Jet Lag and Deception

“【Russian】Hey, the orders have already been placed, so why aren’t you looking up yet?”

“……”

The sound of clinking cutlery drifted from across the table, but I kept my forehead pressed against the edge, refusing to lift my head.

I wasn’t being dramatic. Partly, it was because of jet lag. I hadn’t expected a few days in Africa to affect me so much. Now, I was stuck in a state of being utterly exhausted yet unable to sleep.

As for the other reason……

Since two days ago, when Liliya slapped me, I felt like her words were laced with barbs. The sarcasm was heavy. If I could, I really wouldn’t want to see Liliya’s face……

“【Russian】You should have memorized the plan by now, right? After this meal, we’ll split up and act separately.”

Sip, sip. It sounded like she had started drinking her beverage. She was eating pretty fast. Did she even taste her food? Wait, on second thought, maybe Liliya, who never gets tired of eating those nutrition bars every day, really doesn’t…… What a terrifying human being……

“【Russian】Liliya, you don’t seem to be affected by jet lag at all……” I slowly lifted my head, resting my chin on the table, and glanced over.

“【Russian】Jet lag? For someone like me who frequently pulls all-nighters, jet lag isn’t a big deal. It’s not as impactful as a common cold.” She waved her hand, her expression turning into a smirk.

But……

“【Russian】So, you do catch colds?”

I was surprised. I had thought she was immune to everything, in every sense of the word……

“【Russian】What do you mean by that?” Liliya’s gaze sharpened.

“【Russian】Sorry, nothing. Please don’t overthink it……”

Pissing her off would be troublesome, so I quickly changed the subject.

“【Russian】I mean, do we really need to hide our whereabouts? Even from Ruka and the others?” I straightened up lazily, biting the straw with a sense of boredom.

“【Russian】Can you stop being so stupid? Do you think we came back on a plane for nothing?”

“【Russian】…… Okay……”

To deceive the enemy, we first had to deceive our own people. We had forged passports, changed our appearance drastically from our original look, spent almost a day flying back to Japan from Africa, and deliberately kept our whereabouts hidden from Ruka and the others……

Liliya had prepared everything meticulously……

“【Russian】Now, the delicious bait has been set. Let’s see if the fish on the other side will take the bait. Hopefully, it’s a big one…”

Wow, Liliya’s smile with those reflective glasses looked so sinister……

“【Russian】You little brat, you think I don’t know what you’re thinking? Are you asking for trouble?”

“【Russian】Uh? No? I was just thinking this drink is pretty good. I think I’ll order another. Ha-ha.”

This time, I was glared at….. Really, just now, I felt a clear sense of killing intent. I quickly averted my gaze and pressed the order button to call the waiter.

“【Japanese】Sir, what can I get for you?” As expected, the waiter arrived promptly.

“【Russian】Tch…… Why weren’t you this quick a few days ago…..”

Hah, it looks like I’ve escaped unscathed…… Should I order a few more dishes to celebrate?

****

Oh, this is a long-awaited afterword.

The editor informed me we’re going to upload a backlog, so the update cycle will change to once every two days until the August 15th launch. My apologies. We’ll resume normal updates afterward.

On launch day, you’ll be able to read all at once! There will be at least 20,000 words in the backlog!

By the way, I apologize to Glass Heart the other day. Please continue to support me. Let’s have plenty of discussions, as I’m really afraid of being lonely (・ω・´)人(´・ω・｀*)