"Training, begin!"
At last, the training had begun. Both our battalion and the opposing side couldn't hide their dumbfounded expressions, but despite that, we had no choice but to halfheartedly pretend to fight.
"Drop your sword!"
In this exercise, the team that disarmed all of their opponents' swords first would be declared the winner.
Of course, since the "Border Defense Army team" was allowed to use aura, there was no way they wouldn't overpower us. In reality, this was just a test to see how long it would take them to do so.
"Urgh!"
However, the opposing team was struggling. Every soldier in our Snowy Mountain Battalion possessed formidable combat skills, so even without using aura, we weren’t easy opponents.
"Tch! The Second Battalion is a complete letdown!"
One of the officers shouted, and the opposing team seemed to grow even more anxious.
The senior soldier who appeared to be their strongest furrowed his brows, then intensified his attacks.
Ching!
A sword flew toward one of my fellow recruits beside me, clashing against his weapon with a sharp metallic screech.
"Argh!"
Since the opponent’s sword was imbued with aura, my fellow recruit couldn't hold on and ended up dropping his weapon. Still, I didn’t scold him. In this situation, it was best for us to cooperate and cut each other some slack.
However...
"They're going too hard on us."
The recruit next to me had almost gotten his hand slashed by an aura blade. He looked down at his trembling fingers with wide, shocked eyes.
"Hey, you okay?"
"Uh? Y-yeah..."
His voice sounded anything but okay.
I scowled, irritated, and halfheartedly swung my sword while shouting at the opponent in protest.
"Look, we’re going easy on you, so maybe tone it down a bit? You’re gonna get someone seriously hurt."
The opponent was a senior soldier, but since he was from a different unit, I made sure to use appropriately respectful language.
"You think you know what our battalion leader is like? If we go back like this, we’re gonna get chewed out!"
However, he didn’t back down, and soon enough, our argument escalated.
"What do you expect us to do about your weakness?"
"Oh, come on! You guys from Snowy Mountain Battalion know exactly how strong you are! Could you at least show some mercy? Otherwise, we’re the only ones getting wrecked here!"
"Yeah, well, we get wrecked by monsters every day. Getting chewed out by our officers is nothing new."
Tension crackled between us.
Sensing the atmosphere, Luna whispered from behind me.
"Lady Salvia, it's still another unit...."
"Yeah, yeah. Fine, whatever."
Luna had a point—it wasn't wise to start a real fight with another battalion.
In the end, we humored them by loosening our grips and letting our swords be knocked away. The other side stopped attacking as aggressively, but they still looked visibly frustrated with us.
Beeeep!
When the whistle blew, signaling the role swap, the air between the two battalions was even heavier than before.
"Hey."
Before the next round, I turned to my fellow recruits.
"If we take even a little longer than them to finish this, we’re training even harder after we get back."
"You heard that? He said he's gonna kill you guys," Ash said with a grin.
"Yes, sir!" the recruits barked in response, their spines snapping straight.
Their eyes were now filled with the burning determination to win—no matter what.
And when the fight began...
"Guh!"
"What the—?!"
"They’re way too strong!"
The Second Battalion fell apart instantly.
We could disarm them in a single strike. That was simply a basic survival skill in Snowy Mountain Battalion.
"As expected, every soldier here is exceptional."
"The other battalions need to step up their game, tch."
Even the officers watching commented on our performance.
And so, even in this utterly ridiculous training session, we achieved excellent results. ...Not that I knew whether I should be happy about it.
"Everyone did great."
I smiled slightly, offering a rare word of praise. Luna's face instantly brightened.
"Lady Salvia! Does that mean you’re in a good mood today?"
"Huh? Yeah, I guess so. Why?"
"Wow! That means you won’t yell at me for being blonde today, hehe!"
...This little shit.
While everyone was resting and basking in the cheerful mood, one of the soldiers from the Second Battalion walked over.
"Hm?"
I looked him up and down. Blond hair, blue eyes—it was the very same senior soldier I’d argued with earlier.
"Hey, don’t you think you guys went too far?"
He looked like he had just come from getting chewed out by his commander. Normally, I might have let it slide—officers were the real enemy, after all.
But this guy was...
Blond!
I hated blond hair! Because that woman was blonde!
And blue eyes!
Even worse, his eye color was the same as the Crown Prince—no, the Emperor now! He embodied everything I despised!
"I dislike people with blond hair and blue eyes. Please step away."
I mean, what could I do? We won because we were strong. I couldn’t exactly mock him for being scared, so I used a different excuse to get him to back off.
But instead, he just got even more pissed. Maybe he thought I was insulting his appearance because his face turned red with fury.
"What the hell did you just—"
"Lady Salvia!"
At that moment, someone grabbed the man's arm.
"Agh!"
His arm was twisted in an instant, and he let out a pained groan. But Karon didn't let go.
Still, he didn't do anything more. He just stood there, holding the guy in place, staring at me with unblinking eyes.
"Lady Salvia, are you just going to let this guy disrespect you?"
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"Hey, hey!"
I flailed my hands at Karon in alarm.
The officers weren’t paying attention right now, but if word got out that we were starting fights with other battalions, we’d all be thrown in the brig! And I had worked way too hard to avoid getting locked up so far! If I was gonna get jailed, I might as well have started dating someone and gotten caught for that instead!
"Let him go!"
"Understood."
At my urgent command, Karon obediently released the man. He rubbed his sore arm, glaring at Karon, but Karon only looked at me.
"Hey, we can’t be doing this with other battalions."
"I just thought he was being rude to you...."
"That’s not how you handle things!"
"...Understood...."
Karon looked utterly dejected. The contrast between his current sulking and his earlier aggression was almost comical.
"You’ve gotta be kidding me!" the blond soldier sputtered.
But at this point, I was too focused on Karon.
"Karon, you didn’t need to do that."
"Yes, ma’am...."
"Because if that idiot annoyed me too much, I was just going to forge an absurdly humiliating love letter in his name, leak it, and let his own people deal with him."
"Hiiiik!"
The blond soldier turned pale and bolted.
With that, I dropped my lecture for Karon.
But then, for the first time ever, I caught an unfamiliar emotion flickering in his brown eyes.
...Something’s off.
The Karon I knew was always bright and innocent. He always smiled and wore his heart on his sleeve.
But just now, I was sure of it—he had been suppressing his bloodlust.
And there was no way I had imagined it. This was the Border Defense Army. If there was one thing we all learned to recognize, it was killing intent.
So I didn’t know if Karon’s feelings for me were love, but one thing was certain.
That was obsession.
Aquila. Winter. ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) Isina. Karon.
All four of the original male leads were obsessed with me.
What the hell...?
I had already said this before, but I wasn’t exactly shocked like, Huh? Why are they obsessed with me? Given our relationships, it would’ve been weirder if they weren’t.
I had fought through hell and back with Aquila as his only peer.
I was the only recruit Winter ever showed any warmth toward.
I had been constantly looked after by Isina.
And Karon? I had doted on him like a younger brother!
We’d saved each other’s lives multiple times. I’d thrown out so many dramatic lines that were practically begging to leave an impression.
So, really, the real issue here was...
Why the hell are you guys getting obsessed NOW?!
There was barely anything left in this army that could bother me anymore! I was a veteran counting down to discharge—a chief officer, for crying out loud!
In the end, I couldn’t hold it in. I threw my head back and shouted into the sky:
"You idiots should’ve been obsessed years ago!"
Seriously, what the hell was I suffering for all these years?! I didn’t even need romance anymore!
When I was actually desperate for some validation, they had all left me alone. But now, all of a sudden, everyone was obsessed with me?
I could understand Aquila and Winter, fine. But Isina and Karon, too?! Wasn’t that breaking character at this point?!
...Actually, no. Obsession was practically a passive trait for male leads in romance fantasy novels. It made sense.
But still...
Since when was my life a reverse harem?!
Faced with an overwhelming flood of choices, I felt a little dazed.
It had taken me so much effort to even admit my feelings for Aquila. At this point, I was practically a heartless tin can incapable of understanding love.
And yet, now, all these men were openly, blatantly throwing their affection at me.
What even is love...?
How powerful could it be that it made all of them act so intensely?
It was such a difficult emotion to understand...