Got a Gallery in the Wild

The two gorillas that had sneaked back into Grills’ house.

One of them was brought down by Grills’ arrow, but the other escaped desperately.

It rushed through the dense undergrowth and thick trees, climbing onto branches and leaping from one to another.

An incredibly agile speed for such a large gorilla.

That could only mean one thing.

The situation was urgent.

“Uuu! Uuu!”

It didn’t take long for the fleeing gorilla to reach the rest of the troop.

The gorillas were currently celebrating an unexpected fasting-pill feast.

But when they saw their companion approaching with such a desperate expression, they had no choice but to stop the party.

“Uu?”

“Uuu! Uuuuu!”

Sensing that something was wrong, the gorilla leader stepped forward.

The fleeing gorilla then explained the entire situation.

After hearing everything, the leader wore a serious expression before issuing an order.

“Uuuuu. Uu!”

“Uuu!”

First, send scouts and observe the situation.

After all, we were the ones who invaded his territory.

If the territory’s owner killed one of ours, then we can take revenge.

That seemed to be the message he conveyed, because the other gorillas nodded.

“Uuuhu.”

“Huu…”

The leader handed a fasting pill to his companion to calm him down.

It seemed there would be a fight soon.

That was what he thought.

***

After completely subduing the gorilla, the first thing I did wasn’t kill him but tie him up.

Honestly, I wanted to cut off his head and display it as a warning, but that wasn’t really my style.

More importantly, they were fairly intelligent creatures, so there were many things to consider.

‘If they have a sense of camaraderie, they’ll definitely come back. It’s better to keep him alive for that moment.’

Seeing one of their own dead might only make them even angrier.

If it were just one, it wouldn’t matter, but if several attacked me at once, the fight would be complicated.

Even with the sloth and Wonmo, I still didn’t know how strong the gorilla troop really was.

What I needed was information.

And the best way to get it was to use the captured gorilla as a hostage.

‘Let’s see, arms behind his back, legs too. Since he’s incredibly strong, I’ll have to tie him tightly.’

Gorillas possess monstrous physical strength among all primates.

And this place was the Forest of Four Seasons.

A place where seemingly normal animals turned out to be far more terrifying.

So I tied the unconscious gorilla up with ropes as securely as possible.

Enough that he could never break free through brute force alone.

And what did I do about the arrows stuck in his body?

Nothing special.

Since they had penetrated cleanly, I simply snapped off the parts sticking out.

Elixir?

I wasn’t about to waste elixir on damned thieves.

I just bought the cheapest potion available from the auction and roughly bandaged him up.

Title) I captured the thief alive.

WildGrills

(Photo of a gorilla completely tied up with ropes)

An anonymous user said it.

The criminal always returns to the scene of the crime.

These bastards weren’t satisfied with the fasting pills and even tried to steal my fish.

There were two of them. I brought one down with the crossbow, and the other escaped.

For now, I plan to use this bastard as a hostage to gather information.

└HeavenlyDemon: You tied him up quite well. Since ancient times, those who stole food were punished with whippings.

└WildGrills: To me, food equals life, so I’m thinking of giving him an even harsher punishment.

└HeavenlyDemon: Cutting off his wrists so he can never steal again wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

└WildGrills: Ugh… I think I’ll stick with the whippings.

└Swordmaster: Just cut off his wrists. As far as I know, repeat offenders in my country get that treatment too.

└WildGrills: ;;;

Looking at it that way, it was a brutality very fitting for the era.

It seemed savage, yet strangely reasonable at the same time.

└AllFather: You’ve completely immobilized him. Looking closely, he’s definitely a gorilla.

└WildGrills: Right? I thought they were herbivores, but they even tried to steal fish.

└AllFather: It seems their eating habits have changed. Be careful. Others of his kind will undoubtedly come.

└WildGrills: I’m already taking that into consideration. I’m waiting for them.

└SuspiciouslySpecific: But… is that a male or a female?

└Why are you even asking that?

└SuspiciouslySpecific: I heard gorillas live in matriarchal societies.

└Aren’t you confusing gorillas with orangutans?

└I also heard male orangutans live alone.

└How can a furry not know that? Haha

└SuspiciouslySpecific: I CAN NOT KNOW, DAMMIT!

The gallery always ended up filling with weirdos.

I smiled faintly and didn’t even bother responding.

It was better to let them play among themselves.

If they crossed the line, the moderators would handle it.

There was no need for me to intervene.

‘Speaking of which, when is this guy going to wake up?’

I stared at the gorilla who was still unconscious.

The same one who had foamed at the mouth and fainted the moment he saw the sloth.

That made me curious about the sloth’s past, but it wasn’t important right now.

What mattered was information.

For now, it was best to leave him alone.

‘I wish I could talk to animals.’

The ability to communicate with animals.

What people commonly call a druid.

Since this was a fantasy world, I had looked into whether such a thing existed, but it didn’t seem to.

There were people who claimed to understand animals, but most of them were frauds.

‘If even humans have different languages, it must be much worse with animals.’

Thinking nonsense, I carefully observed the gorilla.

A gorilla much larger than me.

Other than that, he looked completely normal.

I couldn’t find anything particularly special about him.

“Sniff sniff.”

“Wonmo. Don’t eat him.”

“Kyuu?”

I had to stop Wonmo in case he tried to eat the unconscious gorilla.

All I had to do now was wait for his companions to arrive.

And if they didn’t come, then there would be no alternative.

I’d have to kill him.

Getting rid of the body wouldn’t be difficult either.

I could simply bury him or throw him into the river.

‘Just in case, should I dig the hole now?’

Just as I thought that and slowly picked up the shovel.

“Uugh…”

The unconscious gorilla slowly began to regain consciousness.

Seeing him wake up, I slowly lowered the shovel.

“Hey. You’re awake?”

“Uuugh…?”

Still dazed, the gorilla looked at me with a confused expression.

It seemed he still didn’t recognize my face.

“U… uuu? UUU?!”

Then suddenly, the gorilla began violently twisting his body.

From the bewildered expression on his face, it seemed he had finally realized that he was completely tied up.

Good thing I used several ropes.

Otherwise, he probably would have broken free already.

“Auuu…”

That didn’t change the fact that he was still pierced by arrow wounds.

The struggling gorilla quickly calmed down, unable to endure the pain.

And now that he had settled down, it was time to “talk.”

“Hey. Look at me.”

“……”

At my words, the gorilla slowly raised his head.

A moment ago his face had been twisted in pain, but now it had returned to a rigid and stern expression.

An expression that clearly said he had no intention of answering no matter what I did.

He really did seem like a person.

‘Though I don’t understand what you’re saying either.’

The reason I called out to him wasn’t anything special.

I just wanted to check his reaction.

I had planned to decide how to deal with him depending on how he responded, but he seemed to be a pretty stubborn type.

‘Then how will he react if he sees the sloth?’

I walked over to where the sloth stood silently staring at the forest.

Even as I picked him up, he showed no resistance.

Then I lowered him in front of the gorilla’s face so he could see him clearly.

“Do you know hi—”

“Uwkiyaaak!!”

The moment he saw the sloth, the gorilla nearly had what looked like a panic attack.

Despite being completely restrained by ropes, the intensity of his reaction was brutal.

That meant he was genuinely terrified.

I looked at the gorilla causing a scene and then slowly turned toward the sloth.

The sloth watched the out-of-control gorilla before slowly raising a hand.

I thought he was about to kill him and tried to stop him, but—

Smack!

The sloth delivered an unbelievably powerful slap.

And the gorilla calmed down instantly.

Complete with a depressed expression.

No.

More than depressed, he looked as though he had completely lost the will to live.

‘What the hell was this guy doing around the forest?’

I knew the sloth’s abilities.

Speed impossible to follow even with the eyes and razor-sharp claws.

I didn’t know whether he was famous among gorillas or if this individual was a special case.

But well, he had managed to calm him down, and that was enough.

I reached into my backpack and took out a fasting pill.

I had brought it as an emergency ration and also as a gesture of goodwill.

I intended to show it to him.

“Hey. Look at this.”

“……?”

“You know what this is.”

The moment I showed the fasting pill, the gorilla’s eyes trembled violently.

He clearly knew what it was.

And that was practically an admission that they were the culprits.

There was no need to see any more.

I let out a snort and began expressing myself slowly.

“Fasting pill.”

First, the fasting pill.

“Sloth.”

Then I pointed at the sloth.

“His main food. Okay?”

Finally, I made an eating gesture, and the gorilla’s face turned pale.

Someone might ask how I could tell when he had black skin and was covered in fur.

It just felt that way.

Would anyone believe me if I answered that?

Anyway, let’s leave it at that.

‘In the end, I’ll have to wait until this guy’s friends show up.’

I asked the sloth to keep watch over the gorilla.

I didn’t know when the troop would appear, so I decided to inspect my weapons.

First, the crossbow, which had been extremely useful.

I left it loaded so I could fire at any moment.

Rustle— Rustle—

“Kyuu?”

“……”

They say that when you speak of the tiger, it appears.

Though here they weren’t tigers, but gorillas.

With the loaded crossbow in my hand, I slowly turned my head toward the source of the sound.

Rustle!

It seemed they had no intention of hiding, because several gorillas began emerging from the undergrowth.

Not one or two.

Exactly five.

And in the center was one that was especially huge.

Judging by how he led the group and walked at the front, he seemed to be the leader.

But above all, there was an obvious difference in their “equipment.”

‘Just like AllFather said.’

The leader was unarmed, but the other gorillas held various things in their hands.

One of them was even carrying a stone axe.

And I can’t describe how much that surprised me.

The fact that they had made a stone axe meant they understood the concept of “creating.”

They seemed far more intelligent than I had imagined.

I needed to stay alert.

“Uuu! Uugh…!”

The hostage gorilla began shouting violently when he saw his companions arrive.

But as I said before, he was full of arrow wounds.

He had no choice but to twist his face in pain.

The leader glanced at the hostage before fixing his gaze on me.

I also raised my sword and shield, ready to fight at any moment.

“Uuu! Uuu!”

“Uoee! Uoee!”

Then the gorillas beside the leader started becoming agitated.

More than agitated, they seemed horrified by something.

“……”

It was the sloth.

At some point, he had silently moved to my side.

The gorillas began trembling in fear the moment they saw him.

Only the leader managed to remain calm, though his face had become completely rigid.

It seemed the sloth’s reputation among the gorillas was terrifying.

Thanks to that, the “negotiations” would be a little easier.

So I immediately started communicating.

Whoosh—

The first thing I did was show them the fasting pills they had stolen.

It was a way of saying.

“Were you the ones who took these?”

The leader seemed to understand my intention and nodded.

“Uu.”

With a short grunt, the leader gave an order to one of the gorillas.

One of them then brought over a certain object.

The leader took it in his hand and tossed it toward me.

Flop—

But since it was empty, it fell to the ground before reaching me.

It was a sack.

The sack that had contained the fasting pills.

But there wasn’t a single one left inside.

‘They ate them all.’

I suspected it, but I never thought they would finish them so quickly.

All I could do was sigh.

Were these bastards trying to apologize?

Or would they act shamelessly?

Considering the sloth’s bad reputation, an apology seemed more likely, but who knew.

For now, it was best to observe the sloth’s reaction.

“What are you going to do?”

“……”

At my question, the sloth stared at the empty sack before slowly beginning to walk.

The gorilla troop did nothing.

They merely watched tensely.

Then the sloth approached the gorilla who was completely tied up.

For a moment I thought he was going to free him, but—

Slash!

That wasn’t it.

The sloth’s action completely exceeded my expectations.

He cut the gorilla’s throat with his sharp claws.

The same claws that could even slice through iron barrels.

And claws that I myself had been taking care of.

Bones and flesh from ordinary animals were nothing to them.

Splurt!

Without caring that blood was violently spraying from the severed neck, the sloth continued.

He stepped on the gorilla’s head as it rolled across the ground like a ball, pinning it down with his claws.

It looked as though he were spearing something with a fork.

Then he slowly raised his hand and threw the head directly at the other gorillas.

Thunk! Thud! Roll.

The head rolled until it stopped right in front of the leader.

The leader silently looked at the head that had come to rest at his feet.

This went far beyond a provocation.

It was practically a declaration of war.

And at the same time, I once again understood what “food” truly meant in nature.

‘……You damn lunatic.’

He was definitely a full-fledged alpha male.

Though it also seemed like he was creating an unnecessary fight.

But if you thought about the concept of “territory,” it was a completely reasonable response.

Whoosh—

Amid that icy atmosphere, the leader picked up the severed head.

His expression remained solemn, though a restrained fury could be felt beneath it.

Whoosh—

Then the leader tossed the head upward.

That action confused me.

He didn’t throw it at me.

He threw it upward.

What the hell was he trying to do?

Just in case, I stepped forward with my left foot so I could defend myself at any moment.

Fwooooosh—

The head began to fall.

And the leader slowly drew his right arm back.

The instant the head descended to eye level, he thrust his arm forward.

BOOOOM!!!

Accompanied by a brutal roar.

FWIIIIIIIISH!!

The gorilla’s head shot toward me like a projectile.