The Difference Between Real and Fake
Hiding beneath the Headmaster to shake off the pursuing students had worked out well enough, but it came with a much more colossal gaze pinned directly onto me.
—Cheeky little thing of the Waihiemhai Foundation. What do you think you are doing under my nostril?
“Can’t I just hide here for a little bit longer…?”
—I will not stop you if your wish is to be roasted to a crisp when I sneeze fire. You would make a decent pre-dinner snack, after all.
Tsk. Looks like the Headmaster’s patience only extends to a single minute.
I could understand where he was coming from. It would certainly get annoying if every single student came rushing over to dive into cover right under his face. Having no other choice, I crawled out from beneath the giant nostril.
…Yet in that brief moment, the situation had descended into utter chaos.
“Orknodi’s gone!”
“That’s because you guys slacked off!”
“We were following Her Imperial Highness Princess Mesgaki’s orders! Are you calling the Princess lazy right now?”
“You think you’re the only ones with an imperial princess? We have Princess Yayoi on our side!”
“Ha! You should be ashamed of using a fallen princess who lost her place in the line of succession as a shield.”
“Are you done running your mouth?”
“Yeah, I’m done! What are you gonna do about it?”
“You’re dead meat today! We’re stuffing your baskets with nothing but fake flags!”
Having lost their target, the students turned on each other, tearing into a full-blown civil war.
Uh, well.
Doesn’t seem like my fault!
I stripped the academy jacket off a nearby collapsed student and slipped right inside.
Phew, total free ride.
Just as I planned to camp out quietly until the remaining thirty minutes were up, someone lifted the jacket.
Ah, busted!
“Orknodi is over he—!”
Zhuang opened her mouth wide to shout and summon the mob. Without missing a beat, I shoved a flag right into her jaws.
“?!”
“If you keep quiet, I’ll give you two more!”
Zhuang narrowed her eyes like a flatfish and flashed three fingers.
“Fine, three!”
Clamping four flags between her teeth, Zhuang pulled the jacket back down as if she were about to leave, only to suddenly thrust her head inside right after.
“Was what you said earlier true? Have you really never taken the Adventurer’s Night Maneuvers course before?”
An inescapable corner.
The cramped confines beneath a single jacket.
Our eyes locked, close enough for our breath to brush against each other’s skin, and my wrist was already firmly caught in her grip.
Pupils, breathing, pulse.
Zhuang was dialing every sensory organ to the maximum, fiercely determined to sniff out any trace of a lie. As an assassin, anticipating a target’s psychology to lie in wait or engineer favorable circumstances was fundamental to her trade, making her exceptionally sharp at detecting deception.
“It was actually a lie.”
“I knew it smelled fishy.”
I gave up on bluffing. Zhuang made no effort to hide her resentment.
“Why did you lie?”
“Because I didn’t want Hestia to find out I was taking night lectures.”
“Why?”
“Can’t tell you.”
“You don’t want to be hated? Do you really want to be friends with that gorilla-sized muscle mountain?”
Nod, nod.
I nodded gently to avoid rustling the jacket from the outside, which brought a playful smirk to Zhuang’s face.
“Son Ocheon, and now Hestia… You really love people stacked with muscle regardless of gender, don’t you, Orknodi?”
“Not even close!”
“A strong denial is basically an admission!”
“Yes, you’re totally right.”
“See? You admitted it!”
What are you, five?
When I shot her an annoyed glare, Zhuang merely giggled.
“Fine, fine. I’ll keep your secret.”
“Really?”
“You did show me something awesome back at dawn, after all.”
Given that she was an assassin with an inherently wicked disposition, Zhuang rarely showed unprovoked generosity. If I hadn’t brought her along to the Room of Double-Sided Paper Strips, bribing her into silence would have fallen flat for sure.
“Are you going to stay hidden here?”
“Hiding is kind of my specialty!”
“Fair enough. Honestly, I crawled under here because I couldn't be bothered and wanted a nap, but who would’