The Hidden Alpha Male Stops Hiding His Power - 2
Behind the building at midday, two figures faced each other in the parking lot.
One was Henri.
The other was Camilla—or rather, someone who looked like an entirely different person.
Her hair was of moderate length, and neither her build nor her features held any particularly striking quality. In Henri’s eyes, Camilla was simply an ordinary East Asian woman.
“The Saint has ordered you to protect the household, has she not? Would it not be proper to obey? It is not as though she lacks for guards.”
Camilla smirked as she spoke. In keeping with the cover story she had arranged beforehand with Elodie, she put on an insolent face and used casual speech.
“One must first possess the qualifications.”
Henri frowned, clenching and unclenching his fist. He looked thoroughly displeased—hardly surprising, given that he still believed her a criminal caught in the act of some past offense.
“Prove it with strength, you mean?”
Henri nodded, eyes hardening. No further words were needed.
What a tiresome way to live.
Now that Camilla was here, there was no real need to drag around a married man like Henri and inconvenience him. The family would still pay the salary they allotted him. Most people would have gratefully accepted such consideration—yet here he was, making life difficult for himself.
Camilla’s lips curled slightly as she tapped the ground lightly with the tip of her shoe. She, too, intended to answer with pure physical force. Black magic of the sort even a Lich employed, or any of a vampire’s innate abilities, would give away that she was a specter.
“Very well. Test me.”
BOOM!
The instant Henri lunged as if to crush her, a thunderous crash shook the air.
While we were getting ready to head out, Janette asked,
“Leo. Your face seems a little different lately.”
“My face?”
Did it? I hadn’t looked in a mirror, so I had no idea. When I tilted my head, Janette stepped closer and brushed her fingers across my cheek.
“Yes. At first I thought I was imagining it, but it’s definitely changing. And rather quickly, too.”
“I never look in a mirror, so I wouldn’t know.”
Even when I shaved, I did it by feel. I never looked. I handled it while showering, more or less. On top of that, I never deliberately checked a mirror to tidy my face or hair—mostly because the face looking back had never been the handsome type.
“Anyway, shall we head out? We decided on Traders, right?”
“Ah, yes. We’ve already bought the furniture, so we need household goods. And clothes.”
Department stores were a bit expensive. Traders, being a warehouse-style store, kept prices low the way modern ones used to—perfect for buying a lot of small odds and ends at once. So today’s destination was Traders.
And Camilla, freshly certified as a new bodyguard after passing Henri’s test, was coming with us.
“I’m envious. I wish I had a power like Camilla’s that lets me look like someone else.”
Janette sighed as we walked toward the bus stop. We planned to take the bus there and a taxi back—to spare ourselves the hassle of hauling a mountain of purchases home.
Camilla asked,
“Are there no Awakened among humans with such gifts? Or artifacts that can alter one’s appearance?”
“There are so many Awakened, and their abilities are just as varied, that it’s hard to know them all. Some never register with the national database, and others deliberately distort their records.”
Janette’s words brought an immediate example to mind: my neighbor and friend, Marie—who had registered Domination as a lesser ability.
“Even a nation’s ruler cannot cast his gaze into every corner. It seems the modern age is no different in that regard.”
Camilla chuckled softly, gazing across the road. She had the air of someone needling the same organizational carelessness that had always existed, past and present.
“It’s human history, after all. You can dress it up more convincingly, but the essence itself never seems to change.”
Janette answered with a sigh of agreement. Growing up as she had, it was clear she had long shared a similar view with Camilla.
“A fair point. Ah—by the way, how fares the work of distinguishing vampires? As a sinner I hear little of such matters, but you are different, are you not?”
“As you said, they’re using blood and fangs and the like to craft artifacts. Results should come soon. Though…”
“You mean me? If you vouch for me, there should be no trouble. I have rendered genuine service, after all.”
Camilla answered as though it were nothing and smiled with her eyes. Voice and expression alike were full of easy confidence. Developing and distributing artifacts that could identify vampires would also expose her own identity—and she already looked as if she had settled on her answer to that problem.
“Yes. I’ll vouch for you, so it shouldn’t be an issue. The people who ran the operation with you saw you with their own eyes, after all.”
“A great many people saw me.”
“So it hardly seems like a major problem. And I’ve been wearing this collar faithfully.”
Camilla’s fingers tapped the choker at her throat. Watching her poke at a bomb like that, I couldn’t help thinking she had no fear at all.
“Ah—here comes the bus.”
Camilla’s eyes caught the bus approaching from far down the road. It was the one bound for Traders. We boarded and settled into the back seats. The hour was awkward, so only one or two other passengers rode with us. Both of them stared blankly at Janette for a moment before looking away—thanks to her sunglasses, her looks were hidden enough.
Wedged between Camilla and Janette, I kept my gaze quietly forward. I had nothing particular to say.
“Having no luggage is surprisingly convenient. Had it been otherwise, I might have flown off somewhere the way Marie did.”
Camilla lowered her voice and laughed. Even on a trip to buy things for herself, Marie was still on her mind.
“It can’t be helped. The clothes you’ve worn yourself are always the most comfortable. And she still has to settle her assets.”
Marie’s current parents on-site had helped a great deal with disposing of her property, she’d said. Because of that, it would take less time than expected.
“I hear she has quite a few precious wines. She’ll bring them all, won’t she?”
“It’ll cost money, but yes, probably.”
“I sense a considerable tax bill coming.”
How many bottles? At what number would she switch to international shipping? It was entirely her choice, so predicting anything was difficult.
“I’ll cover the taxes. It won’t be much of a burden. And even if she brings some right away, it’ll only be a bottle or two.”
Janette, who had been quietly listening, chimed in with a smile in her eyes. Just from her voice, she sounded thoroughly reliable. I wasn’t sure the expression was quite right, but… our sugar mama was basically a goddess.
“Enough of that topic. Once we’re there, let’s buy some sushi. Supermarket sushi is surprisingly good.”
Camilla changed the subject cleanly and looked ahead—specifically at the electronic board announcing the stops.
I asked,
“You’ve had it before?”
“No. I mean to try it on this occasion. I shall treat you, so let us take a large assortment. One cannot eat properly if the portions are too small.”
“When you put it that way, it’s hard to refuse.”
Supermarket sushi sounded fine to me. At the thought of eating my fill for the first time in a while, my mouth practically watered.
Ah, I was stuffed.
I’d eaten far too much sushi, and my stomach still felt heavy. The wine on top of it only made things worse. It had been fun while we were eating—but now that I was on my feet dealing with the aftermath, I was starting to regret it.
“At times like this, you simply must drink! Come on, have plenty. And knock a bit off this month’s rent for me, would you?”
“Ah—yes, of course. I’ll do that.”
Valerie’s warmly smiling face as she held out a glass floated up unbidden—and so did the sight of me nodding along like it was the most natural thing in the world.
After eating that much on her tab, cutting the rent was only fair.
She was the one who’d insisted on paying rent I originally hadn’t meant to take. Someone once said that to keep a relationship going for the long haul, you have to keep the scales of goodwill from getting too heavy on either side. Valerie’s attitude was a perfect example. If she’d been the shameless type who only chased her own profit, she would have snapped up my offer and run her business in comfort. Of course, that was exactly what I’d proposed—but over time, a person’s feelings can shift. The human heart is built to sway.
“Mm…?”
Maybe I’d had too much to drink. My shoulders felt stiffer than usual, and my whole body had gone oddly rigid. Ever since a few days ago—no, ever since that vampire bit me—something had felt off, and the strange part was how it kept getting worse with time. I hadn’t even been going to the gym.
Well… except maybe for that whole NASDAQ-horse-dick-beekeeping-slut-sex-launch routine?
At that level of intensity, it was possible the body was taking a beating—squeezing out every last bit of strength will do that. But the strain didn’t taste like the kind that came from ordinary exercise. Muscle soreness just hurt. This was different: an awkwardness in sensation, a feeling of the muscles locking up.
Hmm…
Janette shifted in the bed and let out a soft little sound. Watching her fumble across the mattress in her sleep was both cute and a little pitiful—especially since I’d been holding her only moments before.
Sorry. My body’s acting strange, so I can’t seem to fall asleep.
I bowed my head in silent apology to Janette, then quietly slipped out of the room. I figured I’d head up to the rooftop and get some air.
If my condition was off, shouldn’t I just bathe in holy power or go to a hospital? If someone asked me that, I’d want to answer that it wasn’t that serious yet.
…Haa.
The door to the roof rattled open, and a cool, clarifying breeze swept through my chest—enough that even the heavy feeling in my stomach eased a good deal.
What time is it?
Curiosity got the better of me. I pulled out my phone and checked. It was just past four in the morning. Standing an involuntary night watch left a sour taste. Wake forty minutes before gate duty. Wake twenty minutes before night watch. Anything that drags you out of sleep is unpleasant enough that not minding would be the strange part.
Still, feeling the dawn breeze for the first time in a while wasn’t as bad as I’d expected. The dark forest of unlit buildings, the streetlamps lighting empty roads, and the occasional car sliding through that glow all had a peculiar charm.
Hot.
It was summer. Leaning against the railing, a short, sharp line rose unbidden in my mind—something like, I was pregnant. It was summer.
Bored, I poked around the internet, and all kinds of garbage posts floated up.
It was one of those moments that made you realize just how many different kinds of people there are in the world. Who even thinks of sticking something into a skull like that? Was the guy that confident in his own size? No matter how big he was, fitting into those massive sockets would be impossible even for an orc.
And if orcs actually existed… what then? Suddenly I was curious all over again.
Time to head down.
Playing with my phone and letting my thoughts wander, I realized a full hour had slipped by. Smartphones really were a marvel. Standing in the breeze had also lightened my heavy stomach quite a bit—and the shoulders and body that had been cracking every time I rolled them felt better too.
“You’re back?”
When I returned to the apartment, Janette was waiting for me in the living room. She hadn’t turned on the lights, so it was darker than outside.
“Yeah. When did you wake up?”
“About thirty minutes ago. Your side of the bed felt empty, and I just couldn’t stop noticing.”
“So that’s why you woke up. Sorry.”
“It’s fine. It’s not like I’ve never woken in the night before. If anything, thinking of the old days, it’s more familiar than anything.”
True enough. Back then, most people got up the moment the sun even thought about rising.
“And the roosters were loud.”
“Which is why you used to wonder every day whether we should just fry them. Remember?”
“I do. We spent whole mornings talking about how to brine them and what seasonings to use.”
I smiled and stepped closer—and Janette’s eyes went round, as if she’d just seen someone she wasn’t supposed to.
I asked,
“What is it all of a sudden? Something wrong?”
“Yes. Only… it doesn’t seem to be with me. It’s with you, Leo. Go to the bathroom and look in the mirror.”
The mirror? It was out of nowhere, but Janette’s tone was so serious that refusing felt impossible. Her voice had gone completely still, which only made it worse.
“Uh… all right.”
So I walked slowly to the bathroom and switched on the light. The first thin threads of morning sun weren’t enough to see a face by.
“?”
With a soft click, the lights came fully on. An ordinary bathroom, same as always. Then I looked at the clean rectangle of mirror set into the wall—and my eyes went wide before I could stop them.
“What the hell.”
Someone else. A face utterly different from the one I had only half-glimpsed before was looking back at me from the glass.