My Desertion Would Be Faster Than Heros' Obsession-Chapter 14Vol 2.

Damn it, what romance fantasy world!

It was my own fault for forgetting that my life had barely ever resembled a romance fantasy. These tarot cards weren’t divination tools from some fictional world—they were just reality!

As I got up from my seat, ready to leave, Victim hurriedly spread out the tarot cards in front of me with a flourish.

“W-Wait! Let’s check this first! I’ll confirm if you’ll find out within the next few days!”

“Hmm...”

If he actually got it right, then I’d have to admit it had some effect.

Still skeptical, I drew a tarot card...

“Oh! The number seven!”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you’ll find out within a week!”

“What kind of interpretation is that? Even I could’ve come up with that!”

I couldn’t help but explode in frustration again.

Ugh, in the end, this was completely useless!

I shot up from my seat, ready to grab him by the collar, but Victim started sweating profusely and held out his hands in a placating gesture.

“W-Wait! Then, how about I give you one free reading for another concern?”

“I’m not falling for that, you lunatic!”

“It’s free, free! I swear!”

...If it’s free, then I guess I don’t really lose anything.

Barely managing to calm my irritation, I sat back down. Victim let out a relieved sigh.

“So, what’s your next concern?”

“Well, for starters...”

I leaned in close, pulling my chair toward him, and whispered,

“I’m debating whether or not I should recruit someone to my side. I’d like to hear your opinion.”

After this mission, I needed to decide how to handle black magic.

If I brought a black magic user into my faction, there would definitely be strong opposition from others. Convincing them wouldn’t be easy.

Victim blinked slowly at my words before tilting his head back with an air of arrogance.

“This Victim will give you the most precise answer. Don’t worry.”

“...Sure.”

“First, let me ask you this—what are the benefits of recruiting this person?”

I guess fortune-telling required some solid information to work. After some thought, I answered,

“Well, they’re incredibly strong. They’d be a major asset.”

“And the downside?”

“The others will most likely oppose it.”

“Hah, how romantic...”

“...Excuse me?”

I frowned at the completely unexpected remark.

But Victim clasped his hands together as if he had fallen into his own world, murmuring to himself.

“You wish to recruit someone, yet you fear the opposition of those around you... how romantic!”

“Um...”

I wasn’t really seeing the romance in it.

As I remained silent, Victim excitedly began shuffling the tarot cards.

“A love tarot reading, hoho~. Now, pick your cards!”

“Uh, sure...”

“Pick three!”

Following his instructions, I chose three tarot cards. When he saw the first one, Victim’s face lit up.

“Oh! This represents your feelings toward that person!”

“This does...?”

The card depicted a dog tied to a leash, held firmly by a human.

Th𝗲 most uptodate novels are published on ƒгeewёbnovel.com.

“It means your obsession with them is incredibly strong! You have no intention of letting them go!”

...Well, if I found a rare, idealistic black magic user, I certainly wouldn’t let them go. That was accurate.

The second card showed a man screaming in terror in front of a ghost. Victim’s face darkened.

“Uh, this one... this isn’t mutual.”

“Well, of course it’s not mutual...”

“This person is absolutely terrified of you. Your obsession must be overwhelming.”

...That’s oddly accurate.

The third card depicted a human completely entangled by a massive serpent. Even before he said anything, I could already guess the meaning.

“Oh! But in the end, they’re caught by you!”

“Yes!”

As expected, my persistence would prevail!

“Even if your comrades object, you are destined to capture this man! Go! Make him yours!”

“I will, hoho.”

‘A kind-hearted black magician,’ huh? If I find one, I’ll work them to the bone.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Satisfied with the tarot reading, I smirked. It wasn’t entirely nonsense, after all.

“When you two get married, don’t forget to send me a wedding invitation~.”

“I have no intention of getting married.”

“Eh? Why not?”

“Because we’re not in love...?”

As Victim made a dumbfounded expression, I realized he had completely misunderstood the nature of my relationship with the black magician.

At this point, I started to wonder—wouldn’t I be better off just buying my own tarot cards and doing this myself?

Now that I thought about it, all he did was describe the pictures on the cards. Yeah, this bastard was definitely a fraud.

“Sigh...”

With a deep sigh, I stood up, but Victim panicked and grabbed my sleeve.

“Ah! Don’t go just yet! This time, I’ll do a free reading about an imminent crisis you’ll face!”

“...A crisis?”

Well, since it was free, there was no harm in taking the reading, so I sat back down. My life was already one crisis after another, anyway.

This time, I drew a card with ice on it. The moment Victim saw it, he immediately shouted.

“A cold wave is coming for you!”

“You scammer!”

And just like that, Victim was demoted back to fraud status in my mind. I might as well buy my own tarot cards on the way home.

***

However, to my misfortune, Victim’s prediction turned out to be true.

Exactly one week later, I was assigned a joint operation with Aquila and Winter’s team.

Ishina’s briefing on the mission foreshadowed my immediate future.

“A usually warm village has been struck by an extreme cold wave, causing a bizarre climate shift. Several villagers have already frozen to death.”

...So, it really was “cold” in the most literal sense.

I could already see where this was going. Another day of living like a proper romance fantasy protagonist.

If Victim’s prediction was accurate, I’d soon face a crisis due to the cold and, somehow, come to a realization about this love triangle situation.

But more importantly, if people were actually freezing to death, the side effects of black magic must be stronger than usual.

Severe weather changes were one of the common side effects of black magic. Someone must have used it in that village.

“Are we supposed to capture the black magic user too?” I asked.

“If we find them, we’ll capture them. But there’s a good chance they’ve already fled the village.”

Even though we had strong firepower with me, Ishina, Aquila, and Winter all on this mission, I couldn’t shake a sense of unease. I found myself dragging my feet, stalling at headquarters before we had to leave. Of course, I knew exactly why.

I hated the cold. I had never been able to adapt to it, even back in the Snowy Mountain Battalion.

“Ughhh...”

When I refused to let go of the couch, Ishina reached out a hand toward me.

“Come on, get up. It’s time to go, okay?”

“...Yeah.”

I mumbled, unable to ignore him.

“Get up,” a voice said from behind me.

Suddenly, someone wrapped their arms around me and lifted me up.

A wave of warmth spread through me, making me smile.

“Alright, let’s go.”

When Aquila held me like that, my anxiety eased a little.

Still, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to give my all today. Whenever I got cold, my brain always seemed to shut down, leaving me scrambling.

Then, April’s words echoed in my head.

“Think about what you need to do, and do it yourself.”

“...Right.”

Repeating that advice to myself, I braced myself.

I had to do what needed to be done—on my own. That was my goal {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} for today.

Back in the Snowy Mountain Battalion, I had always been on edge.

Granted, I was objectively an anxious person in general, but it had been even worse there. Even the smallest sounds grated on my nerves, so I spent most of my time buried in warm blankets, sleeping as much as possible to forget about the cold.

But today, instead of blankets, I had Aquila.

“Let’s go.”

The village was covered in thick clouds, and the falling snow made everything look blurry. A heavy layer of snow covered the ground, making walking difficult.

...Back in the Snowy Mountain Battalion, I had shoveled snow a lot. Ah, the memories of snow removal...

“Aaagh! It’s like trash is raining from the sky!” I groaned.

“What’s wrong, Salvia?” Winter asked.

“A-Ah, nothing.”

Winter’s presence snapped me out of my daze, and we entered the village.

The moment we crossed the boundary, the temperature plummeted so sharply it was almost unnatural. A deep chill crept through my bones, like stepping into a giant freezer.

“If this is a side effect of black magic, does that mean it’s still active somewhere?” I asked.

“Not necessarily,” Winter replied.

“What do you mean?”

“If this is the aftermath of a completed spell, there’s nothing we can do.”

According to Winter, the extreme cold could be the result of either an ongoing black magic spell or the lingering effects of a completed one.

If it was still active, we could forcefully stop it.

If it wasn’t... there was nothing we could do but wait for the side effects to fade naturally.

Still, we had a duty to investigate, which was why we were here.

“Let’s split up and ask the villagers if they’ve seen anyone suspicious recently,” Ishina suggested.

“Understood.”

The moment he mentioned splitting up, Aquila and Winter exchanged glances. Ishina frowned at the sight.

‘Not this again...’

I resigned myself to my fate. Another day, another love triangle situation.

“Aquila, go with Salvia,” Winter said unexpectedly.

...Wait, what?

Did what I said to him actually get through?

Still in mild shock, I responded, “Understood.”

“Salvia isn’t good with the cold,” Winter added.

“...Yeah.”

Aquila’s face twisted slightly. It seemed like even though he’d gotten paired with me, he felt like he’d lost to Winter somehow.

“If you need anything, blow the whistle.”

Winter was referring to the special whistles issued to the black magic search squad. He checked that mine was securely around my neck and gave a nod.

And so, Aquila and I began our search. As the frigid air made me shiver uncontrollably, he reached out and held my hands tightly.

“Let’s start by asking the passersby.”

“Alright. ...Ah.”

Aquila suddenly turned to look at something, and his expression sharpened. Of course, his face was always sharp, but I was one of the few people who could read his true expressions.

Right now, his face was filled with anger.

Following his gaze, I turned my head.

Then, I understood why.

Two small children were huddled together, trembling violently in the cold.