I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 403

While Grylls was suffering like a dog out in the wild, life at the Shelter was going relatively smoothly.

The group remaining at the Shelter consisted of Lackey, Ludwig, and the kids.

Right after Grylls left, they quite enjoyed their peaceful life.

If Grylls had been here, they would have been raided every hour.

However, Grylls’s absence was not an entirely good thing either.

"Kkyuuu! Kkyuu!"

"Where are you going! You shouldn’t go there!"

First off, Wonmo frequently displayed erratic behavior.

Wonmo currently recognized Grylls as his ’mother.’

Since his mother was gone, it was only natural for him to grow anxious. He reached a point where he tried to escape outside the Shelter at every given moment.

Things were slightly better during meals or snack times, but there was nothing they could do about his separation anxiety.

"Kkyuu! Kkyuuu!"

"I am not an ahjussi. And Master will come back later."

"Kkyueeeeng!!!"

"W-Wait, don’t cry! If you cry, wild beasts will come!"

Lackey and Ludwig tried to soothe Wonmo, but even that wasn’t easy.

No matter how familiar Wonmo was with the two of them, as long as they weren’t Grylls, it wasn’t enough.

That wasn’t all. As winter approached, Wonmo was bulking up on both fur and fat.

As the amount he ate increased, their food supplies were gradually becoming precarious.

Well, Wonmo was still on the reasonable side. Parenting him was tough, but he didn’t make people angry.

"Eat this."

"Ppik!"

"You have to eat."

"Ppiik!"

"Son of a—"

Tyranno was the bigger pain in the neck. The guy flat-out refused the food Lackey gave him.

It was no different for Ludwig. Even when he offered food on a spoon, Tyranno would whip his head around!

He was already prickly by nature, and with Grylls gone, the one person he had to walk on eggshells around was missing, making him even more brazen.

Combined with the arrogant nature unique to dragons, Lackey and Ludwig were rendered helpless.

If they didn’t feed him, he’d throw a fit. But force-feeding him?

When Tyranno’s mother came looking for him later, he might tattle on them. Then they’d be roasted to a crisp by Dragon Breath.

So what method did Lackey come up with? It was surprisingly simple.

"Oh, almighty dragon-isiyeo. Your humble servant offers this food."

"Ppiik!"

Bowing and scraping, he offered the food like a sacrifice. Seeing this, Ludwig made an utterly dumbfounded expression.

But Lackey had once been a faithful worker (slave). Setting aside this level of pride was nothing to him.

They hadn’t realized it since Grylls had been handling the child-rearing until now, but parenting was far harder than expected.

"Eat your food."

"Ppaeaaang..."

"You have to eat. Otherwise, your scary mother will come."

"Ppaeaaang... Ppaeaek..."

Wonmo and Tyranno were actually better. At least they ate their food.

But the young Nidhogg, Cheongseol, starved herself completely. No matter what the remaining members tried, she wouldn’t touch a bite.

Even when Grylls gave her food, she would vent complaints or demand it mixed with other foods.

She had always been a picky eater, but now she was even pickier.

In particular, she absolutely refused to eat the most essential diet item—the World Tree root fragments.

For a Nidhogg, World Tree roots were a mandatory part of their diet. If they didn’t eat them, their life would be in danger.

Ah. Whose life would be in danger needs no separate explanation.

"Ppaeaaek..."

"What is she saying?"

"She says she has no appetite because there are no sweet berries."

"Sweet berries?"

"Master."

"..."

The decisive reason Cheongseol refused food was simple. Because she couldn’t lick Grylls’s cheek.

It was a completely absurd reason, but from the perspective of Cheongseol, a Nidhogg, it was crucial.

Merely licking Grylls whetted her appetite and restored her vigor.

But because Grylls—a living Inner Core in human form—was gone, her appetite plummeted!

"I have seen this occasionally."

"What kind of symptom is it?"

"It’s the phenomenon of being unable to forget the fragrance of a certain flower and seeking only that."

"That’s drug addiction."

"Doesn’t addiction mean being poisoned?"

Put their heads together as they might, there was no suitable solution.

Lackey was smart in theory but surprisingly passive, and Ludwig, as expected of a soldier, lacked flexibility.

However, neither of them was a fool. Thus, they devised a workaround.

"It would be best to feed her an Inner Core. I feel bad for Grylls, but we have no choice."

"Good idea."Find the original chapter at novelping(.)com.

The plan was to feed her Inner Cores like candy to stimulate her appetite.

Fortunately, this method hit the mark. Cheongseol’s appetite picked up as she ate the Inner Core.

It was a waste to hand over an Inner Core at every meal, but it couldn’t be helped.

Even if Grylls asked where the Inner Cores went later, they had a ready answer.

While struggling with raising the three kids like this, Lackey spoke to Ludwig.

"Mr. Limper."

"Speak."

"Let’s play Rock-Paper-Scissors. It’s a game Master liked."

"Why that?"

"We need to clean up the shit."

"..."

In a way, this was the biggest problem and hurdle. Namely, cleaning up the shit.

As the population of the Shelter grew, Grylls had constructed a temporary latrine.

However, the structure dictated that once waste piled up, it had to be cleaned out. Leaving it neglected would attract wild beasts due to the stench.

Normally, Grylls always cleared this out. That made sense.

Lackey was busy managing the hobgoblins, and Ludwig was physically impaired in one leg.

Cain stayed in stone statue form inside the Shelter, so there were no suitable personnel available.

Bbareumbo was... well, the Shelter’s ultimate weapon, so skip him. Besides, if he cleaned it, it would take all day.

"My leg is impaired, though."

"Master said. Having one missing leg here cannot be treated as a disability."

"Hearing that from guys with four sound limbs sounds like mockery."

"I was almost blind before I recovered."

The two bickered back and forth, trying to shove off the chore.

The waste had to be dumped in the river if only because of the stench.

Furthermore, for the kids’ sake, one person strictly had to stay behind at the Shelter.

Calling the hobgoblins was also iffy. They were currently preparing for winter themselves.

"Can’t be helped then. I will go. Consider it my courtesy."

"Thanks."

"Instead, make sure you take good care of the kids."

Lackey decided to show consideration for Ludwig, whose leg was impaired.

Ludwig was currently fully adapted to his mithril ankle, but there was always a what-if.

If he stumbled and the filth splashed all over the ground... one didn’t even want to imagine it.

"Instead, let’s shovel it together."

"Here’s a gas mask."

Still, shoveling the waste was done together. Wearing gas masks due to the overpowering stench was a bonus.

If Grylls hadn’t procured gas masks for them, it would have been horrific.

Afterwards, they scooped all the waste into iron barrels and placed them on a cart to haul them easily.

As one could tell by looking at the cart, this too was purchased by Grylls from the Gallery.

Although small in size, nothing was more convenient for transport.

’By the way, can’t I just dump this into the river right in front?’

Lackey glanced at the river flowing right under his nose.

Grylls always dumped useless organs or waste into a distant river.

It was quite a hassle. After a brief deliberation, Lackey dumped the filth into the river right in front of the house.

’Doing it just once should be fine.’

As expected of a gorilla, it was a complacent judgment. Even with high intelligence, a lack of foresight couldn’t be helped.

Since Grylls had done all the tedious, tough jobs in the first place, how could Lackey’s thoughts reach that far?

And Lackey paid the price for his complacency in full.

Tudadadada!

The moment he dumped the waste into the river, a terrifying swarm of fish swarmed in.

There were so many that they packed the entire river. But that wasn’t the issue.

Tadadadada!

"Kuaaaak! Kuak!"

The problem was that as the frenzy of fish swarmed, waste splashed in every direction!

In truth, Grylls dumped the iron barrel ’as a whole,’ rather than dumping just the waste inside.

After all, cheap iron barrels could easily be bought from the Gallery.

Even if he couldn’t buy them, making wooden ones was easy enough.

Knowing none of that, a total disaster was bound to occur.

Fortunately, a brick barricade stood in front of the river.

If not for the barricade, the entire Shelter would have been covered in filth—a most horrifying situation imaginable.

"Kkueeeeek!"

"Ppiiiiiik!"

"Ppaeaaek! Ppaeaek!"

But beasts with sensitive senses of smell reacted just the same.

Moreover, with Lackey now drenched in waste, they had no choice but to keep their distance.

To make matters worse, Lackey was an albino gorilla. On his white fur, the stains of filth stood out even more starkly.

"..."

Ludwig watched the scene silently, then turned on the water hose.

Soon, he blasted a jet of water at Lackey. Lackey quietly accepted the water blast without a word.

In the process, Ludwig tossed him a bar of soap, letting him wash up thoroughly.You are reading on NovelPing, the official source.

"Wash your body yourself."

"...Understood."

Just one person missing, yet event after event unfolded.

Well, still, it was far better than Grylls, who was likely suffering like a dog out in the wild.

"Mister."

"Speak."

"Don’t tell me you can’t cook either, Mister?"

"I cannot say I am good at it."

"We’re fucked."

Only two days had passed, but deep inside Lackey’s heart, a single emotion blossomed.

Namely, ’respect.’ He hadn’t realized what a thankful thing it was for someone else to take on hard and dirty labor.

Living at the Shelter with a warm back and full belly? It was all because Grylls had been doing the dirty work in their place.

Ludwig had known this long ago and acted without complaint, but not Lackey.

Having once lived as a faithful worker before obtaining his freedom, it hit home even more deeply.

"Mister. I want to eat candied sweet potatoes. Want to eat together?"

"Is there any honey left?"

"That must be fed to the kids."

"Hmm. I feel like the bees will target us."

"We’ll see when we get there."

Lackey’s passion for candied sweet potatoes remained unquenched.

Enveloping himself in Body-Protecting Gangqi with full confidence, he headed to the World Tree. At present, the Bee King had set up home on the World Tree.

To get honey, he had to obtain their permission.

"Uhohot! Uhot! Kkiyot! Kkiyooot!!!"

"..."

Ludwig watched Lackey thrashing about. From a glance, it was clear he hadn’t gotten permission.

Body-Protecting Gangqi? The Bee King could rip away mana by its very roots and turn it into honey.

If the Bee King was capable of tearing off even Grylls’s Body-Protecting Gangqi, what chance did Lackey have?

"S-Still, I got honey!"

"You stole it, didn’t you?"

"Regardless, I got it."

The highly intelligent Bee King didn’t bother Lackey any further either.

Of course, getting the honey was one thing, but eating candied sweet potatoes was another.

"How did Master make candied sweet potatoes?"

"I do not know either."

"We are truly fucked."

Because they didn’t know the recipe. All this time, even cooking had been handled by Grylls.

Though they slapped something together, it was far inferior to what Grylls cooked.

Thus, lonely times flowed in many ways. A single day used to feel short, but with Grylls absent, it felt stretched out.

Lackey pledged that he wished Grylls would return quickly and swore he wouldn’t vent complaints ever again.

Rustle— Rustle—

It was the third day since Grylls left for the outside.

While staying quietly at the Shelter, the bushes shook violently.

Eating their food, Lackey and Ludwig instantly grew fully alert upon noticing the reaction.

With the signal disturber gone, it wouldn’t be strange for any wild beast to attack.

Swish—

What finally revealed itself was none other than a mud-covered something.

Covered in mud from head to toe, its form was barely recognizable.

"Is it a slime?"

"A slime?"

"There is a sticky, formless monster. I have never seen that color before."

Either way, it was definitely a monster. The two readied their respective armaments.

But that lasted only a moment, as someone else appeared beside it.

[Hmm? Why are you so on guard?]

"...Cain-nim?"

It was Cain, riding his horse. Ludwig muttered under his breath.

Bbareumbo was hanging from Cain’s neck. Seeing this, Lackey asked immediately.

"Where is Master?"

[Can’t you see ’this’?]

Cain, referring to ’this’, pointed at the mud slime beside him.

At this, Lackey and Ludwig looked over.

The mud slime stood rooted in place for a moment, then slowly raised its arm.

Wipe— Wipe—

As he wiped his face with his hand, his features finally came to light.

Although caked in mud, judging by his features, it was unmistakably Grylls.

He wore an expression that seemed mentally broken, as if his very soul had drained out.

But one thing was absolutely certain: he had suffered through hell and back.

"...So many things happened to me."

Grylls spoke in a hollow voice.

"This is rough, seriously."