I'm a Super Cool Kidnapped Butterfly!
How much further do we have to go?
I feel like we've already come pretty far.
I can't even see the city anymore, not even a tiny speck of it.
‘I'm so bored!’
“Gwek!”
—Just bear with it a little longer. We haven't gone very far yet. We just need to keep going like this for about another week.
Do you have any idea how many days you've been saying that?
It's already been three days since you said it would take a week!
The countdown is stuck at one week!
Besides, we're moving so slowly because we're suddenly crawling along the ground.
‘Why are we traveling on the ground? Can't we just fly?’
“Gweeeck?”
—I've told you several times that if we fly, we might get caught. Flying also consumes my power.
If they were going to find us over something like that, we would have been caught ages ago.
Can't we just fly?
It's way too slow, boring, and tedious.
‘You won't even let me hunt. You're so mean!’
If he had at least let me hunt, I could have wandered around looking for monsters.
However, the tree had forbidden it, warning that if I used my power to hunt, the Great Monster might detect us due to our souls being linked.
It was a reasonable argument, so all I could do was pretend to pout and try to persuade him.
Not that he ever listened to my persuasion!
Talk about being as stubborn as a wooden block!
How did a free-spirited future Fairy King like me end up contracted to such a stubborn mule?
—It really will only take a week this time, so please bear with it.
‘Do you think I'll listen just because you ask nicely? Well, yes, actually. I'm a good listener, so I'll let you trick me one last time.’
“Gweeeeck.”
How could I refuse when he was pleading so earnestly?
He was only saying this with our safety in mind.
Since I knew that, I only whined instead of doing whatever I wanted.
If I had judged it safe, I would have just gone ahead and done it.
‘If I just make good use of my calm reason and intuition, I'm invincible. Just trust me!’
Banned from all fun activities, I had no choice but to flutter around the tree, chattering away.
After all, flying and talking were the only things I could do.
Even when I spit blood, it contains demonic energy.
I guess this is the price I pay for the things I did purely on instinct.
But why can't I control demonic energy at will?
It seems to flow out naturally whenever I use a skill.
‘Tree, oh Tree. Why can't I use demonic energy?’
“Gwek?”
—You know you won't get an answer even if you ask me that.
Why not?
If you know how to use it, can't you at least give me a rough explanation?
Don't tell me he's just refusing because he's lazy?!
How wicked...!
—Butterfly. Can you explain to me how to breathe?
‘Why wouldn't I be able to? Hold on, I'll teach you.’
“Gweeeeck.”
Wait, how do I breathe again?
First, I should check how I breathe.
Inhale.
Like this?
Exhale.
And like this.
Easy!
‘You just take air in through your nose and let it back out!’
“Gwek!”
What a flawless explanation.
Even a tree would understand after hearing that, right?
There was no way to explain the act of breathing any more naturally than that.
—You realize that explanation is no different from saying "you breathe by breathing," right?
‘But isn't it correct to call breathing "breathing"?’
“Gwek?”
Is it even possible to explain it any further?
At least, I certainly couldn't!
And even if I could, it's not like a noseless tree would understand!
—It's the same for explaining how to use demonic energy. How am I supposed to explain that it just moves when you tell it to move?
‘Ah! I totally get it now!’
“Gwek!”
I understood instantly.
Since it just happens naturally, there's no way to explain it.
The tree really is smart.
It's like he injected the explanation directly into my brain; it makes perfect sense.
Amused by the situation, I giggled and fluttered in circles around the tree.
—Crack!
...Right up until the ground beneath the tree suddenly collapsed, sending us tumbling into some kind of pit.
It didn't look very deep, resembling a primitive pitfall trap.
It was so crudely made that it practically screamed it was man-made.
‘Tree? Are you okay?’
“Gwek?”
—Yeah. Fortunately, it's not deep. Let's climb out.
Just as I was about to climb back up to the surface with the completely unharmed tree, the walls suddenly began to glow.
Wondering what it was, the tree tapped the wall, revealing a strange mechanical device embedded inside.
We shouldn't have, but we just stood there, blankly staring at a machine that looked completely out of place in such a primitive pit.
—Psssshhhh...
Only when gas began to spray out with a pathetic, deflating hiss did we regret not leaving sooner.
‘Tree. The way to not breathe is to just not breathe. I suddenly thought of a way to avoid this trap gas...’
“Gweeeeck...”
—Butterfly... Breathing isn't optional for me...
I had shown incredible self-sacrifice by telling him to escape since it was already too late for me.
But it turned out to be a method the tree couldn't even use.
“Ugh?! How do I move this...?”
I fell asleep to the sound of a human woman's troubled muttering from above.
It must have been sleeping gas.
‘Ugh. Where are we now?’
“Gwek.”
“Oh! You're awake? Hello. I don't know if you can understand me, but my name is Runi.”
We had definitely fallen asleep in a pit trap, but when I woke up, we were inside a cage in some flashy laboratory.
I looked around to see where the tree was, and he was still fast asleep right next to me.
So, where is this?
And why did they bring us here?
“Gwek?”
“I won't be able to understand even if you speak to me... But don't worry. You'll live a much more comfortable life here than in the wild. As long as you cooperate with a few simple experiments, that is!”
If they're talking about experiments, this must be a real laboratory.
I wonder what kind of research they do here.
Let's just go along with it for now.
If it gets dangerous, we can just run away.
I slipped out of the cage—which was made of ordinary iron bars—and fluttered around Runi.
“Are you willing to help? Great! Then, please fly around my lab as hard as you can!”
‘Really? That's it?’
“Gwek?”
Hearing Runi's request, I asked back without thinking, even though I knew she couldn't understand me.
They kidnap us to a research facility, and the researcher's grand experiment is just to have me fly around?
That makes no sense.
“What's wrong...? Is it too hard to do...?”
Judging by Runi's reaction, she really meant it.
Is she really a researcher?
Even if I'm not a scholar who studies monsters, I don't think anyone would call this "research."
‘Well, let's just fly. Maybe something will happen after I do.’
So, I flew.
For about five hours, until Runi finally said it was enough.
I kept waiting for her to tell me to stop, and before I knew it, five hours had passed.
Even for me, fluttering in circles in one spot for five hours straight without a break was no easy task.
‘I'm never doing that again. Absolutely not.’
“Gwek.”
Exhausted from the long flight, I landed on a branch of the tree, who had woken up at some point and was watching us. I stared at Runi, who was now diligently sweeping up my wing dust from the floor with a broom and dustpan.
I have absolutely no idea what she's trying to do.
Tree.
Do you know?
—I don't know either. Oh, it's going to hurt if she touches that.
“Ouch!”
Runi went ahead and poked the wing dust—which still contained traces of poison and acid, however faint—with her finger, letting out a yelp.
Then, as if she had lost her mind, she tried to put her throbbing, poisoned finger into her mouth.
It's not like she got pricked by a needle; she touched a butterfly monster's wing dust. And she's putting that in her mouth?
Is she crazy?
—I wouldn't do that if I were you. Unless you want poison spreading through your body.
“What?! Poison?!”
Fortunately, the tree spoke up, stopping her before it could enter her mouth.
Runi frantically shook her painful finger in the air, looking around for the source of the voice.
Then, her eyes locked right onto us.
“Could it be... the two of you...?”
Why did she suddenly switch to such polite honorifics?
She was just treating us like normal creatures a moment ago.
—Yes, it's us. Where is this place?
“This is a secret laboratory located near the Far East border... By any chance, are you monsters possessing human intellect...?”
—Yes.
“The butterfly next to you as well...?”
‘Of course.’
“Gwek.”
She wouldn't fail to understand at this point, right?
I hadn't known her long, but I had a nagging worry that Runi might somehow still be confused.
Fortunately, my worry proved groundless.
“Then please follow me...”
Runi suddenly opened the cage door and guided us somewhere.
Following her quietly, we eventually reached what was clearly the exit.
Is she letting us go?
A researcher at the lab that kidnapped us?
Does that even make sense...?
Faced with a situation that defied both human and monster common sense, we couldn't bring ourselves to move.
“You don't need to worry. I'm really letting you go. Our laboratory's policy is to release any monsters that possess intellect...”
Runi walked out ahead of us, as if to see us off.
Stepping out of the cave-like structure where the lab was hidden, we found ourselves outside.
While we stared blankly at our surroundings, Runi kept tramping forward.
She didn't seem to be guiding us anymore; she looked like she was searching for something.
—What are you doing?
“Ah, I have to find another monster. Since the two of you are leaving.”
Hearing Runi's words, the tree fell into thought.
Thanks to our connection, I knew exactly what he was thinking.
So, I immediately took off and flew to the nearest spot.
‘Found one. Come here.’
“Gwek.”
I found a small lizard monster and flew back to the tree and Runi.
Runi looked back and forth between the lizard monster I placed on her shoulder and me, then spoke.
“What is this...?”
—It's a gift, since we'll be staying with you for a while. Don't worry. We'll make sure the other researchers think we escaped.
“Pardon...?”
—Let's go back inside!
We ushered Runi back inside, letting her lead the way.
A secret research lab hidden away like this would make it hard for the Great Monster to find us.
We've got ourselves a temporary shelter!