My Desertion Would Be Faster Than Heros’ Obsession

At last, the early dawn before the crimson sun rose had arrived.

Normally, we would have set out for the operation immediately.

However, instead of moving forward, we were all staring wide-eyed at the unexpected person who had appeared before us.

That person was—

“Dalin?”

No, why was she here? Shouldn’t she be on the battlefield? Did she desert?

I narrowed my eyes at her in suspicion, but she waved her hands frantically.

“Aaah~, I didn’t desert! I have a completely legal reason to be here!”

“A legal reason? And what would that be?”

When I asked, Dalin beamed with a bright smile.

“As you know, Lady Salvia, I did something absolutely insane by detonating a dark magic artifact in the military, drawing monsters toward the border. So naturally, I should be thrown into detention.”

“That’s right. So why are you here?”

“That’s because my battalion commander handled it by officially sentencing me to detention while secretly letting me escape! Isn’t this exactly what a real spy would do?!”

Dalin declared with pride, as if her espionage skills were something to be admired.

“Wait... then, don’t tell me—”

“Yes! I want to join you!”

“...You want to come with us?”

The moment Dalin said this, Aquila’s expression turned skeptical. He was well aware of Dalin’s chaotic tendencies, so he clearly didn’t trust her.

And, of course, neither did I.

“Dalin, I guarantee you’ll cause trouble.”

“Oh, I don’t do that anymore~. I’m a company commander now!”

“Hmm...”

“I mean it! That’s why Gavle sent me, isn’t it?”

“Wait, don’t tell me...”

So the helpful person Gavle mentioned was...

‘How the hell is Dalin supposed to be helpful?!’

Did he send her here because she was too much of a liability for his own unit? Was he just offloading her on us to keep her from ruining his war efforts?

I grew more and more suspicious, but Dalin didn’t seem to care. Instead, she excitedly exclaimed,

“I have a great interest in a nation governed by the people!”

“...What?”

“I’ve read What is the Commune Movement?, The Declaration of Natural Rights, A Look at Autonomous Cities, and On the Sovereignty of the People!”

Those were all revolutionary books.

Last I checked, Dalin failed to join the revolutionaries. But it seemed that after I left, she managed to succeed.

I stared at her in disbelief.

I wasn’t exactly the type to cling to the original novel’s canon, but wasn’t this too much of a departure?

A heroine who used to giggle at the word huh?, loved teasing others, and was dead set on staying in the military was now reading revolutionary texts?

What a character.

But...

‘No, Dalin must be useful somehow.’

In our unit, there was a saying: Even Patty and Matty have their uses.

Dalin seemed to be sincere about the revolution. If we used her well, she could be an asset.

In the end, we decided to accept her.

So, I explained the mission to Dalin in April’s stead.

Of course, Dalin failed to memorize any of it. Damn it, how did she even become a company commander?!

***

After that, we headed to our prearranged meeting point.

Upon arrival, familiar faces were already waiting for us.

Aside from Altair, who was still in the Kingdom of Butein, everyone was present: the Cool Mint Ice Frozen 78th Batch, the Personality-Wrecked 85th Batch, Taro, Plato, Louise, Brave, Leon, El, Carrot, and more.

I introduced Dalin to them, and they quickly assessed what kind of person she was.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Taro. What’s your name?”

“I’m Dalin! Nice to meet you, Lord Tar!”

“...I said Taro.”

“Oh, really? Hehe, I have a bad memory!”

“...You’re quite the optimist.”

“Oh? People tell me that a lot! It’s really strange!”

“...You don’t often hear people say your head is full of flowers, do you?”

“Wow, I hear that all the time! You’re spot on!”

“...I see what kind of person you are.”

As expected of the seasoned Border Defense Army soldiers, their instincts were sharp.

Soon, several large carriages rolled to a stop in front of us.

A middle-aged man stepped out, his expression stern as he scanned our group. Then, in a solemn voice, he uttered a single phrase.

“Patty, too.”

“To be useful.”

This was the code we had agreed upon for identifying each other.

The man before me was none other than Patty’s father. He was the leader of the Turich Merchant Guild, one of the largest trading groups in the Empire.

Upon hearing our response, he nodded—but then furrowed his brows slightly.

“That brat Patty... I wonder if he’s doing well in the military.”

“Patty is a v-very, v-very excellent soldier.”

“There’s no need to stutter like that. Let me guess, if he was told to pack supplies, he probably knocked everything over instead.”

Ah. He had a very objective understanding of his own son.

For a brief moment, I mourned for Patty’s father, who must have endured years of accidents caused by his son.

After that, we split into groups and boarded the carriages. Everyone was dressed in plain clothes to maintain our cover.

Today, we would be entering the capital disguised as members of the Turich Merchant Guild. It was the day the guild was scheduled to make a delivery to the palace.

If we failed, the guild would suffer serious consequences.

That was all the more reason we had to succeed.

I climbed into the foremost carriage, and Aquila, like a perfect romance novel male lead, took my hand and helped me inside. Dalin grinned and got into the same carriage as me.

Patty’s father sat at the driver’s seat, and with that, the carriage departed.

“Will we succeed?”

I muttered out of habit.

Sitting beside me, Karon responded with an excited smile.

“Of course! Lady Salvia, you have always succeeded!”

“...You were in prison with me, so I don’t think you should be the one saying that.”

At that moment, the carriage abruptly came to a halt.

From the driver’s seat, Patty’s father’s voice called out.

“This is bad.”

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

Sensing an unexpected problem, I widened my eyes.

Aquila, sitting across from me, also tensed.

“The security checks at the palace entrance have become stricter.”

“...Why?”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

“The public mood has been unstable lately, what with the war beginning. And today, the palace is hosting a banquet.”

Right. One of the reasons we had chosen today for our palace infiltration was because of that very banquet.

It made no sense to declare war and then immediately throw a celebration, but surprisingly, this was an Adolph Empire tradition.

On the first day of war, they held a victory banquet in advance.

However, rather than a lively affair, the banquet was more of a formal event where nobles expressed their loyalty to the Emperor by discussing their thoughts on the war.

Still, if the banquet had caused security to tighten, it was a huge setback for us.

If we couldn’t enter the capital, all our efforts would be for nothing.

At that moment, Dalin raised her hand.

“Um... is this the Duke of Bade’s territory?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Then I have a solution.”

Duke of Bade?

The name felt familiar. As I searched my memory, I realized—

This was the very duchy where Dalin had worked as a maid!

Dalin knew this place well. If anyone could find a way through, it was her!

“As you know, we must pass through this duchy to reach the capital. That means...”

Everyone in the carriage, from Aquila to Winter, turned to Dalin.

“If something big were to happen here, the guards would be too distracted to thoroughly check the carriages!”

“That’s it!”

Dalin was actually making sense?!

‘That saying was right after all!’

Dalin did have her uses!

Feeling oddly proud, I asked her,

“Dalin, what exactly do you think we should do to cause a distraction?”

“My suggestion is...”

***

A short while later, our carriage turned back toward the duke’s estate.

As it passed by the grand residence, several of us discreetly slipped out.

The hour was still early, and there were no prying eyes to witness us.

Accompanying me were Dalin, who knew the layout of this estate well; Aquila, who worked seamlessly with me; and Plato, who was there to supervise us.

"Dalin, where do we go?"

"Just follow me!"

Led by Dalin, we infiltrated the estate.

There were still guards patrolling, even at dawn, but Dalin guided us elsewhere.

"This is the path used by the servants."

Following her lead, we reached a passage leading underground. I eyed it skeptically.

"Are you leading us here because you secretly resent us and want to trap us?"

"Oh, come on! As if I’d do that!"

Dalin laughed it off smoothly and led us through the underground passage. Soon, we entered a storage room filled with various items.

"This is the supply storage. It’s the most accessible place in the estate. If we set a fire here, it’ll spread quickly."

Right. Our plan was arson.

‘Seriously, I’ve sunk so low I’m resorting to arson now.’

A slight wave of self-reproach hit me, but I shook it off and signaled to Aquila. He raised his sword toward a pile of papers.

Whoosh—

The flames surged along the edge of his blade before licking at the papers. The dry sheets began to smolder, releasing a pungent, acrid scent.

"Step back."

At Aquila’s command, we all retreated. He pulled a flask of oil from inside his coat.

It was one of the items loaded onto the merchant caravan bound for the Imperial Palace.

Once Aquila poured the oil onto the fire, the flames would spread in an instant. We would then slip away and rejoin the carriage before anyone could suspect a thing.

‘But...’

Something had been nagging at me for a while. I turned to look at Dalin.

She was staring at the rising flames with a strange expression. In the end, I called her name softly.

"Dalin."

"Yes?"

"Do you want to do it?"

"Do what...?"

"Do you want to throw the oil?"

I had a rough idea of what kind of humiliation Dalin had endured while living in this estate.

When she first arrived at the Border Defense Army, her self-esteem had been utterly shattered.

The original novel had never elaborated on Dalin’s past before her enlistment, but I had my suspicions. It was likely that the time she spent in this estate before joining the army had left her with deep, festering wounds.

I bit my lip as I looked into her light-colored eyes.

Yes, Dalin was one of the people who had made me resolve to change this system.

‘I have to make sure this succeeds. For Dalin—and for everyone else who has suffered discrimination.’

From the moment she set foot in the duchy, Dalin had carried an unfamiliar expression. It didn’t suit her usual carefree face—it was something deeper. A long-suppressed grudge, perhaps, or a silent, lingering curse.

I took the flask of oil from Aquila and handed it to Dalin.

She stared down at it, letting out a shaky breath.

"Ah."

"Dalin, do it."

"I... I really... I’m really going to destroy this estate...?"

"Yes. With your own hands."

In truth, setting fire to the storage room wouldn’t cause much lasting damage. At most, it would be a financial loss.

But for Dalin, even this small act of vengeance might give her some closure.

At last, she seemed to make up her mind. She bit down on her lip.

With all her strength, she swung her arm, releasing the flask.

Crash—!

The moment the loud explosion rang out, we turned and ran, fleeing the storage room. Behind us, waves of heat rolled outward.

"Huff!"

I glanced back. The storage was engulfed in flames, smoke billowing thick into the air. I held my breath to avoid inhaling it.

We sprinted nonstop until we reached the carriage. Once inside, we exchanged glances—and laughter.

"It worked!"

"Yeah, Dalin, you did it."

When I praised her, Dalin’s smile widened even further.

I had seen Dalin smile plenty of times back in the Border Defense Army. Of course, I used to scold her for grinning in inappropriate moments, but she had never taken my words to heart. She always laughed brightly, regardless.

But this smile was different.

It wasn’t the usual lighthearted grin—it was genuine happiness. Dalin looked truly free.

Watching her, I was reminded of when I had overcome my own trauma regarding my fellow recruits. The resemblance was uncanny.

"Dalin."

"Yes?"

"Good job."

Dalin didn’t answer. She just smiled again.

...Some people might find Dalin frustrating, might think her constant cheerfulness was foolish.

But I didn’t.

Her laughter was proof of her resilience—a declaration that she would ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) endure anything and move forward.

Instead of breaking down in tears, she had chosen to smile as if nothing fazed her.

Maybe readers of this world’s story would call her frustrating.

But to me, Dalin’s life had meaning.

So I smiled back at her.