I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 273

Kka-ang! Kkang! Kkang!

If the morning was for training, the afternoon was dedicated to crafting various tools.

’Since Ggansu is small.’

My companions and I all had similar body sizes. So we could share tools among ourselves.

However, Ggansu was small, so using our tools was bound to be inconvenient for him.

Not that he lacked strength, but it was natural that work efficiency dropped when tools didn’t fit his frame.

So I decided to forge custom tools just for him.

One might ask why go as far as making custom tools, but it was to exploit his labor better.

As mentioned before, after setting up the forge, charcoal consumption had spiked dramatically.

Investing in custom tools was well worth it.

I even constructed a charcoal kiln to obtain high-quality charcoal. The issue was that making charcoal was deceptively tricky.

’Charcoal burners don’t exist for nothing.’

The charcoal production process itself is simple: cut off oxygen, and that’s it.

The problem was that one misstep would turn it into ash instead of charcoal.

Thus, the kiln needed constant watching, along with periodic maintenance.

’First off, the axe is finished.’

Next, shovels, tongs, pickaxes, and so on. I’ll make them scaled to his size.

"By the way, why is he doing that?"

"I don’t know."

Aside from that, Ggansu’s lifestyle was a bit—no, very unique.

"$%%^^%. #$%%#. #$%."

It happened when I handed him the custom-fit Mythricon axe.

After trying out the axe a few times, he suddenly bowed flat onto the ground.

While doing so, he even mumbled unintelligible words. An utterly incomprehensible behavioral pattern.

"Cain-ssi, you said you couldn’t translate Ggansu’s words either, right?"

[Now that I recognize it as language, I will be able to translate it soon enough. However, I can tell he’s offering a prayer right now.]

"A prayer?"

[It isn’t particularly strange. As I mentioned earlier, goblins are intelligent monsters.]

Funny as it was, ’religion’ existed even among monsters.

Instead, it seemed far removed from religions recorded in history.

It also seemed slightly different from primitive tribes shouting ’Offer sacrifices to God!’ while offering living victims.

Those primitives possessed enough intellect to name a god and imagine its form, but...

Cain said that nothing was known about what kind of god existed in goblin religion or how they prayed.

Likely because to human eyes, it merely looked like bowing toward the sky or earth.

So people merely speculated that since the existence of a god wasn’t clear, they worshipped nature itself or used it as a focal point.

[High-intelligence creatures possess the instinct to pray to transcendent beings. Humanity is no different.]

"Mmm..."

[Of course, Goddess Aris actually exists.]

Hearing that made me almost get it, yet not quite.

That style of prayer manifests prominently when a Goblin Shaman is present in the tribe.

A Shaman, or witch doctor, was an ’elite’ comparable to a clergyman in medieval times.

Even though I was merely observing a simple lifestyle, I grew increasingly curious about that tribe.

’It’s certain they don’t have a written script...’

Only when a written script is invented can one truly call it a civilization.

Ggansu’s tribe was less a civilization and more a mere gathering of individuals living together.

Yet the fact that religion existed was bizarre. It felt like putting the cart before the horse.

Normally, a civilization arises first, and religion is born to bind that civilization together.

’Whatever. For now, I should just make him work.’

Ggansu worked hard, seemingly quite pleased with his new tools.

I worried whether he might start a rebellion (?) with them, but it was an unfounded concern.

"Food! Food! Food!"

"..."

The problem was that he adapted too well.

As the sun set and I prepared dinner, Ggansu noticed immediately.

The funny thing was, while he yelled "Food!", his hands were still chopping wood.

’Are all creatures living in the Forest of the Four Seasons quick adapters?’

Or maybe it’s just because I feed them well.

Lackey rebelled at first too, but adapted quickly after eating a few meals.

Then again, in the Forest of the Four Seasons brimming with hazardous flora and fauna, food was paramount.

"Ggansu. Look at this."

"Kki-ik?"

It was after finishing dinner. I showed Ggansu a drawing.

The drawing depicted humans praying en masse. A witch doctor leading them was a bonus.

Ggansu seemed to understand the content of the drawing and pointed to himself. A reaction asking if I meant his people.

"Yeah. You guys."

"Kki-ek."

Ggansu nodded in affirmation. As expected, his tribe possessed a religion.

If so, to whom were they praying? Did a transcendent being like a dragon exist?

’Or could it be a master-servant relationship like Bbareumbo and me?’

A tribute-paying relationship rather than a powerhouse emerging from within the goblins.

That held strong persuasive weight. The problem was I had no clue who that being was.

’Are they like Bbareumbo or the boss gorilla, or...’

Like a dragon or the entity beyond the Inverted Waterfall?

I prayed it was the former, because if it was the latter, my life could be in danger.

Having Tyranno wouldn’t matter either, as it might be an entity even dragons guarded against.

"Ggansu. Who is the one you serve?"

"Kiik?"

Ggansu tilted his head. Still unable to comprehend my words.You are reading on novelping dot com, the official source.

Seeing his response, I shifted my gaze to Cain. Meaning: Is the translation (?) not finished yet?

[It will take a bit longer. He hasn’t spoken much in the first place.]

"You translated my words in just a few minutes though?"

[That was rather fascinating. Perhaps because it resembles the Central Plains tongue?]

Strictly speaking, the Central Plains tongue should be closest to Chinese. Yet it was completely different.

Dismissing it as irrelevant, I drew a picture.

Who on earth do you serve that allowed you to survive here?

Describing it solely through drawings was tough, so I used body language as well.

"Ggansu. Look at this."

I drew a picture of someone praying, just like Ggansu did earlier.

When I judged he’d seen the drawing, I immediately pointed to Bbareumbo.

Finally, I pointed at Ggansu to ask: ’Who do you pray to?’

"Kki-ik!"

Fortunately, quick-witted Ggansu caught on immediately.

When he gestured as if wanting to draw something, I handed him paper and a pen.

Ggansu marvelled at the paper and pen for a moment before sketching a drawing.

"This is..."

"A flower. Isn’t it?"

[Looks like a flower.]

What Ggansu drew was a flower. An utterly ordinary-looking flower.

I wondered if this flower possessed power similar to Bbareumbo’s.

"Can’t you tell me more?"

"Ki-ak!"

At my question, Ggansu shook his head violently as if to say that was strictly out of the question.

I couldn’t tell whether the flower merely protected Ggansu’s tribe or refined energy like an Ice Snow Flower.

Still, one thing was certain: this flower harbored considerable power.

’Could it be stronger than Bbareumbo?’

If by any chance it was stronger than Bbareumbo, I might face a very troublesome situation.

I squeezed out every bit of information I could from Ggansu.

However, due to the language barrier, the information I could gather was extremely limited.

’Is rank structure the only useful takeaway?’

Ggansu’s tribe possessed ranks. To reemphasize, rank, not social caste.

Witch doctors, warriors, scouts, and so on. They divided ranks to defend the tribe.

"Familiar."

"Are goblins normally like this?"

"If a witch doctor is present."

However, this was a commonly observed rank structure.

Of course, that didn’t mean it was completely identical. Take the clothing Ggansu was wearing, for example.

Even intelligent monsters mostly wandered around in clothes no better than rags.

Yet Ggansu’s clothes were too neat to be called rags. At the very least, they fully served their function as clothing.

Though Ggansu didn’t mention it, it meant a separate ’craftsman’ rank existed.

I wondered if they had blacksmiths, but considering their technical level, there likely weren’t any.

’Craftsmen among goblins who primarily raid...’

This wasn’t something to take lightly.

And above all, there was a most surprising revelation.

U-u-ung—

"Kkiririk! Kki-ik!"

When I infused Aura into the Sword of the Heavenly Demon, Ggansu nodded frantically.

It was his reaction when I asked if there was a warrior who could use this.

Frankly speaking, it wasn’t impossible. They said that occasionally, some monsters manifested Aura.

However, an Aura Blade, rather than raw Aura, was a completely different story.

An extremely rare individual that appeared maybe once every 100 years.

"Really? There’s someone who uses this?"

"Kiririk!"

"Hold on."

Flustered, I drew a picture. Ggansu might be mistaken.

The difference between Aura and an Aura Blade was heaven and earth.

So I drew a picture of hazy, flickering Aura and showed it to him.

"Not this?"

"Kkirik."

Ggansu shook his head and pointed at my Aura Blade once again.

With this, it was confirmed.

Unless Ggansu was lying, there was an individual among their warrior rank who manifested an Aura Blade.

[Sounds like bullshit, but...]

"The problem is that this is the Forest of the Four Seasons."

Cain nodded solemnly. Ludwig was the same.

The Forest of the Four Seasons forced evolution upon flora and fauna alike.

A sloth possessed nonsensical speed, and gorillas used speech and martial arts.

Monsters were no different. In fact, compared to those two, monsters were closer to ’humanity.’

’Still, an Aura Blade... isn’t that taking it too far?’

I felt dumbstruck, then suddenly remembered Lackey and spoke to him.

"Hey. Lackey. Can you use it too?"

"This?"

U-u-ung!

Lackey raised his fist, demonstrating vivid Aura.

Rather than scattering like haze, it held a clear form.This chapter is updated first at novel‌ping.com.

"This is Gangqi. Not Aura Blade."

"...Wi Ho-chang taught you that, right?"

"Correct. Master taught me."

Lackey and the boss gorilla had the variable named Wi Ho-chang.

He surely imparted various enlightenments, allowing them to master Gangqi early on.

’Did someone... teach the goblins too?’

It was when I was locked in deep thought.

Unexpectedly, it was Cain, not Ludwig, who resolved this dilemma.

[You don’t need to overthink it so hard. When you consider that this is the Forest of the Four Seasons, it isn’t strange at all.]

"Not strange? But martial arts are..."

[Then how did I achieve the Aura Blade back then? Martial arts in my era were vastly inferior to the present.]

"..."

Hearing Cain’s words, I felt as if hit on the head with a hammer. He was right.

’Martial arts’ and ’enlightenment’ must be treated separately. Look at me right now.

Heavenly Demon taught me mnemonics in moments of crisis, but that alone wasn’t enough.

[Aura—that is, Mana—relies most heavily on individual will. Think of Mana as reflecting one’s will.]

"Mmm... intriguing."

[In particular, this forest constantly stimulates a specific will.]

"A specific will?"

When I expressed doubt, Cain delivered a clear answer.

[The will to survive.]

"..."

[Do you know the difference between humans and animals? When crisis strikes, humans struggle desperately by any means, whereas animals roll over and give up.]

It made a lot of sense. At the same time, experience dripped from his words.

Just as he said, there was no need to overcomplicate it. This was the Forest of the Four Seasons.

No matter what popped out, it wasn’t weird. Rather than trying to comprehend it, I had to accept it.

"...Put that way, my mind feels relieved. Indeed, if I’m bound by common sense, I’m the one who loses."

[Of course. And from our perspective, you’re the entity furthest removed from common sense. For you to preach about common sense is ridiculous.]

"Did you really have to... Wait a second. ’Our’?"

Hearing the expression ’our,’ I looked over at Ludwig.

Ludwig, having no intention of denying it, nodded with a solemn expression.

It was absurd, but since my very existence was that of an alien species, I let it slide.

"Anyway, let’s get ready for sleep. Lackey, take Ggansu with you."

"Understood."

Since work would likely pile up ahead, I sent Lackey and Ggansu back.

Even if Lackey’s status had risen, sleeping in the brick house remained unchanged.

Still, Lackey was reasonably satisfied himself, so I didn’t care much.

Seulgeum— seulgeum—

It was right when I was about to check the Gallery briefly before heading to bed.

Bbareumbo exited the cave with his trademark sluggish movement.

Seeing that he moved slowly without rushing, it wasn’t urgent.

"What? You’re not sleeping?"

"..."

At my question, Bbareumbo turned his head slowly and stared blankly at me.

Then he turned his head back and waved his hand listlessly.

He seemed to be telling me not to mind him and just go to sleep.

’Mmm... he’ll handle himself.’

He might just be using the bathroom. I immediately stopped worrying and accessed the Gallery.

I wonder what kind of things happened today?

Meanwhile, stepping outside the cave, Bbareumbo halted his steps in the center of the shelter.

Then he slowly raised his head and looked up at the sky.

Was it because space shifted from moment to moment due to the nature of the Forest of the Four Seasons?

Constellations different from yesterday caught his eyes. Yet this remained identical:

That it was truly beautiful. Even as a mere beast, Bbareumbo understood the meaning of beauty.

Seueuk—

Next, Bbareumbo slowly raised his arm. Sharp claws reflected the moonlight.

Claws that Grylls had continuously maintained until now. Keen enough to slice through ordinary boulders with ease.

While the claws alone held vicious destructive power, that wasn’t all.

U-u-ung!

A blue light flickered upon Bbareumbo’s claws. Vivid even in the pitch-black darkness.

That light soon began enveloping each claw. It didn’t flutter like haze either.

It took a shape clear to anyone, and even the intensity of that glow was extraordinary.

Bbareumbo stared at his claws infused with an Aura Blade—that is, Sword Gang—before raising his head.

And then he swung casually. Almost as if shaking off his arm.

Chwa-a-a-ak!!!

One from each claw, a total of three Sword Qis launched skyward.

Their scale was colossal as well. Large enough to block out nearly all the starlight in the night sky.

Before long, the Sword Qi launched by Bbareumbo faded, yet the stars continued to shine bright.

"Kki, kkiek...?!"

Someone blurted out a reaction bordering on horror. Bbareumbo turned his head.

Turning his head, he could see Ggansu poking his head out from the window.

"What are you doing, Ggansu. Go to sleep."

"..."

Ggansu looked back and forth between Bbareumbo and the sky before quietly retreating inside at Lackey’s command.

Bbareumbo, indifferent as ever, scratched his butt with a long claw.

Then he returned to the cave with his trademark sluggish steps.

’It’s so easy.’

Holding a thought that, had Grylls heard it, would have driven him mad with frustration.