My Desertion Would Be Faster Than Heros’ Obsession

They even had the audacity to whisper to each other in voices loud enough for me to hear.
“Dalin. We have to find it, no matter what.”

“You know Salvia’s been even more reckless ever since Blair and Topio disappeared, right?”
“Of course. I’ll risk my life to find it….”
‘These gutsy bastards… I’ll deal with them later.’

For now, I took a deep breath and raised my voice again.
“In my opinion, there’s a black magician down in that basement. Or at the very least, it’s their lair.”
“Oh! In that case—”

“We should head down immediately!”
“Stop splitting up your damn lines like you’re acting in a play! And more importantly—DON’T MOVE!”
After scolding them again, I forced myself to take another deep breath to calm down.

“Alright. If you find a suspicious and clearly dangerous place like this, what’s the smart thing to do?”
“That’s obvious!”
“Scream and run down the stairs!”

“Uh… Go down together with Salvia?”
Their ridiculous responses made me want to cry. If I weren’t here, these idiots would follow every single horror movie cliché and die in sequence.
“…Do you guys have a death wish or something?”

I let out a long, exhausted sigh, then finally gave my command.
“Get outside right now and bring more people.”
“…Huh?”

“Bring at least six more people with you!”
We were not going down that basement in small numbers.
There was no way in hell I was going to fall for a horror movie cliché.
***

A short while later, we had assembled a ten-person team to descend into the basement.
Since we didn’t have concrete evidence of black magic activity, I couldn’t call in every soldier. Instead, I grabbed Aquila, two of Dalin’s senior soldiers, Karon, and some of the newest recruits who were nearby. Both Aquila and Karon agreed that the basement seemed highly suspicious.
‘With ten people, we should be able to avoid any horror clichés…’

In every horror movie, people always split up before going into a creepy basement. But in none of them did they charge in as a group of ten.
As I stared down at the ominous stairs leading into the darkness, I nudged Aquila’s arm.
“I’m scared, so you go first.”

“Alright.”
I immediately glued myself to his back while pushing Dalin to stand directly behind me. At least Patty and Matty functioned as a unit, but Dalin… she needed constant supervision.
Creak… creak…

The wooden stairs groaned ominously as we stepped onto them.
“Eek! Eeeek—!”
“Dalin. If you want, I can make that sound come out of your mouth.”

“…I’ll be quiet. Suddenly, the sound isn’t scary anymore.”
Dragging a miraculously silent Dalin along, I followed Aquila into the dark basement.
Fwoosh—!

Aquila enveloped his sword in aura, illuminating our surroundings.
And as soon as we reached the bottom, the scene before us was…
“…This is clearly a black magician’s lair.”

Suspiciously glowing crystal balls. Strange black magic artifacts. Bottles filled with unidentifiable blood.
No matter how you looked at it, this was definitely the hideout of the black magician we were after.
“…Why is there so much stuff?”

My face twisted as I muttered to myself, staring at the sheer number of magical items crammed onto the shelves.
It was an entire collection of enchanted objects, but instead of making me excited, my heart was racing in fear.
“This has to be the place, right?”

“Yeah. We need to report this.”
Aquila turned to Karon.
“Karon, take the recruits, report this immediately, and bring reinforcements.”

“Yes, sir.”
Karon left with the recruits, leaving only seven of us behind in the basement.
“In the meantime, let’s check out the place.”

“Alright.”
Normally, I wouldn’t have wanted to make any moves until the reinforcements arrived.
But this was Aquila. He was the main male lead of the original novel.

Even if I died, there was no way he was going to.
“…I’m still scared, so hold my hand.”
“Okay.”

Hand in hand, we approached one of the artifact-filled shelves.
The black magician had been kind enough to place small handwritten notes in front of each item, explaining their effects, usage, and special conditions.
Was this guy just forgetful?

Either way, it was helpful.
The first thing that caught my eye was a cracked mirror. The note in front of it read:
"Allows communication with whoever holds the matching mirror."

‘Oh wow, this is straight out of a fantasy novel.’
I’d seen mirrors like this in other stories. If it worked the same way, then…
“…Oh.”

The cost of using it was so grotesque that I wasn’t even going to describe it.
Silently, I put the mirror back on the shelf.
‘If the cost was just sacrificing a small part of your memory, that would have been tame in comparison…’

The same went for most of the artifacts here. Their side effects or price of use were far too gruesome.
I had briefly entertained the idea of pocketing something useful, but after seeing these? No way.
Just as I was about to move on, my eyes landed on one particular item.

Unlike the others, this one had an acceptable trade-off.
“This is…”
A small golden wristwatch.

**"Displays the number of nearby monsters from 1 to 12.
If the hands don’t move and rotate slowly, there are no monsters nearby. If they spin rapidly, there are 12 or more.
Cost: Automatically activates when fear is present nearby."**
“This is perfect for us.”

This thing was practically made for the Border Defense Army. Seriously, why the hell wasn’t something this useful standard-issue? Just because it was made with black magic?
It seemed like a huge waste not to use such a valuable tool.
‘Maybe it’s because of the cost?’

I wasn’t entirely sure what it meant by "activates when fear is present," but keeping fear consistently around wasn’t exactly an easy task.
Crash—!
“S-Sorry!”

At that moment, Dalin tripped over her own feet, making a loud commotion. I scrunched my face in irritation.
“…Seriously? You can’t even stand still?”
“I-I’m sorry…”

The moment she stammered out her apology, the watch’s hands began to rotate slowly.
“…Huh?”
According to the description, the hands only moved under two conditions. Either:

No monsters were present.
The artifact was activating.
But why was it activating? No one had paid the cost yet.
“…Wait a second.”
I suddenly realized what "fear is present nearby" actually meant.

“Dalin, are you scared?”
“N-No! Absolutely not!”
‘…This thing is going to be ridiculously easy to use.’

The Border Defense Army was constantly filled with fear. There was a good chance this watch would be running 24/7.
I decided on the spot—this thing was too good not to take. It would definitely increase our survival chances during patrol duty.
Of course, if I got caught stealing it, I’d be screwed.

“…Hey, Dalin.”
“Yes?”
“Go… distract them.”

“…Huh? Oh! Got it!”
Dalin blinked in confusion before realizing what I meant. Then, grinning, she ran off to the other recruits. Sure, she’d know I was taking this thing, but since we lived in the same barracks, I could monitor her all the time.
“Neuro! Today, I’m going to teach you how to survive in the army!”

“…Huh?”
“As you know, military life is tough! Don’t you wish you had some tips to make it easier?”
“…Yeah?”

“The hardest parts of army life are training and dealing with seniors! Overcoming those obstacles is absolutely crucial!”
“…And?”
“That concludes my lesson on how to survive in the military!”

“…Wait, what? That’s it?! You little shit, you’re messing with me, aren’t you?!”
‘Wow. Dalin is a master at drawing aggro.’
The entire time she was talking, she kept grinning widely and throwing thumbs-ups.

While she single-handedly held everyone's attention, I quickly slipped the watch into my pocket. I even took the note, erased any evidence, and subtly rearranged the other artifacts so the missing space wouldn’t be obvious.
"Perfect."
"You really wanted that?" Aquila asked.

"Yeah."
Of course, in horror movies, stealing random objects from creepy places always led to cursed doll situations. But I knew what this was—a simple black magic artifact.
I should be fine… right?

“For now, let’s wait for the others.”
“…By the way, Salvia.”
“Yeah?”

Aquila squeezed my hand slightly, his expression suddenly turning serious.
"How did you guys find this basement again?"
"Huh? Oh, we heard some weird noise coming from somewhere in the house and—"

I froze.
“…Oh.”
“Yeah. What do you think that noise was?”

Now that I thought about it, nothing in this basement should have been making any strange sounds.
A sense of unease washed over me.
I reached out and pressed my hand against the wall, slowly feeling around for anything unusual.

"Salvia."
"Hm?"
“The space beyond this wall is hollow.”

“…What?!”
Aquila had moved to one side of the basement, placing his ear against the wall. His sharp hearing had picked up something.
“I can hear faint noises from inside. And it’s definitely an empty space.”

I clenched my fist and knocked against the surface. Just as he said—the air behind it echoed.
“There’s a hidden room back there.”
We searched the basement, looking for a door or a switch to access the hidden space, but found nothing.

Maybe only the black magician himself could enter, using a special spell.
Honestly, the smartest thing to do here would be to wait for reinforcements.
But then again…

‘One week of skipping border patrol duty…’
That reward was too good to ignore.
Besides, I wasn’t alone.

Aquila was here.
With him, I didn’t have to be afraid.
As I stared at the wall, deep in thought, Aquila suddenly gestured for me to step back.

“…Why? You got a plan?”
“I’m going to break it.”
“…Ah.”

Of course. Violence and fear will save us all.
Aquila tensed his muscles and slashed at the wall with his sword.
BOOM—!

The wall collapsed with a deafening crash. Dust filled the air, forcing me to shut my eyes.
As the dust settled, I finally saw what was on the other side.
“…What the hell…”

Sitting quietly in the dimly lit space—
Children.
Small, frightened children.

And I instantly understood who they were.
They were Arkon children.