough.

’Is there really no way to deal with the threats around here?’

Still, defense was a concern. Encountering the dinosaur made me feel that way even more.

Of course, the squirrel would block things to some extent, but being prepared never hurt.

"Jjiyik! Jjik!"

"Huh? What are you saying?"

"Jjik-jjik! Jjiyik!"

So, just as I was about to build a wall out of bricks, the squirrel slapped my leg in protest.

I didn’t know what it was trying to say, so I asked Lackey to translate.

"Don’t build wall. Looks ugly."

"That may be so, but other beasts might come."

"Jjiiii-ik! Jjik!"

"Still no. Gets in way."

"Mmm..."

Then it couldn’t be helped. After all, once all the work was finished, we could just teleport back to the Shelter.

Listening to the squirrel’s request, I only carried out simple work.

"Friend. Then is it okay if I build right here?"

"Jjik!"

"Is okay."

Fortunately, I was allowed to construct at least a sleeping area out of bricks.

I built it in a cave shape so the rear would at least be safe.

With this, even if comfort was hard to achieve, stability would increase.

Aside from that, laying a soft mat on the floor, leaving a space to light a campfire, and so on.

Cleaning up the surroundings took a long time, but building the wall itself was relatively quick.

’Good. Now all that’s left is...’

All that was left was for the squirrel to grow the World Tree sapling.

I estimated it would take three days at shortest, about a week at longest.

Until then, I just needed to steadily scout the area to see if there were any dangerous spots.

"Since things are roughly tidied up, let’s look around the area. I’ll only bring Ludwig-ahjussi along, so Lackey, you guard this place."

"Understood."

Since the work ended earlier than expected and there wasn’t much time left until evening, I decided to scout just the immediate surroundings.

Still, exploring alone was too dangerous, and going as a whole group was inefficient.

Above all, since I was walking around with the intention of sweeping this area, many hands weren’t necessary.

"Do you think more dinosaurs will show up?"

[If they show up, we shall simply fight them as they come, should we not?]

"Ignoring them is a far better policy than fighting."

[One’s skill only grows through combat.]

"Here, avoiding fights is also important. Besides, Cain-ssi, you don’t even fight in the first place."

[I believe I am fulfilling my role as a totem quite adequately.]

All talk, as usual. Just when will he actually help instead of translating?

Even while bickering with Cain, I didn’t forget to stay vigilant.

Either way, since Ludwig’s speed was slow, we were looking around slowly.

Just like that, at a certain point, we were walking silently.

-Krrrkkk...!

The growl of a beast reached my ears. As soon as I heard that sound, I flinched and looked at Ludwig.

When I stopped, Ludwig had a puzzled expression. It seemed he hadn’t heard the sound.

’What’s this?’

Normally, shouldn’t he be the one to hear it first?

My confusion was brief; I gestured to him, letting him know a beast was nearby.

At that, Ludwig also slowly drew his sword and lowered his stance.

After that, we quietly parted the bushes and walked toward the source of the sound.

Since eliminating nearby threats was our top priority, I intended to ambush it if necessary.

"Krr-rrng...!"

"..."

Before long, we arrived at the place where the sound came from.

Surprisingly, the creature making the growls was the dinosaur we saw earlier.You are reading on novelрing.com, the official source.

Apparently, this nearby area was the territory of dinosaurs—that is, raptors.

’Is that... an armadillo?’

And the animal the raptor was glaring at was an armadillo.

That exact armadillo that curls into a ball when threatened.

Considering the size difference, it was small enough for the raptor to gulp down in one bite.

Kwak!

That expectation was spot on. The raptor ate the armadillo in a single bite.

The armadillo had curled its body into a round sphere to protect itself, but well.

I doubted whether that would work. The raptor’s bite force was terrifying enough to crush thick logs.

At the same time, it was an opportunity. Any animal is most off-guard when eating.

I signaled Ludwig and finished preparing to launch an ambush.

Soon, just as the raptor repeatedly opened and closed its mouth, chewing on the armadillo—

Kwajijik!

Terrifyingly large spikes sprouted from the armadillo’s body.

They were so sharp and pointed that they pierced right through the roof of the raptor’s mouth.

"Kaaaaaaakkk!!!"

It looked excruciatingly painful even to a bystander, so how horrible must it be for the victim?

The raptor writhed in agony to spit out the armadillo in its mouth.

However, the shape of the spikes wasn’t straight, but barbed like hooks.

It was a structure where the more it writhed, the more damage it sustained.

’Wow. Even hedgehogs aren’t that...’

Kiiiing—

Just as I was about to think that even a hedgehog wouldn’t turn out like that—

A strange noise echoed from the armadillo, and an astounding phenomenon occurred.

Wiiiiing!!!

After making a bizarre noise, it showed signs of slowly rotating.

Since it had pierced through both the raptor’s upper and lower jaws, it was impossible at first.

However, whether its internal power source was strong, or those spikes were extremely sharp—

Kwadudududuk!!!

The body of the armadillo, which had been rotating little by little, began to spin furiously.

What was the result? Exactly as expected.

Becoming a biological chainsaw, it literally shredded the raptor’s face.

Not just its face, but its entire body was split completely in half.

Jjeojeojeok—

The split-in-half body of the raptor began to collapse to both sides.

Right after I thought what kinds of crazy animals existed in this world—

Teong!

The armadillo, unable to overcome its own rotational force, bounced off the ground—

Kiiiiiiiiing!!!

And flew straight toward us—specifically, right at my head.

"Uh."

I let out a short sound and hastily raised my shield.

If hit directly by that biological chainsaw, my face wouldn’t even be recognizable.

Kagagagagak!!!

Before long, the armadillo and the shield collided.

Fortunately, it wasn’t enough to pierce the shield; it only made a hideous noise without penetrating any further.

Letting out a groan, I applied strength and shoved the shield forward with force.

Ting! Tiing! Ting!

Having its rotational power killed as it scraped against the shield, the armadillo dropped powerlessly to the ground.

Finding no further stimulation, it subtly uncurled its body.

Then, looking back and forth between the bisected raptor and me, it waddled off in another direction.

Contrary to its ferocious weapon, it was an utterly pathetic escape.

"..."

I stared vacantly at the armadillo disappearing into the brush, then turned my head.

On the shield, the marks left from its thorough shredding were clearly engraved.

If I hadn’t had this, what would have happened? Just imagining it was horrifying.

[There was something even worse than a dinosaur.]

"...Indeed."

I wholeheartedly agreed with Cain’s evaluation.

As expected, small creatures seemed just as dangerous as large ones.

Unless one possessed an overwhelming physical build, it would be hard to eat something like that.

’By the way, why did this dinosaur eat it? Was it the raptor’s first time seeing an armadillo?’

Glancing at the raptor that was beyond saving, I walked elsewhere.

Whatever the case, confirming that such a creature existed was a valuable harvest in its own right.

Since I witnessed with my own eyes that messing with it would lead to disaster.

’The more I think about it, the more I feel our Shelter is safe.’

If something like that were near the Shelter, I wouldn’t even be able to sleep properly.

Well, having subjugated the Mad Dog pack and the Owlbear, I suppose it’s about the same.

After that, we explored the surroundings to see if there were any dangerous things nearby.

Fortunately, except for the chainsaw armadillo, nothing particularly noticeable caught our eyes.

"Let’s head back now. Squirrel, keep up the hard work. Here are some Fasting Pills."

"Jjijik!"Find the original chapter at novelping(.)com.

As time passed, we returned to the Shelter. Returning to the Shelter, fatigue washed over me.

But I couldn’t rest. The raptor meat thoroughly marinated in red wine was waiting.

While Ludwig was tidying up, I checked the meat marinated in red wine.

’Fortunately, no one ate it.’

Just in case, I had hidden it inside the oven, and thankfully it remained untouched.

I decided to take this out right before dinner and prepared the remaining ingredients first.

Various vegetables grown directly from seeds received from Grow Big and Tall.

Among them, what I cultivated the most was garlic. I hadn’t known there was garlic until recently.

’A Korean can’t live without eating garlic.’

So I kept growing it. Until a corner of the freezer was packed with garlic.

Thanks to that, enough garlic was stacked to last a month without harvesting more.

The rest of the group asked what kind of madness I was doing when they saw it, but I completely ignored them.

[At this rate, your mouth is going to reek of garlic.]

"You know that’s a discriminatory remark, right? People from Central Plains also eat an enormous amount of garlic."

[My apologies. Being an old-timer, I misspoke...]

At my pointer, Cain also read the room. Still, he apologized, so that was fine.

Besides, even if there was too much garlic, it didn’t matter—there was no seasoning as excellent as garlic.

It was rich in nutrients; if anything, it was good for the body, never bad.

"Wonmo-yah. Want to try eating this?"

"Kkyuu?"

"There’s no mugwort, but if you eat this for 100 days, you can become human."

"..."

At my words, Wonmo cautiously approached and sniffed the garlic.

"Kkyu-ek!"

But soon, as the spicy garlic aroma tormented his sense of smell, he scurried away.

Following that, he looked back and forth between me and the garlic with eyes full of suspicion.

Seeing how he even puffed up his body, he seemed thoroughly angry. Even so, he was still adorable.

"Just kidding. If you eat this raw, it’s super spicy."

"Kkyuuuu...!"

"I’ll give you something tasty later."

Only then did Wonmo calm down. He’s cute no matter when I look at him.

After that, while placing the garlic on the cutting board and trimming them one by one—

"...Why are you here?"

"Ppiiiiing..."

Tyranno was watching from the side, teary-eyed.

Looking at him, he seemed to have approached out of his typical curiosity, but couldn’t withstand the spicy garlic aroma and backed away.

’Come to think of it, didn’t I hear that giving garlic to animals is harmful?’

Chocolate, onions, scallions, and so on. I heard giving such things was bad for their bodies.

Although Wonmo and Tyranno were an Owlbear and a Tyranno hatchling respectively, wouldn’t it still be better not to give them any?

’For now, Ludwig-ahjussi and I will eat this, and the rest will eat that.’

So I strictly separated what humans would eat from what animals would eat.

Having separated them, all that remained was cooking. It was ambiguous to put into the oven, so I grilled it in a pan.

"#$%^%?"

[He asks if it’s impossible to omit the garlic.]

"Yes. Impossible."

I answered firmly. Ludwig grumbled, but I lightly ignored him.

A person needs to eat garlic. If you don’t eat a balanced diet, you’ll get sick.

After prepping and cooking, the result was a dish where we could enjoy meat no less delicious than beef.

Originally, it was tough meat with a gamy smell, but it had completely transformed.

’Looks like the dwarf gave me something really good.’

There was still plenty of dinosaur meat left. Not just dinosaur meat, but other things as well.

Somehow I ended up eating bizarre food, but as long as it tasted good, that was what mattered.

Having finished a lavish meal, I started browsing the Gallery until bedtime.

’Let’s see. The auction... Eek! 50,000 gold?’

Surprisingly, the dinosaur carcass skyrocketed to a whopping 50,000 gold.

Even after deducting commission fees, I should be able to make at least 20,000 gold.

Seeing how Orange Badge didn’t particularly intervene, she seemed to feel there was no problem with the auction.

’Seeing how there’s no news from the dwarf yet, the leather processing must not be finished.’

Today ends here.

Tomorrow, there will be a visit to the squirrel’s shelter along with training.

Exploring is good, but doing training in between is also good.

That way, exploring will become easier. I must always look at the long term.

I closed the Gallery and prepared for sleep.

’It was quite a rewarding day.’

Repeating this, the possibility of escape will slowly rise.

Also, Orange Badge said that outside of here, she would do her best to help.

’Let me not lose hope.’

Resolving so, I slowly fell asleep.

And,

"Oh dear..."

"Are you alright?"

"No... I feel like my limbs are tearing apart..."

I suffered from an unknown illness.