I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 534

The next day, Kaylin accompanied Asella to visit various places across Avalon.

Starting from the square where Cain had descended to the locations where Asella engaged in volunteer work.

Because she visited as a state guest, commoners could not interact directly with Kaylin, but most reactions were favorable.

And naturally so, since to the current generation, the image of demons was fairly ordinary.

If anything, people swore at the Vatican far more than at demons. Thanks to that, no unpleasant incidents occurred.

"This is...?"

"It is a memorial monument for the victims of the Balkan Kingdom."

A memorial monument had even been erected for the victims of the Balkan Kingdom—a pledge never to forget their own wrongdoings.

One could argue whether building a simple monument was enough, but many nations didn’t even apologize.

Furthermore, since Asella, the Hero and the greatest victim of the Vatican, had personally erected it, no one could criticize it.

"Just as Hero-nim said, remembering is what matters."

"Yes."

The solemn atmosphere was brief, as the next schedule began.

In truth, the next items weren’t particularly grand—showing off the Holy Kingdom’s cultural festival, introducing local specialties, and so forth.

Since the mere act of a demon state guest touring the city was symbolic in itself, there was no need to visit every nook and cranny.

Thus lunch passed, and it was soon time for Kaylin to return to her homeland.

However, one final place remained to visit. Kaylin made a request to Asella.

"Could you perhaps guide me to the entrance of the Forest of the Four Seasons?"

"...The entrance to the Forest of the Four Seasons?"

At the out-of-the-blue request to guide her to the entrance of the Forest of the Four Seasons, Asella showed a reluctant reaction.

Visiting the forest entrance wasn’t in the schedule. It was quite a predicament.

Remnants of Selena’s group’s experiments might remain, and above all, it was dangerous.

"Yes. It wasn’t scheduled, but I heard the entrance to the Forest of the Four Seasons is exquisitely beautiful."

"Mmm... I’m sorry, but that might be difficult. It’s far too dangerous."

"Is viewing it from a distance also impossible?"

"Just misstepping near it would make anyone nearby’s heart drop."

Think of your own attendants. Asella phrased it roundaboutly like that.

Realizing the point, Kaylin had no choice but to turn around, though lingering regret remained etched on her face.

Asella wondered if Kaylin might visit unofficially sometime soon.

Just as Selena’s party had, Kaylin seemed to have developed considerable interest in Avalon.

"Then have a safe journey. May Aris-nim’s blessing rest upon Mephisto and Princess Kaylin."

"Thank you. May Aris-nim shine her dawn upon Hero-nim."

"!"

That final greeting. Hearing it made Asella’s eyes widen in shock.

The farewell greeting Princess Kaylin had uttered—that was one of the greetings used exclusively by clerics.

For a demon who wasn’t even a cleric, let alone a princess, to offer such a blessing was extraordinary in itself.

"Fuhut. See you next time. I will be waiting in Mephisto."

While Asella stood astonished, Kaylin boarded her carriage with a seductive smile.

The Chaeyu match was scheduled roughly two weeks from now. Kaylin looked forward to that moment.

Dagadeok-dagadeok—

The carriage carrying Kaylin gradually moved farther away from the Holy Kingdom.

Asella, the order of paladins, and the citizens watched Kaylin’s party depart into the distance.

Kaylin felt pleased, having had a wonderful experience after a long time.

Of course.

"Roberto."

"Yes, Princess."

"Go to the entrance of the Forest of the Four Seasons later and find out what is happening there."

What needed investigating had to be investigated. Her attendant, Roberto, pondered briefly before nodding.

Regardless of Kaylin’s intentions behind the command, he simply needed to execute his orders.

Soon, as the attendant vanished quietly, Kaylin peered out the carriage window.

’I felt a strange wave of mana fluctuations near the entrance of the Forest of the Four Seasons.’

An ordinary mage would have been completely oblivious, but Kaylin was the next Demon King.

She was skilled enough to detect even the faintest mana fluctuations.

Had she sensed such fluctuations inside Avalon, she would have brushed it off.

Thinking they were conducting some special experiment in Avalon and moving on. But it was at the entrance to the Forest of the Four Seasons.

’The Hero was like that too. Her words and actions made it sound as though she were preparing for the Divine Herald to emerge.’

Anyone who entered the Forest of the Four Seasons could never leave. That was a proven fact.

Yet Asella spoke with the nuance that she herself would pull him out someday.

While Kaylin’s words were intended to tease her, she had gleaned information at the same time.

Mentioning the forest entrance at the end was also part of that reason.Find the original chapter at nоvelping.com.

’She still can’t hide her inner thoughts well... but she will improve over time.’

Above all, the Hero was fundamentally a blade, not the hilt. Holding the hilt was supposed to be the Vatican’s role.

In truth, the victor of this summit could be considered Kaylin. Mephisto would secure a definitive upper hand.

’Well, introducing sports alone is a victory for Mephisto.’

She anticipated two weeks from now—the day the Hero would watch various sports and introduce them to the Holy Kingdom.

Having realized the power of culture early on, Mephisto was striving to spread it by any means.

Was it not thanks to that effort that the image of the Demon Race changed? It was executing conquest in a different sense.

Combined with the Demon Race’s distinct overwhelming strength, nothing was lacking.

’I should stay on friendly terms with Grylls until then.’

Kaylin returned to Mephisto grinning ear to ear. Pure joy emanated from her heart.

But did she know? That her happiness would soon turn into utter shock.

’Blue Badge... I need more Blue Badges...’

That the Orange Badge—not just Asella—was sharpening her knives.

While the summit drawing global attention was being held in Avalon:

In the Forest of the Four Seasons, or more precisely our Shelter, midwinter brought no notable activity.

Shoveling the snow that fell endlessly every single day, or holing up in the room to train External Arts, and so on.

"Huu. Huu."

"201. 202. 203."

Among those, I was putting hard effort into training External Arts. Having only bodyweight exercises, push-ups were the best option.

On top of that, Lackey was sitting leisurely on my back, comfortably reading a novel.

Carrying a person—no, a gorilla—on my back while he reads a book? That means there was zero wobble.

It wasn’t particularly heavy either. Having gone through intense battles far too often recently, my overall physical capabilities had improved.

"500."

"Hoo-ah!"

Upon reaching the target number, I collapsed face down onto the floor. At the same time, Lackey smoothly stepped off my back.

Sweat pouring down like rain gave a sense of deep fulfillment.

They say once you get hooked on working out you can’t break free, and that was true.

"Does he do that every winter?"

"Indeed, brother."

"I can’t help but nod in respect."

Dolsoe marvelled at my brutal training as well. He mentioned something about never having focused on training External Arts before.

Being born a gorilla, his baseline physical capacity was superior to begin with. Add Internal Energy cultivation to that, and he probably felt no need for it.

"You know it too. My technique is absolute garbage. So I pivoted toward bulking up my physical power."

"Even if your technique is trash, all that matters is knowing how to win."

"You can look at it that way too."

But I couldn’t give up on technique.

Because even if it progressed at a turtle’s—no, a slug’s pace—it was steadily climbing.

Especially in archery, I felt my skills making leaps and bounds every time I practiced.

To the point where I even wondered if becoming an archery athlete instead of a soldier would’ve been better.

’No way. I definitely would’ve been eliminated in our nation’s qualifiers.’

Archery in the Republic of Korea is fair. The problem is that it’s far too fair.

Origin, background, academic credentials—none of that mattered. They selected national team representatives purely based on skill alone.

So much so that miraculous situations occurred where an Olympic gold medalist failed to make the cut for the next Olympics.

’Well... even if I became an archer, my mentality was too weak.’

I stepped outside to wash my sweat-drenched body.

Normally, bitter, biting cold should be blowing, but at least for me, it didn’t feel cold.

I didn’t know what weird thing I ate last time, but I had gained cold resistance. Instead, steam was rising billows off my body.

’Let’s shoot some arrows until the water boils.’

I filled a tub to the brim with water and began heating it over a fire.

In my spare time, I practiced archery. As mentioned earlier, skills rising day by day.

’Could I pull off a trick shot like a curved arrow?’

It was one of those flashy feats often shown in movies or comic books.

Not just curved shots, but firing multiple arrows simultaneously. It was just damn hard.

Having attained Unity of Self and Object, shouldn’t it be possible? I practiced with that thought.

Kkigigik—

I quietly pulled back the bowstring. I had set my target in advance.

Not the thick tree right in front, but the target hidden behind the tree.

To hit that target accurately, I recalled the theory in my head.Read the latest chapters at novеlping.com.

’If I launch it utilizing rotational force...’

Piing!

At first, I fired without infusing any mana. Soon, the result manifested plainly.

Not only did the arrow curve, but it hit the target. However, a fatal flaw also revealed itself.

Tuk!

Far from penetrating deeply, the arrow barely dangled off the target.

The power dropped by more than half, rendering it practically meaningless.

Considering the arrow’s lethality, it was the pinnacle of inefficiency.

Succeeding in itself brought joy, but I wondered if I really needed to use it.

’They say arrows shot by ancient Mongol horse archers curved bizarrely...’

The Mongol army, unleashing arrows while mounted on horseback. They were literally a calamity of a force.

Just like a swarm of locusts wiping out crops, whenever the Mongols swept through, the entire area was reduced to ruins.

Well, in terms of archery, our country was probably no less legendary than Mongolia.

If I kept training until I could use it in real combat, a day to use it would come.

And so, after washing myself clean with the warm bathwater, I stepped inside the Shelter.

"Huh? What are you guys doing?"

"Playing Gomoku."

But when I walked in, Lackey and Dolsoe brothers were playing Gomoku.

Puzzled at first, I thought it looked fun and watched quietly.

Title) These guys are playing Gomoku

Wild Grylls

(Picture of gorilla brothers playing Gomoku)

Stream starting soon, stay tuned!

Along with that, turning on the stream. It felt like something entertaining was about to happen.

Before long, tons of fixed-handle users flooded into the stream, all placing bets on who would win.

Of course, since Dolsoe wasn’t accustomed to Gomoku yet, taking it easy on him was best.

"I won, brother."

"Mmm..."

Naturally, Lackey won at first. He was remarkably smart, so adaptation gave him an unavoidable edge.

But Dolsoe wasn’t one to give up easily. Dolsoe repeatedly pleaded, calling for one more game.

"For free?"

"...I bet candied sweet potatoes."

"Deal."

"Hey. That’s our meal."

But these guys were placing ridiculous bets.

Well, I figured Lackey would win anyway, but...

"I won!"

"Huh."

Lackey lost. A truly astonishing outcome.

"Lackey. Your rank’s gonna drop at this rate."

"...."

As I joked, Lackey grumbled.

"If it worked like that, Master would’ve been below me long ago."

"Is Master bad at Gomoku?"

"Master isn’t stupid. He just doesn’t use his brain, so he only looks stupid."

"True, I felt he only uses his brain during fights. It must be because he’s too lazy to use it otherwise."

"...."

It was all the more ridiculous because I couldn’t even refute it.

At any rate, just as the nerve-wracking(?) Gomoku showdown was continuing:

ㄴ Princess Chaenggu) Huh? Why is there blue next to my name?

ㄴ King Reor) What the. Why’d you turn blue too?

ㄴ Princess Chaenggu) No seriously. holy fuck why did I turn blue?

ㄴ Passing Dwarf) How panicked do you gotta be to break character lmaooo

Suddenly, Princess Chaenggu turned blue.

’Is Asella having a hard time working these days?’

Looks like there are more trolls lately.