I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 833

With nearly two hundred refugees(?) taken in, it was only natural that work piled up like a mountain.

From listening to the individual complaints of the Large Field residents to figuring out what they wanted.

Given sudden freedom, the residents were bewildered at first, but gradually began to voice their opinions.

"Excuse me, Outsider..."

"You can just call me Grylls."

"Grylls-nim, how can we enter the civilization you spoke of?"

By far, the trickiest question was how to escape the Forest of the Four Seasons.

Even for me, escaping this forest required a whole mess of conditions to align.

Ludwig receiving help from Santa was practically a miracle; the odds of actually escaping—not just surviving—were slim to none.

"To be honest with you... it’ll be really difficult."

"I figured as much."

Fortunately, even with my blunt answer, the Large Field residents weren’t disappointed.

Their reaction was calm, closer to not caring all that much.

"My family and friends are right here, so do we really need to leave?"

"Daily life might be a bit uncomfortable, but we can get used to it bit by bit."

"Won’t time fly just reading books here?"

The taboos they had been forced to endure under the rule of the Elders.

With those taboos gone, the things they could do as they pleased had multiplied.

Just reading the heaps of books would take up plenty of time.

So I figured I just needed to wait quietly and keep the Large Field residents safe.

"Uh, whoa? Where are you going?"

"The fog cleared, so we thought we’d go check that place out."

"It’s dangerous."

"Isn’t it safe now?"

Only then did I realize my judgment was wrong, and that I hadn’t fully grasped the nature of the dragon-kin.

The taboos set by the Elders, and the peculiar nature of the fog.

The Manatology monsters crawling within that fog.

"The World Tree hasn’t absorbed all the fog yet, and there’s no telling where monsters might pop out."

"Then we’ll just go where the fog cleared. The monsters were only dangerous because the fog trapped us. Running away won’t be that hard."

"Do you even know the city’s layout?"

"Nope?"

With those threats lifted all at once, their curiosity and sense of liberation flared together.

The cityscape revealed as the fog parted piqued their curiosity, but most of all, they were thrilled that they could roam wherever they wanted.

"Which means, Miren, you’re going to have to work a little."

"I don’t know the cleared areas that well either, though?"

"You’ve wandered around the most out of anyone."

Shouldn’t responsible adults step in and stop them?

Even those responsible adults were throwing fits to go outside, so it was a massive headache.

Of course, adults aren’t children and can take responsibility for themselves, but not right now.

"All right, everyone. Listen up. It’s fine to go outside, but make sure you take holy water before you leave."

"What’s this?"

"If monsters show up, splashing this on them will be very effective."

Even full-grown adults yearned for the outside world no less than children.

And why wouldn’t they? They’d spent their entire lives inside Large Field.

With over two hundred people, managing each and every one of them was impossible, so I had to compromise.

[Wild Grylls: I’m really sorry. I fall short, so I keep taking help from you.]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: Not at all! Instead, please teach the refugees proper common sense!]

[Wild Grylls: You mean teaching them that Aris is a benevolent god?]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: Yes!]

If it’s just that, I could easily accept.

In fact, keeping in mind the possibility of them leaving for the outside, straightening out their common sense was essential.

The only problem was that Aragon’s treatment might get awkward, which made it a tricky issue.

[Wild Grylls: The outside world still doesn’t treat Aragon as an evil god, right?]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: Right! Academia has talked about it, but he hasn’t caused any direct harm to humanity yet!]

Because outside, Aragon was still worshipped as the God of Magic.

The bloody war between the gods was their own business; to humanity, it was a distant tale.

The outside being thrown into turmoil over what happened in the Forest of the Four Seasons?

’That’s all because of me.’

The blame would fall on me, hardly ever on Aragon.

Most people out there were half excited, half worried about what might happen next.

’In the end, I’ll just have to explain it well.’

Like this, food wasn’t the only problem piling up like a mountain.

I’d picked a few leaders to help manage things, but even that wasn’t enough.

"Grylls-nim, I have a question."

"Yes, go ahead."

"According to your explanation, Grylls-nim, does that mean Aris is a good god and Aragon is a bad god?"

This was after starting lessons to fix their warped common sense, per Asella’s request.

The question I had anticipated came up, which could have been awkward, but luckily I had an answer prepared.

"Not quite. By the standards of outside civilization, both gods are recorded as having helped humanity greatly."

"So neither of them is good or bad?"

"From your perspective, they’re both closer to bad. After all, they locked your ancestors in the Forest of the Four Seasons."This story is hosted at novelping(.)com.

It was something I had mentioned before:

if an unparalleled, benevolent ruler rises in one nation, to their neighboring country, there’s no bigger bastard.

The clearest example of this was the Messiah Empire.

Former Emperor Robert hadn’t just thoroughly unified internal affairs; he’d even scouted Sword Master Ash.

To the Iris Kingdom, the mortal enemy of the Messiah Empire, the two of them were beyond obstacles—they were an impassable wall.

"Of course, rather than hating them blindly, I recommend talking to them first. One thing I must ask of you is never to let yourselves be consumed by emotion."

"Not get consumed?"

"Because then you won’t be able to judge whether what you’ve done is right or wrong."

Just look at the twin sibling gods.

Each had their own grand cause, but in the end, only ruin remained.

If I were the Chief God, that horrific fratricide would have torn my heart to shreds and made me weep tears of blood.

"Above all, what matters most is that there’s a lot I don’t know, and plenty of things I understand differently."

"Then what do you think of the twin sibling gods, Grylls-nim?"

Clueless grown-up kids.

I wanted to answer just like that.

However, with so many eyes on me, and risking feeding them the wrong idea, I spoke roundabout.

"They’re just people with greater power and knowledge than others. Outside civilization thinks of them in much the same way."

"So that means even if we go outside, it’s fine for us to curse out the twin sibling gods, right?"

"..."

What the hell did this guy think I’ve been saying all this time?

For a second, the words stuck in my throat, but I pressed on with my explanation.

If he were picking a fight, I would’ve looked at him like he was pathetic, but he asked because he genuinely didn’t know.

Only after desperately delivering what amounted to a sermon did I barely manage to stamp out that wicked thought.

"...Therefore, start by cultivating love for your neighbors."

"Even if my neighbor is someone like the Elders?"

"They aren’t people, they’re monsters pretending to be people..."

I wondered if I was being too philosophical.

So I explained it more simply.

"Cultivate the ability to think through learning."

"So that means we can roam outside however we want, right?"

"Could you please explain how on earth you arrived at that conclusion?"

"Because to gain greater learning, one’s horizons need to broaden?"

?Heavenly Demon) A wise answer.

?Sword Matstar) Isn’t that technically true?

?Don’t Abandon the Hero) Grylls-nim! Hang in there! Proselytizing is always the hardest part!

?Smart Demon) Isn’t that just teaching, not proselytizing?

?Don’t Abandon the Hero) It’s proselytizing!

Sounds to me like an excuse to satisfy their adventurous streak.

I barely swallowed a sigh and continued with this pseudo-education.

Putting aside the philosophy lectures, I moved to what they were most curious about: outside civilization.

"Is there really no way to go outside?"

As mentioned before, plenty of residents wanted to make contact with outside civilization.

Not just Miren, but other residents were the same.

"It’s not completely impossible, but... you might need to embrace faith."

"Faith? You mean we have to worship Aris or Aragon?"

That would be the best method, but to them, it might feel a bit repulsive.

Worshipping gods known as their enemies just to satisfy their own desires...

"If it lets us outside, that doesn’t sound bad."

"How hard can a little faith be?"

"Do we just pray every day starting today?"

...It’s completely pointless.

Everything I preached up until now feels utterly futile.

’Why does every single race around here have a loose screw?’

Regardless, I told them about Christmas and Santa Claus.

When I said it was a miracle I had personally experienced, they all listened with keen interest.

’Should I drop a hint to Rudolph later?’

The deer who’d change jobs(?) into Santa Claus’s Rudolph in a few months.

It still visited my house faithfully every winter, and I wondered if bribing it might make it work somehow.

?Don’t Abandon the Hero) Our Holy Kingdom always welcomes the residents!

?Heavenly Demon) The Divine Cult is ever a sanctuary for the forsaken.

?Sword Matstar) You say that like it’s a matter of course?

?Starlight Lady) The Holy Kingdom is one thing, but wouldn’t the Demonic Cult be a bit tough?

?Smart Demon) If language is the issue, plenty of our people can speak the language of the Holy Kingdom.

The mood was already set to welcome the residents.

Of course, since it required Santa Claus to bestow a miracle, it was all wishful thinking.

[To be frank, I believe he would grant it if you pressed him.]

"Press him with what?"

[Could you not simply call it an order from the Chief God? You even have the justification of sending the refugees to a better place, do you not?]

Cain casually suggested it, but I felt a twinge of reluctance.Visit n⁠ovelping.com for the full chapter.

Just as he said, the cause itself was noble, but I couldn’t help feeling a bit guilty.

"...Let’s think about this slowly. There’s still plenty of time left."

[I trust you will not abandon their hope.]

?Passing Dwarf) Hasn’t faith already been betrayed since the Chief God isn’t a woman?

?Don’t Abandon the Hero) That’s completely different! What on earth is different about it, Asella?

Seriously, just wait until I see you again this Christmas.

Whoooosh!

Quite a bit of time passed after that.

Most of the fog blanketing the entire city was reabsorbed into the World Tree, widening our range of activity accordingly.

The pillar of light erupting from the World Tree had subsided before we knew it, and soon it would be time to leave Large Field.

"Master. I came in person."

"Screee!"

As the fog cleared, the companions waiting outside were naturally able to enter Large Field.

They had been waiting for nearly half a month; normally, with no real means of contact, they would have been sick with worry.

"What about Bbareumbo and Tyranno? Are they all at home?"

"Left them behind as points of contact."

However, back home was a different story.

Because at home, you could connect to Wi-Fi—no, to the Gallery.

And since I rarely turned off the live stream, confirming I was alive was hardly difficult.

’Good thing Bbareumbo reads messages on time.’

At any rate, introducing the newly joined members didn’t take long.

I’d mentioned them before, and there was something more important.

"Can we really see our ancestor?"

Miren asked, his voice filled with anticipation.

The Large Field residents had just about finished preparing to move to my house.

Along the way, I told them about Tyranno, the hatchling waiting eagerly back home.

"Calling him an ancestor is a bit ambiguous, isn’t it? He only hatched recently."

"Then he’s the child of our ancestor."

"I... suppose so?"

It really was awkward.

Vanir was indisputably an ancestor, but Tyranno? Well...

With the family tree tangled beyond belief, sorting out the titles was a mess from the start.

"You don’t need to worry about that. Tangled family trees are everyday life for long-lived species, so they don’t think much of it."

?Praise the Sun) There are cases where someone who could be my grandmother married a human man and had a kid, yeah.

?Sword Matstar) Could you tell that story in more detail?

?Heavenly Demon) If you wish, this lady shall call you grandmother.

?Sword Matstar) You shut up. Hearing Elia’s words, I just let it slide.

The problem wasn’t Tyranno, but Vanir’s reaction.

Descendants she didn’t even know existed were going to swarm her in droves, which would be utterly baffling from her perspective.

Regardless, around ten people, including Miren, moved to my house, and...

"Ooh! What magnificent scales!"

"So this is what a pureblood looks like!"

"What breathtaking eyes!"

I realized that they had their own aesthetic sense that was completely beyond me.

"Peep!"

At those reactions, Tyranno stood up on two feet and puffed out his chest proudly.

Little guy knew he was cute.

Title) Look at this Tyranno pic

Wild Grylls

(Roughly a photo of Tyranno being pampered by the Large Field residents)

Isn’t he super cute?

The best part is how he puffs up knowing he’s cute.

?Heavenly Demon) A different sort of cuteness from Wonmo.

?Sword Matstar) If Wonmo is like a puppy, Tyranno has the charm of a cat.

?Don’t Abandon the Hero) He’s adorable!

?So besides Wonmo, when are we getting Tyranno emotes?

?Fr, Wonmo has them, make some for Tyranno too;;

?Forget one Wonmo a day, I think we need one Tyranno a day too, yeah.

?(Roughly a pic of CharXmander from PokeXmon puffing out its chest) Looks just like this, haha.

?What the hell is that picture?

?Found it digging through ancient memes, yep.

?There were lots of other pictures too. Even a fat yellow rat bastard?

?(Roughly a pic of a pretty-looking PokeXmon) I think this one’s pretty. Hot as hell.

?Dude...;; ?What the f—k. In a world with furries... Well, one thing led to another, and...

"Ooh! It’s our ancestor!"

"Our ancestor is here!"

When Vanir came over to my house, she received a vehement welcome from her descendants, and...

[...It appears a detailed explanation is required.]

It was only natural that she asked me for an explanation.