Gwanum And Song Of Life, Black Butterfly Dance And Cold City Man? (3)

Mae Young-ryeong, Lee Hyo-ju, and Naruan chattered incessantly. They were in such a good mood.

These days, every day was truly enjoyable, exciting, and satisfying. It was much better than being with her parents in the tribe.

“Oh my, our cute Naruan. You seem to be in a good mood?”

“Yeah! Aren’t you?”

Naruan answered briefly and asked back to Mae Young-ryeong’s question.

“Well, I’m not sure?”

“I like it much better than when I was in the tribe. No one recognized me there. Here, there’s even Mors and Kim Han!!”

Naruan was always treated as an oddball within the tribe.

Gnomes who inherited the blood of fairies mainly used mana or spirit among the four great divine powers.

Occasionally, earth priests who used divinity appeared, but gnomes like Naruan who used force were historically rare, counted on one hand.

Naruan also tried to accept other divine powers instead of force, but it was in vain.

The new-age woman Naruan, who doesn’t give up easily, tried to become stronger through force.

Even if other gnomes in the tribe looked at her strangely, she didn’t give up. She reduced her sleep to make efforts, confidently stepped forward at the coming-of-age ceremony, and was utterly defeated.

Historically, there was no method for accumulating force or any breathing techniques. There were no martial arts or weapon skills using a small physique in the gnome tribe.

Moreover, although Naruan herself didn’t acknowledge it, she wasn’t particularly talented in martial arts. So she couldn’t defeat her peers in the tribe who were armed with magic and spirits.

Even until then, Naruan did not despair.

“Yeah, I should go to a human village that handles force!”

Naruan attempted to run away under the guise of studying abroad in a human village, but as mentioned earlier, it was impossible for Naruan to secretly escape from the gnome tribe, where most were mages and spirit summoners.

The more Naruan’s attempts to run away under the pretense of studying abroad failed, the more frustrated she became. It seemed as if the gnomes of the tribe did not want her to become stronger.

It was from that time that Naruan, who always smiled brightly, lost her smile. Each day was filled with pain and sorrow.

Just before self-doubt and despair consumed Naruan, Mors appeared before her.

“If you make a contract with me and survive in the ‘Battlefield of the Gods,’ you can become stronger.”

“Really?”

That was 82 days before the ‘Battlefield of the Gods’ began.

After that, Naruan, who gained the talent of Immortality and a stronger physique compared to other gnomes, roamed the forest fighting all sorts of monsters.

Occasionally, she would die, but she resurrected at her home, and as time passed, Naruan grew stronger. Strong enough to defeat adults.

Finally, when she entered the ‘Battlefield of the Gods’ and won a bloody battle against an ogre in the Monster Belt, Naruan felt a strange thrill at her newfound strength.

While she was engrossed in battles, roaming the Monster Belt, she saw three gods manifest.

A strength that made flesh and bones tremble. As she shivered at that strength, unable to even lift her head, she saw a man daring to confront such a god.

“W-Wow…!”

Naruan glanced at the monster corpses scattered on the ground and the one-eyed creature in her hand, then looked at the man appearing in the sky. Like a child discarding a toy they lost interest in, she tossed aside the monster’s body and headed toward Exorsus.

She quickly arrived at Exorsus, but not knowing where the man lived, she visited the Garden of Gods.

In the Garden of Gods, Mors seemed to read Naruan’s mind—as she did read her thoughts, and with Aitas’s advice, she intended to send her agent to Kim Han before Naruan entered Exorsus—and told her to find the man.

She received detailed instructions on the gift to give the man and the location of his residence, and then arrived at the man, Kim Han’s house.

His boldness, agreeing readily to fight as soon as she suggested it.

His decisiveness, making even the woman who annoyed Naruan while waiting for Kim Han wet herself with just his presence.

In the actual duel, Kim Han possessed such formidable strength that she couldn’t even graze his collar.

His composure in blocking her reckless attacks.

His kindness, worrying(?) that she might have been hurt if he hadn’t blocked her attacks.
Lastly, his brilliance, explaining things easily like a grandfather telling old stories.

Naruan was determined. She decided to use ‘that method’ Mors had told her about, which no man could resist! After learning the technique Kim Han taught her, she would definitely, absolutely!

“Hehe, I miss Kim Han. But where are we going?”

“We are on our way to learn a skill with the registration card as ordered by Mr. Kim Han.”

Naruan nodded at Lee Hyo-ju’s words, who had been silent until now. Clearly, Kim Han had told her to learn some skills.

“Yeah! That’s right! So, should we go to our flower shop?”

“No. I plan to stop by nearby places first. The fortune teller’s house to the north, the Garden of Gods in the square, and finally, we’ll head to Halatus in the southeast.”

“Great! Let’s hurry. I want to brag to Kimani!”

Naruan was a bit annoyed after entering the fortune teller’s house with the coy Mae Young-ryeong, as it took an hour to finish.

She needed to learn quickly and use the method Mors taught her on Kim Han, but an hour had already passed.

To make matters worse, Lee Hyo-ju, who had asked them to wait in the carriage at the square, only resumed the journey two hours later.

“Are you okay? Let’s hurry. Kim Han is waiting!”

Naruan, who was hungry and bored, urged Lee Hyo-ju to move quickly as soon as she appeared looking somewhat unwell.

Finally arriving at the flower shop, when asked if she wanted to eat something simple, Naruan seriously (?) contemplated but decided to do what Kim Han had told her to learn first.

That way, she would receive praise from Kim Han again (?) later.

As soon as they entered the flower shop called Halatus, Lee Hyo-ju, who led the way, said they were there to buy ‘Black Butterfly,’ causing the staff’s demeanor to change.

“Huh? Are you going to fight us?”

As the atmosphere shifted, Naruan pulled out a long scythe from her pocket, gripping it with both hands, ready to swing it at any moment.

“There is no flower called Black Butterfly.”

At the staff’s words, spoken with a menacing tone, Lee Hyo-ju chuckled and opened her mouth.

“If you’re too afraid of the Black Butterfly to come out, I’ll head to the ‘Lady’s Room’ to learn the ‘Last Smile.’”

Boom!!

“Ack!”

A black shadow appeared at high speed, collided with Naruan, and then bounced off even faster.

Naruan’s large eyes widened even more as he followed the shadow flying away, unable to react to its swift movement.

Something black lay on the ground, writhing.

Curious about the black mass writhing and coughing up blood for quite some time, Naruan scurried over and poked the black, human-like figure with the side of a stick.

“Naruan, come here. If you touch things like that carelessly, you’ll catch a disease.”

“Okay.”

The assassins, who were employees of Halatus and members of the Black Butterfly guild, looked on with eyes full of disbelief at the series of events.

Who is the Black Butterfly? A legendary figure among assassins.

Such a being attacked and was knocked out in one blow, and the tiny girl poked at it as if it were rotten meat, then immediately backed off when told she might catch a disease.

An act of ignoring all of them who belonged to the Black Butterfly.

Yet no one stepped forward. No, they couldn’t step forward. In Exorsus, there was only one being who could send the current Black Butterfly flying with a single blow.

The representative of the gods.

Just a few days ago, they had shuddered at how formidable the representatives of the gods were during the Three Gods Manifestation, so they all held back, knowing that recklessly challenging them could result in not just losing their lives but their souls suffering as well.

The assassins disguised as employees hesitated and retreated.

Customers, sensing the atmosphere, quietly left the shop.

As time passed, only the black figure lying on the floor and three representatives remained in the flower shop Halatus.

“Get up, Black Butterfly.”

“Damn it! Are you a representative?”

Something that had clearly collapsed and couldn’t move suddenly sprang up from its spot.

Then, in a grumbling tone, it asked a question, as if it knew the representative well.

What surprised the group more than the man’s tone, who was called as Black Butterfly, was his height. So short that he didn’t even reach Lee Hyo-ju’s chest. Standing next to Naruan, they seemed like friends of same age.

And Naruan was well acquainted with such beings.

“Oh! It’s the noisy mole! Noise mole!”

“You brat! Who are you calling a mole! You grasshopper who loves to play!”

“Hmph!”

“Hmph!”

Naruan recognized him instantly.

Without a mask, his face was covered with a beard, and his short stature, along with the overly visible muscles outside his black clothes, were unmistakable.

It was definitely a dwarf who lived noisily, banging a hammer and digging tunnels.

“Naruan, show your registration card.”

“Ah! Right. Hehe. Hey, mole. Here.”

The dwarf Black Butterfly, seeing the yellow registration card Naruan handed over, frowned deeply and shouted.

“Why! Why! Why me!! What! Huh? Are you here to learn hammering?! I can’t hammer!”

“Huh? Am I learning hammering?”

“No. We came to learn ‘Black Butterfly Dance.’”

“Ah! Right! Our leader, Kim Han, said it was Black Butterfly Dance. Teach us the Black Butterfly Dance.”

“You, you rascals!”

The Black Butterfly, with a dwarf’s build, rugged muscles, and a bushy beard.

His appearance, which didn’t match his name at all, was not cute but rather grotesque, and his face turned bright red.

Naruan, preparing for any unforeseen situation, positioned her side diagonally in front of him and got ready to defend.

He was quite offended by the fact that the being who attacked him with open eyes was the noise mole.

“Damn it! Who’s going to learn it?”

“Of course, Naruan, who handed over the registration card here, will learn it.”

“Why! Why do I have to teach my power to such a lazy bum! Damn this setting!”

The Black Butterfly was jumping around for a while. With his stout body, he looked more cute than scary, especially from behind.

Naruan puffed out her chest arrogantly, wearing a smug smile as if urging him to pass on the skill.

Seeing this, the Black Butterfly got heated again and raged for another ten minutes.

“Damn it! Hmph! Fine. Let’s see if this half-baked gnome can really receive my power.”

The Black Butterfly sneered and simultaneously thrust something shaped like a glowing white dagger into Naruan’s heart.

Naruan couldn’t react quickly enough to avoid the thing piercing her heart and could only watch in a daze. At the same time, a message floated in the air.

“Yes!”

Naruan nodded confidently, firmly believing that if she said she would become the leader, it would happen.

The surging wave of force rushed violently from the heart to every limb.

The pain of flesh and bones being torn apart followed, but Naruan gritted her teeth and endured the groans. It felt like she would lose if she let out a sound.

Seeing the mocking face of the noise mole through her trembling vision, she clenched her teeth even harder, realizing her guess was correct.

A dangerous moment was approaching. As the force that had spread throughout her body returned to her core, her body jolted from the shock of an internal explosion.

An unimaginable pain engulfed her. Just as the scream filling her mouth was about to escape, she recalled what the boss had said.

“Naruan! You need to wash your underwear!”

As that thought surfaced, the pain that seemed like it would tear her body apart vanished. Instead of pain, a pleasant feeling of fullness lifted her spirits.

The abundant sensation of force that started from her core circulated throughout her body, spreading to the tips of her fingers and toes.

Naruan’s cute cheeks were flushed as she opened her eyes.

Whether it was due to the newly realized power or something else, no one knew. She just felt good and couldn’t help but chuckle.

As soon as Naruan opened her eyes, she felt she had definitely become stronger.

“As expected! Boss!”

Even though the one who transferred the skill was right in front of her, Naruan praised Kim Han. The bewildered Black Butterfly, who couldn’t believe it, was completely ignored by her.

“Ice Tag! Let’s go! We have to brag to the boss!”