Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: The Healer Has Brought Another Astonishing Item
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The Spirit Community's 'first hot post' was a thread with no text at all—just a single photo posted all by itself.
The image showed a spirit huddled in a crouch behind iron bars.
Its bony arms and legs, protruding sharply, resembled old, withered branches.
Blackened corruption spread across its skin like mold in patches.
Its ash-gray eyes, dulled and lifeless, seemed utterly vacant, as if scarred by years of abuse.
📰 Breaking News [Help Me] [Please... Please save me...] [103] 'Wait a second. Does anyone in this world even have the ability to abuse a spirit?'
Attacks from Awakeners don't work on them at all, so abuse shouldn't even be possible.
Which means whatever reduced this spirit to that state... probably wasn't physical.
Lost in a tangle of complicated thoughts, I stared blankly into space.
Then the White Night Guild Master urgently called out to me.
"Actually, we have a spirit we captured from a gate a while back, down in the guild basement. But its condition has been deteriorating... I was really hoping you could take a look, Healer."
'No way... is this the spirit asking for help right now...?'
I pointed out details from the photo one by one.
"By any chance, is the spirit locked in an iron cage? The floor is marble, and there are research facility-looking things on the walls..."
"Huh? How did you know? Have you been to our guild basement before?"
Her response confirmed it—the spirit in the photo was in the White Night Guild's basement.
'Has this person been abusing the spirit all this time?'
Recalling the mad, obsessive gaze she always had when looking at spirits.
I was certain.
The reason the spirit had weakened and changed like that... might be the environment itself.
"Can we head to the basement right now?"
At my words, the White Night Guild Master lit up and jumped to her feet.
I hurriedly closed up the café and followed her to the White Night Guild building.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "It used to be such a pretty, lovable little thing... How did it end up like this..."
As the White Night Guild Master said.
The spirit before my eyes must have originally been pretty and lovable.
But the spirit glaring at me now with eyes full of rage was...
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Fallen Spirit' regards you as 'human' and 'hostile'. Far from pretty or lovable.
'Why has it changed like that?'
I soon spotted the messages floating one by one above the spirit's head and understood the reason clearly.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Fallen Spirit' writhes in agony, saying the light is too blinding and painful. Under the dazzling lights.
The spirit clutched its eyes and curled up tighter.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Fallen Spirit' whimpers that the biting wind hurts its skin too much. In the stifling heat, the AC blasting cool air—meant to help—was only tormenting the spirit further.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Fallen Spirit' cries out that the artificial air feels suffocating. Amid the artificial breeze from the air purifier, the spirit was drying out more and more.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Fallen Spirit' longs for the sounds of nature. In the soundproofed chamber, it stared vacantly into empty space.
Everything the White Night Guild Master had prepared for the spirit was tailored to human standards.
To the spirit, it all felt like unbearable torment.
I immediately shut off the AC and air purifier, then unplugged the lights to plunge the room into total darkness.
"Healer! If the spirit gets heatstroke from that..."
"Just a moment."
I gently held back the White Night Guild Master and crouched down to the spirit's eye level.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Fallen Spirit' stares at you intently. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Fallen Spirit' recognizes you and opens its eyes wide with sparkle. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Fallen Spirit' asks if you know its friend, 'Lily'. "Lily? Of course I do."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Fallen Spirit' asks if you're close with its friend, 'Lily'. "You bet. Lily's not the only one—I'm close with Pristine too."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Fallen Spirit' startles in surprise and asks where 'Lily' and 'Pristine' are right now. "Curious where they are? Want to go see your friends?"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Fallen Spirit' whimpers that it wants to see its friends right now. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Fallen Spirit' shakes its head, saying it can't though. "Why can't you?"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Fallen Spirit' declares that if it goes outside in this state, it'll slaughter every human it sees. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Fallen Spirit' bursts into tears, saying it absolutely hates that. Come to think of it.
Each bar of the cage holding the spirit had a magic-sealing artifact embedded in it.
Fine cracks spiderwebbed along the edges, and every vibration sent faint powder drifting down.
Seeing the artifacts on the verge of shattering made my head spin for a moment.
'If we'd left it like this, another disaster would have struck.'
I let out a deep sigh.
And spoke to the spirit again.
"So, what do you need to do to return to normal?"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Fallen Spirit' whimpers that it doesn't know. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Fallen Spirit' says more than anything, it wishes that human would stop staring at it. "I see..."
It doesn't even know itself.
There's no obvious way to help it right now.
But I couldn't just give up.
Pristine might know a way to restore a fallen spirit, after all.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ I returned to the café and briefly explained the situation to the spirits.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Lily' sobs, asking how something like that could happen. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Pristine' says it sensed the fallen spirit's energy from 'that human', and knew it—snapping in anger. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Lumina Spirit' glances nervously at the two spirits. "So, I think you all need to see it for yourselves."
Pristine volunteered to go check on the spirit in Lily's place, since Lily couldn't leave the café.
The Lumina Spirit also stepped up, saying it'd gladly help if it could be of use—showing a rare burst of reliability.
And so, with two sturdy spirit reinforcements in tow.
We headed back to the White Night Guild's basement.
• Don't turn on the AC—the spirit hates the wind because it hurts.
• Turn off all the LED lights—they're too bright.
• And stop staring at it! It's overwhelming!
Those were the strict instructions I'd given before leaving the guild. And in that short time, the White Night Guild basement had been transformed to incorporate every bit of my feedback. Vines draped thickly from ceiling to walls. The marble floor was covered in soil, layered with broad-leafed potted plants. Instead of LEDs, mana stones emitting a soft, pale glow hung between the vines, casting a gentle moonlight-like radiance. But even so, she couldn't give up watching the spirit from afar... "Healer!" The White Night Guild Master, hiding where the spirit couldn't see her, greeted us drenched in sweat. "...I tried to incorporate everything you said as best I could. Is this okay...?" "This should be fine." I could read her genuine sincerity toward the spirit in her earnest gaze. ...Though I still had no idea why she was so obsessed with spirits. And at that moment. Pristine, perched on my shoulder, fluttered off toward the 'Fallen Spirit'. - Peep...? ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Fallen Spirit' recognizes 'Pristine' and widens its eyes. - Preeeeep!!! ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Fallen Spirit' bursts into tears, saying it never dreamed Pristine would come all the way here—it's so happy. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Fallen Spirit' reaches out a hand toward Pristine. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Pristine' takes the hand of 'Fallen Spirit'. The fallen spirit clung tightly to Pristine's hand and sobbed as if pouring out everything.
Pristine slowly stroked its back, soothing it like a child.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Pristine' slowly syncs breaths to calm it down. As Pristine's touch reached it, the black corruption blooming like mold began to fade away slowly.
I watched their reunion quietly, then glanced toward the White Night Guild Master.
"......"
She wore an expression full of deep thoughts.
Her eyes, sparkling with pride just moments ago, were now misty and dim.
'She's realizing something.'
Afterward, I approached Pristine and whispered.
"How does its condition look?"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Pristine' is relieved, saying it's not as hopeless as it thought. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Pristine' smiles brightly, saying it'll take some time to return to normal, but not too long. I nodded once, then turned to the White Night Guild Master.
"We've removed the stressors, so with time, it'll regain its original form."
"......"
"And when that happens... how about releasing it back to nature?"
The White Night Guild Master stared at the iron cage, fell silent for a moment, then finally nodded.
"Understood. We'll do that."
Then, with effort, she opened her mouth again.
"Um... Healer."
"Yes?"
"Before it returns to nature, could you ask if it'd have one last conversation with me...?"
She seemed to have something important to say.
When I relayed her words to the fallen spirit, it gave a faint smile, saying 'if it's going back to nature, that's no big deal.'
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Lumina Spirit' claps, saying that's great. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Lumina Spirit' makes a sly face, saying since it helped solve this too, it deserves some purified water. So that's why it tagged along.
Its goal was purified water after all.
'But... you didn't do anything...'
Still, I couldn't ignore its expectant gaze and outstretched hands...
Pretending to give in, I handed the Lumina Spirit a bottle of purified water from my emergency stock.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ After the storm had passed.
I picked up the last remaining 'Awakening Ginseng' and visited the Awakener Management Bureau for the first time in a while.
⚔ ITEM INFO ⚔ [Ebony Awakening Ginseng] - A rare plant that grows extremely rarely near the roots of ancient trees in shady, damp areas.
- Leaves are thin and long; faint glowing rings encircle the stem. [Effects]
- Temporarily stimulates the nervous system and mana circuits to forcibly unlock Awakening potential. - Awakening ability type is randomly determined by individual's psyche, environment, and biology. Yet a nagging unease stirred in the corner of my mind.
'Is it okay to put this up at the auction house...?'
An item that forcibly unlocks Awakening potential—wealthy non-Awakeners would kill for it.
It was a chance to make a fortune right away.
But it might hold value beyond money.
'Something money can't buy.'
With those complicated thoughts, I headed to the appraisal room.
"Long time no see, Healer!"
A familiar voice greeted me.
"Hello, Appraiser."
"What brings you to the appraisal room today? I'm already excited."
I sat down and unwrapped the Awakening Ginseng from its handkerchief.
The appraiser donned white gloves and carefully lifted it.
"Looks like ordinary wild ginseng at a glance, but I know better than to think you'd bring something ordinary, Healer."
He chuckled playfully and put on his appraisal glasses etched with intricate patterns.
The moment he peered at the Awakening Ginseng again, his expression froze.
"This is..."
After a brief silence, he stared blankly into my eyes and spoke in a low voice.
"To think an item exists that can forcibly induce Awakening... Healer, you've brought another astonishing item."
He exhaled deeply and gently set the Awakening Ginseng on the table.
"Like the potion you brought before, there's no record of this on the market or in sales. To price it, we'd have to try an auction, but..."
The appraiser closely examined the glow at the root's tip once more, then quietly shook his head.
"If it were me, I wouldn't put this up for auction."
"...Why?"
I waited calmly for his answer.