Got a Gallery in the Wild

The news that the Holy Kingdom, Eldorado, had organized an expedition and sent it into the Four Seasons Forest.

That news spread beyond all of Eldorado and reached the entire world.

Even though the announcement had been sudden, almost no one seemed surprised or confused.

Just as it was natural for thugs to act like thugs, people simply shrugged and said, “The Holy Kingdom being the Holy Kingdom.”

There was also a reason why they had been able to send the expedition so quickly.

The Four Seasons Forest lay along the border of the Holy Kingdom, Eldorado.

The Four Seasons Forest was the size of a small country and bordered several nations.

Eldorado was one of them.

That was why they had been able to carry out so many of their so-called “dirty tricks.”

Ever since Eldorado’s roots had slowly begun to rot, the number of disappearances had increased at an alarming rate.

And once someone entered the Four Seasons Forest, it was a hell from which they could never escape.

Considering that an unusually high number of the missing were important figures, suspicion was inevitable.

Eldorado is only creating more sacrifices. Reveal the truth.

Why are they trying to bury their own sins with the deaths of others?

Those who believe in God will one day be struck by divine punishment.

The timing is too convenient. It looks as though they had already prepared this in advance.

More than anything, the time between preparation and action had been far too short.

The expedition had been deployed so smoothly that it gave the impression they had been waiting for this incident.

“Many people were saying that, although they called it an investigation team, wasn’t it actually a purge carried out in broad daylight?”

“If we hadn’t reacted quickly, we would only have aroused even more suspicion.”

“We have done nothing wrong, which is why we act with our heads held high.”

“How dare they doubt the representative of the Goddess? All of this was done under the Pope’s orders…”

Eldorado’s response to all of this was extremely simple.

They simply pushed forward shamelessly.

By claiming that the Pope himself, one of the Goddess’s representatives, had given the order, the other nations had no choice but to act cautiously.

Who was the Pope?

If the Hero was one of Eldorado’s pillars, then the Pope was another.

With the Hero accused of treason and currently a fugitive, the Pope wielded almost absolute power.

In other words, the Pope’s words were, in fact, the will of Eldorado.

And they had completely abandoned any sense of shame.

No matter how corrupt it had become, Eldorado was still one of the great military powers that had existed since ancient times.

Even without the Hero, its strength remained so overwhelming that no one could criticize it lightly.

Kadir’s statement is not false. Eldorado is desperate to hide the truth.

How exactly is the expedition sent by Eldorado organized? Nothing less than…

Another purge has begun. Blood covered by light begins to spill.

Countless discussions and debates arose, but Eldorado had already sent the expedition.

Not even a week had passed since the truth about the Immortal King had come to light.

That could mean they were truly desperate.

But it was more likely that the whole thing was nothing more than a simple display.

However, Eldorado seemed to be saying quite clearly.

“Even if it’s just an act, if we do nothing, everyone will criticize us. What do you want us to do?”

And the ones sacrificed by such shamelessness were innocent Holy Knights and members of the clergy.

“Damn it.”

“Don’t curse.”

“If you were in my place, do you think you wouldn’t be swearing?”

Inside a carriage heading toward the Four Seasons Forest, a man and a woman were talking.

A middle-aged man with a stern appearance, a square jaw, deep-set eyes, and an immaculate gray beard.

He also had short gray hair and blue eyes.

“Enough talking. Think about what’s waiting for us.”

“Seriously. This is suffocating. Commander! Do you even know where we’re going? The Four Seasons Forest! The Four Seasons Forest!”

The young woman sitting across from him shouted in frustration.

It was a cry full of resentment.

She wore her hair short so she could move comfortably, and her sharp eyes gave her a cynical appearance.

Her husky voice had an almost androgynous tone, although her beauty was impossible to hide.

“I know.”

“Then how can you be so calm?!”

“The order came from above. Don’t forget that we are soldiers as well as Holy Knights.”

“Haah…”

However, the gray-haired man simply crossed his arms and answered calmly.

Faced with that maddeningly calm attitude, the young Holy Knight, Lace, let out a frustrated sigh.

Then, unable to accept it, she voiced her dissatisfaction.

“Commander. Honestly, aren’t they just sending us to die? Just because those at the top ordered it.”

“……”

“Why do we have to carry out a mission like this? Is it because you were the Hero’s master…?”

“Silence.”

At Lace’s protest, the gray-haired Holy Knight, Ludwig, rebuked her in a solemn voice.

It was only a single word, but the pressure it carried was enough to silence her.

Even so, Lace merely stopped speaking.

Her expression did not change.

If anything, her rebellious spirit seemed to grow stronger, and anger slowly filled her face.

“The higher-ups gave the order, and we obey. That’s all.”

“Master.”

“From now on, stop calling me master. Call me commander. Even if we know each other, I am still your superior.”

“……”

His rigidity was so extreme that it was suffocating.

Lace frowned at that stubbornness, but she could no longer argue.

No matter how much she complained, nothing would change.

“Lace.”

“……”

“If you’re afraid, you can run away. I’ll pretend I never saw you.”

The first to break the heavy silence was Ludwig.

Lace was surprised that he was actually suggesting she desert, but she quickly frowned again.

“What’s wrong with you? Honestly, I’m more surprised that you even opened your mouth.”

“I can still tell right from wrong.”

“If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to stand up against all of this?”

“It is better to seek even the slightest hope than to die in vain.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Lace let out an incredulous laugh.

She was no fool.

She knew perfectly well what the situation in the Holy Kingdom, Eldorado, was.

And she also knew why she had been included in that expedition.

Knowing all that, the only thing she could do was laugh bitterly.

“It’s pretty sad to die just because you’re intelligent.”

“Sometimes you have to play dumb.”

“If you know that so well, then why did you train the Hero?”

“It was the mission entrusted to me by the Goddess.”

“Huff…”

Lace slowly shook her head.

Ludwig had taught martial arts to the Hero and was famous for being a devout believer.

That was why he was one of the most respected Holy Knights in all of Eldorado.

At least, he had been until everything started to fall apart.

“Commander.”

“Speak.”

“Do you really believe the Hero is a traitor?”

The rumor that the Hero, Asella, had become a traitor.

The rumor that she had fled because of it.

A traitor was someone personally declared a traitor by the Goddess Aris herself.

In other words, the greatest disgrace in all of Eldorado.

At that moment, the Holy Kingdom was pursuing the fugitive Asella.

The rumor that the Hero had become a traitor had spread far beyond the Holy Kingdom and across the entire continent.

“According to the prophecy, she must be considered a traitor.”

“What if the Pope’s faction manipulated all of this?”

“I don’t know. Only the cardinals and those above them can hear the prophecy.”

There was a reason why Eldorado had been able to maintain its position as the Holy Kingdom despite committing countless atrocities.

That reason was the prophecy.

Whenever the Holy Kingdom faced a crisis, it was said that the Goddess herself granted a prophecy.

In ancient times, when humanity was weak, the gods, including Aris, granted prophecies directly.

Now, they were granted whenever a new Hero was chosen.

And at the very moment Asella drew the Holy Sword, Revolution, the Goddess revealed a prophecy.

A prophecy that said Asella would destroy the Holy Kingdom, Eldorado.

Normally, prophecies leave room for interpretation.

But this one was unusually direct.

And deeply shocking.

“Even if someone had manipulated things, Asella fled the very moment she heard that prophecy. Isn’t that explanation enough?”

“Why would the Goddess do something like that…?”

“Only the Goddess herself knows the answer.”

Asella fled with the Holy Sword after hearing that prophecy.

And once the Hero, who was supposed to possess authority equal to that of the Pope, escaped, there was no one left capable of stopping him.

That was precisely why he could act so freely now.

The expedition organized this time was also made up of all the people who usually got in his way.

“So, are you going to run away?”

“There’s no need. Even if I escaped, they would hunt me down immediately.”

“They say that, even if it means rolling around in a field of manure, it’s better to stay alive.”

“I’m sure our noble Goddess will guide us.”

At Lace’s sarcastic remark, Ludwig let out a small laugh.

No matter how much she complained like that, he could not bring himself to hate her.

At the same time, he felt sorry for her.

For such a promising talent to disappear in a purge like this.

Deep down, he wanted to stand against it all, but he had neither the strength nor the justification to do so.

A reality as cruel as it was unfair.

And yet, there was no one capable of changing it.

If even the Hero herself had been declared a traitor, what hope remained?

“Now that I think about it, Commander.”

“Speak.”

“That guy who revealed the contents of the book in the gallery.”

While Ludwig silently lamented the situation, Lace brought up an interesting topic.

The origin and, at the same time, the main cause of this entire disaster.

Normally, the things that happened in the gallery rarely affected the real world.

But this time had been different.

The incident had been so great that even the foundations of an entire nation had been shaken.

“Why are you asking about him?”

“Do you really think he’ll be in the Four Seasons Forest?”

“I don’t use the gallery, so I don’t know. But I understand that his existence has already been proven.”

“That’s true, but I wonder if it’s really possible.”

Perhaps because they were about to enter the Four Seasons Forest.

It was a natural question.

Ludwig listened to her words, thought for a moment, and then asked curiously.

“You use the gallery too?”

“I only read without commenting.”

“What does that mean?”

“Wow, that really sounds like an old man.”

“My apologies for smelling like one.”

“I’m joking. It just means I go in and take a look from time to time. You don’t read the newspaper word for word either, right?”

“I do.”

“……”

Lace made an exhausted expression.

She now understood perfectly who the Hero had learned that rigid personality from.

She sighed inwardly and returned to the main topic.

“In any case, do you really think the one who made the revelation lives in the Four Seasons Forest? Even if he has proven that it exists, it’s still hard to believe.”

“Very little is known about that forest. Perhaps there is some safe place inside it.”

“If you say so, I have nothing more to say…”

Lace trailed off and spoke quietly.

“Do you think we can survive too?”

“This is my first time in the Four Seasons Forest as well, so I don’t know.”

“Anyway. It was a mistake to ask you.”

Since she had only received a formal answer, Lace decided not to press the issue.

Instead, she began browsing the gallery to pass the time.

Ludwig saw her staring blankly into space and asked curiously.

“Are you connected to the gallery?”

“Yes. I’m reading what that man wrote.”

“What did he write?”

“He says that if we manage to reach where he lives, he’ll organize a grand welcome party for us. He’s even begging us to come.”

Lace explained this with a small laugh.

She seemed to be looking at something amusing.

Ludwig showed a bit more interest and asked again.

“And nothing else?”

“Yes, well… He says that if someone proves they belong to the expedition, he’ll give them an incredible gift.”

“……What?”

“A gift. Do you want me to ask him what it is?”

Ludwig frowned at that crude way of speaking, but eventually nodded as if to say she could do as she pleased.

Lace stared into space for a while and then clicked her tongue in disappointment.

“It’s going to be difficult. I don’t know why he set such complicated conditions to prove it.”

“What conditions?”

“There are several. First, take a picture of the entrance to the Four Seasons Forest. Second, actually belong to the expedition. And third, have everyone else recognize you as genuine.”

“He’s a very meticulous person.”

“We don’t even know what he’s going to give us. I’d almost rather receive nothing.”

Just as Lace finished complaining—

“How do you enter the gallery?”

“Huh?”

“I asked you how to enter the gallery.”

Ludwig, who had been silently watching, suddenly asked how to connect.

The question was so unexpected that Lace could do nothing but blink.

Finally, she asked again in a strange voice.

“…Are you serious?”

“Consider it one last amusement. So, are you not going to teach me?”

“No, it’s not that, but…”

Lace taught Ludwig how to enter the gallery.

The process was not complicated, so Ludwig connected without any trouble.

After that, he spent a long time staring into space.

“Lace.”

“Yes. Tell me.”

“Could you lend me a mirror?”

“?”

It was an unexpected request, but she handed it to him.

Ludwig took the mirror and looked at his face from several angles before returning it.

Then he went back to the gallery.

His expression showed intense concentration.

Lace watched him for a moment before connecting as well.

She was curious to see what someone as rigid as him could have written.

Of course, if he was only looking without participating, it wouldn’t matter.

Ludwig van Erold.

His name itself had appeared on the list of featured posts, the ones that had received the most recommendations.

Ludwig van Erold was Ludwig’s full name.

Even if there were other people with the same name, it was impossible for both the surname and middle name to match as well.

With a bad feeling, Lace opened the post.

Title) Ludwig van Erold

LudwigvanErold

(Photo of Ludwig’s face reflected in a mirror)

(Photo of Ludwig’s face reflected in a mirror)

(Photo of Ludwig’s face reflected in a mirror)

Ludwig van Erold, commander of the Holy Kingdom of Eldorado’s expedition.

I have proven it.

└?

└?

└What’s wrong with this guy? Why did he suddenly upload pictures of his face?

└What is this? Someone suddenly posting their face like this is pretty creepy.

└How are we supposed to react? Are we supposed to say he’s ugly?

└More importantly, he says he’s the commander of the expedition. Is that actually true?

└Why is he uploading something like this? ;;

└Is he showing off because he’s handsome?

└Could it be because Grills said he’d give a gift?

└Why does he give off such strong old-man energy? ;;

“Hmm. How strange. I could have sworn I had already proven it.”

“……”

Even his very first post carried the unmistakable aura of an old bachelor.