My Desertion Would Be Faster Than Heros' Obsession-Chapter 11Vol 2.

"Where did those couples go?"

"They eloped!"

"...Let's stay calm and look for them."

The four of us, suddenly tasked with tracking down runaway lovers, stood in a circle and started throwing out ideas.

Ishina was the first to speak.

"Alright, let's figure out where they might have gone by saying where we’d each run off to if we were eloping."

"I'm..."

Aquila was the first to answer.

"First of all, I'd prefer a place where no one else is around. And since my partner would likely hate the cold... no, I just have a feeling they would, I’d escape to the warm southern region."

"Yeah, makes sense."

I echoed weakly, and Winter followed up with his own input.

"The northern region, where my family home is, would be ideal. I'm familiar with the geography there. The weather may be cold, but the castle interior can be kept warm."

"I don’t get why everyone keeps emphasizing warmth, but fine, whatever."

Finally, I turned to Ishina.

"So, what about you, Ishina?"

"Hm? I wouldn’t elope."

"...Excuse me?"

"I'm not crazy enough to run away for love like those guys. If you love someone, you just stay where you are and love them there. Why do people insist on isolating their partner through elopement? ...Wait a second, where are you taking them? North? South?"

Ishina, suddenly catching on to their hidden intentions, shot a furious glare at Aquila and Winter.

But whether she was glaring or not, my mind was still stuck on the couple that had run off. Where the hell had they gone? If it were me... No, wait.

"Wait a minute! ...Sir!"

I suddenly raised my voice, and all eyes turned toward me.

"...There's only one route out of this village, the way we came."

"......."

These guys. Love had fried their brains. Foolish male leads are unforgivable. Each of them, male lead power -40.

***

In any case, we found the runaway couple, captured them, and asked about the outsider they had seen.

"Where exactly did you see the outsider?"

Talking to them wasn’t easy, though. They were completely addicted to black magic.

"Just let us love each other in peace! Boohoo!"

As Winter silently observed them, he suddenly spoke up.

"Let’s take them outside the village. That might break the influence of the black magic."

"Ah! As expected of Winter!"

We dragged them out by force, and the moment they stepped outside the village boundaries—

"Aha!"

Their eyes suddenly regained clarity.

"Eloping isn’t a good idea."

"Yeah, if the people around you oppose your relationship, you should calmly try to get their approval."

"Right, a healthy relationship doesn’t involve obsession."

"Obsessive love is only beautiful in novels! Everyone, take note!"

Then, hand in hand, they declared that they’d go back and get their parents' permission. Somehow, I felt compelled to repeat their words.

"Aha, so obsessive male leads can only exist in novels!"

"Salvia, who are you talking to...?"

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Only then did I snap out of it and grab the couple before they left.

"So, where did you see the outsider?"

"The outsider? Ah!"

The man pointed to a mountain deeper inside the village.

"I saw them near the village entrance a while ago, heading toward that mountain! When I asked, they said they were going hiking!"

"The mountain, huh... How many of them were there, and what did they look like?"

"There were seven of them in total. As for their appearance... Ah! One of them was wearing a black robe! That really stood out."

"A black robe!"

My eyes widened at those words.

A black robe—it was practically the official uniform of black magicians. I had seen plenty of black-robed black magicians before.

That meant there was a high chance that one of the people who had gone up the mountain was the black magician responsible for all this.

"We need to track down the black magician."

Winter, seemingly reaching the same conclusion, said firmly.

However, as I looked at the mountain, my face darkened. It was clearly a rough, rocky peak, impossible to mistake for an easy hike.

"Are we seriously climbing that thing...?"

"You know, Salvia, we can do anything."

Damn it! I just got discharged, and now I have to climb a damn mountain again?!

And so, we reluctantly prepared ourselves for a trek up the mountain, reminiscing about our time in the Cledore Mountain Battalion.

"Want me to carry you?"

Aquila asked, looking at my resentful expression.

"No. If I can't climb a mountain on my own, my pride will be shattered. Absolutely not."

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I was a veteran of the Border Defense Army. No way was I going to let my dignity take a hit just because I was feeling lazy.

After climbing for a while, we discovered some suspicious traces. There were signs that someone had lit a fire and possibly camped out.

But more than anything, the most striking detail was a magic circle drawn right in the center.

"Could this have been what triggered the black magic?"

"Who knows, but let’s erase it first."

Ishina scraped at the magic circle with her boot, and the moment it disappeared, I felt a shift in my emotions.

‘I feel... less angry now.’

I was noticeably calmer than before. That magic circle must have been designed to manipulate emotions.

"Who the hell would do something like this?"

These days, even black magicians were caught up in political struggles. What kind of black magician had so much free time that they’d waste it on something like this?

Then, a realization hit me—the black magician hadn’t been alone. They were traveling with others.

And if a group of black magicians and their allies were hiding in the mountains, there was only one possibility.

'The Second Prince’s Army...!'

The Second Prince’s forces, which included black magicians, had seemingly vanished into thin air after reaching the capital. But maybe some of them were hiding in this very mountain.

Ishina must have had the same thought as me. She met my eyes and gave a slight nod.

"Ishina, what do we do if that's the case? Subduing the Second Prince’s army isn’t our mission."

Ishina hesitated for a moment before answering.

"You're right. That’s not our job. If we find them, we won’t capture them. However, we will capture the black magician. That is our mission."

"Yeah, Ishina’s right. That’s how we should act according to our orders."

Winter agreed with her decision.

I recalled what April had told me.

‘Think carefully about who you’re working for.’

Ishina and Winter were focused solely on capturing the black magician. But wasn’t our ultimate goal revolution?

If that was the case, then leaving the Second Prince’s forces alone was the best move for us right now.

The reason? They could be useful to us.

They wouldn’t exactly become our allies, considering they served the Second Prince, but at the very least, they could help destabilize the current imperial power.

Moreover, if we did encounter them, I needed to ask—why hadn’t they attacked the imperial palace yet? Why were they still in hiding?

With those thoughts in mind, we began tracking their movements.

We scoured the ground for clues, following the same method we had used when Patty and Matty got lost. Finding someone wasn’t difficult.

As we walked, we sensed movement up ahead.

Rustle—

We exchanged quick signals and then—

"Stop!"

I had my gun trained on a group of seven people huddled together. They gasped in shock the moment they saw us.

'No firearms.'

They only had swords, and none of them seemed capable of using aura. Even though they outnumbered us, we had the upper hand.

And it was obvious which one of them was the black magician. One of them was wearing a black robe.

"Freeze. Move, and I’ll shoot."

"Who are you? Are you the Emperor’s dogs?"

The man who seemed to be their leader frowned at our uniforms and questioned us. I shook my head.

"We’re not the Emperor’s dogs. Technically, I’m April’s—"

"Salvia."

"...How rude, calling a person someone’s dog."

Ishina cut me off before I could finish, so I let it slide. She then stepped forward, aiming her gun at them.

"We’re from the Special Forces for Black Magic Investigation. We’re here to arrest the black magician."

"Only the black magician? You’re saying you won’t take the rest of us?"

"Our orders are to capture ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) the black magician. That is all."

Winter strode toward the black-robed figure, but the leader stepped in front of him.

"If you want to take our comrade, you’ll have to fight all of us."

"Ha..."

Damn it. So the Second Prince’s forces were loyal to each other, not just political allies.

We could win if we fought them, but this was getting exhausting.

‘Hmm. In that case—’

I glanced around. This was a chance to extract information.

The key to revolution was understanding the situation.

"I have one question."

If I wanted to talk, now was my chance.

"Why haven’t you attacked the imperial palace yet?"

"What?!"

Their eyes widened in shock at my unexpected question.