-307- [ Hanachou ]

Unlike when Rozen initially tamed Saichou, where it willingly nestled into his embrace after he broke the chain, this time things were different.

After all, even if he overcame the problem of not being killing the Rainbow Flower Butterfly, and even managed to break the chain to subdue it, that would only fulfill one of the conditions to tame it.

To successfully tame the Rainbow Flower Butterfly, apart from breaking the chain, Rozen also needed to have never equipped a weapon and never killed any butterfly-type monsters.

Without satisfying all three conditions, even if the Rainbow Flower Butterfly's chain was broken, it wouldn't willingly become his familiar.

Naturally, Rozen couldn't meet all of these conditions.

Although he had refrained from killing any butterfly-type monsters up until now, considering that he might need to tame a second Rainbow Flower Butterfly, Rozen had been very cautious. However, he couldn't avoid the condition of never equipping a weapon anymore.

In fact, it's likely that there were very few players on the entire server who could satisfy this condition.

Even players who stayed in the starting town and refrained from venturing out to kill monsters might have equipped a weapon at some point.

As a result, most players were unable to meet this condition, and therefore couldn't tame the Rainbow Flower Butterfly.

Now, Rozen was facing this issue as well.

However...

"Nothing in the world comes without conditions. This world is always logically structured, without any hollow settings."

Why did taming the Rainbow Flower Butterfly require fulfilling those three specific conditions?

Perhaps other players wouldn't think about this, but Rozen did.

"Even if it's hard to admit, this world has always been rationally constructed, and there aren't any unrealistic settings."

For instance, the reward Rozen received for completing the "Secret Medicine of the forest" quest, the "Anneal Blade," was a sword passed down through generations by an NPC woman. She even provided an explanation, so as to avoid questions like, "Why would a common civilian have a high-performance weapon as a reward?"

The world of SAO was constructed meticulously in all aspects, including settings, background, and structure, so as not to cause any discord.

In other words, the appearance of the three taming conditions for the Rainbow Flower Butterfly also had its own reasons.

For instance, the condition of never killing any butterfly-type monsters could be interpreted as the Rainbow Flower Butterfly's refusal to acknowledge players who slaughter their own kind.

Similarly, the condition of breaking the chain on its neck was related to the Rainbow Flower Butterfly's past: it was shackled and unable to escape until the fall of the kingdom and the princess's departure, which the butterfly eventually escaped from.

Under this backdrop, what led to the condition "cannot equip weapons" for taming the Rainbow Flower Butterfly?

The answer, Rozen guessed, lay in the kingdom's downfall.

Why did the kingdom fall?

Undoubtedly, it was because it was toppled by enemy nations.

Considering this, Rozen began to think...

"The reason 'cannot equip weapons' as a taming condition exists must be because the Rainbow Flower Butterfly witnessed the invasion of the empire's soldiers into the royal palace and the ensuing bloodshed."

Hence, having personally witnessed the brutal clashes between nations' soldiers, the Rainbow Flower Butterfly resisted being tamed by players who held weapons.

Since that's the case...

("As long as I eliminate the source of this condition, there should be a possibility of taming even if I've equipped a weapon.")

So, how can I eliminate this source?

Rozen, who had long considered taming a second Rainbow Flower Butterfly, had spent a lot of time thinking about it and eventually decided on this method.

("I'll burn the flags of the two hostile nations that caused this condition!")

By doing so, the Rainbow Flower Butterfly would realize that war and bloodshed were things of the past, and it could let go of this burden.

This method required a higher level of intelligence, the ability to think, and the use of AI programming that familiars could use to provide for players.

While ordinary monsters and NPCs had fixed behavior patterns and wouldn't change settings, individuals with a certain degree of AI programming could possess intelligence and the capacity for thought. This is why all familiars in SAO had higher AI programming compared to regular monsters. It allowed them to increase affinity based on player behavior, leading to the possibility of being tamed and following instructions.

Rozen had delved deeply into the characteristics of familiar monsters and found this unconventional method.

For this, Rozen had spent half a month completing quests to ultimately obtain the two flags.

("Now let's see if it works!")

With this thought in mind, Rozen threw both flags onto the ground. From his bag, he took out an item labeled with the subtle name "flammable oil," removed the cap, poured the oil over the flags, and then used an item called a "torch" to ignite the oil-soaked flags. He threw the flaming torch onto the flags.

"Boom!"

The two flags immediately burst into flames, creating a fiery spectacle.

"Gu!"

The Rainbow Flower Butterfly stared blankly at this scene, taking a while to react.

"Gu!"

Even the Saichou looked at the scene, making a sound that could be interpreted as a mix of sorrow and joy.

The two beautiful Butterflies gazed at the burning flags. It was as if they were witnessing the two warring nations from the past turn to ashes in the raging fire, never to return again. Their eyes were filled with a sense of sorrow.

After an unknown amount of time, the flames finally consumed the flags entirely.

"Gu!"

Only then did Saichou flutter into Rozen's embrace, emitting a sobbing sound as if tears were about to fall.

"Gu! Gu!"

At the same time, the Rainbow Flower Butterfly, which had been flying in front of Rozen, observed this scene. After a complex array of emotions flickered in its eyes, it made two calls, as if bidding farewell to the past. Then, it flew into Rozen's arms.

At that moment, Rozen successfully tamed the second Rainbow Flower Butterfly.

A notification window appeared in front of him.

"Congratulations, you've obtained a familiar - 'Rainbow Flower Butterfly.' Would you like to give it a name?"

Seeing this prompt, Rozen didn't think for long and entered a name.

"'Hanachou'."

Meaning - "Flower Butterfly."

"'Saichou'." - "Rainbow Butterfly."

"'Hanachou'." - "Flower Butterfly."

From now on, these two beautiful Butterflies would be Rozen's familiars.

Of course, compared to the well-trained Saichou, Hanachou still had a long way to go. Currently, it was only level 1 and only possessed the skill "Paralyze Powder," which wasn't particularly useful.

However, Rozen believed that after he nurtured Hanachou, it would shine just as brightly as Saichou in this world.

"Alright, let's go."

Rozen addressed the two familiars.

"Gu!"

"Gu!"

Both Saichou and Hanachou responded in identical voices, following behind Rozen as they left the field of flowers.

//// looks like I missed a 'c' in the previous chapters in Saichou's name, well from now on it's Saichou not Saihou...and I ain't gonna go back and fix all that...(⁠ ⁠╹⁠▽⁠╹⁠ ⁠) ////