My Desertion Would Be Faster Than Heros' Obsession-Chapter 119

Taking care of the swarm of ghasts wasn’t difficult at all.

Why? Because, just like I memorized back in training, ghasts are weak to fire! That’s how Aquila was able to save Dalin in the original novel—ah, damn it, now I’m pissed.

Anyway, the moment Aquila enveloped his sword in flames, the swarm of ghasts hesitated and recoiled. He immediately prepared to leap forward and cut them all down, but since I was worried about his injuries, I told him to stay put and started shooting.

No matter how much I attacked, the ghasts couldn’t get any closer due to the fire, so we were able to wipe them out safely.

“Violet, just you wait.”

As I cut off a piece from one of the fallen monsters, blood splattered across my cheek. But all I could think about was shoving this in Violet’s face. That battle junkie—she’ll stop challenging me to duels now, won’t she?

“How do we get out of the cave?”

“It’s fine, Salvia. I can bring it down.”

Despite his battered body, Aquila stood his ground and prepared to bring down the rock barrier. Just as I was about to stop him—

Crash—Boom!

The rocks suddenly crumbled, and I turned to look in that direction. At the same time, my eyes met with the wide-eyed gazes of our fellow recruits, staring at us in shock.

“Salvia!”

While the others stood frozen, Karon bolted toward me like a bullet, his eyes trembling as he asked,

“Are you okay?! Are you hurt anywhere?!”

“Shouldn’t you be asking Aquila that...?”

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Compared to me, who only had slightly disheveled hair, Aquila looked downright awful—his uniform was torn in several places, and even his cheek had a fresh wound.

When I awkwardly gestured toward Aquila, Karon turned to him and, in the most robotic tone possible, asked,

“Oh dear. That’s truly unfortunate. Are you alright?”

“...Just worry about Salvia instead.”

“Yes, sir!”

...Weren’t these two supposed to be on good terms? This didn’t seem like a friendly exchange at all...?

Feeling a bit baffled, I patted Karon on the back to calm him down. Then, I turned to the rest of the recruits, who were hesitantly inching closer.

“You sure got here fast.”

“Salvia.”

Benny studied the fallen ghasts on the ground with sharp eyes.

“Did the two of you take care of all of them?”

“Yeah. Aquila used fire aura.”

“Ah, I see.”

Benny nodded in understanding, then smiled faintly.

“The recruits worked really hard to come save you two.”

“Did they?”

“Patty and Matty helped break down the rocks, and Dalin handled the monsters trying to crawl out of the cave entrance.”

The hellspawn from training camp actually managed to grow this much?!

“Wow~, you guys have really improved.”

Feeling oddly proud, I gave them an approving look, but for some reason, Dalin flinched.

“Ah, no....”

“What? You did well.”

“I still have a long way to go before I can catch up to you, Salvia....”

As she said that, her gaze lingered on the ghast corpses. Hm. Maybe she was feeling a bit discouraged seeing how unharmed we looked.

But hey, even dung has its uses. Seeing Patty, Matty, and Dalin grow into decent soldiers was enough to bring me to tears. They were my life’s greatest achievement.

***

After some time passed and we cleared out most of the monsters, a whistle sounded, signaling everyone to gather.

Aquila, who was the most injured, had already gone ahead to see the medic, while I, with my relatively minor injuries, received some basic first aid before wandering near the entrance of the mountain.

A short while later, I spotted Violet climbing up the hill, carrying a burlap sack over her shoulder. Seeing her, I smirked.

“Salvia! Let’s check the results of our bet!”

Violet’s purple eyes burned with determination as she excitedly opened her sack. From inside, countless monster parts spilled out—scales, tails, and manes.

The most notable thing? All of them were huge.

“Violet, looks like you hunted some big ones.”

“Yes! Somehow, I kept running into larger monsters. There are even a few second-tier ones in there!”

Violet declared with pride, but I simply gave her a knowing smile.

A moment later, I dumped out my collection—chunks of mudpets and ghasts tumbled to the ground. At least fifty pieces.

Violet’s face turned deathly pale.

“How... how can there be this many...?”

“Hunting monsters that move in swarms lets you take down a lot with minimal effort.”

“Damn it! Why didn’t I consider group-based monsters?!”

Violet clutched her head in frustration before ultimately kneeling before me in defeat.

“Ugh—! A bet is a bet! I acknowledge my loss!”

“Acknowledging the outcome is a good attitude to have.”

Sanchez, who had been watching us, nodded in approval.

‘...She actually gets along surprisingly well with Sanchez.’

Why did I never think of pairing them up before? If Violet and Sanchez kept themselves busy competing, both our unit’s recruits and hers would finally get some peace.

In any case, I looked down at her with a victorious grin.

“What I want is....”

“Yes!”

“...Just for you to get along with me.”

“...I beg your pardon?”

“That’s exactly what I meant. I just want us to be close enough that when I visit your company, we can say hi.”

Of course, I didn’t actually want just a friendly connection. In the future, I planned to rely on this ‘friendship’ quite a bit.

But as I carefully concealed that fact and made it sound like I only wanted a casual acquaintance, Violet’s eyes suddenly gleamed.

“I’m truly touched!”

“...Huh?”

“Hehe! I’ll dedicate myself to becoming strong enough to defeat you one day, Salvia!”

“That’s an excellent mindset. I’ll strive to learn from Violet’s determination as well.”

Even Sanchez chimed in with that, leaving me feeling a little complicated. ...What the hell? Did Sanchez just multiply?

Had I become like Benny and acquired ‘my own Sanchez’ too?

Though I felt a bit uneasy, the duel with Violet concluded with my victory.

***

“Aquila.”

There was still some work left to repair the barbed wire, but thankfully, since I was injured, I was excused from duties and made my way straight to the infirmary where Aquila was resting.

He was sitting on a not-so-comfortable-looking infirmary bed, a small gauze patch on his cheek and a bandage wrapped around his exposed ankle.

“How bad is it?”

Aquila shook his head as if to say it wasn’t serious, but I immediately rolled up his sleeve. A bandage wrapped around his arm came into view.

“It’s just a scratch. I put on some medicine and wrapped it up. I’m fine.”

His tone was meant to reassure me, but seeing his injuries still hurt my heart. I couldn’t take my eyes off them.

“Is your back okay?”

Since that was where his uniform had been the most torn earlier, I hesitated to check it myself. Aquila seemed to pick up on my concern and casually lifted his shirt.

“See? It’s fine.”

Just as he said, his back was relatively unscathed.

“Phew....”

I sighed in relief and straightened my posture—

Hmm.

I got a good look at his upper body from the front and quickly glanced to the side. Hmm... Male lead points +100....

With my worries settled, I sat down next to him.

“You should lie down while you rest. Get some sleep.”

“I was lying down....”

Aquila turned his head slightly to look at me before continuing in a slow, deliberate tone.

“I heard you coming.”

“You recognized me just from my footsteps?”

If Winter said something like that, it wouldn’t be surprising. He seemed like the type to memorize everyone’s movements. But Aquila?

“I only remember yours.”

Aquila said it as if it was nothing.

“Your footsteps sound the cutest.”

“...What?”

What kind of criteria was that? I tilted my head but decided to let it slide and change the subject.

“Aquila, you can’t keep throwing yourself into danger like this. When we get promoted and move to different units, I won’t be able to check on you.”

“Then I won’t have any reason to get hurt.”

Well, since I was the only one who looked after him, I supposed that made sense.

With nothing else to say, I just stared blankly ahead. After a while, I finally muttered in a small voice.

“...I’m scared of getting promoted.”

“...You’re scared?”

Aquila repeated my words cautiously. He clearly hadn’t expected me to be afraid of something like that.

“It’s just... I have to go somewhere completely new.”

I had finally gotten used to this unit’s environment, and now I had to leave. That was cruel in itself. I’d be joining a group that had already built their own bonds.

Even though I’d be their senior, I couldn’t afford to show any weakness if I wanted to be treated as one.

And as an officer, maintaining a balance would be difficult. Like Rosan, I’d have to make sure not to pick fights with the new recruits unnecessarily while still commanding enough respect. But when someone blatantly disrespected me, I’d have to clamp down on them like April.

More than anything, though, what scared me the most was—

“You won’t be there.”

Losing the comrade I had spent the past six years with made me uneasy.

If I wanted to talk about something, who would I turn to? Who could I trust?

Aquila listened quietly before gently patting my shoulder.

“As an officer, you’ll be able to send letters.”

“But we won’t be able to contact each other every day. And sometimes letters stop coming.”

Officers could exchange letters with those in other units. It was mainly meant to stay in touch with former comrades.

But letters were only collected and sent out once a week. If something happened, the process could be delayed. If a dangerous monster appeared, if the weather got bad, or if bandits blocked the roads, communications could be cut off for a long time.

Winter used to exchange letters with Altair and Yuri, but there was a time when landslides blocked the roads, and he didn’t receive anything for two whole months.

Even if we could write to each other, it wouldn’t compare to talking every day.

Aquila’s expression darkened slightly as he seemed to recall that fact. But then he firmed his grip on my shoulder and said,

“It’s okay, Salvia. I’ll be with you every day.”

“...Like, in spirit?”

That sounded like a major death flag. I may be gone, but I’ll always be with you in your heart! ...That kind of thing, right?

“Even if you can’t reply, I’ll still talk to you every day.”

Aquila’s expression was dead serious, which only made his words funnier. I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“What, are you just going to talk into thin air?”

Compared to the stiff, reserved Aquila from when we first enlisted, he had definitely softened up. Now he could even joke around.

Strangely enough, though, his words were oddly comforting.

Even though I knew it was time to return to my barracks, I deliberately avoided checking the clock and just sat there a while longer.