I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 483

Ever since proclaiming Grylls as the Herald of God, Asella had been living through rather hectic days.

Not that there were days when she wasn’t busy, but it was unavoidable that things had gotten even crazier recently.

A civil war had finally broken out in the Central Plains, while Alfheim and Mountain were engaged in fierce combat.

On top of that, word had even arrived from their eternal arch-nemesis, Mephisto.

"Demon Princess Kaylin-nim is requesting a visit?"

"Yes. Just as written in the official letter. She says she has questions regarding the Herald of God and the research laboratory he discovered."

"Mmm..."

As usual, Asella examined the official document while eating bread. There was no worry of breadcrumbs spilling.

Demon Princess Kaylin. The leading candidate to become Mephisto’s next Demon King.

She was a figure who held tremendous standing politically as well as in personal martial prowess.

Currently, Mephisto had abandoned expansionism and was focusing its energy on culture.

Furthermore, so much time had passed that there were hardly any people left who viewed Demons unfavorably, especially among humans.

Even if any remained, most were elderly folks who would soon return to the embrace of nature.

’Still, with our history, it’s uncomfortable.’

This was something not just Asella, but all citizens of the Holy Kingdom agreed upon.

Perceptions rooted since ancient times rarely change easily, even across generations.

The Holy Kingdom in particular suffered direct damage from the Demon Race, so that sentiment was especially severe.

’Being immediate neighbor nations plays a part too.’

Historically, nations sharing a border have rarely gotten along.

Just looking at Alfheim and Mountain fighting each other proved it. Over there, even though Asella had mediated between them, signs of conflict were rearing up once more.

At least they were close to the Messiah Empire, but even that was uneasy. The reason they were close to the Empire was also because of Mephisto.

The Demons once served as a common enemy, but now they were a relation where one could rest half-reassured.

Ultimately, from the Holy Kingdom’s perspective, there wasn’t a single border free from anxiety. Such was the sorrow of a nation sandwiched between great powers.

’If not for Grylls-nim... the Papal Court would have ruined the nation completely.’

Terrifying just to imagine. Even before Cain’s descent, the Holy Kingdom’s prestige had been falling.

With the truth of the Immortal King exposed, they could have completely lost their function as a religious state.

But thanks to Cain’s descent alongside Grylls’s adventures, that prestige was restored.

The proof was that no nation—except Mephisto—raised any objection when they proclaimed Grylls as the Herald of God.

"We shall accept it. Since she is an honored guest coming from Mephisto, as the Holy Kingdom, we must give her a grand welcome."

"Will you be alright? Public sentiment won’t be very favorable."

"We must explain it well to the citizens. That the Demon Race is no longer led by a war-mongering Demon King."

Even if they were a race of notorious ill repute in the past, the past was merely the past.

Furthermore, the Holy Kingdom had already created a Demon King with their own hands.

Therefore, pointing fingers at them shouting ’Demon King!’ would only result in a swift counterattack.

’Thank goodness we did a complete purge of the Papal Court.’

If it had been the rotten Papal Court of old, they definitely would have acted like that.

For their own profit, they would have branded Mephisto as ’evil’ and run wild.

There was so much administrative work that she had considered leaving one or two Cardinals behind, but looking back now, that would have been a disaster.

"By the way... what is this?"

"What is it?"

"It says... ’We desire an invitation for cultural exchange and development among nations’?"

"It sounds like they’re asking you to visit Mephisto later. Detailed contents will probably come up in this summit."

Asella nodded at Reyna’s words. Indeed, what goes around comes around.

Among past Heroes, many had stepped foot into Mephisto. Though most slipped in to conduct special operations.

But Asella was different. She was going not for war, but through an official invitation.

’...This too must be a wind of change.’

Asella carefully stored the official document. Since it was quite an important message, caution was required.

Now she had to process the remaining paperwork and check up on Kadir’s current status.

Ever since Selena departed for family business, Kadir had shown zero intention of stepping outside his research lab.

She heard he was researching the summoned machine, and was just getting curious about what it was.This chapter was copied from novelping . com without permission.

’I just hope he hasn’t caused an explosion.’

Normally, entering someone’s laboratory is extremely rude. No, beyond rude, it was outright disrespectful.

However, Asella knew Kadir’s true identity, and Kadir knew hers as well.

Since neither had anything left to hide from the other, visiting with proper etiquette would suffice.

Ttok-ttok-ttok—

"It’s Asella. May I come in?"

[Please enter.]

Permission was granted immediately. It seemed he wasn’t particularly busy at the moment.

At that, Asella carefully opened the door and peered inside. As a laboratory prepared directly by the Holy Kingdom, it was exceedingly spacious.

Before long, a massive steel body and various debris caught her eyes. Selena’s party had described it as a steel wyvern.

Testimony stated that although it didn’t flap its wings like a real wyvern, it still flew freely through the sky and unleashed devastating attacks.

’Grylls-nim called it a fighter jet, didn’t he? To fly freely through the sky like the Ghost Ships...’

There were plenty of ways to fly in the sky, such as Void Flight or flight magic.

But a ’creation’ that flew through the sky was a completely different story.

Doesn’t it feel like evolving someone else?

If such a heavy mass of iron could fly, it meant anything lighter could be launched with ease.

"Is your research progressing well?"

"It is progressing very smoothly."

"Could it be that restoration is possible?"

At his response that research was going smoothly, Asella’s eyes widened.

Coming from Kadir of all people, she wondered if that was really the case.

"No. It is the exact opposite. With our current technological level, even if we were born again after death, we could never build this."

But Kadir’s answer was quite different.

Present-day technology could never replicate this fighter jet.

Hearing this, Asella was surprised for a moment before instantly understanding.

What was a fighter jet? An aircraft designed solely for combat.

Generally, science tends to rapidly advance during war—especially great wars—so this much was understandable.

"Can’t it even be done with magic?"

"Surprisingly, it operates not through magic, but pure science—that is, engineering."

"Does that mean it uses no mana whatsoever?"

"Not entirely. However, the mechanism that enables the craft to fly is pure engineering."

But this fighter jet was the pinnacle of pure engineering.

Even the Ghost Ships were closer to being levitated by magic rather than science.

Yet this heavy, giant steel wyvern flew using pure scientific principles.

"You mean crafting this is even harder than building a Ghost Ship?"

"Precisely. The dwarves would absolutely adore this."

Anyhow, should she consider it a relief that even Kadir couldn’t replicate it?

This man went wild over research, and weapons were no exception.

His sly request to Grylls for a weapon last time, resulting in a fifteen-day ban, was proof of that.

"If I were just a little younger, I would have dedicated my entire life to it... What a tragedy, what a shame."

"There are many things far more astonishing than this."

"Indeed. Ah, come to think of it, when does Ducal Lady Mercedes arrive?"

Having half-abandoned fighter jet research, Kadir now asked for Selena.

Since Asella had no idea when she’d return either, it was difficult to give a definitive answer.

"Well... I’m not entirely sure either—"

[Asella-nim? Ducal Lady Mercedes and Count Menethil have returned.]Enjoying the story? Read on at nov‌elping.com.

Speak of the devil. Right on cue, Selena’s party seemed to have arrived.

Asella asked Kadir if he intended to continue his research. After all, welcoming Selena’s party alone was more than enough.

But Kadir replied that doing so would be impolite, and since he planned to take a break anyway, he would come along.

"Hello, Hero-nim. Have you been doing well?"

"Yes. Did things with your family go smoothly?"

"Thank you for worrying. Thanks to you, everything was resolved well."

Asella couldn’t take her eyes off Selena as they spoke. And for good reason: Selena’s appearance was mesmerizingly beautiful.

She was already breathtakingly gorgeous, but her newly tailored dress gave the illusion of giving her wings.

A blend of Western and Eastern attire—it exuded the unmistakable aura of a celestial maiden.

"Was that dress perhaps made from Central Plains silk?"

"You recognized it instantly! Yes, that’s right. The guest who visited our family came from the East."

Selena smiled warmly as she answered Asella’s question.

She had mentioned family business, which apparently meant welcoming a guest from the Central Plains.

And meeting someone from the Central Plains given current state of affairs could only mean one of two things.

’High chances they came from either the Heavenly Demon Cult or the Central Plains Imperial Court.’

House Mercedes of the Duke had already dipped a foot into the Central Plains’ civil war.

From Avalon’s perspective, it wasn’t particularly their concern, but it warranted careful observation.

"Will you be heading to the vicinity of the Forest of the Four Seasons right away?"

"No. Since we just arrived, I’d like to rest for a bit. Also, there’s something I want to investigate."

"Something you want to investigate?"

Asella asked while glancing sideways. Standing beside Selena was Ash.

The person she had forcefully appointed as a Blue Badge after getting strangely annoyed from seeing her talk intimately with Grylls.

For someone forcibly appointed, Ash was surprisingly good at her job. Otherwise, Asella would have banned her.

"There are rumors that miracles have been occurring in the Holy Kingdom recently. Word is that people with mental illnesses are being completely cured."

"Ah. I am aware of those rumors too. It is thanks to Aris-nim’s blessing."

Simultaneously, it was Grylls’s blessing. The Clear Sky Stalactite Oil that Grylls steadily supplied.

With that Clear Sky Stalactite Oil, mentally afflicted patients were being saved. Most of them suffered from dementia.

Asella willingly obliged since it was Grylls’s request, and Grylls hid his identity by borrowing the Hero’s fame.

"I want to look a bit closer into those rumors."

"Is someone in your family perhaps..."

"Ah. No, nothing like that. Just curiosity, perhaps?"

Selena waved her hands defensively. In her family, she was the only one who had been sick.

It wasn’t that her fief lacked mentally ill individuals entirely, but she didn’t plan to drag that miracle over.

What mattered more was who was bestowing that miracle.

’The highest probability is...’

The Hero right before her eyes. Every piece of circumstantial evidence pointed at Asella.

In fact, there were even posts on the Gallery stating that miracles occurred after the Hero visited.

And Asella was well aware of this situation as well.

’She’ll notice the existence of the Clear Sky Stalactite Oil before long.’

Still, it didn’t matter. Even if Selena noticed, Asella could just fool her into thinking it was something else, like Holy Water.

Even if Selena wasn’t fooled, it was fine. As long as Asella thoroughly hid the fact that she was the Orange Badge, that was all that mattered.

’Still, I’ll be in for a rough time for a while.’

Peaceful days were scarce to begin with, and it felt like there would be even fewer going forward.

"Ducal Lady. If you have time later, would you visit my laboratory? I will share what I have researched."

"Is it alright to share such things so easily?"

"Did we not capture it together by combining everyone’s strength?"

"That is true. Ah, by the way, where did that cat go?"

"That Cheese-like fellow is sleeping in the laboratory."

Of course, for Kadir, none of that mattered anyway.