How much time had passed since he fell asleep? Nagi was woken up by the sound of banging on the sliding door to his house.
“Nagi! Hey, Nagi! Get up! It’s a noble! A knight is here!”
It was Nerthe’s voice. His words tore Nagi from his sleep in an instant. Nagi leaped up in a panic and opened the door, causing sunlight to pour into the room. He had apparently slept until just past noon.
“What’s going on?”
“I dunno. A knight suddenly showed up and started talking to the chief. You can’t just stay in your house with a noble here, right?!”
An unannounced visit by a noble didn’t even happen once a year. When one did happen to stop by, it was customary for the villagers to greet the visitor in the square.
“Thanks, you saved me.”
“Hurry up. The chief’s gonna gather everyone soon.”
With that, Nerthe ran off. Nagi closed the door in a hurry.
A knight? The day after the Blood Offering Festival?
It was abnormal. Nobles were always busy around this time, which was why they left the village chiefs in charge of carrying out the rituals and bringing the siphoned blood to the royal palace. Nagi had a clue as to what had brought about this abnormal situation—it was him. There was no mistaking it. The knight had come to find Nagi, a major criminal who had killed a noble.
“What’s the matter?” Saya asked as she got up.
“It seems a noble is here.”
“A noble?” Saya cocked her head to one side as though she didn’t even know what a “noble” was.
But now wasn’t the time to address it.
“We have to get out of here. They might already know.”
Saya seemed to understand; her expression hardened.
“For now, put that on,” Nagi said, opening the door just a crack to take a peek outside. There was nobody around. “Now’s our only chance to run. Let’s hurry up and get out of here.”
Nagi grabbed his bag as Saya put on her overcoat. Fortunately, he hadn’t unpacked, so everything he needed was already inside. He picked up his bow and quiver, then quietly opened the door. Saya timidly took Nagi’s hand. He gave her hand a firm squeeze as if to put her mind at ease. Despite their grave situation, his heart leaped.
They left the house and circled around it. No one was there to witness their departure. Nagi’s backyard led directly into the woods. It wasn’t as dense as the forest where the Forbidden Garden was, but there were enough trees to obstruct the view. An outsider like a noble would have an even harder time noticing them. Nagi’s only option was to get through these woods and run away from Strano Village without being spotted.
He’d managed to make it through the denser forest, so traversing this one would be nothing. Nagi and Saya quickly ran through the trees. Even as the village vanished from sight, the two of them did not slow their pace.
What was he going to do afterward, though? Nagi drove that thought to the back of his mind. Things would work out one way or another. It was possible he could return to the village once things had calmed down, but first he had to get away from here.
Suddenly, a voice called out, “You two, stop!”
Still running, Nagi turned to look behind them. In the distance, he could see someone in a military uniform. This was likely the knight in question; they had already been found.
“If you do not stop, I shall judge you guilty of treason!” the knight yelled in a dignified voice.
Nagi realized that the knight was a woman. Was she implying she would show mercy if he stopped? All commoners knew such nobles didn’t exist. Fortunately, Nagi was more familiar with running through outdoor paths than she was. There was no way a noble could catch up to him in a place like this.
However, this belief proved to be naïve.
“I’m telling you to stop! Don’t think you can get away!”
The moment she yelled, the knight leaped through the air with astonishing force. She flew up over twice the height of an average man and kicked off the thick branches. Her physical strength was unfathomable.
Nobles were so strong that commoners could never hurt them. In fact, no attack had worked on the guard of the Forbidden Garden aside from the sting of the Halahala. Nagi knew this as well. But what was this farce before his eyes?
At last, Nagi understood that nobles were genuine monsters. But there were still many things he didn’t know. He didn’t know that the nobles who normally came by Strano Village were not, in fact, soldiers. He didn’t know that the guard at the Garden had been an underling who’d drawn the short straw. He didn’t know that the knight before him in this very moment was an elite among the elite. He didn’t know she was a life-form on a completely different level, having honed her noble body for many long years, which already far surpassed those of humans to begin with.
The knight jumped off the branches with terrifying vigor, passing overhead and landing in front of Nagi and Saya. Her beautiful face was accentuated by glamorous blonde hair tied in a weave. Had he not seen it for himself, he would’ve never believed that a woman could just leap from trees like that.
“Don’t waste my time. There’s no need to run if you aren’t guilty of—” Her eyes opened wide as she looked at Saya, whose hood had come down while she was running. The knight’s gaze was fixed on the silver hair which was now out in the open.
“Silver hair... Red eyes... Lady Saya, you’re safe!” Evidently, she knew Saya. Her attitude left Nagi rather confused.
“Lady” Saya?
“It is an honor to make your acquaintance. My name is Jubilia Erste lu Listeta the Third. I have been ordered to see to your safety, Lady Saya.” The knight, Jubilia, bowed reverently before continuing. “I didn’t think you’d escape to this manner of village. Judging from how your guard was killed, I was under the assumption the culprit was a noble. I thought it was the work of one discontent with the present regime, so I had my troops head to the residences of nobles in every region.”