A Puppy's Morning and a Fiery Reunion
My arm felt like it was about to rip off. No, my entire body did. The muscle pain that had never appeared no matter how roughly I moved until now—why—
“Mmmnya, mmmnya.”
…Why is she here? Whose bed is this—wait, this is Bianca’s room. Why the hell am I sleeping wrapped up in her arms?
What on earth happened yesterday to end up like this? My mask. Thank god it wasn’t taken off… No, that’s not the point. I’m still wearing the exact same clothes from yesterday.
“Bian—cough—!”
“Mmm…”
I called her and she just hugged me tighter. What the hell is wrong with this crazy… brainless brute with ridiculous strength…
“I-I’m dying, I can’t breathe, I can’t—!”
“Hehe…”
Why is she rubbing her face against me? She keeps insisting she’s not a dog, but her behavior is exactly like a massive dog. Or should I call her a bear since she’s currently trying to strangle a person to death…?
“Bi…an…ca—!”
“Why do you keep calling me? It’s still morning… Huh? Ah?”
Her blinking eyes met mine. I don’t know about her, but my vision… had gone completely blurry.
“Hic!?” She actually said hic. With that massive body and strength. And then, for some reason, she threw me.
“Cough!?” The back of my head and my back throbbed painfully. As I clutched my head, a flustered voice came from in front of me.
“Why are you in my room?”
“That’s… exactly what I should be asking…”
“Y-you… you’re seriously a pervert, aren’t you!?”
If I said something like I wouldn’t take a violent woman like you even if you begged, I could already picture what would happen next—so I kept my mouth shut. Instead…
“Where do you think you’re looking?”
I’d just give her a pitiful stare. That was the only thing I could do.
“Hey!”
As I tried to pull myself together and leave, Bianca screamed loud enough to shake the entire room. My ears were going to die first at this rate.
“A-are you okay? You seemed to be struggling a lot yesterday…”
Thanks to you, my body feels like it’s been shattered to pieces. …If I said that, I’d probably get hit again, right?
“I’m a bit stiff, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“You’re saying it’s nothing… Hmph.”
Seeing her clear her throat and glance at me nervously, it seemed she did feel a little sorry. Seriously, I can’t even call her a dog at this point.
“So. What happened yesterday? Are you okay?”
“Of course I’m okay. Do you even realize it was because of you that I went there?”
“Me?”
I only asked because she said it was because of me. Why did the room suddenly feel hotter? Why was her face turning bright red and she couldn’t speak?
“Y-you did such a shitty job that the police got involved! Even heroes!”
“What did I do? Hey, why did I have to go through all that suffering!”
“Then don’t make people worry about you! You might as well have bragged to the whole neighborhood that you caused an accident!”
“You’re the one who set that whole thing up to make me brag about causing an accident in the neighborhood!”
Of course, me getting on that truck was completely unexpected. That was definitely a mistake, my fault… As Bianca breathed roughly through her teeth, I eventually raised my hands in surrender.
“Fine, fine. Things did go wrong. I could have come up with an escape plan right away, but if it had gone any worse, it could have been a disaster.”
“Be more careful. You’re a member of Bulph now.” There it was again, that sneaky little glance. So it was intentional.
“What! You even got the staff officer position, and if you’re being treated higher than the executives but below me, then you’re a villain too!”
“…Do you really want me that badly?”
“──── W-who said something so perverted—!”
What is perverted about that? Who’s the one who deserves to have a one-eyed Maitreya come and smash their head with a hammer right now? You’re the one possessed by a demon.
“A-and anyway, after pulling off a terror attack of that scale, it’s too late to back out now, isn’t it!?” Ah. Come to think of it, the terror attack. How did it turn out? Did it go as planned?
“I’m literally explaining it right now. Why are you suddenly pulling out your phone!”
“Wait a second. I need to properly check what happened yesterday.”
As I scrolled down the phone screen, every news outlet was heavily covering yesterday’s incident. Drug truck, frenzied chase. I quite liked the sound of that.
“Your plan was a complete success. We screwed over both the product side and the police side perfectly.”
“Product?” “The drugs. We seized all the remaining goods and they’re in storage. And they don’t even know the truck was intentional on our part.”
Only then could I let out a sigh. I had been worried, but thankfully it had gone exactly as I thought.
“The cops are currently tearing Stahlleder’s place apart. It must be pretty painful for him, right? With the debt collectors hounding him and now he can’t even move the drugs freely. At this rate, he’ll probably explode soon…” “That sounds good.”
“A few defectors have started appearing too. My subordinates are accepting them. Except for the ones who openly ignored me, of course.” “You remember their faces?”
At those words, she grinned—then her expression turned icy cold. Her eyes grew so chilling that it sent a slight shiver down my spine.
“I remember their voices too. There’s no way I’d forget.”
…I really shouldn’t do anything to earn her grudge. Seeing her like this, she really is a wolf.
“Ah. And one more thing.” “What is it?” “Kerberos. She finally contacted me? That shameless bitch.”
“Bitch? Ah… right.”
In the original story, she wasn’t mentioned with much importance, but at the end, when the helmet came off, it revealed a woman’s face. I had never even heard her voice, so I had completely forgotten she was female.
“Anyway. Let’s go meet her right after we eat. You don’t have any other plans, right?” “No. I did want to rest a bit though…”
“Well, if you’re tired, you don’t have to meet her.” Hmm? She made Horn deal with me.
“…What’s with that look? Did hearing she’s a woman suddenly give you energy?” “Are you going to keep calling me a pervert?”
“Did I say anything wrong? Who was the one who crawled into someone’s bed and clung to them like that? Who was the one who rubbed their face first… ugh…”
As expected. Of course it was Bianca who dragged me into the bedroom.
“Now who’s the per—!”
“Shut up!!!”
My ears rang with a high-pitched whine. I hadn’t thrown a flashbang, but it felt like I had.
“F-fuck. Fuck.”
“Let me ask you something. Why did you make me sleep here?” “Shut up! I’m going to meet Kerberos alone, so do whatever you want.” “Hey, hey!”
At this rate, who’s the real Kerberos here? She could have just said she was tired and hugged me to sleep. Was that so hard?
Kerberos was sitting right in front of me at the table. Whether it was dyed hair or colored contacts, the woman before me was covered in passionate red. She was a haughty-looking beauty. However, her self-introduction was surprisingly plain. She simply gave her name and bowed her head.
The problem was now. After that self-introduction had ended.
“…”
“What.”
Bianca, who was tightly hugging my shoulder while glaring at Kerberos, had no intention of loosening her grip. Or continuing the conversation.
“If you have a complaint, spit it out.”
“…”
She just silently shook her head. Despite the flashy colors, she seemed like a gentle person.
“Hey. Aren’t you going to look away? You perverted bastard.”
“Why am I a per—haaa.”
Unlike the boss who was using me as a weapon, why was she acting like this?
“So. What did you come here for?”
“…I want to join.”
“Where did you throw your polite speech? You know things are different now.”
Even if she looked at me like that, I probably didn’t look like someone who could do anything. Being squeezed between an arm and a chest while gasping for air was the last bit of resistance I could manage.
“Stay still for a moment.” “You’re the one who should—cough—be saying that…!” “What are you looking at? Finish stating your business.”
How was anyone supposed to conduct negotiations or meetings in this atmosphere? I eventually used force to pry—pry—pry her off—ah, seriously. Her strength is disgustingly powerful.
“I’ll give you a massage later. Can’t you see what I’m doing right now?”
“Get your hands off me…!”
After struggling for a while and making a complete fool of myself, I finally gained my freedom. Bianca snorted with satisfaction as she watched.
“So. What is it?”
“Go into your room.” “Huh?” “Does this look like a place to show off your pet!? This is a negotiation to expand our business!” “Pfft.”
A laugh came from the red-haired woman. When I turned my head, her face was already expressionless again.
“What are you laughing at? Hey, you wanna die?”
“Mind your own business! Hey, I’ll heat up some chicken for you, so eat that while you wait.” “Are you treating me like a dog again—!”
“I’ll make oven-roasted potatoes too! With white sauce! So please just stay quiet while we talk business!”
Only then did Bianca calm down a little. But she still didn’t seem inclined to leave her seat.
“Aren’t you going?”
“What. I’ll eat and listen right here.”
“…Haaaa.”
Only after piling the table high with a massive food basket did she finally settle down. She really was just a mutt. A mutt that never listened.
“I’m sorry. As you can see.”
“…No, it’s fine. I was a little surprised, but it’s okay.”
Her slightly twitching eyebrows caught my attention, but they were soon drowned out by the sound of chewing. At this rate, how were we supposed to have any kind of conversation?
“Anyway, Miss Kerberos, why did you decide to join our organization?” “The tide has clearly turned in your favor. And I don’t really hold any bad feelings toward Bian—Alpha… either.”
When I slightly turned my head, Bianca nodded. But why was she leaning that heavy body against me?
“Hmm, that’s fortunate then. As for Mr. Horn… Bianca seems to have some lingering resentment—”
“I heard that the staff officer was the one who skillfully mediated that. Quite capable.”
“Capable, my ass. Is having a sneaky brain considered capable?” And she was even muttering beside me. She probably couldn’t see my expression, right? Otherwise, there would be no reason for the beautiful woman with the elegant nose in front of me to be shaking with suppressed laughter.
“…I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s—cough, cough, pfft—ahahaha! Ahahahaha!”
When Kerberos finally burst into loud laughter, I turned my head, worried Bianca would growl again. But she simply kept her hand on my shoulder and quietly looked away.
“Ah, seriously, you really have changed a lot. Definitely.”
A story I didn’t know. A look I didn’t understand. For some reason, the two of them seemed close. Since I had no way of knowing the relationships between these side characters, I could only watch in a daze.
“The wolf who used to run wild thinking she was all that, how did she end up like—”
“Shut up.”
Even the way she smiled and took a step back was hard to understand. She should have been a villain desperate enough to rob a bank. I didn’t know why she was overflowing with leisure at this point either.
“Would it be alright if I smoke, Alpha? And staff officer?” “You smoke?” When I shook my head, she hesitated for a moment before Bianca shook her head as well. Kerberos then covered her mouth even more and put the cigarette back.
“I thought I’d just hear boring talk about territory rights and leave, but… it seems I’ll be leaving with something much more interesting—huh?” “If you make it noisy, I’ll kill you first.”
“Of course. It’s Alpha-nim’s request.”
Had I become an idiot? Or had I used up all my stamina yesterday and was completely drained? I no longer had the mental strength to follow the conversation.
“Anyway, the contract should be simple, right, Alpha-nim? All my forces will be placed under Alpha-nim’s command. I’ll do whatever I’m told. In return, I get money and territory recognition. Done?” “…Hey.”
My body slumped forward with a thud. I barely managed to hold my head up and nod. As I groaned from my rapidly worsening condition, I felt a hand gently stroking me.
“If you’re not feeling well, go inside and rest. Are you tired from yesterday? Didn’t sleep well?”
Thanks to you, I didn’t. Yeah. But what really bothered me was Kerberos’s laughter. So I opened my mouth.
“There’s something I want to ask.”
“Please speak, staff officer.”
“What exactly is the relationship between you two?” A sudden silence fell. And then, Kerberos’s lips twitched again. Bianca’s face turned bright red.
“Ah, ahaha, ahahahaha! Ah, ahuhuhuhuhu!!”
This question didn’t seem that strange to me. So why was Bianca turning her face that shade of red?
“Are you jealous right now? Ah, seriously… how cute. Bianca, where did you find someone like—”
“Shut your mouth. You, go inside and rest.” “Don’t worry. The only one who could dare lay a hand on Bianca is the staff officer.” “Hey!!!”
What do you mean lay a hand? If anyone laid a hand, it was Bianca who—
“Go in. Go in. And Kerberos, you get out. We’ll finish the contract over the phone later or whatever. Just leave.”
“Oh? While I’m gone, what are you going to do with the staff officer—”
“Get out!!!”
The atmosphere had become chaotic, but my body was in no condition to keep up. Since I had put out the biggest fire for now… I should rest.