I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 514

It didn’t take long for the gorilla, who had passed out from a severe beating, to regain consciousness.

He had merely fainted from the immense pain; since I hadn’t struck his head or any vital spots, his life wasn’t in danger.

However, whether his bones were cracked or his muscles were severely torn, he couldn’t move at all.

There wasn’t even a need to bind him, so I just gave him some rough first aid and called it a day.

’I should really make sure never to resort to physical violence in the future.’

Usually, I only beat my companions up with words; I never actually hit them.

That went double for the kids. Being animals from the Forest of the Four Seasons, they were inherently intelligent.

Thanks to that, even if they disobeyed, I rarely hit them, and even if I did, it usually ended at simple corporal punishment.

Otherwise, I’d have to strip them naked and throw them out of the house like my parents used to do back in the day.

Well, that was just talk. In reality, everyone followed along so well that such a thing would never happen.

"So you’re saying we can’t translate this guy’s words?"

[Human speech is one thing, but translating animal language is difficult.]

"Hrumph."

Interrogating the captured gorilla was the priority. But a problem had arisen.

Now that Lackey, our translator, was absent, it was ambiguous how to ask this captured guy about his intentions.

Cain excelled at interpreting ’languages,’ but discerning the intentions of animals was difficult for him.

Lackey didn’t just translate; he explained in detail what the animal wanted.

This was how he differed from Cain, who was only capable of pure translation—in a way, Lackey was a strictly superior version.

[So, what will you do now?]

At his question, I stared at the gorilla. Since this guy had been captured, the gorilla pack must have been notified by now.

We needed a shared language to torture him or do anything else, but without even that, things were getting ridiculously tricky.

If there was any silver lining, it was that he seemed to somewhat understand our language—specifically, the language of the Central Plains.

"First, we should speak in the language of the Central Plains. You understand it roughly, right?"

[I picked up most of it while conversing with Lackey.]

"What about the written script then?"

[I mastered the script as well through the books Lackey was reading.]

Surprisingly, Lackey was quite the avid reader. That was why he had been visiting Alex’s Library frequently of late.

For the record, last time he tried to read a weird book, I immediately put a stop to it.

If it were just something naughty, fine, but it was the kind of book that made you blurt out, "Huh? What the fuck?!"

’I really got spooked back then.’

Anyway, thinking it should be fine, I untied the gorilla.

I didn’t know if this guy could write or not, but it was better to give it a try.

"Alright. Every time I ask a question, write your answer on the ground. If you can’t write, just nod or shake your head. Got it?"

Cain translated my words verbatim. At this, the gorilla nodded his head furiously.

Unlike the hobgoblins who used their own independent language, the language of the Central Plains was widely spread among the gorillas.

Furthermore, now that Gu-chil had joined them, the Central Plains language must have spread even more than before.

"Now then, I’ll only ask three questions. That should be fair, right?"

As soon as it was translated, the gorilla nodded.

I immediately threw out the first question.

"We were getting along smoothly all this time, so why are you suddenly spying on our territory?"

Seuk-seuk, seuk-seuk-seuk—

As soon as my question ended, he picked up a branch and wrote an answer on the ground.

Since he was scribbling on dirt, his handwriting was far from elegant. Plus, gorillas have short fingers.

Still, it was legible enough, so it wasn’t a big problem.

"What did he write?"

[He says their vice leader shouted that they must strike our side first.]

"Vice leader? Don’t tell me he means Gu-chil?"

After the translation, the gorilla nodded passionately.

I had suspected as much when I saw him at the Kangaroo Arena, but hearing it confirmed was utterly absurd.

At the same time, I grew furious. I realized that the warning letter I sent a long time ago had been totally ignored.

It was bad enough that he ignored it, but the fact that he had climbed all the way to the number-two spot made me even angrier.

The problem was I couldn’t verify if that warning letter had actually reached the top. Maybe he just gobbled up the Fasting Pills with a loud burp! and ignored the rest.

I couldn’t ask this gorilla, who was presumably a mere bottom-feeder, so it was better to move on.

"Then, second question."

"U-oh!"

"What is he saying?"

The moment I said second question, the gorilla protested.

At first, I didn’t get why he was shouting, but as soon as I looked at what he wrote on the ground, I realized.Visit novelping . com for the full chapter.

[He asks if you didn’t just ask the second question moments ago. It seems he considered your question about Gu-chil to be the second one.]

"Look at this guy, huh?"

He knew how to use his brain better than I thought. I shouldn’t ignore him just because he was a gorilla.

Time to play shameless instead. I opened my mouth.

"Fine. Then I’ll make it four questions total."

As the questions increased to four, the gorilla wore an incredulous expression.

Because Cain was translating for us, his reaction was a beat late.

Still, feeling like I knew what was going through his head, I immediately gave him an answer.

"If you’re asking why the count increased, I’ll answer. It just increased to four right now."

[Truly breathtaking shamelessness.]

"Isn’t this kind of shamelessness essential when dealing with an enemy?"

Naturally, the gorilla rebelled, complaining that if I kept doing this, he wouldn’t answer or whatever.

I had predicted such pushback, so I brought out a fitting response.

"Can’t be helped then. I prepared something just for times like this."

Saying so, I pulled out Mystilteinn, which Ludwig usually used as his cane.

"U-oh."

The gorilla immediately bowed his head low in surrender. Indeed, pain leaves a much stronger impression on the brain than mere words.

Having already suffered a thrashing, it hit home all the harder for him.

Thanks to his smooth cooperation, I was able to gather a variety of information.

Right now, fueled by Gu-chil’s agitation, the gorilla chief was actively preparing for war.

Moreover, the reasons they decided on war included me, Lackey, and Bbareumbo.

"I hold a grudge against that chief gorilla, Bbareumbo must hold a grudge because he lost an old territorial war... and lastly, Lackey was his brother who got kicked out, so he must harbor a desire for revenge. Is that it?"

The gorilla nodded fervently. Hearing that, I looked at Bbareumbo hanging on my back.

As always, Bbareumbo was wearing his trademark relaxed expression.

But having lived together for so long, I could vaguely tell what he was thinking.

’He’s actually pretty bothered by this.’

To me, the gorilla chief was more like an uncomfortable neighbor.

A case where I didn’t care about anything else as long as he didn’t interfere with my plans.

Him breaking my arm and humiliating me? Honestly, I had largely brushed that off.

Because so much had happened since then—especially events that made the gorilla chief look like a total pushover in comparison.

Even Lackey, who used to be consumed by vengeance, was now comfortably settled down at our Shelter, wasn’t he?

Bbareumbo was probably the only one left holding a fiery grudge. He likely harbored anger toward the entire gorilla pack.

’Judging by the circumstances, Bbareumbo lost a territorial war when he was young.’

Bbareumbo just plain hated the gorilla pack. The issue was that his anger carried a high chance of ruining our plans.

Having grasped the general situation, I tied the gorilla up again and discussed things with my companions.

"What should we do? From the looks of it, they’ll be leading their pack here before long."

"We must fight."

Ludwig replied in a calm yet resolute tone. Just as he said, we had no choice but to fight.

The problem was that we had children at our Shelter. We couldn’t just march over to their side either.

"Bbareumbo. I’m sorry to ask this, but did that gorilla pack target your kin—specifically, young cubs as well?"

Asking for his understanding again and again, I questioned Bbareumbo.

In combat or war, the most useful advice comes from someone with experience.

Bbareumbo was the only companion who had witnessed with his own eyes how the entire pack fought, rather than just individual gorillas.

Therefore, a single word—or rather, a simple yes or no from him—would play a crucial role.

Shake, shake—

Bbareumbo shook his head at my question. Meaning they spared the cubs.

The problem was that after all the adults were killed, the young ones couldn’t survive in this harsh Forest of the Four Seasons.

Bbareumbo was exceptionally strong; normally, dying as a cub was the standard outcome.

Case in point: Wonmo was led by curiosity into all sorts of trouble, wasn’t he? If we hadn’t helped him, he would have died alone somewhere.

[If they are beasts, that might be so. But that individual named Gu-chil weighs on my mind.]

"He comes from the Blood Cult, so we must be even more cautious."

Cain and Ludwig exchanged opinions. Indeed, the gorillas themselves were fine, but Gu-chil was the real issue.

Because Gu-chil was a human. On top of that, he was from the Blood Cult, a literal gathering place of villains.

Currently, the Blood Cult was treated like a punching bag on the Gallery, but reality was different.Read the latest chapters at novelping(.)com.

’The reason the Heavenly Demon let Gu-chil slip away in the first place was because he took hostages.’

He had even used sinister arts on those hostages to handle them like human bombs.

It was like a terrorist strapping bomb vests onto hostages. This alone showed what kind of vile creatures they were.

Gu-chil wouldn’t be any different. He would surely look for weak spots to take as hostages.

’We need someone who can protect both Wonmo and Cheongseol. That person is...’

Bbareumbo was the best choice. This was an unavoidable necessity.

Because Bbareumbo was the only companion who knew the gorilla pack well.

Furthermore, there was a high possibility that Gu-chil and several gorillas would target the kids.

Of course, that would be when the gorilla pack found themselves at a disadvantage. Someone had to keep the gorilla chief in check.

’Even if we mark the gorilla chief properly, it will still be tough.’

There were gorillas over there who practiced martial arts. With time having passed, their numbers must have grown quite a bit.

Ideally, I wanted to send scouts to analyze their forces too.

"If we fight this time, we’ll focus on defense. If possible, I’ll deal with the gorilla chief myself."

"How strong is this gorilla chief?"

Ludwig asked. Come to think of it, he had never seen the gorilla chief before.

I pondered for a moment before answering in terms of Central Plains martial realms.

"Roughly the Transcendent Realm? Probably around there."

"He’s quite formidable."

"Mister, could you handle him?"

"If we were outside, easily. Right now, my weight class has dropped, so it would be difficult."

Perhaps because he was a soldier, Ludwig always judged things objectively.

If it was impossible, it was impossible; if it was doable, it was doable. And right now, he judged it to be difficult.

His skill itself was likely on par with or superior to the gorilla chief’s. The problem, as he said, was weight class.

Just as I had slain countless monsters by leveraging sheer weight class, the gorilla chief could also overwhelm us with raw physical size.

’At least he has the Mythricon sword, so it should be manageable, but...’

Crucially, his foot was the issue. I lowered my eyes.

Even though he was getting used to it bit by bit, a Mythricon foot must still be uncomfortable.

Both the Heavenly Demon and Sword Matstar had emphasized that the foundation and basics of martial arts lie in the ’feet.’

With that foot gone, it would be difficult for Ludwig to exert his full strength.

"Ludwig-ssi and Cain-ssi, please handle the rest of the pack. Bbareumbo, you protect the kids. Got it?"

"..."

Bbareumbo wore a slightly disgruntled expression. Which meant he grimaced just a tiny bit.

But it couldn’t be helped. No one among us had reaction speed as fast as Bbareumbo.

No matter how great a master someone is, getting felled by a stray arrow is a common occurrence.

And in war, stray arrows fly by the dozens or hundreds, making it impossible to respond in time.

"You are our final line of defense. Even if you don’t like it, bear with it just this once. Understand?"

"..."

At my persuasion, Bbareumbo relaxed his face. Having gone through various incidents together, his trust in me seemed to have grown.

Now that we had set a rough battle strategy, all that remained was thorough preparation.

However, was it because we were too late, or because they were too fast?

Buseureok, buseureok—

"Huh?"

"..."

The rustling of bushes sounded quite loud. It was a noise made without the slightest intent to hide.

At this, not only I but all my companions assumed a combat stance.

Soon, emerging from the swaying bushes and between countless trees...

"..."

"...They got here fast."

It was the gorilla chief, Gu-chil, and finally, a massive pack of gorillas.

I gently lowered Bbareumbo, who was clinging to my back.

Noticing my intent, Bbareumbo stealthily moved over and climbed onto Wonmo’s back.

As Bbareumbo climbed onto his back, Maengkkongi shifted his position as well—right onto Bbareumbo’s head.

"Dududu- dudu- dududu—"

As if signaling an ominous omen, Maengkkongi laid down some suspenseful background music.

After letting out a brief dry chuckle internally, I immediately turned on the Gallery and started a live video stream.

’I need to get advice in real-time.’

It was an action only I could perform.