Healing After Sweeping Spirits with an Almighty Skill - Chapter 39

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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 39
Episode 39. Five Plus One
Whoooosh—
Spirit Castle has expanded to Level 5.
The ramparts widened, and the Spirit Castle grew wider still.
It had grown to nearly a hundred meters in diameter, sprawling now larger than the grounds of a decent high school.
At this size, it truly deserved to be called a small town.
Spirit Castle Level 5
┼ Construction Completed
└ Main Keep Level 3
└ Mine Level 3
└ Herb Garden Level 3
└ Water Source Level 3
└ Nest Level 3
└ Furnace Level 2
└ Forge Level 2
└ Workshop Level 2
└ Storage Level 2
└ Lighthouse Level 3
└ Spire Level 1
└ Plaza Level 2
└ Hot Spring Level 5
└ Wind Turbine Level 2
┼ Available Construction
└ Plaza Level 2 (Prerequisite Met)
└ Mine Level 4
└ Herb Garden Level 4
└ Water Source Level 4
┼ Additional Construction Options
└ Spirit Forest Level 1
└ Spirit Hillside Level 1
└ Gnome Village Level 1
┼ Level 6 Expansion Conditions (1/3)
└ Construction Selection (0/1)
└ Plaza Level 2 (1/1)
└ Settlement Residents (40/50)
Level 5 Spirit Castle.
Unfortunately, the next level showed only “6” rather than something mysterious.
‘So the skills don’t evolve at Level 5, it seems.’
The disappointment faded quickly.
After checking the expansion conditions first, I let my gaze sweep across the entire skill window. One peculiar category caught my eye.
┼ Additional Construction Options
└ Spirit Forest Level 1
└ Spirit Hillside Level 1
└ Gnome Village Level 1
Additional construction options.
The choices listed below were the very selections I’d passed over when evolving the Spirit Settlement into the Spirit Castle.
‘I never thought I’d get another chance to pick options I’d already skipped.’
Wasn’t this, in a way, a kind of evolution itself? After all, I was getting a second chance to choose from evolution selections.
That thought brightened my mood considerably.
‘Spirit Forest and Spirit Hillside, then.’
I remembered the forest as the place where I could easily obtain those trees that seemed immune to cutting winds, and the hillside as where I might encounter spirits of new attributes.
‘The Gnome Village must be specialized for the Gnomes.’
A question formed in my mind.
If I chose to build a spirit settlement here, would the ramparts recede again, or would a spirit settlement region form as a new area, like it had in the Snowy Mountain Region?
‘It’s probably the latter.’
Given that it was called an additional construction option, it seemed more likely that it would be built at a smaller scale than when the Spirit Castle had evolved—perhaps even just as a building structure rather than a full settlement.
‘Which one should I build?’
It was a choice that couldn’t be made lightly.
* * *
In the afternoon, I stopped by Boru.
I wanted to pick up upgrade materials and see if I could actually get the idle shop running in earnest.
[Oh, hello…!]
[Yo.]
[Great to see you, humans!]
The spirits who’d come to Boru with me were excited too. Not all of them could fit due to space constraints inside the hood—there were about ten.
I set the spirits down on a bench near the storefront. As soon as I was near them, their forms became visible, and people rushed over instantly.
“Oh! Spirits!”
“They look exactly like what I saw on YouTube!”
“Can we take pictures?”
“I’m so glad I came to Boru today!”
“Can they eat food? Want this chocolate bar?”
By now, fewer people reacted with caution at the sight of spirits. It was the clear result of Jeong Jin’s and my steady efforts—the Spirit Awareness Improvement project had proven its worth.
While the spirits were drawing crowds, I was meeting with a contractor inside an empty shop. It was one of the storefronts the government had leased to me permanently.
“You’re saying you want to open a laundromat?”
“More precisely, a laundry equipped entirely with washers sturdy enough to handle rocks and that water spirits can move freely in and out of.”
The contractor nodded at my explanation and jotted something down on his phone. He was famous for using a skill called Custom Modification to meet any request.
The reason my laundry opening had been delayed was eighty percent due to this man’s schedule being fully booked.
“If the purpose is cleaning foreign materials from work clothes, you’d be better off installing industrial washers.”
“That’s not it. The laundry I’m planning to run isn’t for washing hunters’ clothes.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll be cleaning monster hides, bones, Mana Stones, and such.”
The contractor looked at me with the expression of someone who had no idea what he’d just heard.
“You’re cleaning what? Monster corpses?”
“You could put it that way.”
“Are you planning to sell them to a taxidermist?”
I was genuinely pleased by the contractor’s bewilderment.
The fact that even a specialist this renowned and busy had never heard of it meant this “Purification” business venture was unprecedented in the world.
“Is it possible?”
“It’s possible. At minimum, I’ll make it durable enough not to break down for three years.”
“Only three years?”
“Three years is plenty. A washer that can process monster corpses for three years is absolutely impossible without Mana Stone technology.”
When I thought about it, he had a point.
“What about the dryer?”
“Not necessary.”
“I honestly can’t figure out what kind of business you’re running.”
What kind of business? It’s a purification business for contaminated Monster Byproducts using the Purification abilities of the Undines.
Tower Monster Byproducts are always a solid source of income. But the byproducts that monsters in Tower World drop—Mana Stones, bones, hides—are all contaminated.
Small-scale expedition teams are risking their lives in combat against monsters without receiving any compensation.
‘I’m just purifying those byproducts in exchange for a modest fee, making it as if they came straight from the tower.’
This business had four major goals.
The first was Spirit Awareness Improvement.
Achieving Spirit Awareness Improvement ahead of time—something that might be used as an Expansion Condition for the Spirit Special Zone again—seemed prudent.
The second was Hunter Awareness Improvement.
It was part of the Trickle-down Effect, something anyone earning easy money had to do to avoid making countless enemies among the general population.
‘Hypocritical charity to avoid stray swords.’
The third was securing Mana Stones.
Mana Stones were often used as building materials after the Spirit Castle grew into a Special Zone. They weren’t produced within the castle, buying them one by one was expensive, and more than anything, it was a hassle.
‘If I collect just a little bit as a Mana Stone purification fee, it should be enough for construction materials.’
The fourth was job creation for the Undines.
The Undines were already volunteering as housekeepers and maids, complaining they had nothing to do. Their numbers kept growing, but the only work available was at the Water Source and the Herb Garden.
‘Creating work for employees is also a boss’s responsibility.’
After discussing the interior design thoroughly with the contractor, I stepped outside the shop.
“Jeong Jin!”
“Jeong Jin!”
When a group of people approached me, I thought they might be scouts again, but at first glance they were all dressed in soot-stained work clothes.
“Ah, let me guess. The blacksmith’s guild?”
“That’s right!”
“It’s an honor to meet you!”
They were members of the artisan guild where blacksmiths gathered—the Hammer and Anvil. It seemed they’d recognized the value of the Spirit Fiber I’d sent through Jang Dae In.
‘Who am I? A genius of enterprise.’
I chuckled inwardly at my own brilliance and called for To Ho Ki and Supervisor Gnome.
[Hm?]
[Oh!]
The two Gnomes, who had been posing for photos with tourists, came scurrying over at my call. I hoisted both of them onto my shoulders and extended my hand to the smiths.
“Allow me to introduce you. These are the two master craftspeople of our Spirit Castle—the miracle workers who created Spirit Fiber.”
The influence of the Spirit Special Zone was slowly radiating outward through Boru.
* * *
The afternoon brought the harvest from the Herb Garden.
[La-la-la~.]
[Ooh-ooh~.]
Undine and the Gnomes sang as they plucked the fruits in perfect harmony. Following Jang Dae In’s request from before, the harvest focused primarily on Attraga Fruit.
‘If the customer wishes it, I must deliver.’
Once the harvest was complete, the Gnomes transported all the fruit to the storehouse. Undine, as always, carefully tended to the leaves of the Mandrake that had sprouted above the field.
Rustle, rustle.
The Mandrake swayed its leaves contentedly. I watched it for a moment through half-lidded eyes, then turned to Sho Ki, who had drawn near. “By the way, what’s the Mandrake saying?”
“By the way, what’s the Mandrake saying?”
[Yeah! It says it’s grateful for always getting watered!]
There were no signs of a rampage or aggression.
Good. Just grow smoothly and peacefully until the day I sell you off.
With the harvest complete and the Herb Garden now empty, it was the perfect moment to raise its level.
LV. 4 Herb Garden construction beginning.
LV. 4 Mine construction beginning.
LV. 4 Water Source construction beginning.
I gave the order to construct three buildings in rapid succession.
Construction in progress: 1,200 seconds.
While awaiting the completion of construction, I climbed the Lighthouse. Standing in that high place and gazing out over the Wasteland, my Spirit Detection worked all the more keenly.
‘Good. We’re coming along nicely.’
The Sylph reconnaissance team that had ventured into the Wasteland days ago had begun returning this very morning.
Click—as I opened the door to the beacon, the pig-Salamander that was always sprawled about lifted its eyelids.
“The reconnaissance team is beginning to return.”
I set down a container of wood fragments I’d just purchased in Boru in front of Salamander. It was filled with pieces carved from Spanish olive wood.
“So you give it a little more effort too, will you?”
[Shaaah.]
The pig-Salamander grumbled as if annoyed.
But when I descended the Lighthouse and looked up, the beacon’s light had easily doubled in strength.
‘They’ll be amazed when they return.’
Even in the reconnaissance team’s absence, the development of Spirit Castle had not stopped. I was already eager to see what reaction the Sylphs would have when they beheld the towering Snowy Mountain.
And there was one more tremendous change waiting to unfold.
┼ Additional Construction Options
└ Spirit Forest LV. 1
└ Spirit Hill LV. 1
└ Earth Spirit Village LV. 1
‘I choose you.’
I selected one of the options.

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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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