I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 751

I returned to my beloved home after nearly a fortnight.

To be honest, I didn’t miss the house itself all that much; it was the companions living there that I missed.

"Papa~!!!"

"Ppi-iik!"

"Ppaek!"

As soon as I arrived, my rabbit-like children rushed toward me.

Wonmo ran over odo-do and tightly hugged my leg, Tyranno fluttered padak-padak and clung to my head, and Cheongseol licked my cheek.

Perhaps due to his pride, Heukgu only watched from a distance, but his tail spun round and round like a helicopter to show his delight.

"Why don’t you just go and greet him?"

"D-Do you think I’d do that?!"

"Your tail is wagging like crazy."

"T-This is just instinct! That’s what happens when you haven’t seen someone in a while!"

"As expected of a mutt."

"Shut up!"

I chuckled at the bickering between Lackey and Heukgu.

The only one missing (?) was Gureumi, but apparently, the Sky Whale couple had taken him because it was his nursing period.

Furthermore, having realized that I had vanished in the middle of everything, they said they would keep him with them for the time being.

’I feel a bit sorry.’

Even though it was closer to an accident, I failed to keep my promise, so I should apologize.

Anyway, now that I was back in one piece, I began to take out the things I had bought for them one by one.

First of all, the Central Plains martial arts robes for the Sun Wukong brothers.

Matching their respective colors, I got a white one for Lackey and a black one for Dolsoe.

"This looks super comfortable, Master."

"...."

While Lackey’s reaction was just curiosity, Dolsoe looked deeply moved.

And for good reason, since the clothes he originally wore were also Central Plains-style martial robes.

Moreover, they weren’t just any martial robes, but the relics of Blood Demon Wi Ho-chang, so this must feel even more special to him.

Currently, Wi Ho-chang’s robes had almost completely lost their function as clothing and were kept only as relics.

Because of that, he usually just wore his uniform and called it a day, but now he finally had proper martial robes to wear.

’If it were just using the Gallery, that’s one thing, but I told them to get my permission before using the auction house.’

Perhaps due to Wi Ho-chang’s strict upbringing, Dolsoe was incredibly straight-laced.

If told not to do something, he literally wouldn’t do it at all.

On the other hand, his brother Lackey was so free-spirited that it was a problem, which made the contrast quite fascinating.

"Here. I bought something for Elia too, so try it on."

"Wow! Thank you!"

Only after presenting the clothes for Elia as the final gift could we catch up and unwind.

Catching up amounted to nothing more than a celebratory return dinner, and there were no grand tales of heroism to speak of.

If there was anything, it was perhaps the fact that I had fought a secret duel with the Sword Master, Ash.

"Ash? Did you really fight Ash and win?"

"Yeah. She was incredibly strong."

"Saying she’s ’incredibly strong’ doesn’t do her justice! She’s one of the strongest people in the world!"

Perhaps because she had frequently investigated high-profile figures in her capacity as the Elf Queen, Elia became uncharacteristically excited when I mentioned clinching a victory in my duel with Ash.

Clenching her fists, her expression practically begged for more details.

"Since you even defeated the Sword Master, there won’t be anyone left to interfere with Grylls-nim’s tree planting!"

"When did I ever say I was going to plant trees?"

"Ah! I’m sorry. To be precise, it was the World Tree expedition."

"Sigh."

I was the fool for expecting otherwise. It seemed Elia’s ideology wouldn’t change even if the world ended.

Even if the world were to perish, wouldn’t she display the madness of planting a single tree?

In fact, she had already demonstrated that madness when she was kidnapped by the Ghost Ship, so this wasn’t far from the truth.

[By the way, could you tell us why you fell into that place?]

While we were chatting about this and that, Cain brought up the main point.

Since I was just about to bring it up anyway, I told them everything within the limits of what I knew.

I explained that the Rose of Sharon was the cause of my descent, and that other Roses of Sharon still remained.

Cain listened intently to the story and then quietly offered his opinion.

[It sounds almost as if I was drawn by the call of the Holy Sword. Do you know in what manner that Rose of Sharon guided you?]

"How would I know? Someone who might know..."

[There is Lucas-nim.]

Just as Cain said, if it was Lucas, he would likely know about the mechanism.

However, there was a slight point of concern: the fact that I might not be a real human.

Hadn’t Lucas said before? The clear way to distinguish a human from a machine is whether or not they react to ’commands’.

If one reacts according to commands, then without a doubt, they are a machine.

Humans are creatures that yearned endlessly for freedom, even during times when slavery was rampant.

He had said that even if a chip were implanted in their head, they would crave freedom to the very end, so that said it all.

"Then I should plan to rest here for a bit before heading to Lucas’s flagship."

[That sounds like a plan.]

It seemed like a good idea to bring the Rose of Sharon seeds along as well.

Also, there was something even more important than that: Ash’s sword.

Her sword had snapped in half during our decisive battle.

She had coolly replied that she could just get it repaired, but I felt incredibly apologetic.

"By the way, Master. Your bow seems to have changed?"New chapters come out on nove⁠lping.com first.

"Ah! You’re right. It’s not the bow I gave you, but a different one."

While I was thinking about Ash’s sword, Lackey pointed out my bow.

Elia also reacted, her eyes widening as if she had only just noticed.

"During the fight with Ash, its lifespan must have run out because the string and the limbs snapped at the same time. In the end, I had no choice but to throw it away."

"Mmm... What a shame. It was made by snapping off a branch of the World Tree, so it was extremely precious."

"When I asked Lucas before, didn’t he say it was already on the verge of reaching the end of its lifespan?"

"Still, wasn’t it quite useful?"

Of course it was useful. I couldn’t deny that.

Thanks to the bow Elia had given me, how many crises had I managed to overcome?

But as my strength grew, I felt the need for my weapon to become stronger as well.

Many people say that a master craftsman doesn’t blame his tools, but in reality, the greater the master, the more strictly they select their tools.

Even a slaughterhouse owner uses a finely sharpened kitchen knife to carve tough meat and discards dull blades.

"It was beyond just useful; I absolutely cherished it."

"Then this time, I’ll snap off a branch from our World Tree and...!"

Ttak!

"Ouch!"

Elia let out a shrill shriek mid-sentence. The dull thud on her head was a bonus.

When I raised my head to see what the noise was, a branch of the World Tree was already hovering over her head.

It seemed the tree had sternly scolded her, as if to say, ’Are you trying to snap me without even asking for permission?’

"Uuuu... World Tree-nim... I-I was going to ask for permission..."

Elia muttered, gently rubbing the crown of her head where she had been flicked.

Looking truly aggrieved, it seemed she really had intended to ask the World Tree for permission.

Well, the World Tree could easily spare a branch, so it probably would have been fine.

’But to make a custom bow, just a branch wouldn’t be enough.’

I figured the World Tree probably knew that, which was why it had reacted that way.

At any rate, it was decided that we would visit Lucas’s flagship sometime soon.

Until then, I needed to recover from the fatigue of my travels, so I planned to rest at home for the time being.

Title) Back home

Wild Grylls

(Photo of the boisterous family 1)

(Photo of the boisterous family 2)

(Photo of the boisterous family 3)

Ended up coming back.

Fuck, honestly I didn’t want to come back, but with my family here, my mind just wasn’t at ease.

Since I pretty much figured out how to get out anyway, I’ll just live normally for a while.

ㄴHeavenly Demon) Where will you come next time you venture out? Will you come to the Divine Cult?

ㄴSword Matstar) Since you’ve already visited the Demonic Cult once, you should go somewhere else next time.

ㄴDon’t Abandon the Hero) That’s right! Favoritism is bad!

ㄴBut can you really go out again?

ㄴSeeing him say that, it seems it’s actually possible?

ㄴIsn’t Bbareumbo going to get pissed off every single time? Lmao

ㄴPrincess Chaenggu) If you’re coming anyway, come to Mephisto’s place and let’s watch football together~

ㄴDon’t Abandon the Hero) Real-life meetups are a ban.

ㄴLook at her seriously restricting it without even an exclamation mark lmao

ㄴHey Orange Badge. Are you going to ban the Chief God too?

ㄴWhy is she silent?

ㄴSeriously, who is favoring whom here;;

The Gallery was as rowdy as ever. I chuckled and returned to reality.

Right before returning, I had also stopped the video broadcast, so they would have absolutely no idea what my family and I were talking about.

Right now, my family was more important than the Gallery.

"Very well. Since Master has returned, I shall show off my skills for the first time in a while."

Was it out of joy for my return, or was it just a simple excuse?

Lackey rolled up the sleeves of his martial robes and stepped forward to cook.

Lackey’s cooking skills were highly notorious, so I quickly tried to stop him.

This guy was the one who had literally summoned a Kraken while trying to cook in my absence.

"Lackey-ssi. Didn’t I tell you last time?"

But someone else stopped him first: Elia.

Instead of her usual gentle smile, she wore a dead-serious expression.

"I don’t care if you go on an adventure or start a rebellion, but absolutely do not cook."

"...."

At that warning, even I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut.

If she was telling him to start a ’rebellion’ rather than cook, just how seriously did she view this?

Of course, the very first time Lackey cooked, he had demonstrated necromancy of such caliber that it brought a dead chicken back to life, enough to make even the Immortal King wake up from his grave in admiration.

"Cooking is something that naturally improves the more you do it. It’s because you keep nagging me like this that my skills aren’t improving."

"I would rather cook myself. Lackey-ssi, please just stay still."

"Tch. Fine."

She went so far as to step up and offer to cook herself.

Seeing her recoil to that extent, it seemed he had cooked more than once or twice while I was away.

’Does that mean there were other incidents besides the Kraken affair?’

Otherwise, there would be no reason for her to react like that.

Even the Kraken incident could have been brushed off as just that particular octopus being weird.The source of this chapter is novelрing.com.

So, while Elia was preparing the food, I quietly asked Dolsoe instead of Lackey.

"Dolsoe. Did something happen when Lackey cooked?"

"We caught a pig last time. It was a huge pig."

"There shouldn’t be any problem with slaughtering it. Elia must have done it too."

"But he insisted on eating the pig’s head as well and cooked it."

"...."

Although my family and I eat almost anything, a head is a different story.

Of course, just like how pig’s head soup exists, it’s perfectly edible if slaughtered properly.

It’s just that we usually don’t eat it because we think, ’Is it really necessary?’

"...Right. We shouldn’t waste food, so I guess that could happen. What happened?"

"The pig’s head started flying around in the middle of the night."

"...."

"The mistress foamed at the mouth and fainted."

So that was why Elia reacted like that. I understood immediately.

"But wait a second. Mistress?"

"That female referred to herself as the mistress. From what I hear, she is Master’s..."

"That’s enough. Stop right there."

She probably just called herself that for convenience.

Even though Elia was full of madness, she was surprisingly good at not crossing the line.

Though there were times when she used that line as a jump rope, it was still within tolerable limits.

"But Master. I shall warn you in advance."

"About what?"

"If Lackey’s cooking is bizarre, the mistress’s food is simply tasteless."

"...."

Come to think of it, had I ever eaten Elia’s cooking?

I only remembered her faithfully preparing things as I ordered; she had rarely cooked on her own.

Harboring a sense of unease, I checked the dishes Elia had prepared.

The first dish completed was none other than steamed eggs.

"Isn’t this what I made for you last time?"

"Yes! It was so delicious that I made it myself!"

It looked decent enough on the outside, so I took a bite with a spoon.

And then, the distinct fishy smell of eggs filled my mouth.

It was supposed to be steamed eggs, so why did it taste so raw and fishy?

Unable to comprehend, I scraped the bottom of the steamed egg bowl with my spoon.

Soggy-

"...."

At the bottom of the bowl, completely uncooked egg was sitting there.

It wasn’t even soft-boiled... at this point, it was practically a poached egg.

’Is this even physically possible?’

Steamed egg on top, and just raw egg—not even poached—on the bottom.

I was left speechless by cooking skills that flat-out violated the laws of physics.

If it were only the steamed eggs, that would be one thing, but the next dish was even more of a spectacle.

"...This is rice, right?"

"Yes!"

"One side is firm, and the other side seems completely undercooked? Did you fry it?"

Rice that wasn’t fully fried, but seemed half-fried, and...

"Is this... stew?"

"Yes!"

"Did you by any chance put the tofu in at the very end?"

"Doesn’t that keep the flavors distinctly separate?"

...to a stew where the flavors tasted completely disjointed because the tofu had been thrown in at the very last second.

When I stared at it with a look that asked how a human was supposed to eat this, Elia’s response was spectacular.

"I thought it was delicious, though?"

"...Really?"

"Yes. Isn’t it really delicious?"

Come to think of it, this human—no, elf—was from the slums.

Coming from such a place, she would have eaten anything with relish.

I wanted to force myself to eat it out of courtesy, but the texture itself was such a total mess that I couldn’t do it.

"Heukgu."

"Fuck off."

"I didn’t even say anything yet."

"Don’t treat me like a mutt. You were going to give that to me as dog food, weren’t you? Give it to Wonmo instead."

Quick-witted little bastard.

At any rate, we finished our eventful return dinner, and...

"I’m going to head to the library for a bit."

[Why are you going to the library?]

"There’s a book I want to look up."

For the first time in a while, I borrowed the book I wanted from the library.