Your Name is Gini
A brilliant light burst from the spirit's body. Her form slowly grew larger, and then—poof!—the light vanished all at once, revealing a mid-level earth spirit.
The surrounding spirits gasped in unison.
-Whoaaa!
-It's a mid-level spirit!
-She's so prettyyy!
Tanned skin like she'd been sun-kissed, brown hair, sparkling eyes, and wings shimmering with an otherworldly hue.
She's really pretty.
She looked like a delicate, adorable girl at first glance.
-I really... I really evolved to mid-level...!
She stared at her hands in shock, then spun around in a quick whirl.
Rin zipped over in an instant.
-Mid-level! You evolved to mid-level!?
Rin hugged her tightly, beaming with joy. The spirit's cheeks flushed pink.
-Thanks for congratulating me... Rin.
She seemed like the shy type, full of bashfulness.
Then she slowly approached me.
-Um... I've been watching you all this time...
She fidgeted with the hem of her clothes. A hunch hit me right then.
This is... no way.
-I want to entrust myself to you, always so kind. Is that okay?
Mid-level Earth Spirit requests to submit to you.
Approve?
Sure enough. Another one like Rin wouldn't be bad at all.
I rustled my branches in response.
That sounds great.
Congratulations!
Mid-level Earth Spirit has been subordinated.
Acquired a capable subordinate.
Name the Mid-level Earth Spirit.
Back to naming time, as expected.
A name, huh...
The mid-level earth spirit gazed up at me with sparkling eyes.
-Me too... I'll get a name too!
Her face lit up with eager anticipation. She didn't submit just for a name, did she? Nah, no way.
Let's think of one first.
An earth spirit, so... the root character for earth: ji. Ji... and... hmm...
I looked at the mid-level earth spirit. Unlike the bright and bubbly Rin, she was shy and easily embarrassed.
A specifec character popped into my mind right away: ni, for "bashful."
Bashful ni.
Earth ji plus bashful ni: Gini.
A bashful earth. It fit her perfectly.
Your name is Gini.
-Gini...!
Her face brightened instantly.
What do you think? Like it?
-Yeah...! So much!
Gini fluttered up and planted a quick kiss on my trunk.
Whoa..!
I panicked at the sudden peck attack. Gini giggled bashfully.
-Thank you! It's as kind a name as you are.
Rin, watching from the side, puffed out her cheeks.
-Eeeek! I haven't even done that yet!
Gini smirked slyly.
-Hehehe... I'm the first...
-Gini, that's not fair!
-You can do it too, Rin.
-I'll do it secretly later!
I chuckled at the two bickering playfully. And so, I gained my mid-level earth spirit, Gini.
* * *
Brick-making resumed.
Gini, make it with as few impurities as possible in the sand and clay, okay?
Gini nodded.
-Yeah... I can do that. Sand first!
She placed her hand on my roots. Then—shaa!—a soft light glowed, and pure sand poured out in heaps.
Next, she placed her other hand over the sand, and sticky clay oozed out.
-This should do it!
Oh, nice!
It was clearly different from before. The color was so much clearer and smoother.
Gini scratched her head lightly and continued.
-Um... I also adjusted the ratios. It's just a feeling, but... a spirit's intuition.
Had evolving to mid-level given her some new insights? Anyway...
Let's give it a try!
It felt promising. The water spirits flew over next.
-Now we add water?
-I'll handle the water!
Yep! Thanks!
The water spirits dripped water drop by drop. I mixed the sand and clay evenly through my roots, then the wind and water spirits dried out the moisture. Finally, the fire spirits summoned flames and swallowed the mixture whole.
-Nngh!
The fire spirit's cheeks puffed out as the flames roared. With a mighty effort—
-Almo'st there!
She spat it out with a muffled shout.
Huh?
It was completely different from before. No reddish tint or dark blotches—the brick gleamed with an ivory sheen, beautifully luminous.
-The color's gorgeous!
-So beautiful!
-Whoaaa!
-We made these!
The spirits cheered excitedly.
Bricks can look like this too, huh.
Probably because all the impurities were gone. That seemed likely—the biggest change here.
Suppressing my growing excitement at the new look, I thought:
It might just look different, though.
The real test was durability. I lifted a brick with my root, high up.
Drop it—if it holds shape, pass. If it shatters, remake it.
Of course, none had passed this step so far.
Here goes!
The spirits watched tensely. We all locked eyes and nodded.
I released the brick.
Whoosh!—it plummeted fast.
Thud!—it hit the ground.
Dust clouded the air.
How'd it go?
We waited anxiously, wondering if it had crumbled again.
Slowly, the dust settled.
The brick came into view.
Whoooaaa...!!!!
It was intact.
Totally fine!
The spirits erupted in cheers.
-Whoaaa!
-It's really intact!
-Just a tiny chip on the edge!
This is basically a success!
Gini's intuition was spot on. I lowered a branch to gently stroke her.
Thanks, Gini. We succeeded because of you.
Gini's cheeks flushed faintly.
-I'm glad I could help...
Shall we make more bricks then?
-Yeah!
-Yay!
-We're helpful!
-We'll do our best!
And so the brick factory kicked into gear.
* * *
The spirits churned out bricks nonstop. Gini produced impurity-free clay, water spirits added moisture, wind spirits dried it, and fire spirits took turns swallowing the mix.
Cheeks bulging—ptoo!—another ivory brick complete!
Dozens had piled up before long.
Great.
I helped the spirits with satisfaction.
Just a bit more and we'll have enough bricks.
Then Rin flew over.
-The wooden base is all done! Kan and Tabu are finishing up!
Good work, Rin. We've made a good pile of bricks too.
Rin examined the bricks curiously from every angle.
-We just stack these, right? Like this?
No. Stacking bricks alone would make them topple right over.
-Then?
We need something to act like adhesive between them.
-Adhesive?
Rin tilted her head.
Plain dirt would wash away in the rain. We need something that binds them tight, even when wet.
The problem was, I had no idea what.
What to do...
As I pondered, Gini spoke up hesitantly.
-Um...
Yeah?
Gini steeled herself, eyes gleaming.
-I'll... try it.
You will, Gini?
-Yeah... I think I know!
Clays that stick together...!
Really?
Gini nodded. Well, she'd handled the brick ratios earlier too. Maybe mid-level came with more knowledge.
Whatever it was, if we could stack the bricks, that was fine.
Okay, give it a shot, Gini.
-Yeah...!
Gini spread her hands. Shaa!—soft light bloomed, and white powder rained down.
This is...
Gini mumbled shyly.
-I ground up some white rocks... Burn them with fire, mix with water and sand...!
White rocks? Wait...
Is this limestone?
A fuzzy memory from my past life's geography class surfaced—something about limestone being key for cement, so factories thrived in Gangwon-do.
Yes! This'll work!
We could make mortar with this. But...
How'd you know, Gini?
She blushed.
-When I evolved to mid-level... the earth told me.
The earth told her. Must be some spirit sense.
Let's do it then.
Gini nodded. Under her lead, everyone moved fast. Fire spirits roasted the limestone powder first, then we added water—
Hiss!—steam erupted as it bubbled furiously.
Mix in fine sand...
Mortar complete!
So quick!
Awesome. Let's test it on some bricks.
We needed a trial run. Kan approached.
“I'll handle it.”
Kan dipped a leaf in the mortar and spread a thin layer on a prepared brick. He stacked another on top.
Squish. Press firmly to set.
Now wait for it to harden...
The wind spirits stepped up.
-We'll speed it up!
-With wind power!
Gale-force winds blew. We waited a bit.
Then I extended roots to the two bricks.
Lift and see?
Totori, goblins, and spirits gathered to watch.
-Yeah!
-Do it!
“This is tense.”
“Kkwoong!”
I lifted just the top brick.
Huh?
I yelped in surprise. The bottom one came up too—they were stuck solid.
Gini's eyes sparkled.
-It worked!
Rin laughed and hugged her tight again.
-Gini did it! Gini!
Gini buried her face, flustered.
-Eek... Rin...
I watched warmly, then rustled my leaves.
Alright, time to build the houses for real.
We had bricks, mortar, and the base ready. Just stack 'em up.
Let's start. Everyone ready?
-Yeah yeah!
-Yay!
“Leave it to us.”
“Kkwoong!”
The village reconstruction project finally entered its final phase.