Her True Identity
Silence.
When a person sees something they should never have seen, or hears something they should never have heard, words desert them.
"……."
Just like Kang Jiye right now.
She was a hunter who worked the front lines. That meant she had brushed up against every kind of bizarre phenomenon imaginable and lived to tell the tale.
And yet, when an unknown phenomenon suddenly appeared—right next to her own daughter, no less—there was no way she could take it lightly.
After a few seconds of wide-eyed staring contest with the Party Bear, she quietly reached out toward it.
She seized its torso, spun it a full hundred and eighty degrees, and calmly studied its back.
"No wind-up key?"
"Nope! Our Ddori moves around just fine on its own!"
Kang Jiye's gaze darkened.
"Moves around on its own, huh…"
"It hops around by itself, gives me piggyback rides, and it handles the rides super well! Thanks to it, I even got to ride the roller coaster!"
"Is that so? What about batteries…?"
"Doesn't need those either. It started moving the second Unnie made it."
"Aha. How fascinating. How did Unnie make it, then?"
"She just used cloth and cotton and stuff…"
While coaxing answers out of Yena with carefully chosen questions, Kang Jiye calmly inspected the Party Bear.
She held its face and confirmed that its eyes tracked her movements, then kneaded its arms and legs to gauge the material.
Of course, she wasn't going to figure anything out on the spot.
She wouldn't be able to sense any mana. When the owner, Pecia, concealed her mana, her toys' mana was hidden right along with it.
Even so, examining it by hand was a sound decision.
After all, it moved via mana. Its movements were bound to differ from ordinary machines or wind-up dolls.
{Grrr.}
For instance—when you pressed its nose, it would turn its face away to dodge.
"……!"
In that instant, Kang Jiye's eyes flooded with shock.
The fact that it had a spot it disliked being touched was proof that this was no mere doll. It was something alive.
"Pecia made this?"
She asked in a tone of pure disbelief.
Yena and I answered at the same time.
"Yep!"
"Yes."
"You said she just kneaded it with her hands and a doll appeared. No sewing involved, either."
"That's right!"
"Yep."
"And the eyes, nose, and mouth formed automatically?"
At that, Yena looked over at me.
She wouldn't know whether they'd formed automatically or not.
I answered as simply as I could.
"Something like that. I just created it with a skill."
In other words—mana.
"……."
Something that lived and moved with mana and free will. But not human.
We usually called things like that monsters.
Having intuited what the thing before her eyes truly was, Kang Jiye crossed her arms and put the final question to me.
"Is it a golem?"
She meant the summons some mages employed.
Like shaping rocks into a human form and sending them to attack enemies.
They were the closest things in nature to Party Bears.
But I shook my head.
There was a massive difference between golems and the amusement park's toys.
"These guys move without any mana supply. They also have clear likes and dislikes. You saw how it reacted when you touched its nose, right?"
Kang Jiye nodded and replied.
"Then there's only one answer left."
"Right."
Unlike Party Bears, golems possessed no free will. They didn't get annoyed if something splattered on their face, and they didn't dodge when you pressed their nose.
They always prioritized their master's commands above all else. And if they weren't supplied with mana for a certain period, they returned to nature.
In other words, they were closer to dolls or robots than to monsters.
They were fundamentally different from Party Bears, each of which had its own intelligence.
"……."
After a moment of contemplation, Kang Jiye finally spoke.
"Could I go see it? That amusement park of yours."
Of course.
She'd have to see it for herself to know.
"Wow—! Really? Mom's coming too? By the way, Ddori has friends there! You should ask for one of your own, Mom!"
Yena grabbed Kang Jiye's hand and bounced up and down.
Completely oblivious to how her mother's insides were burning black with worry, she was over the moon.
I watched them and gave a bitter smile.
Being a mom isn't easy either, huh.
If it were up to her, she'd want to slice open Ddori's belly right then and there to confirm what it was.
A something suspected of being a monster, clinging right to her daughter's side like that. Even if you weren't a hunter, anyone would lose their mind over it.
This was probably a mother's superhuman patience—wanting to protect her daughter's innocence.
Feeling a little guilty, I nodded.
"Sh-Shall we go now?"
Kang Jiye asked.
"You can go right away?"
"Yena mentioned a glowing door, didn't she? There's only one answer to that."
Swoosh!
I waved my hand through the air once, and a gate glowing deep blue appeared.
Fortunately, my depleted mana had recovered somewhat.
I was able to create a gate just tall enough for Kang Jiye's height.
"……!"
Kang Jiye wasn't as surprised as I'd expected. She simply stared at the gate with a grave expression.
She'd probably already roughly figured out how things were unfolding.
"Let's go. The mana drain is heavy, so I can't keep it open long. Yena, come here—piggyback."
While Yena ran over and climbed onto my back, Kang Jiye took a deep breath.
She stepped inside.
Whoosh—!
"……!"
As she passed through the gate, Kang Jiye felt it.
This was exactly the thing she knew so well. The clumps of mana coiling around her body like a serpent, the star-cluster-like things brushing past her surroundings.
And the brightly shining exit ahead.
This was almost certainly the same as existing gates.
Strange, though.
But she harbored doubts inside.
Because one difference had appeared.
It was none other than the ominous killing intent.
She couldn't feel any waves of mana brimming with hostility toward humans at all.
It was strange.
Killing intent was something not just Kang Jiye but any hunter who'd trained in mana could sense—a rough measure of what kind of beings lay beyond the gate, and how strong they were.
But this gate had no notable killing intent to speak of.
If anything, it felt endlessly peaceful.
If ordinary gates felt like a storm-tossed sea, Pecia's gate was like a calm lake under the midday sun.
Pop—!
When she finally passed through the gate, she stared straight ahead with wide eyes.
A background painted in every color of the rainbow, nothing but dazzling brilliance. Houses of every hue and grand amusement rides crashed into her retinas.
It was exactly as her naive daughter had described.
I never thought it was a lie, but…
It was a sight that left her no choice but to be astonished.
Pop—!
Arriving a beat later, Pecia approached with Yena on her back.
"What do you think?"
"……."
Kang Jiye couldn't answer right away.
The situation was too disorienting.
A gate with no killing intent. A cozy and peaceful space spread out inside it. And the fact that her daughter had played here without any problems, having the time of her life.
Even a veteran hunter needed time to organize her thoughts.
Just what is Pecia's true identity?
In truth, the conclusion boiled down to one thing.
Someone who commanded intelligent monsters and even controlled gates. If that wasn't a Gate Boss, then what else could it be?
But the problem was that she'd never seen a monster that could conceal its mana until now.
Moreover, Pecia was far too weak to be a boss. Even the boss of a measly F-class gate would be stronger than Pecia.
Of course, this was Kang Jiye's misconception, born of not knowing Pecia yet.
She had been steadily accumulating stat points in preparation for emergencies. If she just distributed her stats evenly, she'd become two or three times stronger than she was now.
"Pecia."
Having set Yena down from her back, Pecia answered.
"Yes?"
"I'm asking this out of an abundance of caution. Are you… actually human?"
At that, Pecia smiled.
It was a question she'd steeled herself for, but she hadn't expected it to be asked so directly.
I like the directness.
This was different from how she hadn't dug into the past until now.
Back then, she hadn't shown her a gate, and no strange teddy bear had appeared next to Yena.
Naturally, she intended to give some kind of answer.
"…No. I'm not human."
Kang Jiye's pupils wavered.
"Not human?"
Pecia nodded.
"I'm a monster that was living in a gate."
"……!"
Kang Jiye clutched at her spinning mind.
Honestly, she'd expected some kind of excuse.
Even if she really was a monster, Kang Jiye was a high-ranking hunter—and one affiliated with the Hunter Administration at that. Wouldn't it be normal to show some caution?
…….
But separate from those doubts, if Pecia was a monster, then all of her behavior up to now made perfect sense.
The way she'd been found naked in a park as if she'd dropped out of the sky.
Her insufficient common sense that didn't match her mature mind, and the bizarre magic skills she'd displayed all this time.
There had certainly been plenty of things that didn't add up.
And all of that dissonance could be smoothed over under the premise that she was a "monster."
Kang Jiye stared hard at Pecia.
Should I eliminate her?
No. That wasn't possible.
A monster capable of everyday conversation? Pecia was an unprecedented existence in the history of gates.
There was no telling what information she held, and if things went well, they might even uncover the true nature of monsters.
Above all, if she harmed her, her daughter Yena would be devastated. She did hunter work for her daughter's sake—and yet that very work would make her daughter sad? That was putting the cart completely before the horse.
If this was a calculated act, it would be truly terrifying…
Wait—I'm the one who picked her up!
Kang Jiye clutched her head and crouched down.
That's right. Pecia couldn't possibly have any malice. Kang Jiye herself was the one who'd forcibly kept her against her will, washed her, and fed her.
Moreover, Pecia had already saved Kang Jiye's daughter once before.
Monsters do not turn on each other. At least not in front of humans.
This was common knowledge that had been passed down for hundreds of years. Pecia had shattered that common knowledge.
"Are you all right? You're quite shaken, aren't you?"
Meanwhile, Pecia was smiling.
The sight of Kang Jiye completely short-circuiting was amusing.
Momentarily flaring up, Kang Jiye snapped at her.
"What are you laughing so freely for, you little brat."
"What, I can't even laugh how I want?"
"Is this something to laugh about?"
"It's not something to cry about, is it?"
"Ugh."
She forced down a hollow laugh.
Even in this situation, she found herself wanting to scold Pecia for talking back.
…Just from the way she talks, she seems like a nitpicky know-it-all.
In other words, she seemed human.
Even with this mountain of circumstantial evidence, it was hard to properly register that Pecia was a monster.
But in fact, this was a trait inherent to the monster known as Pecia.
She was a being whose purpose was to blend into everyday life and wage large-scale guerrilla warfare. Unless you knew about her in advance like a player and prepared accordingly, you were guaranteed to fall for it.
That was the main reason Pecia was rated as a mid-boss in Gate Apocalypse.
Ah, whatever.
Kang Jiye said abruptly.
"Starting today, you're a special surveillance target. Got it?"
At that, Pecia's eyes went round, then she snorted a laugh.
In any case, it meant she'd keep an eye on her going forward. There weren't many other options available, either. Still, it was a pretty cool-headed decision.
Pecia tilted her head coyly.
"Surveillance, huh… Fine. But how exactly do you plan to watch me? If I just run back into the gate, it's over."
"No? Maybe for other creatures, but you—there has to be a reason you came out."
"Why do you think that?"
"Isn't it obvious? You're a homebody and a lazybones."
"……!"
Hit right in the bullseye, Pecia shut her mouth.
Wearing a triumphant smile, Kang Jiye pressed her advantage.
"Besides, you're going to have to tell me a lot of things from now on. Opening up about your identity like this means you have the will to do so. Am I wrong?"
"……."
She was right.
With no way of knowing when the Academy incident might break out, the cooperation of trustworthy hunters was essential.
And she needed a catalyst that would lend credibility to her words.
Pecia answered.
"Is there anything you're curious about? Or should I organize what I can tell you on my own?"
"Hmm."
Kang Jiye looked at Pecia and fell into thought. Just what should she ask to get the situation sorted out quickly?
In the end, after roughly surveying the amusement park once, the question she came up with was thoroughly hunter-like.
"First, a threat assessment."
"Threat level?"
"Exactly what rank of monster are you? D-class? E-class? F-class?"
Pecia blinked, then snorted a laugh.
"A~."
"A?"
Kang Jiye furrowed her brow.
No matter how generously she looked at it, she only seemed about D-class at best.
Just as she was wondering if monsters had such a thing as bluffing—
Pecia, equally scrunching up her face, answered.
"Not A—I said 'Ayy~.' Where are you sticking an A into this?"
Kang Jiye snorted a laugh.
"Figures. F-class, then?"
"S-class."