Healing After Sweeping Spirits with an Almighty Skill - Chapter 31

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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 31
31. The Mandrake and the Boy in the Raincoat
Whoooosh.
The Spirit Castle, with its wind turbines spinning steadily.
The streets were empty, and the Spirit Castle was wrapped in such profound silence that it felt as though a wartime evacuation order had just been issued.
Peek.
I lifted my eyes just above the Main Fortress window and surveyed the Herb Field in the distance. Fortunately, the Mandrake still showed no signs of movement.
[Mission complete!]
After a brief moment, Punghogi and the Sylphs saluted me.
[We have finished installing the Sound Barrier around the target!]
“Good work. Thanks for that.”
I turned my attention to Suhogi and Tohogi next.
“I need some Earplugs.”
[But… that’s dangerous….]
[Oh….]
“Don’t worry. I trust your strength.”
Water-made Earplugs from Suhogi were fitted, and then Tohogi’s Ear Cover was placed over them.
Wrapped in perfect silence that would block even the Mandrake’s screams, I took one deep breath and left the Main Fortress. My target was the Herb Field. I intended to dig up the Mandrake entirely. Once I cut off its head, the sound would stop.
‘If you cut off the head, the screaming stops, or so they say.’
When the head is severed, the merchandise value drops by about half. But there was no helping it.
‘I wanted to sell it in perfect condition if possible, but if it becomes dangerous, there’s no choice.’
People say that hearing its cry causes instant death, but the Mandrake wasn’t ‘quite as’ dangerous as all that—provided it was properly managed.
It was similar to how eating pufferfish without removing the poison kills you, or how being bitten by a snake in an unglassed zoo can be fatal.
Besides, the Spirit Special Zone here has no wild boars or moles that might accidentally unearth a Mandrake.
The reason I’d left this one untouched all this time, never digging it up or burning it, was precisely that. The Gnomes had been managing it well.
‘But if it shows movements I can’t predict like that, I’ll have to get rid of it.’
When I reached the Herb Field, the Mandrake’s leaves still jutted up above the soil. It looked like one arm of the body buried underground, sticking up through the earth.
Mandrake (Rapid Growth)
S-Rank Crafting Material
There had been a change in the Mandrake’s status window.
The text that had read “Growing” had changed to “Rapid Growth.”
‘Could it be because of the Mana I absorbed earlier?’
I picked up a stick and carefully poked at its leaves.
Poke, poke.
There was no reaction.
Even when I flipped the leaves over with the stick, still nothing.
‘Good. At least I won’t be caught off guard by a sudden attack.’
I knelt down carefully and began digging at the soil around the leaves.
I’d heard that cutting off the neck in one clean stroke would preserve the most value. My plan was to dig it up first, then use Wind Mana to sever its head.
Scrape—and the earth parted.
That was before our eyes met, the Mandrake and I, beneath the soil.
[…….]
“…….”
[…….]
“…….”
I quietly piled the soil back over it.
Pat, pat.
Even tucking it in well and patting the earth down as you might for something growing nicely.
When I returned to the Main Fortress and removed the Ear Cover and Earplugs, Jung Jin asked.
“What is it? Why are you empty-handed?”
“It’s not dangerous.”
“What?”
“Our eyes met and it didn’t scream.”
“Your eyes met?”
“Yeah.”
“But it didn’t make a sound?”
“Right.”
Jung Jin rubbed his neck with a puzzled expression, then pulled out his phone and began searching frantically for something.
“That shouldn’t be possible. Mandrakes screech like crazy the moment even a part of their roots pokes above the ground.”
“Maybe this one’s just unusually docile.”
“Then what about the leaves sprouting out?”
“It seems my mana influenced them somehow.”
“Are you turning into a druid or something? Actually, that makes sense. The Herb Field with its rapid growth was your skill from the start.”
Jung Jin’s point had merit, but I found myself drawn to my own hypothesis instead.
Every time I’d trained my mana before, I’d drawn it up from a foundation of anger. But just now, since I wasn’t in the middle of training, I’d channeled my mana through joy instead of rage.
“What if the attribute of mana changes depending on what emotion you’re channeling?”
“I don’t know. That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”
I’d need to ask an expert. One particular Guild came to mind immediately.
* * *
That afternoon.
The government sent over the settlement payment for the first delivery. Even after accounting for the 2 billion won advance, there was still an additional 200 million won coming in.
“Which means today is chicken party time!”
“Yaaay!”
Jung Jin, my live-in guest and martial instructor, clapped excitedly.
[Ooooh!]
[Yaaay!]
[Hee-ha!]
The spirits were delighted too.
Suhogi tilted his head curiously once the initial excitement wore off.
[But what’s chicken?]
“You don’t get any!”
[Aww.]
Jung Jin handled the delivery.
There were plenty of restaurants in Boru, of course, but getting food to the Spirit Special Zone before it got cold required at least A-rank speed.
“Delivery!”
“We’ve been waiting!”
I received the food and spread it out on the mat I’d laid down in advance in the Plaza.
Chicken, pizza, sweet and sour pork, tteokbokki.
Cola, cider, apple juice, chocolate milk.
Plus apple wood chips, tangerine wood chips, and grape wood chips that I’d special-ordered from the smoked barbecue place in Boru.
“Everyone gather around! Party time!”
At my summons, the spirits gathered on the mat. The two Sylphs carried Salamander, who was stuck in the Lighthouse, and brought her along.
[Boss! We’ve brought Salamander!]
[Shaaaa!]
Twenty-eight spirits sat on the mat. The Lighthouse had risen to level 3, so our population was growing every single day.
I poured drinks into paper cups in front of each spirit. Since spirits were small, a soju glass was the right size. I held up my cup and spoke, lost in reflection.
“It’s been over a month since the Spirit Castle was founded. Today we’ve made a truly historic first transaction.”
[Ooooh.]
[Yaaaay!]
The spirits’ cheers brought the past month’s trials flashing through my mind.
…….
Actually, they didn’t really flash through. Come to think of it, I hadn’t particularly suffered over this past month.
“Anyway, thanks for all your hard work, and let’s keep having fun as we grow and develop even more going forward!”
Saying that, I stretched out my cup arm. When Jung Jin clinked his cup against mine, the other spirits picked up their cups one by one and clinked against mine as well.
[Ooooh!]
[Right! More friends are going to come too!]
[Ha ha! Of course more will come! There’s nowhere else to go but here!]
I drained my drink and let out a gasp of delight.
“Ahh! Sweet, so sweet!”
This was the taste of wealth.
“Go on, eat lots, all of you!”
I placed a chicken leg in front of Tohogi and Gnome the supervisor. Now that was real generosity.
[Oh?]
[Oh…!]
The two Gnomes gazed in wonder at chicken legs as big as their bodies, then began gnawing at the batter bit by bit.
[Oooh!]
[Ooooh!]
And I learned that Gnome had at least one more word in his vocabulary besides “oh.”
“You Undines pick out whatever drinks you like.”
[This one’s delicious!]
[Delicious! I love it!]
Several of the Undines clustered around the Chicken Radish, apparently partial to the sweet and tangy flavor.
“All right, our precious friend….”
[Hisssss!]
“…King Salamander here has different types of wood chips laid out, so pick what you like.”
I couldn’t possibly defy our sole lighthouse keeper, so I bumped his title up five ranks in courtesy.
Salamander glared at me through narrowed eyes, yet slowly unfurled his tongue and swallowed a wood chip. He seemed pleased with the arrangement.
[Tee-hee-hee!]
Agamander laughed merrily beside him, sharing the wood chips.
[Aha-ha!]
[So much fun!]
The Sylphs darted about near us in high spirits, watching the others eat.
The Sylphs, unable to consume anything with solid form, drew their sustenance from the energy we radiated.
‘The emotional energy that the spirits and I give off.’
Joy, happiness—things like that.
To repay the Sylphs, everyone in the Spirit Castle had to be happy. That was why Punghogi had demanded play as compensation for his labor.
‘My shoulders grow heavier.’
But it wasn’t an unwelcome weight. After all, it was the weight of the gold I would earn.
* * *
The next day.
From early morning, Mana was being drawn into the Workshop. Wondering if someone was making toys again, I went to investigate and found a Sylph sitting in front of the 3D Printer.
One of the first ten spirits, one of the second-generation spirits.
Whirrrr.
Inside the 3D Printer, thin garments were taking shape.
They fit the Sylph perfectly, and since they were made of Mana Plastic, their texture resembled polyester.
“Are you making a raincoat?”
[Huh? You call this a raincoat?]
The Sylph put on the finished garment. In yellow, it looked like something from an old animated show.
[How’s it look? Does it suit me?]
“It suits you well. But why’d you suddenly decide to make it?”
[The protagonist in a movie I saw a few days ago was wearing this. Said it was good for blocking wind.]
“So it wasn’t a raincoat—it was a windbreaker.”
[A windbreaker? Is that what this outfit is called?]
The Sylph giggled.
I found the situation equally amusing.
A wind spirit going out of his way to make and wear a windbreaker.
“What game are you planning to use it for?”
I asked without much interest.
The spirits took play seriously enough that this was hardly surprising. Surely it was for some clever game or other—nothing that seemed particularly important.
[Ah, it’s not for a game.]
But the Sylph’s next words struck me with genuine shock.
[I’m going to wear this and leave the Spirit Castle.]
A sudden declaration of running away.

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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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