My Desertion Would Be Faster Than Heros’ Obsession

"Y-Yes, we’re back!"

"Are you hurt anywhere?"
"N-No, sir!"
Honestly, my burnt legs stung, and my stomach felt bloated from all the water I’d swallowed, but I wasn’t stupid enough to complain right now. I could deal with the burns once we were back at the base.

"Good. That’s fine."
The officers seemed to relax a little at our appearance.
Before we knew it, the company commander and platoon leader had stepped out of the barracks, their expressions softening slightly as they looked at us.

"Aquila, Salvia… our Alpha Platoon members…"
The platoon leader muttered, his voice sounding strangely sentimental.
"Ahem. I rescind my disappointment," the company commander declared, turning away. There was something almost moving in the way he walked off.

This is odd…
I had fully expected to be chewed out the moment we arrived, but there wasn’t a single hint of anger on their faces.
As I stood there, my mind started piecing together all the oddities I had noticed during my time here.

The grueling training designed to prepare us for fighting monsters.
The endless chores meant to keep the unit running smoothly.
The violence that rained down if we made even the smallest mistake.
The fearsome seniors who glared at us like hawks at the slightest hint of insolence.
But none of it included the bizarre hazing stories I’d read about online in my past life.
There were no weird, humiliating rituals or psychological torment inflicted by the seniors.

I had assumed that in a place with such a strict hierarchy, there would be countless abuses of power. But…
That didn’t happen here.
Ever since I ended up in this godforsaken unit, I’d been cursing this world for forcing me into a military story despite reincarnating in a romance fantasy novel.

But perhaps this wasn’t really a military story.
It was an apocalypse.
The military was just a surface-level genre created by hetero sapiens for their battle against monsters.
My life here, in reality, was much closer to an apocalypse.

The phrase I had heard repeatedly since reincarnating into this world came to mind once more:
"Only violence and fear can save us all."
That wasn’t just a motto—it was a hard-earned truth for the Border Defense Army, forged through years of brutal experience.

"Alpha Platoon, prepare to withdraw," the company commander ordered.
"Yes, sir. Chris!"
The platoon leader called out to Chris, the senior officer, who nodded in acknowledgment before turning to April.

At his signal, April raised her voice.
"All right, the recruits are back. Start packing up! And you two—newbies—come here for a second."
Aquila and I followed her gesture and approached her.

"…If we bring the bodies back to the base, the monsters will track the scent of blood."
Ah.
"We’ll bury your comrades here in the mountains."

"……."
"Do you want to say goodbye one last time?"
"Yes… I’d like to say goodbye."

"Understood. Winter! Show them the way."
"Yes, ma’am."
Winter’s pale blue eyes fixed on us as he led the way deeper into the forest.

Soon, we reached a shallow grave where several bodies lay partially buried.
"Say your goodbyes. You’ve got five minutes."
"Understood…"

To be honest, the state of the bodies was so horrific that it was hard to tell who was who.
I managed to spot Cal after some effort.
And then, familiar gray hair caught my eye.

"Linia…"
I’d teased you about death flags, hoping to stop your death.
But I guess this world was too real.

Avoiding a death flag wasn’t enough to survive here.
"I’ll live on and carry your share too."
Thank you for everything.

Aquila, meanwhile, simply stood there staring at the corpses of comrades he hadn’t even spoken to over the past month.
In the end, all he said was a brief, "Sorry."
I gripped his hand tightly. His hand was always warm.

"Are you done?"
"Yes, ma’am."
"Let’s go."

It was time to head back.
Back to my apocalypse.
"…Salvia."

"Yes?"
Winter, who had been leading us in silence, suddenly spoke.
"Yuri said she wanted to talk to you. Find her when we get back."

"Oh, okay."
Now that I think about it, Yuri and Winter were from the same batch, right?
Yuri, my direct senior in the women’s barracks, had practically treated me like I didn’t exist for the past month. For her to want to talk to me… I had no idea what was going on.

"And… good job. You came back alive."
I widened my eyes at the unexpected words, then broke into a bright smile.
"Thank you!"

After shouting my gratitude, I felt an odd lightness in the air. I tilted my head back and looked at the sky.
Dawn was breaking. The dark forest was beginning to glow with orange sunlight. Through the dense trees, the sky shimmered in hues of orange and gold.
The long night was finally over, and the sun was rising again.

Ah.
Standing there in the flood of sunlight, it finally hit me.
Yes, we had made it back alive.

***
"Uh, Yuri… I heard you were looking for me."
"Ah, Salvia."

When I cautiously called out to Yuri, she turned around, her perpetually cold black eyes locking onto me.
Her expression was as harsh as ever, a sharp, unyielding gaze that never softened. She studied my face for a long time without a word before finally speaking.
"…How did you survive the waterfall?"

So she called me over just to ask that? Tilting my head slightly, I replied, "Aquila helped me."
"…I see. Even so…"
Yuri mumbled as she stared at me with a strange expression.

"I think you have potential."
"Sorry, what did you say?"
Ignoring my reaction, Yuri continued, "…There aren’t many hetero girls in the unit because most of them die before they even get here. If two or three join in a year, maybe half survive, if they’re lucky."

Ah.
Now I understood why Yuri had treated me like I was invisible for the past month.
"I didn’t want to get attached to you because I thought you’d die soon."

Her lips lifted slightly in what could’ve been a smile, but her expression was tinged with bitterness.
Even so, I could feel the tension between us dissipating.
If there was ever a moment to say something to her, it was now.

Though it might’ve been wiser to ask about her, my mind was too frazzled from the recent chaos to think clearly.
Instead, I decided to ask something that had been on my mind.
"Yuri, I have a question."

Her gaze told me to go ahead.
"I’m an orphan, so I don’t know much… but what do we call ourselves?"
The empire might call us hetero sapiens, but surely we had our own name for ourselves.

For the first time since enlisting, I truly felt a connection to my comrades. For the first time, I was curious about us.
After a moment of silence, Yuri spoke in a low voice.
"…Arkon."

She said the word, then paused, lost in thought, before continuing.
"Before the Adolph Empire subjugated us, our people had no sense of unity, no shared identity, and no name for ourselves. But when the imperial citizens first encountered us, they were terrified by our physical abilities. In their ancient language, they called us Arkon, meaning ‘ruler.’"
She added briefly, "It’s now a forbidden word by imperial decree, so everyone just calls us hetero sapiens. But among ourselves, we still use that name."

"Arkon…"
I repeated the word under my breath.
I am an Arkon. Yuri in front of me is an Arkon. The members of Alpha Platoon, the 18th Company, and the entire Border Defense Army are all Arkons.

Maybe it was because I had started my life in this world in an orphanage, or because I had shared life-and-death experiences with them, but I began to feel an overwhelming sense of belonging to the Arkon people.
"…Yes, we’re all Arkons."
Yuri murmured as she extended her hand toward me.

"Nice to meet you, Salvia. I’m Yuri."
For the first time, she called me by my name.
Taking her hand, I shook it firmly and lifted the corners of my lips into a small smile.

"Salvia. I’ll do my best from now on."
It was the moment I became part of this apocalyptic world.