A New Collaborator

Thoom-!

As space seemed to shift, my hair whipped wildly.

A dim environment.

My vision adapted to the darkness dozens of times faster than an ordinary person's, and soon the scenery around me came into view.

'Where is this...'

Trees stretched thickly into the sky, with undergrowth rising to about neck height and vines everywhere.

It was a familiar place.

Though I'd only been here once, it was a place I could never forget.

The altar from before was nowhere to be seen, but how common could a place like this be in the world?

......I had died here and been reborn at the same time.

"So this is what 'Inventory' was referring to..."

I couldn't understand it. Why had it suddenly opened a passage after refusing to let me in until now?

'......'

Rustle-

I was somewhat bewildered, but for now I began pushing my way forward. There wasn't any particular reason.

I just felt that I had to.

Or, to be more precise, I felt as though something foreign were lodged in this place. An urge to remove it as quickly as possible kept driving me onward.

The same scenery slipped past no matter how far I went, but I could still feel that I was drawing closer to my destination.

'Two?'

A presence gradually became perceptible. I realized I wasn't the only one here.

At the same time as I saw a faint light ahead, I began to hear hushed whispers.

Rustle!

'Shh!'

'Sorry.'

'It's all right. Ms. Jihye, crouch down first and don't leave my side.'

......!

No way.

Startled, I instantly hid behind a tree.

Judging by both the conversation and their appearance, there was no doubt those were Livi and Han Jihye.

The two people I'd thought I had to kill were them? My heart pounded as I was stunned by my own realization.

'What should I do?'

After calming down a little, I thought it over.

In every respect, it seemed they'd been caught up while I was falling through the Gate.

If I appeared in front of them here, what could I possibly say to explain myself?

……Saying, 'I accidentally fell into a Gate,' would only make things worse.

The environment had suddenly changed when I said I 'wanted to see it right away.'

Even if Gates could appear anywhere at the most arbitrary locations, wasn't this coincidence too much?

Livi would surely notice something strange before long. She was kind, not stupid.

Han Jihye already knew about the Gate, so that shouldn't be a problem... but surely she wouldn't quit being an attendant out of fear.

Shh-shh-shh-!

'......!!'

While all sorts of thoughts raced through my mind, something brushed against my skin.

Although my surroundings were perfectly still, it felt as though a powerful wind were blowing.

But not a single strand of hair moved, and I immediately inferred what it was.

'A mana fluctuation...!'

A target moving at high speed.

Realizing its direction was exactly toward Livi, I leaped out without time to consider anything else.

"Look out!!"

Shiiing-!!

I knocked away the dagger flying toward Livi's throat with my blade-like claws. Livi let out a shriek and crumpled to the ground.

I saw a Pygmy with empty hands; then it met my gaze, fled, and disappeared into the distance.

"Ra, Raebi...? It's really you, isn't it?"

"Yes... Are you both all right?"

Livi got to her feet, stammering. The light we'd seen moments ago had disappeared; apparently, her magic had been canceled when she fell over in surprise.

While they couldn't see, I took the item 'Lighthouse Light' out of my Inventory.

I threw it upward and fixed it in place, then supplied it with an appropriate amount of mana. A light as bright as a soccer field's floodlights burst forth.

"Ugh...!"

It was far too bright.

The light struck so suddenly that my eyeballs throbbed. Perhaps because I'd adapted so extremely to the darkness, it did considerable damage even though I'd been looking down beforehand.

Livi and Han Jihye also seemed to stand there covering their eyes for a while.

"Ow... That's ours, right?"

"Y-yes... I'm sorry for suddenly taking it out."

Once her eyes had readapted to the bright surroundings, Livi approached me while warily scanning the area.

"......It looks like we fell into a Gate. Raebi, do you happen to know where we are?"

Her voice held a hint of expectation.

Rather than interrogating me, she seemed to be counting on my extensive store of miscellaneous knowledge.

I hesitated a little before opening my mouth.

"......I know."

"Huh? You know? What type of dungeon is this? I can't see the exit. Where should we go to wait for rescue...?"

"Big Sis Livi."

I caught the flustered Livi's hand as she babbled on. An eerie presence could be felt around us. There were probably many other children here besides the one that had fled.

......There were quite a lot of them here besides the children I'd created.

"First, we're getting out of here now. I'll explain later."

"What? Did you find the Gate entrance, at least...?"

'I want to get out of here right now. And take the two people I'm holding with me.'

Ding-

[Exiting from 'Inventory'.]

Whoom-!

Once again, my clothes and hair whipped wildly.

I saw the beautifully arranged table and chairs, along with two teacups with tea left in them.

Just as when we entered, we were transported in an instant. Livi flinched and looked around.

"Uh..."

Silence fell.

Both of them looked as though their brains were loading while they tried to distinguish dream from reality.

Han Jihye, who at least knew about me, seemed to regain her senses early... but soon a deep look of concern appeared on her face.

Livi remained confused the entire time, then eventually looked to me for an answer.

"What was that just now? You said you knew, didn't you?"

Her tone carried the nuance of ‘Don't even think about avoiding this.’

I gave her an awkward smile.

Now that things had come to this, I had no intention of hiding it, but I had absolutely no idea where or how to begin explaining.

I started with the essential points.

"The Gate just now was one I opened. And I was the one who brought us back out, too."

"......What? How is that possible?"

"Let's just call it a skill. I'm not very good at controlling it, so this accident happened."

"......"

Livi then sat down. At some point, Han Jihye had refilled her tea, and she lowered her gaze as she took a sip.

She seemed to be in the process of regaining her composure.

Since there was no need to add to her confusion, I waited silently. After a while, she propped her chin on her palm and said,

"Haa... No wonder the family head is so fixated on you."

Pfft, a breathy laugh.

I'd expected her to interrogate me or demand answers, but her reaction was gentler than expected. Worried that she might suddenly turn on me, I timidly asked,

"You're not angry...?"

"Why would I be angry? This happened while you were trusting me enough to reveal your secret."

…….

A surge of emotion-

'Don't, you crybaby! Don't cry.'

Was it relief, or had I been moved? Unable to identify the exact reason, my eyes grew moist.

I'd worried that this might ruin my relationship with Livi, and at the same time, I'd been prepared for that possibility. It would have been understandable in a situation like this.

Yet despite the fact that I hadn't offered any lengthy excuses, she didn't press me for details.

Even though there must have been countless things she couldn't make sense of.

"Why are you crying?"

"It's just... I was scared you'd suddenly turn on me, Sis..."

"Good grief, come here."

‘Aren't things backward here?’ Livi hugged me warmly, as if saying that.

In the end, hot streams spilled from both my eyes.

Livi gently stroked the back of my head, then paused and spoke again in a low voice.

"Raebi, I sensed two killing auras just now. One stopped on its own nearby, and you blocked the other at just the right moment."

......! So she had noticed.

I nodded with my face buried against her.

"We learned this in Monster Behavior Studies. The moment you enter a field-type Gate, the monsters recognize an intruder. Is that place Raebi's hometown, by any chance?"

Livi had apparently already finished organizing her thoughts. It was an inference approaching the truth despite the flimsy clues.

I marveled inwardly, then told her what I knew.

"......I don't know whether it's my hometown, either. But I'm certain it's the Pygmies' hideout. The materials used for the accessories I made for you all came from there, too."

"Is that so?"

A wordless embrace continued for some time afterward.

I kept my arms around her back because I didn't want us to part like this.

I didn't know how much of the secret Livi would keep to herself, but I hoped she wouldn't say more than necessary to preserve our life as it was, at least.

'It would be nice if I didn't have to say anything at all...'

That would be impossible, though. Livi had her own position to consider.

"...Hehe, don't worry. I'll keep it absolutely secret."

"Y-you will?"

It felt as though she'd read my mind.

I pulled away from Livi for a moment.

When I looked at her without hiding my surprise, she gave me a bitter smile.

"You actually didn't kill me. Even after I discovered a secret that enormous."

"……I never even considered that. At first, I only acted because I didn't know who it was, though."

After my heart had settled a little, Livi and I sat side by side in the chairs. She looked me straight in the eye and said,

"Raebi. Let's keep this matter between the two of us. Judging by everything so far, it seems you still don't understand yourself very well."

"I'm fine with that... but are you really all right with it, Sis?"

"Of course. But... let's make just two promises to each other."

Instead of exposing me, she agreed to cooperate, but laid down conditions.

One was that 'if you find out anything, you must tell me honestly as well.'

When I asked whether she was really leaving everything to my conscience, she nodded calmly.

Apparently, I was the type to suffer agonizing guilt when I hid things, and as time passed, my lies began to show on my face.

And the other one was...

"Real estate!?"

"The land seems to be brimming with mana, so there must be plenty of good materials there, right?"

'Even in the middle of all this, her mind goes straight to business.'

Her words and behavior were difficult to understand by ordinary standards. No matter how gentle a noble might be, a noble was still a noble.

I gave her a dazed look, feeling somewhat numb, and perhaps mistaking my expression, she said, 'Come on,'

"Of course, I don't mean I'll take the whole thing for free. If you sell the land, I want the right of first refusal, and if it's the sort that closes after a while, like other Gates, please let me collect the materials, plants, and animals inside. I'll pay."

......That wasn't why I'd looked at her that way.

*

“So, now that we've more or less wrapped things up, next is the issue concerning Lady Bella.”

We decided to look into my identity and the Gate little by little later. She seemed willing to assume there were circumstances behind it.

In any case, if I showed any threatening behavior, she'd immediately take matters into her own hands, and she was willing to wait because nothing particularly unusual had happened so far.

And if I were a monster, she said, it would also be unnatural for me to know Korean sensibilities so thoroughly. I knew the circumstances of commoners especially far better than Livi did.

I couldn't bring myself to say that I had the memories of an adult man.

"Haa... After going through something that incredible, I feel strangely good."

Livi then placed her hands on both my cheeks.

"Get a grip, Raebi. That's one thing, and this is another. Our opponent is the Cecil family, so from now on you need to stay truly alert and not make a single mistake. Understood?"

"Ah, yes...!"

Right.

Come to think of it, the Cecil family was even more frightening than monsters.

No matter how much I had a monster's body and a powerful S-rank summon, before them I was ultimately as helpless as a mere child.

I had to avoid falling out of their favor if at all possible, and since I didn't want the problem to grow any larger, I focused on taking in everything she told me.

And the next day.

"Then I'll be off!"

"Good luck!"

"Our lovely princess is finally revealing her true identity..."

"What?! What identity?"

"Can't you see the wings behind you? You are truly an angel..."

Bang!

I shut the lodging door with enough force to strike Kim Chahun in the face.

Thanks to Livi accommodating me as much as she could, I steeled myself and was able to head to the social gathering venue.