🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 44.
Misfortune vs. Luck (2)
The Hero Elaine was, for once, genuinely angry.
The cause was none other than the Union’s military council.
[We’ve heard. You say information on the Demon Emperor has come in?]
[And yet you’re handing it off to others when it’s something the Hero could resolve quickly yourself.]
[More than that, didn’t you say not to bring anything unless it involved the Fire Butterfly?]
Those speaking through magical holograms looked at the Hero with expressions full of feigned concern.
[Are you still obsessed with the Fire Butterfly?]
At those words, the eyes of the Chancellor attending the meeting turned icy.
‘Everywhere, nothing but vultures looking to tear at us.’
The Union was composed of multiple factions. And as is always the case with alliances, power struggles between factions were inevitable.
They pretended to worry, but in truth they were trying to keep the Hero Corps in check. Haven, made up of professors each of hero caliber, outstanding students, and the military, was no small force.
The Hero let out a sigh.
‘How troublesome.’
There was another true reason for founding Haven, but in any case, it had been established to focus on capturing the Fire Butterfly.
He looked at the envoys as though deeply disappointed.
“If that’s how you see it, then your judgment is mistaken. What if all these simultaneous incidents are part of Pride’s scheme?”
[!]
“Pride has many named figures as cunning as the Fire Butterfly. In that case, we cannot simply dance to their tune.”
At that, the chairman of another academy snickered.
[You say that, but honestly, to me it looks like nothing more than an obsession with the Fire Butterfly.]
Charlotte raised her delicate eyebrows.
‘The tactician—Derelin’s chairman, is it.’
Though Derelin was one of the five great military academies along with Haven, its leadership wanted to pull the Hero down from the commander’s seat.
Recently, by aggressively recruiting professors, they had begun producing high-level heroes—unlike Haven—and were brimming with confidence.
[To begin with, Haven isn’t some insignificant school. It’s one of the five great prestigious academies, yet its slogan is “Exterminate the Fire Butterfly”? How anachronistic. And I wonder if you even have any proper professors.]
Derelin’s chairman smiled slyly, like a fox.
[Ah, of course, we know the Fire Butterfly all too well. Because of that crafty bastard, how much the Union has been toyed with and harmed.]
Was it not because of that single butterfly that, even during the “Battle of the Heartland,” the Hero failed to drive his blade into the Demon Emperor’s neck?
“As long as the Fire Butterfly exists, Pride cannot be brought to ruin.”
The Hero’s words were the accepted truth. That was why the Union was desperate to capture the Fire Butterfly.
But still—
[Even so, hasn’t that remarkable Fire Butterfly failed to show itself for fifty years?]
[Are you saying, contrary to the Hero’s claim, that the Fire Butterfly is dead?]
[Yes.]
[But the Fire Butterfly has appeared recently. That’s why Haven has been tracking—]
At that moment, Derelin’s chairman sneered as if he’d been waiting.
[Well, there have been incidents presumed to be the Fire Butterfly’s doing, but wasn’t there no “physical evidence”?]
Physical evidence.
At those words, Charlotte bit her lip.
What he meant by evidence was the “symbol.”
‘Yes. The symbol.’
Whenever Pride’s named figures appeared, their symbol always appeared with them. But the Fire Butterfly now appearing within the Union lacked that symbol.
That was why everyone was uncertain. Half said, “The methods are the same, so it’s real,” while the other half argued, “There’s no symbol, so it’s fake.”
[The Fire Butterfly is dead. Wouldn’t it be better to stop being stubborn and focus on other matters?]
In other words, they were trying to belittle the Hero, claiming his sharpness had dulled and his judgment had faltered. No matter how formidable the Fire Butterfly once was, if it was dead, there was no reason to worry about it.
Charlotte trusted her uncle, but even she had nothing to say when there was no symbol of the Fire Butterfly. And as if this were the real point, Derelin’s chairman continued.
[Guiding someone who has gone astray is also part of our leadership’s duty.]
Charlotte ground her teeth. What angered her was that, even under such an attack, she had no words to refute it.
Soon, Derelin’s chairman bared his teeth, revealing his true colors.
[Now then. So let us divert the military budget to—]
And then, at that very moment—
Aeeeeeng—
Suddenly, the military headquarters erupted into commotion.
At the unfamiliar alarm tone, all the envoys looked bewildered. The Hero was no different.
As everyone tried to identify the source of the warning, a soldier rushed in. Seeing the Hero, the soldier stiffened, saluted, and raised his voice.
“This is an emergency! It’s the ‘Butterfly Path’!”
The Butterfly Path?
The envoys tilted their heads briefly, then went pale.
[The Butterfly Path?!]
[Could it be the Fire Butterfly’s symbol?]
The Pride named figures were “special-grade wanted criminals”; there was no way they wouldn’t recognize their symbols.
The soldier immediately activated an artifact. A hologram-like spell unfolded, and as the scene of the city appeared upon it, everyone’s faces stiffened.
“……!”
The Hero’s gaze changed as well. There was a butterfly of light leisurely flying across a bridge over a beautiful river.
“That is…!”
It was a self-luminous butterfly. Every time it beat its wings, fragments of light scattered, like sparks flying from a fire.
And that butterfly was unmistakably the Fire Butterfly’s phrix—simply put, the Fire Butterfly’s mark. There was a reason he was called the Fire Butterfly.
“Where the butterfly goes, there lies a spark of annihilation.”
Wherever the butterfly passed, a hellish glow always remained. Everyone had chased its trail, yet no one had ever seen its owner’s face.
This butterfly was the same—floating calmly, as if daring someone to try and catch it, like a hell-moth from the underworld.
All the envoys were stunned. As it was the Fire Butterfly’s symbol appearing for the first time in fifty years, the meeting hall could not help but erupt. That was how significant this symbol was.
Even Derelin’s chairman, who had been disparaging the Hero during the video conference, froze. At that, Chancellor Charlotte let out a soft laugh.
“So he was alive. Unlike what someone who wanted to siphon off the budget was saying.”
[Kgh…!]
The envoys murmured in agitation.
[Could it be that what we’ve been seeing all this time really was the Fire Butterfly?!]
The Hero sprang to his feet. There was no way he could fail to recognize it. That was not a fake.
He turned immediately.
“We’ll suspend the meeting. There’s no need to explain why.”
Ending the meeting, the Hero stepped out of the conference room. The generals and soldiers stared at him in shock.
“Commander!”
“Did you see it? It really is the Fire Butterfly!”
“To think the Fire Butterfly would finally appear near Haven!”
The Hero issued swift orders.
“If the opponent is the Fire Butterfly, even upper-tiers will be taken down immediately. Assemble the special-grades.”
The soldiers were bewildered. Upper-level heroes would be defeated? Was the Fire Butterfly’s combat power really that great?
‘Wasn’t he just a spy who used his head a bit?’
Everyone thought so—but the commander’s reaction was different.
“Sound the level-three alert.”
“Then…!”
“I’m going personally.”
Aeeeeeeeng—
“Good, good. Making a nice racket.”
Hearing the sirens echo throughout Haven, Ruin was extremely satisfied.
The “Fire Butterfly” everyone saw was a chrysalis that had been sleeping in a warehouse, awakened and sent flying by Ruin. It was one he had raised long ago.
Normally he would have created one with magic, but was there really any need?
In reality, a single tiny butterfly had thrown Haven into chaos. To the real Fire Butterfly, it was nothing more than a toy.
“Capture the Fire Butterfly!”
“He’s appeared!”
He could sense the professors and the Hero heading out of Haven. Lights flicked on in the dormitory towers—total pandemonium.
Ruin observed the scene from a rooftop. The ginseng merchant was utterly thrilled.
「Look! That Hero is scurrying out of Haven! It worked!」
Yet Ruin himself tilted his head back to look at the sky, as if a wave of anticlimax had hit him. For him, it was undoubtedly a great success, but still…
‘This really works?’
Well, good was good.
‘Now I can finally dig the tunnel.’
Above the Healing Studies lecture hall were research labs, but there wasn’t a single person in the building. Why? Because Ruin had driven them all out.
How?
“Why are you still working at this hour?”
“Professor Ruins!”
The assistants, with dark circles hanging down to their chins, were flustered when a professor appeared so late.
“What brings the Demonology professor all the way here…!”
“Is it strange for a professor to check the labs?”
“N-no. It’s just that it’s normally past the time when all professors would have gone home…!”
“After dumping all the work on you?”
“Well… it is our job…”
“You look terrible. Have you eaten?”
“Ah… not yet.”
“Do you know what time it is? Never mind. Go eat, at least.”
“Pardon?”
“Call all your colleagues and go have something good.”
When Ruin handed over a hefty sum from his wallet, the assistants were all shocked.
‘A professor who buys meals for assistants actually exists?’
Everywhere was the same, but Haven’s assistants were notorious for their brutal working conditions.
“B-but we have night patrol duty…!”
“Leave that to me.”
“What?”
“Go wash up, see your parents, take your time.”
They couldn’t help but be even more astonished.
In other words… he was telling them to go have fun!
The assistants buzzed with excitement.
But his behavior was suspicious. Appearing out of nowhere and showing such kindness—without any reason…?
“Why would Professor Wayne do this…?”
“I want to change Haven’s educational environment. The treatment of assistants as well. If there’s anything unreasonable, speak up. I’m looking into the labor conditions of assistants.”
“L-labor conditions…!”
“So don’t worry about it and go. I’ll personally put this on the agenda for the faculty meeting.”
The assistants murmured, but for a different reason.
“Hey. Didn’t the other professors tell us not to listen to Professor Ruins?”
“…Is that really the issue right now?! In this situation?!”
Their eyes gleamed.
“We’ll be back by tomorrow morning! Hahaha!”
And just like that, he chased them all out.
Looking at the completely empty surrounding buildings, Ruin smiled mockingly.
“As expected of Union pigs—security is lax.”
He twirled the key he’d gotten from the assistants.
Creeeak—
At last, the Fire Butterfly succeeded in entering the “Healing Studies Lecture Hall.” It was the route connected directly to the vault room.
