The Disappearance Case
We were fully immersed in the recovery work when the Director, surveying the rides around us, spoke up.
"I hear those things are actually something like soul threshers."
"…"
Did Kim Seojun tell him that?
I nodded without protest.
"That's right."
"Once you board one, the joy inside you gets forcibly extracted, doesn't it?"
"Yep."
"And in the process, the rider feels a happiness they've never known before. Then after they get off, depression sets in. Is that correct?"
"Yes, sir. Because that much fundamental happiness has been stolen from them."
And so the riders, without understanding why, grow more and more haggard—and hungrier for the rides. Of course they would. They want to feel that joy again.
But eventually a point arrives when even riding no longer brings pleasure. That means the fare has been paid in full.
People like that wander the amusement park until they kill themselves—or get killed by the toys. Her Majesty the Queen of Siphonside never did care for rotten expressions.
"So in the end, that joy is converted into your mana."
I shook my head.
"Strictly speaking, it's the mana of this world. The power that runs the rides, the food and souvenirs that appear in the shops—all of it is the residue of people from other worlds who came before."
Of course, I also draw mana from the world itself, so the Director wasn't entirely wrong.
Suddenly his brow furrowed.
"And you fed that to your little sister?"
"Fed what?"
"You just said the food here is the residue of people from other worlds. Isn't that horrifying?"
"Ah—"
I snorted a quiet laugh.
"You don't need to worry about that part."
"Why not?"
"Because those children are all the toys here now. It wasn't a forced sacrifice."
"…!"
"The parties involved already consented and boarded of their own free will. I simply took pity on them and accepted them as my subjects."
In other words, the happiness extracted from everyone was something we all shared.
The nobles were a slightly different story, but the principle held.
The Director tilted his head, uncomprehending.
"Choosing to become a toy in a place like this… What is there to gain from that?"
I shrugged.
"There are all kinds of worlds out there. Your skepticism is only natural, but sometimes people want to become toys—to be sealed forever in forgetfulness and childhood."
"…Is that so."
It wasn't as if the Director had never known lives like that. Hell, there were people scooped up by slave rings from birth, limbs cut off, left to beg for the rest of their days.
But an entire world becoming toys—that was harder to swallow.
"Then let me ask one last thing."
"Ask as many as you like."
"…Opening an amusement park—isn't that exactly the thing Kim Seojun was so worried about?"
"That's different."
"How so?"
"The rides do take joy, yes—but I can regulate it however I want. And a person's happiness can be refilled endlessly through experience."
Of course, simply riding the attractions would be a net loss.
But if friends, family, and neighbors were there with you—if you spent meaningful time together—the equation changed.
Humans are social animals. That's why. We can grow each other's happiness. Even the law of entropy that governs every energy in the universe doesn't apply to this perpetual motion machine.
"But if wicked people get mixed in, that's a different story. They steal other people's happiness and reproduce bad energy. That's why the wicked have to be dealt with."
At last the Director looked as though he understood, and he let out an impressed breath.
"So depending on the master's will, the purpose can change dramatically?"
"Something like that."
"But is it even possible? Letting only good people through the gates?"
"Well… it won't be easy."
Honestly, it was close to impossible.
Say someone harms another person. The victim not only refuses to forgive the attacker—they plant wariness and suspicion in their heart. And as those experiences pile up, people change for the worse.
…Sorting all of that out and reforming people one by one? That wasn't Pecia von Chiffonside's style.
I was lazy to the bone, after all.
As a magical beast, I would choose extracting happiness from other species over protecting and producing it.
The world was wide, and living things were plentiful.
So this choice of mine had to be purely the influence of the reverse world.
"…"
I didn't spell any of that out for the Director. Without knowing the truth about necromancy, anything I said would only sound vague. I simply smiled and offered this instead:
"Even when it's hard, rising to meet change—isn't that what it means to be human?"
The Director nodded in agreement.
"That is what it means to be human."
"Alright—that's ten done! I'm taking a short break. Want some coffee?"
The Director clasped his hands behind his back.
"Regrettably, I have to be going. Thanks to you, things are about to get rather busy."
"Ah… the World Ability Agency, right?"
"No. Those people aren't a problem if I put my mind to it. Don't you worry about them either."
"Then…"
"Listen well, Queen of Siphonside."
My eyes went round.
Why the sudden formal title?
The Director spoke as if issuing a warning.
"The world will not easily accept a magical beast like you. You know that yourself."
"…"
"I won't stop the amusement park. But the friction that arises in the process may exceed anything you've imagined. When that time comes, even I may be of no help. I hope you weather it well—and make the right choices."
I stared at him for a long moment, then answered.
"That's a surprisingly green-apple confession, coming from a grandfather."
"It isn't."
Over the next several days, I repaired the Party Bears.
Converted into Party Bears, the factory's inventory came to roughly three hundred units' worth. But most of what had been destroyed was commercial stock, so in the end I was able to restore somewhere between six and seven hundred of them.
And of course the factory kept running throughout the repairs. In about ten days, I'd be past mere restoration and into upgrading the ones that were already fine.
"Pecia—come eat."
I was sitting in the living room mid-repair when Kang Jiye called.
I answered while wrapping Mana Cloth around cotton stuffing.
"Just finishing this. What's on the menu today?"
"Yena, go get Eldrisa."
Calling for Eldrisa first meant the table was going to be nothing but the leafy greens I hated. An unspoken signal: if you don't want to get scolded in front of your subordinate, don't complain about the side dishes.
Once Eldrisa had been successfully retrieved, Kang Jiye planted a kiss on Yena's cheek.
Eldrisa, who had been watching quietly, asked,
"Strange. Why don't you kiss me anymore these days?"
Kang Jiye's eyes went wide.
"Huh?"
"At first you used to grab me even when I said no. These past few days I don't think I've seen you cling to me once."
Kang Jiye looked Eldrisa up and down, a little flustered.
"Hey… you're taller than me now. What, are you sulking?"
Eldrisa snorted.
"Not particularly."
"I'll do it, then! Mwah—"
Yena lunged in with her lips pursed like a goldfish. Eldrisa stopped her cold with telekinesis.
"…!"
She floated the thrashing child clean off the ground and set her neatly in a chair at the table.
"Hiiing."
"Your Majesty. Please eat."
"Mm, just this one thing."
Anyway, daily life during the school break looked roughly like this.
Aside from nearly getting caught by Yena with the mass grave of the little bird-things, it was mostly peaceful.
Kang Jiye set a helping of seasoned eggplant on top of my rice and said,
"Classes start again soon, right?"
"How did you know? I only just got the message."
"Yena's going back to school soon too. Eldrisa decided to tag along in secret."
"Mm. It's still dangerous, so that's good. The little bird-things have their limits."
I transferred the seasoned eggplant from my rice onto Eldrisa's plate.
"You've got it rough."
"…"
Eldrisa sighed and ate it.
"Why on earth would anyone refuse something this delicious…?"
For reference, Eldrisa was a forest witch and loved vegetarian food. And since everyone in our household was a mana-user, Kang Jiye went out of her way to source specially improved ingredients just for her.
Of course it tasted good.
To me, it was just a vegetable with a bizarre texture.
Kang Jiye put another helping of seasoned eggplant back on my rice.
"Our little one doesn't need to worry, right? If anything happens, tell the Director."
I started to pass the eggplant to Yena, saw she already had two servings stacked on her plate, and changed course.
"Of course."
Eldrisa smacked the back of my hand. Slap!
"Ah!"
My eyes went round.
"Excuse me? Hitting the Queen?"
The corner of Eldrisa's mouth curled up.
"Please show some restraint. Someone went to the trouble of making this for you. What kind of undignified behavior is that?"
"I'll ki—"
"Go ahead and kill me. I will not surrender even the elegance of a noblewoman."
"Have you actually lost your mind?"
At that moment, Kang Jiye poked me in the nose.
"Don't talk back to Eldrisa. She isn't wrong about a single thing."
"Ah, Mother…"
"No whining. Wrong is wrong. Aww, look at our beautiful eldest daughter."
Kang Jiye reached out to stroke her hair, and Eldrisa turned her head to dodge.
Watching the two of them, I suddenly laughed in disbelief.
"What is this. You two really look like a grown daughter and her mom. Both of you so tall, too."
Eldrisa shot back,
"I've lived several thousand years longer than her."
"It's just a figure of speech."
We were in the middle of lunch when, all at once, every phone in the house went off.
Before we could even check the messages, the wall-mounted TV switched over and an emergency broadcast filled the screen.
"What? Did an S-class gate open or something?"
I turned my head, puzzled—and there, in enormous letters, was this:
Kang Jiye spoke in shock.
"…Huh? That guy."
"What, do you know him?"
"Know him? He's Germany's number-one hunter! He came here for his honeymoon?"
…!
And the wife who vanished with him was a Japanese A-class hunter. Yikes.