I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 388

Just as ghost ships had appeared in each nation, a ghost ship also appeared in Alfheim, the land of the elves.

When the ghost ship first appeared, the elves of Alfheim had no choice but to be on high alert.

And for good reason, considering Alfheim’s founding principle itself was to resist foreign invasion.

Having once been thoroughly thrashed by the humans they used to look down upon, they were inevitably sensitive to intrusions from the outside world.

It was ironic, of course, given that they were currently playing around with other countries’ territories quite often.

Even setting those circumstances aside, it was natural for any nation to be wary of external invasions.

Even more so when that invader was floating casually right above the capital, specifically over the royal palace.

It wouldn’t have been strange to shoot it down immediately, but the Elf Queen, Elia, did not do so.

"This ship is ours now! We can do whatever we want with it!"

Brushing aside the dissuasion of the elders and her aides, she boldly boarded the ghost ship.

The Elf Queen was younger than most, but she possessed a respectable amount of strength herself.

Since she had enough capacity to protect herself, she was able to step onto the ghost ship.

Of course, objectively speaking, for the leader of a nation to act like that was ’pure madness.’

It was a stroke of luck that the ghost ship remained quiet; what if it had immediately retaliated?

Alfheim might have lost its leader in an instant and would have ended up in a full-scale battle against the ghost ship.

"Are you completely out of your mind?! What were you planning to do if that vessel attacked?!"

"Come down this instant, Queen-nim! Must you not preserve your dignity?!"

Thus, regardless of the ardent support she enjoyed from her citizens, she took an absolute earful of scolding from those around her.

But who was the Elf Queen? She was the person who turned Alfheim, which had previously only possessed abundant land, into one of the continent’s dominant powers.

Though she appeared thoughtless on the surface, she was actually someone harboring a sly, calculating mind.

Undeterred by the protests around her, she began exploring the ghost ship.

"Even if this is a ghost ship, there’s no way it wanders around without a captain! Where is the captain!"

Elia shouted loudly as if demanding to be heard. On this massive sailing vessel, there were only her, the elders, and her aides.

Because they had only brought minimal equipment, it was a highly dangerous situation should they be ambushed.

No matter how one looked at it, continuing the exploration in this state was nothing short of suicidal. Just as one of the elders was about to speak—

Wiiiing—

A long mechanical tether of some kind appeared before them.

At the sudden appearance, even Elia flinched slightly, but fortunately, it displayed no hostile intent.

It merely observed them through a telescope-like lens attached at its end.

Wiiiiing—

Following that, the mechanical tether pointed its lens downward and projected an illusion.

If Grylls had seen it, he would have called it a ’hologram’ rather than an illusion, but there was no way for them to know that.

"That is..."

"A human...?"

Shortly after, what the hologram projected was a human—and a remarkably pretty woman at that.

She was attractive enough that she wouldn’t lose out even when compared to elves, who possessed innate beauty.

However, because she exuded a strong ’artificial’ feel, it gave off a slightly uncomfortable pressure.

[Hello. My name is May. I am a subordinate vessel of Gigas, the industrial mothership. Currently, you have boarded without authorization. Please exit my body immediately.]

"...?"

"What is it saying?"

"It is a language I have never heard before, but..."

All the boarders were bewildered by the speech they had never heard in their lives.

This was the same for Elia, but she quickly regained her composure.

She cleared her throat to calm herself down, then spoke in a serious tone unlike before.

"Excuse me, but I have no idea what you are saying. Could you speak in another language?"

[Translating. Language of the primitive species ’Fairy.’]

"Huh? Our language...?"

When fluent Alfheim language flowed from the hologram, Elia’s eyes widened.

And after running through a slightly elf-centric train of thought, Elia blurted out something absurd.

"Is your ancestor an elf by any chance?"

[Negative. My creator is Lucas-nim.]

"Lucas? Did you just say Lucas-nim?"

"Why is the name of the God of Blacksmiths..."

The elves began to murmur among themselves.

While Aris and Aragon were the most famous gods in this world, there were many other deities as well.

One of them was Lucas, the God of Blacksmiths worshipped by the dwarves.

In other words, this ship was crafted by a god.

While the elves were flustered by this shocking truth, Elia spoke up.

"My apologies. I have been disrespectful."

[Apology accepted. Therefore, please leave my body immediately.]

"Before that, I will ask a few questions and then leave. I swear to the gods that I will not cause any disturbance."

Elia placed her hand on her chest, addressing the entity with complete sincerity.

The very idea that sincerity would reach a being closer to an illusion was ridiculous, but...

[Affirmative. You are being completely sincere. I shall accept your request.]Read this novel at novelping . com for the best experience.

Surprisingly, the AI gauged Elia’s sincerity with utmost ease.

Elia briefly cheered inside, but soon had no choice but to tense up tightly.

The entity before her was a creation built by a god. It had easily saw through her inner thoughts.

There was little room for her honed political acumen to take effect. Therefore, she had to approach this differently.

"What is your purpose?"

[My current primary objective is returning to the mothership. However, since the location of the mothership cannot be identified, search modules are actively running.]

"Mothership. A mothership, huh..."

At the mention of the mothership, Elia recalled what happened on the Gallery.

The Mechanical Kraken that Grylls had barely managed to defeat. An entity closer to a monster than a vessel.

Though it could be a coincidence, right after that Mechanical Kraken was defeated, ghost ships appeared all across the world.

Was this truly just a coincidence? Honestly, she was half-certain it was not.

’The reason it can’t identify the location is probably because it’s in the Forest of the Four Seasons.’

However, there was a question mark. Specifically, why the mothership was in the Forest of the Four Seasons while the secondary ships were outside.

Moreover, the other vessels were currently in battle or had been destroyed. She doubted whether this one knew about that.

"Do you know that the other ships are currently engaged in battle?"

[Affirmative. Currently, one vessel is inoperable, and another vessel has been heavily damaged.]

"Yet you do not go to assist them, nor do you show hostility toward us."

[Because the primary objective takes priority.]

The response came back that the primary objective—returning to the mothership—was set as top priority.

Elia thought deeply for a long while after hearing those words.

’Couldn’t I make good use of this?’

Apart from being able to discern sincerity, its sense of purpose was firm.

In other words, wouldn’t it be fine if she helped it accomplish its goal?

"Queen-nim. Out of concern, I strongly advise against requesting a negotiation."

As if perceiving Elia’s thoughts, an elder urged caution.

Though the other elves did not speak out, all of them wore similar expressions.

But who was Elia? She was the kind of person who proudly declared ’It can be done!’ when everyone else said no.

"Isn’t it too early to give up already? Dialogue is precisely what’s needed at a time like this!"

"No, well... sigh..."

Seeing her eyes sparkling, the elder immediately backed down.

Boarding the ghost ship in the first place had already been a hopeless situation anyway.

Now that the interrupters were gone, Elia looked at May and spoke.

"Why does this ship have no captain or crew?"

[Because I am a vessel constructed for industrial purposes. I possess self-repair and power generation capabilities.]

"Then what is the last order you remember?"

[To remain in indefinite hibernation until pure humans are discovered.]

"Pure humans?"

She tilted her head at the phrase ’pure humans.’ She wondered if it referred to the gods.

At any rate, having learned the ship’s purpose, Elia made a proposal to her.

"If we help you find the mothership, can you help us as well?"

"Queen-nim!"

"What kind of insane talk is that?!"

At Elia’s proposal, the other elves were startled out of their wits.

The ghost ship was not hostile, but it was not friendly either. That was a clear fact.

To make such a offer in a situation like this was beyond having a strong stomach; it was downright thoughtless.

[Affirmative. In order to achieve my objective, I shall listen to your proposal.]

"Wonderful!"

"Wait, what..."

"Heh..."

However, a scenario completely contrary to expectations unfolded. May had accepted Elia’s proposal.

Of course, the exact terms of that proposal were what mattered most. Frankly, she could have called for world conquest, couldn’t she?

That at least had to be stopped at all costs. Just as the elves were tensing up—

"You mentioned earlier that you were built for industrial purposes, right? What exact work do you perform?"

[The industrial sector I operate in covers landscaping and plant-related technology.]

"Fantastic! How could this be such a perfect match!"

Elia shouted, swept up in excitement. It was indisputably the exact industry that Alfheim needed right now.

Of course, she wasn’t going to use this to invade foreign countries or anything like that.

Since it had already been established that this ghost ship was far removed from ’combat.’

The best course of action was to receive assistance to bolster national strength as much as possible.

"From now on, Alfheim will assist you with all our strength so you can find the mothership! Will you assist us as well?"

[A contract must be drafted for a transaction.]

"Sounds great!"

Elia immediately stepped forward to draft the contract, and—The source of this chapter is NovelPing.

"...Are you really going to be like this?"

[I consider it a reasonable clause.]

"Ugh... wait a second..."

She had no choice but to clutch her head at the AI’s utterly meticulous contract terms.

While Alfheim was conducting business with a ghost ship, in the neighboring kingdom of Mountain...

There, too, a ghost ship was hovering in the sky.

However, the dwarves did not care whether the ghost ship floated around or not.

After all, it wasn’t causing direct harm, and they were far too busy tending to their own business.

Unlike Mephisto, they were a race far removed from sports, nor did they have a half-mad Queen like Alfheim’s.

Of course, that didn’t mean they could leave it completely unattended, so they had no choice but to keep watch.

"I just got a dream."

"What dream?"

"Drinking alcohol on top of that flying ship."

"Oh... nice."

It wasn’t as if they were devoid of desire. The ghost ship, in particular, stimulated the dwarves’ creative urges and their love for drinking and festivities.

The feature of a vessel flying through the sky. And enjoying a drink atop that ship.

Having fulfilled all these conditions, desire couldn’t help but creep up in them.

However, that didn’t mean they could just recklessly board it. In the end, they decided to keep observing.

"By the way, when is that thing leaving?"

"Who knows. I heard the other ghost ships don’t leave their respective areas either."

"Let’s just think of it as a huge bird."

Furthermore, as they left the ghost ship alone, they also learned its routine.

Namely, that it rarely left its designated area.

For the most part, it roamed the region where it had appeared, never wandering beyond that boundary.

Above all, there was a specific reason why the dwarves couldn’t help but feel favorable toward the ghost ship.

Biiiiiik!

[Warning. Warning. The mine shaft is unstable. Miners must evacuate the mine shaft immediately.]

"What is it saying?"

"Hey! Speak so we can understand!"

[Translating. Language of the primitive species ’Hobbit.’ Repeating statement: The mine shaft is on the verge of collapsing.]

"What? Really?"

"Hey, hey! It’s really about to collapse! Run quickly!"

It had provided significant assistance to their mining industry.

Even though it was hovering in the sky, it accurately gauged the situation deep underground.

Specifically, it had extended a mechanical arm straight down and driven it into the earth.

Apart from its primary objective of locating the mothership, it had offered immense help to the miners.

"It’s better to just leave it like this."

"Let me second that."

In the end, the dwarves decided to leave the ghost ship alone.

"Hey! Friend up there! Can you let us climb up and drink some booze!"

"Give us a ride just once!"

Instead, if one could call it that, their desire to drink alcohol was difficult to suppress.

Naturally, the ghost ship lightly ignored that request.

After some time passed and they slowly grew accustomed to it...

The ghost ship began wandering around to find the dwarves engaged in mining, almost as if dispensing unasked advice.

"Whew. This rock is ridiculously hard. Isn’t there any way to split it open?"

"I heard that fellow Wagner’s pickaxe is amazing."

"Who made that?"

"Gareth made it, I think?"

"He’s not available right now, so why don’t you try asking that ghost ship?"

"Should I? Hey! Can you split this rock open?!"

Tuk—

Instead of answering, the ghost ship tossed down an object.

It was a tool generally shaped like a ’C’ bracket, complete with a push-button.

"What’s this?"

"There’s language written here. Let’s see..."

The dwarven miner narrowed his eyes and read the words slowly.

"Plasma Cutter... What does that mean?"

Meanwhile, around the same time in the Iris Kingdom.

"Let’s just go once. Honestly, aren’t you all curious too?"

"What if you get hurt? Can’t we just stick to research?"

"Hoho. Is it so difficult to grant the request of an old man who doesn’t have much time left to live?"

"I feel like Kadir-nim will outlive me."

Selena had no choice but to break a sweat trying to restrain Kadir, whose face was practically dripping with greed.