“...Sigh.”
As she let out a long sigh, both Aquila and Winter stopped their staring contest and looked awkward. Well, they probably realized how ridiculous it was to keep butting heads over their innate attributes like some sworn enemies.
“Just stop it already.”
Yuri waved her hand coolly, signaling them to leave. True to form, they really disappeared from the hallway in an instant. Huh, could it be that Yuri is actually the one pulling the strings in this squad?
“Yuri, I’ve been wanting to meet you!”
“You... sigh...”
Yuri stared straight at me, then let out another long sigh.
“Salvia, let me give you some advice.”
“Yes?”
“What do you think is the most important thing in a man?”
“Pardon?”
It was an utterly random question, entirely out of place for the situation, but Yuri seemed serious.
“Um... the most important quality in a human being would be violence and fear, wouldn’t it?”
“No, I mean the most important quality to look for when choosing a man.”
“Oh.”
Goodness, a conversation like this? Suddenly, I felt like I’d turned into the heroine of a romance novel, engaging in trivial small talk with another lady.
“Swagger... wouldn’t it be swagger?”
Yuri gave me a look like she’d lost her country.
“No, Salvia...”
“Then it’s the face, isn’t it?”
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“No.”
“Money?”
“Wrong again.”
“Oh, are you talking about personality?”
“Salvia, you’re completely off.”
Yuri’s face suddenly turned extremely serious.
“The most important thing when choosing a man is social skills.”
“What?”
“Remember this. Social skills are the most important.”
...What an odd thing to say. And yet...
“Well, to be honest, Yuri... you...”
“I know I lack social skills. But that doesn’t mean I can accept someone worse than me.”
Yuri began to deliver her statement with deliberate emphasis, word by word.
“You cannot date someone who has no social skills. Think about it, Salvia.”
But most male leads in romance novels don’t have social skills. Of course, Yuri wouldn’t know that, being a native of this world.
Ah, she must be saying this because of what she just witnessed—Aquila and Winter squaring off.
“By any chance, are you saying this because of Winter and Aquila?”
“...Those two? No way! Definitely not!”
Yuri suddenly rejected the idea vehemently, then pointed down the hallway.
“See, even there, we have someone with perfectly fine social skills. Better them than those socially inept guys.”
The person Yuri pointed to was Altair, who was walking toward us alongside Isina. Judging by the blanket in Isina’s hands, he must’ve been sent on an errand.
“Oh, are you talking about Altair?”
“Are you insane? I’m talking about Isina!”
“Ah.”
As I squinted, trying to decipher Yuri’s motives, Altair and Isina finally reached us. Altair greeted us casually.
“Yo, Yuri, Salvia. What’re you two up to?”
Altair, as usual, draped an arm around Yuri’s shoulder in his cheerful way. And, as usual, Yuri rolled her eyes and shoved his arm off.
“We’re having an important conversation. Stop bothering us.”
“Oh, come on, what’s so important?”
Not missing a beat, I tattled.
“Yuri said she likes men with good social skills.”
“Have you lost your mind? You’ve been getting a little too bold lately, haven’t you?”
Yuri glared at me, but she didn’t seem like she was truly angry.
Altair, laughing in disbelief, asked, “What, social skills? Ha! You mean the thing Winter doesn’t have?”
As expected of Altair, the 78th squad’s sole provider of social interaction. He knows full well that Winter lacks that quality.
‘...Wait, is this talk about social skills one of those romance clichés? Could this be foreshadowing Yuri and Altair ending up together?’
Honestly, it seemed a little suspicious.
Then I made eye contact with Isina, who was standing behind Altair with the blanket still in hand.
‘He’s been waiting this whole time, hasn’t he...’
It seemed best to leave the two of them to their conversation. Time to retreat.
So I decided to drop a little bait for Yuri and Altair to chew on.
“What are you two planning to do after discharge?”
“What do you mean, discharge? We’ve still got two years left.”
“Still, isn’t it about time to start thinking about it?”
For me, discharge was so far away that any thoughts I had were purely jokes—what I’d do or where I’d go. But Yuri and Altair? It was high time for them to think seriously about their future.
“I don’t know...”
Yuri fell silent, lost in thought.
“What, what’ll I do? Uh, that’s such a hard question...”
Altair stammered like a high school senior being asked about his career plans.
Oh, what a perfect question to fluster someone nearing the end of their term.
“Did you hear? April said she’s planning to join the Black Magic Special Forces.”
“What? Seriously?”
Both Altair and Yuri’s eyes widened in unison.
“Jeez, Yuri... Let’s make sure we never go anywhere near that.”
“Yeah, we’re absolutely not going there.”
“Wise choice.”
Altair gave an incredulous look and asked, “Wait, who in their right mind would finish their service and then enlist again? Why on earth would she go there?”
“I don’t know all the details, but she said she wanted to uncover the secrets of this world...”
“She’s consistently insane. I can’t make sense of it,” Yuri replied with a cynical tone. Understandable, considering she’d spent far more time with April than I had.
“In any case, are either of you considering staying permanently with the Border Defense Army...?”
“Do you want me to smack your head into the ground?”
“Point taken,” I replied with a sly grin, which earned me a sharp glare from Yuri before she sank into serious thought again.
‘Good, maybe I can take this opportunity to leave with Isina.’
However, Altair had no intention of letting me go.
“Hey, Salvia. So, what exactly does April plan to uncover?”
“She mentioned looking into why this system continues to exist.”
“...What system?”
“She talked about how unfair it is that Arkons are continuously forced into service with the Border Defense Army and wanted to find out how it’s still being upheld.”
“Hold on a second.”
Altair’s expression turned serious.
“Well, that’s obviously because we entered into a magical contract. We follow the magic, and we follow the law, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Of course, no one likes this situation, but... what she’s suggesting sounds an awful lot like...”
He hesitated, his words catching in his throat, before finally spitting it out.
“Treason.”
“Hey, hey!” Yuri slapped her hand over Altair’s mouth, her eyes darting between me and Isina with a panicked look.
“You two didn’t hear anything, did you?”
“We heard nothing.”
We immediately gave Yuri the answer she wanted, plastering innocent faces.
Satisfied for the moment, Yuri glared at Altair before finally letting go of his mouth. “You need to watch what you say.”
“But think about it. This is April we’re talking about.”
“She might be capable of... no, stop. Stop talking.”
The mood grew heavier. I glanced around, trying to gauge if this might finally be my chance to slip away.
Altair wasn’t letting me off the hook.
“Salvia. I’ve been thinking. What if April really is planning to—”
“Don’t you dare finish that word! Don’t even say the first syllable!” Yuri practically shrieked.
It might’ve seemed like Yuri was overreacting, but the word “treason” was absolutely forbidden in the military. And we weren’t just in any military—we were in the empire’s army, under the command of the emperor.
Even being remotely associated with treason could result in more than just losing your head; you could lose every last limb as well.
“Fine, fine. From now on, I’ll call it ‘the thing that must not be named.’”
...Odd. That phrase stirred a weird sense of déjà vu. Well, these people probably didn’t realize the implications of what they were saying anyway.
“Regardless, if April isn’t planning to commit ‘the thing that must not be named,’ I’ve been thinking about what she might be talking about when she says ‘system.’”
Altair tapped his wrist lightly, near where the magical contract mark would appear.
“It’s probably this magical contract. It’s the foundation of the system that keeps us tied to the Border Defense Army.”
“I see... that makes sense.”
So, April might be trying to figure out how to break the magical contract?
The contract was an ancient agreement between the Arkons and the emperor of the Adolph Empire. It passed down through bloodlines, binding those with Arkon blood to mandatory military service. That was the extent of what I knew about it.
“Altair, do you know anything more about the magical contract?” I asked.
Altair smirked, clearly pleased by my question. “Ah, curiosity! I like it. Great question.”
Crap. I’d just triggered the inner “Teacher Altair.”
“The magical contract is... a pretty vague form of magic.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well, as time goes on, Arkon blood naturally mixes with the empire’s population, diluting the bloodline. So, what exactly determines its efficacy?”
“Now that you mention it, that does seem odd.”
“Exactly, Yuri! What defines someone as an Arkon? What sets the time frame for when the contract activates and how long they have to enlist? There’s no clear standard. The magical contract is full of uncertainties.”
I found myself drawn into Altair’s explanation.
As he said, the magical contract that bound us to the Border Defense Army really was strange.
“But there is one thing that’s absolutely certain.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, for starters, the magical contract is...”
Altair lowered his voice.
“...black magic.”
“What?”
“What kind of obvious nonsense is that?” I shot back, but Yuri gave him a look of disbelief, and even Isina couldn’t hide her shock.
Still, I couldn’t wrap my head around their reaction.
‘Black magic is illegal.’
It was outlawed by the empire, and they’d even established the Black Magic Special Forces to root it out. But now Altair was saying the magical contract, sanctioned by the empire itself, was black magic?