Healing After Sweeping Spirits with an Almighty Skill - Chapter 37

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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 37
37. Miss, it is time to wake up.
Surprisingly, the butler and maid turned out to be Undines.
“You Undines want to work as butlers?”
[Yes! We want to!]
That was Suhogi speaking.
From somewhere or other, they had all dressed themselves in butler and maid uniforms, but upon closer inspection, the clothing was made of Mana Plastic.
It seemed the Sylphs must have done something similar, and these Undines had used the 3D Printer in the workshop to fabricate their own outfits.
“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”
[Well, that is…!]
[Hmm…!]
The butler and maid exchanged sidelong glances before speaking.
[We, we felt like we didn’t have enough work to do….]
I could not help but be moved by what they said.
Workers who independently compared their labor to other departments and created tasks for themselves—was this place truly a paradise for employers? A realm where bosses went after death?
“But why specifically a butler and maid?”
[Jeongjin showed us!]
This morning, Jeongjin had returned to the Guild.
After holing himself up in his room for several days doing nothing but internet browsing and video editing, it seemed he must have watched some video involving the Undines.
The thought struck me, and I took photos of the Undines. I planned to send them to Jeongjin, who had sown this very seed but would now miss witnessing the result.
After all, there is an old saying—a friend’s torment is my delight. I could already imagine how much he would wail while grinding away at farming, and the mere thought brought me joy.
“All right, let’s get some sleep now.”
[No! We have to work!]
“Sleeping with me is your job.”
[H-huh? Really?]
“You said you’d watch over my bedtime. You need to keep watch beside me so I don’t have nightmares.”
[That’s what it means?]
“That’s right. That’s the most important duty for a butler and maid.”
[Okaaay…?]
The Undines tilted their heads in confusion.
I gathered them all into my arms and buried them in the blankets. The other Spirits already drowsy beneath the covers pulled the Undines in close.
[Tee-hee-hee!]
[Giggle!]
The Undines laughed, delighted at being embraced by their friends. Suhogi, cradled in Tohogi’s arms, spoke to me.
[Tomorrow we’ll wake up early and brew coffee too!]
“I’ll look forward to it.”
[And we’ll clean!]
“The place will be spotless, I’m sure.”
I answered without the slightest expectation.
And sure enough, the next morning arrived.
“Miss, it is time for you to wake.”
[Just five more miiinutes….]
“Heh.”
Suhogi and the Undines, half-asleep, could not manage to get out of bed.
Still, after I finished my exercises and prepared breakfast, the Undines waddled about earnestly and fulfilled their role.
[For breakfast we have buttered toast, scrambled eggs, and a warm glass of milk!]
Incidentally, they only read the menu—I had prepared everything myself.
[W-would you like us to pour the milk…?]
They struggled to lift the milk carton, which was larger than their own bodies, so I simply poured it myself.
[Hee-hee-hee!]
One of the Undines already had her maid uniform soaked the color of orange juice.
‘At least the Undines are cute.’
I observed the world’s most hapless butler and maid corps and thought to myself.
‘Otherwise, I’d have fired them already.’
The Spirit Fortress remained peaceful today as well.
* * *
After breakfast, I climbed the fortress wall to gauge the location of the expedition party.
The Sylphs, who had been inching forward yesterday, were now clustered in one spot, perfectly still.
‘Are they still sleeping? It must have been a grueling march. They should rest well and move at their own pace.’
Remarkably, the Spire’s Spirit detection applied even to the Spirits who had set out into the Wasteland. Though the image grew dimmer, and if they went any farther, the detection likely would not work at all.
‘I need to upgrade the spires as quickly as possible.’
To do that, I’d have to upgrade the Spirit Fortress itself.
┼ LV. 4 Expansion Conditions (3/3)
└ 1. Main Hall LV. 2 (1/1)
└ 2. Plaza LV. 1 (1/1)
└ 3. Aesthetics Score (100/100)
Expand Spirit Fortress to LV. 4?
‘Proceed.’
Creak-creak-creak.
The tremor had become so routine that I could barely call it unusual anymore—I’d reached a point where I almost enjoyed the sensation of the ground shaking beneath my feet.
I watched the Spirit Fortress expand another layer wider, and below, the spirits bobbing and chirping in delight, before I was about to open the skill window again.
Flutter.
Something landed on the nearby fortress wall. I assumed it was a Sylph and glanced over, only to find something entirely different.
Tweet-tweet?
A small bird. A common sparrow with a brown body and white and black markings.
But the crucial thing was that sparrows were ordinary outside the gate—inside, they were anything but.
‘Wild animals?’
Wild animals don’t live in the Tower World. Not birds, not dogs, not cats, not even rats. The Wasteland had nothing to eat.
I was staring at the sparrow in shock when Poonghogi came whooshing down.
[Whoa! A bird!]
The sparrow took flight, startled by the sudden loud cry, and Poonghogi quickly gave chase.
Tweet-tweet!
[Tweet-tweet?!]
Tweet-tweet!
[Tweet-tweet-tweet-eeee!]
At the commotion, every Sylph in the Spirit Fortress took to the skies and began chasing the sparrow.
‘The water source had fish and frogs, and now a sparrow too. The Spirit Fortress is becoming its own ecosystem.’
I opened the skill window, hoping the sparrow wouldn’t be too stressed.
Spirit Fortress LV. 4
┼ Construction Completed
└ Main Hall LV. 3
└ Mine LV. 3
└ Herb Garden LV. 3
└ Water Source LV. 3
└ Nest LV. 3
└ Furnace LV. 2
└ Smelter LV. 1
└ Workshop LV. 2
└ Storage LV. 2
└ Lighthouse LV. 3
└ Spire LV. 1
└ Plaza LV. 2
└ Wind Generator LV. 2
┼ Construction Available
└ Hot Spring LV. 1
└ Smelter LV. 2
└ Workshop LV. 2 (Pre-completed)
└ Lighthouse LV. 3 (Pre-completed)
┼ LV. 5 Expansion Conditions (1/3)
└ Hot Spring LV. 1 (0/1)
└ Workshop LV. 2 (1/1)
└ Village Population (35/40)
There were several noteworthy details in the skill window this time. First, the buildings marked “Pre-completed” in the construction available list.
‘The Workshop and the Lighthouse. Those two had skipped a level thanks to Enhanced Construction.’
It seemed that skipped levels were marked as “Pre-completed.”
Because of that, some of the expansion conditions were already being counted toward the next level—it was the moment I discovered another advantage of Enhanced Construction.
‘This way, all I need to finish the expansion conditions is to build the Hot Spring and the Smelter.’
The village population wasn’t something to worry about. With the upgraded Lighthouse now at level 3, the population was growing automatically on its own.
Two days should be enough.
‘In Spirit Village, after level 5, a question-mark level appeared and the skill evolved. I wonder what’ll happen this time.’
To confirm that detail, and to expand the Spirit Fortress rapidly enough to add another spire, I needed to accelerate construction.
Available Construction List
┼ Hot Spring LV. 1
└ Materials: Swimsuit (0/1)
└ Materials: Hot Spring Pamphlet (0/1)
└ Materials: Stone (15kg/15kg)
┼ Smeltery LV. 2
└ Materials: Tongs (0/1)
└ Materials: Mithril (5kg/5kg)
└ Condition: Aqueduct (0/1)
“Hmm.”
I tapped my chin thoughtfully as I reviewed the construction materials.
‘This might actually work.’
The items the buildings required.
It seemed I could fabricate everything myself without needing to visit the Borough to buy anything separately.
* * *
I settled into the workshop with my laptop.
Whirr—
The 3D printer was in the middle of producing a swimsuit sized for me, while I worked on creating the hot spring pamphlet on the laptop.
‘The condition didn’t say I had to bring an actual, existing hot spring pamphlet, did it?’
I could just make one myself.
I was drawing on the Photoshop skills I’d picked up back in university, crafting a convincing pamphlet.
‘I’ll use a famous hot spring pamphlet from Japan as a base, translate it appropriately, and add a few signature features.’
The pamphlet I’d chosen was for a hot spring in the Snowy Mountain Region of Hokkaido. Not that there was any particular meaning to it—when I searched for “famous hot spring pamphlet,” it was simply the first result that came up.
But there was one variable in the Photoshop work I hadn’t anticipated.
[What’s this?]
[What’re you doing?]
As I’d barricaded myself in the workshop, the spirits had begun showing their faces one by one. It seemed they’d finished their own work and, bored, had come looking for me.
[A hot spring? What is this?]
“It’s like a really huge bath.”
[Is it the same as a water source?]
“The water is incredibly hot—hot enough that fish can’t live in it.”
[A pamphlet? Why are you making this?]
“It’s a building material.”
[What’s a pamphlet?]
“A paper booklet that explains the features of this place called a hot spring.”
As questions continued to shower down from all around, I was answering them one by one when Poonghogi suddenly spoke up.
[Let’s add a water slide!]
“What?”
[…….]
[…….]
[…….]
The spirits fell silent for a moment, simply staring at one another.
“Wait a minute—”
Before I could voice my unease at that exchange,
[Add a hot spring for spirits too!]
[I want to put in duck tubes!]
[Yes! Yes yes yes!]
[What about that air thing, like a sauna? Can’t we add that?]
[Ooh ooh!]
[Yes yes yes!]
Requests poured in from every direction.
The Spirit Fortress housed thirty-five spirits in total. In an instant, the pamphlet had gained thirty-five additional features.
“Look, I appreciate it, but this is just a scrap of paper—there’s no need to get this worked up over it.”
[Sigh.]
[Whimper.]
At my refusal, the Undines immediately wore mournful expressions.
[Pout pout.]
[Pout pout pout.]
The Sylphs mimicked their faces.
Ridiculous as it looked on the surface, it was enough to prick my conscience.
[Sigh.]
[Thump.]
And the Gnomes voicing their small disappointments, along with the Salamander.
‘That’s right. This counts as employee benefits.’
I went through what must have been my dozenth round of self-hypnosis and decided to lose one more time.
“One at a time, go ahead and tell me.”
This place was definitely the hell that dead executives came to.
* * *
Creating the pamphlet took longer than I’d originally expected. But as a result, somewhere along the way I’d come to actually enjoy making it.
With so many wild requests crammed in, the pamphlet had gone completely off the rails—which paradoxically made it easier to set aside and have fun with it.
‘It’s become like a class newspaper I made in elementary school.’
That alone should tell you just how mismatched our pamphlet had become.
‘Still, we did it ourselves, didn’t we?’
I chuckled and began constructing the hot spring. Now, let me create my own little hot spring.
Commencing construction of a Level 1 Hot Spring.
Special materials have been used in the construction of the Level 1 Hot Spring.
Materials produced by the facilities of the Spirit Special Zone have been used in the construction of the Level 1 Hot Spring.
And something else.
Constructing a building involving all Spirits within the Spirit Special Zone for the first time.
A Hidden Condition has been satisfied.
Construction of the Level 1 Hot Spring is being enhanced.
Construction of the Level 1 Hot Spring is evolving.
Something unexpected was happening.
A Snowy Mountain Region is forming within the Spirit Special Zone.
“…What?”
Immediately after, a massive earthquake struck the Spirit Special Zone.

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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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