Chapter 257

Dumb Luck (3)

It was a shame about the ambergris, but there was nothing I could do. I needed to avoid contact with the gorilla troop whenever possible.

Just as Cain had said, there was so much aura inside my body that they would probably notice me immediately. Besides, we were hardly on good terms.

The one consolation was that Kkobong had all but given up on revenge, but I still couldn’t be certain.

Kkobong might be fine with it, but some members of the troop might not want anything to do with me.

After all, hadn’t the gorilla leader been forced to drive Kkobong out because the troop had protested so fiercely?

[But there is something I do not understand. Just how powerful are these gorillas?]

"Huh? Didn’t I tell you?"

[I would not know. Ludwig, do you know?]

"#%%@."

[Ludwig says he only knows where their territory is.]

Come to think of it, I had never properly explained it to them.

I had only warned them that there were many gorillas in this area and that they should be careful.

This seemed like a good opportunity to tell them everything that had happened between the gorillas and me.

While I was at it, I could also discuss the Blood Cult with Ludwig.

’It’s stranger that I haven’t told them until now.’

I was the only one who knew what was happening in the outside world. I kept forgetting that.

That was the scary thing about familiarity. From now on, I should tell them whenever any noteworthy news came up.

"To give you a rough idea of what happened..."

I explained everything that had happened with the gorilla troop.

It was difficult to summarize briefly, so Cain had to interpret from time to time.

Ludwig could understand the gist of what I said when the conversation was short, but explaining the entire situation inevitably took a while.

[I thought that fellow was the only gorilla capable of speech. It appears I was mistaken.]

"Why did you think Kkobong was the only one?"

[Is he not a peculiarly colored mutant? I assumed that was why his intelligence was exceptionally high as well.]

Ludwig nodded in agreement. This was precisely why exchanging information was important.

Feeling somewhat sheepish, I scratched my head before continuing.

"Mr. Ludwig, do you know about the Blood Cult?"

"I do. A band of murderous fiends. They are infamous."

Just how infamous did the Blood Cult have to be for word of them to have spread all the way to Eldorado?

It wasn’t merely a rumor circulating through the Gallery. They had been such a major force that even the Papal Court had kept a wary eye on them.

However, because the Undying King crisis had occurred not long before, the Papal Court had barely been able to intervene.

Ludwig said that if it hadn’t been for the Undying King, the previous Hero would have personally gone after them.

’Well, they did throw an entire country into turmoil.’

From the Central Plains imperial family’s perspective, it must have been as though a thorn in their side had destroyed itself without them needing to lift a finger.

The problem was that it had lowered the overall standard of martial artists.

Moreover, as time passed, the Demonic Cult had begun expanding its influence.

"Anyway, that gorilla troop has ties to the Blood Cult. You could even call them its successors."

"...Successors? The gorillas?"

Ludwig looked utterly dumbfounded upon hearing that the gorillas were the Blood Cult’s successors.

He then turned to look at Kkobong, who was vigorously scratching his backside.

"...His skills are respectable. I understand."

Right. He might not accept it, but he could at least understand it.

"And the Blood Cult entered the Forest of Four Seasons to take the gorilla leader as their successor."

"#$$%?"

[He asks whether they are fucking idiots.]

"I understood that one too."

Ludwig rarely swore, but even I had understood him perfectly that time.

It was an entirely reasonable reaction. The Blood Cult’s actions were that far removed from common sense.

"Anyway, it’s best to avoid contact with the gorilla troop whenever possible. They’ll probably feel the same way."

[What will you do if the remnants of the Blood Cult enter their territory?]

"I’m not sure."

That part did worry me a little.

What if coincidence piled upon coincidence, and those bastards were just as lucky as I was and managed to infiltrate the gorilla troop?

The gorillas seemed highly territorial, so the remnants would most likely be beaten senseless and driven out.

However, that only applied to outsiders who weren’t from the Central Plains.

The gorillas understood the concept of "language," so things might turn out differently.

’They say it’s incredibly comforting to meet someone who speaks your language in a foreign country. Imagine how much more that would apply here.’

The gorilla leader, in particular, might take a liking to them.

Or perhaps old habits would die hard, and the remnants would cause a huge fucking scene among the troop and get their asses kicked.

Whatever happened, the moment the remnants found their way into the gorilla troop, things would become troublesome.

"Let’s eat lunch first and think about it afterward."

Since it was lunchtime, we headed upriver to catch some fish.

It was the same routine as always, but something was different this time.

Flutter, flutter, flutter—

When we reached the river, fish were freely swimming through the air.

There wasn’t just one, either. Several fish were flying around.

"Even fish can fly."

Ludwig marveled at the sight and asked me about it.

His question snapped me to attention, and I turned my head.

The gorillas’ territory lay farther upstream. Had something happened there?

If not, perhaps the ambergris had fallen into the river. That seemed more likely.

I retrieved the fish caught in the net and left the ones flying through the sky alone.

I couldn’t be bothered to go back for the crossbow, and the fish in the net were already more than enough.

’I don’t know how long the effect will last, but...’

As long as our shelter was safe, that was all that mattered.

Or so I thought.

"Shaaaaaark?!"

"Ugh?!"

Right up until a flying shark attacked our shelter.

As usual, we were in the middle of cooking the fish when the shark charged straight at us.

It was nearly as large as a bull, so the destructive force behind its charge was tremendous.

Of course—

"Kyuuaaaa!"

"Piiiaaaaak!"

"Uoooooh!"

It was quickly subdued by the furious beating it received from the animals whose meal it had ruined.

Shark or not, if you overturned someone else’s dinner table, you deserved whatever punishment came your way.

In the end, the shark twitched a few times before going still.

It was dead.

[Are you going to butcher this as well?]

"Hmm..."

I stared at the bull-sized shark and wondered whether I should butcher it.

It was practically food that had delivered itself to our doorstep, but honestly, I wasn’t thrilled.

It would be difficult to butcher, yet leaving it here was also out of the question.

’What does shark fin taste like?’

So I searched the Gallery and asked what shark fin tasted like.

Surprisingly, shark fin wasn’t a widely known dish.

It was mostly eaten in the Central Plains, and even there, it was closer to a luxury enjoyed only by the wealthy.

It apparently wasn’t particularly valuable from the perspective of medicinal cuisine, and aside from its texture, its taste was practically nonexistent.

[Wild Grylls: Heavenly Demon, do you like shark fin by any chance?]

[Heavenly Demon: Are you referring to fish fin? This lady knows it to be an extravagant delicacy.]

[Wild Grylls: (Photo of the battered shark) I’m asking because I happened to catch a shark. Would you like it?]

[Heavenly Demon: This lady shall decline. I have already caused you enough trouble, so I would feel ashamed to accept it.]

[Wild Grylls: Understood.]

Perhaps because she had allowed the remnants to escape, the Heavenly Demon refused the shark.

That left only two people.

Passing Dwarf and Praise the Sun.

’I should give this to Praise the Sun.’

I had already given him dinosaur hide and even a dinosaur egg last time, but it still didn’t feel like enough.

Compared to everything Praise the Sun had done for me, my gifts seemed inadequate.

The shield alone was worth an enormous amount.

And if I was lucky, I might receive something else in return.

[Wild Grylls: Praise the Sun, would it be all right if I gave you a gift?]

[Praise the Sun: What kind of gift?]

[Wild Grylls: (Photo of the shark) This.]

[Praise the Sun: Unless my eyes are deceiving me, that looks like a shark.]

[Wild Grylls: This bastard suddenly attacked us while we were eating.]

[Praise the Sun: Last time, a shark-man showed up, and now it’s a flying shark? All sorts of strange things happen to you.]

Come to think of it, that had happened.

By now, the shark-man was probably serving as excellent experimental material for All-Father.

Meanwhile, Praise the Sun said he would gratefully accept the shark, adding that it would be his first time eating shark fin.

[Wild Grylls: You’re rich, but you’ve never eaten shark fin before?]

[Praise the Sun: That’s because I’m rather young.]

[Wild Grylls: How old are you?]

[Praise the Sun: Forty-two.]

He certainly was young for an elf.

He was still older than me, though.

I should show him the proper respect. I exchanged a few more messages with Praise the Sun before ending the conversation.

[Praise the Sun: Oh, right. Since I have the opportunity, I’ll send you something.]

[Wild Grylls: What is it?]

[Praise the Sun: You’ll know when you receive it. It should prove extremely useful.]

What could he possibly be sending me to say something like that?

My curiosity didn’t last long. The moment our conversation ended, an object appeared in my hands, and I examined it.

"Oh!"

As soon as I realized what it was, I exclaimed in delight.

He had said it would be extremely useful to me, and he had been absolutely right.

"Binoculars?"

Binoculars—a tool that allowed you to observe distant objects with ease.

Come to think of it, glasses existed in this world, like the pair I had given Kkobong. It made sense for telescopes and binoculars to exist as well.

I inspected the binoculars, whose design perfectly suited the era, before raising them to my eyes.

Click!

While fiddling with them, I accidentally turned something.

Thanks to that, I discovered an incredible feature.

Adjustable magnification.

It was a truly terrifying capability.

The fact that the magnification could be adjusted meant that the binoculars incorporated extremely advanced technology.

"Mister."

"You have a nose hair sticking out."

The binoculars were so powerful that I could even see something like that.

While Ludwig checked his appearance in a mirror, I used the binoculars to survey our surroundings.

’These are seriously good.’

They would be incredibly useful during exploration.

They should pair especially well with the dinosaur hide.

I had essentially dumped something troublesome on Praise the Sun, yet he had given me an item worth more than treasure in return.

’Now I feel even guiltier.’

It seemed I would have to send Praise the Sun gifts more often from now on.

I carefully set the binoculars down so they wouldn’t get damaged.

Part of me wanted to leave on an expedition immediately, but I had to restrain myself.

’At the very least, I should plant the World Tree sapling before leaving.’

I also needed to practice controlling the aura inside my body.

With Ludwig teaching me, it probably wouldn’t take too long. Until then, practice was my only option.

’There isn’t much else for me to do...’

However, my training sessions only lasted an hour or two, so I inevitably had plenty of free time.

According to Ludwig, blindly increasing the amount of time I trained would only reduce its efficiency.

Efficiency was the most important thing in my current situation. Even if I had plenty of time, my ultimate goal was still survival.

I could only browse the Gallery for about ten minutes at a time, too.

I was bound to have time left over.

’Should I try making a pickaxe?’

It wasn’t a bad idea.

I could also strengthen my muscles while working as a blacksmith.

Having made up my mind, I sent Passing Dwarf a message.

[Wild Grylls: Hey. You aren’t drinking again, are you?]

[Passing Dwarf: Nope. I was working. Why?]

[Wild Grylls: Good to hear you’re working. I’m thinking of trying my hand at blacksmithing. Can you give me some advice?]

[Passing Dwarf: Get yourself an apron first. I’d give you mine, but it probably wouldn’t fit.]

Truly excellent advice.

I bought a suitable apron from the Gallery.

Passing Dwarf then began offering all sorts of advice.

I would need tongs, a furnace, an anvil, more tongs, an oil barrel, and so on.

The anvil, at least, would have to be prepared separately.

I would also need to construct a proper furnace rather than relying on a makeshift one.

[Passing Dwarf: Tell me when you’ve prepared everything. You still have some Mithricon ingots left, right?]

[Wild Grylls: Yeah, I do.]

[Passing Dwarf: Heat one up and try hammering it. I’ll give you an anvil.]

[Wild Grylls: Do I just need to hammer it?]

[Passing Dwarf: Pay attention to how much the metal spreads with each strike. It doesn’t matter whether you use mana or not, as long as you don’t smash it to pieces.]

In other words, controlling my strength was important.

I understood perfectly.

After setting up the anvil Passing Dwarf had given me, I placed a Mithricon ingot in the furnace.

I didn’t need to melt it down. Heating it was enough.

He said it would be ready when it turned roughly the color of wheat.

Once the Mithricon ingot was glowing hot, I grabbed it with the tongs and placed it on the anvil.

’He said I just needed to use a reasonable amount of force, right?’

Just to be safe, I channeled mana into my body and raised the hammer high above my head.

Claaang!!

The instant I brought it down with all my strength—

Boom!!!

The Mithricon ingot exploded.

[Passing Dwarf: Ah, right. I forgot to mention that the mana inside the ingot might explode if it clashes with your mana.]

[Wild Grylls: (Photo of the shelter devastated by the explosion) Yeah. Thanks.]

[Passing Dwarf: Guess I was too late. You should’ve hit it more gently.]

[Wild Grylls: Safety regulations have always been written in blood.]

[Passing Dwarf: How is that any different from conducting human experiments on yourself? =]

Faced with that undeniable truth, I had nothing to say.