I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 267

Just to be clear in advance, I’m not genuinely asking them to dispose of the Central Plains guy.

This is strictly to build rapport with the gorillas. In a way, it’s closer to political maneuvering.

Because there’s no telling what kind of ideas that leftover cultist remnant might put into the leader gorilla’s head.

If things go wrong, the gorilla pack might fall for his tricks and raid our Shelter.

’First, I need to check whether he actually returned there.’

He had said he was semi-forcefully kicked out.

Something about how they coldly threw him out because his limbs were broken and he was completely useless.

However, with his legs now healed, there was a high probability he swallowed his pride and returned to the gorilla pack.

After all, he mentioned that Ho-chang’s records were left there.

One of the reasons the Blood Cult remnant came here in the first place was to find traces of Ho-chang.

For terrorists, nothing was more important than a symbol. So I needed to verify it.

’I just have to hope the leader gorilla is wise.’

If, by some off chance, that Blood Cult guy somehow scraped by to hold an important position, things would get seriously headache-inducing.

Since time immemorial, smart people tend to be well-treated.

No matter how slow that Central Plains guy might be, he’s bound to be smarter than a gorilla.

If he turned out to be dumber than a gorilla, that would be absurd in its own right.

’At least the leader gorilla seemed to possess high intelligence.’

Beyond understanding ’language’, freely speaking it required high intelligence.

There was a reason language was considered the alpha and omega of human civilization. It was through language that civilization advanced endlessly.

The leader gorilla was likely just as intelligent as any ordinary human, but the problem was experience.

I doubted whether he could see through human cunning.

’Or maybe the two of them get along like a house on fire.’

After all, he was raised with great care by the Blood Demon, Ho-chang. Their mindsets might even be similar.

On top of that, didn’t they even fight a territorial war against Bbareumbo’s species in the past?

There were many alarming factors in various ways. It would be one thing if the distance were far, but they were extremely close.

’At least we have a nuke on our side, though...’

I turned my head and looked at that nuke.

"Kkyuu! Kkyu!"

"Ppiiik!"

Tyranno, a nuclear bomb capable of Mutually Assured Destruction, was happily playing ball with Wonmo.

If the gorilla pack messed with us, Tyranno would inevitably get caught in the crossfire.

Even if Tyranno’s mother was currently in a deep slumber, handling the fallout would be impossible for them.

The leader gorilla knew this, so he surely wouldn’t cross the line. Still, I needed to take appropriate measures beforehand.

"Hey. Is this really okay?"

I wrote a letter of protest on paper purchased from the Gallery and asked Lackey for his opinion.

It was my first time writing something like this, and above all, Central Plains language was awkward for me.

If it were up to me, I would have asked Lackey to write it, but he couldn’t write.

Strictly speaking, he knew the characters themselves, but given his finger anatomy, writing delicately was difficult.

So Lackey wrote huge characters in the dirt, and I transcribed them onto paper.

"It will work. And a few Fasting Pills..."

"...."

Lackey trailed off mid-sentence. His gaze went straight behind me.

It wasn’t that someone was standing behind me; Bbareumbo was clinging to my back.

From Bbareumbo’s perspective, giving Fasting Pills to his sworn enemies would make him furious.

Lackey seemed to realize Bbareumbo’s feelings and corrected himself immediately.

"...Giving them nicely roasted sweet potatoes should do."

"Sweet potatoes, huh... Got it. That’s actually way better."

Fasting Pills aside, we had sweet potatoes in abundance. The kids ate so many that we cultivated them frequently.

Seeing how much Lackey liked them, there was a high chance the gorillas would love them too.

’The problem is how to get all the way over there...’

I roughly knew where the gorilla territory was. It was the zone where the forest transitioned into a jungle.

However, knowing the location was one thing; how the gorillas would respond was the real key.

Even if we weren’t in total hostility, we were opposing factions, so stepping into their territory might prompt them to attack without warning.

"Hey, Lackey."

"Hmm?"

"You’re on bad terms with them, right?"

"They drove me out. Saying I was blind and my fur was white."

Well, that’s a damn racist reason to kick someone out.

And Lackey was even Ho-chang’s successor. Yet he was banished anyway.

That really showed just how rotten those gorillas’ personalities were.

Well, since he was now living warm and full-bellied, his hatred had faded.

"Then come with me. You know where their territory starts, right? You should also know where the sentries stand."

"Sentries?"

"I mean the guys guarding the entrance."

"Ah. I know where that is."

With this, preparations were complete. All that remained was heading toward the gorilla territory.

I rolled up the paper containing the protest letter scroll-style and tied it with string.

’Feels kind of strange.’

I packed everything needed. Starting from basic weapons all the way to sweet potatoes.

The sweet potatoes weren’t roasted ones, but freshly harvested ones.

There was a good reason for bringing them like this. A bribe of sorts.

"Bbareumbo. You stay here today."

"...."

Lastly, I took Bbareumbo off my back.

There was no telling how the gorillas would react upon seeing Bbareumbo, so leaving him behind was safer.

Bbareumbo also didn’t seem pleased with facing the gorillas who were practically his sworn enemies, so he quietly climbed down.

With Bbareumbo off my back, I felt a strange sense of emptiness.

"#$%%."

[He says that a horse is an absolute necessity for an envoy.]This story is hosted at nov‌elping.com.

"No thanks. And he isn’t a horse, he’s a Kirin."

Ludwig slyly brought Largo along, but I firmly declined.

Taking Largo into the jungle would mean him bumping into trees left and right.

Fully prepared, I set off toward the gorillas’ territory alongside Lackey.

"Ppiiik!"

"Yeah. Let’s go."

Even without Bbareumbo, I needed solid insurance.

I brought Tyranno along. I left Wonmo at home.

"Kkyaaang!"

"...."

Of course, Wonmo threw a fit trying to come with me, but Bbareumbo held him back.

Seeing that, my heart broke... not at all. In fact, it was just adorable.

Title) Gallery Master is crying

Wild Grylls

(Photo of Wonmo crying for me not to leave)

I have somewhere to go briefly and Gallery Master is crying not to let me leave.

I’ll be back soon anyway, but it was so cute I took a pic lol

└Heavenly Demon) Every time I see this, I think to myself how much I’d like to raise a pet.

└Sword Matstar) Me too. I’d love to raise a puppy at this rate.

└Isn’t that an Owlbear, not a puppy?

└Sword Matstar) Cute is cute, isn’t it?

└True enough lol

└Cuteness is supreme!

As expected, the post received an explosive response. Cute Wonmo was always right.

"Ppiik?"

"Of course Tyranno is cute too."

I picked up Tyranno and nuzzled my face against his.

Tyranno, seemingly in high spirits, purred and wagged his tail gently.

Before long, we pushed through the woods and arrived at Kangaroo Cave.

At the entrance, two kangaroos were still standing guard as usual.

"Still working hard, I see."

"Puuung."

Recognizing my face, they waved a hand in greeting.

Boisterous noise echoed from inside, but I ignored it. The kangaroos weren’t what mattered right now.

Passing Kangaroo Cave, I entered the dense jungle. Perhaps because it was summer, the humidity felt even higher.

’I need to be careful from here on.’

This was an area I hadn’t even properly explored yet. Most importantly, it was gorilla territory.

Still, since the layout of the forest itself hadn’t shifted, I was able to find traces right away.

Traces presumed to be the handprints of Ho-chang and the leader gorilla.

"You guys made these, right?"

"Correct. This one was done by my brother. Mine is back home."

"What was that person named Ho-chang like? Was he eccentric or anything?"

Ho-chang was the Blood Demon—in other words, a man regarded as the worst terrorist in history.

There were claims that he was decent in private, but Hitler was said to be decent in private too.

"At first, he was a little... no, very strange. He kept crying or laughing, or muttering to himself."

"...."

"He swore he would get revenge... but at some point, he gave up. He just lived."

So even the Blood Demon himself couldn’t escape the Forest of the Four Seasons in the end.

I’d have to check the records to know the details, but learning he failed to escape was hardly welcome news.

’Then again, even dragons couldn’t leave this place.’

However, Ho-chang had escaped in an entirely different manner.

"What? He ascended to heaven?"

"Literally. He floated up into the sky. And he never came back."

Of course, it turns out he didn’t just escape the Forest of the Four Seasons—he escaped the mortal realm altogether.

I couldn’t believe how absurd that sounded when I first heard it. Supposedly, he had even warded off that ascension phenomenon several times.

I grew increasingly curious about this man named Ho-chang. Just how on earth did he raise these gorillas?

"Uooo!"

"Uo!"

While walking and contemplating, the roars of gorillas struck my ears.

Turning my head in the direction of the noise, I saw gorillas making threatening gestures from atop the trees.

In their hands were crudely crafted wooden clubs.

"Lackey. What are they saying?"

"Halt. If you move, we throw."

"Throw what—"

Chulpuk!

While I was standing there puzzled, a strange sound echoed in front of me.

Shifting my gaze, I saw a gloppy brown heap on the ground.

For a moment I didn’t recognize what it was, but Allfather’s words soon crossed my mind.

’Come to think of it, monkeys and apes...’

...have the habit of flinging dung as a threat. I slowly backed away.

It seemed they refrained from throwing it directly at us because Tyranno was present.

I rummaged through my Subspace Backpack as if reassuring them.

Seueuk-

What came out of the Subspace Backpack was a single sweet potato.

When I held out the sweet potato, the gorillas stopped threatening us.

Next thing I knew, they were staring intently at what I was doing.

’Now’s the time.’

I gathered nearby twigs and leaves and began roasting the sweet potato.

The sentry gorillas gave me puzzled looks as I roasted the sweet potato.

"Don’t just stay up there, come on down. I have something to say. This is really tasty."

"Uhoho. Uho. Hoho."

Lackey translated my words verbatim. Upon hearing them, the gorillas exchanged looks.Follow the newest chapters on nov​elping.com.

Naturally, they hadn’t lowered their guard yet. That was unavoidable.

My presence alone was threatening enough, but the banished Lackey was right beside me too.

Morak- morak-

But will you guys really be able to resist sweet potatoes?

I proffered the golden-roasted sweet potato toward them.

"Give it a try. It’s delicious."

"...."

Perhaps unable to withstand the temptation of the golden-glowing sweet potato,

one of the gorillas slowly slunk down from the tree. Its expression remained thoroughly guarded.

To ease its suspicion, I placed the sweet potato on the ground and stepped back two paces.

Only then did the gorilla feel reassured enough to pick up the roasted sweet potato.

"Atteuteu! Atteu!"

Why would you grab it bare-handed? You should’ve guessed from the steam piping off it.

After a brief chuckle, I watched as the gorilla holding the sweet potato blew on it.

Then, once it had cooled sufficiently, he took a bite.

"...Uooo?!"

Its eyes widened with an exclamation of awe before it began devouring the sweet potato frantically.

However, it soon thumped its chest repeatedly, signaling that it was choking on the dry bite.

Eating sweet potatoes that fast was bound to choke anyone.

"Here, take some water."

Expecting this, I had prepared water in advance. I handed over the water bottle I brought along.

I intended to treat it as disposable anyway, so handing it over was no big deal.

"Huaaa."

Only after gulping down the water did it wear a look of pure relief.

However, there were still plenty of sweet potatoes left. I held out the protest letter along with more sweet potatoes and proposed:

"If you deliver this to your leader, I’ll give you more sweet potatoes. You saw me roasting them earlier, right?"

"...."

"Just hand it to him. Nothing complicated about it."

Through Lackey’s translation, the gorillas understood what I wanted.

It felt bizarrely like I was passing an actual bribe.

I waited patiently for the gorilla to make up its mind.

Meanwhile, another gorilla climbed down, looking quite interested in the sweet potatoes as well.

"How about it?"

"...Hm. Hm."

With that, it stealthily accepted the sweet potatoes and the letter of protest.

Cheering inwardly, I handed over all the remaining sweet potatoes.

The gorillas were startled by the sizable heap of sweet potatoes, but soon broke into wide grins.

"Uuuo! Uo!"

"We will enjoy the food. We will definitely deliver this to the leader."

"Much appreciated."

Saying so, I stepped back from the gorillas. My task was complete, so all that remained was returning.

The gorillas were already absorbed in roasting sweet potatoes, paying no mind to me whatsoever.

’They won’t accidentally burn the letter of protest, right?’

Just in case, I watched them from a distance.

If they blundered and burned the letter, it would be a real headache.

Fortunately, no such disaster occurred; they just kept scarfing down sweet potatoes.

Before long, one of the gorillas took the letter and a few sweet potatoes and headed off somewhere.

Presumably heading back to their main camp. Finally, I felt relieved.

"Alright. Let’s head back now."

"Ppiik!"

With the job done, I turned around. My mind felt significantly lighter.

Just as I was pondering what to do once we got back—

Buseureok!

The foliage rustled violently. The instant I heard the noise, I drew my weapon without hesitation.

Based on my past experience, rustling bushes were something I could never afford to overlook.

’Where is it?’

However, the bushes merely swayed, and no further reaction followed.

Apparently, a beast had just brushed through the thicket while passing by.

Of course, I couldn’t let my guard down. I slowly walked toward where the bushes had rustled.

’There’s nothing here.’

There was nothing. It seemed to have been a false alarm.

Still, I couldn’t relax my vigilance. I hadn’t fully explored this vicinity yet.

Then, the moment I took a single step—

Ppudeuk!

A strange sensation brushed against the sole of my foot. The snap of a breaking branch echoed out.

The sound was so loud that I couldn’t help but look down.

"Huh?"

Looking down at the ground, there was a strange branch.

It was far from an ordinary branch—it wasn’t gnarled, but perfectly straight.

Above all, both ends stood out. While one end was sharpened into a tip, the other end was...

’Feathers?’

...adorned with feathers. I carefully picked up the branch.

’Could this be... an arrow?’

Did the gorillas craft bows and arrows now?

No. Crude spears were one thing, but none of them used bows.

"...."

With a hardened expression, I slipped the arrow into my Subspace Backpack.

I didn’t have a good feeling about this.