My Desertion Would Be Faster Than Heros' Obsession-Chapter 16Vol 2.

The ice that should have completely frozen the spot where I had been standing was now being held back by Winter’s sword, the two forces pushing against each other in a tense standoff.

“Grrr....”

The village chief let out a strained groan, his ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) face twisted with effort.

And then, at last—the victor was decided.

CRASH—!

The chief couldn’t withstand Winter’s power and was sent flying into the wall with a loud thud.

Winter, unbothered, bent down to pick up the fallen ice artifact, murmuring to himself.

“You’ll never beat me with ice.”

I finally let out a breath, looking around the room in a daze. Ishina, who had been covering the doorway, rushed to my side, his face full of concern.

“Salvia, are you hurt anywhere? Hm?”

“I’m fine. But Aquila, um...”

I turned to check on Aquila, only to find him completely unharmed. I nodded in relief. Thankfully, no one had been injured.

“How did you all get here so quickly?” I asked.

Winter responded as if the answer was the most obvious thing in the world.

“I heard the whistle.”

“...You heard that small sound?”

“I can hear small sounds, obviously.”

...‘Classic Winter.’ Male lead bonus: +30.

“Anyway... thanks.”

I properly thanked him for saving me.

I had wanted to handle the cold by myself this time, but I still wasn’t there yet. The moment the chief had thrown that ice artifact at me, I had moved slower than usual. I hadn’t been able to dodge it alone.

I need more training...

I should ask Sanchez how to get stronger once he’s discharged.

Just as I was lost in thought, Aquila glanced out the window and spoke.

“The snow stopped.”

“...What?”

I turned to look as well.

Sure enough, the snow that had been falling endlessly had completely stopped.

It was likely that the chief had been manually triggering the snowfall using the ice artifact. We’d have to study it further once we got back.

“We’ll take the chief into custody,” Winter declared.

“Understood.”

As I answered, I glanced at Aquila’s face.

I had expected him to be jealous about Winter saving me. Normally, he would have reacted somehow.

But right now, he looked completely indifferent.

“...What is it, Salvia?” he asked.

“Oh, nothing.”

But it wasn’t nothing. So, I decided to ask outright.

“You don’t care?”

“About what?”

“That Winter saved me.”

Aquila was silent for a moment. Then, he looked directly into my eyes and answered slowly.

“I wouldn’t get jealous over something like that. He saved you.”

The moment I heard those words, something clicked in my head.

Aquila had always been considerate toward me.

Thinking back, there had been countless situations where he could have been jealous. But I had been too oblivious to notice.

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

Today’s task wasn’t about "overcoming the cold."

There was something else I had been putting off.

The task I needed to tackle today: Sorting out my relationships with the male leads.

I had briefly spoken to Winter about it in a past mission, but we hadn’t had a deep conversation.

Maybe today was the day we needed to finally talk things out.

I had been avoiding it because I thought it would be awkward. But I couldn’t run from it anymore.

And suddenly, I realized—Victim’s tarot reading had been right.

"Yes, in the future, you’ll become better at handling them. In other words, you’ll figure out the answer on your own!"

And in the end, I had figured it out.

The answer was this.

“Winter,” I said, turning to face him. “I need to talk to you.”

Winter, as if he had already expected this, silently followed me into a room inside the chief’s house.

I decided to start with what needed to be said first.

“Thank you for saving me today.”

This wasn’t the first time Winter had saved me.

He had rescued me when I was nearly devoured by the Ghost Groom, when I had fallen into a black magician’s trap, and now today.

If I had any sense of gratitude, I owed him a thank you.

And that was why I had been unable to draw a clear boundary with him before now.

But now, I had to do what needed to be done.

“I’m truly grateful for everything you’ve done. And you’re also the senior I trust the most.”

Winter listened in silence.

“But... I think that’s all it is. Just trust and respect.”

A brief silence followed.

Then, Winter nodded.

“...I understand.”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Winter’s gaze was as cold as ever, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking. But unlike usual, his voice had the faintest tremor to it.

“I won’t let it be something you have to worry about anymore.”

His response was clean and precise. Then, as if he had been meaning to bring it up, he continued,

“Salvia, back when we were in that emotionally unstable village, you told me I seemed to be losing control lately.”

“Yes.”

“The truth is, I wasn’t any different then from how I usually am. Controlling my emotions has always been difficult.”

“....”

At the very least, I now understood one thing for certain—he had truly loved me. That realization left me with an odd feeling.

“I always took pride in my patience, but for some reason, I found it difficult to maintain that patience when it came to you. And when I tried my best but still didn’t get what I wanted... That was a feeling I wasn’t used to. But I suppose I need to try harder to control myself.”

I didn’t want to completely shatter my relationship with him. After all, Winter was still someone I respected—someone who had saved me countless times.

After a short silence, I spoke again.

“It’s not that I found your presence overwhelming. You are one of the most important people to me.”

“I know. I haven’t forgotten the time we spent together in the Border Defense Army. And...”

Winter’s voice had fully steadied now.

“...If anything ever goes wrong between you and Aquila, tell me. No matter what, I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

In that moment, I could feel Winter’s sincerity again. That part was real. He truly didn’t want me to get hurt.

“...Thank you.”

With that, our conversation reached a quiet but warm resolution.

Just as I was looking at Winter with a newfound sense of appreciation—

BANG!

“Salvia?”

Ishina burst through the door—something completely out of character for him.

“Ishina?”

“Oh, there you are. I thought you might be off causing some kind of disaster.”

“I am not!”

I huffed as I followed him out. But before I left, I turned and smiled at Winter.

And for the first time in a long while—Winter smiled back.

At that moment, it felt like something between us had changed.

But today wasn’t just about sorting out my feelings for Winter—I had gained something else.

A renewed determination.

Revolution is necessary.

The Empire’s ruling class had exploited the weak with the help of black magicians. In the end, black magic had always been a tool of the powerful.

There were too many problems with the Empire. The Arkons were systematically sacrificed to maintain the Empire’s dominance. Even ordinary citizens suffered under the brutal struggle for power among the nobility and royals.

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If I truly wanted to change this country, I couldn’t hesitate any longer.

And for that...

I need the help of a black magician.

Even if black magic had been used for terrible purposes before, today had proven that it was undeniably powerful.

If I could find a black magician who wasn’t aligned with any faction and had no history of harming others, then I had to recruit them to my side.

Now, it was time to convince everyone else.

***

“We need to bring a black magician onto our side.”

I made the declaration in front of the entire Black Magic Search Squad.

The moment the words left my mouth, every single squad member looked at me like I had completely lost my mind.

“Are you insane?! Do you have any idea how much damage black magicians have done?!”

“They’re on the Second Prince’s side!”

“You’re in the Black Magic Search Squad! How can you even suggest this?!”

Even as the jeers and protests rained down, I stood my ground.

Aquila, standing behind me, placed a firm hand on my shoulder. His warmth gave me a small sense of reassurance.

And then—

Winter’s voice cut through the noise.

“Enough. Let’s hear her out.”

His tone carried a strange weight. The squad members, who had been furious just seconds ago, fell silent.

I sent Winter a quick look of gratitude before speaking again.

“...When you really think about it, black magic itself isn’t inherently evil. It’s true that most black magicians have committed crimes, but the power itself isn’t bad. If we can use it, it would be an incredible asset.”

Thankfully, no one immediately refuted that point.

“So if we find a black magician who isn’t part of any faction and has no history of harming people, we should recruit them. They could become a powerful ally.”

“Hmm...”

The first person to speak up against me was Louise.

“But black magicians are unpredictable. They’ve never followed rules or discipline before. How can we trust them? What if they betray us?”

That was a fair point. I paused for a moment, considering my response.

Before I could answer, someone else spoke up.

“If it’s only one person, we can handle it. We won’t give them full freedom, and we’ll keep them under constant watch.”

The voice belonged to Ishina—calm and persuasive.

I gave him a small nod of appreciation.

“But how do we control them?” Plato questioned.

Winter answered.

“We’re fully capable of handling people under a set system of rules.”

At that moment, I felt deeply moved.

Back in the Border Defense Army, my comrades had lacked the authority to help me.

But now? They were in a position where they could.

Male lead stat boost: +100 across the board...

Since I was the one who had started this discussion, I had to be the one to close it.

I took a step forward.

“In the end, there’s no denying that we need the power of a black magician. Black magic has already proven itself to be a major force in the Empire. Meanwhile, our own strength isn’t enough to change the system on our own. We need allies, and I believe a black magician is our best bet.”

Silence fell over the squad.

Because they all knew I was right.

Our military force alone wasn’t enough to overthrow the Imperial family. We weren’t a political organization. We had no noble backing, no immense wealth.

Our only advantage was combat strength—but the Empire had an army of hundreds of thousands.

However, if we could amplify our military strength with black magic, then with the right strategy...

We might actually be able to stand against the Empire.

As the others processed my argument, everyone fell into deep thought.

The first to speak was Leon.

“Strength is important.”

“Yeah, strength is important,” Brave chimed in, nodding in agreement.

One by one, other members started expressing support.

“Salvia’s right. We don’t have enough power yet.”

“If we use black magic, we might be able to infiltrate the Imperial Palace. That would weaken their forces.”

“If we could find more black magicians willing to cooperate, we’d gain an immense advantage.”

After a long discussion, a decision was made.

“If we can find a trustworthy black magician, we’ll bring them to our side.”