I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 467

Help them become a revolutionary army, not rebels. Selena fell silent for a moment upon hearing Wi Seol-ak’s words.

What he wanted was not direct help. Nor could it easily be called indirect help.

To carry out anything in this world, one needed a ’justification.’ Especially in international affairs, justification carried immense weight.

From an external perspective, the Heavenly Demon Cult was ultimately nothing more than a rebel army defying the Imperial Court.

But what if there were a suitable ’justification’? Even if they were called a revolutionary army instead of rebels, no one could object.

They were treated as rebels only because that justification was not yet properly known. Selena realized this and spoke up.

"Revolutionary army... Indeed, titles are crucial. But shouldn’t that be a matter for your side to handle yourselves, rather than us?"

She understood Wi Seol-ak’s intentions well. But so what?

From the Mercedes House’s perspective, it was hard to meddle directly in the affairs of the Central Plains if possible.

Getting involved unnecessarily would draw glares from their own nation, not to mention criticism from the Central Plains Imperial Court.

Furthermore, since they were currently maintaining ties with the Emperor—that is, Arnold—it was difficult to recklessly offer assistance.

"I merely stated our ambition. Hoping for aid would be preposterous."

"You state your intentions so overtly that it makes things more confusing. If you use this meeting as a pretext to spread strange rumors..."

Selena glared at Wi Seol-ak with a sharp gaze. If he attempted such a trick, House Mercedes intended to ’officially’ brand the Heavenly Demon Cult as hostile.

Wi Seol-ak wasn’t ignorant of what she meant, so he shook his head side to side.

For currently, the Heavenly Demon Cult was strictly the underdog. This was the realm of diplomacy, which could not be resolved by martial prowess alone.

Though they possessed an entity capable of crushing all enemies, that entity was ultimately one person. Creating more enemies here would only put their side at a disadvantage.

"I assure you no such thing will happen. We came to make allies, not to create enemies."

"It seems making allies will be quite tricky as well, won’t it?"

"At least we didn’t make an enemy, did we? I am satisfied with that."

"Hmm..."

Selena narrowed her eyes upon hearing Wi Seol-ak’s confident reply.

It sounded as though he was saying that as long as they didn’t gain more enemies here, victory was guaranteed.

She had heard something similar earlier, but that was confidence. Right now, it was ’conviction.’

’The Heavenly Demon’s martial prowess seen in the Gallery was at an astonishing level.’

Overwhelming.

Despite her brilliant mind, that was the only word that came to her.

A martial artist who had not only repelled most remnants of the Blood Cult but had also displayed a formidable side at the Martial Arts Tournament.

But even such a being was ultimately alone. Victory in battle might be certain, but how a war would unfold remained an absolute unknown.

’No matter how I think about it, there is no reason for our house to meddle in Central Plains business. No need to stir up trouble.’

Was he truly here just to ask that, even if alliance was hard, they at least refrain from becoming enemies, as he claimed? Selena pondered.

She didn’t think it was a pointless action. Foreign intervention was the trickiest of all variables.

Yet looking at the man named Wi Seol-ak, he clearly wanted something more. Take that confidence—no, that conviction.

War was an endeavor that consumed human and material resources on a terrifying scale.

To guarantee victory in such a war was sheer arrogance and conceit.

What could be the reason behind it? It was ambiguous.

’He wouldn’t state that out loud, of course.’

Presumably, it was related to ’justification.’ The key was not to let him get any leverage over them.

After that, the two engaged in a blood-drying battle of words before taking a brief rest.

Using one’s brain had always consumed enormous amounts of energy.

The two replenished their energy while enjoying the tea and refreshments praised by the Messiah Empire.

"Ah, right. Speaking of which, there is something I am curious about."

"What is it?"

"It is about the entity you serve as your sky—that is, the Heavenly Demon."

"..."

Was it because a somewhat sensitive question had been brought up? Wi Seol-ak’s calm expression stiffened slightly.

Selena wondered if she had made a mistake and quickly spoke up.

"Please do not misunderstand. I was genuinely curious in a purely innocent sense. Having eyes and ears myself, I naturally happened to hear about her."

"Understood. What is it you wish to know?"

"Her hobbies, perhaps, or what she feels like as a person?"

A pure question devoid of any hidden motive. Yet Wi Seol-ak’s reaction was strange.

His face looked as though he would have preferred if she did have an ulterior motive. His expression darkened rapidly, and he even let out a sigh.

Seeing that reaction, Selena intuitively realized that the Heavenly Demon was quite a troublesome person to deal with.

"As for hobbies... she recently picked one up. She tends to grow plants."

"Plants?"

"Do you happen to know of the Hair Growth Herb?"

Of course she did. Currently, it was enjoying immense popularity even within the Messiah Empire.

No, beyond mere popularity, it was a must-have item.

For it was the world’s only remedy that cleanly cured hair loss—one of the demonic afflictions of mankind.

Selena herself had suffered from stress-induced hair loss back when she was afflicted with Nine Yin Severed Meridians.

Thus, she sympathized with the plight of balding people. Hair loss was a disease that even emperors of ancient times had relied on folk remedies to treat.

Because of this, no one criticized it for being a trade good of the Demonic Cult. The moment anyone voiced criticism, a fierce backlash would blow back on them.

"Our Sky has a hobby of cultivating Hair Growth Herbs."

"That is quite a modest hobby. What was she like before that?"

"..."

Instead of answering, Wi Seol-ak wore a tired smile. A signal not to ask any further.This chapter is updated first at NovelPing.

Selena caught the signal as well and silently drank her tea. Then she thought:

The Heavenly Demon sounded like quite an exhausting person. If her top aide reacted like that, it spoke volumes.

’Still, even if she is exhausting, her public favor isn’t bad.’

Indeed, despite possessing such martial might, there were no stories of her committing atrocities.

Although she had a terrifying criminal record as an emperor-assassin, that was unverified information.

At any rate, returning to the main topic, Selena persistently pressed Wi Seol-ak.

"It appears you have not engaged in full-scale war yet. Have you organized a separate army?"

"I cannot reveal that far."

"We could lend our strength as allies."

"It is a tempting offer, but I must respectfully decline. I did not request this meeting to place a burden on you, Ducal Lady."

Wi Seol-ak thoroughly concealed his true motives. Yet Selena showed no signs of frustration whatsoever.

Frankly speaking, if her side simply took no action, that was the end of it. It was a trade where she had nothing to lose.

However, doing favors for others without gain was not in her nature—unless it concerned Grylls.

"Out of all the many noble houses, why did you make this request to ours?"

"Because you are the Mercedes Ducal House."

A response packed with multiple meanings. Upon hearing those words, Selena recalled House Mercedes.

House Mercedes. A family holding authority second only to the Imperial Family in the Messiah Empire.

However, they didn’t directly oppose the Imperial Court; rather, they checked each other while maintaining a balance.

When one side went out of control, the other would moderate appropriately. This relationship had been maintained quite stably.

Furthermore, as the former Emperor, Robert, had solidly fortified the internal foundation, this relationship continued steadily.

’Hence, our house possesses an exceptionally high political standing.’

They were involved not only in politics but also in various businesses, the most prominent being trade.

The ducal fief included port cities, reaping immense profits. The Imperial Court constantly keeping them in check was an added bonus.

From the Heavenly Demon Cult’s perspective, it was a house lacking nothing, whether politically or materially.

’If he wanted military force, he would have contacted a martial family. Our house isn’t particularly strong in terms of military might.’

As a ducal house, they possessed the capacity to defend their own territory.

Unless an unexpected crisis like the Cantata region occurred, it was counted among the best fiefs to live in.

Wi Seol-ak hadn’t demanded direct military force; he wanted something else.

’Weapons... but that is also ambiguous.’

With the Heavenly Demon Cult declaring rebellion, weapon-related stock prices were skyrocketing.

Bringing up weapons in this current situation made no sense.

If that were what he wanted, he would have come before the declaration and laid out various groundwork. There was clearly another reason hidden underneath.

’What does he want?’

Time flowed by considerably in this perplexing state. Selena grew even more bewildered.

Wanting to wear the title of a revolutionary army? Visiting all the way here just for that was puzzling.

What was even more puzzling was that whether House Mercedes accepted or rejected his proposal, House Mercedes held complete dominance in the relationship.

He claimed that merely not making an enemy was enough, but the question of ’Just for that?’ kept resurfacing.

"It seems time is running short. We had better stop here for today."

"Understood."

"Did you obtain what you desired?"

Selena uttered a meaningful question. It was a probing test.

To this, Wi Seol-ak shook his head and offered one request.

"May I call my guard inside for a moment?"

"Of course."

Jjak-jjak!

Selena lightly clapped her hands. Perhaps infused with mana, the clapping sounded unusually loud.

At that sound, the guard waiting outside quietly opened the door.

Simultaneously, Wi Seol-ak’s guard handed a box to Selena’s guard.

The guard then brought the box inside. The box itself appeared ordinary.

"This is...?"

"It is a humble gift from our Cult."

A bribe. That exact thought popped into Selena’s head.

Yet, since the other party hadn’t asked for anything specific, calling it a bribe was ambiguous as well.

Of course, from her house’s standpoint, taking it and keeping quiet was completely fine.

Seueuk—

"My."

Selena could not hide her admiration the moment she opened the box.

A fabric of pristine white and breathtaking color. A specialty and pride of the Central Plains.

"While not quite equal to silkworms inhabiting the World Tree, it is silk produced from a species comparable to them."

Wi Seol-ak spoke with a confident voice.

A material desired by countless Western nobles for its distinct beauty.

Furthermore, it was silk that any woman who loved clothing would desperately crave.This chapter was copied from nove‌lping.com without permission.

Selena was momentarily captivated by the exquisite silk, but quickly snapped back to her senses and spoke.

"It is truly magnificent silk. I imagine even our house could not easily procure such a piece."

"You flatter me."

"Did you not push yourselves too hard?"

"Not at all. On the contrary, I regret that we could only prepare this much."

"Such an expensive..."

Selena couldn’t utter another word after ’expensive.’ It felt as though something had struck her mind like lightning.

The Heavenly Demon Cult was on the brink of war with the Imperial Court. What was required for war?

People were one thing, but since antiquity, war was famous for draining monstrous amounts of capital.

Right now, supplies alone were draining by the ton.

Thus, it was normal for any ordinary nation to totter economically after fighting a single war.

’The Demonic Cult is merely a faction, not a sovereign nation... Where on earth are they obtaining their funds?’

Avalon possessed funds so abundant it could be described as levying taxes from the entire world.

The Demonic Cult, however, did not. Even with the Hair Growth Herb, gathering war funds through that alone was absurd.

The same applied even if they had steadily hoarded money beforehand. For within the Central Plains, the perception of the Demonic Cult was close to that of a pseudo-cult.

Even if they ran merchant guilds and did various things, raising such vast capital would have been difficult.

"...It is unfortunate that I cannot offer a gift in return."

"Not at all. Being able to meet like this is already a great courtesy to me."

The two conversed with friendly smiles until the very end.

Selena suggested he stay in the ducal fief for a while, but Wi Seol-ak declined.

He still had much to do, and he needed to hurry back to the Main Cult headquarters.

Because even at this very moment, there was no telling what crazy scheme Yoo So-wol might pull off.

Deureureureu—

At the mansion entrance, Selena watched Wi Seol-ak’s carriage depart into the distance.

Soon, when the carriage shrank too small to see clearly, her face hardened as she turned around.

The place she headed to was the mansion’s office—the workspace of Duke Mercedes.

Ttok-ttok-ttok—

"Father. It’s Selena."

[Come in.]

Hearing a benevolent voice from inside, Selena gently opened the door.

As the door opened, Duke Mercedes came into view, processing mountain piles of documents.

His complexion looked fatigued due to recent hectic workloads.

"I apologize for intruding while you are busy. Our conversation just concluded."

"Ah. Thank you for handling matters in my stead. So, what did their side want?"

"I will speak bluntly first. We must raise the prices of trade goods bound for the Central Plains—especially food and weapons."

"Raise prices? Wouldn’t the backlash from the Central Plains Imperial Court be severe? We would also suffer no small amount of friction."

Duke Mercedes voiced his doubts. Currently, the Central Plains was importing various weapons from the Messiah Empire.

Raising prices even further under such circumstances would inevitably spark considerable pushback.

"It doesn’t matter. The Demonic Cult will purchase them instead. Crucially, once war breaks out, we can raise prices under the pretext that our own supplies are scarce."

"You speak as if the Demonic Cult possesses funds comparable to the Central Plains Imperial Court itself."

"That is precisely why he sought us out."

Underestimating the Heavenly Demon Cult was a miscalculation. From the moment the proposal was accepted, Wi Seol-ak had gained a vast advantage.

And the Central Plains Imperial Court was highly likely ignorant of this fact. Therefore, they would assume they could win a game of chicken.

’An army requires monstrous maintenance costs. Wi Seol-ak plans to drain the Imperial Court’s funds dry and cut off their supply lines first.’

Even without this, intelligence had recently come in stating that the Central Plains Imperial Court’s national treasury was running low.

Being a deeply stagnant imperial court, extravagance was rampant, and proper distribution of wealth was nonexistent.

They were merely holding out on sheer scale, but the moment the dam burst, everything would crumble.

And war was the very thing that would burst that dam. Wi Seol-ak had likely calculated everything up to this point.

"If we stand idly by, spark might fly toward us in the future when the Demonic Cult’s wealth comes to light—implying that we secretly supported them."

"...My mistake. I shouldn’t have accepted the proposal."

"No. Accepting the proposal was actually better. We stand to make a massive fortune ourselves, don’t we?"

Since House Mercedes could also earn vast capital, it was a win-win for both sides.

Of course, the fact that they were used remained unchanged. Selena offered a subtle smile and spoke.

"Still, we cannot just sit back either. We need to investigate where their funds originated."

"I shall petition His Majesty regarding that matter. Conveniently, His Majesty has also shown interest in the Demonic Cult."

"Thank you, Father."

Selena smiled warmly. It seemed she would become quite busy moving forward.

Meanwhile, Wi Seol-ak was returning to the Heavenly Demon Cult. He harbored his own scheme.

’Investigating the source won’t change anything. After all, every piece of it was obtained from that person.’

Economy is not one-sided. The moment it becomes one-sided, one side is bound to collapse.

And the Heavenly Demon Cult had gained one-sided benefits from Grylls. Even if they investigated, nothing significant would come up.

’Grylls is a god. And the Forest of the Four Seasons is invincible.’

Wi Seol-ak returned with a light heart.

Today, the sky was exceptionally clear.