Healing After Sweeping Spirits with an Almighty Skill - Chapter 33

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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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Chapter 33
Chapter 33. Spirit Fiber
That afternoon, after hearing Sylph’s declaration of exploration.
I summoned all the gnomes to the Crafting Workshop.
“Now, there’s something we need to make.”
I spoke gravely, looking at the nine gnomes gathered before me.
“Everything we’ve crafted so far has been important, has been treasured, but what we’re making today is different.”
The gnomes listened to my words with eyes as serious as my tone.
“There’s a spirit who wants to venture beyond these walls to rescue other spirits. We’re going to help that spirit explore the Wasteland in a way that’s as painless and inconvenient as possible.”
[Oh.]
[Oh….]
Toho-gi and the Supervisor exchanged glances, their eyes wide with surprise. Both nodded and looked at me with even graver expressions.
I nodded at the gnomes, their eyes burning with determination. It was exactly the right attitude.
Flap.
I placed a Windbreaker onto the crafting table. It was one Sylph had made this morning.
But only half of the Windbreaker was intact; the other half was crumbling away.
“This is clothing made from Mana Plastic. For an experiment, I draped it over the Castle Wall with only half exposed to the outside of the Wasteland.”
Before the Erosive Wind, which weathered everything at thousands of times normal speed, no fabric known to humanity was of any use.
I had hoped that Mana Plastic, being woven from mana, might be different—but this was the result.
“This is its state after hanging for two hours. I dared to hope, but Mana Plastic doesn’t actually have any resistance to the Erosive Wind.”
Only materials obtained from the Tower and the Tower World have any resistance to the Erosive Wind. So I came up with an idea.
“That’s why I’m going to need your help.”
Thunk.
I placed a rolled Mithril Sheet onto the crafting table—a joint creation of gnomes and the salamander, forged from raw ore melted down and pressed into foil as thin as gossamer.
[Oh.]
[Huh?]
The gnomes stared at me as if they hadn’t a clue. I tapped the Mithril Sheet as I spoke.
“We’re going to separate this Mithril Sheet into threads as fine as hair and weave them between the fibers of the Windbreaker’s fabric.”
Polyester is fiber and cloth. Because it’s woven from warp and weft, there are microscopic gaps where the threads cross.
We’ll pass fine Mithril threads through those gaps to reinforce the fabric.
‘I got the idea from that Smart Fiber everyone’s been talking about lately.’
Mithril was a mineral found only in the Tower World, and it had two major properties: it could conduct mana, and it was unaffected by the Erosive Wind.
Right now, the second property was what mattered.
“This is going to be delicate work. Harder than anything we’ve done before.”
We’d be taking Mithril foil and separating it into threads, then embedding thousands upon thousands of strands into the fabric.
We’d be passing Mithril threads through the tiny pores—the microscopic gaps created where individual fibers interlocked.
“Since we need to pack each fiber densely, it’s going to take a long time. So if anyone wants to step out, that’s perfectly—”
[Oh!]
Toho-gi cut me off, his voice sharp with indignation at what I was implying about our gnomes.
I laughed quietly as I watched my gnomes’ eyes burn with passion.
“Good. That’s my gnomes for you. Let’s try it. I’ll give it my all too.”
It wouldn’t be easy. But we could do it. And we had to.
For a child who wanted to walk a lonely, grueling path all by herself, for everyone’s sake.
* * *
The uprising in the Matap Guild was quickly suppressed—thanks to Jeon Woo-chi, the guild’s founder and a member of the Round Table.
“What in blazes is all this commotion?”
Jeon Woo-chi sighed, looking at Bulldog and Dae Ji-su kneeling before him, and at the guild members venting their grievances to the pair.
“Make them cough it up right now!”
“They ate all our food!”
“And they have the nerve to hold their heads high?!”
“Look at that smug expression! Like a well-fed cat!”
Some guild members trembled with sorrow and rage, tears streaming down their faces. Among them, Bulldog and Dae Ji-su sat with utterly shameless expressions, not a trace of remorse.
In fact, Dae Ji-su even went so far as to say:
“Honestly, if you’d had the chance, you’d have wolfed it all down yourselves, wouldn’t you?”
…….
…….
The mages couldn’t bring themselves to deny it outright. Jeon Woo-chi waved a tired hand.
“Fine. You two are both banned from the additional Growth Item support the government sends for the next six months.”
“H-hold on. I’m the guild master… are you ordering me around…?”
*Hiss.*
“…….”
Bulldog protested, but one look from Jeon Woo-chi was enough to shut him down.
“Since it’s come to this, let’s call it here. For anyone who didn’t get their share this time, I’ll make sure to distribute things fairly next round.”
The Matap Guild members grumbled but nodded in agreement at Jeon Woo-chi’s words.
Bulldog is the Guild Master of Matap. But it was Jeon Woo-chi who put him in that seat. In the Matap Guild, there was no one who could go against Jeon Woo-chi’s word.
Having settled the dispute between Bulldog and Dae Ji-su, Jeon Woo-chi sat down and examined a single document.
A receipt confirmation slip—an inventory list of the items that had just come in.
‘Items from the Spirit Special District, then.’
The Matap Guild wasn’t a guild that placed particular value on its members’ growth or development. It had been founded to serve as a home for mages with nowhere else to go—not as a guild bent on building power for some greater purpose.
Still, when the government offered to provide growth support at a cheap rate, there was no reason to refuse. Jeon Woo-chi himself had considerable interest in this rising force.
‘The Spirit Special District.’
A faction he hadn’t even heard of until very recently.
The Spirit Special District remained shrouded in mystery far more than what had been made public, yet its buzz was nearly rivaling the Round Table.
‘Collecting materials by using spirits, they say.’
Though Jeon Woo-chi lived in semi-seclusion, he still knew about the Spirit Special District. He’d missed the live broadcast, but he’d watched a few vlogs about it afterward.
‘Materials flowing forth like the Cornucopia—as advertised. I wonder if they’ll keep delivering this volume of goods every month.’
It would be a tremendous help for the guild members’ growth. And perhaps even for those members who hadn’t benefited this time around.
‘Perhaps this will finally open a path for fire mages and wind mages.’
Currently, fire mages and wind mages barely existed in the Tower World. This was because the growth conditions—such as Fire Mana Absorption and Wind Mana Absorption—were nearly impossible to fulfill.
Jeon Woo-chi had seen countless mages over the years. Most had grown eccentric and selfish, but fire mages and wind mages had never even been given the chance to become that way.
‘If the Spirit Special District should somehow arrange a path for them as well….’
Jeon Woo-chi, who had fallen into deep thought for a moment, let out a small laugh and pushed the documents aside. He didn’t want to harbor yet another futile hope, no matter how many times he’d done so before.
* * *
A bedroom is not a place.
The spirits of Spirit Castle were proving this truth with their own bodies.
[Meow….]
[Purrrr-.]
Late at night.
The Crafting Workshop of Spirit Castle, its lights still burning.
Numerous spirits lay sleeping on the sofa in one corner. Even as the night deepened, they had sought out the workshop, searching for their “bed”—their master who would not come to the actual bedroom.
Among the sleeping spirits, buried beneath them as he slept, was none other than the master of Spirit Castle himself: Jeong Ryong.
“Snore-.”
Jeong Ryong, who had been bringing snacks to the gnomes working late into the night and searching out helpful videos to show them, had rubbed his eyes and tried to put the other spirits who came looking for him to sleep, only to fall asleep himself alongside them.
[Snore-.]
[Snooore-.]
In fact, about half of the gnomes who had been working on the project were also fast asleep, their snouts pressed right into the crafting tables.
[Oh.]
[Ohh…!]
But only Toho-gi and Supervisor remained awake to the very end. They had work that needed to be done. Unlike the other gnomes, they had to finish.
Both gnomes understood well.
Jeong Ryong always pretended not to care, but in truth he showed deep interest and affection toward the spirits.
This very task proved it. Jeong Ryong had always been earnest about making money, but he had never once lingered over it after the sun set.
Yet now, he sat with his eyes closed, abandoning even a soft bed. All for the sake of a single Sylph.
[Ohhh…!]
[Ohhhhh!]
Toho-gi and Supervisor knew well that they received more affection than the other gnomes.
So they had to succeed.
For the human who had saved them and cherished them.
For their friend who, like themselves, could not express things in words, always saying one thing with his mouth while meaning another.
This one time, they wanted to make sure they pulled it off.
[……!]
Toho-gi’s spirit power, as he worked the Mithril, grew sharper still.
Sharper, lighter, more delicate.
When Toho-gi finally released his hands, lost in that state of oneness, the dawn sun was already rising in the sky.
* * *
When I opened my eyes, the sun was already up. My neck was stiff, and I was sitting on the sofa.
“……?”
For a moment, my groggy mind tried to piece together what had happened. Then I jerked up in alarm.
“What? When did I fall asleep?!”
The Undines that had been clinging to me tumbled down with a flutter.
The Undines bounced softly against the floor in their sleep. I hurried to gather them up again and lay them back down on the sofa.
[Mmmmm….]
I nestled them against each other, their small hands grasping as if searching for something.
[Hehehehe….]
[Dorolong-.]
Once I confirmed the Undines had drifted back to sleep, I rushed to check on the Gnomes. They lay slumped over their worktables, all of them out cold.
‘Ridiculous. These little fools worked themselves to exhaustion, and here I am—’
I swallowed the heat rising in my chest and carefully lifted each Gnome onto the sofa, one by one. Even the Supervisor’s hard hat came off as I laid him down. That’s when I turned my gaze toward Toho-gi.
“Hm?”
A window floated above the crafting table where I hadn’t noticed it before—hovering over the Windbreaker that lay there.
Spirit Fiber Windbreaker
S+ Grade Wearable Item
A windbreaker whose form was solidified from crystallized mana and reinforced with mithril thread. Woven into its fibers are heartfelt wishes for safety and a desire to repay kindness.
It nullifies all debilitating effects related to wind and significantly reduces damage from such attacks.
The wearer can conceal themselves within gale-force winds and will be recognized as an ally by wind-attribute monsters.
It was the most tangible proof that the Gnomes’ all-night labor had succeeded. And not merely S-grade—S+ grade.
……
I stood there, overwhelmed by a rush of gratitude and shame, doing nothing but stare at that window.
Behind it, another notification appeared.
A second window hung in the air above the sleeping Toho-gi’s head.
You have successfully evolved a Lower-tier Spirit into a Mid-tier Spirit for the first time.
As a reward, the Tower’s Treasury has been unlocked.

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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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