It seemed she still didn’t know Nagi was the actual culprit.
“What exactly happened? It seems you got away on your own, but what happened to the killer?”
Saya maintained her silence.
“Oh, pardon me. You can inform me of the details at a later date. For now, I shall see you safely to the royal palace.”
“I’m not going with you,” Saya told her bluntly.
“Uh... What?”
“I’m running away. I’m going with Nagi.” Saya suddenly grabbed Nagi’s left hand.
“Nagi? Do you mean this commoner boy?”
Jubilia shifted her focus to Nagi for the very first time. A commoner was completely worthless to a noble, but she didn’t treat Saya that way at all. Nagi could no longer suppress his suspicions, which had been taking shape within him ever since he’d heard Jubilia speak. Was Saya a noble? He couldn’t believe it. He didn’t want to believe it. But that was the only conclusion he could come to after listening to their conversation.
“Who is he?” Jubilia asked.
“Nagi saved me.”
“What?”
“He freed me. I won’t go back there ever again.”
Jubilia knit her brows. The air about her changed as she looked at Nagi. She now gave off the same impression as the forest’s many carnivores.
“What do you mean? This plebeian freed you?”
Nagi somehow overcame his fear and returned Jubilia’s glare.
“Do you mean to say you’re the one who killed that guard? That can’t be.” she asked him.
Nagi wasn’t stupid enough to say yes, but Jubilia could infer the answer from the atmosphere around them.
“I don’t believe it.”
Nagi couldn’t even believe it himself. Halahala was just that outlandish. Jubilia, however, was an outstanding knight. She sternly admonished those who would make light of an enemy by stubbornly adhering to what they believed was possible. Therefore, she recognized Nagi as her enemy.
Jubilia smoothly drew the slender sword at her waist. Her bloodlust sent a shiver down Nagi’s spine.
“Step away from Lady Saya. Now.”
In that moment. Saya tightened her grip on Nagi’s hand. The warmth he felt from her made him remember.
That’s right. I promised to protect Saya until we got somewhere safe. For now, he could leave the matter of her being a noble for later.
“I refuse.”
Nagi squeezed out those words as he drew the knife at his waist with his free hand. It was wounded, but he had recovered enough to at least use a knife. The poison that had coated the blade had long since dried up, though. Even Nagi thought this was rather foolish of him. He was bluffing. Not only that, he was bluffing to a noble.
“Then I shan’t show mercy.”
It happened in an instant. Jubilia was still a few paces away, but to Nagi, it looked like she suddenly appeared right before his eyes. She charged in at once with the overwhelming strength she had put on display earlier. Nagi brought his knife forward on reflex, which clashed with Jubilia’s sword and let out a shrill ring.
“Hmm, so you stopped it.”
Nagi swung his hand, still stinging with numbness. At this range, a knife was faster, but Jubilia frivolously dodged his attack and jumped back. Her movements made it seem as though the natural laws binding her body differed from his.
“I see. Rather impressive for a commoner. Compared to the norm of trembling and freezing up in fear, that is.”
Jubilia approached with a leisurely slash, which Nagi barely managed to evade. It was just as she said; Nagi had only just realized it himself. The man he’d defeated at the Garden had been mere small-fry. This was a noble. This was a vampire.
His instincts were screaming at him, telling him this knight was an apex predator. Her piercing glare was enough to urge Nagi to drop everything and run away. The only thing stopping him from doing so was his petty pride and his promise to protect Saya.
He could tell that despite saying she would show no mercy, Jubilia wasn’t serious at all. She was chipping away at Nagi’s fighting spirit without actually hurting him. This was likely out of consideration for Saya. Even so, it took everything he had to dodge her attacks. He was rapidly being driven into a corner.
Just when he thought all was lost, Saya challenged Jubilia. She had a branch gripped in her hands. It was nothing more than a branch, but Jubilia was forced to dodge and momentarily stop her onslaught.
“Lady Saya, you know such attacks are meaningless against me. You couldn’t possibly believe otherwise.”
Jubilia was perplexed. Saya said nothing and simply glared at her.
“I don’t understand,” Jubilia muttered as she looked back at Nagi. “Nagi, was it? How did you defeat the guard?”
It had been thanks to the Halahala, but he had no reason to tell her this. He still had some left in the bag he was carrying. So long as he had that...
“I did it. I defeated the guard,” Saya interjected, brandishing the branch.
“That’s a lie. If so, you wouldn’t be holding that thing in your hands right now.”
Nagi recalled that at the time, Saya really had done something. However, there was no way to tell what that something had been.
“No, it’s true. I don’t remember how, but I did it. I’m sure of it. So, I might be able to defeat you after all, even with something like this.”
“That would be impossible. Considering you believe something so ludicrous, it seems you have yet to awaken.”
There was too much about this conversation Nagi didn’t understand. All he knew was that the power Saya had used back then wouldn’t be of use here. More importantly, Jubilia’s attention had been drawn away from him. Nagi rummaged through his bag with one hand and removed the lid from the bottle of Halahala. Gripping the bottle tightly to keep it hidden, he carefully slipped it out of his bag.
“In any case, I must report this matter to Lord Lernaean. You need to come with me to the royal palace.”
“I’m not going anywhere!” Saya yelled vehemently.