I'm a Super Cool Butterfly Who Waits!
Alina.
The morning sun is up.
It's time to go out.
Confirming that the sun had risen, I tapped the cheek of Alina, who had woken up at dawn only to fall back asleep.
She had definitely said we would leave when the sun rose.
I had trusted her word and waited patiently until now, but Alina wasn't even stirring.
She was sleeping, breathing ever so softly.
"Wake up! Alina!"
"Gwek!"
It's not like I'm waking her up the very second the sun rose.
It has been a whopping three hours since sunrise.
It's about to pass 9 AM and become 10 AM!
I really want to try out my evolved form.
It's not like some monster tamer is going to misunderstand things, submit to me, and have evil monsters roll right into my mouth.
We need to diligently search as quickly as possible, so how can she be sleeping like this?
Should I just wake her up? Wouldn't it be fine to wake her?
I stared at my foot resting next to Alina's cheek and pondered deeply.
Honestly, there was no reason for me to be this considerate and wait.
Since I had already waited three hours after sunrise.
I would be perfectly justified in patting Alina's cheek until it made a rapid papat-pat! sound.
But how could I do something so cruel to our sleeping kid?
The problem was that I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
Where in the world is an adult who would wake a child sleeping so peacefully after such a long time?
Even though I'm worried about Tree and need to rescue him, I can't do it without Alina anyway.
In the end, all I could do was gently press her cheek with my tiny, practically weightless feet.
"Please wake up," I guess I'll just pray.
You could call it an expression of my desperate desire to go outside.
Maybe she'll wake up from the slight discomfort.
Did someone hear my prayers?
Alina's eyelids, which had been shut tight like a fortress wall, slowly fluttered open.
"Good morning..."
Alina is awake! Let's go! Let's go out now!
"Gweeeek!"
Though her voice was completely thick with sleep, the important thing was that she was awake.
Overjoyed that my persistent waiting had finally borne fruit, I fluttered around Alina, expressing my excitement with my entire body.
Meanwhile, Alina groggily got out of bed and began preparing to head out.
"I'm sorry. Did you wait long? Let's go now. We have to move quickly."
I did wait a lot, but your sleep is more important, so don't worry about it.
"Gweeeek."
I heard it takes women ages to get ready, but Alina finished in a flash.
I don't think it even took twenty minutes.
I have no idea how she can be so fast with hair that long.
Is it a quick-washing skill she mastered from her long life on the run?
Where are we going?
"Gwek?"
"Some of my mother's people are still around. They're the ones who helped me a lot. If we can just get their cooperation, we'll be able to capture Count Zeno in no time."
Fortunately, it seemed there were still people who had helped Alina and would continue to do so.
Judging by her confidence, they seemed to still hold some sort of position in the city.
It would have been incredibly difficult if no one was left.
No matter how much Alina was Cafe Rina's daughter, it would have been a massive struggle.
She might have failed entirely.
No, she definitely would have failed.
From what I heard, Cafe Rina was executed under terrible charges.
Even with clear evidence of a frame-up, many people wouldn't believe the words of a sinner's daughter.
Even more so if Count Zeno found out and suppressed it.
That's when you need someone with a solid status who is widely trusted.
And they must have enough goodwill toward Alina to never betray her.
"First, we start here. Mister! Are you in?"
Arriving in front of a building, Alina opened the door and walked right in without even knocking.
Even if you know each other, shouldn't you knock?
"Alina? What's going on? You're not hurt, are you?!"
"No, I'm perfectly fine."
Hearing Alina's voice, a man came rushing out from the back.
He was the guide and demonic beast trafficker I had seen before.
The guide started to approach Alina, but froze like a statue the moment he saw me.
He definitely recognized me.
After getting thrashed like that by Tree, there was no way he wouldn't remember me standing right next to him.
Isn't this guy a total scumbag? Alina, is he really the one?
"Gwek?"
"Alina. That thing on your head is dangerous."
What is he talking about?
You're the bad guy here, so why are you calling me dangerous?
Do you have any idea how much I helped Alina when she was on the verge of death?
I have to hold back. He might actually be a good person who helped Alina. Even if he is a human trafficker.
This guy was the second person in this city who could have helped me, the one I would have sought out if I hadn't run into Alina by chance.
The reason being that since he'd be terrified of me, he would probably obey me without question.
But what did he see me as to call me dangerous?
"I definitely saw this butterfly monster visit Count Zeno. Along with some tree monster."
Is he mistaking me for Count Zeno's monster? Well, I suppose it's a reasonable misunderstanding, so I'll let it slide.
"Gweeeek."
I now clearly understood why he considered me dangerous and hostile.
It was actually quite logical, so I decided to overlook it.
Since back then, I had literally asked him to guide me to Count Zeno's estate.
Caught between the two of us, Alina wore a troubled expression as she handed the documents she had brought to the guide.
These were the documents containing clear, undeniable proof that Count Zeno was the culprit, which we had secured yesterday.
"You should read this. I think you're misunderstanding Butterfly. And since Butterfly is misunderstanding you too, I'll explain everything."
Leaving the guide to read the documents, Alina placed me on her hand and looked at me face-to-face.
What on earth am I misunderstanding?
That guy is definitely a bad guy.
I expressed my utter confusion with my entire body.
"You first met him in the sewers, right? Near the secret passage."
That's right.
"Then it makes sense you'd misunderstand."
When I nodded to confirm, Alina replied with an understanding nod.
What is there to misunderstand about that?
He was clearly trying to sell us out!
"He talks a bit weirdly, saying things like you'd fetch a high price, right?"
Exactly. How did you know?
"He just speaks in a strange way, but he's actually a guy who helps refugees or monsters entering through the secret passage find jobs. Of course, only for those who were close to my mother."
Hearing Alina's explanation, I fell into even deeper confusion.
Isn't that the exact same thing?
It means he finds them first, captures them, and sells them.
That's just a heavily sugarcoated way of putting it, but in reality, doesn't it mean he's a bad guy?
"You don't get it, do you? I don't really know how to explain it. Seriously, I told you to speak properly. Why do you keep insisting on using such weird phrasing?"
"If I explain it like that from the start, nobody believes me. It's honestly easier to just let them know later."
Having finished skimming through the documents before we knew it, the guide walked over to us.
"Still, being treated like a human trafficker is a bit much, don't you think?"
"Honestly, if someone suddenly pops out of a secret passage, smiles, and asks, 'Do you need a job?' anyone would run away. In that case, it's much easier to just grab them, bring them in, explain, and let them go if they refuse."
"Let's just stop talking about it."
I'm still not entirely sure if this guide is a good guy or a bad guy.
But for Alina's sake, I'll let it go.
If Alina is defending him this much, he probably isn't a complete villain.
If he is a good guy, how should I describe him?
An idiot?
"Gwek?"
I guess I can think of him as a well-meaning idiot who holds onto useless stubbornness while doing good deeds.
If they don't believe you, just let them go. Why bother capturing them, bringing them in, and explaining everything?
His weird stubbornness is just giving me a headache for no reason!
"That was an insult, wasn't it? You just insulted me, didn't you?"
"Mister, there's no way Butterfly would insult you. He's so sweet."
"I'm positive it was an insult! I can feel it!"
"There you go talking nonsense again. You saw the documents, right? Can you gather everyone as quickly as possible?"
Alina ignored the guide's indignant protests and got straight to the point.
You should have built up trust like I did.
For now, I put my evaluation of the guide on hold and watched the two of them diligently draw up a plan.
Since I can't even speak, what could I possibly do by joining in?
As long as we can rescue Tree quickly, that's all that matters.
"With this, we can definitely clear Lady Cafe Rina's name."
"Finally, the time for revenge has come...! When I meet those who went before us, I'll be able to hold my head high."
A few days after meeting the guide again, a group of people presumed to be Cafe Rina's followers gathered.
Looking at the documents detailing Count Zeno's misdeeds, they all wore expressions of grim determination.
It seemed Cafe Rina had been blessed with wonderful people.
Since there were monsters here too, I suppose she was blessed with good monster fortune as well.
"How about we do it this way?"
An active discussion was about to begin to ensure Count Zeno's downfall.
—Boom!!
If only a sudden explosion hadn't rung out.
At the sound of an explosion that seemed to shake the entire city, the discussion naturally ground to a halt as everyone tried to locate the source.
The direction... isn't that toward Count Zeno's estate?
It wasn't just me trying to blame everything on Count Zeno; it really was coming from that direction.
In the first place, we were extremely close to the estate, so there was no way to mistake it.
"Butterfly?"
I have no idea why Alina is turning to look at me.
I've been sticking by your side this whole time, and can't you see I'm right here?
I'm telling you, it wasn't me!
What did I even do for you to look at me like that!