I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 722

Actually, I had caught a faint inkling of it. A massive presence had been waiting in front of the VIP room door.

It was a presence that felt like an Owlbear drawing near, so I had been on guard, but since it stayed still, I thought it was a server.

One might ask how a server could have such a presence, but we must not overlook the fact that this was the Demonic Cult.

As someone once said, in the Jianghu, one must beware of old people, women, and children. It simply meant not to let one’s guard down.

Therefore, I thought it was a master hiding formidable skills behind the guise of an ordinary server, but it turned out to be someone who was naturally strong.

Rather, the fact that she had suppressed her presence as much as possible to reduce it to the level of an Owlbear was even more amazing.

"Eonni. I am talking with him right now."

"What does it matter? We all know each other anyway."

"Even if we know each other, it would have been better if I introduced you."

Ash naturally joined the table next to Selena. I couldn’t keep up with the flow of the conversation.

Normally, I should have been flustered, but the chemistry between the two was so perfect that I was confused about what was going on.

’First of all, they said they know each other’s fixed-nicks...’

This meant there was a high probability that Ash had told Selena about our meeting on Christmas.

Then she would have naturally told Selena, who would also know that we were already acquainted.

Indeed, with a figure like Ash as her escort, a mere VIP room wouldn’t have been enough to block her. If Selena had really wanted to talk seriously, she would have given her a heads-up.

"If you felt offended, I apologize, Grylls-nim. I had absolutely no intention of mocking you."

"Ah. It’s fine. We’re familiar faces anyway."

We were beyond familiar faces; we had even shared a kiss. Thinking so, I looked at Ash.

Currently, she had all her chicken skewers confiscated due to the ban on outside food.

Yet, as if it didn’t matter much, she wore a confident expression. I looked back and forth between Ash and Selena.

’They look similar, yet they are subtly different.’

Ash had silver hair like Selena. The difference was that Selena’s was white as if bleached, while Ash’s had a subtle blue tint.

Their eye colors were also both in the blue spectrum, but the shades were noticeably different.

From afar, they looked like sisters, but up close, the difference was stark.

I quietly sipped my green tea, contemplating what topic to bring up.

"Hmm... now that things have suddenly turned out like this, it’s a bit hard to speak."

"Did you hear that, eonni? Grylls-nim and I need to talk, so please excuse yourself for a moment."

"Can’t I listen too?"

"No. And it’s only because you are Ash-eonni, but barging into a VIP room is normally grounds for getting kicked out."

They were conversing in the language of the Messiah Empire. Still, I could roughly understand.

As I had mentioned before, very basic conversation was possible. Only within the limits of the language I had learned, of course.

Furthermore, the two didn’t use difficult words unique to nobles. Thanks to that, we could talk comfortably.

"By the way, Grylls-nim, what do you plan to do from now on? It seems the Demonic Cult has accommodated you."

After chatting for a bit, the topic focused on me again. It was an ordinary conversation.

Receiving the gazes of the two, I quietly drank my green tea. Since it was something I could talk about, it would be fine to bring it up.

"Yeah. It’s true the Demonic Cult accommodated me. They said it makes no sense for the Heavenly God to be unable to roam freely during the Heavenly God Martial Festival, so they gave me clothes and a Satgat."

"Isn’t the Heavenly God the Demonic Cult refers to actually the Heavenly Demon?"

"Usually, yes."

It was Ash’s question. Indeed, she was right.

It was a point of confusion for me as well. If it had been the Heavenly Demon Martial Festival instead of the Heavenly God Martial Festival, I would have just accepted it and moved on.

I didn’t know what the Demonic Cult’s intention was, but I wondered if they were trying to place the Heavenly Demon and the Heavenly God on the same level.

’After all, Wi Seol-ak called Yoo So-wol the heavens.’

Yet, they treated me with utmost respect as the Heavenly God too. This part bothered me slightly.

Since they revered Yoo So-wol as a practically divine existence, it was a bit strange for them to show such courtesy to me as well.

Of course, with Asella watching from the side, they probably couldn’t predict what would happen if they acted rudely.

Though I hadn’t met him much, the Wi Seol-ak I knew was a highly intelligent strategist. He was the type to avoid anything that could harm the Demonic Cult as much as possible.

’But with that face, he’s in his late thirties? He really has a baby face.’

From what I heard, it was because he had received various things from Yoo So-wol.Enjoying the story? Read on at nоvelping.com.

If the ’confidant’ Yoo So-wol often mentioned on the Gallery was indeed Wi Seol-ak, he must have received a lot.

Starting from the Inner Cores given occasionally to all kinds of rare herbs. Just consuming them would lay down Body Metamorphosis as a basic foundation.

"Perhaps even the Demonic Cult thinks of Grylls-nim as an existence that shouldn’t be carelessly provoked."

"They don’t carelessly disparage Aris-nim either, do they?"

It was Ash’s question. Currently, the Hero, Asella, was also here.

To the Demonic Cultists who worshipped the Heavenly Demon as a god, she must be a highly uncomfortable presence.

"On the surface, yes. But when you bring up Aris-nim to the Demonic Cultists, most of them tend to look displeased or brush it off."

"Hmm... isn’t that just the typical exclusiveness of a religious group?"

"That’s true, but they don’t openly show their dislike. Because that would be an incorrect religious approach."

Selena was right. Even if they believed in a different religion, they should never openly display dislike.

It was just that the object of their faith and devotion was different; it didn’t mean the object of devotion itself was wrong.

’In particular, proselytizing has been a dangerous task since ancient times.’

When I recalled what kind of fate missionaries who traveled far to proselytize met.

Most of them met rather unpleasant ends. Moreover, religion was nothing short of a thorn in the side of those in power.

As a certain dictator once said, religion is the opium of the people. It possessed a terrifying power of solidarity that even dictators couldn’t ignore.

That solidarity was so formidable that it exerted major and minor influences even in countries where democracy had taken root.

"You brought it up at a good time. Shall we go around asking what they think of the Heavenly God?"

"I don’t mind. But are you okay with it, Grylls-ssi?"

"I’m fine. I was planning to wander around the Demonic Cult anyway."

Saying so, I looked at Ash’s attire instead of Selena’s.

Selena was also wearing Central Plains-style clothing in her own way, but Ash wore martial robes almost identical to mine.

The only difference was that it was a female martial robe with flower embroidery on a white background.

Even though it must be oversized like mine, her curvaceous body stood out, drawing my gaze repeatedly.

I tried my best to ignore it, but I couldn’t help but look because of the sight of a Westerner wearing martial robes.

’She’d stand out just because of her face anyway...’

Of course, because they were so eye-catching, relatively less attention might be focused on me.

As they say, it’s darkest under the lamp. If I hid beneath their dazzling beauty, I could sightsee in comfort.

Once my thoughts reached that point, my mind put at ease. Afterward, we bloomed in conversation before rising from our seats.

"Huh?"

It was just as we were about to stand up. Upon rising, something I hadn’t seen earlier caught my eye.

It was the flowerpot placed carefully next to Ash. A flower with buds formed, seemingly about to bloom soon.

As if noticing my gaze, Ash held the flowerpot preciously and smiled brightly.

"I am carefully raising what you sent. Please don’t worry too much."

"Yes. Well..."

I said so, glancing at Selena. Did she also know about the Rose of Sharon?

Judging by Selena’s reaction, she seemed to know. Therefore, it seemed fine to speak of it.

"Still, please be careful. The reason I fell here is because of the Rose of Sharon."

"Yes? What do you mean by that?"

"That is not something we can just let slide."

Ash’s eyes widened, and Selena also reacted with surprise.

Although it was merely a highly credible ’hypothesis,’ it was probably 100% correct.

Since we had even gone through an epidemiological investigation, there would be no problem making such a warning.

I looked back and forth between the two, then fixed my gaze on Ash as I spoke.

"I did an epidemiological investigation earlier. It seems that if you inject powerful mana into the Rose of Sharon, it activates."

"Huh? Then does that mean every time the Rose of Sharon blooms, Grylls-ssi descends here?"

"Probably... wouldn’t that be the case?"Read this novel at novel‌ping.com for the best experience.

"...."

"...."

At my words, Ash and Selena fell silent and looked at each other. And then they stared back at me.

They were clearly strangers with not a single drop of shared blood, yet their actions were like sisters.

Especially since Ash’s height was quite tall for a woman, it felt even more so.

"Then, if we’re lucky, we can keep meeting in the future, right?"

"Eonni. We don’t know how many Rose of Sharon seeds are left. You have to consider that."

"Can’t our genius alchemist cultivate this Rose of Sharon?"

"No matter how much of a genius I am, how can I analyze a relic left by a god? Unless I research it together with Kadir-nim."

Mage King Kadir. It was a name I had heard frequently.

I wondered if he was also participating in the Heavenly God Martial Festival, but I brushed it off lightly.

More important than that was finding out what the Demonic Cultists thought of me while walking around with them.

’It doesn’t really matter even if they think poorly of me.’

It would be easiest to just think of it as the typical exclusion of other religions by a religious group.

I heard that even cults that desperately try to drag others in exclude other religious people, especially Catholics.

Since I heard the Demonic Cultists’ devotion was exceptionally high, bad talk would surely arise.

Since even I didn’t think of myself as a Heavenly God or Chief God anyway, I dismissed it as no big deal.

"Excuse me. There is something I would like to ask."

"Huh?"

The three of us stepped outside. Led by Selena, we called over a shop owner.

It was getting close to evening, so he seemed to be packing up.

"Oh..."

The shop owner marveled at Selena’s and the adjacent Ash’s beauty before quickly snapping out of it.

He then cleared his throat and spoke in an incredibly kind voice.

"What do you need? I have everything that exists, and nothing that doesn’t."

"It’s nothing else, but I have a question. How do you think of Heavenly Demon-nim, sir?"

"What kind of question is that? By any chance, you aren’t someone from the Holy Kingdom, are you?"

Was even mentioning the Heavenly Demon’s name forbidden? The shop owner, who had been friendly just moments ago, narrowed his eyes.

There was also a subtle hostility laced in his voice; it seemed the Holy Kingdom had attempted to proselytize here.

From Asella’s perspective, it was completely natural and not a wrong act. It was just how the world worked.

Perhaps noticing his subtle discomfort, Selena spoke in a gentle voice.

I only realized it now, but she spoke the Central Plains language as well as a local—perhaps even more gracefully.

"Not at all. I was just curious and asked. I apologize if I made you uncomfortable."

"Tsk... be careful next time. We are already very uncomfortable because the Holy Kingdom has been proselytizing."

So it was true. I nodded upon hearing those words.

But this wasn’t what Selena wanted. She immediately brought up the next question.

"Then, what do you think of the Heavenly God-nim, not the Heavenly Demon-nim?"

"Heavenly God-nim?"

The merchant spoke with a strange expression. She had even attached the highly respectful honorific ’-nim’.

He then scratched his chin and spoke in a voice completely devoid of displeasure, rather somewhat friendly.

"As for the Heavenly God-nim... I heard he is someone acknowledged by the heavens, so I don’t mind. In fact, there’s even a rumor going around."

"What kind of rumor?"

"Something about the two heavens merging to become a new heaven... They say it might become a doctrine in the future, but how would an ignorant fool like me know?"

"...."

Wait.

What the hell is that supposed to mean?