I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 565

Even though I outright stated that the Chief God was a man, the response I got back was "Stop talking nonsense."

Not only was that the sentiment across the Gallery, but even Asella declared, "The Chief God is a woman!", leaving me utterly dumbfounded.

Her reasoning was simple enough: a merciful goddess would draw far more abundant faith, or whatever.

When I asked if a member of the clergy was allowed to do such a thing, she gave a roundabout answer.

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: Aris-nim will understand!]

[Wild Grylls: You’re not using Aris-nim’s name in vain, are you?]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: If I thought I was using Her name in vain, divine punishment would have struck me already!]

Talk about a convenient mindset. Hang it on an ear and it’s an earring, hang it on a nose and it’s a nose ring.

Since nobody believed the Chief God was male, I just moved on to the next topic.

Not the Dragon Heart, but Lackey’s injury. The guy had taken a direct hit from a laser beam and had his entire body scorched black.

Thanks to Ludwig’s swift first aid, he made it past the crisis, but burns are injuries that naturally leave severe aftereffects.

Therefore, even though he was healed with an Elixir, if his muscles had been burned, it would pose a major problem, so he had no choice but to rest for a while.

"Master. Can I have just one more?"

"Yeah. I’ll let you eat to your heart’s content today, so don’t be self-conscious."

"Ooh. Thank you."

Covered head to toe in bandages, Lackey offered his thanks. Even so, his hands busily worked the utensils.

What he was eating right now was candied sweet potatoes. Since he was injured, I made it for him as a special treat.

"Kyuuu...!"

"Ah, ah! No! This belongs to Lackey!"

Our pig—no, Wonmo—wasn’t about to miss this. I blocked Wonmo’s plunder attempt.

Even though I had handed over all sorts of food supplies when entrusting him to the Hobgoblins’ place, this guy’s gluttony was truly bottomless.

Still, he was cute, so I let it slide. Not just Wonmo, but the other kids looked completely fine too.

"Good work. Nothing happened while I was away?"

"Sparred with Hobgoblins."

"You sparred? You won, right?"

"There was also a Lesser Demon who asked me to accept him as a disciple."

"..."

It seemed Dolsoe had also spent a rewarding day. I could just tell him to train disciples on his own.

Having the Hobgoblins’ combat power increase was certainly not a bad thing. In fact, there were even Hobgoblins learning swordsmanship from Ludwig.

Thus, after a day both long and short had passed, as soon as the next morning arrived, I began the settlement in earnest.

’Though calling it a settlement just means dealing with the dragon bones and the Dragon Heart.’

The dragon bones could be roughly treated like metal or tossed to the fixed handles for research purposes.

However, there was simply no answer for what to do with the Dragon Heart. Even Allfather, whose eyes usually turned inside out for anything mysterious, had refused it.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The Dragon Heart, carefully stored in a box as requested by Cain. Even after a day had passed, it pulsed vividly.

For now, I planned to keep it until Vanir arrived, but I was worried whether something might happen before then.

’The fact that nothing is happening makes me even more anxious.’

What was certain was that the moment mana was injected, it would trigger a massive explosion.

While the saber-toothed tiger’s heart had a relatively small explosion radius, the Dragon Heart would be far worse.

In fact, if a Dragon Heart exploded, it was said it could easily blow away a small city.

It wouldn’t be an overstatement to call it a biological nuclear bomb. That was why I was being extra cautious.

’Leaving it to an expert would be best, but...’

I turned my head and looked at Cain. Cain was engaged in a deep conversation with Ludwig.

Cain had also slain dragons in the past, but even if he was an expert, it was on the ’subjugation’ side, far removed from analysis.

In fact, when I asked what he did with the Dragon Heart after subjugating a dragon, he said he simply offered it as a ’tribute.’

That era was a time when Aris directly intervened in the world as a god. Offering a Dragon Heart as a tribute made total sense.

’The person who recently defeated a dragon was Kadir, right?’

A powerhouse who subjugated a dragon possessing high resistance to magic using Meteor.

Not only that, but he also held the achievement of repelling the Undead King Kazan alongside the Previous Hero.

Judging solely by achievements known to the world, he was someone even more incredible than Asella, Ash, or even the Heavenly Demon.

If I could form a connection with such a person, that would be great, but unfortunately, there was no way.

Instead, there wasn’t no way at all. It was the Hero I had talked to until just a moment ago—Asella.

’If I use the Hero’s reputation, even Kadir would grant an audience. Besides, they’re already acquainted.’

They were already acquainted during the Wild Hunt incident, and he had joined the research of the Forest of the Four Seasons alongside Starlight Lady.

’Right now would be difficult, though.’

Currently, Asella was holding a summit at Mephisto’s place. She didn’t have time to spare.

Instead, I could at least ask for a favor. The reward could just be dragon bones.

If it was an item received from the Herald of God, even Kadir would be convinced.

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: If it’s a request from Grylls-nim, I can grant it as much as you want! But please grant me just one favor in return!]

[Wild Grylls: What kind of favor?]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: Just hide the fact that the Chief God is a male god and not a goddess...!]

[Wild Grylls: You’re asking me to lie. Is it okay for a Hero to do that?]

This wasn’t something to treat as a simple meme. It was practically duplicating faith at an unprecedented level.

Setting aside her character, countless people had taken an interest in mythology over this single debate.

Originally, the unknown was light and salt itself to countless people, especially scholars.

What’s more, even ordinary people were interested now, so it was hard for Asella to ignore.

’Still, I saw what I saw.’

Well, given the nature of the Gallery, even if the truth were revealed, they’d likely throw a fit screaming, "What does official lore know!"

Besides, wasn’t there a game in the world I used to live in that swapped the genders of historical figures?

A game that not only turned the famous King Arthur into a woman, but also drastically transformed countless great figures.

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: I’m asking not as the Hero, but as the Orange Badge! Either way, in reality, most people are likely to believe he’s a male god!]

[Wild Grylls: If that’s how it is in reality... but why did you make such a request?]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: The world is chaotic enough as it is, so it’s better for drama bait like this to circulate...!]

Hm. I think I roughly understood what she meant.

The world was already falling into major chaos across all directions, east, west, south, and north.

Naturally, all kinds of political posts were bound to flood the Gallery. Digging a new topic to bury existing drama was the best move.This chapter is updated first at novelping(.)com.

[Wild Grylls: Understood. I’ll let it slide to that extent. It’ll be revealed someday anyway.]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: Thank you! Then what should I ask Kadir-nim?]

[Wild Grylls: Please ask him to share all of his research on Dragon Hearts. It’s a situation that’s tricky to handle.]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: Yes! As soon as everything wraps up, I’ll ask him immediately!]

Asking immediately, huh. Looks like I’ll be able to hear an answer in the near future.

I closed the messages feeling relieved. Then I briefly scanned the Gallery.

While I was talking with Asella, there was a Recommended Post that had received an absurd number of upvotes.

[Chief God Mommy Emoticons!]

"Holy sh*t."

A curse burst right out of my mouth at the title alone.

But regardless of the curse, my body was honest. I clicked on it out of curiosity anyway.

It wasn’t that I had a reason to feel bad, but it felt like what I had personally witnessed was being denied.

Title) Chief God Mommy Emoticons!

(Chief God emoticon welcoming with open arms)

(Chief God emoticon with uniquely prominent breasts)

(Embarrassed Chief God emoticon)

.

.

.

(Roughly an Aris and Aragon fighting emoticon)

(Chief God emoticon mediating by giving them noogies)

Thanks to the precious grace of our Orange Badge, Chief God emoticons are out! Please give it lots of love!

ㄴ Look at this, look at this. My heart has become so enriched. Hehe

ㄴ How can someone be turned on by just emoticons?

ㄴ Shout it out! The Chief God is a goddess!

ㄴ Who said he’s a male god? The Chief God is a female anyway, full stop.

ㄴ Some wild guy claims he saw it himself. What kind of nonsense is that?

ㄴ Orange Badge seems to have great taste these days lol

"..."

I silently closed the Gallery. Trying to argue would only drain my own energy and leave me at a loss.

For now, prioritizing resting to refill my bone-dry mana came first.

Tap, tap—

Just as I quietly crossed my legs and was about to operate my Mental Cultivation Method, someone tapped my shoulder.

Turning my head, Bbareumbo was staring at me blankly.

"Why? You want another Fasting Pill?"

"..."

Shaking his head side to side at my words, he subsequently handed something over to me.

What was clutched in his hand was none other than an arrow. It was definitely the arrow that had finished off the Bone Dragon.

"Where did you get this?"

"..."

Bbareumbo scratched his head at the question. Looks like he picked it up while it was rolling around on the ground.

My doubt was brief as I inspected the arrow this way and that. During battle, things were so urgent that I hadn’t had time to look at it properly.

’What on earth is this made of?’

The overall color of the arrow was dark. It was definitely not Orichalcum, Mithril, or Adamantium.

Moreover, only the arrowhead was metal; the shaft was distinctly made of wood.

Yet it had completely drained all of my mana, leaving many suspicious points.

’The man presumed to be the Chief God fired an arrow like this so effortlessly.’

While I ended up groggy after shooting just one shot, that man had fired it like an ordinary arrow.

Come to think of it, that man had literally thrown a mountain, too.

’It could come in handy, but... more important than that is the analysis.’

First, I should probably send it to Allfather. I immediately sent a message to Allfather.

While he couldn’t handle the Dragon Heart, he readily accepted the arrow, saying it should be fine.

Just in case, I asked if he had any research materials related to Dragon Hearts.

[Allfather: I am sorry, but that research is top-secret among top secrets, so I cannot freely give it out. Since the authority on the matter is Kadir, it seems difficult.]

[Wild Grylls: So in the end, I have to get permission from Kadir.]

[Allfather: Yes. Still, good news will await.]

Though disappointing, I had no choice but to wait. Why would Kadir use the Gallery out of goodwill?

If I gently enticed him with rare materials, I might be able to approach him. But he probably had his pride.

’Normally, people who achieve such feats tend to hold their heads high.’

Furthermore, by human standards, he was practically an elderly man.

Though rumors said he was an eccentric, he was bound to have a typical stubborn old timer’s disposition.

Of course, calling it a stubborn old timer’s mindset was put negatively; in reality, he likely possessed a conservative mind.

Rather, Allfather was unusually progressive and eager to learn compared to his age.

’The arrow has been roughly taken care of, so only the Dragon Heart remains.’

As I said earlier, leaving the Dragon Heart alone for the time being was the best move.

Right now, focusing solely on recovery and waiting for the time to reach the World Tree was optimal.

"Nnggh..."

"Are you awake?"

It was when I had replenished my mana to some extent through the Mental Cultivation Method.

Heukgu, who had been temporarily recovering his strength from the intense light, revealed himself.

Sticking his butt way back as he stretched, he really looked like a dog.

In fact, whether he had lost a lot of strength, he felt slightly smaller in size compared to before.

Subsequently, Heukgu stared at the Dragon Heart throbbing energetically inside the box and spoke in a tone of grudging acknowledgement.

"Hmph. Still, I have to admit its strength. To survive even after infusing mana into that last arrow."

"Do you know about that arrow?"Enjoying the story? Read on at novelping dot com.

"Of course. It’s a specially crafted arrow designed to hold His mana, which is vast as the ocean."

Was giving the arrow to Allfather hasty? If I had known, I should have waited a bit.

Still, the investigation itself shouldn’t take too long. Above all, Heukgu seemed to know about the Chief God.

"Looking at you, it seems you know about the Chief God, right?"

"He is not the Chief God. He is the Sovereign."

"The Sovereign..."

Come to think of it, I had heard that term before. Not from a dragon’s mention, but in the shipwreck.

Among the audio recordings left in the shipwreck, there was a line that said: For the last Sovereign.

’A sovereign usually refers to a king or an emperor, though...’

Even on Earth, where democracy was widespread, sovereigns existed. The most famous example being the United Kingdom.

Though closer to a symbolic presence, either way, the monarchy itself hadn’t been abolished.

’Did he unite the ruined world into one?’

In a situation where civilization was shattered into pieces by mana, he desperately scraped everything together to give birth to a new civilization.

That was the only hypothesis I could come up with from the keyword ’Sovereign.’

’I’ll need to investigate further to know for sure.’

Heukgu also answered that he only knew the Sovereign was his master and didn’t know anything beyond that.

Even his name was multiple, making it ambiguous to tell me. In fact, there were records stating that the Chief God’s name was difficult to pronounce, so it was split into several names.

At any rate, it was fortunate that I vaguely learned the identity of the Chief God. For the rest, I had no choice but to gather records step by step.

While records regarding the Chief God were practically erased in the outside world, faint traces would remain in the Forest of the Four Seasons.

’Maybe I can even figure out why the gods started a civil war.’

Thinking so, I passed the time. I planned to wait until Lackey had fully recovered.

During that time, it wasn’t as if there was nothing to do. Tyranno’s mother, Vanir, paid a visit.

― You possess the heart of our kin.

"...Yes. Somehow."

And as soon as Vanir arrived at our Shelter, she noticed the presence of the Dragon Heart.

Even if she was from the tail end of that era, Vanir was also a dragon born in the Mythological Age. There was no way she wouldn’t know.

― It would be nice if you could explain in detail what happened.

Fortunately, Vanir didn’t seem to think much of it. It was closer to simple curiosity.

In fact, she just stared blankly while polymorphed into human form.

I summarized the main points of what had transpired in the meantime.

After listening to my explanation, Vanir pondered deeply and nodded.

― His physical body was entirely destroyed... That’s why I couldn’t sense it.

"His intellect returned midway, but he was defeated before that."

― May I check it for a moment?

"Yes."

Beyond checking, I hoped she would also tell me how to dispose of it.

Soon, when Vanir placed her hand on the Dragon Heart, an amazing thing happened.

Flash!

In an instant, a white light flashed from the Dragon Heart and seeped into Vanir’s eyes.

As if acquiring the remaining information inside the Dragon Heart, it was a fairly intense scene.

"W-What are you doing?"

― When our kin suffer damage to the brain, we can transfer all memories to the heart. I am peeking into that.

So the heart acts like a computer. I think I understand why his intellect returned after time passed.

You might ask if such a thing is truly possible, but Cain is a similar example.

Cain was also a case where his physical body was destroyed, but his mind and memories remained intact.

― Hmph. Regrettably, because it was left neglected for too long, most of the memories and knowledge have been lost.

"Then does that mean you don’t know who it is?"

― No.

Saying so, Vanir severed the mental communion with the Dragon Heart.

Just as I wondered if she had seen his final memories like I did, she opened her mouth.

― Tyrant Dragon King Lazar.

"Tyrant Dragon King?"

― I know him as one of the elders. In terms of martial prowess, he would be counted among the top three...

"..."

― His lower body was severed, and his heart took a heavy blow, forcing him into forced hibernation. Well, beating the fleet of the gods would have been impossible anyway.

No. The Tyrant Dragon King trashed the fleet and got beaten by just one person. I kept my mouth shut.

Looks like she couldn’t peek into that memory. She only seemed to have identified the cause of death.

Just how strong was the Chief God that he wiped out one of the absolute strongest among dragons?

And why did such a person vanish without a single trace? The more I learned, the less I understood.

― It will be difficult to obtain any more memories beyond this. It’s essentially a mass of mana.

"How should I dispose of it?"

― If you want to eat it, eat it. If even a bit of memories and knowledge remained, it might be different, but since most have been destroyed, it’s meaningless even if I eat it.

Looking at it, it seemed that eating a dragon kin’s heart would transfer those memories and knowledge intact.

Of course, even so, it was tough for me to eat that. At minimum, Kadir’s assistance was required.

"Can I even eat that? Won’t it explode if I inject mana?"

― That’s your problem.

"..."

― As a reminder, continuing to neglect it isn’t good either. I suggest you find a measure.

I’m in big trouble.

Meanwhile, at that time in the Magic Tower.

"Kughhh..."

[To think you would show such a sight. It reminds me of how things were when I was alive.]

"Quiet... Oof, my aching body."

Kadir was experiencing mana exhaustion for the first time in a very long while.