After descending from the mountains, we passed through one village and continued walking.
The village we were currently passing through was nothing more than an ordinary rural farming town—not the picturesque fantasy setting I had been hoping for. But still—
"You look happy."
At the very least, they seemed better off than us.
I watched as the villagers worked to repair the flood damage.
They were drenched in sweat, laboring hard, but what caught my eye the most were the families around them.
Unlike my apocalyptic world, where you never knew when the person next to you might die, these people had stable homes and families they could trust. Their simple, mundane lives seemed like an impossible luxury.
I kept glancing at them as we walked forward. Then, from behind, Winter—who had been checking on our unit—called my name.
"Salvia, eyes forward."
"Ah, sorry...."
"...That’s not what I meant."
He gave me an unreadable look before adding in a quiet voice:
"Don’t worry. You’ll be happy, too, in the end."
Oh, he’s trying to comfort me by reminding me I’ll get discharged eventually.
But hearing that from Winter, who had only a year and a half left, while I still had four and a half years to go...
This bastard. Is he mocking me?
Winter, Male Lead Power -25.
That was when I heard murmuring voices from the villagers.
"What the hell? Is that a hetero sapien?"
"Aren’t they from the Border Defense Army?"
"Hey, don’t make eye contact."
"Shh, keep your voice down. They’re freakishly strong. They might hear you."
...What the hell?
I blinked slowly.
The seniors around me didn’t react at all, as if they were used to this.
"...Are they always like this?" I muttered under my breath to Aquila.
He tilted his head toward me and answered briefly.
"Yeah. Always."
"Ah."
It had been a long time since I last heard the term hetero sapien.
Among ourselves, we always used the term Arkon, so I had nearly forgotten.
But right. This was how we were treated outside.
The Adolph Empire had always regarded young hetero sapiens as outsiders, as beings different from them—something they found unsettling.
And those who had served in the Border Defense Army were feared, regarded as monstrous warriors who had survived a hellish battlefield.
I supposed fear was better than mockery or contempt. But still—
"This feels awful."
It wasn’t just fear of our overwhelming combat abilities.
It was fear of something alien. Fear of the unknown.
And experiencing it firsthand made me uneasy.
For the first time, I wondered—would anything really change after I was discharged?
All the conversations I had with my squadmates about post-discharge plans suddenly felt meaningless.
What if, even after leaving this place, I still wouldn’t be able to have the life I wanted?
"Aquila."
"Yeah?"
"Do you think people out there will hate me?"
Aquila stayed silent, but I kept talking anyway.
"I just want to live a normal life. I want a normal family, in a normal town, living normally. But... will people be afraid of me?"
After throwing away the only memory I had of my past life, I had already become part of this world.
And yet... even in this world, would I still be rejected?
Surprisingly, the first person to respond wasn’t Aquila—it was Ishina, walking just behind us.
"Don’t think like that."
He placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a light pat.
"Why would you assume that, Salvia? Who told you people would hate you?"
"But the people here—"
"It’s fine. Most people aren’t like that. The capital, for example, is much more accepting. No one will hate you."
I pouted slightly, but strangely enough, I did feel a little better.
And then, Aquila spoke.
"Yeah. It’ll be fine. You’ll have everything."
"...Huh?"
"Family, a home, a life—I’ll make sure you have it all."
...For some reason, I always believed Aquila’s words.
Is it because he’s Male Lead #1? The embodiment of reliability?
Listening to him, I felt as if all the things I wished for really would come true.
I found myself nodding absently, lost in thought.
***
"Fuck..."
We had finally arrived at the neighboring village.
I muttered curses under my breath as I shoveled out muddy water.
"Goddamn it... I think I’ve spent more time holding a shovel than a sword."
"That’s actually true."
Karon, shoveling beside me, nodded seriously.
"I feel like I’d be better at fighting with a shovel than with a sword."
"That’s because we’ve spent twice as long holding these things."
We were clearing out the mud that had flooded into the houses and then using water from the nearby river to wash everything down.
Honestly, I was shocked that the Adolph Empire provided such thorough disaster relief. What a nice, citizen-friendly nation.
The only problem was that we were the ones providing the relief. Goddamn it.
"H-Hah... brought more water...!"
"Okay, Jason, just go get another bucket now."
"Y-Yes, ma’am...!"
Still, compared to Jason’s group, Karon and I had it better.
Because they were stuck hauling those heavy buckets of water back and forth from the river.
We had divided up into different teams, and for this house, it was Karon, Jason, Patty, Matty, and me.
"I wanna desert..."
"That is a very reasonable statement..."
Karon dumped the last of the mud and wiped the sweat off his forehead.
Unfortunately, since our hands were already covered in dirt, he only succeeded in smearing more mud on his face.
"You got dirt on your face. Go clean up."
"Is there a mirror?"
"...You think we’d have a fucking mirror here?"
Karon looked so dejected that I sighed and pointed outside.
"There’s a puddle by the door. Just use that to check your face."
"Aha! Brilliant idea!"
Without hesitation, Karon trotted outside toward the puddle—only to stop dead in his tracks.
"Karon, what is it?"
"Ah... it’s nothing...."
But Karon remained standing there, staring past the stone wall as if he had seen something.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freewebnσvel.cøm.
"Oi, what’s wrong?"
"...It’s not a big deal, but..."
His voice was slower than usual, as if he were lost in thought.
"For some reason... this village feels strangely familiar to me...."
"Oh."
...Wait.
Wait a minute.
Is this... a setup?
"Could it be that your lost memories are connected to this village?" I asked. "Like, maybe this place was in your past?"
"But this is a pretty common rural village. I can’t be sure...."
"Hmm."
Honestly, when Karon first enlisted, we had all been worried about his missing memories. But he had adapted to the military so well that it had stopped being a concern.
If anything, being a blank slate had made it easier for him. He never complained about the absurdity of the Border Defense Army, and he learned everything quickly.
So I hadn’t thought much about his backstory until now.
But this... this is a proper plot hook.
I had never forgotten that this world was a novel.
And in any typical novel setup, this village had to be related to Karon’s past.
"Then maybe we should check out what’s special about this village," I suggested. "See if anything jogs your memory. Like, what’s the local specialty here?"
BANG!
"WE HAVE A PROBLEM!"
Jason slammed the gate open and interrupted our conversation.
"Goddamn it, now what?"
"Patty and Matty fell into the river while trying to fetch water!"
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! THEY LEARNED HOW TO SWIM!"
"But they’re just floating there! They can’t get out!"
"Fucking idiots! Do I have to drag their asses out myself?! You go get them!"
"Y-yes, ma’am!"
Jason ran off in a panic while I let out a long, tired sigh.
I swear to god, I was trying to be serious for once, and these dumbasses won’t let me.
***
"Ishina, I don’t understand why we’re doing this bullshit work when it has nothing to do with monsters...."
I said as we walked to the next house.
Ishina, serenely smiling, responded like some enlightened monk.
"Salvia, just let go of logic."
"...Huh?"
"The Border Defense Army doesn’t operate on logic. Don’t think about why you have to do this. Just look at the exemplary senior soldiers."
Ishina gestured toward Blair and Topio, who were furiously scrubbing the road.
"FUCK THIS SHIT!"
"DIE, YOU FUCKING BASTARD MUD!"
They were screaming curses at the top of their lungs, but at the same time, they looked mentally refreshed.
...Right.
This was the ideal soldier mentality—don’t ask why, just follow orders.
"Alright, we’ll meet up later after we finish here."
"Yes, sir... oh!"
I suddenly remembered my conversation with Karon and perked up.
"Ishina, do you know what this village’s specialty is? Or anything unique about it?"
"Something unique? Why?"
"Oh, just curious. It’s been a while since we’ve gone outside, after all...."
Ishina looked at me with an expression that said he saw right through me.
It was that look.
The scheming, villainous mastermind look.
...But it’s fine. Ishina’s on my side now, anyway.
Even under his eerily soft but unsettling gaze, I felt no tension.
After a brief pause, Ishina slowly answered.
"If we’re talking about what this village is known for..."
"Yes! What’s the local specialty?"
"Necromancers, probably."
"...Excuse me?"
What the actual fuck did he just say?