Got a Gallery in the Wild

After returning to her lair, Badir immediately prepared to fall into a deep sleep.

She could finally rest easy about Tyran’s safety, the son she had raised as her greatest treasure.

Just before closing her eyes as she coiled her enormous body, a thought suddenly crossed her mind.

That human who remained an extraordinarily peculiar existence even within the Forest of Four Seasons.

‘Now that I think about it, it’s strange. He gave me the impression that he came from another world.’

The way he spoke and many other things made him seem unlike someone from this world.

Badir was a dragon born at the end of the Mythological Era.

Unlike the older dragons, she didn’t know every detail.

She only knew that there was something unusual about him.

‘When I wake up, I’ll have to look into him a little more.’

In truth, she would have liked to head toward the region where the other dragons lived.

But the Forest of Four Seasons was a labyrinth that not even a dragon could escape.

A single mistake could cause space itself to distort, leaving her unable to ever find the way back.

Even the rules she managed to discover became useless after only a few days.

‘Escape…’

Badir slowly closed her eyes.

A human who continued clinging to a possibility close to zero, searching for a chance to escape.

She had thought about it long ago.

Humans were truly a curious race.

They worried about a 90% chance of failure.

Yet they considered a 10% chance to be “good enough to try.”

Would that human think the same way?

Or was it simply his will to survive?

Whatever the answer, he didn’t seem like someone who would die anytime soon.

As long as he didn’t do anything reckless.

‘I’m curious to see what he’ll be like when I wake up again.’

Badir slowly closed her eyes.

The accumulated exhaustion made her body feel heavier and heavier.

She had also made preparations in case an intruder appeared while she slept.

Now all that remained was to rest.

“……”

Her consciousness slowly sank into darkness.

Hoping that when she awakened again, she would be greeted by the son who would welcome her with joy.

***

Is this what people mean when they say “it makes your hair stand on end”?

After reading LetsPlantTrees’ post.

Or rather, that post overflowing with insanity.

A chill ran through my entire body.

Her way of thinking was millions of light-years away from that of a normal person.

And what worried me most was that part of her reasoning actually made sense.

Since ancient times, dragons had been regarded as evil creatures.

And during the Mythological Era, they had indeed committed all kinds of atrocities.

Even Badir herself had admitted it.

Although I still had many doubts about the origin of the gods, this wasn’t the time to think about that.

‘Shouldn’t I have given her that core…?’

If she had been able to give away a World Tree sapling, then if she wasn’t the supreme ruler, she at least held a very high-ranking position.

Since ancient times, extremists had always caused disasters far greater than anyone could imagine.

Hitler was the most representative example.

And yet, even though history had already demonstrated the consequences of extremism,

it still existed.

In fact, the longer an era of peace lasted, the stronger it seemed to become.

‘Although the leader of the elves… no, wait. They also said that queen was completely insane.’

A growing sense of unease slowly took root inside me.

It had already been quite some time since I gave her that core.

With everything that had happened in Eldorado, I had practically forgotten about it.

But I had also heard that Alvenheim was causing considerable concern.

People said the saying “no news is good news” didn’t apply there.

And on top of that, rumors claimed Alvenheim’s national strength continued to grow stronger.

‘No matter what, I just hope Alvenheim doesn’t end up attacking Eldorado.’

Hero Asella herself had promised me.

That the Holy Kingdom would use every possible means to rescue me.

Although, to be honest, their real objective was rescuing Ludwig.

I just happened to come as part of the package.

‘For now, all I can do is observe. And if a worthwhile trade opportunity comes up, I’ll have to accept it.’

LetsPlantTrees hadn’t only given me the World Tree sapling.

She had also given me gloves woven from cocoons produced by silkworms that had fed on World Tree leaves.

And cigarettes.

The gloves were incredibly useful.

They even possessed regenerative abilities of their own.

Since I had received three pairs, Ludwig could use them as well.

It was a shame Lackey couldn’t wear them because of his size.

‘They have no idea how much easier these make the work.’

Thanks to them, I no longer got blisters on my hands.

And as I had already mentioned, the fact that they regenerated on their own also made them incredibly durable.

‘As for the cigarettes…’

I took out one of the cigarettes made from World Tree leaves.

I still had quite a few left.

Lately, I barely smoked.

Things weren’t as difficult as they used to be.

And besides, there were the little ones.

Though according to everyone else, unlike ordinary cigarettes, these were actually beneficial to the body.

I had no way of verifying whether that was true.

Maybe someday, when Ludwig and I were both truly exhausted, we could smoke one together.

“Ah, right, Mister Ludwig.”

“?”

“Do you happen to smoke? I mean this.”

Just in case, I discreetly showed Ludwig the World Tree cigarette.

It wasn’t an ordinary cigarette, but something more like a cigar. Since Ludwig was a Holy Knight, I thought perhaps he avoided that sort of thing.

“!”

The moment he saw the World Tree cigarette, Ludwig’s eyes widened.

Then his gaze shifted back and forth between the cigarette and me.

It was the expression of someone wondering where I had gotten such a thing. Apparently, he recognized the cigarette.

[Hm? Isn’t that a cigarette made from World Tree leaves? Where did you get it?]

Cain, who had been playing with Wonmo and Tyran, also casually walked over to ask where it had come from.

Since I had obtained it through the Gallery, I answered as if it were nothing special.

“I got it through a trade in the Gallery. Earlier I traded away a Guardian core, and in exchange I received this and some gloves. Oh, and I also got a World Tree sapling.”

[They gave you all that so easily? Not even a king would do something like that. It makes no sense.]

Cain spoke with an expression of disbelief.

From his perspective, those items must have been extraordinarily rare.

But the era he had lived in belonged to a very distant past. Times had changed.

“I suppose things are different now. After all, we live in another era.”

[Really? The people of Alvenheim were always an unbelievably stubborn bunch. I find that hard to believe.]

“So even Lord Cain doesn’t like elves?”

[There are good elves too, but as a race they’re far too rigid. Back in my time, if someone had given away something like this, they would have branded that person a traitor to their people. I myself only smoked a World Tree cigarette once in my entire life.]

So they really were a race of stubborn old fossils.

Even the noble Cain had only smoked World Tree tobacco once. That showed just how inflexible they were.

Then perhaps he also knew about the split between the elves and the dark elves.

Curious, I asked him.

“Did you know that the elves and the dark elves eventually split apart? The dark elves now live in the desert.”

[Don’t tell me those dark elves are the ones with black skin.]

“That’s right. According to what I’ve heard, they split after a civil war.”

[Ha, as they say, a tiger never changes its stripes. In the end, they wound up causing a disaster.]

Cain clicked his tongue.

Judging by his reaction, it seemed a similar tendency already existed even in his own era.

As time passed, that extremism had only grown stronger until it completely divided the race.

‘Listening to all this, it sounds like elves have quite an unpleasant personality.’

After all, the one saying it was Cain, famous throughout the world for his nobility.

It was true that, personally, he behaved more like the friendly guy next door.

But he was still a genuinely noble man.

And if even he described elves as unbearably rigid, I could easily imagine what they were like.

‘Although the Elven Queen seems more open-minded than rigid.’

One of the rulers most frequently mentioned in the Gallery was precisely the Elven Queen.

The great figure who ushered Alvenheim into the Enlightenment.

Moreover, thanks to her extraordinary talent for public speaking, she had completely won over her people.

‘Although she does seem a little insane.’

Since ancient times, humanity had always been extremely sensitive about its territory.

And yet Alvenheim kept invading other people’s space without end. It was only natural that no one spoke well of them.

The real problem was that the elves were absurdly powerful.

Since ancient times, they had been a race capable of rivaling demons.

If a race like that remained completely united and decided to act without restraint,

no matter how annoying they became, no one would dare openly protest.

“Would you like to smoke one?”

“Thank you.”

In any case, when I offered one to Ludwig, he accepted it gladly.

Before becoming a Holy Knight, he had been a soldier.

Perhaps that was why cigarettes were something he had never been able to give up.

When I lit the cigarette with a match, he took a long drag.

“Fuuu…”

The smoke slowly drifted from his mouth before fading into the air.

A cigarette definitely only looked elegant when someone elegant was smoking it.

In Ludwig’s hands, it gave off an entirely different aura.

Although the Golden Apple had restored his youth, his thick beard remained unchanged.

He looked like a veteran hardened by countless battlefields.

‘It suits him perfectly.’

I didn’t smoke.

I had never been a smoker, and besides, I didn’t feel particularly stressed.

[Could I have a puff as well?]

“And how exactly do you intend to smoke as a statue?”

In any case, after that short break, we finished lunch.

After lunch, we began seriously planning our next expedition.

The first thing I considered was returning to the area we had already explored.

I knew it well.

Ludwig, on the other hand, didn’t.

‘Would it be better if we all went together?’

The first thing I had to worry about was deciding whom to bring.

I still wasn’t sure where Sloth fit into all of this.

As long as I still depended on him, the decision wouldn’t be an easy one.

After all, I was still far too weak.

‘Besides, if we all travel together, we’ll also run into food problems.’

What if we traveled as a group and ended up running out of supplies?

Everyone already ate quite a lot as it was.

If we got lost on top of that, it would be the worst possible scenario.

In the end, splitting up the group was unavoidable.

For now, we’d head to an area we already knew first, then decide what to do afterward.

“Mister Ludwig. Prepare your equipment.”

“Understood.”

“You too. Stop playing, we’re leaving.”

“Kyuu!”

“Peeeeep!”

Our first destination would be the mandrake colony.

Later on, I might have to give them to the little ones as a tonic, and they were also an indispensable ingredient for making an Elixir.

It was about time to ask StarlightPrincess to make one, so I planned to gather a few.

[And you’re not taking me?]

“Stay here pretending to be a statue.”

[How disappointing.]

“Then, Lord Cain, what exactly can you do?”

[Cheer everyone on?]

“What are you, some kind of totem?”

What kind of “Jump, carp!” is that?

Maybe things would be different after he evolved, but for now Cain was nothing more than an incredibly weak statue.

Even so, since he seemed lonely, I ended up taking him with us.

He could be our totem if he wanted.

So, with everyone together, we headed toward the mandrake colony.

And then—

“Kiiiiyaaaah!!”

“Kueeeek!!”

We witnessed two adult mandrakes fighting over territory.

And I don’t mean that figuratively.

They were literally kicking each other.

[Are those really mandrakes?]

“…Yes.”

[But why are they kicking each other? Even I’ve never seen anything like this.]

“Neither have I.”

‘Will it really be safe to eat those?’

***

While Grills began seriously exploring the surrounding area,

the situation in Eldorado gradually stabilized, and with it, the international situation as well.

However, uncertainty still remained.

If there was one place that was especially unsettling at that moment, it was Alvenheim.

The nation of the elves.

The home of the World Tree.

Alvenheim had not suffered a civil war or a crisis comparable to Eldorado’s.

The problem was something else.

Its movements were deeply unsettling.

It wasn’t so much what was happening inside the country that worried everyone, but what it might do beyond its borders.

The other nations were also keeping a close eye on its actions, yet Alvenheim remained so quiet that no one could draw any conclusions.

Even when several countries launched minor provocations,

Alvenheim simply ignored them with complete composure.

“So, have all the experiments been completed?”

“Yes! Every single one has been a success! The power source based on the imitation core is stable, and the prototype works exactly as we expected.”

“Excellent. Excellent.”

Someone once said that kneeling serves only to gather momentum.

Upon hearing her secretary’s report, the ruler of Alvenheim,

the Elven Queen,

raised her voice.

“Prepare a national address for tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes. Everything is ready now. The time has come to announce the beginning.”

The Queen of Alvenheim, Eliya, declared,

“Let us make Alvenheim great again!”

The sleeping giant had awakened.