Butterfly, Butterfly's Resolve
After parting with Naru and coming down the mountain, I went straight to work preparing.
If you asked what I was preparing for, the answer was simple: a media war.
Right now, Naru had no one to help her—and even the Association wasn't showing any sign of a swift response.
And yet they told me not to approach her, just in case?
What a joke.
I wasn't trying to be arrogant, but I considered myself a reasonably well-known streamer. If an ordinary person tried to take on the Association alone, even a B-class Awakened wouldn't stand a chance. But if I struck first with public opinion, the story changed completely.
I already had the call with the Association recorded. And thanks to ending my last stream so abruptly, a lot of eyes were already on me. All that was left was to throw the first punch.
A person who found an abandoned child and tried to help her, versus an Association that received a report and did absolutely nothing. Who do you think the public is going to tear into? You don't even need a crystal ball for that one.
Once that happened, no matter how incompetent the Association was, they'd have no choice but to take some kind of action. Even if Naru refused to come with me, at least she'd be able to receive proper help.
"I'd love to take Naru home and raise her if I could… but realistically, that's going to be hard."
The image of adorable little Naru rose in my mind, and a pang of regret came with it—but Naru wasn't a pet like a dog or a cat.
It's not like I'll never get to see her again.
Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that the Association wouldn't actually keep Naru safe. Part of that was my own poor opinion of them, but more than that, I could already picture it: them rushing in to grab her, and Naru freezing up in pure terror.
"Looks like I've got a lot to do."
I pulled out my smartphone and called the number saved as "Subin Unnie"—my manager.
"Hello? Subin unnie, is this a good time?"
"Where the hell are you right now, and what are you doing?!"
The sheer volume blasting through the phone made me flinch and hold the device at arm's length as I kept talking.
"Sorry. I had something I had to take care of."
"You know the communities are going absolutely insane right now, right?? There's zero announcement and the comment sections are on fire!"
"Haha, sorry."
"You're laughing? At this rate my entire job is about to go up in flames!"
I endured a long stretch of my manager's scolding, cold sweat running down my back, apologizing over and over before I could finally get a real conversation going.
"Haa… fine. So why did you cut the stream so suddenly?"
With Subin's voice finally settling from furious to merely serious, I began explaining about Naru, carefully and in order.
"Honestly… while I was streaming, I found the box fox."
"You actually found it?"
"Yeah."
"Then why the hell did you cut the stream so fast? Did something happen?"
"Oh, something happened, all right. Something huge."
"What is it already?"
"Well… it was a little kid."
"What?"
"The box fox's true identity was an abandoned little kid."
"???"
Even after hearing me out, Subin unnie seemed completely unable to process it. Silence stretched on the other end of the line. I understood the feeling, so I waited patiently until her voice finally came back.
"So… you're saying the box fox was actually an abandoned little kid…?"
"She seems to have awakened as a fox beastman."
"…What on earth even happened out there."
"Pass the rough situation along to the editor, too. And apologize for me while you're at it."
"Fine, for now. But you are explaining this properly, got it?"
"I promise."
There was no one around, but just in case, I ended the call after saying we'd meet at home and talk it through properly.
After that, I glanced back toward the Back Mountain, stretched, and set myself to preparing in earnest.
"Now it's really a race against time."
I'd already filmed myself going out to find the box fox. That meant someone could theoretically pin down the location from the footage alone and go looking for Naru. I hadn't given the exact spot, of course—but this world had more than a few people with that kind of uncanny talent.
"If I'd known it would turn out like this, I should've done a recorded stream instead of going live…"
Regretting it now was useless. All I could do was move fast, before anything else went wrong.
At the time, I was so busy lining up everything I had to do that I never noticed the dark clouds gathering far off in the distance.
What I did once I got home was simple, if you wanted to call it that.
I told my manager and editor the whole story about Naru, and we discussed how to edit and upload the video. Filming Naru's face and the place she lived would have been more effective, of course—but we concluded that, for Naru's safety, it was better for now to simply inform the viewers of the situation, like posting an announcement.
First, I put up a short notice. It started with an apology, then promised that an important video about the box fox would be uploaded soon—just enough to grab people's attention. After that, I'd be ready to reveal Naru's situation and the Association's incompetence.
"Haa. Now I just need to film the video and upload it."
"But are you really okay with this?"
"With what?"
"If you go after the Association, you're going to get dragged into a real mess."
"I'm not making anything up. And I have the call recording."
"Huu… fine. I'll tell the editor how to handle it. You just get ready to film."
"Got it."
Rumble…
"…!"
We'd been so deep in discussion that I hadn't noticed the time. Night had fallen, and a sound rolled in from outside.
"What was that?"
I looked out the window. Rain was pouring down in sheets, with thunder and lightning crashing through it.
At the sight of it, Subin unnie spoke as if something had just clicked.
"Come to think of it, they said there'd be a heavy rain warning tonight—enough rain to trigger one."
"A heavy rain warning?"
In that instant, cold sweat broke out on my skin. I pictured Naru out there getting drenched, and I was on my feet before I knew it.
"Naru's… Naru's in danger!!"
"What? Oh—right, you said that kid lives on the mountain?! Rain like this could set off a landslide… and that mountain's got a reputation for small ones."
Subin unnie had gone pale too, realizing how bad this was. I grabbed an umbrella on pure reflex—
"No. An umbrella's only going to get in the way."
I set the umbrella back down and immediately pulled on my mana.
"Unnie, sorry. I have to go."
"…Okay. Be careful."
I took off at a full sprint toward the Back Mountain where Naru was.
Truthfully, my physical ability was only a little above an ordinary person's—pretty weak for a B-class Awakened. Even so, I didn't stop running.
Anxious images of Naru getting hurt kept flashing past me. My lungs burned, and my body—unused to this kind of sudden exertion—started screaming in protest, but I still wouldn't stop.
"Naru…!"
Faster.
Even faster.
In a moment when the only thought filling my head was that I had to reach Naru's side, a new window appeared before my eyes.
A new skill has been acquired.
"…!"
As if answering the cry of my heart, a new skill had formed. The moment I checked it, I used it without a second of hesitation.
Butterfly Wings (B)
Create butterfly wings of mana and take flight.
It was a simple skill—but it was exactly what I needed most right now. Mana gathered at my back, and a pair of violet wings took shape.
A few beats of those wings lifted my running legs clear off the ground, and I shot forward even faster than before.
"Just hold on a little longer, Naru! Unnie's coming!"
I was afraid of heights, truthfully—but right now that didn't matter at all. I flew straight for the Back Mountain as fast as I could.
The raindrops slammed into my face from the speed, but I ignored them and pushed harder. The skill had only just awakened, and the wind and rain made the flight wildly unstable—but thanks to it, I reached the Back Mountain in no time.
The first place I went was the rock where Naru lived.
"Aeong!!"
"Boss?"
From a crack in the rock, a black cat—Boss—had stuck his head out and was yowling toward somewhere in the distance.
He wasn't even caring that the rain was soaking him through, just staring fixedly in one direction. Anxiety spiked through me. I hurried over and checked the gap in the rock.
"Naru…"
Just as I'd feared, Naru wasn't in the crevice. My eyes followed the direction Boss was looking.
"Boss, is Naru over that way?"
"Aeong."
"Wait here for me."
I formed the wings again at once and flew in the direction Boss was facing.
I messed up. I should have sent a butterfly ahead first to confirm her location!!
Just in case, I sent butterflies out to search for Naru while I scoured the surroundings myself—and then an ominous sound rolled down from higher up the mountain.
"Of all times for a landslide to hit!?"
It wasn't the kind of landslide you saw on the news—just a smaller flow of mud and debris washing down—but for a tiny, fragile Naru, it was more than dangerous enough.
That was when one of the butterflies I'd sent gave me the signal that it had found her.
"Naru!!"
I flew straight there. Naru was clinging desperately to a tree, taking the full force of the wind and rain with her whole body.
The second I spotted her, I poured on every bit of speed I had and made it up into the tree before the landslide could reach us.
"Haa… haa… Thank goodness… thank goodness!!"
Naru was trembling hard, and she was so cold from how thoroughly the rain had soaked her. I gathered her gently into my arms and apologized.
"I'm sorry I'm late, Naru."
"Ye… Yerin…?"
"Oh my god, look at your lips. They're completely blue."
"Why… are you here?"
"That's my line! Why aren't you with Boss—why are you out here?!"
"But the bag…"
"The bag?"
At Naru's answer, I looked back toward where she'd been. Far off, a bag was being swept away in the landslide.
"Ah."
And then it hit me—right before I'd left, I'd asked Naru to look after the bag so she could use the things inside a little more comfortably.
Had she really come out into this downpour, into this danger, just to keep a promise she'd made to me?
Because of me…
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry, Naru…"
"Kang… too tight…"
In that moment, I made up my mind. No matter what happened from here on, I would protect Naru.
Without fail…