I'm the Cool Butterfly Who Killed a Hero!
“How could they handle their work so poorly that I have to clean up after them like this...?”
The hero, who had grumbled after instantly killing Alina's target, pulled another stack of documents from his breast pocket.
He slipped them into the already empty drawer and closed it as if nothing had happened.
No wonder he had been wearing gloves and opening and closing the drawer so carefully.
The Count must be a very thorough man.
But his face looks familiar.
It would have been best to return to Alina at this point, but I stayed behind and watched until the hero left.
The appearance of that skinny man with those shifty, half-closed eyes—I couldn't tell if they were open or shut—kept nagging at me.
Maybe he hadn't looked like this before, because I couldn't quite place him.
I felt like I would remember if I saw what kind of power he used, but since he had only used raw physical strength to kill the target, I couldn't tell.
Seeing how he uses a heinous criminal as a subordinate, the Count must be a really bad guy.
One thing was for sure: I had definitely seen him on the news.
Specifically, as a perpetrator of an incredibly heinous crime.
An ordinary citizen like me wouldn't remember a dime-a-dozen Rank 6 to 9 hero.
I only vaguely recalled him because he was a memorable, notorious criminal.
On a side note, I remembered most of the Great Heroes of Rank 2 or higher, so if I ever saw one of them, I'd have to run away immediately.
“Tsk. I should ask for a bigger bonus.”
The hero, who had apparently entered through the window in the first place, slipped back out the same way.
As he left, he used his ability, which instantly jogged my memory of who he was.
He was an esper with an innate ability rather than common magic or swordsmanship, specifically a beast-type shifter.
Using his ability to transform into a crow, he had approached ordinary citizens and brutally murdered over thirty people before going on the run.
He was at the very bottom of Rank 7 before becoming a criminal, so by now, he had almost certainly reached Rank 6.
They said he was never caught, but here he is.
Well, this place was beyond the reach of the government.
The various cities of renegades around the world were neutral territories, kept in check rather than directly intervened in by monsters or humanity.
It was the perfect place for criminals to hide.
Though keeping a fugitive as a henchman instead of weeding them out was definitely a problem.
It seems Count Zeno really is the one who brought down Cafe Rina.
It couldn't be anyone else.
I wasn't expecting him to be squeaky clean, but I didn't expect to dig up this much dirt either.
Honestly, it was a miracle he was still called a Count.
Ah, he probably killed everyone who wasn't on his side. What a truly awful person.
He survived because he crushed every single sprout of rebellion before it could grow.
And he seemed to have a tight grip on information control.
Now, let's go get Alina. She needs to know what's going on.
I flew back to our hiding spot and brought Alina to the office.
The moment Alina opened the door and stepped inside, she bit her lower lip at the sight of the target's corpse.
Being a clever girl, she seemed to grasp the situation immediately.
She was so close to uncovering the truth, so it must be frustrating to have someone interfere like this.
But she already had a good idea of who the culprit was.
It might not be 100% confirmed, but it was 99.9% correct.
So cheer up!
“Squeak!”
“Thank you. Let's search the drawer and move on to the next one immediately. Before the others get their tails cut off too.”
Having seen where the documents were kept, I flew over and pointed out the drawer.
Even though the evidence inside was now fabricated, I was curious to see what they had replaced it with.
The original contents were likely reports of the dirty work they had carried out under Count Zeno's orders.
“They fabricated it to completely omit one specific name. It's almost laughably blatant.”
Alina pulled out the documents related to Cafe Rina and read them, a hollow expression washing over her face.
Curious, I peeked at the contents, and she definitely had every right to look hollow.
Where Count Zeno's name should have been, someone else's name was written instead.
He got cut loose by the boss he trusted and followed.
Still, I didn't feel sorry for him.
Given what he did, it made sense they'd frame him so blatantly.
Should we target this guy next?
I really wanted to go after him!
Alina. Let's go after this guy.
“Understood. He happens to be in the closest location from here, so we'll arrive in no time.”
She understood perfectly when I tapped the name of the framed culprit on the document.
I was worried she might think I was pointing him out as the actual culprit.
Then let's go!
My experience points are waiting!
There must be a ton of bad monsters there, right?
I shouldn't be smiling in a situation like this, but I couldn't help it when I thought of the massive amount of experience points waiting for me.
Because this guy was the one responsible for bringing bad monsters into the city and taming them.
So his headquarters would naturally be crawling with monsters!
If things went well, I might even get enough to evolve and then some!
Hehehe. Let's go.
I clung tightly to Alina's shoulder, imagining a fountain of experience points paving my path to becoming a fairy.
There would definitely be plenty of monsters locked in cages.
Then, like a new neighbor handing out rice cakes, I would gift them eternal rest as a welcoming present.
Die as monsters rather than being caged, trained, and tamed!
I mean, I won't die, but you guys are pure monsters.
“I'm jumping.”
With Alina's familiar warning, she leaped out the window.
To be precise, she slipped out the window and somehow scaled down the wall to the ground.
No matter how I looked at it, Alina was no ordinary person.
She was the only one who didn't realize she had already stepped into the realm of heroes.
I didn't know if it was an esper ability or if she had just unconsciously awakened her mana.
I can test it once this is all over. After all, once this is done, Alina will be the ruler of this city!
This city must have a private hero registration facility, right?
For-profit private corporations existed everywhere.
What if my girl gets registered as a Rank 4 or higher hero right off the bat?
What if she comes to subjugate me later?
Then I'll just pretend to get defeated and run away!
But what if she actually comes to subjugate me?
Maybe because the fountain of experience points was right before my eyes, I was having all sorts of silly thoughts.
I was already busy enough just trying to find a Sacred Tree and survive.
Still, a person needs to indulge in idle daydreams once in a while.
You have to have happy delusions occasionally to keep your brain flexible.
Hmm. But I think we're a bit late. Let's get inside quickly!
The closer we got to our destination, the thicker the scent of blood became.
And it was a mixture of a massive amount of blood.
It seemed the crow hero's next destination was here.
How dare he touch my experience points!
“Huh? Wait for me!”
I flew off Alina's shoulder and entered the building first.
Once inside, I saw monsters still trapped in cages, monsters that had broken free and were rushing toward where the hero presumably was, and monsters that had smashed their cages open to attack people.
So many monsters were running wild that it was impossible to tell if this was a city or a battlefield.
My experience points!
As the variety of blood scents multiplied in real-time, I hastily joined the fray.
Even so, I didn't forget to clear the area closest to the entrance first so Alina could enter safely.
Die, all of you, by my hand!
I flew, bit, injected blood, and repeated the cycle over and over.
Meanwhile, Alina, who had entered the building a bit late, assessed the situation and ran toward where the target likely was.
In that case, I had to support her.
I moved to Alina's side, melting and killing every monster that lunged at the seemingly fragile girl.
How dare mere experience points target my Alina!
“Thank you!”
With me by her side, Alina felt safe enough to focus entirely on running fast.
Thanks to that, I was the one suffering.
Having plenty of experience points was great, but there were too many of them, and Alina was so fast that I had to exert far more energy than usual.
Of course, I didn't hold back since leveling up would fully restore me anyway.
When am I going to level up?! And why is this building so huge!
I should be leveling up by now, so why isn't it happening?
We've already arrived!
As I blindly escorted Alina, we eventually reached the place where the crow hero and the target were facing off.
The two were so busy trading blows that they hadn't noticed Alina and me yet.
Alina, go on ahead! I'll handle this!
I didn't know if she understood, but I tapped her neck hard and fast to communicate as best as I could before launching myself forward.
Right toward the crow hero, who was covered in wounds, surrounded by countless monsters, and still completely oblivious to our presence.
A person needs to make choices. Actually, it's far too late for you to choose now!
The crow hero would be the greatest threat once Alina cleared out the office.
He was wounded by the monsters, but given enough time, he would definitely wipe them all out.
As for the monsters, I could handle them with a bit of effort.
“What is this?!”
I sank my fangs into the crow hero's neck—he only noticed me after I latched on—and injected as much of my blood as possible.
It's too late. You're already poisoned!
It was too late for him to realize now.
I had already injected a massive amount of blood.
A human neck is smaller and weaker than a monster's thick, tough hide, making it much easier for my blood to flow into their system.
The moment you exposed your neck to me, you lost!
“Cough...! Poison?!”
The blood that rushed down his neck and into his body brought the crow hero down in an instant.
Being moderately strong actually worked against him.
He tried to push my blood out with his mana, but it was already over the moment his neck was punctured.
Furthermore, the more he resisted, the more my blood accumulated inside him, thoroughly melting and poisoning his insides.
If he had just let his neck get torn off, he wouldn't have had to suffer like this.
You have leveled up!
You are now eligible to evolve!
Ah, he's dead.
The crow hero collapsed to the floor, so helplessly that it felt almost anticlimactic.
Now, what should I do with the rest?
I'm fully restored now.
“Are you... sent by that person...?”
But why are you kneeling?
Who are you mistaking me for?
And who is "that person"?
Is there another mastermind?
“I'm going out for a bit. Stay here and don't wander off and get lost.”
“Okay!”
Alrune made sure to give strict instructions to her important friend staying at the mansion before heading out.
Normally, as the queen of a species, she rarely moved personally, but this was a grave matter.
The Shinnok she thought was lost was safe.
As long as she concealed her identity, it was a matter important enough for a queen to move.
If she left it to her subordinates again, she might lose it once more.
“Please, just stay put.”
Alrune prayed to the god she believed in as she set off.
Toward the city where the arrogant human who pretended to serve her resided.