My Desertion Would Be Faster Than Heros’ Obsession

‘This must be a romance subplot, right? Winter’s eyes keep straying toward me, he keeps helping me, and soon he’ll realize his feelings and fall in love!’

Filled with anticipation, I gazed at Winter, only for him to respond coldly:

“I only did what needed to be done. Once you’re a corporal, you can’t afford to manage incompetent subordinates. Besides, it’s not hard for me to guess what someone’s talent might be just by looking at them.”

…Of course. As if this could be a romance.

For a brief moment, I’d foolishly hoped my life was transitioning into a romantic fantasy storyline, where the dreary reality of this military setting would magically transform into the kind of whimsical romance the original heroine Dalin enjoyed.

But no. Absolutely not.

Just then, Aquila approached, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, the heat from his fire aura still radiating faintly.

“Salvia.”

“You did great, Aquila!”

“Come here for a second.”

“Why?”

I followed him, walking briskly to keep up. It wasn’t until we were out of earshot of Winter and Altair that Aquila spoke.

“Karon got scratched by a rock. Check on him.”

“What? Our little pup got hurt?”

The horror! Spotting Karon off in the distance, I sprinted toward him without a second thought.

‘Aquila really has started looking out for Karon.’

It was a comforting realization.

‘Good. This is how it should be.’

***

While Salvia was off in the distance fussing over Karon, Altair, with a teasing lilt in his voice, turned to Winter.

“Hey, what’s with you? Taking an interest in the new recruit?”

“It’s not….”

“Oh, I get it,” Altair interrupted. “You’re the perfectionist who keeps tabs on all the squad members, right? But let’s be real, you don’t usually make it so obvious. What’s with telling her to switch to guns? You knew she’d mess up and get chewed out.”

“If she kept using a sword, she’d be dead by now.”

Winter’s calm response was enough to silence most people, but not Altair. He wasn’t letting this go.

“Still, I know you’ve been watching Salvia more than the others. Why deny it? We’ve been in the trenches together for years—you can tell me. So, come on. What’s the deal?”

Winter paused, his sharp red eyes fixed on the horizon as he considered his reply. After a long silence, he finally spoke.

“Her eyes.”

“Her eyes?”

“They’re not like the others.”

Winter recalled the way Salvia had looked at him.

Most of his subordinates either feared him or avoided him entirely. When he spoke to them, their wide, terrified eyes made it obvious they didn’t know how to handle him.

But Salvia?

She had looked at him differently. There was no fear in her gaze, no hesitation. Sometimes, during grueling training sessions or when he was getting disciplined by higher-ups, he’d catch her staring. Her expression wasn’t filled with pity or fear—it was almost… bemused, as if she were silently mocking the absurdity of their situation.

Winter, who rarely missed a detail, couldn’t ignore those eyes.

“She’s bold. Maybe even reckless,” Winter said, his tone neutral but thoughtful.

It wasn’t just her attitude. That boldness had made him notice her talent—something he wouldn’t have spotted otherwise.

“So, does that answer your question?”

“Hmm, yeah, I guess it does.” Altair nodded, his usual playful demeanor momentarily replaced by something more serious.

Winter gave him a sharp look. “Enough about that. You’ve got something else on your mind, don’t you? Out with it.”

“Oh, right, the main topic.”

Altair’s face turned serious, his voice dropping to a murmur.

“…Didn’t Salvia’s eyes look a little wild when she was shooting earlier? I’ve only ever seen that kind of look from April, and it’s usually before something crazy happens.”

Winter didn’t respond immediately.

His mind replayed the memory of Salvia gripping her rifle, her golden eyes blazing with an intensity he hadn’t seen before.

Altair wasn’t wrong.

Most of the time, Salvia’s gaze was soft and unassuming. But with a gun in her hands, those same eyes burned with a fierce, almost manic determination, as if she wouldn’t rest until every last monster was obliterated.

“…She does seem to be unraveling,” Winter admitted quietly.

“See? I’m telling you, she’s unpredictable. She’s your junior, sure, but you never know what someone like that might do. You’ve got to keep an eye on her.”

Altair’s tone was light, but there was an undercurrent of genuine concern.

Winter stayed silent.

He had thought his job was done after advising Salvia to switch to firearms. But as Altair’s words lingered in his mind, Winter realized he wasn’t finished with her just yet.

Something about her demanded his attention, and his instincts told him he’d need to keep watching.

***

D-2739 Until Discharge

After that, my military life went relatively smoothly.

Of course, the words "military life" and "smooth" don’t usually belong in the same sentence, but the recent routine wasn’t too bad.

Fighting monsters ranked between level 2 and 3, enduring collective punishment whenever someone made a mistake, training from dawn till dusk, and handling all sorts of menial tasks—that was the average day.

Recently, my senior, Canon from the 84th batch, had died at the hands of a level 2 monster. But around here, death wasn’t particularly shocking. If only one person died in five months, that was considered manageable.

“Karon, you know today’s the day you get your first recruit, right?”

“Ah! I just remembered!”

“Oh, I thought you’d be the baby of the unit forever. Wow, has it really been three months already?”

Three months had passed since Karon joined. During that time, he had survived without dying, and today was the day he’d get his first recruit.

‘I’m not sure if he’ll actually act like a senior, though.’

Karon, who was always smiling and laughing, didn’t seem capable of putting on a commanding front for the new recruits. But since I had been looking out for him, I figured things would work out somehow.

“All right, you’ve got an hour of free time! If you’ve finished your tasks, rest however you want!”

After running fifty laps around the training field, Louise announced a break. Gulping down water to soothe my throat, which tasted like iron, I wiped the moisture dripping from my mouth.

“Is it because new recruits are arriving today? Are we getting a break?”

An hour of rest might not seem like much, but in this hellish Border Defense Army, even that was a godsend. Smiling brightly, I headed toward the barracks.

“Do we have any laundry left? Is the training ground cleaned up?”

“Ah, Blair, sir. Everything’s done!”

“Really? Then we can actually rest.”

Blair, a sadistic senior who usually relished tormenting the recruits, looked genuinely happy to hear there was nothing left to do. It seemed his temperament was inversely proportional to the amount of work remaining.

‘Nap time! I need a nap.’

Exhausted both physically and mentally from the grueling training, I was ready to heal myself with a nap.

Trying to hide my excitement, I opened the door to the barracks—and found an unfamiliar girl inside.

“…Huh?”

“Salvia, that’s your new recruit. Help her unpack and find some clothes that fit her.”

“…Oh! Yes, ma’am!”

A female recruit!

The new recruit had crimson hair tied into twin tails. Her wide, teary eyes and stiff posture suggested she was overwhelmed by the atmosphere of the unit.

“What’s your name, recruit?”

“R-Reina!”

“Nice to meet you, Reina. I’m Salvia. I’m two batches ahead of you.”@@novelbin@@

I extended a hand to her. Reina awkwardly shook it, her nervousness evident in her stiff movements.

“Your spot is to my left. Do you think you’ll need clothes around my size?”

“I-I think so!”

“I’ll grab some essentials for you. Wait here.”

The fact that we had a new female recruit left me feeling unexpectedly excited. Women were rare in this unit!

Being the youngest in the women’s barracks was uncomfortable—it always meant the chores fell on me.

‘Still, she’s my junior. I’ll take good care of her.’

While I was cheerfully helping Reina settle in, Yuri gestured at me from across the room, her expression sour.

“Yuri, ma’am?”

“Salvia, be careful.”

With dark circles etched under her eyes, Yuri spoke in her usual tired, irritated tone.

“I told you, don’t get too attached.”

“Well… if I look out for her—”

“You’re barely managing to handle Karon. Now you want to take on someone else?”

Yuri cut me off sharply, her face cold. She still didn’t acknowledge Karon and refused to call him by name, convinced he was only alive because of me and Aquila.

“Don’t get attached. Watch her from a distance, and assume she’s going to die until you’re certain she won’t.”

I glanced toward April, who was sitting silently, smiling in her usual enigmatic way. Her expression offered no hints as to what she was thinking.

“…I’ll keep that in mind.”

I said that to Yuri, but I didn’t plan to treat Reina coldly.

‘We’re a strong species. If she works hard, she can survive.’

Yeah, that’s what I thought back then…

***

It took exactly one week for me to realize that having more recruits wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Unlike the seniors who had already adapted to military life, the new recruits were still struggling to find their footing. For me, that meant more people in the unit to be collectively punished for.

After a week of basic training, the recruits finally joined us for regular drills.

This batch included four recruits—neither too many nor too few. Three men and one woman.

And every time a recruit failed during training, we all suffered together.

‘Damn it, there’s no way I can keep taking care of these people.’

I could barely keep up with the training myself. How could I possibly have the energy to look out for the recruits?

Among them, Reina wasn’t particularly lacking in ability. She had a sharp mind and quick reflexes.

Even so, Yuri remained skeptical of her. It seemed she wouldn’t acknowledge Reina until she’d survived a few monster-hunting missions.

‘No, Reina’s hardworking. She’ll make it… She has to… right?’

Despite my attempts to convince myself, I couldn’t help but sigh deeply.

In the end, I couldn’t actively help Reina as much as I’d initially hoped, nor could I say with certainty that she would survive.

“Lately, the atmosphere… doesn’t feel great,” Karon said softly, pausing his task of pulling weeds from the training field as he noticed my heavy sigh.

Ishina, working nearby, responded in a calm tone.

“It’s always like this when recruits are still adjusting. You might not realize it, but the same thing happened when you started training.”

‘How can he be so calm about this…?’

I had to admire how Ishina, always outwardly kind, never blamed anyone even when we were collectively punished. Maybe I should try to learn from his attitude.

‘No, wait. What if he’s secretly plotting to get rid of the recruits in some underhanded way?’

Come to think of it, Ishina was the type of character who seemed gentle on the surface but could be hiding a darker side. How could I possibly know what he was really thinking? I glanced at him with a hint of suspicion.

Meanwhile, Karon, apparently silenced by Ishina’s comment, closed his mouth. But then, unexpectedly, Aquila spoke up.

“I don’t like the new recruits.”

“What? Aquila, you don’t like them?”

I turned to him, wide-eyed. Aquila rarely expressed any preferences, let alone dislikes.

Not only me, but Karon and Ishina also looked at Aquila in surprise.