Chapter 185

The Paladin Riding a Giraffe (3)

Ares, the Goddess of War, had not abandoned him.

At least, that was what Ludwig, the paladin of El Dorado, believed.

As expected, the Forest of Four Seasons was truly a realm of monsters and demons.

He had encountered everything from a three-headed lion to an animal with an extraordinarily long neck, along with all manner of bizarre creatures.

Even more astonishing was how incredibly powerful those animals were.

Oddly enough, the herbivores were stronger than the carnivores.

It was only through a stroke of heavenly fortune that he had managed to tame the long-necked animal.

Although that good fortune had not continued uninterrupted, it had still manifested when he needed it most.

Ludwig looked down at his ankle, which was wrapped in layer upon layer of bandages.

Everything below the ankle—the foot that should have been there—was completely gone.

Without a prosthetic, he would probably never be able to walk properly again.

Still, it was far better than dying of sepsis.

‘Thank goodness the blade was sharp.’

Amputation was a highly difficult procedure. Normally, it would have required a long period of sawing.

Drinking alcohol as an anesthetic was also extremely dangerous, but it had been unavoidable if they wanted to prevent him from going into shock.

The pain caused by amputation was among the worst a human could experience. Even Ludwig could not have endured it while fully conscious.

‘It was also fortunate that he had more elixir.’

When it came to surgery, finishing the procedure properly was just as important as the operation itself.

Fortunately, Grylls possessed a large supply of elixir.

In the worst-case scenario, he might have had to cauterize the wound with fire.

The fact that Ludwig had survived all these hardships could only mean that Ares was watching over him.

‘This is quite a tidy cave.’

Ludwig examined the inside of the cave. It even had a fireplace, and the space was remarkably cozy.

At the moment, Grylls had gone upriver to dispose of Ludwig’s severed foot.

With his strength depleted and his foot in such a state, rest was his highest priority.

‘Another day, and it would have been too late.’

Ludwig had been able to hold on to hope because he had seen Grylls across the river.

However, even if he had hope, there was no telling when the far side of the river would change again.

That was why he had continued waiting there, eating only the bare minimum required to survive.

The giraffe had at least been able to sustain itself by eating leaves from the trees, but Ludwig was no herbivore.

He had lost most of his mobility by the time maggots infested his foot.

Since neither hunting nor fishing was possible, he had been forced to endure through sheer willpower.

‘There was a bridge, and the signpost made it easy to find this place.’

Thanks to the signpost and the bridge, he quickly realized that this was the opposite bank of the river where he had seen Grylls.

He had discovered them just before losing consciousness, so he squeezed out every last drop of strength to cross the bridge.

Even that would have been difficult without his long-necked friend—the giraffe.

For the foreseeable future, that creature would have to serve as his feet and provide him with invaluable assistance.

Until he adapted, however, Grylls’s help would be essential.

‘When I heard the name Grylls, I thought he was from the West.’

Judging from the gallery username alone, Ludwig had assumed Grylls was a Westerner.

Yet when he met him in person, what a surprise. Anyone could see that he was from the Central Plains.

Furthermore, despite his bushy beard, he appeared fairly young.

Even Ludwig, who had undergone many years of training, had barely managed to survive here. Yet that young man was not merely surviving—he was actually living.

‘He said he could use mana as well.’

It was impossible to use mana in the Forest of Four Seasons.

Ever since entering the forest, Ludwig had tried everything he could to use mana, only to realize that it was impossible.

If Grylls had not given him that sword, he would most likely have died long ago.

That made Ludwig curious. Just how had this man called Grylls managed to survive?

More than anything else, however, he wondered—

‘What in the world were those animals? His pets?’

A sloth clinging to his back. A baby owlbear toddling along behind him. And finally, a white gorilla wearing some kind of restraining device around its neck.

Ludwig could not even begin to understand what sort of combination that was.

‘If I had known things would turn out like this, I would have logged in sooner.’

Ludwig had accessed the gallery for the first time in his life immediately before entering the Forest of Four Seasons.

It had been impossible to grasp the full situation in such a short amount of time. Even receiving the sword had been nothing short of a miracle.

‘I’m not sure about the others, but there was definitely something unusual about that sloth.’

It was said that the strong instinctively recognized one another.

Although Ludwig had not reached the ultimate realm, he possessed an exceptionally discerning eye.

One of his disciples had even become a Hero.

And in Ludwig’s eyes, that sloth was anything but ordinary.

It seemed almost completely at ease, even in the Forest of Four Seasons, where every other creature struggled desperately to survive.

This was a place where you never knew who—or what—might attack, nor when, where, how, or why.

‘Then again, perhaps that young man Grylls is the powerful one.’

That was something he could learn gradually. For now, rest took precedence over everything else.

His body had only narrowly avoided the worst possible outcome.

Fortunately, he could still circulate mana through his cultivation technique.

However, even that was proceeding extremely slowly. The Forest of Four Seasons’ dense mana was constantly bearing down on him.

It felt as though his mana were laboriously crawling through a passage that had been constricted to the extreme.

‘Will escaping be... difficult?’

A troubled sigh escaped Ludwig before he realized it.

This place was already difficult enough to survive in, and now he had completely lost his right foot.

At this rate, he feared he would only become an unnecessary burden on Grylls.

‘Perhaps it would have been better if I had simply died....’

With one disastrous situation following another, pessimistic thoughts arose naturally.

Rather than being of any help, he had become deadweight. At this point, wounded pride was irrelevant—he simply felt apologetic.

Even if Grylls threw him out, he intended to accept it without complaint.

After all, keeping him here offered no benefit whatsoever. He was merely another mouth to feed.

“I’m back.”

Ludwig was lost in those complicated thoughts when Grylls returned after disposing of his rotting foot.

Leaning quietly against the cave wall, Ludwig turned his head and looked at him.

He looked like an honest, dependable young man. That was the impression he gave.

He possessed the modest features common among Easterners and an approachable air that put others at ease.

‘Why did a young man like him end up in the Forest of Four Seasons?’

That only made the situation even more puzzling.

The Forest of Four Seasons was a den of monsters where only those who had been purged or convicted of serious crimes were sent.

Judging by his face alone, Grylls seemed far more likely to belong to the former category than the latter.

Moreover, considering how much kindness and generosity he had shown, it was exceedingly unlikely that he was a dangerous criminal.

‘Did he lose a power struggle between nobles?’

Thinking that, Ludwig tried to sit up properly.

Thanks to circulating his mana, he had recovered at least a little strength.

However, Grylls hurriedly stopped him before he could move.

“Just stay seated. Why are you trying to get up when you can barely use your foot?”

Words that Ludwig presumed belonged to the language of the Central Plains reached his ears.

How should he put it? Even though he could not understand them, they somehow sounded strangely sorrowful.

For the time being, Ludwig obediently did as he was told.

After all, Grylls was the master of this shelter and held absolute authority here.

As rigid and dutiful as Ludwig was, it was only natural that he would follow Grylls’s instructions to the letter.

‘What should I do now?’

Meanwhile, Grylls was also wondering what to do with Ludwig.

One thing was certain: he had absolutely no intention of coldheartedly throwing him out.

After all, this was his first guest(?) in an entire month.

In this hellish place, every single person was extremely valuable.

Even if that person had lost the use of one foot, it did not matter. As long as they could communicate, that was enough.

‘I’d like to give him a prosthetic foot if I could....’

He had already asked the dwarf whether he could make one.

The answer was that although it was not impossible, it was so difficult that it might as well have been.

When Grylls asked why, the dwarf said there were too many reasons to single out just one.

The greatest issue was the required precision. A prosthetic had to be custom-made for the individual.

Furthermore, unlike a hand or an arm, a leg had to support the person’s body weight.

If it was made incorrectly, it could inflict terrible pain on the patient.

Their current technology was also incapable of reproducing a functional joint.

There was a reason people used prosthetic legs that resembled simple wooden poles.

‘I can think about his foot later. For now, helping him recover comes first.’

Until just moments ago, Ludwig had been so haggard that the term “living corpse” suited him perfectly.

Now, however, some color had returned to his face, and he had regained a measure of strength.

He should at least be capable of holding a conversation without difficulty.

Although they could not understand each other’s language, Grylls had the gallery.

‘The things I need to ask are....’

His name, his affiliation, and the circumstances that had led to him entering the Forest of Four Seasons.

He also needed information about how Ludwig had survived within the forest.

Once he had investigated those matters, they could discuss how Ludwig would live from now on.

[Don’tAbandonTheHero: (Photo of a sheet of paper with writing from the Holy Kingdom) Will this work?!]

[Wild Grylls: Yes. Thank you, especially when you’re so busy.]

[Don’tAbandonTheHero: It’s nothing! Please take good care of Mr. Ludwig! I’ll do whatever I can to help!]

[Wild Grylls: How about coming here and helping him in person?]

[Don’tAbandonTheHero: I’ll consider that too! I’m really busy right now!]

Surprisingly, she did not say that she would never come.

Grylls found that odd but decided not to dwell on it.

He then copied the message translated by the administrator onto a sheet of paper and showed it to Ludwig.

After reading the message Grylls had shown him, Ludwig nodded.

“My name is—”

“Ah, wait a moment.”

Just as Ludwig was about to speak, Grylls held out a hand, signaling for him to wait.

Ludwig obediently complied. As mentioned before, Grylls held absolute authority in this place.

Grylls then activated the gallery’s video-recording function and gestured for him to continue.

“My name is—”

Another bombshell dropped.

***

“Whew....”

Selena released a deep sigh. Her exhaustion was plainly evident in it.

The social gathering held after the succession ceremony had been every bit as grueling as she had expected.

No one had drawn a weapon, but it had nevertheless been an exceptionally vicious battle.

‘I barely had a chance to talk about Mr. Grylls.’

Most disappointing of all was that she had failed to achieve her ultimate objective.

Since the matter was closely connected to the gallery, everyone had been reluctant to bring it up.

Furthermore, if the gallery had been the only issue, it might have been manageable. However, there were also numerous problems in the real world, so everyone’s attention had naturally gravitated toward those instead.

‘At least His Majesty responded positively.’

That did not mean she had gained nothing from the gathering. An unexpected individual had responded favorably to her proposal.

That individual was none other than Emperor Arnold.

She had unexpectedly landed an enormous catch.

He had said that while providing support on a national level would be difficult, Grylls was certainly worth investing in.

Of course, Arnold claimed that his opinion was based on information he had obtained outside the gallery, but Selena saw through him.

Arnold frequently visited the gallery himself and was well acquainted with Grylls’s personality.

‘Now that the Emperor has reacted positively, the information should spread before long.’

All she had to do was wait until then.

Selena looked ahead.

The gallery window was open before her eyes.

She was currently standing on a terrace.

Since it was a perfect place to be alone with her thoughts, she had taken advantage of a brief interval to access the gallery.

[I knew this would happen. Those Holy Kingdom bastards, lmaooo.]

[What are you going to do now? What can any of you even do? Lmaooo.]

[Ah, El Dorado is finished. El Dorado is no longer a holy kingdom.]

[Upvote if you think El Dorado is pathetic, lol.]

The moment she logged in, she discovered that the gallery was in complete chaos.

This was the first time she had accessed it since checking it that morning.

Not even six hours had passed.

‘What happened?’

Confused, Selena opened the trending-posts section.

There, she found a post by Grylls sitting proudly among the most popular entries.

It had even received an extraordinarily high number of upvotes. She opened it immediately.

Title: Video of the Paladin Riding a Giraffe
Wild Grylls

(Video of Ludwig introducing himself)
(Video of Ludwig exposing corruption within the Holy Kingdom)
(Video of Ludwig describing his life in the Forest of Four Seasons)

Can anyone translate this? I can tell he’s introducing himself at first, but I don’t understand anything after that.

└ Heavenly Demon: He looks better than he did earlier. I thought he was a living corpse.
└ SwordMaster: It sounded like he said something extremely serious. Am I wrong?
└ There are plenty of people from the Holy Kingdom here, so someone will probably translate it soon.
　└ I’m preparing my popcorn right now, lol.

└ Don’tAbandonTheHero: To summarize, his name is Ludwig, and he used to be the commander of the Holy Kingdom’s knight order! And... the rest of it is about how the Holy Kingdom is absolute garbage!
　└ That’s way too condensed. Can you explain it in more detail?
　└ Don’tAbandonTheHero: I’m sorry! The things he described are so disgusting that I can’t even bring myself to write them down!
　　└ It’s that bad? Damn....
└ What the hell did he say?

Selena had some knowledge of the Holy Kingdom’s language.

Only her body had been frail. Her exceptional intellect had remained perfectly intact.

She listened to what the paladin named Ludwig had to say.

“...Good heavens.”

It contained depravity beyond anything she could have imagined.

El Dorado was already no different from a powder keg, but this went far beyond simply tossing a spark into it.

It was not a spark but a Molotov cocktail—no, it was as though someone had dropped a meteor on it.

Now that the video had spread through the gallery, the real world must already have descended into chaos as well.

Selena hurriedly closed the gallery and entered the audience hall.

“...What? Where did everyone go?”

Except for a handful of people, everyone had departed, leaving the social hall almost completely empty.

There were now more attendants and maids in the room than nobles.

As Selena stood there in bewilderment, someone approached her.

“Everyone said they had urgent matters to attend to and left.”

It was Ash.

Selena turned toward her upon hearing that.

If anything, it was more surprising that Ash had remained behind.

But Ash also knew what had just happened.

“I’m not sure what’s going on, but... shouldn’t you hurry home as well, Your Highness?”

“...What about you, Countess?”

“Me? Well....”

Ash shrugged, then held out the wineglass in her hand as she answered.

“All I have to do is go home.”

She was essentially declaring, without the slightest shame, that it did not matter to her because she was unemployed.

Selena was briefly dumbfounded, but soon let out a quiet laugh.

“I envy you.”

And thus, a nuclear bomb was dropped upon the world.

Meanwhile—

“No, seriously! How did you manage to cause an accident the moment you arrived?!”

“I did not do anything. It attached itself to me.”

“I have no idea what you’re saying! Just put some strength into it!”

Grylls struggled to detach Ludwig, whose ankle had somehow become stuck to the mithril vein.

“What the hell did you do to get yourself stuck to it?!”

“I truly do not know.”

Although they could not understand each other’s words, the situation itself was enough to keep their conversation going.