My Desertion Would Be Faster Than Heros’ Obsession

After Benny stormed out of the dormitory, a few minutes passed before she returned with a refreshed look on her face. The moment she made eye contact with me, still lying on the bed, she cheerfully called out.
"Salvia! Don’t worry! It’ll be resolved soon!"
"Is that so? I don’t know what’s going on, but that’s good. Thanks."

When I thanked her in a gentle voice, Benny’s expression suddenly became strange as she looked at me.
“…I was wondering, did you, by any chance…”
Did I do a poor job acting? I suppose I did seem rather indifferent. I acted as though I were too relieved without even knowing what Benny's plan was. She probably thought that my attitude was off.

With suspicion in her eyes, Benny scrutinized me from head to toe.
"Did you know, Salvia?"
"Know what?"

"That my father is the division commander…?"
I tried to act like I didn’t know, but at this point, it was clear that I couldn’t keep pretending anymore.
"Yikes!"

"Ugh!"
The reaction came from Dalin and Jina, who had been startled and almost collapsed in shock.
Not reacting like they did was already proof that I had figured out Benny's true identity.

"Hmm… I didn’t know he was a two-star, but I had guessed he was high up in the ranks."
Since I couldn’t claim to have known this through the original novel, I had to lie.
"How did you know?!"

"Well, you sometimes talked about your father. And Benny, you look so refined. And honestly, I just had a feeling?"
"Y-yes…"
Benny sat down in shock, her face pale. She looked at me, startled, then moved away a step, scooting back on the bed.
"Benny, what’s wrong?"

"It’s nothing…"
Her behavior was strange. Could it be that she thought I had been nice to her all along because I already knew who she really was, and now she was going to start avoiding me?
***

Benny, who had been facing Salvia with a pretty smile, felt chills run down her spine. She couldn’t help but rub her arms.
‘You knew my father was the division commander?’
But honestly, that wasn’t the important part.

Looking back, Benny's acting had been far from perfect. She never asked about military terms, avoided talking about her family despite claiming to be close to them, and there were a few other slips.
If anyone had been observant, they might have guessed the truth about Benny’s family.
But Salvia…

‘You knew all along, and you still treated me like this?!’
Every time Dalin did something stupid, Salvia would punish her as a unit leader, scrutinize the dormitory cleanliness with burning eyes, and throw tantrums if anyone accidentally woke her up. Salvia’s treatment of Benny had been harsh.
If it had been any other senior, they might have tried to act nice once they knew Benny's true identity.

But Salvia treated Benny just like the other recruits, fairly harsh.
‘She really is sharp.’
Benny couldn't help but admire Salvia more today. Wow, she showed this crazy attitude to all the recruits, equally!

***
Benny’s shocking revelation completely shook the entire unit.
The fact that Benny, who had been living with them for six years, was the daughter of a two-star division commander had more impact than a drama-like family secret.

Apparently, Benny’s father was about to be promoted to a three-star general…
The senior officers started questioning whether they had made any mistakes with Benny and began approaching the platoon, asking if she needed anything.
Especially, everyone was curious about the letter Benny had sent to her father. But Benny admitted to me that it was just a simple greeting card.

‘I wish I had a family like that…’
In the past, I might have resented being in someone else’s body, but honestly, it’s been six years since I reincarnated, and now I feel a little indifferent to it.
Anyway, the result of Benny’s revelation was that the higher-ups completely forgot about the black magic artifact incident involving me.

"Captain, about what you mentioned last time…"
"Ah, that? Our Benny doesn’t seem too happy about it!"
Benny, in an instant, had become the top power within the unit. The officers' dreams of gaining favor with her were crushed, and my time in the brig was completely cancelled.

But I had no intention of letting Rosan go.
‘Rosan must have been afraid of April.’
Looking at how he acted around me, he probably couldn't even speak to April back when we were in the unit. Now, feeling frustrated and wronged, he probably took it out on me.

And just like Rosan, I knew a lot about April...
"Hey! Those who fell behind in training, go pick some wild berries from the mountain!"
"Haha, gather around, below and above."

"The ones who did such a poor job with the weeding, get those rocks to the top of the mountain!"
I changed the way I punished the recruits for their mistakes, mimicking exactly how April used to do it.
"Sa-Salvia?"

"Haha, Rosan! I’ve been making sure the recruits stay disciplined just like you wanted!"
I decided to speak in a tone similar to how April would have, especially when addressing Rosan.
"Haha, kids... oh my, Rosan?"

"Eh, eh..."
"Do you have something to say to me? Go ahead, try."
"AAAH!"

Now, whenever Rosan saw me, his face would turn pale. Hmm, it was useful to use the information Blue gave me.
But this wasn’t the end!
If I knew April, she would have acted exactly like this toward "disobedient recruits"!

"Kids! The cleaning is terrible, so go search for steel marbles in the gravel!"
"AAAH!"
The ones who screamed at my orders weren’t my recruits, but Rosan himself. He suddenly covered his head with both hands and started muttering to himself like a madman.

"Eh, April, I’m sorry... Please don’t make me roll the senior recruits in the gravel again! Please don’t make me roll the senior recruits in the gravel!"
‘…She really made them roll in gravel?’
It seems… April was still the same, even there.

Well, anyway, with this, I had achieved a complete victory!
‘You were done the moment I knew your weakness...’
And so, everything with Rosan was resolved perfectly, and I felt incredibly proud!

***
"See, I handled everything!"
"Yeah, Salvia."

"Wow! You really are amazing!"
As always, when I excitedly shared what happened, Aquila responded appropriately, and Karon looked at me with sparkling eyes. That made me feel even prouder.
‘Of course, Benny solved most of it…’

But still, I have to praise my foresight for building a relationship with Benny ahead of time for moments like this.
At that moment, I saw Isina approaching, so I stood up with a big smile.
"Isina!"

"Salvia?"
I bounced towards him, and he flinched a bit.
"Why are you so excited?"

"Well, I’ve just overcome the risk of going to the brig, so naturally, I’m excited!"
"You’re just happy you managed to bury Rosan’s reputation, aren’t you?"
After I had mentioned to Isina that I knew he was different from others, he occasionally showed his true nature in front of me. It was fun watching his dark side slowly reveal itself.

"Of course, I’m still not as good as you, Isina, but I tried my best!"
"What do you mean, not as good... I told you, it’s not about that."
Isina put his hands together with a wistful expression, sighing deeply.

"Yeah, as long as you’re not hurt, that’s enough."
In the end, it was surprising that my method of solving the issue was faster than Isina’s usual behind-the-scenes manipulation.
‘Isina definitely must have said something like "This is annoying." Why didn’t he do anything?’

As soon as I gave him a questioning look, Isina sighed again and pointed somewhere.
"Salvia, I think Jaiden is saying something to Benny over there."
"Oh, really? I’ll go check it out!"

But I didn’t need to worry about Jaiden and Benny’s relationship anymore. Everything had been resolved as soon as Benny revealed her identity.
"Benny, is your attitude towards me bad lately?"
"I don’t really understand what you mean."

"Kids keep making mistakes with respect in front of me, and you’re just letting it slide?"
"Ah, yes... Huh, now that you mention it, I suddenly miss my father… He used to teach me proper respect... It would be nice if he could visit our platoon…"
"Oh, no!"

"Hey, wait! Are you bothering our Benny?!"
Seeing the company commander rush over with wide eyes, I smiled faintly.
‘This is a really effective threat...’

I think the peace of the unit will be well maintained after Isina, Aquila, and I leave. The reason being that Benny will likely hold all the power among the current senior soldiers.
***
"I’m so glad everything’s worked out."

Isina looked at Aquila and Karon, who were sitting in front of him.
Seeing Salvia return to her bright self and walking around the unit, everything seemed to have returned to normal. He even felt like he could laugh off any accidents Patty and Matty caused.
"Yeah, I never expected Benny had such a secret!"

Karon said with genuine admiration. Then Aquila spoke to him in an indifferent tone.
"You did well too, picking the markerbelle flowers."
"It wasn’t a big deal!"

Karon waved his hand dismissively.
If Rosan had seen it, he would have been shocked to find that every time he opened his locker, it was filled with markerbelle powder used for drugs.
Rosan had once tried to suggest locker searches, but he had always failed to find any evidence, since someone had been putting the powder in his locker. Naturally, it was Karon, not Isina or Aquila.

"Aquila, you were great too, right?"
Isina said with a teasing smile.
"Thanks to you, Rosan couldn’t approach Salvia for a few days before she got anything started."

"Isn’t that natural? How could I let Rosan approach Salvia?"
The fact that Rosan couldn’t call Salvia when she was waiting for her disciplinary outcome was all thanks to Aquila’s efforts.
For those few days, he had practically put himself on the line to stop Rosan. When Rosan tried to leave, he hid his shoes, his coat… If it seemed like it wouldn’t work, he even went so far as to openly disrespect Rosan and bought himself time.

"But, as expected, Isina’s contribution was the biggest."
Aquila said, but Isina only gave a smile, not responding.