Got a Gallery in the Wild

Thanks to the experts in the Gallery, I managed to extract an enormous amount of honey.

The empty jars I had left after using the elixirs weren’t nearly enough, so I ended up buying a huge barrel.

It was so large that I could barely wrap both arms around it.

The honeycomb itself was already gigantic, but the amount of honey it contained was even more impressive.

In fact, not even the barrel was enough to store it all, so I kept the remaining honey in the empty elixir bottles.

[WildGrills: Try this honey. It’s honestly unbelievably sweet.]

[HeavenlyDemon: Thank you. Thanks to you, I always end up tasting truly rare things.]

[WildGrills: But you’re always giving me Bigu Pills. Thank you very much for that.]

Since I had honey to spare, I decided to give some to the veteran users I usually talked with.

The first was HeavenlyDemon.

After that, I sent some to Swordmaster.

Since it wasn’t an elixir or anything like that, but honey that could be eaten directly, Swordmaster gladly accepted it.

[Swordmaster: Do you think it can also be used on the skin?]

[WildGrills: Huh… Is honey good for your skin?]

[Swordmaster: I don’t know, but it’s honey from the Four Seasons Forest. Shouldn’t it work?]

[WildGrills: How would I know? Besides, you don’t even need skincare, do you? They say the stronger a person is, the more slowly they age.]

[Swordmaster: That’s true, but there’s never any harm in becoming even prettier or more beautiful. Attractive people are happy just looking at themselves in the mirror.]

[WildGrills: If you come all the way here, you can even bathe in honey. Interested?]

[Swordmaster: Actually, happiness doesn’t depend solely on appearance.]

[WildGrills: Hah.]

After that, I gave some honey to DwarfPassingBy.

[DwarfPassingBy: It’s been a long time since I made mead. Could you also give me the honeycomb?]

[WildGrills: I can give it to you, but are you planning to use it to make liquor too?]

[DwarfPassingBy: No, no. I’ll eat it as a snack. I don’t know if it’s rock honey or tree honey, but don’t you know how good it is for your body?]

[WildGrills: No, I have no idea.]

According to DwarfPassingBy’s explanation.

Honeycombs attached to trees were called tree honey.

Those attached to rocks were called rock honey.

And honey was formed from the nutrients gathered from countless flowers.

That meant the honeycomb itself also contained all the nutrients accumulated from the flowers of the Four Seasons Forest.

[DwarfPassingBy: The problem is that we don’t know which flowers it came from. Some of them might be poisonous.]

[WildGrills: Then doesn’t that make the honey dangerous too?;;]

[DwarfPassingBy: No, no. I’ve heard the honey is fine. The problem is the honeycomb. So, are you giving it to me?]

[WildGrills: After hearing that, I think I’d better not.]

[DwarfPassingBy: At worst, you’ll get diarrhea, that’s all. Besides, you said a deer gave it to you, right? If anything happens, just go skin that bastard.]

To be honest, DwarfPassingBy’s reasoning made a lot of sense.

If the deer had given me that honeycomb and it turned out to be dangerous.

Then I’d just have to go find the deer.

Of course, considering how strong it was, it’d probably be a very tough fight.

But even so.

I had both elixirs and antidotes.

I could prepare for any eventuality.

[WildGrills: Then I’ll try it myself first and let you all know how it goes afterward. I think that’s for the best.]

[DwarfPassingBy: Okay. But could you give me a little more honey? I need quite a bit to make mead…]

[WildGrills: Hey… Hahaha.]

Since he insisted so much, I ended up giving him a little more.

After all, it barely made a difference.

After that, I handed out honey to the others.

Almost everyone loved it.

There was only one exception.

I couldn’t give any to AllFather.

He wasn’t even connected to the Gallery.

Lately he’d barely been active, so I assumed he was busy with personal matters.

After giving away all the honey, I looked at the remaining honeycomb.

‘What if I try it?’

After carefully cutting the honeycomb open to extract the honey.

It was still dripping.

I’d already completely filled the barrel I’d bought.

I had nowhere else to store any more.

‘I hope there aren’t any insects…’

I inspected it over and over again.

It was completely clean.

Not a single insect.

Then I cut the honeycomb into smaller pieces.

I never imagined I’d end up eating an entire honeycomb someday.

Afterward, I handed out a few pieces to Sloth and the other animals.

If they could eat it without any problems.

Then so could I.

“Nom, nom, nom!”

“Is it good?”

“Nom, nom!”

They happily ate it.

Even Sloth, at his usual pace, slowly chewed through his piece.

Normally, he avoided anything that seemed suspicious.

But he didn’t show the slightest hesitation toward the honeycomb.

That probably meant.

It wasn’t poisonous.

I picked up a piece that was still dripping with honey and stared at it for a moment before putting it into my mouth.

“Nom… Mmm… Huh?”

The moment I took the first bite, my eyes widened.

I already knew the honey was delicious.

What I hadn’t expected was for the honeycomb itself to be delicious too.

Its texture was also very interesting.

It was like chewing a very soft cookie.

The slight bitterness perfectly balanced the honey’s intense sweetness, creating a magnificent flavor.

‘It tastes like some kind of cookie.’

As for the taste.

Approved.

Though I still couldn’t let my guard down.

With this kind of thing, symptoms usually appeared over time.

I hoped absolutely nothing would happen.

‘I’d better buy another barrel to store the honeycomb.’

I bought another container to store all the pieces I’d cut.

Just like the barrel for the honey.

Those containers turned out to be surprisingly useful.

I might even need more later.

‘The Succession Ceremony is tomorrow, wasn’t it?’

While licking the honey left on my fingers, I entered the Gallery.

Since the ceremony would be held the following day.

Most of the posts were about it.

They weren’t very useful to me.

But even so.

I felt a little envious.

‘I want to see other people too.’

I’d already been living in the Four Seasons Forest for almost a month.

I had seen people.

But I had never actually gotten to know any of them.

Not even the Holy Knight riding that giraffe on the other side of the river had ever appeared again.

Sometimes I even thought that had been my last chance.

‘According to everyone, she was incredibly strong, though I wouldn’t know.’

I had gone back to the river several times to check.

But that grassland never appeared again.

Instead, it was always replaced by a completely different hellish landscape.

Every time I saw it but.

I couldn’t help thinking the same thing.

How lucky I had been to end up here.

“Haa!”

“Kyuu!”

“Haa!”

“Kyuu!”

While I was thinking about that, I heard the sounds of Lackey and Wonmo training.

I wasn’t exactly sure what they were doing, but alongside Lackey, who was still training, Wonmo was copying his movements with his arms and legs.

Perhaps because he’d been a bear since birth, he could barely stay upright on his two short legs.

Even so, watching him wave those tiny little arms around was enough to bring a smile to anyone’s face.

‘Maybe it’s because he’s still a child. He’s like a baby copying everything the members of his family do.’

Up until now, Wonmo’s life had consisted of nothing but eating, sleeping, and fighting.

What would happen if he started imitating martial arts like he was doing now?

“Kyuuu…”

“Are you tired? Let’s give you a bath and then go to sleep.”

What would happen? He’d end up completely exhausted and fall asleep early.

With quite a bit of effort, I managed to bathe Wonmo, who came wobbling over with his eyes half-closed from sleepiness.

Perhaps because he’d had such a productive day, he kept nodding off, making it quite an ordeal to bathe him.

Afterward, I thoroughly dried his fur by the campfire and let him sleep soundly.

‘I should get ready for bed too.’

It was already pretty late.

Even according to the Gallery’s schedule, it was bedtime.

I applied insect repellent to Lackey and sent him outside.

He seemed to have gotten used to sleeping outdoors, because he left without a single complaint.

‘Maybe I should at least build him a shelter?’

I felt a little sorry seeing him sleep out in the open, but I decided to leave it for later.

After all, he’d been living like that long before he met me.

As long as insects didn’t bite him, he should be fine.

‘So far, I haven’t noticed any strange symptoms.’

Quite some time had passed since I ate the honeycomb, and I didn’t feel any side effects.

In fact.

It felt like my body was overflowing with energy.

Maybe it was because of the nutrients from the flowers that DwarfPassingBy had mentioned.

‘Still, why did that deer give me the honeycomb?’

I still couldn’t understand the deer’s intentions in giving me something so valuable.

The only thing I’d ever done for him was give him a campfire during the winter.

‘If it really was because of that…’

When winter comes again, I’ll give him another one.

Or maybe I can ask the raccoon family to deliver the fire for me.

The deer was incredibly strong.

There was absolutely no downside to becoming friends with him.

Anyway, I planned to return to the arena tomorrow.

Maybe I’d be able to talk to him then.

‘I should also have Lackey participate.’

Thinking about that, I closed my eyes.

Hoping I’d be able to meet another person as soon as possible.

***

The moment symbolizing the changing of generations and the birth of a new sun for the Empire was approaching.

It was the Succession Ceremony.

The symbolic day when Arnold would ascend the throne as Emperor.

Because of that, the Messiah Empire, especially the capital, had no choice but to immerse itself in preparations for the ceremony.

Every possible measure was taken to prevent even the slightest mistake during the event.

Of course, it wasn’t just the organizers who were busy.

The nobility and the commoners each had their own reasons as well.

The nobles sought to expand their networks by taking advantage of the occasion, while the commoners hoped to earn money and obtain all kinds of benefits.

After all, the Succession Ceremony was practically one grand festival.

And among those attending that festival were some truly important figures.

“Listen, what exactly was that honey you ate yesterday? Your skin has completely changed.”

“Couldn’t it just be because of the food Mom made?”

It was Ash, the Swordmaster who was always ranked among the strongest on the continent.

Her mother couldn’t stop praising her as she admired Ash in her immaculate uniform.

Not only did she look elegant in it.

What stood out the most was her skin.

“Oh, come on. A girl who lives on sweets… Could it be that honey has some extraordinary effect?”

“It’s not that dramatic. It just improved my skin.”

“Just your skin? Look at your hands! They used to look like a turtle’s shell, and overnight they’ve become flawless.”

Just as her mother had said, Ash’s skin had changed remarkably in only a single day.

Thanks to her cultivation level, she’d always maintained beauty comparable to someone in her early twenties.

However, even after undergoing her physical transformation, there had always been one part of her body that never improved.

Her hands.

Hands were one of the most important parts of human civilization, and also the ones that suffered the most.

And since Ash was a martial artist, no matter how carefully she took care of them, there was no way to keep them pristine.

Moreover, she’d reached that physical transformation at a very young age thanks to her innate talent.

From then on, she’d abused her hands for years until they became as rough as a turtle’s shell.

“…”

After hearing her mother, Ash looked down at her hands.

Now they truly deserved to be called delicate and elegant hands.

Only one day had passed since she’d eaten the honey Grills had given her, and her skin had improved to that extent.

‘To be honest, I don’t like it very much.’

Hands could always be hidden with gloves, and calluses were the mark of a true warrior.

In fact, having calluses made wielding a sword more comfortable.

The first time she picked up a sword and began swinging it, she’d ended up with her palms completely torn apart.

But if she said that outright, her mother would give her one of her terrifying smacks on the back.

So she decided to tell a small lie.

“But you look much better too, Mom.”

“Hohoho. You’re right.”

Ash wasn’t the only one who had tasted the honey.

She had also given some to her mother.

Thanks to that, her mother had regained skin comparable to that of someone much younger.

What’s more, even her wrinkles had softened.

Seen from a distance, anyone might mistake them for sisters.

‘I never imagined the effect would be this great…’

Although she appeared calm on the outside, Ash was completely shaken inside.

The honey was simply too extraordinary.

It working on her made sense.

After all, she’d reached an exceptional cultivation level.

But her mother was different.

She had been born a commoner and had endured countless hardships.

She had only obtained her noble title because of Ash.

That was why her appearance had matched her age.

Or at least it had until now.

‘Thank goodness Mom doesn’t use the Gallery.’

If she did, Ash probably never would have given her that honey.

Even so, seeing her mother so happy brought her tremendous peace of mind.

It had been a very long time since she’d truly felt that she’d repaid her mother for everything she’d done for her.

With a relaxed smile, Ash continued walking.

“Hey, look over there.”

“My goodness! Isn’t that the Mercedes Ducal Family?”

“It looks like they’re attending the Succession Ceremony too.”

It was while she was heading toward the ceremony venue that those voices reached her ears.

Since Ash was such a famous figure, she was already used to hearing people whisper about her.

But this time they were talking about someone else.

So she turned her head.

When she did, she saw several people stepping down from a magnificently decorated carriage.

‘The Mercedes Ducal Family? So they’re attending too.’

Well, considering it was the Succession Ceremony, it wasn’t strange for a ducal family to be present.

However, something else stood out even more.

The number of people.

Stepping out of the carriage weren’t just Duke and Duchess Mercedes.

Two young women also descended.

“Huh? That… that young lady…”

“The young lady of the Mercedes Family? Didn’t they say she had an incurable illness?”

“She’s… beautiful…”

A beauty that resembled snow falling from the sky.

Despite the cold expression on her face, she couldn’t hide her extraordinary beauty.

Behind her stepped down another young woman with brown hair and a plain appearance.

Ash raised an eyebrow.

‘Wasn’t she supposed to have an incurable illness? Did she recover?’

Although she usually kept herself shut away at home, she knew enough about what was happening in the world.

Besides, since she frequented the Gallery, she always ended up hearing all kinds of rumors.

The young lady of the Mercedes Family.

Selena.

Normally, she remained secluded because of her incurable illness.

For her to appear in public was extremely unusual.

‘She doesn’t look sick at all. And her skin… Huh?’

The moment Ash saw Selena’s skin, she immediately lowered her gaze to her own hands.

Her skin glowed with a faint radiance thanks to the honey.

And Selena’s skin seemed to emit that exact same glow.

At that moment, Selena also noticed Ash and turned her gaze toward her.

“…?”

Selena tilted her head slightly.

Ash possessed beauty comparable to her own, making it difficult not to notice her.

But what truly caught Selena’s attention was Ash’s skin.

’…Huh?’

Just like Ash, Selena shifted her gaze between her own skin and Ash’s.

’…What is this?’

‘I have a feeling that…’

A strange and inexplicable atmosphere began to form between the two of them.