The Magical Holy Woman Seraphina - Chapter 27

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Magical Saint Seraphina
Episode 27
Just for a moment.
Time seemed to stop.
Beneath the moonlight, only Arden’s golden hair, pale face, and sage-green eyes held any clarity.
And then—
“What in the world are you wearing?!”
His voice rang out in indignation.
Eh?
“In a skirt like that, and you climb onto a rooftop?!”
Wait—he hadn’t recognized me after all?
I steadied my ankle, which had nearly given way, and looked down at Arden.
“Don’t look at me like that!”
Right. So he hadn’t.
Apparently he was just furious about the clothes.
But there was no time to verify anything further.
“It’s the Magical Saint!”
Because people had begun flooding toward the building beneath my feet.
“The Magical Saint!”
“Where?”
“There! Up on the roof!”
“That blonde hair?!”
“What’s with that strange outfit?!”
“Seraphina! Let’s go that way!”
Tofu, flattened against the roof and hidden from view, pointed with a dusty paw toward the adjoining building.
“Hurry!”
“Right!”
“Wait!”
Arden, sensing my escape attempt as if by instinct, shouted after me.
“Wait, I said!”
I yelled back at him, who looked ready to scramble up onto the rooftop that very instant.
“Listen here!”
“What?”
“Do you know who I am?”
Was there any chance he’d recognize me?
“An indecent exhibitionist!”
“…!”
I am not!
Hehehehe.
Don’t laugh, Tofu!
I collected my wounded pride and was about to bolt again—
“No, no, no, no, no!”
Ah, right.
I had work to do.
I turned back toward the journalist wailing so dramatically.
‘Scoundrel of the Year.’
He must have come rushing here after hearing from some aristocrat that his house had been robbed—judging by the sight of journalists tying narrow neckties like headbands across their foreheads in place of proper ties.
“No, no, no, no! My film!”
At Skitter, shrieking with a flushed, drunken face and spittle flying, I swung the cherry-red mallet—which had truly become my magical tool.
Zing!
Hundreds of copies of letters exchanged between journalist Skitter and an anonymous social club member—letters that had been in Tofu’s bag—scattered through the air.
“What?”
“What is this?”
The crowd, murmuring as they looked at me, began catching the scraps of paper falling from the sky.
“Ugh!”
Hit in the face by falling paper, Arden withdrew a handkerchief from his pocket.
“What’s this… slum demolition?”
“They were trying to cover this up?”
“By creating a scandal?”
“What scandal are they talking about?”
“Idiot! It’s right here—they’re saying they won’t release information that might draw attention to the victim.”
“Wait, something else is falling!”
“This is… a newspaper?”
–Sena Daily News–
[EXCLUSIVE] Empire Daily News Reporter Skitter Dismisses the Public… Citizens in ‘Shock’
We’re treated like fools who ignore what really matters and chase celebrity gossip instead……
Is our right to know important, but people’s right to privacy protection not?
「Right to know?
I never wanted to know any of that!
You’re just curious, and you blamed us for it. I’m reporting you!
Let’s have a day where we respect other people’s privacy☆
–Magical Saint Seraphina💫–」
And finally, in the empty space at the top of the hastily assembled Sena Daily News front page.
Click!
A head-on photograph of Reporter Skitter, sweating under the weight of his exposed misconduct.
“Wow!”
“Wow!”
I turned around contentedly to look at the people gawping as a photograph materialized before their eyes through magic.
“Now that’s what I call exercising the right to know.”
All right, so now!
Should I make a dramatic exit, scattering rose petals and candy?
Because!
Arden’s chasing me in the meantime, already crawling up the wall!
‘Persistent bastard!’
But I’ve got magic on my side!
Here we go!
Pop-pop!
Pop-pop!
Pop—
“…Why isn’t it working?”
“Seraphina only just awakened her new magical tool. She can probably only cast magic three times a day for now.”
“Hey!”
You should’ve mentioned that earlier!
I backpedaled in protest, dodging Arden—who was remarkably nimble and already nearly at the top.
“I haven’t even used it three times yet!”
Once taking down the dark-haired man, once just now……
“You don’t mean that thing where I pressed the heart earlier and made light counts too?!”
“It does.”
“No…!”
“As you help more people with the Power of Justice and grow, you’ll be able to cast greater magic more frequently….”
“Let’s get out of here!”
I scooped up the nagging Tofu and wedged him against my side.
“Whoa-whoa-whoa!”
“Magical Saint!”
“She’s disappearing!”
People distracted by the newspaper I’d just released pointed at me as I sprinted across the rooftop.
Click!
At the loud shutter sound, one of the photographers who’d rushed over hoping for a story quickly raised his camera and snapped a shot of me.
“Stop right there!”
Arden’s shout, by way of finale.
But I was already far away by then.
Nyeh-nyeh☆
* * *
「Dear Audience,
Hello, this is Rosena.
This is my first time writing a letter to all of you, and I’m afraid it will be my first and last.
With this final performance at Opera Serniere, I, Rosena……
I’m terribly sorry I cannot repay your love……」
“Haa….”
Tap.
“…Huh?”
Tap.
In the dressing room of Opera Serniere, now empty after everyone had left for the day.
A space cluttered with wreaths bearing affectionate messages—”I’m so proud of our daughter,” “I love you, sister”—and cute trinkets scattered everywhere.
Rosena, who had stayed behind to write a letter, heard a strange sound at her ear.
Something kept bumping against the firmly shut door—tap, tap sounds.
The irritating noise was enough to force even the despondent Rosena to her feet.
Another person might have wondered, ‘But there shouldn’t be anyone here now?’ Yet Rosena was an exception, consumed by despair as she was.
Tomorrow, once she left behind only the letter she was writing now, she herself would disappear.
Even the will to indulge such curiosity felt like a luxury right now.
She simply moved toward the door, intent on eliminating that persistent tap, tap sound that kept grating on her nerves.
What entered Rosena’s field of vision as she halfheartedly pulled the door open was.
A basket sitting on the floor.
“…A film canister?”
An old, scratched film canister bearing the marks of years passed.
One she recognized—Skitter the journalist had shown it to her once before—
And with it, a single note.
「The price for returning the film is as follows.
First. Do not yield to malice.
Second. Do not surrender.
Third. Remember that your talent lies not in your appearance, but in your soul.
Confidence is a right granted only to people like you who chase the light within yourself, so never lower your head.
And finally.
Be happy.
–Your fan, the Magical Saint Sena」
「P.S. Sorry for sneaking into the dressing room!」
“…Ha.”
Absurd. Rosena let out a hollow laugh.
She looked down, placed her hand holding the note on her hip, then covered her eyes with that same hand. In the other, the film canister was clutched tight.
“…Ha.”
Ha. Ha. Ha-ha……
“Hnnngh….”
Bright light seeping from the dressing room and darkness filling the corridor.
At that boundary, Rosena collapsed and broke into tears, light glimmering off her rose-gold hair.
* * *
The next morning. The wardrobe room.
[Actress Rosena Reveals Shocking Past: “I’m the Victim the Magical Saint Spoke Of”]
[“Dreaded This Truth Coming to Light, Even Considered Retirement”]
[“I Wanted to Hide It… But Realized I Had Nothing to Be Ashamed Of”]
[Rosena Speaks on Why She’s Exposing Her Past: “I Did Nothing Wrong”]
“…So that’s how it was.”
“I feel a bit bad, actually. We all figured Rosena must’ve been beautiful from birth.”
“She must’ve gone through so much… And those bastards, they really are terrible people, aren’t they?”
“I love you, sister!”
Hnnngh! Ellie waved a cheering stick—goodness knows where she’d gotten it—in tears, exactly like Rosena yesterday.
“Whether you weigh three kilos or three hundred, I don’t care! Sniff sniff!”
“Me neither!”
Hnnngh! Another colleague crying along with her.
“Why are they like that?”
“Apparently they went to Opera Serniere yesterday and saw the performance.”
That explains it—I did catch a glimpse of someone who looked like Ellie in the distance when I slipped into the dressing room yesterday.
I’d burned through all three uses of magic I can manage in a day, so I had no choice but to deliver the film canister by hand.
It was a relief that Rosena had stayed late in the dressing room.
“In any case, I’m glad it’s resolved. If I’d had to watch Rosena retire over something this ridiculous…”
“Right. It would’ve been an enormous loss for the Empire.”
“The idea that she’d consider retiring over something so trivial is insane. The actor who played against Rosena was caught driving a carriage while drunk and still showed up for his performances, didn’t he?”
“Exactly what I was thinking!”
“But still, the Magical Saint really is…”
I watched my colleagues chattering away with satisfaction before rising from my seat.
“I’m going to go throw out some trash.”
I picked up the box left over from the morning’s sorting and headed outside. Setting it down in the alley, I fished out the hand mirror hanging around my neck.
The hand mirror had grown far more brilliant now that it was bonded with the brooch.
My magical tool.
“Seraphina!”
“Tofu’s here, is he.”
I watched Tofu waddle over from beside me.
I crouched down and scratched the top of his head, and he flopped onto his side. Rubbing his round belly—whatever he’d eaten since morning had made it quite plump—I spoke.
“Tofu.”
“Hmm?”
“My brooch merged with the sacred object, remember? That’s why my brooch is gone now.”
“That’s right.”
“So the temple is going to compensate me for my brooch, yes?”
……
What’s with that silence?
The job’s done, so we settle accounts.
“I can’t exactly sacrifice my brooch to implement justice without getting paid for it.”
One more time.
♡☆♧Yes, I must confess I’m rather worn down.♡☆♧

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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