I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 849

The residents of Large Field were naturally curious and constantly causing trouble, but you couldn’t really hate them for it.

Whenever they messed up, they offered sincere apologies, and that same curiosity meant an incredible passion for research.

Besides, having such a strong thirst for inquiry meant they put serious effort into acquiring knowledge, which made them remarkably well-informed about all sorts of things.

"Grylls-nim. Excuse us, but would you mind if we reinforced this house?"

"Huh? Why? Is something wrong with it?"

"According to what we read in the books, it’s structurally unsound."

"Well... do whatever you want."

The house ended up being where I gained the most.

I’d only built it with scraps of knowledge picked up from the Gallery, so the place wasn’t exactly great.

It really was just a roof over my head—a shelter meant to check off the bare minimum of basic survival.

But the residents remodeled our place using what they’d learned back in Large Field, and the results were thoroughly satisfying.

"Whoa. This is our house?"

"It’s so cozy!"

My companions and I couldn’t stop marveling at the newly renovated home.

Before, it looked practically like a shantytown shack, but now it felt like a real home.

"Master! There’s a living room too!"

"Is this my room?"

Even the entire layout had changed.

We used to live in one giant studio without so much as a proper living room (though Elia had built her own separate room), but now there were multiple rooms.

They hadn’t built a separate kitchen since it would take up too much space, but they designed a corner where we could at least brew some tea.

Best of all, they’d installed ondol heating throughout, making it perfect for surviving the brutal winter.

"My room is way bigger than the others. Is it so I can stay with the kids?"

"There is a separate room for the children."

"Then why is it so big? Wait, before that..."

I could understand my room being bigger than the rest.

I was the leader and head of our group, after all.

I wasn’t the type to care about authority, but I’d heard that subtle things like this mattered.

"Why is the bed so damn huge?"

But the fact that the bed the Large Field residents crafted was ridiculously oversized remained a mystery.

If it were just reasonably large, sure, but that thing was big enough for two people to roll around in.

At first, I thought they made it so the kids could bounce around and play on it.

"Isn’t it common sense that the master and the Mistress of the House share a room?"

"Do human couples not sleep together?"

"..."

As everyone knew, Dolsoe called Elia the Mistress of the House.

Lackey also jokingly called her a female, but sometimes called her Mistress of the House too.

Hearing that, they must have assumed Elia was my partner.

"Uh... it’s a bit complicated to explain, but Elia and I aren’t like that. We’re not married."

"Aha. You’re having a fight right now."

"Even if you had a spat, sleeping in separate rooms is no good. I once fought with my wife too, and..."

"..."

Somehow, I ended up getting a lecture.

Barely suppressing the dizziness washing over me, I managed to wrap up the situation.

Fortunately, the residents seemed satisfied in their own way and left it at "do as you see fit."

"Well! Can’t let all that extra space go to waste. You should share it with me."

"No. Get lost."

"You don’t need to be shy. I completely understand."

"Forget understanding, that’s asking for disaster, so back off."

I shoved Elia away because, in more ways than one, it really felt like things would get out of hand.

Just to be clear, it wasn’t that I disliked her.

We’d been living under the same roof for months now, so growing attached was only natural.

Besides, other than her occasional bouts of madness, Elia lived a pretty normal life.

’And she’s pretty.’

As the saying went:

Marry a pretty woman and you’re happy for three years; marry a wise woman and you’re happy for thirty.

It hadn’t even been a single year, let alone three, so how could worldly temptations not creep in?

On top of that, even the World Tree had implicitly acknowledged Elia, which made it all the more troubling.

"So, I’m sharing this room with Bbareumbo."

"Doesn’t Bbareumbo-ssi sleep hanging from a tree?"

"Whenever he sleeps, he’s sprawled out on the floor."

"Tch."

Better to ignore Elia clicking her tongue in disappointment.

I had an inkling of how she felt, but I had no choice but to play dumb.

She had a clear home to return to, and if anything happened between us, Elia would be the one in trouble.

Right now, the Senate was pulling massive trolling stunts one after another, so it was blindingly obvious what would happen once she went back.

’She’d probably get assassinated.’

No matter how formidable Elia was, she’d been away from her post for far too long.Read this novel at novelрing.com for the best experience.

Even if many supporters (read: cult followers) remained, enthusiasm was bound to fade over time.

For the sake of Elia’s safety, it might actually be better to establish a ’done deal’ between us... but that felt far too calculating.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Just thinking you should act your looks."

"Hmph. I am pretty gorgeous, aren’t I?"

"Good grief."

She’d be prettier than anyone if only she kept her mouth shut, but that mouth of hers was always the problem.

Anyway, with the house sorted out thanks to the remodeling, we moved on to the next task.

A bitter winter would be arriving soon, so we had to prepare hard.

"Did Large Field have winter too?"

"Nope."

"Huh? None? That makes no sense."

"The weather was always warm."

That couldn’t be right.

This was the Korean Peninsula, notorious for its hellish four seasons.

A place where summers were blisteringly hot and winters brutally cold.

Having no winter there made little sense, but I brushed it off.

’Either the Dragon Race’s bodies don’t feel the cold much, or the World Tree regulated the temperature on its own.’

Either way, both explanations made sense.

But that didn’t mean we could skip winter preparations.

Even if the cold wasn’t severe, there was still the issue of food.

Especially with the Dragon Race’s massive appetites, neglecting early preparations would lead to plenty of trouble.

"Master. Will they be staying in the goblin village then?"

"Probably. We barely have room to house them here."

If it were up to me, I’d cut down some trees to expand the grounds.

But living in those trees were the raccoon family and our new neighbor, an eagle owl.

We couldn’t recklessly clear more land, so relocating them to the goblin village was the best option.

Conveniently, the residents of Large Field were already slowly redeveloping the goblin village, so sending them ahead made sense.

"Pyuuu!"

Splaaash!

Before that, I needed to hurry and return Gureumi to his parents.

As Gureumi sprayed a stream of water the moment I scooped him into my arms, an enlightened smile spread across my face.

I knew shooting water was his way of showing affection, but I wished he’d tone it down a bit.

Well, he was a newborn calf, so it was understandable enough.

"Gureumi. You can’t spray water at Daddy. Daddy’s face will get all wrinkled."

"Wonmo...!"

Watching Wonmo scold Gureumi was deeply moving.

"If it gets wrinkled, it doesn’t taste good."

"..."

Strike that.

How could that appetite of his never improve no matter how much time passed?

Anyway, as winter approached, the house began to empty out a little.

Cheongseoli had gone off with Nidhogg.

Tyranno was also away for tutoring sessions with Vanir, freeing up plenty of space.

"Hup."

I threw myself onto the bed, savoring the comfort.

Bbareumbo was lying there, and bounced slightly when I flopped down.

Smack!

Maybe he was sleeping, because he scowled and slapped my butt.

We’d ended up as roommates, but we lived with mutual respect.

’Wonder if there’s anything fun on the Gallery.’

I opened the Gallery to look around.

Since GalWiki unlocked recently, all sorts of absurd troll posts had flooded in, and reading them was quite entertaining.

Especially articles about me and the people around me—I couldn’t help cracking up every time I saw them.

[Bbareumbo]

[Rough picture of Bbareumbo]

[Name: Bbareumbo Grylls Master-nim]

It was pretty much like that.

While they drew dry laughs every time, the truly important things lay elsewhere.

Namely, the entries regarding the gods—records that previously required scouring the surrounding lands to uncover.

’Aris really does have a sharp gaze.’

She looked like a finely honed blade given human form.

Beyond that, digging through entries on other gods was fun in its own right.

’Roughly speaking, the main gods are Aris, Aragon, Lucas, Alund, Alpha, Sera, El’ar, and... wow, there’s quite a few.’

How many of these gods had died by Aris’s hand?

And where on earth was Aris right now?

Even after digging through various records, the mystery remained unsolved.Read the latest chapters at NovelPing.

’Well, take it slow and it’ll turn up eventually.’

Thinking that, I stepped outside for a moment.

Tomorrow, harsh winter would arrive, piling the snow deep.

Guests would also be visiting the bathhouse, so getting things ready ahead of time was wise.

’Rudolph will definitely come, and I wonder what kind of present he’ll bring.’

Not just Rudolph, but I was curious about the gifts other guests would bring too.

Every single one of them brought rare fruit or medicinal herbs, which made it well worth the trouble.

So after getting everything thoroughly prepared, I went back to bed and called it a night.

The next day dawned.

Rumble!

"...Why is the weather so weird today?"

"Did thunder always roll in like this?"

"This is the first time I’ve heard thunder."

The heavy snow was normal, so set that aside.

For some reason, the sky wasn’t just choked with dark storm clouds; thunder cracked across it every so often.

The one saving grace making this forest bearable was its distinct four seasons, but now things were acting strange again.

’There was that area where lightning rained down like a downpour, but...’

Maybe as the Forest of the Four Seasons opened up, this area was gradually changing too.

Still, it was best to make thorough preparations for the guests.

I took proper care of the bathhouse and heated up the guest rooms nice and warm.

Ruuumble!

"Oh, shit."

Today wasn’t the day.

That damn thunder just kept getting worse.

Every time it flashed, I flinched; it felt like a warning that business was off for the day.

"Strange. The weather shouldn’t be cloudy like this."

"What did you expect from the Forest of the Four Seasons?"

"Setting that aside, Master. No guests are coming."

The most troublesome part was that zero guests showed up.

I couldn’t tell if it was because of this godawful weather or some other reason.

’Ah, forget it. Today’s a bust.’

With no guests showing up at all, we ended up empty-handed.

So just as I was about to slack off at home and browse the Gallery—

Kzzzzzt!

A clap of thunder tore through the air, deafeningly loud.

The ground even shuddered beneath us.

Rumble! Kra-boom!

A single strike would be one thing, but bursting one after another set me on edge.

’This is bad. Should I put up a lightning rod right now?’

Just as I rushed outside to reinforce the house—

-Hey. Proprietor.

"Huh?"

-Heard rumors this place was quite something.

A man’s raspy voice echoed not in my ears, but inside my head.

I’d experienced something like this before.

Every time I spoke with Vanir, the Mythological Era dragon, it felt like this.

KRA-BOOM!

At that exact moment, terrifying thunder boomed, shaking the entire area.

For mere thunder to carry such force made no sense.

Not unless someone was artificially amplifying its power.

"..."

As if to prove it, a man strode boldly onto our grounds.

A towering figure well over two meters tall, with distinctly reptilian scales covering parts of his body.

And finally.

-I brought a gift too. Can I use the facilities?

A massive restraint collar locked around his neck.

Thunder raged ceaselessly behind him as I faced the man.

He was draped in a heavy robe, making his face hard to discern, but the scales on his skin were unmistakable.

"...Who are you?"

At my question, the uninvited guest slowly lifted his head to meet my gaze.

Then, vertical slit pupils glinted beneath the robe as he answered.

-Talking down to a guest?

"..."

A problem customer?

-Heard you treat your guests well around here, but this is disappointing.

Definitely a problem customer.