Healing After Sweeping Spirits with an Almighty Skill - Chapter 65

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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 65
Episode 65. And the winner of this competition is…!
The cameraman, Jeong Jin.
“What? Me? My design won?”
Jeong Jin, who had been busily photographing the spirits and their works with his camera, jumped in surprise.
“An adult sneaking into a children’s competition—how shameless.”
“No, I did draw the design, but I never submitted it!”
“You didn’t submit it?”
“I just drew it and left it on my desk in my room!”
“So are you saying the wind blew it away and it somehow got submitted…? Hmm?”
I turned my head to look at Poonghogi.
Poonghogi turned to look at the Sylph beside him. That Sylph also turned to look at the Sylph beside her.
And so the gaze made a full circle and returned to Poonghogi.
[None of us did it.]
The Sylphs loved pranks, but they weren’t the type to lie about something like this. And the same went for Jeong Jin.
“Regardless, the winner is Jeong Jin!”
“That’s not how it works! The winner should come from among the spirits!”
“There was no rule stating the winner had to come from among the spirits. Kkeuk, exploiting the loopholes in the rules. You won, Jeong Jin!”
“Don’t make it sound like I did it on purpose! I’m upset too!”
Jeong Jin wiped away cold sweat as he gauged the spirits’ moods.
But they’d already conducted a large-scale blind vote. Accepting a forfeit and running a revote now would be such a letdown.
“Therefore, we hereby award this week’s Employee of the Week Badge to our champion, Jeong Jin!”
[Boooo!]
[Boooo!]
As I handed the badge to Jeong Jin, a flood of jeers erupted from all sides.
[Whimper.]
[Whine.]
And simultaneously, a barrage of whining attacks. Jeong Jin’s cold sweat was now pouring down like a waterfall.
“I, I’ll forfeit! Please accept my forfeit! Let me give first place to second!”
[Booo! What kind of nonsense is that!]
[What meaning is there in handing over first place like you’re doing charity! Boooo!]
The Sylphs’ jeers were brimming with playfulness.
But Jeong Jin, with his soul having fled at the sight of Suhogi’s whimpering face, had no room to notice that the jeers were meant in jest.
[Whine.]
“I, I’m sorry! You can have this badge!”
[Whiiiiine.]
Suhogi whimpered on, insisting that it meant nothing if it wasn’t earned by his own effort.
“Tsk. Making Suhogi cry—what a terrible human. Tsk.”
“N, no, that’s not…!”
Jeong Jin, his pupils trembling like an earthquake, suddenly let out a strange cry and bolted from the Spirit Domain.
And ten minutes later, he reappeared lugging a mountain of snacks and beverages.
“I’m sorry! Please accept my apology!”
An apology delivery of one hundred kilograms of snacks—made possible by the sturdy physique and deep pockets of an A-Rank Hunter.
[Ah, a human who knows how to apologize!]
[For a young human, he sure knows his manners!]
The spirits, who had never meant their jeers sincerely in the first place, welcomed this sudden windfall of snacks with both hands raised.
They all understood that Jeong Jin hadn’t deliberately stolen the spirits’ share of victory. Besides, the design he’d drawn had won everyone’s hearts.
[Sigh.]
The innocent Noums felt genuinely sad for a moment.
[Hehe. Delicious!]
[I’ve never tried this before…!]
Even that sentiment melted away before the staggering avalanche of snacks weighing nearly a tenth of a ton.
“Ha ha. I guess I can think of this as congratulations for winning.”
“Phew.”
Jeong Jin wiped his chest with the expression of a man who’d aged ten years. The Employee of the Week Badge I’d forcibly pinned there was now gleaming.
“But seriously, what on earth happened?”
“No idea. Absolutely no idea.”
The truth of the incident remained shrouded in mystery.
[Hehehehe.]
Then, laughter seemed to drift in from somewhere.
But when I turned my head to look, all I could see was the faint mist hovering over the Water Source.
* * *
One winning design and ninety-nine non-winning designs had been decided.
The winning design would become the banner representing the Spirit Domain. Then what would happen to the losing designs—would they simply be discarded?
‘Not a chance.’
In this Spirit Special Zone, nothing created by spirits who poured their time and passion into their work was ever thrown away.
Whirrrrr—
The 3D printer in the Workshop was diligently extruding Mana Plastic. Giant banners inscribed with the designs were being printed.
A new function added when the Workshop reached level 4: Additional Material Input.
All I had to do was insert the blueprint of each design into the material inlet and feed in paint colors that suited the design, and vibrant, multicolored banners began rolling out.
All ninety-nine designs hand-crafted by the spirits—not a single exception—would be printed at massive scale and hung along the outer walls of the Spirit Fortress.
‘Ninety-nine should be more than enough to circle the fortress walls once.’
Since it neither rained nor snowed in the Spirit Special Zone, the designs would adorn the fortress walls for a long time without fading. And being made of Mana Plastic, the banners wouldn’t accumulate dirt or weathering either.
If the spirits wanted, they could even carve their signatures into the bricks beneath their own designs.
‘Everything will be finished before the festival begins.’
Now all I had to do was check on the printouts from time to time and produce new ones as they came.
I left the Workshop and headed for the Underground Zone. The excavation work was in full swing there.
From large building fragments to small artifacts, from weapons to armor—countless relics had been carefully excavated and neatly stacked in one corner of the Underground Zone.
‘Hmm. This one still radiates mana.’
These were all traces left by the ancients who once lived in the Wasteland World. It would sound grand to phrase it that way, but truthfully, I had little genuine interest.
I excavated simply because the building was called an Excavation Site and it provided special effects—I harbored no grand mission to uncover the hidden history of this world.
Excavation Site LV. 2
Protects relics when they are discovered in the zone. Protection ceases once a relic is fully excavated.
As the number of excavated relics increases, the fuel efficiency of aboveground buildings improves by n%.
Current number of excavated relics: 54
Improved fuel efficiency: 5.4%
“All right, everyone gather!”
I called together all the spirits who were busy with the excavation work.
Today was the fourth day since the Excavation Site had been built—an important day when its Vassal Spirit would be chosen.
“All the artifacts you’ve excavated so far come to fifty-four pieces.”
It might not sound like a large number, but considering they were all completed as additional work after finishing their regular duties, it was quite substantial.
They’d had plenty of time-consuming tasks—the firework shells, the chandelier work, the design competition.
“To ensure fairness, I’ve allocated points proportionally based on the size of each artifact. And the spirit receiving the highest total score, who shall be promoted to Vassal Spirit, is…!”
Noum and the Sylphs stared at me with eager eyes.
Becoming a Vassal Spirit meant becoming an Intermediate Spirit. All living things harbored the desire to grow into something greater.
“You!”
I pointed at one of the Sylphs.
The Sylph tossed the excavation tool in her hand high into the air and cheered.
[Huraaaay!]
Meanwhile, the other spirits sagged with disappointment.
[No way!]
[Wow!]
[Why can’t I ever catch a break!]
As good-hearted as they were, clapping despite their disappointment, I drew the Rank Conferment Sword from my waist.
“From this moment forward, I name you Archaeologist Sylph, the Vassal Spirit of this Excavation Site. I entrust you with the task of excavating not only the relics already buried here, but also those that shall be newly discovered.”
[Leave it to me!]
I gently tapped the Rank Conferment Sword against Sylph’s shoulders and head.
Whoooosh—!
Despite being underground where no wind should blow, several currents of air swirled toward the Sylph. Along with it came an alert window.
You have been awarded one Coin as a reward for advancing a Lower Spirit to an Intermediate Spirit.
[Ahahaha! I’m an Intermediate Sylph now!]
The Sylph, whose Spirit Power had greatly increased, bounced joyfully all around the zone.
[Kyiyahoo!]
[We have a new Intermediate Sylph!]
The other Sylphs, who had been disappointed mere moments before, quickly caught the excitement and began flying after Archaeologist Sylph.
I reached over and gently patted the heads of the Noums, who looked a bit downcast.
“Don’t be too discouraged. It wasn’t because you’re inferior to those Sylphs—you just had bad luck.”
[Oh?]
“That’s right. If your luck had been just a little better, you would’ve become an Intermediate Noum.”
Comforted by my words, the Noums straightened their expressions and returned to their excavation work. Steadfast spirits of the earth, they continued their labor even without achieving promotion to Intermediate status.
‘Where on earth am I supposed to use all these things?’
I exhaled sharply, staring at the relics stacked in neat rows.
The fate of relics and artifacts comes down to one of two paths: they’re either sold or displayed.
‘When the Mana Tower people come for the festival, I should at least show them the relics that still have magical power left in them.’
If the reaction is good, they’ll buy them. But what if the response is lukewarm?
‘If I set up something like a museum in one of the vacant shops, maybe it’ll turn a profit.’
Letting them rot unused wasn’t an option in my vocabulary.
* * *
Two days later.
The marble I’d ordered arrived.
And for ten hours now, it sat gathering dust without a single person giving it any attention.
“Make this section straighter, cut it more cleanly.”
[Ooh!]
At my instruction, the Noum began to move.
Grrrrrr—
The earth rumbled and churned, and new terrain rose into being. Watching the clean path that had been laid, I placed another order.
“I want this entire section done in basalt.”
[Hmm?]
“You say there’s not enough nearby? Then feel free to take some from another part of the Domain.”
[Oooh!]
Tohhogi relayed instructions to several of the Noum. Those who received their orders scattered in all directions with a thundering boom.
“Good, good. Now comes the harder part. From here on, we’ll be digging downward.”
[Underground? A route we never imagined!]
“That’s exactly the power of the Spirit Domain. Everything we imagine becomes reality!”
[In that case, what if we made this section into a gentle slope?]
“A slope! That’s brilliant!”
Poonghogi and I pressed on with the design and construction, energized and delighted.
Never mind the marble I’d meant to use for the main building—what was I doing instead?
‘Well, what else? Building with my own hands.’
Until now, every structure built in the Spirit Domain had been hastily assembled using skills alone.
Somehow, this time I found myself taking the helm, personally directing the construction—
‘This is more fun than I expected.’
Maybe I’m discovering a new hobby.

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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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