I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 605

Commissioned training conducted in collaboration with another country might, at first glance, appear to bring the two nations closer together.

While true to an extent, a closer look reveals a complex exchange of psychological warfare beneath the surface.

Regrettably, the military might of this world was determined not by armies, but by the martial power of an exceptionally outstanding individual.

Of course, just as the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, Xiang Yu, was defeated by Liu Bang, the capability of a commander was also something that could not be ignored.

At any rate, the importance of information regarding key figures who formed the core of a nation’s military power was immense; yet no matter how much one wished to prevent leaks, high fame naturally leaked information.

Right off the bat—who met whom, who sparred with whom, who performed brilliantly where, and so forth.

Such information spread like wildfire in reality, so how much more so for individuals of world-renowned fame?

Even the ordinary romantic rumors of the Sword Master Ash caused an uproar, after all.

In that sense, the sparring match between Sword Master Ash and Guardian Ludwig attracted immense interest.

And naturally so, given that both were evaluated as the absolute strongest within their respective nations.

Furthermore, setting Ash aside, Ludwig was a man who had escaped from the Forest of the Four Seasons, drawing even greater attention.

"Still, Count Menethil has the advantage, right?"

"We’ll have to wait and see. Word has it the Guardian’s martial power has grown far stronger than before."

"There are stories that he fought the Hero to a draw."

"One must consider that the Hero’s role is largely symbolic. In the end, the Hero is also a paladin raised by the Guardian."

At the news of their sparring match, not only the Messiah Empire delegation attending the training showed intense interest, but the Holy Kingdom did as well.

Though both sides weighed various factors, the majority predicted Ash’s superiority.

No matter if Ludwig had escaped the Forest of the Four Seasons, he had sustained a fatal injury.

It was an injury severe enough that retiring would not have been strange. Even if he replaced his lost limb with Mithril, mobility issues were bound to arise.

"Still, I don’t think he will lose helplessly."

"Master is immensely experienced as well. He will surely use tactics."

"That aside, the momentum from the other side is no joke either, isn’t it?"

The Holy Kingdom was well aware of this, but that did not mean they were pessimistic.

Having been thoroughly whipped by Ludwig during their own training, they knew his formidable strength all too well.

As gossips everywhere babbled back and forth, Ludwig quietly stared ahead.

’I felt it before, but she really has gotten much stronger.’

Opposite him, Ash was readying a wooden training sword.

On the surface, she looked like an utterly delicate woman, but the subtle momentum emanating from her was extraordinary.

He had undergone countless hardships in the Forest of the Four Seasons, yet someone who had been living in seclusion felt even stronger.

’Talent is talent, but... was the person I saw back then truly Ash?’

He felt no sense of unfairness. That was just how the world worked.

What Ludwig was curious about was that scene he had witnessed on Christmas.

A woman who had suddenly reached the sleigh, kissed Grylls, and departed.

It had happened so abruptly that he was confused whether he had seen an illusion.

’White hair is rare. Moreover, the sleigh pulled by Santa was up in the sky.’

A person with martial prowess formidable enough to breach a sleigh soaring through the sky.

This alone narrowed down the candidates drastically, and with her physical traits matching, suspicion was unavoidable.

Ludwig wondered why Ash harbored affection for Grylls, and furthermore, why she had even kissed him.

’If so, the target of those dating rumors must be Grylls... Could it be through the Gallery?’

The only thing that came to mind right away was the Gallery.

Without that magical artifact, there would be no point of connection between the two.

He wondered how affection could blossom without even facing each other in person.

He would ask about that later; for now, he just needed to focus on the match.

"Shall we begin? I’ll yield the first attack to you."

"Then I shall not hesitate."

Huuung!

At Ash’s words, Ludwig shot forward like an arrow.

Despite his impaired foot, his speed was not rusty in the slightest. Countless paladins had succumbed to this unexpected swiftness.

But Ash was different. She had continuously watched the video broadcasts shown by Grylls.

Naturally, she had a rough idea of how strong Ludwig was, and she also knew a truth that others were unaware of.

’Animals from the Forest of the Four Seasons become far stronger once they come outside.’

Ludwig undoubtedly fit that pattern as well. That was why he could produce such speed despite his foot.

Ash calmly responded even as she watched Ludwig close in right before her eyes.

At any rate, only his mobility would be compromised; his swordsmanship would not be rusty at all.

Jjeoeong!

The unsharpened training swords collided with each other, echoing a crisp, loud clatter.

Though neither used any mana, a gust of wind erupted, fierce enough to blow both of their hair back.

On the surface, there seemed to be a difference in physique, but in an actual contest of strength, they were evenly matched.

"As soon as this sparring match ends, I have something I wish to discuss with you in private."

"What kind of topic?"

"It is about the Herald. I wondered if my eyes had played tricks on me back then."

"I can tell you about that right now."

The two whispered so softly that the spectators could not hear a word.

Ash offered a bright smile at Ludwig’s question and smoothly shifted her sword.

"Your eyes didn’t trick you."The source of this chapter is NovelPing.

Saying so, as Ash moved her blade, Ludwig’s sword dragged along with it as if magnetically pulled.

True to her reputation as a Sword Master, when it came strictly to swordsmanship, her skill far exceeded his.

Had he been dragged along like this, he would have lost his balance, but Ludwig handled it with composed ease.

Huuung!

Using his sound leg as a pivot, he kicked forward with his foot made of solid Mithril.

It was a kick possible only because it was a Mithril prosthetic rather than an ordinary one, serving as a newly acquired weapon.

Even Ash hadn’t anticipated this, hastily twisting her body to evade.

An exchange completed in the blink of an eye. Spectators watching let out exclamations of awe.

But that admiration was brief; the two continuously carried on their intense offensive and defensive clashes.

Since this was a sparring match rather than a life-or-death duel, they confronted each other purely through technique.

’It feels peculiar.’

Ludwig felt a strange sensation while exchanging moves with Ash.

In the Forest of the Four Seasons, he had sparred with Grylls, and after coming outside, he had matched blades with numerous paladins.

Naturally, paladins who had mastered all kinds of techniques were far more troublesome opponents than Grylls, who had barely mastered the basics.

When dealing purely in terms of "technique," that was.

’Ash is a master of swordsmanship. Yet why do I get a feeling similar to Grylls?’

Countless techniques existed in the world, many of which were specialized for actual combat.

Among them, Ash had honed practical, real-combat swordsmanship—a clean sword art void of unnecessary flair.

In Zhongyuan, there existed a four-character idiom: "All Streams Converge into the Sea," meaning all rivers flow into the ocean.

’Technique is ultimately a means to compensate for lacking power.’

Would anyone believe it if told that Grylls’s basic fundamentals held equal power to Ash’s honed swordsmanship?

It might sound deeply insulting, but at least to Ludwig, that was how it felt.

No. If anything, Grylls’s fundamentals were overwhelmingly clean, devoid of any flaw.

Paradoxically, because there was no fancy technique, that purity felt pushed to the ultimate extreme.

Jjeoeong!

Sword clashed against sword, and from the recoil, both slid backward across the ground.

Normally they would continue to the next clash, but both had long since calculated an estimate of each other’s combat power.

"I lost."

Dduk!

As soon as those words left his lips, Ludwig’s training sword snapped in half.

Even though they were identical swords, the snapping of his weapon unequivocally signified defeat.

Ash also knew this and glanced at her own sword. A faint crack was visible on her blade.

The difference lay purely in technical refinement; it was hard to view this as a complete defeat.

’Had my realm not risen, it would have been a draw.’

Had it not been for the Dragon Heart heart skewer (...) given by Grylls, it certainly would have been.

Soon, the two bowed to each other with polite courtesy.

The spectators also greeted the grand bout between the two with cheers and wild applause.

Since it hadn’t been a crushing defeat by an overwhelming margin, no gloomy atmosphere was felt whatsoever.

"Shall we talk for a moment?"

"Let us do so."

Under the pretext of offering feedback, Ash and Ludwig set aside a private space.

Calling it a space meant Ludwig’s private quarters, but it was more than sufficient for a conversation.

Since they had barely broken a sweat, there was no need to wash up.

Thus, sitting across a table from each other, they exchanged serious feedback face to face.

"You plan to keep using the Mithril prosthetic foot, correct?"

"Since it is no ordinary prosthetic, I believe it would be best to utilize it."

"Then you will have to train in martial hand-to-hand combat going forward. Won’t that be arduous?"

"It won’t be bad for catching opponents off guard."

Exchanging earnest feedback, they pondered how to proceed in the future.

As both were veterans among veterans, even vague remarks were understood perfectly.

But this was merely to break the initial ice; the real topic was separate.

"Come to think of it, you mentioned during the match that my eyes had not tricked me."

"You mean the incident between the Herald and me?"

"Indeed. I still cannot quite understand it..."

Though he had clearly seen it with his own two eyes, it was such an unbelievable matter that he had no choice but to ask again.

At this, Ash blushed shyly and opened her mouth softly.

"That is because something special transpired between the Herald and me."

"Were you two lovers even before the Herald entered the Forest of the Four Seasons?"

"W-What? N-No. That’s not it! I also formed a connection with him only recently!"

Ash waved her hands in flustered denial at Ludwig’s overly premature jump to conclusions.

Still, it wasn’t as if she had zero curiosity, so she asked carefully.

"...Why did you think that?"

"Because you stated you would never marry a man weaker than yourself. I thought the Herald, unable to give you up, made up his mind to enter the Forest of the Four Seasons."

"Haha..."

Ash let out a hollow laugh at Ludwig’s ingenious imagination.This chapter was copied from novelping(.)com without permission.

The funny thing was that it wasn’t entirely illogical.

"Anyway, how I came to form a bond with the Herald is quite simple. I helped him when he was in danger."

"You helped him?"

"Yes. You see..."

Ash revealed everything to Ludwig, as if having nothing to hide.

During the early days in the Forest of the Four Seasons when Grylls was utterly weak. He had entered a cave and was ambushed by a Mad Dog.

At the time, his arm had been bitten to the point of considering amputation, but Ash gifted him an Elixir to heal it.

"You gave him an Elixir so readily? That priceless medicine?"

Ludwig responded with a shocked expression upon hearing those words.

In the Forest of the Four Seasons, it was supplied constantly, but outside, it was an exceedingly rare curative.

Even Grylls had only received it from his supplier after turning in Mature Mandrakes.

Giving away something so precious without demanding anything in return showed she was a good-natured person in many ways.

"Yes. I saw potential in him, and it didn’t seem like he was lying."

"Thanks to you, the Herald remained whole. You performed a great deed."

Ludwig was sincere. After all, hadn’t he missed the crucial window himself and been forced to amputate his ankle?

Furthermore, he had suffered immensely from severe fevers afterward.

Had it not been for Aris’s guidance, it would not have been strange if he had died alone long ago.

Ludwig at least met Grylls; Grylls himself had possessed nothing at the start, so it must have been dire.

"After that, we kept exchanging messages continuously, and on Christmas, I seized the chance to reveal my identity. I was lucky."

"Judging by the fact that you even kissed him, it seems you held romantic feelings for him."

"Yes. Ah, right. Do you know what? He said if he comes outside, he will come find me first of all."

The moment Ludwig heard those words, the Hero, Asella, flashed through his mind.

She, who was expressing endless affection toward Grylls. He could never fail to notice.

First of all, Ludwig was the head of a household. Even if he couldn’t fully comprehend a woman’s heart, he had keen intuition.

In other words, he had long since noticed that Asella harbored romantic feelings toward Grylls.

With things as they were, for Ash to blurt out such a claim—it was bound to make him deeply troubled.

"Is that really true?"

"Yes. And I even received a confession."

"A confession... What kind of confession?"

What would happen if Asella heard this? Ludwig pricked up his ears.

The reason he listened intently was out of concern that someone outside might overhear.

Fortunately, he sensed no presence outside whatsoever. It should be fine to speak now.

"You know the Herald was once a soldier too, right?"

"I am aware."

"He used that as a metaphor. He said if I ever got stuck with the final night watch shift, he would swap places with me immediately."

"Hah."

Ludwig let out a hollow gasp. Having spent his whole life as a paladin, it would be weird if he didn’t understand the weight of those words.

Soldiers, especially those of commoner origin, had to rise from the bottom and suffered endless absurd mistreatments.

Ludwig had also suffered mistreatment from seniors once, one of which was being forced to take the final night watch shift on their behalf.

Even the steadfast Ludwig cursed it as "fucking bullshit," yet Grylls offered to take that shift instead?

"That truly is an unquestionable confession."

"Right?"

"By the way, did you reveal your identity back then as well?"

"No. My circumstances being what they were, I had no choice but to hide my identity."

"Hmm."

If that was the case, it had to be viewed differently—more as an expression of camaraderie rather than a romantic confession.

But Ash had already accepted it as a confession. Ludwig fell into deep thought.

’The Hero harbors feelings for the Herald, and furthermore, even the Sword Master...’

Captivating the hearts of the two most influential women in the world.

Yet the man himself was holed up in the Forest of the Four Seasons, utterly unable to step outside. There was no irony grander than this.

"...Then allow me to ask one thing. The Herald was active in the Holy Kingdom on Christmas."

"I know."

"And he performed charitable service alongside the Hero. What do you think of this?"

"That sounds like you’re saying the Hero also harbors affection for the Herald."

As expected of Ash. Her sharp intuition was lightning fast.

At the same time, Ludwig was swept up by a subtle tension. But that wasn’t all.

’I feel like I’ve walked straight into the eye of a typhoon...’

Just as he felt things were getting twisted, deeply twisted...

"Well, that’s..."

Right before Ash opened her mouth.

Ttok-ttok-ttok-

[Master? Are you inside?]

From outside, the voice of the Hero, Asella, could be heard.