Healing After Sweeping Spirits with an Almighty Skill - Chapter 29

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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 29
29. A Horror Night in Spirit Castle
Suho-gi tilted his head and asked.
[What’s a horror movie?]
[A scary movie!]
[Huh? But movies are supposed to be fun. How can that be scary?]
From Suho-gi’s perspective, having only ever watched children’s animated films, the pairing of the word “horror” with “movie” made no sense whatsoever.
Not that he could be blamed.
Before I entered elementary school myself, I couldn’t fathom how the words “kind” and “adult” could possibly go together.
“You might be better off not watching. Horror movies are genuinely frightening.”
I tried to dissuade them.
[Well, that’s true! If you think you can’t handle it, you don’t have to watch! We Sylphs will just watch it ourselves!]
But Punghо-gi’s words lit a spark among the other spirits.
[Oooh!]
[Ohhh!]
[I want to watch too!]
[Ooooh!]
Like moths drawn to flame by Punghо-gi’s cowardly remark, Suho-gi and Toho-gi and the other spirits rushed forward. In the end, we all decided to watch the movie together.
A home theater perfected with furniture that had arrived not long ago.
A 9.1 Surround Sound System and a 200-inch TV, plus a massive sofa that put the Bed Sofa to shame. It was an ideal cinema.
Why a sofa instead of a recliner, you ask? Well, at first I’d considered buying bean bags or recliners. But I quickly learned that such things went to waste—the spirits didn’t use them anyway.
‘The spirits use me as a chair.’
[I’m sitting on your legs!]
[I’m taking your shoulders!]
[I want your lap!]
[Ooooh!]
While the spirits waged their usual battle for seating, I picked up the remote and selected the movie Punghо-gi had mentioned.
– I Am a Monster.
It was based on a solid novel, made during Hollywood’s golden age with respectable CGI, and most of all, it featured outstanding performances from its talented cast.
The genre was a zombie apocalypse film blending elements of thriller, action, suspense, and plot twist.
‘If I’m being honest, it’s more of an action film than a horror movie.’
The problem was that all of this was entirely new to the spirits.
[A human living alone in a massive cemetery!]
[So scary…!]
To the spirits, the abandoned building apparently looked like a graveyard.
[T-the human turned into a monster!]
[Kyaaaah!]
Of course, they’d never even heard of zombies before.
[T-the human is dead…!]
[Waaaaah!]
Watching humans—or human-shaped creatures—die was probably their first time experiencing such a thing.
[Ooooh…!]
[Waaaaaah…!]
Even after the movie ended, the spirits remained deeply shaken, refusing to leave my embrace.
[Hmm. It was actually pretty entertaining, though?]
[Those creatures were more grotesque than the monsters outside. The imagination of humans is something else!]
[What should we watch next time?]
Only the Sylphs floated about in midair, exchanging their thoughts on the film.
“Hey, you guys?”
[Waaaaaah…!]
[You can’t die…!]
Clinging tightly to my arms with no intention of leaving, I smiled softly and tried to comfort them by stroking their heads and backs.
Nestled among the gathered spirits in my embrace, Suho-gi asked.
[Is that… really real?]
“I told you movies are all fake.”
[So that will never happen?]
“Well… I can’t say it’s absolutely impossible.”
[Waaaaaah!]
“No, no, no. It absolutely won’t. I’m sorry.”
After soothing the spirits at length, it soon became time for sleep. I gathered them all into my arms and headed for the bedroom.
I lay in bed and pulled a thin blanket over myself. As always, spirits crept underneath it—though after watching that horror film, they clung to me far more intensely than usual today.
[What if something like that actually happened?]
“We have the Spirit Castle. We can just come here.”
[But what if it happened at the Spirit Castle too…?]
“Then we’d hide in the Main Castle.”
I answered their cascading questions with appropriate reassurances while surrendering myself to the tide of sleep washing over me.
As my grip on reality slowly loosened, I could still hear only the spirits’ hushed murmuring.
[…Maybe the Human Realm becomes like this too….]
[…What happens to us then….]
[…It’ll all be over. The Dragon King and all of us….]
[…To stop it, we need to grow this place….]
[…For that, we need more spirits….]
[…The Spirit Realm’s restoration….]
[…We have to protect it….]
[…The Spirit King….]
[…We must….]
[…Oh….]
At some point, I drifted into sleep.
* * *
Morning.
With the rising sun came three new spirits—all Sylphs.
[The Spirit Special Zone achieves double digits in a single spirit attribute for the first time!]
[And it’s the Sylphs, as expected!]
True to the delighted Sylphs’ words, their number had now reached ten—five times as many as the Salamanders, the smallest faction.
And what that meant was this:
┼ Level 3 Expansion Condition (3/3)
└ 1. Workshop Level 1 (1/1)
└ 2. Water Source Level 3 (1/1)
└ 3. Village Residents (25/25)
The Spirit Castle could now expand to Level 3.
“Expand immediately!”
Rummmble—.
At my command, the castle walls began to move.
The spirits danced with delight at the pleasant vibration.
[Woohoo!]
[It’s getting bigger!]
The boundaries and walls receded gradually, and the four districts within the Spirit Castle each expanded.
Stone paths connecting building to building rose from the ground, and where they didn’t, grass and wildflowers sprouted up.
[Ooh.]
Toho-gi bounded happily toward the wildflowers, sniffing at them with delight.
[This is wonderful!]
The Sylphs soared excitedly through the now-broader skies of the Spirit Castle. For the spirits, having their home grow larger was nothing but good fortune.
The Spirit Castle has expanded to Level 3.
Spirit Castle Level 3
┼ Construction Complete
└ Main Castle Level 1
└ Mine Level 3
└ Herb Garden Level 2
└ Water Source Level 3
└ Nest Level 2
└ Hearth Level 2
└ Smelter Level 1
└ Workshop Level 2
└ Storage Level 2
└ Lighthouse Level 3
└ Spire Level 1
└ Wind Generator Level 2
┼ Available for Construction
└ Main Castle Level 2
└ Herb Garden Level 3
└ Nest Level 3
└ Plaza Level 1
┼ Level 4 Expansion Conditions (0/3)
└ 1. Main Castle Level 2 (0/1)
└ 2. Plaza Level 1 (0/1)
└ 3. Aesthetic Score (41 points/100 points)
A freshly updated list of constructible buildings.
Three existing building upgrades and one new structure were available.
‘A plaza, then.’
I’d been using the empty courtyard in front of the Main Castle whenever I needed to gather the spirits. The prospect of having a dedicated plaza—a space for meetings and announcements—was certainly welcome.
‘Let’s see, what’s the next expansion condition? Aesthetic Score? What on earth is that?’
Presumably it was a numerical rating of the Spirit Castle’s visual appeal, just as the name suggested.
I swept my gaze across the Spirit Castle. Thanks to the Sylphs’ regular cleaning efforts, there wasn’t a speck of dust or debris anywhere.
The only things I could spot were moss clinging to the walls near the water source and soot on the fireplace—but weren’t those details of ‘character’ rather than ‘filth’?
‘But only forty-two points? Seriously?’
A small sigh escaped me.
I’d need to understand this grading system better. I expanded the skill window to check the construction materials for each building.
Constructible Buildings
┼ Main Castle Level 2
└ Material: Stone (10kg/10kg)
└ Material: Cement (0kg/10kg)
└ Material: Portrait of the Castle Lord (0/1)
┼ Herb Garden Level 3
└ Material: Sickle (0/1)
└ Material: Fertilizer (0kg/10kg)
└ Material: Rare Plant (1/1)
┼ Nest Level 3
└ Material: Wood (10kg/20kg)
└ Material: Bean Bag (0/1)
└ Devotion to Spirits (1/1)
┼ Plaza Level 1
└ Material: Stone (10kg/10kg)
└ Material: Bench (0/1)
└ Material: Clock (0/1)
Here too, there were plenty of buildings demanding peculiar and whimsical materials.
‘A sickle, a bean bag, benches… and a portrait? What’s that about?’
Unusual and eccentric as they were, every requirement made a certain sense. For a residence befitting a castle lord, surely a portrait or two should be on display.
I filtered out the materials I might be able to craft myself.
‘The sickle and benches seem doable.’
I decided to forgo the clock and bean bag altogether.
There was no point wasting time sourcing materials, studying, and attempting to craft those items myself when it would be far more efficient to build other structures quickly and raise the Spirit Castle’s level.
“Jing? Could you run some errands for me?”
“Building materials, I’m guessing? No problem. I’ll pick up dinner while I’m at it too.”
After giving Jung-jin a list of what I needed, I summoned Nohm and Agamander back to the smelter.
“All right, starting today, you’re going to try making things on your own.”
[Oh?]
“I can’t always be here watching over you. While I’m away, you’re going to oversee things, Toho-gi.”
[Oh…?]
At my words, Toho-gi’s eyes went wide, and then the spirit cupped their chin as if contemplating something. After a moment, they pointed to Nohm and spoke to me.
[Ohhh.]
“You’re saying I should put Nohm in charge as supervisor instead of you?”
Toho-gi nodded in agreement.
I was a bit taken aback. To be honest, if it had been Punghо-gi, they would never have willingly handed this honor over to another Sylph.
“All right, then. This one’s the supervisor.”
I chose to respect Toho-gi’s decision, which was made with such quiet certainty.
[Ohhh!]
“Since it might be confusing otherwise, I’ll mark your Safety Helmet.”
I raised both hands and, as Nohm began to mime victory, I used an oil-based marker to write large letters on the spirit’s helmet.
– Supervisor.
[Ohhh…!]
At that, Nohm clutched the Safety Helmet to his chest with obvious delight—as if he’d just received a gift from Santa himself.
‘From now on, I’ll call him Director Nohm.’
As that thought crossed my mind, I suddenly grasped something.
The Spirits who had arrived at the Spirit Special Zone in the wake of the original four—the “Ten Founding Spirits”—had grown noticeably larger themselves.
It wasn’t a dramatic difference, but compared to the newer recruits who’d come recently, they were a joint’s width taller.
‘So the second generation is starting to show their hand.’
I smiled and stroked Director Nohm’s head.
“Then I’m counting on you.”
[Oh!]
The Spirit Castle advanced and evolved with each passing day.
The Spirits themselves were growing by leaps and bounds.
* * *
The same day.
Following the contract, the government distributed and sold goods from the Spirit Special Zone to several guilds.
“Move aside! It’s mine! It’s all mine!”
“I was born for this day, I swear!”
“My precious!”
It was reason enough for mages to foam at the mouth and run.

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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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