My Desertion Would Be Faster Than Heros' Obsession-Chapter 22Vol 2.

"So, I believe we need to collaborate with the Second Prince’s forces."

As soon as I finished my briefing, silence filled the room.

The soldiers around me all had contemplative expressions.

I had just proposed forming an alliance with the Second Prince’s forces. At this point, I had given so many briefings that I could practically do it in my sleep.

The first to break the silence was Louise.

"But how exactly do you plan to contact them?"

"We’re going to use the black magician we threw into prison. We don’t actually intend to free him, but we’ll pretend to in order to extract information."

"Wasn’t he transferred to the imperial capital?"

"No, he’s still in a temporary detention center in the city."

Hearing my answer, April smirked.

"Alright then, Salvia, go ahead and make contact."

"Wait, really?"

I had fully expected pushback on this idea, so I stared at her in shock. But April simply responded in an easygoing voice.

"Of course~. We’ll just talk to them first. If things don’t work out, we can always abandon negotiations."

"Ah-ha, thank you!"

"But."

Just as I was about to relax and celebrate, April added,

"You’ll be handling the prison contact personally."

"W-Wait, wouldn’t it be better if we all did it together?"

"Hmm. Wouldn’t it make sense for the person who proposed this plan to handle it?"

April’s words made Victim—who had been silently observing—nod enthusiastically.

"Ah, yes, yes, that makes perfect sense!"

"Will you shut up?!"

"Salvia, so you don’t want to do the work?"

"...I-I’ll do it...."

...Damn it. Another mission added to my plate.

And this time, I had completely brought it upon myself.

‘Why do I keep doing this to myself?’

At this point, I was starting to suspect I had no learning ability.

"Haha... No way I’m suffering alone in this den of evil..."

Meanwhile, Victim muttered ominously to himself.

I shot him a glare, but he had already realized that I wouldn’t dare attack him in front of my superiors. Feeling safe, he even raised his hand and made a suggestion.

"I have a proposal! For Salvia to meet with the imprisoned black magician, she should personally go to the prison!"

"Haha, excellent idea."

"That’s not an excellent idea! I’m not going to prison!"

Judging by how both Victim and April looked way too excited about the idea of me going to jail, it was clear they wanted to see it happen.

But I wasn’t about to give them the satisfaction.

I would complete my mission without getting locked up.

***

While April had put me in charge of the operation, she hadn’t said I had to do it alone.

So, I enlisted Karon’s help.

"Salvia, I can—"

"No. You lack acting skills."

Aquila and Winter were far too stiff to pull off any convincing performances.

But Karon was perfect for this mission. He was an excellent actor, and more importantly, he only did exactly what I told him to. He wouldn’t take unnecessary actions, and he had an airtight sense of discretion.

‘Ah... the love letter incident....’

Back then, Karon had genuinely enjoyed writing letters with me.

"They’re really sending only those two? That’s worrying..."

Ishina muttered skeptically, but I ignored her.

In any case, Karon and I would handle this mission together.

Or more accurately, I had designed the plan, and Karon would execute it.

The plan was as follows:

Karon would pretend to be a criminal and get taken to the detention center. Since he didn’t look like an Arkon, the guards wouldn’t suspect anything.Karon—having memorized the conversation flow I had written for him—would carefully extract information from the black magician.Finally, I would break him out of prison!"Mm. Perfect plan."

By the way, there was one more person involved in this mission.

"Is it really perfect, though?"

The one questioning me was none other than Altair.

Since we needed someone to play the role of a prison escort, I had recruited him as well.

Altair, like Karon and me, was a skilled actor.

However, after hearing my plan, he had an odd expression.

"Salvia... do you always operate like this?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Are your plans always this reckless? They seem strangely... haphazard. But somehow, they work... Man, you’ve been lucky, haven’t you?"

Hearing that, I smirked internally.

‘Well, that’s because I’m actually the protagonist of a romance fantasy novel.’

Of course my plans had been miraculously working out.

"...Well, whatever. I’ll trust your plan. You did save my life, after all."

"Altair...!"

"Salvia...!"

We embraced in deep camaraderie.

"You two look ridiculous."

Despite our moving display of friendship, none of the male leads showed the slightest hint of jealousy.

Even Yuri clicked her tongue in exasperation.

But we ignored them.

This was a flawless team.

My luck was flawless.

And therefore, my plan was guaranteed to succeed!

***

We were finally setting off for our mission to the detention center, and several of our comrades had come to see us off.

"Salvia, wait a moment. You need to look more presentable before you go."

Ishina, claiming it would make me look like a more professional special investigator, neatly tied my hair.

"Salvia, don’t get hurt."

Winter offered his concern.

"Karon, be careful as well."

...Aquila, who seemed to be under the same delusion as me regarding Karon being our collective child, added his own worries.

"Salvia! Make sure to capture another black magician while you’re there!"

That was Victim’s parting remark.

And finally...

"Salvia, you must succeed, hoho! If you fail, I have a feeling I’ll be in a very bad mood!"

"I will succeed. Even if I have to bet my life on it."

April’s words made me respond in an unnaturally solemn tone.

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Yes, if April wanted me to succeed, then failure simply wasn’t an option.

Besides, I had this terrible feeling that if she was in a bad mood, I would somehow end up suffering for it.

As we were about to leave, Yuri suddenly grabbed Altair’s hand.

...What was this? Were those two finally entering their romance route?

"Altair..."

Yuri’s voice was achingly serious.

"You must return alive..."

"Ha, don’t worry! But wow, since when did you start worrying about me?"

Altair, looking pleased, grinned. But Yuri’s response was stone cold.

"If you fail, Lady April will be pissed. And that would be our problem. All of us are counting on you."

"...Got it!"

...That wasn’t romantic at all.

In fact, they looked less like a budding couple and more like two soldiers exchanging their last words before battle.

Hah. Well, whatever.

It’s not like this messy romance fantasy novel had room for anyone else to be the female lead but me.

After leaving headquarters, we arrived at our destination.

"Alright, time for Karon to pretend to be a criminal."

"Yes, understood."

Altair and I, both dressed in our special task force uniforms, flanked Karon as we approached the capital’s temporary detention center.

We took him inside.

"One extra prisoner delivery, coming right up~!"

I announced it way too casually—like I was ordering a meal at a restaurant.

...But no one responded.

And there were no guards in sight.

"It seems they stepped out for ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) a moment. Perhaps using the restroom?"

"Alright, let’s wait."

As we waited, we started going over the plan again.

"Karon, you remember what the black magician looks like, right?"

"Yes, I remember perfectly!"

"Good. Once you find him, use the techniques I taught you and scam him into talking."

"Got it! Hehe!"

"Nice! Scamming is the best!"

"...Who are you people?"

A strange voice suddenly interrupted us.

I turned around immediately and found a very confused guard staring blankly at us.

Wait.

What exactly had Karon and I just been talking about?

"...Scamming? What was that about?"

Shit.

Damn it! I had let my guard down so much that I hadn’t even noticed the guard approaching!

But before I could even think of a way to salvage the situation, Altair swiftly stepped in.

"We’ve brought in some prisoners!"

"Prisoners? Oh, that uniform—are you from the Special Task Force?"

"Yes. These two were caught collaborating with the black magician we captured earlier. They were running scams together."

...Wait a second.

That was the cover story I had written for Karon.

But why did he say these two instead of just him?

Why did he say prisoners instead of prisoner?!

And then, in a loud, authoritative voice, Altair continued,

"These two are the culprits! One of them even disguised herself as a Special Task Force officer! She’s not actually one of us—she just stole a uniform! She’s extremely dangerous!"

"Ah, I see! For a moment, I thought your task force was up to something suspicious, hahaha!"

"No, no! This woman is a separate fraudster entirely!"

The moment Altair gestured toward me and declared that, my entire world went dark.

‘Altair, why me?!’

‘We have to keep the operation secret. This was the only way.’

We exchanged frantic looks, but by then, I already knew how this was going to end.

"...Shit."

***

"AAAGHHH, DAMN IT! ALTAAAAIR! YOU ACTUALLY THREW ME IN PRISON?! JUST YOU WAIT UNTIL I GET BACK!"

I gripped the prison bars, screaming my lungs out.

But all I heard in response was the apathetic voice of a guard outside.

"Shut up in there! You’re a prisoner, so act like one!"

"FUCK!!"

How did this even happen?!

Originally, only Karon was supposed to be the fake prisoner!

And yet, somehow, I ended up actually getting locked up?!

I had thought I had escaped the military prison life when I was discharged...

But here I was—not in military detention, but actual prison.

"WHAT KIND OF FEMALE LEAD GETS THROWN IN PRISON, DAMN IT?!"

I immediately realized I had summarized that way too crudely and corrected myself.

"In normal romance fantasy novels, female leads only end up in prison for crimes like assassinating the original villainess! If I get locked up for fraud, that reduces my protagonist power!"

The straw bedding beneath me was itchy as hell.

Why was there straw here?!

This wasn’t even a historical setting! What kind of cursed hybrid was this?!

I was fuming when the guard, clearly fed up, stomped over and kicked the prison bars.

CLANG—!

The rusty, grating sound made my ears ache.

The guard shouted,

"You con artist! Have some shame! If you don’t quiet down, I’ll throw you into solitary confinement!"

"...Tch."

In the end, I shut my mouth.

Satisfied, the guard returned to his post.

As soon as he was out of sight, Karon hesitantly called my name.

"Salvia... are you alright?"

"AAAGGHH! I’M SO MAD! But... I hate solitary confinement, so I’ll be quiet."

I let out a final yell before falling silent.

"Salvia, please calm down."

"Fine."

I calmed down at alarming speed.

Karon, confused, studied my face, realizing I wasn’t actually angry.

"Haha... Don’t worry, Karon."

Of course I wasn’t truly upset.

Well, I was a little mad about getting locked up, but—

"I have a hairpin!"

Yes. I had a hairpin I had specifically prepared to pick the lock.

Originally, I was supposed to give it to Karon, but now it was mine.

With this, I could easily unlock the door using the skills I learned in the Special Task Force.

Then, using the stealth techniques I learned in the Border Defense Army, I could escape.

"See? Everything’s fine!"

"...Wait."

I patted my pockets.

The hairpin...

wasn’t there.

Where was it?

Wait.

Earlier today, before we left...

"Karon, you’ve memorized how to pick a lock with a hairpin, right?"

"Yes, I have!"

Then, someone else had chimed in.

"Just in case, let me demonstrate! I’m really good at picking locks~!"

‘...Altair.’

Altair had insisted on demonstrating.

And after that...

I never got the hairpin back.

Because he never gave it back.

‘THAT FUCKING BASTARD.’

I clenched the bars so hard my fingers hurt.

"AAAAHHH! LET ME OUT! I’M GETTING OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW!"

"Salvia, calm down—!"

...I was really trapped.

FUCK.