My Desertion Would Be Faster Than Heros' Obsession-Chapter 65Vol 2. .2

Bang!

“Mommy!”

“Eek!”

Benny and I flinched every time the fairies clung to the window frame.

“Father... I miss you....”

Benny even muttered those words to himself.

No. If your father comes to our unit, we’ll have a mild version of the ‘Crown Prince Assassination Incident’ all over again!

That would be even scarier than the swarm of fairies currently attacking our unit.

Meanwhile, Yuri, who had been watching us freak out, clicked her tongue.

"Seriously, why are you guys scared of this when you're good at killing monsters?"

I was deeply wronged. I would rather face a giant monster charging at me than have one of those fairies lunge at me.

"Aren't they just completely terrifying?!"

I responded in a tearful voice, and Yuri looked at us as if we were pathetic.

“Even bugs would be scared of you.”

...That sounded oddly familiar. I must’ve heard it a lot in my past life.

Regardless of whether we were terrified of the fairies or whether Yuri thought we were hopeless, the swarm of bugs continued their assault.

And a little while later...

“...This is worse than I thought.”

“Huh?”

“There are way too many fairies. Maybe they got in through some gaps we didn’t notice.” fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

Yuri muttered with a serious face, and I quickly straightened up and responded confidently, trying to earn her trust.

“Don’t worry! I checked everything thoroughly!”

"Yeah. Great. Then go out and check again."

“...Huh?”

“Go patrol the building.”

Without hesitation, Yuri pointed at Benny and me, then coolly gestured for us to get moving.

Ah, seriously...

In the end, I had no choice but to step out of the barracks with Benny, tears welling in my eyes.

"I want to desert..."

"I just want to see my father...."

Hearing Benny say that only made me want to desert even more.

But if I ran now, I’d just get buried under that swarm of fairies, wouldn’t I?

Damn it, let’s hold off on deserting for now.

Dragging my weary feet into the hallway, I spotted Sanchez.

“Sanchez?”

He was wiping a window with a rag. Given how I had been too scared to even approach the windows because of the fairies, I couldn't even imagine doing such a thing.

"Salvia, you've arrived!"

Sanchez was always polite to me, but as soon as he saw Benny standing behind me, he immediately bowed at a perfect 90-degree angle. His hands stayed glued to his sides, and his head was nearly touching the floor.

...Was there some kind of deadly greeting ritual in this world that I wasn’t aware of?

No, wait—why did the genre suddenly feel like it was shifting?

"What are you doing?"

"I'm cleaning the windows. They were stained."

Sanchez answered in his usual indifferent tone. His ridiculous response left me speechless, and I just stared at him.

"Aren't the bugs too close for comfort...?"

"I'm stronger than them."

...Translation: Since I’m stronger than the fairies, I don’t need to be afraid of them.

Amazing, Sanchez.

As expected, he judges everything by strength alone.

It was a huge relief that Sanchez hadn’t been in this unit during the Crown Prince Assassination Incident. If he had been, he would’ve easily taken down the Crown Prince himself, and our entire unit would have been obliterated as a result....

Anyway. Sanchez being absurdly strong wasn’t news, so I decided to ignore him and headed off with Benny to patrol the building.

***

After we started our patrol, I ran into Aquila.

The moment I saw him, relief flooded me, and I immediately poured out everything bottled up inside me.

“I want to desert.”

“Yeah.”

We shared a deep existential discussion about why we had to be in the military in the first place.

Basically, we just wanted to run away.

And just as I was about to dump the patrol duty onto Benny and continue my conversation with Aquila, I heard the creaking sound of a door opening somewhere nearby.

"Ugh, what a musty smell...."

That must be Taro.

Because every door had remained shut except for one, the squad building hadn’t been aired out for two days. Naturally, the air inside smelled awful.

Taro, who had just opened the officer’s quarters door, grimaced as the stench hit him in the face.

“What kind of cursed aura haunts this unit, seriously? Cough cough.”

Poor Taro... This unit had brought him nothing but suffering.

On top of that, he was so close to retirement. This was his last three months before discharge.

His first promotion as an officer had been during the Crown Prince Assassination Incident, and now, in his final months, he was dealing with the Fairy Swarm Incident.

The man had truly drawn the short end of the stick in life.

Honestly, his career had followed a perfect full-circle tragedy.

“Taro, are you okay?”

Winter, who had just come out of the men’s barracks, asked as he looked at him.

To be honest, he didn’t seem all that concerned. It was more like he was asking out of politeness.

“Hah... yeah. You’re struggling, too, huh?”

Taro, who had collapsed onto the floor, mumbled while looking at Winter.

"Your 78th class is about to get promoted soon... and you’ve been suffering non-stop since you hit Sergeant First Class...."

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not....”

With a weak voice, Taro staggered back into his barracks.

And at that moment, Winter and I locked eyes.

“Salvia.”

“...Yes?”

"Your hairstyle has changed."

"Huh? Oh, uh... I guess so."

That was because this morning, Ishina had taught me the 'three-loop hair tie technique that keeps stray hairs from sticking out' and had demonstrated it using my hair.

As a result, my hair was much neater than when I tied it myself. And Winter had actually noticed the difference. As expected of him.

Just as I answered in an indifferent voice, Winter's expression shifted.

Yes, I was sure of it... subtly... very subtly... the tips of his ears had turned red!

What the hell?! Is he embarrassed because of me? Is this a romance fantasy cliché?!

Restart positive thinking! Fire up the system!

I never forgot that this world was originally a romance fantasy novel, and deep down, I always held onto a sliver of hope.

So when the second male lead of the original novel showed signs of physical reaction—his ears turning red—I wasn’t stupid enough to think, "Is he mad at me?"

A flushed ear? A reddened neck?

That’s definitely a romance fantasy cliché!

I sharpened my gaze and openly stared at Winter, almost glaring at him.

Then, Winter spoke.

"Oh, I was feeling a bit hot. Must be because of him."

...But instead of looking at me, Winter pointed at Aquila.

While I stood there dumbfounded, Aquila, now looking displeased, spoke to Winter.

"Winter, come to think of it, you’ll be promoted in three months, correct?"

Here we go again.

That damn fire attribute versus ice attribute rivalry.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

I had no idea why humans even had "attributes" like they were monsters, but watching these two butt heads because of it was absurd.

"Congratulations in advance on your promotion to officer. I hope you get along well in your next unit."

Aquila said this, but his tone was nowhere near congratulatory. I glanced at his crimson eyes and immediately understood what he was thinking.

‘He’s just being petty because Winter is leaving this unit.’

"Yeah, I’ll be promoted soon."

Winter’s voice was cold.

"But you never know. I might get reassigned to this unit again."

That’s definitely a provocation.

Or maybe Winter was just being his usual meticulous self, considering every possible scenario.

...Okay, so he was just actually pissed.

It wasn’t a romance cliché.

Winter wasn’t flustered because of me—he was just heated from dealing with Aquila.

Their conversation continued.

"You know that’s unlikely. That’s why I’m saying farewell in advance."

"Well, as you said, probabilities exist. I’d like to place my luck on that small chance. Besides, we still have three months before I leave."

"But three months is too short."

"Hmm. I think three months is plenty of time."

Listening to them, I felt increasingly dumbfounded.

‘Are they noble ladies at a high society tea party?’

The way they were talking—hiding their true intentions behind roundabout words—was ridiculous.

Why the hell am I not the one using that kind of speech, and why are they the ones doing it instead?

Both of them kept blank expressions, but the atmosphere was growing more and more hostile.

I really wanted to get out of here.

To an outsider, it ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) might seem like two men competing for the heroine’s attention, but I knew that wasn’t the case.

I’ve been stabbed in the back by this apocalyptic world too many times to fall for that.

Not knowing how the hell to handle this situation, I just stood there awkwardly.

Then, Winter called my name.

"Salvia."

"Y-Yes?"

"When I transfer to another unit."

"...Yes?"

"Can I write to you?"

"...What?"

"I think you might need help after you’re discharged. I can provide that help."

Winter stared at me, silently demanding an answer.

Aquila was now glaring at me with burning eyes.

What the hell is this situation?!

Why the hell was the fire spreading to me now...?

"Winter," Aquila spoke this time.

"Be careful. Don’t cause any misunderstandings."

"What?"

"Have you forgotten Military Law, Page 194, Chapter 15, Article 93?

One: If a romantic relationship forms within the military, the involved parties will be transferred to separate units.

Two: If a superior and subordinate engage in a romantic relationship, they will face up to one year of imprisonment.

Three: If any soldier is caught engaging in sexually promiscuous acts, they will face up to two years of imprisonment."

"...Why the hell do you have that memorized?"

I stammered, and Aquila answered in a flat voice.

"It left an impression."

"...Uh, okay...."

Aquila had just quoted back word-for-word what Winter had recited to both of us once before.

Now he was throwing it right back at him.

But Winter didn’t even flinch.

"True, but as you said, I’ll be transferring to another unit in three months. There’s no risk of being reassigned due to misunderstandings."

"What about Article Two? 'If a superior and subordinate engage in a romantic relationship, they will face up to one year of imprisonment.' What do you think about that?"

"Well, not all laws are perfect. Some need to be revised."

I was dying inside, caught between these two.

And just at that moment, another voice interrupted.

"I told you to go on patrol. What the hell are you doing here?"

When I lifted my head, I saw Yuri staring down at me with a cold expression.

"Yuri...!"

In that moment, Yuri appeared to be radiating divine light from behind her!

Yuri, you came to save me...!

"If you’re done patrolling, get back to the barracks."

...No, she came to chew me out.

Just as I was about to start cursing my unfair fate, Yuri mercifully shifted her attention away from me and glanced back and forth between Aquila and Winter.