The Magical Holy Woman Seraphina - Chapter 48

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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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The Holy Mage Seraphina
Episode 48
“Fire?!”
“Where!”
“Where is the fire!”
“Wooden Street in District 10, Your Highness!”
The alleys in that district were cramped, with houses pressed roof against roof, and most were built of wood—the flames were spreading at an alarming rate.
A junior knight shouted this warning.
“At this rate, the entire district could be consumed!”
As the junior knight’s urgent words fell away, silence flooded the hall.
“Wooden Street? That’s….”
“A slum.”
Someone murmured it aloud.
District 10. Wooden Street. The slums.
‘The Anonymous Social Club had commissioned journalist Skeeter to do that work as a condition of membership.’
Reporter Skeeter had planned to break the story about actress Rozena on the very day a fire swept through the impoverished district.
Skeeter had been fired from the Imperial Daily for it, but enraged fans of Rozena held a Journalism Ethics Funeral outside his home for ten days and nights, and he was said to have remained housebound for some time after that.
Throughout it all, he never revealed which social club had enlisted his services, which only magnified public outrage.
‘He must have judged that facing the wrath of an angry mob was preferable to facing the wrath of an angry power.’
So which social club was it, anyway?
People had tried to find out, but there were so many nobles who owned land in that area that it proved impossible.
And now, of all things, a fire breaks out in Wooden Street?
Was it mere coincidence?
“Ugh, honestly. I thought it was a fire in one of the important districts.”
“To think we’re being interrupted over something so trivial.”
“Is there someone here who has relatives living in District 10, perhaps?”
Does anyone here have relatives living in Wooden Street? A man’s jest, and the assembled crowd erupted in laughter.
“Thank goodness. I thought it was District 2, like that incident at the Ingrid Mansion last time.”
“That was truly frightening.”
“Even so, setting a fire in District 2 was reckless of the Holy Mage.”
“That’s right. Several of us live there….”
“After that, we had a water channel constructed in our estates’ gardens….”
Those who had been alarmed soon began conversing among themselves again.
Elegantly.
As though nothing had happened.
Sipping strawberry champagne.
‘Would they have been the same when my home burned?’
The thought arrived unbidden, from nowhere.
When I was small, when a discarded cigarette someone had thrown set our house ablaze.
When my mother and father perished inside, and the fire spread to the neighborhood, and the entire district suffered the loss.
When the Fire Brigade said they couldn’t come right away because they’d been requisitioned for the nobility’s event.
Had the nobles been doing this then as well?
As I bit my lip, I felt a touch at the tip of my fingers.
It was Arden.
Arden, who had been glaring coldly at the nobles who’d just spoken—as though to say we’d never squabbled so childishly—relaxed his expression the moment our eyes met.
“Senior.”
I knew what he meant to say.
That we should go help.
I nodded.
“It’s fine. Go quickly.”
I’ll follow along.
“My apologies. I was the one who invited you.”
“What are you talking about? This is an emergency.”
There’s a fire—what does a ball matter.
“Just go.”
Then I can transform and come after you.
Arden spoke quickly in response.
“There are better snacks over there than peach yogurt granola bread—everything a senior would enjoy. A strawberry lemon smoothie will be passed around in a moment, and each of us will have a glass. If some strange fellow tries to talk to you like before, we’ll bash his head in with a cup. I’ll be back very soon.”
“Very soon?”
“Before the bell tolling midnight strikes twelve times.”
Arden finished speaking and glanced around the room.
Among the nobles absorbed in dancing and drinking, he gestured to several knights—Chase among them—who wore the same expression as his own, then slipped out of the ballroom.
After Arden left, I followed him out.
Once I was certain no one was watching, I clutched the necklace.
“Money, honor, health… I remember every person who came here today. Just you wait.”
★★★★★
The Saintly Mage Seraphina!
No time to fool around now! There’s a fire!
Keep your wits about you!
Whoosh!
Transformation.
★★★★★
“Phew.”
I’d worried about managing two transformations in a single day, but fortunately it works.
I slung the sack I’d retrieved from the coat check over my shoulder and slipped out through a side exit.
Below the hill where the Imperial Palace stood, I stared down at the bustling streets—carriages and pedestrians weaving through the chaos.
Well, I’d made it out.
“Getting to District 10 from here is…”
“Saintly Mage!”
“Thief Lady?!”
I spun around in surprise.
It was Plum—the Thief Lady who’d fled with her tail between her legs after I’d caught her off guard with my strength.
Plum’s eyes narrowed when she spotted the sack slung across my shoulders.
“What’s in that sack?!”
“Nothing important! What are you doing out here?!”
“The Wooden Street is my territory!”
“Oh!”
That explained why she’d come running out.
“Come on! I know how to get to the Wooden Street in ten minutes flat!”
Without giving her time to ask questions, I bolted down the hillside.
Was this actually safe? Half-doubting, I ran after her.
“Ahhh!”
Citizens on the public carriage below screamed as Plum and I suddenly dropped onto its roof.
“The Saintly Mage?!”
“Hello there?”
I offered an awkward smile and patted my pockets.
“Do we need to pay the carriage fare?”
I had no money—I’d have to see if I could scrounge up some sweets instead.
“Just ride!”
“Saintly Mage! I love you!”
A teenager leaned out through the carriage window and shouted at me.
“Marry me!”
“Absolutely not,” I answered flatly.
Then I turned to the driver with an urgent request.
“We’re in a terrible hurry—would you be able to go a bit faster?”
“Oh, you girls!”
Don’t worry! I’ll get you there on time, and I’ll even buy you both a cup of coffee as a thank-you!
The driver grinned and suddenly urged the horses forward at breakneck speed.
“Ow!”
I nearly bit my tongue.
Beside me, clinging to the carriage roof, Plum smirked.
“Nice having a celebrity tag along.”
“If you’re so jealous, ditch the thief routine and become a saint yourself.”
“Quiet, and get ready. We’re switching carriages.”
We’d cut through an alley beneath that overpass and hop onto another carriage heading the other way.
“After that…”
As Plum outlined the route, I calculated in my head.
‘I’ve got one more spell left today.’
To extinguish the fire spreading through the Wooden Street.
And to rescue the people who didn’t make it out in time.
If there’s a villain who deliberately set this fire, I need to catch them and—
‘Am I supposed to do this alone?’
“Plum.”
“Can you stop emphasizing each syllable like that?”
“Where’s the nearest fire station to Wooden Street?”
“There isn’t one.”
“There isn’t?”
“There used to be, but nobody volunteered to staff it, so it closed down. The next closest station is a thirty-minute carriage ride away, so it might as well not exist.”
“Which means—”
“Even if the Imperial Knights come to help, there’s nothing they can really do.”
……
“They’ll try to draw water from the Side River nearby, but the houses will burn down before they manage it.”
Plum’s mouth twisted into a bitter smile.
“Who knows? Maybe if a few people die in this fire, they’ll finally pay attention.”
I couldn’t bring myself to tell her everything would be fine, not with that sharp edge in her voice.
I just gripped the hammer in my hands a little tighter.
“Mom! Dad!”
The moment Plum jumped down from the carriage, she bolted ahead without me, running into the smoke.
I hadn’t even approached the flames yet, but my face was already burning.
“What am I going to do about this…”
I was steeling myself when—
“Seraphina!”
“Cassian!”
Cassian emerged from the direction Plum had disappeared into, his silver hair wild and disheveled.
“They said you vanished in the middle of the ball—you were here the whole time?”
“Yes. But—”
Cassian glanced around, his voice dropping.
“There’s no one in the village. Not a single person.”
“Not one?”
“Not one.”
“How is that even possible?”
I could accept that no one was trying to extinguish the fire, but—
—there’s no way the elderly and children managed to evacuate on their own strength.
“Something feels very wrong.”
“Yeah.”
I nodded, then—
“Wait.”
I pointed the hammer at a tall, sharp building in the distance.
“Cassian. Why is that temple lit up?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe the priest forgot to extinguish the lights in their haste to evacuate.”
Except—
“I’m going to check it out.”
Arden should be back soon with people, so wait here and help put out the fire once he arrives. I finished speaking and hurried toward the temple when Cassian called out urgently.
“Wait, I’ll come with you—”
“Cassian.”
I fixed him with a stern look.
“Can you fight?”
“I… no.”
“Then do what you’re good at here.”
“And what’s that supposed to be?”
“Praying.”
I handed him the sack I’d brought and bounded toward a nearby rooftop.
“Ow-ow-ow!”
I forgot the roof was on fire!
“Yow! Yow! Yow!”
It’s too hot!
Bouncing involuntarily from one burning surface to the next, I made my way toward the temple.
I landed on a slanted roof, then on a circular skylight that opened downward, and peered inside.
‘I have one spell left today.’

Wait. Hold on a second.
I don’t think one time will be enough.

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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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