Healing After Sweeping Spirits with an Almighty Skill - Chapter 13

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 13
Episode 13. First Meetings Are Never Easy
Two days later.
A bright and hopeful piece of news arrived at Spirit Village.
Spirit Village Level 5
┼ Construction Complete List
└ Main Hall Level 2
└ Mine Level 2
└ Medicinal Herb Garden Level 2
└ Water Source Level 2
└ Nest Level 2
└ Furnace Level 1
└ Lighthouse Level 1
└ Storage Level 1
└ Wind Turbine Level 1
┼ Level 5 Expansion Requirements (3/3)
└ Main Hall Level 2 (1/1)
└ Wind Turbine Level 1 (1/1)
└ Village Residents (10/10)
All conditions for expansion to Level 5 had been met.
Kkul Kkul I and the lighthouse spirit had been working tirelessly, and over the past day and a half, spirits had trickled in steadily until we finally broke into double digits.
[Hee-hah!]
[This is so exciting!]
Pung Ho Gi and a newcomer sylph zipped through the air.
[Ooh.]
[Oh?]
[Ooooh.]
To Ho Gi was also teaching two new gnomes, their delighted murmurs filling the air.
[Hehe.]
[This place is so nice!]
[Totally love it!]
Su Ho Gi was enjoying time with two new water spirits that had recently arrived.
‘Four gnomes, three water spirits, two sylphs, one salamander.’
The ten spirits now filled Spirit Village with their presence.
Worried that ten spirits would make Spirit Village feel cramped? Not at all.
Tiny creatures scurrying about wouldn’t even fill a single room in the main hall.
‘Either way, that’s how it’s turned out.’
Expand Spirit Village to Level 5?
‘Expand.’
Hummmmm—
With a vibration now familiar enough to be comforting, Spirit Village expanded another step further.
[Wow…!]
[It’s bigger!]
[This is incredible!]
Leaving the newcomer spirits’ excited cries behind, I opened my skill window.
I needed to check the new buildings and expansion requirements.
Spirit Village Level 5
┼ Construction Complete List
└ Main Hall Level 2
└ Mine Level 2
└ Medicinal Herb Garden Level 2
└ Water Source Level 2
└ Nest Level 2
└ Furnace Level 1
└ Lighthouse Level 1
└ Windmill Level 1
└ Storage Level 1
┼ Construction Available List
┼ Level ? Expansion Requirements (1/3)
└ Residents’ Happiness (45/50)
└ Residents’ Enthusiastic Support (1/1)
└ Spirit Awareness Improvement: First Stage (0/1)
‘?’
A question mark floated into my mind unbidden.
I stared at the skill window like a gamer waiting for a loading bar to finish.
But nothing changed.
‘The construction list is empty?’
This was my first time encountering something like this.
Yet that wasn’t the only strange thing.
‘The next level is showing as a question mark.’
Even the expansion conditions had changed—no longer demanding that I build certain structures or reach a specific population count.
‘Residents’ happiness, residents’ enthusiastic support, spirit awareness improvement first stage?’
I could understand the first two well enough. But the last one didn’t make sense at first glance.
‘Ah, I think I get it. Spirits in the Tower are monsters, but the children of the Spirit Autonomous Zone are different—it’s telling me to publicize that widely.’
In truth, this was something I’d have to do eventually.
I couldn’t keep the Spirit Autonomous Zone hidden forever, and I couldn’t keep having the Spirits and me skulk about in hoods every time we went to the Fortress.
I still didn’t have a clear sense of how to achieve it, but one thing was certain.
‘I’m really looking forward to the next expansion.’
An expansion to a question mark level, no less.
I couldn’t help but be intensely curious about how Spirit Village would transform.
“Anyway, should we call it a night?”
It was ten p.m.—time for a responsible adult to get some sleep.
The moment I turned off all the lights in Spirit Village and crawled into bed, spreading my sleeping bag like a blanket, a problem arose.
[Hehehehe!]
[I’m sleeping on your belly tonight!]
[Mmm.]
[What are you talking about? Sylph got a turn yesterday!]
The Spirits came crawling eagerly onto my bed, determined to sleep beside me.
“…….”
It was cramped.
The bed was cramped.
Squirm, squirm.
The Spirits pushed and jostled each other, playful and chaotic, settling into spots along my arm, across my chest, beside my body.
I watched them for a moment, then asked.
“Why can’t you all just go sleep in your nests?”
Thud. Sudden silence.
[Sniff.]
Su Ho Gi let out a whimper.
From there, the crying sound of the Undines erupted from all directions.
[Sniff.]
[Sniff.]
They didn’t stop—their eyes glistening with tears, on the verge of breaking down, they looked up at me.
[Sniff.]
[Sniff.]
[Sniff.]
A surround-sound bombardment of sympathy-inducing assault from every side.
It was practically like those green frogs by the rain-soaked pond, wailing as if their mother’s grave were washing away—utterly identical in their shamelessness and the bafflement at why they were even performing in the first place.
Normally I was the type to resist such an attack….
‘The skill window.’
┼ LV. ? Expansion Conditions (1/3)
└ Residents’ Happiness (7/50)
└ Residents’ Enthusiastic Support (1/1)
└ Spirit Awareness Improvement: First Stage (0/1)
The Spirits’ happiness had plummeted from forty-five to seven.
“Ugh.”
In the end, I had no choice but to surrender.
“Fine. Sleep wherever you want.”
[Hooray!]
[Yay!]
Where else in the world could an employee benefit package include a boss who surrendered his own bed?
If the Spirit Village grows, I’ll drive them all out of their nests.
* * *
The next day.
While I brooded over the spirits’ happiness and attitude improvement, the spirits themselves set about their assigned tasks.
[Whoooosh—!]
Pung Ho Gi and Sylph took turns spinning the wind turbine and cleaning the Spirit Village.
Using the wind’s power made it simple to gather dust and debris from the main building and other structures outside.
Garbage disposal was even simpler—just toss it beyond the barrier and be done.
Whoooee—!
The Wasteland, forever howling with knife-edged winds, sucked up dust and trash like a vacuum.
[Lalala—.]
Su Ho Gi and Undine tended the medicinal herbs in the herb garden with meticulous care.
They didn’t simply sprinkle water and leave—they carefully applied it to each leaf, one by one.
The water from the source brimmed with Magical Power, and Undine wielded the strength of water itself. That the medicinal herbs grown in the Spirit Village far surpassed those from the Wasteland was entirely natural.
[Eat plenty too!]
Undine even fed water with devoted care to the Mandrake.
“Hmm….”
Well, it should be fine. They said the Mandrake is safe as long as it doesn’t emerge above ground.
[Oh!]
[Ooh!]
Just then, two gnomes came tumbling out of the mine. In their outstretched hands they proudly displayed chunks of Ore.
“Excellent. Put them in today’s box.”
Trading the gnomes a snack for Ore each time was inefficient and troublesome.
So I’d set up a “today’s box” section in the storage, where the gnomes would deposit all their Ore, and I would distribute snacks equal to the day’s haul when evening came.
It was only possible because the gnomes, unlike Undine who ate snacks immediately upon receiving them, had the habit of storing everyone’s share in the communal snack depot.
“Hmm.”
I’d come to check the gnomes’ box and decided to survey the entire storage.
Quite a considerable quantity of goods had accumulated.
Various Ore and Magical Ore that the gnomes had dug with such effort, and multiple Medicinal Herbs and Magical Water that Undine had cultivated with equal devotion.
The current production volume of the Spirit Autonomous Zone was quite respectable. The herb garden, in particular, felt cramped relative to the number of spirits.
‘How am I supposed to sell all this?’
Selling one item at a time through the Trading Application couldn’t keep pace with the gnomes’ mining speed. Just as I’d sold medicinal herbs to the workshop, I needed a place to offload Magical Ore and Magical Water in bulk.
‘Maybe I should pick shops one by one and establish trade routes. But hauling all this around and going from shop to shop every time is pretty cumbersome too.’
Was there nowhere that would buy all these goods at once?
The first candidate that came to mind was the Magic Tower Guild.
With mages gathered in one place, they’d welcome my offer to sell Magical Ore and Magical Water used for leveling up skills with open arms.
‘But getting tangled up with a guild is something I need to think carefully about.’
My current position is a gray area in many respects.
I’m an Awakened Being, but not a Hunter. I’m in Tower World, but not in the Fortress.
In polite terms, I’m a neutral nation. In honest terms, I’m a raft adrift on the sea.
‘If I stumble into the hidden power struggles between guilds, it’s all over.’
The Magic Tower Guild especially had awkward relations with other guilds. Most of its members were mages who’d been driven out of other guilds.
Gain one customer hastily, and I might end up with even more enemies in return.
Lost in these musings, I left the storage and locked eyes with a man.
“……?”
I blinked for a moment.
A man stood outside the barrier, cupping his hands like binoculars and peering inward.
Or rather, attempting to peer inward.
The man soon clicked his tongue as if seeing nothing, then stepped back a few paces.
Then he drew something from the waistband of his protective gear and slipped it onto his fist. It was a solid metal pair of Knuckles.
“Surely he’s not going to punch it?”
That “surely” turned out to be exactly what happened.
The man took his stance, seemingly intent on hitting with all his might, and drew up his Magical Power.
He appeared to be an Awakened Being.
I was taken aback at first, but decided to observe the situation quietly. After all, I needed to verify the protective capacity of the Spirit Autonomous Zone myself.
Thoom—! Whoosh—!
The man swung his fists repeatedly and with force.
Yet only the sand winds outside the barrier scattered from the impact; the inside remained completely unharmed.
‘He seems to be at least a B-Class Awakened Being.’
And yet he still couldn’t breach the barrier of the Spirit Autonomous Zone. Satisfied with the results of my test, I headed back to the main building.
I had to put on protective gear and go outside to meet that man.
* * *
All right, let me pose a riddle.
A first meeting is difficult for anyone—nothing ever goes according to plan.
So how can you make a first meeting, if not ideal, at least tilt in your favor?
‘Kindness and generosity following a tit-for-tat strategy?’
I’m afraid that’s a poor strategy.
Especially in the Wasteland of the Tower World, where a first meeting often becomes your last.
The real answer is surprisingly simple.
‘Put yourself in their shoes.’
Swap positions with the other person and think it through.
What’s difficult for me is difficult for them. What confuses me confuses them too.
So here’s what you do.
“Hey, what in blazes are you doing in someone else’s courtyard! Are you some kind of thug?! Are you a thug, or what?!”
“Wh—what? A person?”
The man swinging his fists stared at me in shock as I bolted out of the Autonomous Zone shouting.
“Your attack just sent all my belongings flying! How are you going to pay for this! Ow! My neck!”
A first meeting where nothing goes according to plan—terribly difficult. Make yourself the one creating that difficulty for them.
Remember this.
A first meeting is about momentum.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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