I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 721

Somehow, I ended up being led into a teahouse by Starlight Lady.

One might think a teahouse doesn’t really suit the Heavenly Demon Cult, but that wasn’t the case at all. In fact, it was a local specialty.

Although located in a remote area of the Demonic Cult, it was fundamentally rich in mana thanks to the numerous surrounding mountain ranges.

As such, rare herbs were frequently found here, and there was even a separate herb garden.

Even if it wasn’t on a cheat-like level like the Forest of the Four Seasons, it was still considered a prime location.

"The VIP room, please. Somewhere completely quiet."

"Customer-nim. The VIP room requires a reservation..."

"Triple."

"I shall escort you right away."

No matter how much of a reservation-only system it was, a pile of money changed the story.

Since she offered triple instead of double, sticking to principles became utterly meaningless.

And so, I found myself alone with Starlight Lady, whom I had met by chance. We didn’t say a single word until the server brought the tea.

I needed to choose my words, and Starlight Lady needed to choose hers. In the meantime, I looked at her.

’Why does it feel like all the fixed-nicks around me are women?’

And they weren’t just ordinary women, but beauties, each possessing her own unique charm.

I wondered how such a coincidence could even happen, but now I decided to just accept it and move on.

Getting too deeply invested would only give me a headache. It was best to just think of it as good luck and let it go.

Ttok-ttok-ttok—

"Customer-nim. I have prepared the tea."

A moment later, the server brought the tea. Both of us had ordered ordinary green tea.

It was a tea with an exquisite, unique aroma said to grow only in the Central Plains. I had also drunk it back when I lived on Earth.

"It’s my treat, so please don’t feel burdened and enjoy."

Starlight Lady spoke. It was fluent Korean, just as I had heard before.

Seeing someone who looked completely foreign—a Westerner, by my standards—speak Korean so effortlessly felt somewhat awkward.

"Ah. Yes."

"You don’t need to speak formally to me. It’s strange for someone who is the Chief God to do that, isn’t it?"

"Is... that so?"

Just look at her now. She spoke far better than me, who occasionally forgot my own Korean.

It was to the point where I almost spoke in a foreign language before quickly correcting myself to Korean.

I sipped the green tea—hororok—while gauging Starlight Lady’s reaction.

Although she said I could speak informally, the elegance radiating from her was extraordinary.

’The Heavenly Demon had an elegant aura too, but hers was closer to majesty.’

Asella treated me like an actual Chief God, and Ash... I still wasn’t quite sure.

Therefore, Starlight Lady was the first to truly display the dignity of a genuine noble.

’Elia is just pure madness, so let’s skip her.’

Even though she frequently showed her competent side, the madness she occasionally displayed kept her far from elegant.

Perhaps that was why she exuded an atmosphere that made her strangely difficult to approach.

Although we somehow ended up alone, it felt hard to rashly open my mouth.

Around the time I was just drinking green tea, Starlight Lady set down her teacup and stared at me.

"Do you like the tea?"

"Yes. No, I mean, yeah. I like it."

"I’m glad you like it. If you ever visit our dukedom, I will serve you tea even more delicious than this."

"What kind of tea is it?"

"It’s one of our dukedom’s specialties. Or I can send it to you later."

She meant she would send it through the Gallery. I nodded.

Then, the word ’dukedom’ suddenly caught my ear.

A dukedom, meaning land ruled by a Duke. Furthermore, a Duke was the highest title of nobility below an Emperor or King.

If she was inviting me there directly, she must hold a very high position in the dukedom.

I looked at Starlight Lady, who displayed her dignity as a high noble without reservation, and quietly spoke.

"Um... excuse me, but what is your real name? I can’t keep calling you Starlight Lady forever."

"Ah. My introduction is late. I apologize. My name is Selena Ari Mercedes. I am the eldest daughter of the Mercedes Ducal House."

Placing her hand over the center of her chest, Starlight Lady—Selena—greeted me politely.

Her appearance was one thing, but even her clothes exuded an ethereal, fairy-like vibe.

Having greeted me so gracefully, Selena slowly lifted her teacup with a slightly flushed face.

"You can just call me Selena comfortably."

"Then... Selena?"

"Uup."

When I called her name casually, Selena stopped mid-sip and quickly covered her mouth. She seemed flustered.

However, as if not forgetting her noble dignity, she naturally pulled out a handkerchief and wiped her mouth.

"Ahem. Ahem. Excuse me for a moment. Hearing you call me by my real name instead of my fixed-nick definitely makes a difference."

"Hmm... that’s certainly true, right?"

I casually agreed. Honestly, the nickname Starlight Lady suited her perfectly too.This chapter was taken from nov‌elping.com without permission.

If some dwarf-like guy had used that fixed-nick, I would have kept calling him by it to tease him.

But Selena was worlds apart from a dwarf in both relationship and appearance, and even her fixed-nick fit her incredibly well.

In particular, her snow-white skin and hair were exceptionally striking.

"Ah, right. Speaking of which, the Nine Yin Severed Meridians? Is that fully recovered? I know it’s fine once cured, but just in case."

"You don’t need to worry about that. I have fully recovered since then, and now I have no issues even doing intense workouts."

Saying so, Selena politely bowed again to express her gratitude.

"This is all thanks to Chief God-nim. You saved my life."

"Our paths simply crossed."

"That connection was fate and salvation to me. Back then, I spent every single day lying in bed, just waiting for the day I would die."

"...."

I listened to Selena’s story seriously. That was how a terminal illness was.

A life where you only wait for death, with not a single shred of hope in sight.

So I had heard that many terminally ill patients, feeling skeptical about such a life, often ended up committing suicide.

Sorting out one’s life to that extent is a deeply painful and difficult task. And I had sorted out my friends’ lives and even held their funerals.

"But thanks to Chief God-nim, I received a new life. Therefore, I believe it is only natural to dedicate this newly gained life to you."

"I see... Puhup!"

I spat out my tea mid-sip, choking on it at the same time.

Even Asella had never said anything about dedicating her life. This made it even more flabbergasting.

"Kollok! Kollok!"

"Please use my handkerchief."

"Ah. Than... kollok!"

As I couldn’t stop coughing, Selena naturally handed over her handkerchief.

Only after hurriedly wiping my mouth, which was smeared with green tea, did I realize too late.

’Wait. Didn’t Selena just use this handkerchief to wipe her mouth earlier?’

As that thought occurred to me, I looked back and forth between the handkerchief and Selena with a dubious expression.

As if reading the meaning behind my gaze, Selena spoke reassuringly to put me at ease.

"A noble lady must always carry three handkerchiefs. One for my own use, and the other two as spares."

"Ah... is that so?"

"Yes."

Selena smiled brightly. My face flushed hot with needless embarrassment.

I lived under the same roof as Elia, and Yoo So-wol and Asella were familiar faces.

So I thought I would feel similarly about Selena, but that wasn’t the case at all. Embarrassment was embarrassment.

"Ahem! Sorry. I showed an unsightly side of myself. But dedicating your life to me, that’s a joke, right?"

"I am entirely serious. You gave me a new life, so it is only proper."

"No, wait."

There was someone even more dangerous than Asella here. I felt utterly bewildered.

Of course, it was true that I saved Selena’s life, and we had exchanged various forms of help afterward.

Although her attitude had changed slightly after it was revealed that I was the Chief God, I had just brushed it off as a joke.

"Hearing you say that makes me even more flustered. Are you really saying that seriously?"

"Are you going to call it a lie even when I am confessing my faith with my own mouth?"

"Faith... right. Faith is great."

This was absurd. As I had said time and again, I disliked gods.

To be precise, I resented God or the heavens endlessly because I didn’t want to hate people.

Yet, to think that I was being treated as the actual Chief God... how should I put it? It left a bitter taste in my mouth.

’With Asella too, being revered as an actual god...’

Up to Asella, it was fine. She was a believer who worshipped Aris, not me.

It was also fine that Praise the Sun and Salman placed me on the throne of Sultan, since they thought of me as an ordinary close friend.

But Selena was in a completely different league from those two. Since she truly seemed to worship me as a god, it went beyond awkwardness and felt bitter.

"But Selena. Since you’ve watched me, do you know what I think of gods?"

"I believe you said... you dislike gods because you don’t want to hate people."

"Exactly. And I am someone who dislikes being hated. I can’t become a real god like you think."

I was already uncomfortable with being treated as the Chief God.

It was better back when I was treated as ’that crazy strong bastard.’

To this, Selena’s response was extremely simple.

"Yes. I will do that."

"Huh? Really?"

"Since the Chief God says so, I shouldn’t make it obvious, right?"

"Good grief."

It was like a monkey’s paw, granting my wish in the most ambiguous way possible.

When I lamented, Selena laughed softly as if finding it amusing. I couldn’t tell if she was teasing me or being serious.

Still... exchanging jokes like this wasn’t bad. I chuckled.

"Putting this talk aside, let me ask you something else. Are you participating in the Heavenly God Martial Festival too, Selena? I heard on the Gallery that you’re a genius."

"No. I am strictly here as a visitor. It’s true that I’m a genius, but it’s in knowledge, not combat."

"Really? Ah, speaking of which, did you master all the basic chemistry I gave you back then?"The source of this chapter is novelp⁠ing.com.

"Of course. I am still analyzing it diligently even now."

Despite the minor commotion, Selena and I enjoyed chatting with each other.

Asella revered me too much, which was slightly burdensome, and Yoo So-wol had a sensitive side like a cat.

Selena was of a similar breed to Asella, but she was at least less intense. To the point where we could have a truly normal conversation.

"By the way, Chief God-nim."

"Don’t call me Chief God, call me Grylls. It’s burdensome."

"Yes. I will do that, Grylls-nim. But occasionally, gender-bent drawings of Grylls-nim are posted on the Gallery. What do you think about those?"

Jureureuk—

I almost spat it out again. Fortunately, I managed to resolve it by quietly swallowing.

Since I didn’t choke, I maintained my composure while just wiping my lips.

"Ahem. What do I think? Those drawings barely even get uploaded anymore."

"Is that so? If you look at the Recommended Posts right now, there are about two or three per page."

"Even though it was revealed that I am the Chief God?"

"Didn’t you say you disliked being treated as the Chief God earlier?"

"That’s different from this. Changing the gender of a perfectly living person as they please?"

"But since you look pretty, isn’t it fine? Especially the chest..."

"S-Stop...!"

Why did I feel so ashamed? I covered my face with both hands as I spoke.

Finding me amusing, Selena let out a light laugh.

To think she teased me like this when she had talked about dedicating her life to me. I couldn’t tell what her true feelings were.

Still, talking like this made me feel more comfortable than before. It meant we had become close enough to exchange jokes.

"But Selena. You didn’t visit the Demonic Cult alone, did you? Shouldn’t you have an escort?"

"That’s right."

"Where is that escort?"

"Probably walking around eating chicken skewers by now?"

"...What?"

What kind of insincere answer was that? I blinked in bewilderment.

But Selena was serious, not joking. That made it even harder to understand.

She was none other than the daughter of a Ducal House. She must hold such a high status, yet she was left unattended like this?

It made me wonder if she was being left unattended on purpose.

’Or maybe it doesn’t matter even if the escort is far away.’

If Selena spoke so casually, that was highly likely.

In that case, who could be the powerhouse capable of absolutely protecting their charge even while wandering all over this vast Heavenly Demon Cult?

I recalled the participants of this Heavenly God Martial Festival one by one in my head. Then, something suddenly occurred to me.

"Come to think of it, the Mercedes Ducal House belongs to the Messiah Empire, right?"

"Yes."

"And the Messiah Empire has Sword Master Ash?"

"Yes."

"And Ash is also participating in the Heavenly God Martial Festival."

"Exactly."

"Is that escort by any chance... Ash?"

Selena nodded as if that was the correct answer.

I let out a sigh of disbelief. To think Selena’s escort was Ash.

’I knew she came with Selena, but I didn’t expect her to come as an escort.’

Then, a fact suddenly flashed through my mind.

If Ash knew about this situation even from a distance, was it really okay for us to chat like this?

Once my thoughts reached that point, I quietly spoke.

"...By any chance, do you and Ash know each other’s fixed-nicks? I’m sure this conversation will reach Ash’s ears too."

"Yes. We found out completely by chance."

"Then... shouldn’t we just let Ash in here too?"

Deol-keok!

The moment I said those words, the door to the VIP room swung wide open.

Not only me, but even Selena, who had been chatting quietly, was startled.

Soon, the person who appeared from behind the door.

"I was just waiting for those words!"

She was looking at us with the most cheerful smile in the world.

"Want one? The chicken skewers are incredibly delicious."

While offering me a chicken skewer.

Of course.

"Customer-nim. Outside food is not allowed here."

"Ah?"

It didn’t take long for her image to be completely ruined, though.