My Desertion Would Be Faster Than Heros’ Obsession

After watching Benny’s training, I moved on to the shooting range to begin my own session.

To survive here, the most important thing was to train diligently and steadily improve my skills.

Bang!

The bullet from my gun hit a target, shattering half of it.

“Whew… Am I a genius?”

A sharpshooter who can destroy half of anything I aim at! Honestly, I couldn’t help but love myself a little.

But then, Benny’s earlier swordsmanship demonstration resurfaced in my mind.

That’s what a real genius looks like…

Suddenly, my earlier self-praise felt embarrassing. Yeah, I needed to work on curbing my overconfidence—again.

Well, I couldn’t help Benny in training, considering she was already a genius, but…

At least I can help her adjust to life in the unit.

If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s helping people fit in. With that, I could definitely be the kind of senior Benny would respect.

***

“So, the most senior person in this unit is Taro from the 70th class…”

With my adorable junior Benny in front of me, I started explaining the seniors in the platoon.

“Taro’s always tired, so he doesn’t get involved in platoon affairs. Ever since that incident, he’s lost all his energy…”

“What incident?” Benny asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.

“There’s an incident. That’s all you need to know…”

Benny gave me a puzzled look, but I ignored it and continued.

“And then there’s Dear. He’s new, so I don’t know much about him…”

Dear had joined the unit as a commissioned officer alongside Benny. He was part of the same class as Leon and Brave, who had thankfully transferred to other units after their promotions. Leon and Brave, synonymous with violence and terror, leaving? A dream come true.

Dear was a senior with curly brown hair and a gentle demeanor, but like most officers close to discharge, he didn’t care much about the platoon. His daily comment to us was, “What’s for lunch today?” Truly an easy man to understand.

“And Plato… Well, just do your work properly around him, and you’ll be fine. And then—”

“Ah, Aquila?”

Benny, who was looking behind me, flinched as she called out Aquila’s name.

“Aquila?”

I turned around and locked eyes with Aquila’s amber gaze.

“Are you done?”

“Yeah.”

He had just returned from being dragged to company headquarters again. Poor guy.

The male lead aura is dropping by 2 points every day…

“Tired?” I asked.

“Not really.”

Aquila gave his usual curt reply, glanced briefly at Benny, and then turned his attention fully to me, moving closer.

“What’s up?”

He wrapped his arm around my waist, a habit of his when he was exhausted. But honestly, he didn’t even look that tired this time.

Trying to save face in front of my junior, I attempted to pull away, but Aquila tightened his hold and leaned close, his lips brushing my ear.

“Do you like her?”

“W-what?”

The warmth of his breath startled me, and I flinched, but his grip didn’t let me move away.

“What do you mean?”

“The new recruit,” he said, his tone casual but probing.

“Benny? She’s sweet, skilled, and an overall good kid.”

“I don’t like her.”

…I knew Aquila better than anyone.

So it wasn’t hard to guess what he was feeling toward Benny.

“Are you jealous?” I asked incredulously.

He flinched. Apparently, even he found it ridiculous to be jealous of a recruit I was just looking after as part of my job.

Aquila always needed reassurance that I relied on him. Lately, I’d been paying less attention to him and more to Benny, and it seemed to bother him.

But Benny was the one who finally freed me from being the rookie of the women’s quarters! Not to mention, she was secretly the daughter of a two-star general! Of course, I had to take care of her.

“Hey, juniors and peers are totally different.”

Still, Aquila remained silent, so I added something to lighten his mood.

“Aquila, I’m taking care of Benny because she’s my junior. You’re different.”

I grabbed the hand he had wrapped around my waist, holding it tightly. Warmth spread through my palm.

“You’re the only person I can rely on.”

Aquila didn’t respond but squeezed my hand in return.

“Even if you get sick of me, I’ll keep clinging to you. So don’t you dare run away.”

“Only if you promise the same.”

“Okay, okay.”

His voice softened, and I could tell his mood had finally lifted.

Benny, who had been watching us, blinked her wide eyes and asked, “Um… Are you two… married?”

“What?”

I turned to Benny with a look of utter disbelief.

“That’s against military law. How does that even make sense?”

“Ah… Then are you engaged?”

“No, that’s also against military law.”

“Oh… I see…”

Benny nodded with a strangely determined expression, as if she’d come to some profound realization.

I turned my head, only to find Aquila smirking. A rare sight for someone who almost never smiled.

“Like you said, Benny seems like a great junior,” he remarked.

“…What?”

What was with the sudden change in attitude?

***

D-2,308 until discharge.

Time in the military crawled by.

No, let me rephrase that. It dragged by painfully slowly.

It had already been two months since Benny enlisted, and in that time, I’d been managing my military life without any major incidents.

Although three of Benny’s fellow recruits had died, I hadn’t even learned their names properly, so it didn’t bring about much change for me. I was getting along very well with my sweet and docile junior, Benny.

Thus, my days flowed with a rare peace for military life.

One night, I woke up with an urgent need to go to the bathroom.

As soon as I opened my eyes, the first thing I did was glance around to check on Yuri.

Yuri’s sound asleep. Good.

If I could just make it out quietly without making any creaking sounds, it’d be fine. Carefully, I tiptoed out of the dorm, making not a single noise.

This feels like I’m some kind of ninja. Why do I have to sneak to the bathroom like this?

To be fair, Yuri was relatively reasonable; even if she woke up, she’d just swear at me and go back to sleep. But thanks to April’s bizarre punishments in the past, my ninja instincts had been thoroughly ingrained.

Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I headed for the bathroom, only to freeze when I heard a sound coming from inside.

“Sob, sob…”

A chill ran down my spine, and I almost screamed, but I quickly realized it couldn’t be a ghost. If I were a ghost, I’d never linger in a hellhole like the Border Defense Army.

Think logically.

This was the women’s bathroom, and the sound inside was clearly a woman crying. I had already confirmed that Yuri was fast asleep back at the dorm.

That left only one possibility for who it was.

It’s Benny, isn’t it?

Wait a minute, why did this feel so familiar?

It’s like déjà vu… like when I caught Karon crying in the laundry room.

Was this some sort of initiation process for getting closer to my juniors? A trend among the younger generation?

The situation was awkward enough to make me want to cry too, but I stood silently by the bathroom door, waiting for the right moment to go in.

Yeah, I just need to go in now, hear her out, and comfort her—

Bang!

The sudden noise of something colliding inside made me flinch.

Should I go in now or not?

Unsure of what was happening, I hesitated and leaned against the door to listen.

“No, get a grip…”

It was Benny’s voice, trembling and tearful. She seemed to be talking to herself.

“How long are you going to live like this…?”

From her words alone, I couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong.

Was it her three comrades dying last month? Being separated from her family and trapped in the army? The grueling training and constant brushes with death? The poor living conditions?

…Damn it, there were too many problems to even guess.

“You can’t live like this forever… You have to change…”

Her voice, choked with sobs, trailed off, followed by the sound of running water. She was probably rinsing her tears away at the sink.

Should I go in and comfort her now?

As that thought crossed my mind, memories of Benny’s recent behavior flashed through my head.

By day, she seems perfectly fine. By night, she cries and talks to herself in the mirror. Considering the bang just now, she might’ve even banged her head against the wall.

…This was bad. Really bad. Way beyond anything I could handle.

This calls for the company commander.

If I described Benny’s symptoms to the company commander, he’d probably declare a crisis and collapse on the spot.

Extreme depression was a serious issue, and any clumsy interference from me might make things worse.@@novelbin@@

Just then, I heard footsteps approaching the door. Benny was coming out!

If she sees me now, I’m screwed.

In a panic, I darted into the nearby laundry room and hid.

If Benny found out I’d overheard her crying, she might assume I thought less of her and spiral further into despair.

Yes, the best thing I could do was leave her alone for now.

Holding my breath in the laundry room, I waited until Benny’s footsteps faded down the hall, signaling that she’d returned safely to the dorm.

“Phew…”

I exhaled the breath I’d been holding and slumped to the floor, staring blankly at the ceiling.

“Of course, nothing ever goes smoothly.”

Even someone as seemingly perfect as Benny was struggling deep down.

“…Oh, right.”

I almost forgot why I came out in the first place.

Damn it. First things first, I needed to pee.

***

The next morning, after breakfast, I noticed Benny fidgeting and glancing nervously at me.

“Benny, what’s up?”

“Um, Salvia…”

She approached me hesitantly and called my name in a small voice. I gestured for her to speak, and she leaned in, whispering.

“Did you happen to go somewhere last night…?”

“What?”

“When I got back from the bathroom, you weren’t there…”

“Oh.”

It seemed she’d returned to find my spot empty.