My Desertion Would Be Faster Than Heros’ Obsession

"What are you even talking about? That was the first time I’ve ever spoken to Milphy," I said, exasperated.

"You’ve never tried to talk to him before…" Karon muttered, still sulking.@@novelbin@@

"Honestly, it wasn’t about caring for Milphy specifically. It was more about keeping him away from Blair and Topio’s terrible personalities," I explained.

At that, Karon’s pout persisted, but he didn’t argue further. He seemed to accept my reasoning, probably because he was well aware of their less-than-stellar attitudes.

But Karon clearly wasn’t done yet.

"Then why do you care about Jaiden?"

I blinked in confusion. Where was this coming from? There was no way I ranked Jaiden above Karon in priority, right?

"What about Jaiden?" I asked.

"Aquila mentioned…" Karon glanced at Aquila as if to confirm his words. "He said you’ve been cozying up to Winter and Altair because Jaiden’s been annoying you lately."

"What the hell…"

I turned to Aquila, my incredulous stare demanding an explanation.

"You’ve been telling him this?"

"What? It’s true, isn’t it? You told me to take care of him," Aquila replied nonchalantly.

"I didn’t mean to tell him that much! Oh, for crying out loud…"

Feeling utterly exasperated, I lightly smacked Aquila’s arm a few times. This was all for his future, yet he made things even more complicated.

I wished everyone would cooperate with my grand plan for once. But no—Karon was busy sulking over a perceived lack of attention, and Aquila was getting hypersensitive every time he thought I didn’t need him.

Fine. Forget the slow, careful approach. It was time to speed things up.

First, I needed to figure out what kind of reaction Jaiden wanted from me.

I strode over to him, locking eyes with his smug gray ones. As I approached, I plastered on one of my signature "Salvia’s Top Three Prettiest Smiles," the kind that even I admired when I caught my reflection.

"If he doesn’t enjoy me getting angry, then he must want me to act meek in front of him."

I was half-guessing, but sure enough, Jaiden’s cheeks turned a faint shade of red.

"…This crazy bastard."

Great. Now it was clear. Jaiden acted so rudely toward me because he thought he could get away with it, and more importantly, he wanted me to feel small and submissive in his presence.

And the reason? My face was probably his type.

"Of course it is." Objectively, Salvia had a lovely, charming face. But this guy was like a grade-schooler who teased girls he liked.

"Fine," I muttered under my breath. "I’ll do the exact opposite of what you want."

If anyone was going to feel small, it would be Jaiden.

Step one would be dismantling the support Jaiden got from Gagne. And then, one by one, I’d knock down Gagne’s influence and power.

To pull that off, I’d need the help of Winter’s cohort.

"Yuri tends to grumble about her peers but still follows their lead…"

For now, I needed to keep spending time with Winter and Altair. It seemed like the best course of action for the moment.

***

"Salvia, the alphabet."

At Winter's words, I glanced down at the letters I’d just written.

…There it was again—a reversed letter written as an “S.” No matter how often I practiced, I couldn’t get used to this flipped version of the character.

"That will conclude today’s lesson. As I’ve mentioned repeatedly, if you can fix that one habit, there’s no more to practice."

Hearing that, I looked up at Winter with sparkling eyes.

"Does that mean the lessons are over now?"

Winter stared at me silently with his steely gray-blue eyes. A misstep on my part.

"…Actually, I think I’m still lacking," I quickly corrected, shifting my gaze nervously. I added a bright smile for good measure.

Winter finally spoke after a pause. "There’s something peculiar I’ve been wondering about you for a while…"

"Pardon?"

"Have you ever known someone who looks like me?"

The question caught me off guard, and I shook my head blankly.

"No, I haven’t."

Of course, there couldn’t possibly be anyone else in this world with the same face as Winter—the second male lead of the original novel.

Winter’s appearance was as if it had been sculpted to perfection: a symmetrical face, piercing gray-blue eyes, and a body so flawless it was almost unfair.

…And yes, his body was truly flawless. Only the other three male leads could rival him in that department.

"I see. Then it’s clear you’re just naturally fearless," Winter mused.

"Excuse me?"

Winter often described me as bold or fearless, and it seemed like he was finally explaining what he meant.

"You don’t find me intimidating at all, do you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Most people seem to fear me," he said plainly.

"Ah."

It all clicked. To Winter, I probably seemed strange because I didn’t act like most of his juniors. Typically, the mere sight of him had recruits standing at attention, stiff with nerves. Some even struggled to make eye contact.

Why?

Maybe it was his flawless face, unmarred by even the smallest flaw? Or his unsettlingly calm gray-blue eyes that never wavered, even in the face of monsters? Or perhaps his rigid, cold expression that showed no hint of emotion?

No, it might be the aura he gave off, like a ruthless tyrant with no tolerance for weakness.

Honestly, it was probably all of the above.

But the thing was, while I found Winter intimidating, he wasn’t terrifying. Sure, he ticked all the boxes for "objectively scary," but…

"I’ve seen faces like his on too many romance novel covers."

After reading so many romance fantasies, Winter’s face was just another example of the genre’s standard male lead archetype.

He looked exactly like the quintessential northern duke—a character trope so familiar it felt comforting rather than intimidating. In fact, I often felt more disappointed when Winter did something that didn’t align with his image.

"So that’s why I seem odd to him."

It made sense now why both Winter and Altair kept calling me bold.

"Honestly, I don’t think you look intimidating at all," I replied candidly.

"Really?"

"I’ve never found someone’s appearance scary, to be honest," I added thoughtfully.

Of course, if I were trapped in an alley with ten guys who looked like thugs, I’d probably be scared. But in this world?

Everyone was so unnaturally beautiful it was a feast for the eyes.

"No matter how scary someone’s appearance might be, there are far more terrifying things in the world," I concluded.

Like monsters, April, or the slow, inescapable death that this apocalyptic world dragged us toward.

Winter seemed to accept my explanation. It appeared he agreed that there were more frightening things than someone’s looks.

"You’ve got a good perspective. Judging people based on their appearance is wrong," he remarked.

"Yes…"

"And as I’ve told you twelve times before, you should put more strength into your voice when responding."

"Does this man ever let up?"

"Winter, you really seem like someone who sticks to principles no matter the situation," I said, trying to steer the conversation elsewhere.

"I’ve always lived that way."

"In that case…"

This wasn’t just about learning to write anymore. It was time to gauge Winter’s true intentions.

"Have there been moments when you didn’t want to follow those principles? What do you do then?"

"Such moments haven’t existed," he replied without hesitation.

"Really? Not even once? Then… which principles do you value most?"

Winter’s eyes lit up at the mention of principles, and he answered without hesitation.

"Basic human ethics are the most important. Then comes the laws of the Adolph Empire, followed by the military code of the Border Defense Army. Lastly, there are the unwritten but implicit rules we all follow."

"And why do you follow the laws of the Adolph Empire?"

"Because it’s the nation we belong to," he replied matter-of-factly.

"Can you truly pledge loyalty to the Adolph Empire? As an Arkon, is that possible?"

"I may be a hetero sapien, but I was born in this empire, and I’m loyal to His Majesty the Emperor. It’s just natural to me."

Interestingly, Winter referred to himself as "hetero sapien" instead of "Arkon."

"Is it because 'Arkon' is a forbidden term at the national level?"

He was such an enigma.

But my focus wasn’t on his loyalty to the empire.

"Can you really agree with all those principles?" I asked, meeting his steady gray-blue gaze.

"For example, how do you feel about the military rule that juniors must unconditionally respect their seniors, even during conflicts?"

"You follow it," he answered, though his eyes wavered ever so slightly.

It was the first crack I’d seen in Winter’s otherwise unwavering resolve, like he’d endured a senior’s irritating behavior more than once.

And that’s when I knew.

If I gave Winter the opportunity to weaken Gagne’s authority, he wouldn’t let it slip by.

***

The opportunity to take down the people I had been targeting arrived sooner than expected.

Specifically, it was a chance to deal with Jaiden.

"Who the hell left this barbed wire in such a state?" I muttered, staring at a mangled section of the fence during the border repair work.

It was undoubtedly the handiwork of monsters crossing over from the other side. It looked like we’d have to go on another subjugation mission soon.

Border maintenance was a task far more significant and massive in scale compared to the repairs of the company headquarters. The barbed wire fence installed along the border was crucial for preventing monster incursions, so its upkeep was of utmost importance.

Because of this, the repairs involved not just the trainees but also the privates. Every single trainee and private in the company was participating, without exception. In turn, the corporals had taken over the sentry duty that the privates would normally handle.

"Privates, make sure to guide the trainees properly as you work," the logistics officer called out.

At his words, Blair and Topio from our platoon immediately scowled.

"As expected, they’re walking disasters."

For the record, I’d recently started referring to Winter, Altair, and Yuri collectively as the "Cool Mint Ice Trio of the 78th Generation." Previously, I’d just called them the "Cool Mint Trio," but the more I observed them, the more I felt that "cool mint" alone didn’t do them justice. Their nickname might grow even longer depending on my mood.

Similarly, I had a special designation for the two privates from the 85th generation, Blair and Topio.

"The Disaster Duo of the 85th."

They were perpetually foul-mouthed, always subtly harassing juniors, and carried permanent scowls on their faces. Their personalities were so catastrophic that it was hard to describe them as anything but a complete disaster.

"…Wait, is this my chance?"

Suddenly, a brilliant idea flashed through my mind.

And I decided to put it into action.