Chapter 105

Hostage (1)

Whoever they were, they had seriously gotten on Namu-Ppareumbo’s bad side.

With that thought, I made a post on the gallery. This time, it wasn’t a handprint but footprints.

The handprint could wait. The urgent matter right now was identifying the culprit.

Aside from Namu-Ppareumbo’s staple food disappearing in its entirety, this was also a serious problem for me.

Whether they had deliberately waited until we were gone or it had simply been unfortunate timing, the incident had occurred during that brief window.

’At this rate, I won’t even be able to leave home whenever I want.’

Should I have installed an iron fence as well, knowing this might happen? I wasn’t sure.

Perhaps I should have built an actual door instead of a fence. It was something I needed to start considering.

Title: Anyone Know What Made These Footprints?

Wild Grylls

(Photo of animal footprints)

(Photo of animal footprints)

(Photo of Namu-Ppareumbo’s back, radiating emptiness and rage)

(Photo of Wonmo beside him, nervously watching his mood)

I went exploring today, and my fasting pills were gone when I returned.

These footprints seem to belong to the culprits. Does anyone recognize them? I’m asking because there seem to be several different kinds.

└ Heavenly Demon: They look more like handprints than footprints. More importantly, I can feel Namu-Ppareumbo’s fury through the photograph alone.

└ SwordMaster: I know, right? Wonmo cautiously watching him from the side is adorable too. Does he realize something terrible has happened?

└ Wild Grylls: Wonmo is surprisingly good at reading the room. By the way, Heavenly Demon, if it isn’t too much trouble, could I ask you for some more fasting pills?

└ Heavenly Demon: That itself is no problem, but it will take some time. The pills require rare medicinal herbs, so our supply is limited.

The moment I read that comment, I checked on Namu-Ppareumbo. He was still staring at the spot where the fasting pills had been.

For a person, would it feel like discovering that an entire pile of meat dishes had vanished?

And now he would have to eat nothing but vegetables and wild greens.

Thinking about it that way, I would be pissed too. Besides, this problem wasn’t limited to Namu-Ppareumbo.

’They trespassed into my territory and even stole my belongings.’

It was embarrassing to admit, but whenever nature called, I usually relieved myself nearby.

I wanted to mark my territory at least a little. Before that, I had always buried it with dirt.

However, since I would have to stay here for a long time, establishing territory of my own was unavoidable.

└ Starlight Princess: Stealing someone else’s food... What terrible creatures. What will you do if you find them?

└ Wild Grylls: I don’t have enough time to search for them today. I’ll have to look tomorrow.

└ Cheonggu Princess: The uniform is safe, right?

└ Wild Grylls: It was lying on the ground.

└ Cheonggu Princess: ...

└ Even animals rejected it, hahahahaha.

└ Animals won’t even touch Cheonggu’s uniform, lololol.

└ The design is admittedly a little lame, lol.

└ Forget the design, that deer emblem is just... hahaha.

└ Allfather: Hmm. Judging from the prints alone, they appear to belong to primates.

└ Wild Grylls: Primates?

└ Allfather: Yes. I cannot determine the exact species, but they are definitely primate prints.

└ Wild Grylls: Then there’s a high chance they’re gorillas. Do gorillas invade other creatures’ territories?

└ Allfather: That rarely happens. As I mentioned before, they possess low aggression and seldom fight outsiders unless there is internal conflict among their own group.

In other words, there was a high probability that the gorillas had undergone some kind of change.

Whether it involved increased aggression or something else, it wasn’t good news for me.

’And it looks like there was more than one...’

There were many footprints. Looking at them closely, each had a slightly different shape.

After roughly distinguishing them, I estimated that there had been four or five.

Even one would have been overwhelming, yet an entire group had invaded.

This was not something I could overlook. I absolutely had to make an example of them.

’But how?’

I didn’t even know exactly where the gorillas lived, let alone when they would return.

They could raid the place every time my animal companions and I were away.

It seemed my only choice was to set a trap and wait. Entering their territory would be far too dangerous.

’I never expected them to strike first like this.’

I had imagined myself trespassing into other animals’ territories, but I had never dreamed that other animals would raid my home.

As I had said earlier, I should have realized it when that raccoon blatantly stole my fasting pills.

The animals in this forest seemed to be evolving in ways far beyond anything I could predict.

└ Praise the Sun: What are you going to do when you catch the thieves? Just kill them?

└ Wild Grylls: If they do it again, I won’t have any choice but to kill them. This is where I live.

└ Praise the Sun: You’ve gotten ruthless. Didn’t you agonize over Namu-Ppareumbo for ages?

└ Wild Grylls: It wasn’t that I spared him. I couldn’t kill him;;

└ Praise the Sun: Oh, right. I’d forgotten about that.

└ Looks like Ppareumbo is seriously pissed this time.

└ Whoever did it is definitely dead, hahaha.

└ Gorilla vs. Namu-Ppareumbo. My heart is already swelling with anticipation.

└ Passing Dwarf: What happened? Something got stolen?

└ Wild Grylls: My fasting pills. Ppareumbo eats them, but they’re also my emergency rations.

└ Passing Dwarf: Oh, really? You should install a door from now on, lol.

└ Wild Grylls: I’m seriously considering it.

└ Passing Dwarf: Actually, forget it. Even if you install a door, they’ll just smash it apart.

└ Wild Grylls: You have a point. Ha. Damn it.

└ Destined to be robbed;;

└ Guess you have no choice but to keep it wide open, lol.

└ Grylls’s home gives everything away for free.

└ Wild Grylls: Shut up, you bastards.

└ Grylls, criminals always return to the scene of the crime.

└ The comment above is right. They might come back tomorrow.

└ Wild Grylls: So in the end, I just have to wait until tomorrow. Fine, okay.

After chatting about various things on the gallery, I looked around the shelter.

Aside from the cave, the surrounding area was generally wide open.

Although I had blocked it off with barricades, small animals could still enter easily.

’And like the dwarf said, they’d just destroy any door I built.’

An iron fence could keep out small animals, but even a door wouldn’t stop larger ones.

There were so many extreme creatures here that I couldn’t think of a suitable solution.

My best option was to claim the surrounding area as my territory and make sure nothing dared to enter without permission.

’Should I comfort Ppareumbo first?’

Namu-Ppareumbo was still staring blankly into space. He seemed more devastated than angry now.

I started to place a hand on his shoulder, then stopped.

Come to think of it, this bastard still hadn’t washed himself.

I quietly lowered my hand and offered him some words of comfort instead.

"I’m angry too, Ppareumbo."

"...."

"We still have something to eat today, so don’t worry too much. But I can’t promise that we’ll recover the stolen fasting pills."

I could obtain another supply through the Heavenly Demon.

However, it would be best to consider the stolen pills gone for good.

As Allfather had said, gorillas were herbivores. They might have already eaten all of them.

"For now, just be patient. Those bastards might come back tomorrow. We can teach them a lesson then, okay?"

"Try to lighten up a little. Wonmo is scared of you."

Only then did Namu-Ppareumbo turn his head to the side, toward Wonmo.

Wonmo flinched when their eyes met, but soon began rubbing his cheek against him.

"Kyuu. Kyuuu."

"...."

Had adorable Wonmo’s nuzzling softened his heart?

Namu-Ppareumbo slowly raised his hand and placed it atop Wonmo’s head.

It seemed that he also regarded Wonmo as either a pet or a member of the family.

I smiled warmly at the sight, but only briefly before considering how to handle the situation going forward.

’A trap... would be pointless. I wonder if there’s anything like CCTV?’

There was even an orichalcum vein nearby, so I wondered whether a similar type of magic existed.

If relay magic existed, there was no way they didn’t have something like CCTV.

If I couldn’t prevent my home from being robbed, I at least wanted to identify the culprits.

’Or I could scare them away with an alarm.’

It was a fairly decent idea. Wouldn’t Cheonggu Princess know something about that?

Just as I was about to log into the gallery with that thought—

Rustle—

"...."

I clearly heard something brushing against the grass outside.

The moment I heard it, I stopped trying to access the gallery.

Wonmo, who had been acting affectionate, seemed to sense something too. His eyes widened, and he froze in place.

As for Namu-Ppareumbo...

Swoosh—

He turned his head toward the cave entrance.

I did the same.

Silently and stealthily, I reached into my subspace bag.

What I pulled out was my crossbow. I always carried it with me, just in case.

Picking it up from the ground would have made at least some noise, but taking it from the subspace bag was completely silent.

Drawing the string wasn’t difficult either. I had grown stronger than before, so this much was a piece of cake.

"Ooh! Ooh-ooh!"

"Ooh-ooh!"

Primate cries came from outside the cave.

I couldn’t tell whether they came from small monkeys or gorillas.

I would have to see them with my own eyes to find out.

Suppressing every trace of my presence, I crept forward.

And perhaps the anonymous commenter had been right when they said criminals always returned to the scene of the crime.

"Ooh! Ooh!"

"Ooh-ooh."

Two monkeys—no, two gorillas—were talking to each other outside.

One of them beat its chest and gestured in apparent frustration, while the other made gestures as though trying to restrain it.

As expected of creatures that understood the concept of theft, they seemed more intelligent than ordinary gorillas.

Even so, to Namu-Ppareumbo and me, they were nothing more than thieves.

Bastards who stole food in the wild deserved to die.

They had stolen it knowing that could happen in the first place, hadn’t they?

Swoosh—

I slowly raised my crossbow and aimed it at the gorillas.

They were still chattering among themselves, apparently unaware that we had returned.

I wanted to pull the trigger immediately, but I suppressed the urge with superhuman patience.

My chances of hitting them would increase if they came a little closer. It was still too soon.

Splash!

"Ooh-ooh!"

Had the fasting pills not been enough?

One of the gorillas pulled out the fish stored inside the metal barrel.

The fish was so enormous that even the gorilla had to wrap both arms around it.

The sight made me feel as though my rage meter had risen another notch.

The otters had all died after attempting to steal my fish.

That gorilla would meet the same fate.

Slowly—

As I silently took aim, Namu-Ppareumbo positioned himself beside me.

He wasn’t trying to charge forward. He stood right by my side.

He almost resembled a spotter assisting a sniper.

"Ooh! Ooh-ooh!"

"Ooh."

Before long, the jubilant gorillas turned around and began to leave.

I aimed at the one that had greedily taken my fish.

Then, I stopped breathing altogether. Just as my sights settled perfectly on the target—

Shoot.

Perhaps it was my imagination, but a voice that seemed to belong to Namu-Ppareumbo echoed inside my head.

The instant I heard it, I pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Twang!

The moment the string was released, the bolt tore through the air.

Its tip flew directly toward the gorilla’s broad back.

Thud!

"Gwooooooh!"

"Uooh?!"

Flap-flap—

The bolt buried itself squarely in the gorilla’s back.

The gorilla immediately screamed in pain and let out a tremendous roar.

At the same time, the fish it had been carrying flew into the air and thrashed violently.

Creak—

I didn’t stop there. I immediately took out another bolt and loaded the crossbow.

Then I aimed at the gorilla once again. The other one had already fled into the undergrowth.

The gorilla struck by the bolt was also desperately trying to escape.

It apparently had no presence of mind to retrieve the fish that had fallen to the ground.

A human would have collapsed after taking a shot like that, but a beast was still a beast.

Yet even beasts could be deprived of their mobility.

Thud!

"Uoooooh!"

By targeting their legs.

The bolt lodged squarely in the gorilla’s calf.

I had fired immediately after loading, so I had been rather lucky.

Or perhaps my skill had improved. Either way, the situation was favorable.

The moment the gorilla collapsed, I took up my sword and shield and stepped outside.

Namu-Ppareumbo climbed onto my back as well, ready to join the fight at any moment.

"Uooh...."

The gorilla reached toward the bushes, desperately trying to escape.

But its companion had already abandoned it. There was no one left to help it.

I approached the gorilla as it clawed frantically along the ground.

The gorilla seemed to notice the shadow looming over it and slowly turned to look at me.

"U... uoooh...."

It stared at me with a terror-stricken expression.

Then it noticed Namu-Ppareumbo clinging to my back, and its eyes widened in shock.

Its reaction seemed to say, What are you doing here? It looked unable to believe the situation before it.

Whatever the circumstances were, the gorilla clearly knew Namu-Ppareumbo.

"Uh... ugh...."

The gorilla pointed at Namu-Ppareumbo, then fainted.

Foam gathered around its mouth, as though it had been unable to withstand the physical and psychological shock.

The only difference was that it couldn’t speak. Its reactions otherwise seemed remarkably human.

Had its intelligence truly increased?

More importantly, however, its reaction puzzled me.

"Ppareumbo."

’Judging by its behavior, it seems pretty similar to you.’

The fact that it had extorted food from me only made that possibility strangely more convincing.

"What did you do to these guys?"

Had he been the local bully around here?

I had no idea.