My Desertion Would Be Faster Than Heros' Obsession-Chapter 39Vol 2.

"War!"

Alexander clapped his hands together and shouted.

"Yes! So you think the same as I do!"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Surprisingly, the lieutenant general named Jaiden shared Alexander’s exact thoughts. The Emperor, elated, grabbed Jaiden’s hand firmly.

Jaiden suppressed the tremor in his hand. He had to convince the most powerful man in the nation standing before him. Lowering his voice, he spoke in a tone that was almost seductive.

"The atmosphere within the Border Defense Army is one of growing frustration. Many wonder why we have not yet gone to war. After all, we are warriors by nature."

"Is that so? Everyone supports war? The commander of the Imperial Army opposes it, though."

Alexander grew slightly suspicious. The Border Defense Army had once plotted rebellion and produced traitors who sided with the Second Prince’s army. It was a dangerous faction. But he decided to hear Jaiden out to the end.

"Your Majesty, who has defended the borders all this time? While the Imperial Army was busy catching pickpockets in the capital, who fought fiercely against hordes of monsters to protect the Empire’s citizens?"

"That would be... the Border Defense Army."

Hearing this, Alexander felt a quiet thrill. His plans were falling into place.

Yes, if he was to discuss war, it had to be with the Border Defense Army. The key to victory lay in utilizing their strength—honed through constant battles with monsters.

"Then, do all the senior officers of the Border Defense Army agree with this?"

Careful not to reveal his lingering doubts, Alexander asked again. He needed to be absolutely certain of the stance of these enigmatic hetero soldiers.

"Yes, Your Majesty. However, in return..."

Jaiden glanced around needlessly before lowering his voice further.

"We would like the opportunity to work in a greater variety of places, should we achieve great merits in this war."

"Variety of places...?"

"For example, places where the Imperial Army currently operates."

Alexander immediately grasped the implication.

The Border Defense Army wanted to solidify its power and move closer to the Empire’s core. In exchange for their achievements in war, they sought to improve their standing.

It was a bold proposition, but at this moment, it was an arrangement that would benefit both Alexander and the hetero soldiers.

"Are they well-trained? Could they march to war immediately if necessary?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. If you promise them adequate rewards, their morale will soar to the heavens. They will offer you their absolute loyalty."

"Absolute loyalty, huh..."

At that moment, Alexander felt as if a light had gone on in his mind.

The Border Defense Army was bound by the magical contract—they could never openly rebel against the Emperor. But considering the occasional insubordination from discharged soldiers and officers, it was clear that many still harbored treacherous thoughts. Additional measures were necessary.

If he could use this opportunity to quell their resentment and bind them completely to his authority...

Seeing the Emperor waver, Jaiden seized the moment to drive his point home.

"We are a race made for battle, Your Majesty. Send us to the battlefield."

As soon as Jaiden left the audience chamber, Alexander moved into action.

Some ministers would inevitably oppose him, but ultimately, he was the supreme ruler of this nation. It was time to remind them of his power.

"To wage war, I must first temporarily suspend the magical contract."

But before that, he had something else to take care of.

In front of Jaiden, he had pretended to trust him completely, but in reality, Alexander never trusted the hetero soldiers. If the contract was lifted for war, what if they all deserted en masse?

The Snowy Mountain Battalion was particularly suspect. As the Empire’s most battered and overworked frontline unit, it had always been rife with discontent.

"I need to send a spy into the Snowy Mountain Battalion."

Then, a past conversation with one of the Imperial Guard officers surfaced in his memory.

"Your Majesty, a sergeant from the Border Defense Army has sent a letter claiming he knows the truth about the hetero contract magic. It seems ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ he wants a promotion. How shall we respond?"

"What could a mere sergeant possibly know? Ignore him."

But now that he recalled it... that sergeant was from the Snowy Mountain Battalion.

If he contacted the man again and promised a sufficient reward, he could place him as a spy to monitor the battalion for any signs of betrayal.

He immediately ordered a servant to deliver his message to the sergeant. Then, he gave another command.

"Summon the Imperial Mage!"

At his order, the Imperial Mage rushed in, bowing deeply.

Of course, there was no real difference between "mages" and "dark sorcerers." But the Empire always needed one "sole good mage per generation" to handle contract magic, so the court spread lies to justify the mage’s presence.

Once all other ministers and servants had left, Alexander spoke in a hushed tone.

"I need you to temporarily suspend the magical contract on the hetero soldiers. I will be using them for war."

"Ah, do you mean to ensure they are not considered deserters if they stray too far from their designated stations?"

The mage was taken aback by the mention of war but hid his reaction well, responding with professional composure.

"Yes. And one more thing. For the time being, ensure that no new contract subjects emerge. I do not want new recruits being drafted."

"Ah, so you mean to prevent more monsters from appearing at the borders?"

"Yes, you understand me well."

"Haha, Your Majesty is truly wise."

With flattery, the Imperial Mage adjusted the contract magic.

At that moment, the magical contract was suspended.

***

"Ah."

Inside Salvia’s house, Victim suddenly shuddered.

He shot up from his seat and stared out the window, mumbling in a dazed voice.

"I’ve never felt such an immense surge of magical energy before...."

Foll𝑜w current novℯls on ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm.

"What’s wrong, Victim? Did something happen?"

When I asked, Victim turned to me with a serious expression and answered.

"Yes. I just sensed a tremendous magical wave. And in the Adolph Empire, there is only one reason such a massive fluctuation would occur."

"Could it be...?"

"It’s related to the contract magic."

At this point, if the Emperor was tampering with the contract magic, there was only one possibility.

The suspension of the contract magic.

Because the Emperor—

"When internal chaos arises, there has always been one traditional way to pacify the people."

With a smirk, I curled up the corner of my lips.

"War."

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

When the Emperor first ascended the throne, he had sought to wage war against the neighboring Kingdom of Butein. It was a plan to solidify his achievements early in his reign.

The Kingdom of Butein had long been in conflict with the Adolph Empire over the Fleur-Rosen region in the northeast. Control over the area frequently changed hands, and currently, it belonged to Butein.

Though the rebellion of the Second Prince’s army had forced the Emperor to abandon his war plans, now that the rebellion was nearly crushed, war was the best way to stabilize internal unrest.

The people of the Adolph Empire had always been warlike. Sometimes, when lower-ranked monsters roamed down into villages, the citizens themselves would beat them to death with brute force.

They had grown strong in such an environment and held martial prowess in the highest regard. The Emperor must have considered this when choosing war.

But there was one thing he had overlooked.

How could the people be pushed to their breaking point?

For a revolution to begin, that incident was necessary.

And the moment the people would rage the most against the Emperor’s incompetence was...

"When he loses the war."

If the Emperor were to be defeated, the people would never tolerate it. A revolution would erupt.

"Victim, can you still feel this wave of contract magic?"

"Yes..."

"Good. Then you’ll have to come with us when we infiltrate the Imperial Castle."

"M-Me?! On such a dangerous mission?!"

Just as Victim recoiled in horror, Benny entered the house with a bright expression. Seeing her, Victim immediately straightened his posture.

Benny brought good news.

"They said the Emperor has taken the bait!"

As expected, the Emperor had decided on war. He must be thinking he made a rational choice—completely unaware that it was a trap.

"Really? That’s great. Oh, by the way, Benny, do you happen to know who Patty and Matty’s fathers are?"

"Huh? I think I heard about it before, but why...?"

"Oh, if that’s the case, we’ll talk about it later. For now..."

We had a mission to complete. And that was—

"We need to destroy the source of the contract magic completely."

April said it first, and I nodded.

"Yes. It’s time."

With only a handful of discharged Arkons, a revolution was nearly impossible.

We needed the entire Border Defense Army to march on the Imperial Castle. And for that to happen, the contract magic had to be destroyed first.

The contract magic was the shackle that bound Arkons to that cursed land.

And the medium sustaining the contract magic was in the Imperial Castle. To destroy or steal it, we had to infiltrate the castle.

"Hold on, I left a key around here somewhere..."

April rummaged through her pockets.

Right now, I was following April to her house. She had been staying at my place for protection, but when she had fled in haste, she left behind something important—something she needed to retrieve.

It was an artifact of dark magic capable of clouding human judgment.

She planned to use it to extract information from the Emperor.

April was the only one among us whose name had been exposed to the Second Prince’s army. That made her the most at risk. But the artifact was too valuable to leave behind, so we had no choice but to take the risk and retrieve it.

By the way, my supposed honeymoon house with Aquila had long since ceased functioning as one. XX. It had been ages since I could even use phrases like "things just turned out that way."

"Once the revolution succeeds, XX."

I was going to write "things just turned out that way" every single day.

As I let my thoughts wander, I placed my hand on April’s door—only to realize it wasn’t locked.

Creak—

With an eerie sound, the door swung open.

I hesitated for a moment, my face growing tense.

"A-April..."

Because if April’s door wasn’t locked, it meant...

"You’ve finally arrived."

The Imperial Army had found her.