The temperature of the room drops down rapidly, and a sudden chill creeps up my spine. The air actually becomes so cold that wispy white vapors of my own breath can be seen clearly.
Shit, this is bad…
Out of Naomi's body, a really strange sort of powerful aura is emitting out, automatically raising my instincts to cower in fear against her. It's almost similar to the helpless feeling you get while standing in front of a vast ocean of water. Though in this case, it's an ocean of raw power.
"Get away from her…" Naomi says in a toneless voice while flicking the fingers of her outstretched hand.
Instantly, Zakira's body lifts up in the air with a jerk and gets ruthlessly thrown away from Mia. Even though she lands hard on her butt, no painful voice comes from her mouth except a small exclamation of surprise.
What the fuck!? Seriously!?
Zakira, who looked so powerful just a few moments ago, gets thrown away so easily by Naomi!? Just how powerful is this white Fox Goddess…?
… Hey, wait!
Before I noticed, Naomi's hand has already moved towards me…
Holy shit! Not me! Not me!
She snaps her fingers…
"AAAAH— Eh?"
I prepare myself for the impact of being sent flying backward like Zakira, but no such thing happens. Only the knife that I am holding in my hand gets dropped forcibly to the floor, and magically shoots away far from me.
"MIAAA!"
The next instant, Naomi's cold expression melts completely into a half-crying one, and she starts running towards Mia while shouting her name loudly.
What the…?
The cold atmosphere also starts to revert back to normal, and the powerful aura emitting out from her body ceases like it never even existed in the first place.
"I-I am fine! I am fine— Don't hug me!"
Naomi jumps on the half-raised figure of Mia and hugs her tightly. She even starts rubbing her cheek together with Mia's and patting her bunny ears affectionately.
"I was so scared that my cute little apprentice will get hurt…" Naomi says in an emotional voice.
"Come on, get off of me! I am not hurt, okay?" Mia exasperatedly says while trying to push Naomi away.
"Really!? Thank goodness! I got worried because the danger detecting magic I have put on you went off— I-I mean, I saw the Vampire princess on top of you from afar," Naomi says, turning nervous because of the accidental slip of the tongue.
"Danger detecting magic!? Are you for real!? You still haven't removed that from me!?" Mia asks furiously.
"Ehh… I mean, I did remove it but… Hehehe… I put it back on you again," Naomi answers while laughing guiltily.
"Uuggh, you never listen to me…" Mia says in a frustrated voice.
What… is happening?
"Miss Naomi…"
Suddenly, Zakira speaks up.
Unlike the confused me, she is glaring at Naomi really sharply.
"… I think you are unaware what attacking the sole princess of the Vampire kingdom means," She says in a threatening tone.
"Of course, a war between countries," Naomi replies with a smile, "But that won't happen between Vampires and Beastkins, as I didn't actually attack you. I was simply saving my apprentice from getting hurt by you and this boy."
"Saving her from us!?" I ask loudly, unable to hold myself back.
"She was the one who abducted me on my way and stabbed me with a weird fucking knife. Only God knows what she would have done if not for Zakira showing up and saving me."
…
"Is it true?" Naomi asks, turning to look at Mia.
"… yes. But it's because he is the guy who got the abnormal system we are looking for! He was knowingly using magic even on his first try!" Mia answers while pointing at me accusingly.
"Really!? You are still saying that even after I told you otherwise just a few minutes ago!? At least believe in your own weird-ass knife!" I retort back.
"That… That is…" Mia seems lost for words to say.
"Tch… Mia, you should have at least consulted me about it. We already have two suspects on that matter, and this boy is not one of them. In fact, if I remember correctly, one of the suspect's names was given by you, right?" Naomi asks Zakira.
"Yes, of course, it was me," Zakira replies haughtily.
Fuck! They are talking about Leo…
"You did a great job there. Anyway, let me apologize to you. It was clearly Mia's fault for attacking the boy without telling me anything.
"Though I have to ask you one thing; how did you find out that all of this was happening inside my room? I clearly remember putting strong spells here to prevent others from detecting any activity from outside…" Naomi asks while raising her eyebrows.
"I… Err… I saw a glimpse of that Mia dragging Jacob inside the room. And as he was here to visit me, I immediately guessed that something is not right," Zakira answers in a slightly nervous tone.
I don't know why but I can already tell that she is lying. And mind, it's not obvious at all.
Wait, now that I remember, a few days ago, she even showed up at Rebecca's house out of nowhere. How come she found out that I was there at that time?
It's almost impossible…
"He was visiting you? So, the vampire princess has already made friends at school, huh? And that to, a male…" Naomi says.
"That's none of your business…" Zakira says angrily.
"True, true. Anyway, Mia, you also apologize to this boy," Naomi says.
"But I was just—"
"Mia…"
Naomi's voice turns strict.
"… Fine, I am sorry…" Mia apologizes while gritting her teeth angrily.
Hey, that's not how you apologize, you know?
"So then, I hope we are forgiven for our mistakes. Anyway, both of you must want to continue with your original plan of meeting each other, right? Well, I have some really important work I need to attend to as well. So, I guess this is goodbye?" Naomi asks, pressing on the last word.
"Hmph… Okay, we are going. But remember to reign this Mia a little," Zakira says while getting up from the floor.
"I will surely remember to do that," Naomi answers with a smile, whereas Mia glares at Zakira threateningly.
"Come on, Jacob," Zakira says to me.
Giving her a nod, I start to walk out of the room together with her.
Now that Zakira's back is facing Naomi and Mia, I notice that her confident expression is completely gone. Instead, an extremely concerned look is overshadowing her face.
"Bye!"
I hear Naomi's cheerful voice sending us off from behind before the door of the room gets shut magically.
"This is bad…" Zakira mutters in a worried tone, the moment we are alone.
"The white fox suspects us… And that is the last thing I want."