Chapter 557: Purification Work (2)

The moment I first witnessed Lulusia’s purification ability, I was struck speechless by sheer amazement.

I tried to understand it, thinking, ‘Is this what all purification abilities are like?’ but even the Guild Union employee next to me couldn’t hide their astonished expression.

The sight of her purifying the deadly poison that touched her body into clear water was enough to remind one of a saint from some religion.

“…How did you do that?”

While Lulusia herself remained a mystery, witnessing her power firsthand right before my eyes was even more astonishing.

Seeing the Saintess’s ability, I blurted out the question ‘How did you do that?’ before I even realized it.

“It’s a simple principle~!”

“Huh?”

“If you concentrate your senses throughout your body and envelop it with holy power, you can make everything that touches you clean~!”

“……Huh?”

“It’s a method anyone can use if they can utilize purification~!”

…Just hearing it, I still couldn’t understand what she was talking about. Could purification really work like that?

Wasn’t purification supposed to involve chanting holy spells and spitting them out at stagnant water, polluted land, or cursed objects?

However, after witnessing the miracle Lulusia created right before my eyes, it became difficult to completely deny her method.

While I was pondering what to do, the Saintess approached me and took my hands.

“Come on~! Taekyung, you try it too~!”

“…Can I really do it too?”

“Yes~! Under the guidance of the light, we are all sisters who have received the same grace~!”

Strictly speaking, I was a brother, not a sister. But that confirmed the mysterious mask was still working perfectly.

To think that simply enveloping oneself in holy power and dipping one’s feet could turn contaminated water into clear water wasn’t a miracle, but just an awakened ability.

Honestly, I really wanted to try it.

I had just witnessed the miracle of water being purified just by dipping my feet in it; how could I just ignore it after hearing how it could be done?

“Taekyung~! You asked me in the car earlier, didn’t you~? About how to properly utilize purification~!”

As if reading my mind, Lulusia pulled my arm and actively led me toward another pool of poison.

This time, before she dipped her own feet in, she suggested I try purifying it myself.

“Now it’s your turn to show off your skills properly, Taekyung~!”

“…Do I have to dip my feet like you, Lulusia?”

“You’ll probably find it easier to start with your hands~. First, try immersing your hands in the pool while channeling holy power through your body~?”

“…Alright.”

As it was an awakened ability I was using for the very first time, I felt quite uneasy, but I already knew that she wasn’t the type of person to trap me.

Just as Lulusia instructed, I spread holy power throughout my body as if radiating it, then boldly plunged my hands into the pool.

-Splash!

The moment my hands touched the purple pool, which seemed to drain stamina just by contact, a small splash erupted.

I squeezed my eyes shut, worried the deadly poison might climb up my arms the instant I dipped them in, but fortunately, nothing like that happened.

Instead, when I opened my eyes again, all I saw were my two hands submerged in clear, transparent water.

Seeing my clean hands shimmering in the water, I could immediately confirm that the Saintess’s purification method had worked effectively.

“See~? It’s really easy, right~?”

“…Yes, it seems so.”

I never imagined I could actually do it on the first try. While it might be different for other awakened abilities, this purification ability was something I had only just acquired today and was using for the very first time.

“Holy power naturally weakens the farther it gets from the user’s body~. That’s why enveloping yourself with it and delivering it directly is the most efficient method~!”

“I often used it that way when casting recovery spells, but I didn’t realize it applied to purification too.”

“Yes~! That’s why overcoming that initial fear is the most crucial part of purification work~! Even though you can purify much faster and more reliably by directly engaging with it, many people struggle with that~!”

…Well, that’s understandable for a typical recovery-type hunter.

Considering the level of recovery-type hunters I’ve met today, I could easily imagine them making excuses to avoid direct contact.

In other words, simply making the holy power radiating from my body come into direct contact was enough to significantly increase the efficiency of the work.

With that thought, like the Saintess, I took off my shoes and socks, storing them directly into my subspace pocket.

Then, just like Lulusia, I dipped my feet into another pool of water to try purifying it.

-Splash.

Holy power spread out from my feet in the pool, purifying the water.

Seeing it purify exactly like Lulusia had done, a rather joyful feeling began to bloom in my chest.

Why did it feel so enjoyable, just dipping my feet into an empty pool?

-Splash, splash, splash!

“Hiyah! Hiyah! Hiyah~!”

Moreover, the Saintess, already caught up in the moment, was joyfully splashing around in the surrounding pools, purifying them as she ran.

Thinking I couldn’t fall behind Lulusia’s momentum, I also moved barefoot, searching for empty pools.

It felt like leaving footprints in untouched snow on a morning after a night of heavy snowfall.

While I was enthusiastically engrossed in the purification work, completely forgetting the original reason I entered the dungeon today…

Suddenly, an entirely unexpected water bomb flew from her direction towards my face.

-Sploosh!

“Guhk?!”

“Hahaha! You let your guard down~!”

Lulusia cupped her hands, forming a round basin, and splashed the clear water pooled on the ground at me.

Seeing her playing around with such a naive smile, like a child, a smile naturally spread across my face.

…I too scooped up a handful of the purified water from the ground and aimed it at the Saintess.

“Haha, it’s clean water, so you can rest assured….”

-Whoosh!

“Pfft?!”

Lulusia, who had been laughing and chattering excitedly after hitting me with a water bomb out of nowhere, was flustered by my immediate counterattack.

To her, who reacted as if she never expected a water bomb to fly her way, I could only reply with a shameless expression.

“Haha, did you think I’d go easy on you just because you’re a Saintess?”

“…….”

“Sorry, but I’m the type who can’t rest easy unless I pay back what I receive.”

-Smirk.

As I said that with a nonchalant smile, she responded with a smile of her own.

And it didn’t take long for that to escalate into a water fight between the two of us.

-Sploosh!

“Haha, …Pfft, Pwahaha!”

-Whoosh!

“Aahha, …Ah-pfft! Hahaha~!”

We competed, purifying every pool around us and splashing water at each other.

Having truly gotten into it, she and I continued the purification work in that manner, as if fiercely competing for it.

We’d dip our feet into pools presumed to contain deadly poison to purify them, then immediately splash the now-clear water at each other.

The water, imbued with holy power and scattered this way, would then spread across the ground and surroundings, naturally purifying the nearby area.

It was fast, efficient, and even fun, making the job satisfaction practically top-tier.

‘Definitely, I’m glad I came with Lulusia.’

Setting aside the goal of simply getting closer to her, the act of purifying the contaminated area while playfully interacting like this was genuinely enjoyable.

Of course, due to the overwhelming difference in the amount of holy power, I had to replenish my holy power once or twice even while playing like this.

A typical recovery-type hunter would have had to use holy potions to restore their holy power, but in my case, there was no need to use expensive items like holy potions.

My body’s holy power, sharing the characteristics of all my internal energy, could be replenished by drinking Hwayoung Sunbae’s stamina potions or magic potions stored in my subspace pocket.

Essentially, I could continue this enjoyable purification work with her while drawing an endless supply of holy power.

-Splash!

-Whoosh!

“…….”

“…….”

Meanwhile, Lulusia and I, having depleted the water in the pool again, paused for a moment, subtly glancing at each other.

Immediately, we both spotted the next rather large pool of deadly poison in our path.

Both Lulusia and I intuitively grasped that whoever claimed that pool would gain the advantage for a while, so without any prior agreement, we both leaped into the pool simultaneously.

Just before we jumped into the pool together, our bodies tangled in mid-air.

-Thump.

“Aahk?!”

“Whoa?!”

-Whaaaash!!

Tangled together in mid-air, Lulusia and I tumbled onto the large pool.

When I came to my senses, we were lying sprawled on top of each other in the pool.

The feel of the Saintess’s chest, resting unintentionally on mine, pressed against my torso without any filter.

“…….”

“…….”

I had to expend all my mental energy calming the lower half of my body, which threatened to react involuntarily.

There couldn’t possibly be a more embarrassing situation than getting an erection right now.

More importantly, Lulusia currently perceived me as a woman, so revealing my identity was absolutely out of the question.

Trying to break the awkward atmosphere, I let out a laugh, and the Saintess followed suit, starting to smile as well.

“Ha, haha….”

“Ahaha! Hahaha!”

Both drenched and sprawled on the ground, we spent a moment looking at each other, only managing laughter.

The Guild Union employee who had been following our purification work cautiously interrupted our conversation.

“Um, I apologize for interrupting your enjoyable mood, the two of you…”

“Yes?”

“Yes~?”

“You’ve both been purifying so diligently that the purification for today’s scheduled area is already complete, I wanted to let you know…”

“…Oh, really?”

“Already~?”

“Of, of course, it’s fine if you two continue purifying! But I felt I should inform you that the assigned quota has already been met…”

All the while, the guide employee subtly watched Lulusia and me, sending us a curious look that seemed to anticipate something.

Well, even without the employee’s expectant gaze, my answer was already decided.

Lying on the ground, we exchanged a look and then nodded simultaneously before answering.

“We want to do more~!”

“I will continue.”

As expected, I knew she would say something like that.