Whoosh—!
“Hngh!”
To reach the shelf, we had to coat our weapons in aura and strike down the incoming arrows. With Arkon-level physical abilities, dodging and deflecting was barely manageable.
At this point, standing still wouldn’t cut it. I had to keep shooting down arrows just to protect myself.
The problem was, in order to grab that paper, I’d have to stop swinging my gun. And if I did that, I’d get hit.
“Salvia, I’ll grab the paper! Move to a safe position!”
Winter urged me to retreat.
But even as I busied myself knocking away the arrows, I glanced at the paper’s location and made my decision.
“Winter, cover me!”
“What?”
Leaving nothing more to discuss, I ran.
Three wide strides.
That was all it took to reach the paper.
Whoosh—!
A barrage of arrows came flying at me while I was completely unguarded. But I didn’t hesitate.
“Hup!”
Because I knew Winter would cover me.
At the exact moment my fingers clutched the paper, Winter’s ice aura flared brighter than ever.
CRASH—!
His aura blade expanded, freezing the arrows mid-flight and shattering them into glittering shards.
Shiiiing—!
Seizing the opening, Aquila swiftly grabbed the other documents from the shelf—the very thing I had signaled for him to do.
The moment we secured the papers, Aquila and I rushed out of the room. Thankfully, Winter’s ice aura had held up long enough.
“Wow...”
My legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the floor. If I had been even a second too slow, I’d have ended up in a grotesque, gory mess.
“Salvia, are you alright?”
“Yeah... I’m just shaken up....”
Aquila helped me to my feet, supporting me as I tried to steady myself. Winter, on the other hand, stormed over and locked eyes with me.
“Salvia, what the hell were you thinking?!”
Ah.
His voice was sharp with something close to anger, but his blue eyes reflected something entirely different.
Worry?
It was an expression I had never seen on Winter before.
As I stared at him, blinking in surprise, he seemed irritated by my lack of response and raised his voice.
“You had no idea what would happen if you got hit by those dark magic arrows! Why did you throw yourself in there without a plan?!”
...Honestly, Aquila had done the same, but since those two had a weirdly distant relationship, neither of them seemed to care about the other’s recklessness.
And the reason I hadn’t hesitated to jump in was simple.
“Because I knew you’d stop them, Winter.”
Winter blinked slowly, as if he hadn’t processed what I just said.
“...What?”
“As long as I’m with you, I’m never in any real danger.”
To me, Winter was the ultimate insurance policy. We had been through enough together that I trusted him completely. Sure, he could be strict and cold, but he had never let me down.
I expected him to scold me for relying on him so recklessly, but instead—
“...Is that so?”
Winter... smiled.
...What?
It was disorienting, almost unnatural. But there was no mistaking it—his normally stiff expression had softened, his lips curling in an actual smile.
“Then I suppose that’s good enough.”
He patted my shoulder twice before standing up. His voice was... gentle.
What the hell?
Warning! Romance novel circuits detected! If the icy male lead who’s always as cold as winter suddenly smiles like spring, it means love!
Yeah, as if I’d fall for that. After all the times I’ve been burned? No way.
But still, Winter’s sudden shift unsettled me enough that I couldn't shake the thought completely.
“Salvia, take a look at this.”
“Oh, right. We have these.”
“Your jacket belt came loose. I’ll fix it—just read.”
“Mm.”
Aquila handed me the stack of documents he had grabbed earlier. I quickly took them, flipping through the pages.
If these are the dark sorcerer’s secret files, there has to be something valuable here.
That was why I had signaled for Aquila to grab them. As I skimmed through, he quietly fastened my belt as if nothing had happened.
“You understood what I meant back there pretty quickly. Thanks.”
“I can read your expressions.”
This content is taken from fгeewebnovёl.com.
We had spent enough time together that we could communicate without words.
As we climbed out of the basement, I rapidly scanned through the documents. There were instructions on how to use dark magic, but I had no intention of messing with that.
Then—
“...Wait a second.”
Among the papers, one document stood out. A letter.
It looked like correspondence between different dark sorcerers.
『Abe was captured not long ago. The military is onto me, too.
The empire’s been acting strange lately. Looks like they need more hetero sapiens. Don’t just sit holed up in your hideout—pay attention.
There’s no way we’ll ever regain our former glory. So I’ve decided to eliminate the bastard who trampled us.
By the time you get this letter, I’ll have already put my plan into motion.
If you get caught using the children, you’ll be thrown in prison immediately. Things aren’t like they used to be. Keep that in mind.』
“Wait... this letter...”
So the one they wanted to eliminate, the one who had "forgotten their debts and persecuted dark sorcerers"—they had to be talking about the Emperor. There had been a time when dark magic was widely used on a national scale.
Which meant...
The sender of this letter was none other than one of the three great dark sorcerers of the northern empire, the very same one April had captured after causing a disturbance at the Emperor’s coronation!
So "Abe" must be the name of the first dark sorcerer who was captured.
It made sense for the sorcerer we caught today to hide a letter like this in a secret room. It contained plans to assassinate the Emperor.
But there was another part that bothered me.
"The country’s situation is unusual. That’s why they need us?"
Something about that wording unsettled me.
I showed the letter to Winter and Aquila, but Winter seemed focused on a different part.
"If you’re caught using the children, you’ll be sent straight to prison."
His gaze sharpened as he muttered, “That implies they weren’t imprisoned for it before.”
I blinked.
It had only been a few years since the empire had actively begun hunting dark sorcerers, but the prohibition of dark magic itself had happened much earlier.
Yet even after banning dark magic, the empire hadn’t arrested its practitioners?
“So the empire turned a blind eye to dark sorcerers using Arkons...”
“...Yeah, looks like the Adolph Imperial family was behind it.”
I had always known that the empire had used dark sorcerers and discarded them afterward. But I hadn’t realized they had protected them to this extent.
My thoughts were getting increasingly tangled, but before I could unravel them further, we emerged from the basement. The moment we reached the open air, I tore the bloodstained contract paper in half.
“The spell is broken!”
A few moments later, we saw the contract markings disappear from the children’s skin. They were free.
Those with families would return home. Those without would be sent to orphanages. From what I remembered of my own orphanage days, it wasn’t exactly a happy place—but at least it was safe. Maybe that was the better option.
At that moment, Winter, who had been deep in thought ever since we read the letter, approached me.
“Salvia, I need to check something about the country’s current situation. Do you want to come with me?”
“Oh, I was curious about that too! Where are we going?”
“...Since we’re in the army, we don’t have access to much outside news. If we want to understand the national situation, we need to talk to someone from society.”
“You mean you’re going to ask the locals?”
I perked up at the thought of getting new intel, but Winter gave me a completely unexpected answer.
“My parents.”
“...Huh?”
Right, his parents did live in this town, so they were accessible sources of information...
“Yes. I’m going to visit my home.”
“Wait, is it even allowed for us to leave like that?”
“There’s still time before the officers arrive to take the sorcerer into custody. If we’re quick, it should be fine.”
If that was the case, then there was no reason not to go!
“Alright, let’s head o—oh.”
Just as I was about to start moving, I caught sight of Karon, sitting a little apart from the bound dark sorcerer.
“...Aquila!”
“Yeah.”
The moment I called his name, he immediately stepped over.
“I’m going to go with Winter for a bit.”
Aquila glanced at Winter, then turned his gaze back to me.
“Where?”
“There’s something I want to confirm regarding that letter... I’m going to Winter’s house.”
Aquila was silent for a long moment.
“...Alright. So, what do you want me to do?”
He’s reading me like an open book again...
“Mm, keep an eye on Karon for me.”
“Got it.”
Aquila nodded, understanding immediately.
“Be careful, Salvia.”
“Yeah, see you when I get back!”
With a final exchange, I turned to Winter and nodded, signaling that I was ready.
Outside, the rain was still falling. Without hesitation, we stepped into the downpour.
Meanwhile...
Sitting next to Karon, Aquila exhaled softly, his eyes fixed on the door.
He needed to be the first one to meet Salvia’s gaze when she returned.
But the constant fidgeting sounds next to him made it impossible to ignore Karon any longer.
“...What.”
“Uh, it’s nothing.”
Karon’s voice was casual, but his eyes betrayed him.
It was obvious—he was uncomfortable with the dark sorcerer.
Even though he was glaring at the sorcerer, his body kept shifting, unable to stay still. He clearly wanted revenge but was too afraid to act on it.
Aquila was fully prepared to ignore him and continue waiting for Salvia.
But then, Salvia’s words from earlier echoed in his mind.
"Look after Karon."
With a sigh, Aquila got up.
He glanced around. Most of the higher-ranking soldiers were gathered near the fireplace, leaving only the younger recruits in this area.
“Hey, Karon.”
“Yes?”
“Watch.”
Without further explanation, Aquila walked over to the dark sorcerer and pressed his hand against the man’s throat.
With a sharp push, he applied pressure. The sorcerer choked, writhing slightly in pain, but Aquila paid no attention to his reaction. Instead, he turned back to Karon.
“This is how weak he is.”
“...Huh.”
Watching the dark sorcerer squirm helplessly, Karon murmured absentmindedly.