In the town we arrived at, I heard about Nina from a youth named Chamber.
“As expected,” she’s the only one who fits the description of a selfish princess.
“Nina! It’s me, over here!!”
I pushed through the crowd, desperately trying to reach her. But before I could get to Nina, a big man grabbed me by the collar.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
“Heh heh, well, uh, I’m an acquaintance of hers…”
“Ugh!”
Naturally, I was tossed outside. Chamber peeked in, asking if I was alright.
“Whoa there, she might be cute, but you can’t be that overly eager.”
“It’s Nina, I have to stop her quickly!!”
I shook off his restraint and threw myself back into the sea of spectators. While being yelled at, I somehow managed to reach the front line. Nina and her opponent were already in the arena. The opponent, a creature with the lower body of a large scorpion, had its two pincers reinforced with iron.
No matter how strong she was, there was no way she could win against such a monster. I shook the cage and called out Nina’s name. However, it was drowned out by the roaring cheers, and it didn’t seem to reach her ears. As soon as the starting gong sounded, Nina approached her opponent with a dagger in hand.
With swift movements, she slipped under the scorpion and launched a surprise attack from the other side. But as if he had predicted it, he pinned her down with his stinger-tipped tail. He immediately secured her with his hind legs. The scorpion man calmly turned around and raised his guillotine-like pincers.
“Nina! Hey, stop the fight already! I, ugh!”
“You’re in the way! Get lost.”
Someone grabbed me from behind and pulled me away. Then, Nina wrapped her remaining snake tail around the enemy’s pincers. A nasty grinding sound could be heard. Even the opponent, who had been so confident, winced in pain.
“What are you doing? Finish him off already!”
“We bet on you! Kill that brat!”
He was about to slice Nina’s tail with his other pincer.
“Nina! Nina!!”
Through a gap in the wire mesh, our eyes met. I saw Nina’s lips move slightly. The next moment, she released her coiled tail, twisted her whole body, and escaped the enemy’s grasp. She then scaled the wire mesh, lifting her body to the ceiling, and hung there. For a moment, the scorpion man lost sight of her and looked around, then gasped and looked up.
By the time he noticed, Nina had already retrieved the dagger she had been holding in her mouth and was closing in on him. Faster than his iron pincers could trap her, her snake tail slid between his neck and shoulder. The enemy reached for the sword sticking out of his waist, trying to break free from the restraint.
“Are you looking for this?”
Saying that, she produced the opponent’s sword, which she had taken without him noticing. Seeing it, the opponent trembled visibly.
“Gugugugu…”
He tried to raise a white flag, but his mouth was covered, so he couldn’t make a sound. The spectators hurled curses, asking what was going on. I remembered the words Sharin had told me a long time ago. She had said that a Naga’s tail could easily break a person’s neck, even for a girl. Could she then rip the man’s head from his body? She watched the suffering enemy’s face, smiling with amusement.
“Nina, stop! The opponent can’t fight anymore! Hey, can you hear me!”
Tsk, she clicked her tongue and released the opponent. The scorpion man collapsed onto the ground with a thud. I ran towards Nina, who was collecting her fight money. Of course, the bodyguards tried to stop me, but thanks to her, I was allowed through.
“Nina! I’m glad you’re alive.”
“Well, yeah. Were you okay? What about the others?”
“That’s the thing, I haven’t found them yet…”
She hummed in agreement, and I told her to leave this place with me for the time being.
“I can’t believe you were involved in such dangerous things. I’m sorry I’m late.”
“Hah? They’re all small fries. It’s the best to have fun and get paid. Plus, it’s good training.”
She had become even tougher while I wasn’t there. Yes, such small fry wouldn’t even be worth her attention anymore.
“Ehhhhh, HEY! Tell us you knew the princess! Oh, uh, my name is Chamber, I’m a fan!”
He had followed us. But since she saved us, I had to thank her at least.
“Thanks to you, I was able to meet my companions. Thank you for saving my life.”
“You’re irrelevant. Ms. Nina, is it? Just a handshake, please.”
As he extended his hand, Nina had already walked ahead.
