I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 321

I had voiced my opinion and almost got roasted by a laser for it.

I felt a bit wronged, but since I didn’t know much about Nidhogg ecology, I could understand.

What if the baby Nidhogg had an allergy and suffered because of it?

Any parent would fly into a rage. It was just a mishap born from not knowing each other well.

"Keureureuk. Keureuk."

"Ppaeaaeng... Ppaeaeng..."

"Kaa!"

So, what were they doing now?

The mother Nidhogg was trying to feed roots to her baby.

However, the baby Nidhogg was already stuffed to the point where her belly was completely round.

There was no point in eating more, and the mother seemed to be nagging her to absolutely eat this next time.

’But man, it must taste awful.’

The baby Nidhogg was fiercely resisting.

Well, if it were me, after eating nothing but tasteless roots and then tasting something sweet like pumpkin, I’d throw a tantrum over my food too.

Of course, the parent’s inside must be burning with frustration, but there was nothing to be done about it.

’From my perspective, it’s better for her to eat roots too.’

To cover that pig-like appetite, the World Tree roots were the only answer.

Wonmo and Tyranno were big eaters, but the baby Nidhogg was on a whole different level.

’Hang in there, Mother.’

Please let that pig listen to you.

I prayed fervently for Nidhogg to win.

After all, it is a parent’s nature to want their child to grow up healthy.

"Ppaeaaeng..."

"Keureung!"

Fortunately, the winner (?) this time seemed to be the adult Nidhogg.

She didn’t budge even when the baby Nidhogg stared at her with sparkling eyes.

Soon, the adult Nidhogg presented me with a pile of World Tree roots.

The amount was so massive that the word "mountainous" suited it perfectly.

’But can’t she eat them on her own?’

This was a mystery. After all, World Tree roots were scattered everywhere just inside the cave.

But looking at the adult Nidhogg’s behavior, it seemed there were parts that could be eaten and parts that couldn’t.

The baby Nidhogg, not yet fully grown, probably lacked the ability to distinguish between them.

’Does that mean she’ll be dropping by here regularly?’

That was troublesome in its own way. It felt very burdensome.

I would probably have to help until the baby Nidhogg could feed herself.

"Keureureuk. Keureuk."

After bickering with her child for a long time, Nidhogg said something to me.

Unlike dragons who communicate via telepathy, Nidhogg seemed unable to use magic.

So, I called over Lackey, the excellent beast translator.

"Do you understand what she’s saying?"

"She says her child is a very picky eater."

"She ate the pumpkin just fine earlier though..."

Pajik!

Before I could even finish my sentence, the adult Nidhogg threatened me with a laser.

Then, with a murderous expression, she let out a low growl.

"Keureureuk..."

"...She says not to feed her weird things."

"Um... with all due respect, is it really not okay to feed her pumpkin?"

Threatened or not, I had to clear up my doubts.

I was raising Tyranno, but he was an omnivore who ate anything. The same went for Wonmo.

From the look of it, the baby Nidhogg also seemed like she would eat anything.

"Keureureuk. Keureuk."

"She says it’s because she’s not fully grown. The child must still eat roots."

"Hmm... if that’s the case."

So she was still at the stage where she needed formula or baby food.

Though seeing how she ate the pumpkin without any issues, it might not make a huge difference.

Of course, as mentioned earlier, since I knew nothing about Nidhoggs, it was wisest to follow the parent’s words.

If I stubbornly followed my own judgment and she fell ill, I would be the only one losing out.

I felt sorry for the baby Nidhogg, but I planned to feed her only roots from now on.

"But why did you bring the root pieces yourself? If she goes inside, there are roots scattered everywhere."

"Keureureuk. Kareuk. Kareureuk."

"She says there are parts that are safe to eat and parts that are not. Since she’s still a baby, she can’t tell them apart."

It was just as I had expected.

In this case, covering the baby’s monstrous appetite would be tricky.

"...Excuse me, but may I ask just one thing?"

"Keureuk."

At my cautious question, Nidhogg nodded her head. A sign of permission.

Even if she couldn’t speak, she seemed to understand my words perfectly.

"You can’t visit here very often, right?"

"Keureuk."

Nidhogg nodded.

It was a relief, but a doubt arose.This story is hosted at nоvelping.com.

Considering her pig-like appetite, even a mountain of tree roots would be depleted in no time.

Even if she visited every single day, it would be far from enough.

"Can these roots alone fill the baby’s stomach?"

"Keureuk."

"She says that for them, filling the stomach is less important than the energy contained within. They eat that to grow."

"Ah. That’s why..."

So mana was their staple food. No wonder she kept licking me.

Since the World Tree root pieces would also contain a massive amount of mana, there was a reason she gave them.

"Wait a moment."

Something suddenly occurred to me, so I went inside the house.

What I brought back out was a bottle.

It was the bottle that Smart Demon had gifted me. Inside, numerous Inner Cores were stored.

"Is it okay to feed her these?"

"Keureung..."

When I gently showed her the Inner Core, Nidhogg stared intently at it.

Soon, she nodded as if to say it was fine, and replied.

"Keureung."

"She says yes. Feeding her three per meal should do."

"What a total pig..."

Pajik!

Another laser shot out from Nidhogg’s eyes.

I had let my tongue slip and almost got roasted to a crisp.

At any rate, the baby Nidhogg’s food supply could be managed through the World Tree roots.

Even if the roots weren’t enough, I could just make up the difference.

"Ppaeaek."

Using her thick front legs, the baby Nidhogg crawled slowly toward me.

And as she always did, she licked my cheek.

Nidhogg watched this with a strange expression, but soon shook her head.

The picky eating was resolved, but no parent can win against their child. She wouldn’t be able to stop her baby from staying here.

"I have something to ask before you go."

"Keureuk."

Nidhogg nodded. I immediately asked my question.

"Earlier, you said there are roots that are safe to eat and some that aren’t. Does that mean I shouldn’t touch them either?"

"Geureureuk."

Nidhogg gestured with her head toward the World Tree.

The World Tree was now firmly rooted in my Shelter.

"She says that whatever else you do, that one doesn’t matter. Do as you please with it."

"Oh. Thank you."

"Keureureuk."

Leaving only those words, Nidhogg vanished.

The torn space quickly mended itself.

It felt as if a massive storm had just swept through.

Lick— lick—

Regardless, the baby Nidhogg focused entirely on licking my cheek.

Leaving her be, I stared at the World Tree roots.

If I left them lying around like this, who knew what might happen, so it was best to tidy them up first.

’I need to build a new warehouse too.’

The World Tree roots were one thing, but I also needed to build a new food warehouse.

Fortunately, the Gallery had been restored, so rebuilding wasn’t difficult.

Every now and then, I handed over river water to Orange Badge. She constantly needed materials for Holy Water.

’They aren’t fighting in earnest yet.’

There was only news of the Paladin orders heading toward the Balkan Kingdom; the actual battle hadn’t broken out yet.

Hoping there would be as few casualties as possible, I built the food warehouse.

’Instead of storing everything in one place, it’s better to categorize them.’

A place to store fruits or vegetables.

A place to store meat or fish.

And finally, a place for drying.

Categorizing them like this would extend the shelf life of each food item.

’The World Tree roots... let’s keep them inside the house.’

Since I didn’t know how to manage World Tree roots, I decided to store them inside the house.

As I built the new food warehouse, evening crept up on me.

With evening arriving, I naturally prepared dinner, but the baby Nidhogg was the problem here.

"Eat this."

"Ppaeaaek!"

"No, I’m telling you, you have to eat it. Otherwise, I’ll get in trouble with your mom."

"Ppaeaek! Ppaeaaek!"

Her food tantrums (?) were just way too severe.

When I handed her the World Tree roots, she squealed in refusal.

I wanted to give her other food, but I was the one who would get scolded by her mother.

’Sigh. What should I do...’

Just as I was worrying about what to do with the whining creature,This chapter was copied from novelping dot com without permission.

"Ppiiiiik!"

"Ppae, ppaeng..."

"Ppiiik! Ppiik!"

Tyranno, who had woken up from hibernation, began to scold the baby Nidhogg.

No matter how much of a Nidhogg she was, outside of the World Tree roots, she would be weaker than a dragon.

The baby Nidhogg made a tearful face and soon began to quietly eat the World Tree roots.

The pecking order was perfectly established. Of course, it was incredibly cute.

"You have to eat well and grow big so you can eat tastier things later. Just bear with it for a bit."

"Ppaeaaeng..."

She replied while nibbling on the bark of the World Tree root.

Once she finished eating all the bark, I quietly placed her on my shoulder.

As soon as she climbed onto my shoulder, she silently began to lick my face.

She licked enthusiastically, as if it was now time to taste sweet candy after eating something so tasteless.

’By the way, the problem is what to name her...’

Honestly, I wanted to name her Licky. Nothing was more intuitive than that.

The names suggested by the other fixed-handles were all either bizarre or half-hearted.

But just in case, I logged into the Gallery with the mind of asking, and that was when I saw it.

[Baby Nidhogg Name Vote!]

"...Huh?"

Were these people deciding on a name behind the owner’s back?

Even the one who posted this was the Orange Badge, Don’t Abandon the Hero.

I was dumbfounded, but I decided to check it out anyway.

Title) Baby Nidhogg Name Vote!

Don’t Abandon the Hero

We will decide the name of the baby Nidhogg who will become Grylls-nim’s new family member!

Cheongseol: 40%

Sapphire: 15%

Brownie: 10%

Pazua Junior Augustus: 35%

By a narrow margin, the name Cheongseol won!

Cheongseol is a name coined by Heavenly Demon-nim!

ㄴHeavenly Demon) Hmph. As expected of this lady. None can match even my naming skills.

ㄴSword Matstar) Why did you change it to Cheongseol when it was originally Cheongmyeong?

ㄴHeavenly Demon) That is simple. While both mean blue overall, does she not keep licking with her tongue? Hence, Cheongseol.

ㄴIs that ’seol’ seriously the character for tongue and not snow?

ㄴBlue tongue lolol

ㄴFucking hell, how is that any different from Wonmo lolol

ㄴSmart Demon) Since ancient times, I’ve never seen anyone who calls themselves perfect actually look perfect.

ㄴHeavenly Demon) Ridiculous. Have you ever laid eyes on this lady?

ㄴSmart Demon) I’ve seen someone similar, haha

ㄴLet’s Grow Trees) What a shame! I was hoping the name I submitted would get more votes!

ㄴIs that an emperor’s name or an animal’s name?

ㄴFor real, it’d even be hard to call her that lolol

ㄴLet’s Grow Trees) But it’s cool!

ㄴIt is cool though lolol

Cheongseol. Just hearing the name, it sounded pretty. Even if its meaning was utterly bizarre.

I stared at the Gallery, then cautiously called out her name.

"Cheongseol-ah?"

"Ppaeng?"

She recognized her name right away. Amazing.

Just like with Wonmo last time, I wondered if it was a coincidence.

’Or maybe I’m the strange one.’

Both Vanir and Nidhogg understood me even though I spoke in Korean.

It felt rather bizarre, as if Korean were some kind of universal language.

Anyway, now that she had a new name, I went to sleep, looking forward to tomorrow.

’Spring will come tomorrow, right? When spring comes, the river in the Shelter will melt too.’

I planned to check the river first before the pollen dust storm hit.

Where that river led, what kind of creatures lived in it, and so on.

If fish lived there, I planned to buy a fish trap from the dwarf.

’At least our food supply will become abundant.’

And so, the next day arrived.

As expected, spring arrived, and the frozen river melted away.

The river was quite large, and it was also pretty deep.

So, I checked to see what kind of fish lived there.

Pajijijik!!!

"Keuaaaa!"

"Euaaaak!"

I almost got eaten by a giant crocodile that discharged electricity.

Fucking hell, seriously.