I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 794

It was something he thought about often, but no matter how much he thought about it, Elia had chosen the wrong career path.

He thought he came up with quite a few brilliant ideas himself, but Elia was on a completely different level.

One could tell just by looking at the animals staying in the guest building right now.

Entering the building to dry their wet fur after taking a bath was normal.

But she had laid out towels on the floor to encourage them to dry their fur quickly, and even personally applied cucumber packs to their faces.

If nothing else, the guests were extremely satisfied with the ’service.’

Experiencing such service in the wild would have been impossible.

"Most of our guests have fur, so grooming is extremely important!"

"And?"

"Wouldn’t they all be satisfied just with a good brushing?"

Look at this. Ideas that he wouldn’t dare to even imagine were popping out one after another.

As soon as he heard the word brushing, he looked at Elia’s hair.

Her abundant, glossy golden hair reached almost down to her calves.

Hair that she hadn’t cut even after entering the Forest of the Four Seasons, and even after staying at his house.

Indeed, one of her daily routines was to cherish and groom her hair.

Since it was so long and thick, he knew that just maintaining it took a long time.

’That’s only because she has the leisure now. When she was kidnapped by the Ghost Ship, it was completely matted and fused into a single piece.’

In any case, there was no reason to tell her not to do it, so he gave his permission.

After all, once this winter ended, the guests would have to return to their wild lives.

It was as clear as day what would happen to the fur they had painstakingly brushed.

At least animals with hands or those that groomed themselves would be fine.

"Muooo~"

Soon, a deer lying on the floor was being brushed.

Judging by the cry it let out, indicating it felt very refreshing, it seemed satisfied.

Even its lying posture was quite something; it was literally just sprawled out.

Usually, animals curl their bodies to prepare against threats.

But right now, it was stretching out its two—no, four legs long.

’It means our house is just that safe.’

Other animals were not much different.

Sprawled out with peaceful expressions like the deer, they were fully relieving their stress.

And understandably so, since before winter, they wouldn’t have known when or where they might face a threat.

"Elia. You would have made a fortune doing business instead of politics."

"Oh, please. If I did business, I would have gone bankrupt in no time."

"You would have gone bankrupt?"

"Because I would have spent all my assets buying saplings. And I would have received a mountain of fines because of that."

"...."

"I realized that politicians are the only ones who can do all of this legally."

He couldn’t hide his shock and bewilderment at Elia, who answered with a goofy grin.

Could there really exist someone in this world with such amazingly accurate self-awareness?

Even the ’legality’ Elia mentioned was a bit ambiguous to be called purely legal.

Since she was the Queen, if she defined it as legal, it simply became legal.

"Female. I want to try brushing too."

"Buy a suitable brush from the Gallery. Lackey-ssi, you don’t have fur on your body anymore, so you’ll only need to manage your head."

"I know that. But I don’t know how I should style it."

"What kind of style do you want?"

"Just shave it all off with clippers. What kind of style are you fussing over here?"

"If Master takes the lead, I will do it too."

No way. My hair is precious to me too.

My days as a bald head were more than enough when I was a soldier.

’When I was in the military, I always kept my hair cut short.’

Unlike my seniors and juniors who struggled desperately to grow it out somehow, I cut it once or twice a month without fail.

It was annoying to get on the bad side of superiors for no reason, and having it awkwardly grown out looked even weirder.

’That’s why the barber soldier liked me so much.’

He said his vacation days accumulated faster thanks to me, or something like that.

Anyway, putting that aside, he quietly watched Elia styling Lackey’s hair.

Apparently, Lackey had a specific style he had decided on beforehand.

"Hmm... Lackey-ssi? To be honest, this is my first time doing this, so I think it might be difficult."

"It is fine. If it fails, I can just grow it out again."

"Alright. Don’t regret it, though."

Just what kind of style had he shown her that even Elia showed such a troubled reaction?

He sat quietly behind them, watching Lackey’s hairstyle change in real-time.

"Nyaoong~"

"Where did you come from?"Read this novel at novelрing.com for the best experience.

While he was at it, he scratched the chin of the calico cat that had visited his house.

While he was at it, he gave it some butt pats, and it loved it, raising its tail straight up.

So, what did this cat bring? It brought nothing.

Well, it was a very cat-like way of living, and it was cute, so he just left it alone.

Saga-saki, saga-saki—

Lackey’s hair slowly began to grow shorter.

Since he hadn’t touched his hairstyle at all after evolving into Sun Wukong, it had grown quite long.

As a bit of time passed, it gradually transformed into the style Lackey wanted.

"How is it? It looks okay, right?"

"It is not bad."

He should have realized what he wanted sooner.

The hairstyle of Lackey revealed after not just simple trimming, but even using wind magic.

[Aris, oh my goodness.]

"...."

[What am I looking at right now?]

The ancient hero is looking at a pompadour hairstyle.

And a very cleanly rolled pompadour, at that, the kind you would see in a manga.

"How is it, Master? Isn’t it quite cool?"

Lackey shrugged, showing off his hairstyle.

A combination of Sun Wukong and a pompadour. It felt like kimchi-mala-sweet-and-sour-pork had become a reality.

Well, since he said he liked it, he just let it go.

’That kind of hairstyle usually collapses easily after washing a few times anyway.’

He turned his head to look at Dolsoe. Dolsoe’s hair had also grown quite long.

However, he had an indifferent expression; it was only natural since he had a deeper interest in martial arts rather than grooming in the first place.

"Elia. Can we talk for a moment?"

"Yes. What is it?"

There was something more important than that. The World Tree discovered in Lucas’s Brewery.

Although he had received an answer from Lucas that it was a replica and not a real World Tree, he couldn’t help but feel anxious.

Especially since Elves were a race that went crazy for World Trees, it was best to consult with Elia.

"Hmm... So there is a World Tree in Lucas-nim’s Brewery, and we can think of it as acting as a battery?"

"Right."

"And the Hero is planning to reveal this fact soon, and you’re curious about how the situation will unfold in the future."

"Exactly."

As he gave a rough explanation, Elia organized it step-by-step.

Soon, she adopted the attitude of a serious Elf Queen, rather than her usual screw-loose tree-lover persona.

They say a focused person is always beautiful, and indeed, as long as she kept her mouth shut, she was beauty itself.

’No, wait. For this person, it’s not just her words, but her actions that are also a problem.’

In any case, he quietly waited for her judgment.

Perhaps sensing that it was indeed a complicated situation, she took a bit of time to ponder.

"Aeong~"

In the meantime, he should just scratch the calico cat’s chin.

For reference, this cat was scheduled to return once winter ended.

Because cats as a species were highly independent and supposedly had their own territories, or something like that.

"Sss... Well, there’s good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

"The bad news first."

"A major war might break out. And not just an ordinary war, but one where they might fight for a whole hundred years."

"...."

The words "Hundred Years’ War" came out of the Elf Queen’s mouth.

He flinched upon hearing those words, but after a brief moment, he asked quietly.

"The reason?"

"Because it’s a World Tree. And the Dwarves will absolutely never give up on the brewery either."

"Even though the World Tree is a replica and not the real thing?"

"That doesn’t count as a flaw. Because it is closely linked to the Elves’ identity, and furthermore, to our racial sentiment."

"Hmm."

Racial sentiment. Hearing those words, he nodded as if he roughly understood.

It was probably fine as long as they didn’t touch the fact that the origin of kimchi is the Republic of Korea.

Conversely, the moment they touched its origin, it would trigger a real UFC fight instead of a scripted WWE match.

"At least it’s a blessing in disguise that it’s not the real World Tree. If it were the real World Tree, the entire Elf race would have swarmed in."

"It sounds like they can find a compromise if they yield just a little bit?"

"Exactly."

"But since there’s no way the Dwarves will give up on the brewery, a major war will break out. Is that what you mean?"Read the latest chapters at novelping dot com.

"Yes."

It seemed like it would be worse than religions beating each other to a pulp in wars over Jerusalem.

Furthermore, this was a matter where religion, nation, racial sentiment, and all sorts of other issues were mixed together.

Without proper traffic control, a smooth agreement was impossible, and even if they did manage it, the emotional rift would only deepen.

Alvenheim and Mountain already had an extremely poor relationship, so this would only entangle things even more.

"Let’s skip the bad news. What’s the good news?"

"As I said earlier, turning a misfortune into a blessing, the two nations could reach an agreement and clearly divide the responsibilities. Alvenheim takes charge of the World Tree, while Mountain manages the brewery’s operations. The problem is that Alvenheim is already yielding a lot even now."

There was a fact that everyone was forgetting: Lucas’s Brewery was strictly located within the territory of Alvenheim.

With only the entrance barely hanging over into Mountain, Alvenheim was holding back a great deal.

It was only better because their internal politics were highly chaotic and Asella was mediating.

"It doesn’t seem like an agreement is possible, though?"

"Then war is the only answer."

"What would you have done if it were you?"

"I would have tried my best to stop it, but then, unable to overcome public opinion, I would have gone to war."

"...."

It was to the point where even Elia said war was the only answer.

As the saying goes that half of human history is the history of war, it wasn’t something that could be stopped just by trying to force it.

Even in the relatively peaceful 21st century, large and small wars constantly occurred, and ultimately, didn’t another world war break out?

"There isn’t absolutely no way. If Grylls-nim personally mediates, it will be a different story."

"Me?"

"Yes. But you would have to show yourself in person, not through the Gallery, for it to be effective. I don’t think the Senate would listen otherwise."

"Even though I personally active during the Heavenly God Martial Festival, they won’t believe it?"

"Because there is a vast difference between words and actions."

Let’s say some major incident occurred in the Republic of Korea.

The difference between the President reprimanding it on social media versus personally going to the scene to reprimand it is extremely vast.

The former just makes people think, ’Oh, he’s watching,’ but the latter is closer to ’We are screwed.’

The problem was that for him to go outside, he had to bloom the Rose of Sharon.

He had figured out the method to make the Rose of Sharon bloom through the last Heavenly God Martial Festival.

However, the number of remaining Roses of Sharon was the problem; there weren’t many left now.

Therefore, he might not be able to step outside when it was truly crucial.

"Hmm... For now, I should let Asella handle it well. I can’t help her forever."

"Indeed, if parents keep interfering in their child’s affairs, the child will never grow up."

Elia spoke with deep meaning.

Though he wanted to constantly interfere, even he himself was wondering, ’Is this right?’ right now.

For now, he decided to just watch. It would be best to interfere only in truly serious cases.

Thus, today also passed without any major incidents.

"Lackey."

"Speak, Master."

"Did you wash above your neck when you bathed today?"

"I did not wash above my neck because I was worried my hairstyle would get ruined."

"You little bastard. If you don’t wash, don’t even think about sleeping in the house today."

He immediately stopped Lackey from throwing a tantrum.

If time passed in the Forest of the Four Seasons, time in the outside world naturally flowed along with it.

A thorough investigation of Lucas’s Brewery was conducted, and the existence of the World Tree was naturally revealed.

Under Asella’s request, the Dwarves decided to keep this matter quiet for the time being.

Since she was going to make an announcement soon anyway, and they themselves were too busy utilizing the brewery.

Also, today she was scheduled to have a drink alone with Ash and share various conversations.

"Ash-nim."

"Yes. Go ahead."

"Rumor has it that you have a boyfriend... What kind of person is he?"

Ah, of course.

"He’s handsome and lovely. And extremely reliable."

"I... see."

As the alcohol flowed freely, all sorts of topics came up.

"Hero-nim, is there a man you like?"

"...Yes. There is."

"Really? Can you tell me who it is?"

The person you like.

...Asella muttered to herself.

’...So this is why they say life is a comedy from a distance, but a tragedy up close.’

Asella endured the dark, gloomy feelings welling up inside her.