"If you're leaving, how about packing it up for me? I can take it outside and eat."
Suika sensed some panic in the woman's heart and assumed she wanted to come along, so she pointed at her food.
But she had not expected the woman's panic to stem from fearing that Suika had understood her words and discovered her identity.
"No need. My friend has already gone over there, and making customers leave halfway through their meal isn't our little shop's style."
The woman smiled and sat down across from Suika.
Soon, Suika finished her food and picked up a napkin beside her to wipe her mouth.
"How did you know I speak the Common Tongue?" the woman suddenly asked.
"Ah!" Suika looked utterly lost, then realized that their entire conversation had been in the Common Tongue rather than Leithanien.
"By accident...
The only language I can speak conversationally is the Common Tongue.
Beatrix totally screwed me over. She said that once I learned the Common Tongue, I could travel all over Terra with ease.
But the moment I left home, I kept running into walls everywhere...
The second people heard that I didn't understand the local dialect, they'd decide I had to be a spy...
Then someone would start picking a fight with me..."
Suika's torrent of complaints instead left the woman at a loss.
Earlier, she had been guessing which faction Suika came from and whether finding her meant this office had been exposed.
As it turned out, the girl had simply been slow to catch on.
After clearing away the dishes, Vinnie, torn between laughter and tears, thought that since there were no other customers, she should check on Atla, who had fallen ill earlier.
The moment she reached the door, a chill ran down her back.