Chapter 8
“It couldn’t be helped. This way is safer.”
I hastily added an explanation. I clutched at my unfamiliar hair. The dry strands tangled in my hand.
The barrier wouldn’t break. Zenon’s ability was recognized even by Boss. But there was a possibility it could warp. The interior of Peace was that dangerous of a place.
In that moment, if my original hair color and eyes were exposed, I’d be suspected instantly.
That’s why I wore a wig and contacts. This way, even with a momentary distortion, no one would notice anything suspicious. But this appearance still felt awkward. Like wearing ill-fitting clothes.
“I’m not complaining. It suits you well, Kay.”
“…Thank you.”
At Boss’s unexpected words, I held my breath for a moment before managing to speak.
His kindness made me anxious instead. A premonition that something might happen.
But anxiety only ruins missions. Rather than thinking about an uncertain future, focusing on the present was more important.
I clenched my fist and shook off the anxiety. The forcibly detached lump of emotion lay at my feet. I stepped on it to prevent the weak feelings from rising again.
“Then, I’ll see you in two weeks.”
Boss’s words reached me. I shifted my gaze from the floor. I saw him wearing a subtle smile.
I slowly processed his words about meeting in two weeks. There was no particular reason to meet in two weeks. Moreover, it overlapped with my mission period, making it even more puzzling.
Yet Boss told me he’d see me in two weeks. I couldn’t understand why he was confident we could meet during the mission period.
“…Understood.”
But all I could say was affirmation. These were Boss’s words. He couldn’t be wrong.
When the time came, I would naturally understand. Why Boss said he’d see me in two weeks. What the reason for meeting was.
And so I erased the rising questions. I only etched his words about meeting in two weeks into my mind.
After bowing to Boss, I left the room.
Light reflected from the glass windows stabbed at my eyes. I looked at the spotless door as I walked through. A place I couldn’t enter in my original identity unless I was captured.
My feet faltered at the unfamiliar sensation. Ten years since joining the organization. My routine during that time had been the same.
I spent entire days on missions, and at home, I did nothing but sleep.
I’d never gone anywhere else. For someone like me, this space beyond my daily routine evoked a strange feeling.
Most of my missions had been assassinations. My ability was specialized for killing people. So I’d had no opportunity to meet people directly.
But in this mission, I would play the role of an ordinary person without killing anyone.
An ordinary person. How should such a role be played? I knew I just had to follow Hans’s life, but I couldn’t stop my thoughts.
My gaze unconsciously went to those passing by. People smiling, people annoyed, people yawning. Were all these people ordinary?
But no matter how many questions I asked myself, the answers didn’t come.
To solve that question myself, ordinariness was too distant. All I could do was carry out my mission.
I gently turned my head and tapped my employee ID on the gate. With a beep, the entrance opened.
This sound came to me like a warning alarm in my sluggish mind.
I narrowed my stride. I hunched my shoulders slightly, which had been stretched out. From now on, I had to become Hans. No one should doubt that I was Hans.
I entered with heightened vigilance. In the elevator, buttons up to the 10th basement floor were arranged. After staring at them for a moment, I pressed the 4th floor where the security team was located.
Speech should be short and concise. But not too stiff.
In case someone greeted me, I prepared an appropriate response.
Meanwhile, the elevator doors opened. After walking about ten steps, I saw a door labeled “Security Team.”
I slowly raised my hand and grabbed the handle. With a creak, I stepped forward. I felt a warm heat enveloping my cold body.
The interior was ordinary. Partitions divided each desk, and work equipment was furnished on one side.
It truly was an interior that could be seen anywhere. If there was any difference, it was quite noisy.
The phone’s ringing tone filled the space. Between the gaps, the sounds of typing and voices could be heard.
“Hans, you haven’t forgotten you’re on night duty today, right?”
And one of those voices was directed at me. I turned my head at the voice coming from right beside me. I saw a man peeking his head through the partition.
Brown hair with green eyes. A friendly, likable man. The only person who would speak to Hans now was Tade.
“Yes.”
As I answered, I glanced at his employee ID. The name written as Tade confirmed my guess was correct.
“Today’s area is basement floor 1.”
“I know.”
This too was information Fenil had provided. Basement floor 1 was clearly being used as a hero training room.
Though there might not be much to discover, it was worth checking.
On the slim possibility that someone from Alice might have become a hero.
If that were the case, they’d normally be famous by now, but due to complex factors, the possibility that their name hadn’t been revealed couldn’t be ruled out.
“You’re so unsociable, as usual.”
Ignoring Tade, who completely saw me as Hans, I stood up from my seat.
This confirmed the voice modulator was working. There was no need to talk with him further.
It was also time to go back down. Hans was in charge of lobby security in the morning.
The timing would roughly match if I went down now.
Tade started grumbling even more at my attitude, but it wasn’t something I needed to care about.
Hans wasn’t even close to him to begin with. Tade was unilaterally acting friendly.
So there was no reason for me to be amicable to him either.
***
The security duty continued without anything special. But suddenly the entrance began to grow noisy. Silhouettes that filled the glass window were suddenly running somewhere.
Their destination was in front of Peace’s entrance.
“Wow…! This is my first time seeing you in person!”
“Thank you for saving me last time!”
“Can I get your autograph?”
All sorts of words combined to create a strange cacophony. The person they were addressing was one man.
Superior height with broad shoulders. Folded purple eyes were visible through his navy blue hair.
He skillfully entered the building while receiving protection from security. Behind him, some tried to follow him in, but they could only struggle against the security guards blocking their way.
People trying to grab even the hem of his clothes—I shifted my gaze to him as he approached the gate.
“How was today?”
Kelt, a member of the security team, spoke to him naturally. I wondered if they were close, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
“Ah, it was nothing. So trivial I didn’t even break a sweat.”
Judging by the way they used formal speech with each other, they were probably just acquaintances. His demeanor was full of composure as he answered while rotating his stiff neck.
Tade, who was watching him with me, whispered to me.
“Ben is truly amazing. I heard he came back after annihilating an organization.”
“Is that so.”
Ben. There wouldn’t be anyone in this country who didn’t know that name. He was undisputedly the top hero, known as the strongest in Peace.
That name was famous even in Alice. Many within the organization had been defeated by him.
I hadn’t encountered him during operations, but our skills would be evenly matched.
“Seeing him like this, I’d like to live as an S-class ability user at least once.”
“…”
Tade muttered as he watched Ben enter the gate. His voice was full of curiosity rather than regret.
Many people thought like Tade. Being S-class was something everyone aspired to.
S-class ability users were rare, not even reaching ten thousand worldwide. It was rather surprising that all of Alice’s executives were S-class.
Even in Peace, S-class ability users could be counted on two hands.
Alice operated on a small scale. Even the members under me didn’t reach twenty people.
It would be unbelievable that such an organization had six S-class ability users. That’s why Peace didn’t think Alice had more S-class ability users.
The S-class users they knew of were just three: me, Boss, and Alex. From Peace’s perspective, any increase would be nothing short of a disaster.
S-class ability users were that dangerous. If they were heroes, they were saviors, but if they were villains, they were called seeds of disaster that destroyed everything.
Even I, a villain, acknowledged this. Alice was relatively well-behaved, but villains were overflowing with abnormal individuals who could be described as insane.
Not only did they murder civilians, but they didn’t hesitate to commit terrorism and human trafficking. If such a villain were an S-class ability user, they would indeed bring about disaster.
Alice could get away without incident because we didn’t attack civilians. Of course, that didn’t mean Alice wasn’t a villain organization, so Peace couldn’t let its guard down.
After all, as long as we called ourselves “villains” rather than heroes, there was always the possibility we could become a disaster.
In the midst of this, if Peace learned there were more S-class ability users, they would clearly want to crush Alice by any means necessary.
But it was a fact that there were those who admired even villains who were seeds of disaster. Many people proclaimed themselves as villains, fixated solely on being S-class.
