The Magical Holy Woman Seraphina - Chapter 35

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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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Magic Saint Seraphina
Episode 35
“The only reason I managed to slip into the Ingrid Merchant Guild Mansion last time was pure luck.”
I can’t count on that kind of fortune twice.
“The Tram Mansion doesn’t have an Ancient Protection Spell, but I’ve heard they have more than fifty guards rotating through the estate around the clock.”
Lights burning all night without pause, and nowhere near the constant foot traffic of the Ingrid place either.
=Infiltration impossible.
“That’s why I sent a Warning Notice.”
I flicked Tofu’s nose as he sprawled across my pillow like it belonged to him.
Move over. I pushed Tofu aside—stretched out horizontally on the pillow without a shred of shame—and settled in myself.
I needed to rest as much as possible before the Transformation to conserve my strength.
Tofu grudgingly shifted his hindquarters a few inches and spoke up.
“A Warning Notice?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“How does that help you infiltrate?”
“I’m not infiltrating. I’m walking through the front door.”
I pushed his back leg away from my face as I explained further.
“With fifty guards protecting the place, sneaking in is impossible. That leaves only one option: get permission and enter through the main entrance.”
This was actually a method used by some clever thief from ages past—someone with a name similar to Arden’s.
‘I remembered this idea because Arden mentioned Warning Notices last time.’
All credit goes to Arden for the inspiration.
“Tofu, you’re not coming along this time.”
Sneaking around unseen was already risky enough; now that I’d sent an actual Warning Notice, this mission would be twice as dangerous.
There’d be no element of surprise at all.
And that man with the red eyes might show up again.
Or worse.
‘Fifty guards!’
Fighting fifty-to-one odds!
And if all those fifty are armed with guns? Strength alone means nothing against bullets.
From what I’d observed, the existing security staff, the more capable servants, and even the Royal Guard Corps responding to the Warning Notice had the place locked down tight.
Worst case, even Arden might show up.
Taking him along would be animal cruelty.
That’s the sentiment with which I spoke—but to my surprise, Tofu shook his head.
He jumped up from my pillow, which he’d been drooling on, and spoke with absolute conviction.
“I am a Divine Beast assisting the Magic Saint! I don’t retreat in the face of danger!”
“Oh, is that so?”
“You bet! Together in life, together in death!”
“Well. How noble.”
I’d told him not to come because he’d only get in the way.
Surely going alone and surviving beat going together and dying.
But telling a puppy this confident to stay home and “clean up the flower petals from my Transformation” felt like animal cruelty too.
There was nothing for it but to nod.
“All right then. We’ll go together.”
Here, wear this instead.
I fitted a small black Butterfly Mask—made from scraps of fabric I’d brought from the costume room—over Tofu’s tiny face.
“Just in case you end up in photographs again today. Can’t have anyone recognizing you.”
Not Arden. And not Arden. And definitely not Arden.
His facial fur got mussed a bit, and he looked sort of funny, but also thoroughly villainous in a nice way.
“I love it!”
While Tofu fussed about looking like a portrait masterpiece—decked out in his Butterfly Mask with a Tuxedo Ribbon tied smartly around his neck—I held a hand mirror in both hands and closed my eyes.
“Money, prestige, good health, egg tart, yogurt ice cream, strawberry cream cake, pavé chocolate, plum gelato, strawberry-lemon smoothie……”
★★★★★
Magic Saint Seraphina!
Transform!
★★★★★
Swirling and spinning.
“Phew.”
Next time I should buy blackout curtains and hang them over the window before transforming.
I’m always terrified the light might leak outside.
“I’ll have to clean up the flower petals when I get back.”
Outside, I’d been going bang and pow with every spell in my arsenal before coming home and squatting down to tidy up the flower petals—which, admittedly, looked a bit pathetic.
I wished Tofu would clean it up for me.
“Divine Beast Johan Mendelssohn Handel Beethoven Bach Schubert Mozart Debussy Park Yeon Strauss III, transform! Now!”
I scooped up Tofu, who was bouncing around excitedly by himself, tucked her under my arm, and opened the window.
“So, shall we go?”
“My lord!”
“Do you really think the Magic Saint will appear?!”
“How are you preparing for the Magic Saint’s warning?!”
“Why do you think the Magic Saint specifically said she would take the counterfeit of The Dancing Boy?!”
“There’s a rumor that The Dancing Boy on display at the Tram Mansion is actually the genuine article, obtained as the price of breaking your contract with the Golly Family! What do you think about that?!”
A grand mansion on Laruna Street, where the newly wealthy—those who’d made their fortunes in business and investment—typically lived.
I’d seen in the papers not long ago that one of the estates in this area had sold for 14.9 billion gold.
(For reference, my monthly salary is 1.5 million gold. Ha, ha, ha.)
Laruna Street, newly developed with wide, pleasant roads where you could normally walk by day without bumping shoulders with another soul, was bustling despite the late hour.
The Magic Saint—the Empire’s favorite topic of conversation, dominating the newspapers for weeks now.
Word that she would appear again, and that she’d even sent a Warning Notice this time, had sent swarms of reporters from every news outlet.
Not to mention the onlookers.
A veritable human tide.
“The Ingrid Merchant Guild matter and the Imperial Daily News reporter Skitter incident—until now, the Magic Saint has only targeted villains!”
“Why do you think she’s targeting the Tram baron’s family this time?”
“Don’t you think it’s connected to the contract dispute involving The Dancing Boy?”
“Wouldn’t you consider retracting your claim that the painting is a counterfeit right now?!”
“My lord!”
Reporters thrust their pens and notepads forward, shoving questions toward the interior of the mansion, while guards standing like a barrier around it sweated profusely as they pushed them back.
“Step back, step back!”
“Clear the street!”
‘This must be hundreds of people.’
Am I really this popular?
‘They’re all watching with burning eyes for when the Magic Saint arrives.’
So my plan was this.
I hid behind a distant wall and used one of the three spells I could cast today.
Shimmer.
“Hmm.”
Not bad at all.
I took a moment to examine my transformed appearance.
“Tofu, you doing okay?”
“Doing fine.”
“Don’t come out.”
I hid Tofu beneath the cloak draped across my back.
Then I walked boldly through the front gate.
A guard moved to block me as I pushed past the reporters and approached.
“You cannot enter.”
“I’m a captain of the Royal Guard Corps. I heard your commander is inside at the moment.”
The secret to infiltrating a heavily guarded mansion with confidence?
Simply become someone with the authority to enter. ☆
‘Nobody’s going to believe a forty-something man with a gray mustache is the Magic Saint.’
Exactly.
I’d used my first spell for this disguise.
With my magically transformed body, I brazenly patted my stomach.
‘The real captain ran into a broken wagon wheel on the way here and is stuck down in some ditch. It’ll take him a while to get out.’
Of course, the person who broke the wheel was me.
‘By the time he sorts that out, the job will be done. ☆’
The guard, having carefully verified my uniform—the kind only Royal Guard Corps captains could wear—and the identification badge pinned to my shirt pocket, lowered the barrier he’d been holding.
“You may enter. Go through the front, and the butler will show you the way.”
“Much obliged. Oh, and one more thing.”
I pointed toward the L-shaped mansion and asked the guard.
“Where would the reception hall displaying the painting be, from the outside? It’s an important matter, but my subordinate forgot to report it to me.”
“Right there, where the mansion angles.”
“Thank you.”
I stroked the mustache and stepped inside.
“Do you think the Royal Guard Corps will be able to apprehend the Magic Saint today?!”
“Give us a statement, please!”
I ignored the reporters thrusting their notebooks in my face.
The moment I stepped inside, the guard closed the door behind me.
That’s when it happened.
“The knights!”
“?!”
The knights?!
I turned around.
In the distance, four tall figures emerged from a black carriage that had just pulled up.
Black uniforms, black coats.
Even among the towering knights, one head of brilliant golden hair stood a full head above the rest—a face so cold it discouraged casual conversation, long legs striding forward with purpose.
“It’s the Imperial Knight Order!”
“What are the knights doing here?!”
“Get a shot of them!”
A man moved deftly through the surging crowd of reporters without letting his body brush against theirs.
“You’ve got to be kidding me….”
Arden really came.

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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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