Got a Gallery in the Wild

The Mithrilcon sword that the dwarf had recommended I hand over very carefully if possible.

At first, I had planned to give it away only after someone proved they had reached the entrance to the Four Seasons Forest.

But then a rather strange old man appeared and proved it in an even stranger way.

On top of that, he seemed to be quite a famous person, because there were people who recognized him.

The master of the Heroine, Asella, who was currently considered a traitor and was on the run.

The fact that someone like him had been sent with the expedition threw the entire gallery into an uproar.

‘And it seems the head moderator knew him too.’

What caught my attention the most was how surprised he seemed.

So much so that he even stopped putting the exclamation marks at the end of every sentence.

And not only that.

He even sent me a private message asking for a favor.

[HeroDontThrowAway: T-this… Mr. Grills!]

[WildGrills: What’s wrong?]

[HeroDontThrowAway: Could I ask you a favor?!]

[WildGrills: What favor?]

[HeroDontThrowAway: The gift you said you would give to whoever proved they belonged to the expedition!]

[HeroDontThrowAway: Could you give it to Mr. LudwigvanErold, the one who just posted?!]

[HeroDontThrowAway: I can guarantee who he is!]

[WildGrills: Do you know him?]

[HeroDontThrowAway: Yes! I know him very well!]

[WildGrills: Well, if it’s a request from the head moderator…]

[HeroDontThrowAway: Thank you very much!]

[HeroDontThrowAway: The next time you do something worthy of a ban, I’ll grant you amnesty!]

That was how we ended up making a sort of deal.

In my case, it wasn’t a bad bargain.

After all, I could always forge another sword.

More importantly, I wanted the expedition to survive after entering the forest.

And for them to manage to reach where I was.

You could say it would be better to give them an elixir as well, but that was different.

The elixir that DemonPrincess had worked so hard to create.

I had obtained it through a trade, yes, but it also carried her goodwill.

If I simply gave that token of goodwill to someone else, DemonPrincess might feel uncomfortable.

That’s just how the human heart works.

‘Besides, if they’re part of the expedition, they must be carrying all kinds of medicine.’

Even if they weren’t on the level of an elixir, they surely had excellent remedies prepared.

Then all that was left was to wait for them to arrive.

No one knew how long it would take.

It was a place where space changed constantly.

And on top of that, the forest was as large as a small country.

If they were unlucky, we might never meet.

‘They might also settle down somewhere, just like I did.’

If they could use the gallery, finding each other would be dozens of times easier.

However, common sense said that it was impossible to use the gallery inside the Four Seasons Forest.

Eldorado was convinced that it was possible.

Though who knows.

Maybe I was the only special one.

‘Have they entered already?’

I checked the post made by the man who had introduced himself as Ludwig.

Since I had given him the sword, he hadn’t posted anything else.

It seemed he had received the gift and simply disappeared.

If he was really going to enter the Four Seasons Forest, he could have at least announced it.

But he hadn’t even done that.

Maybe he really was an old man, and after receiving the gift, he had simply gone in without another word.

‘If he had been able to use the gallery, he would have written something. What a shame.’

Not five minutes had passed.

An entire hour had gone by.

And still, there were no new posts.

People in the gallery also seemed curious about what had happened to Ludwig, but no one had a way to find out.

There was, however, at least one indirect method.

Ask the head moderator.

The head moderator could see the real-time location not only of registered accounts, but also of anonymous users.

It was a privilege exclusive to him.

That could at least give me an idea.

‘I’ll ask him.’

He seemed to know Ludwig, and it was important to me as well.

I immediately sent him a message.

Hoping he was online.

[WildGrills: Head moderator.]

[WildGrills: Do you know where the LudwigvanErold account is?]

[WildGrills: Is he still outside the Four Seasons Forest?]

[HeroDontThrowAway: He’s still right in front of the entrance to the Four Seasons Forest!]

[HeroDontThrowAway: I sent him a message, but he won’t answer me!]

[WildGrills: What do you think is happening?]

[HeroDontThrowAway: I don’t know that either!]

[HeroDontThrowAway: I think we’ll only know after a little more time passes!]

Did something happen?

That was what I thought after hearing the head moderator’s explanation.

Even in the gallery, people were saying that it wasn’t an investigation at all, but practically a purge.

Because once they were sent into the Four Seasons Forest, the chances of them officially ending up as “missing” were very high.

’…Or could it be that, because he’s an old man, he doesn’t know how to send messages?’

It wasn’t a completely absurd idea.

But there was no way to be sure.

Before I could even start making a plan, the expedition first had to enter the forest.

‘No. What plan?’

In a place where space changed however it pleased, what could I rely on besides luck?

If they were lucky, they might appear in the same forest where I was.

And if luck abandoned them, they could end up on the complete opposite side.

Besides, according to the head moderator, I was currently located in the center of the Four Seasons Forest.

The chances of us meeting were terribly low.

But I had no choice but to trust.

‘For now, I’d better keep making charcoal.’

As long as the expedition hadn’t entered the forest, there was practically nothing I could do.

Besides, I had my own tasks as well.

For the moment, I planned to focus on my own work.

‘Let’s see… the charcoal kiln…’

Up until now, the amount of charcoal I had obtained by lighting campfires had been insignificant.

It wasn’t even enough to fill a small container.

And every time I forged a sword or another tool, I consumed an enormous amount of charcoal.

I needed to find a way to produce it in large quantities.

I knew nothing about that subject, but I knew someone who did.

[StarlightPrincess: The most important thing for making charcoal is blocking oxygen.]

[WildGrills: Blocking oxygen?]

[StarlightPrincess: Yes.]

[DemonPrincess: Charcoal is produced through incomplete combustion, and to do that, you need to isolate the oxygen.]

[StarlightPrincess: Would you like me to explain it in more detail?]

[WildGrills: No.]

[WildGrills: That’s enough.]

[WildGrills: Anyway, thank you very much.]

[StarlightPrincess: It’s nothing.]

[StarlightPrincess: Whenever you have questions related to alchemy, ask me.]

That person was StarlightPrincess, a true genius of alchemy.

The same registered user who had taught me about smoking food before.

I could have asked AllFather, but that didn’t seem to be his specialty, so I preferred consulting StarlightPrincess.

I didn’t even think about asking the dwarf, because metallurgy was his field.

‘So I have to block the oxygen…’

If the oxygen was blocked, incomplete combustion would occur and, as a result, charcoal would be produced.

While I was thinking about it, my eyes fell on the kiln.

Or, more precisely, on the clay between its joints.

It had already hardened and was acting as an adhesive.

‘That’s it!’

An idea came to me.

I immediately went to gather logs.

The path that the boss gorilla had opened with a single punch.

Since the fallen trees were still there, getting wood wasn’t difficult.

‘I’ll explore that path later.’

I piled the logs up as if I were preparing a campfire.

And then.

I didn’t light them.

First, I had to cover them with clay to block the oxygen.

If I simply spread the clay over the wood, it wouldn’t stick properly and would just slide off.

‘I’ll make a framework with branches first.’

So I surrounded it with branches, especially dry branches that still had leaves on them.

Then I covered the whole thing with a thick layer of clay, shaping it like a kiln.

But that wasn’t all.

At first, it had to burn strongly, so I left several ventilation holes.

I also left an opening at the top.

I planned to light the fire from there.

Fwoosh!

Finally, I inserted a burning branch through the top opening and checked that it ignited properly.

The upper part burned without any problems.

The important part was the bottom.

That was why I had made the holes.

Once I confirmed that the fire had reached the bottom, I sealed all the air vents and blocked the oxygen.

“Cough! Cough! Ugh… It’s so spicy. I shouldn’t have checked.”

I opened a hole to see how the fire was doing, and all I managed to do was fill my lungs with smoke.

In any case, I had confirmed that it worked.

Now I could take care of other things.

‘I wonder how things are going.’

I entered the gallery to see if there were any updates.

But Ludwig hadn’t posted anything.

The only thing circulating were rumors about the expedition.

That an internal conflict had broken out.

That Grills’ gift was too powerful and had caused trouble.

There were theories everywhere, but their credibility was close to zero.

‘An internal fight? When their chances of survival are already so low.’

Please, don’t fight.

Enter on good terms and come find me.

Well.

If I’m being honest, there’s no guarantee they’ll even make it here.

I’d better not get my hopes up too much.

After checking the gallery a little longer, I closed it.

There was nothing interesting.

‘Wait, now that I think about it, even if they enter the forest, will they be able to reach this place?’

Sometimes a column of smoke rose into the sky, but that wouldn’t be enough.

In this damned forest, even compasses don’t work, and it’s so hard to get your bearings that getting lost is incredibly easy.

I was fine because I already had experience and always traveled the same routes.

But someone entering for the first time wouldn’t have that advantage.

‘I should make signs.’

That way, they could find the path to where I was.

It was a bit of a stupid method, but an effective one.

I prepared the tools immediately.

Since there were no signs for sale in the auction house, I had no choice but to make them myself.

Scritch. Scritch. Scritch.

There were plenty of trees.

I carved a sign using a dry log of an appropriate size.

I made the board and the post separately, then assembled them together.

‘I’d better paint it white so it stands out.’

I had bought the paint at the auction house.

And it wasn’t cheap either.

In the center of the arrow, I drew a house.

A square with a trapezoidal roof.

I even added a window.

So that anyone could understand.

Someone lives here!

It looked pretty decent.

It stood roughly between my chest and my neck in height.

That way, it would attract more attention.

Title) I made some signs in case the expedition passes by. I’m going to put them up now.

WildGrills

Members of the expedition! If you see this, just follow the arrow! It’ll lead you to where I am!

└HeavenlyDemon: You made it very well. Just like your swords, you’re very talented with your hands.

└WildGrills: Thanks haha.

└Aren’t you getting your hopes up a little too much? lmao.

└I thought this guy was joking, but he’s completely serious lol.

└And what are you going to do if no one ends up entering the Four Seasons Forest?

└WildGrills: I’ll grab Wonmo and start crying.

└LMAO.

└LOL.

└This guy is kind of adorable lol.

└And what did Wonmo do to deserve that? lmao.

└WildGrills: He’s my only method of healing.

└Are you feeling that lonely? Want me to come?

└WildGrills: Really?

└Of course not, I was joking lol.

└WildGrills: You bastard lol.

└HeroDontThrowAway: If you really do end up meeting him, please treat him kindly! Mr. Ludwig is a truly good person!

└WildGrills: First, they’d have to enter the forest for that to happen. And there’s still no news that they’ve done so…

└HeroDontThrowAway: That’s true too! Honestly, I’d rather he didn’t enter!

└WildGrills: You’re destroying my hopes.

└HeroDontThrowAway: I’m sorry, but I think it’s better to lose hope than to sacrifice a life for nothing!

└WildGrills: Shit… T_T. I don’t even know how to respond anymore.

└I kind of feel bad for you, Grills… But the head moderator is right.

└You’re the weird one. Normally, people enter the Four Seasons Forest and die within a few days…

└WildGrills: If someone is strong enough, the chances of surviving go up. My senior managed it too.

└Senior? You mean that skeleton?

└So you finally accepted him as your senior lol.

Even the head moderator was indirectly telling me to give up hope.

But I had no intention of giving up!

Of course, that didn’t mean I wanted them to risk their lives by entering.

It was just…

I was assuming that the expedition might end up turning into a group of castaways.

‘Are they still waiting in front of the entrance?’

While thinking about that, I made even more signs.

I planned to place them all along the path I had traveled so far.

‘I want to talk to someone too.’

After two weeks, the loneliness was starting to get to me.

***

And while Grills continued making and setting up signs with all his goodwill.

Boom!

“Aaaaargh!”

A Holy Knight was sent flying toward the entrance of the Four Seasons Forest.

He flailed his arms as though he was resisting with all his might from going inside.

But the moment he crossed the forest’s entrance.

He vanished without a trace.

“Fuu…”

The other Holy Knight who had kicked him inside, Ludwig, let out a long sigh.

Then he slowly turned around and faced the surveillance group, who were watching him with open hostility.

Swoosh.

Ludwig raised the sword through which a green galaxy flowed.

And, releasing a radiant Aura Blade, he asked,

“Is there anyone else who wants to go in?”

Just as Grills had wished, Ludwig was gathering survivors with exemplary kindness.