The Magical Holy Woman Seraphina - Chapter 56

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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 Magic Saint Seraphina
Chapter 56
“Arf! Arf! Arf!”
“Ahhh!”
“Honey!”
Chaos erupted.
The man whose leg Johann Mendelssohn Handel Beethoven Bach Schubert Mozart Debussy Park Yeon Strauss III had sunk his teeth into thrashed about, shaking his calf. The golden braid on his jacket jangled.
Yet the dog didn’t let go.
Johann’s small body dangled in the air, his teeth clamped firmly on the man’s leg, swaying like a pendulum.
“Oh no!”
Our Johann’s front teeth were going to break!
Though honestly, he was so small there wasn’t much left to break.
“Johann!”
“Johann Mendelssohn Handel Beethoven Bach Schubert Mozart Debussy Park Yeon Strauss III!”
Cassian was faster than me.
Apparently that’s what real dog owners are made of—he called out that impossibly long name and separated Johann in one swift motion, then scooped up the still-snarling creature into his arms.
He patted the small body soothingly, trying to calm him.
“That kind of attack won’t work. It’s still winter, so the clothes are too thick. Next time, jump higher and bite for the hair instead.”
“What?”
“Make him bald, understand?”
Oh. Of all things.
“Now wait just a minute!”
The man finally came to his senses and tried to protest.
“My apologies. Our dog can’t resist nonsense.”
“Yelp!”
Facing Cassian—built like a tank and radiating the unmistakable aura of a street thug—the man’s tail drooped between his legs.
“Ugh. Spittle flying everywhere.”
It wasn’t just Cassian, either; Arden stood beside him, pulling out a handkerchief with an expression of utter disgust.
“Couldn’t you discuss this at a greater distance?”
“Grrr….”
Johann continued to bare his teeth and growl, his indignation still unresolved.
“There, there. Bit something and it feels weird now, doesn’t it? Let’s go home and brush your teeth?”
Cassian, who ordinarily never bothered bathing the dog, suddenly played the part of a fastidious owner and needled the man further.
“Ugh.”
Watching the man who’d just moments ago been thrashing about to pry the dog loose, Arden noticed the saliva pooling at both corners of his mouth and gagged.
A complete disaster all around.
“Ahem, ahem.”
The onlookers who’d witnessed the entire spectacle now shifted their stance as though they’d never agreed with the man in the first place.
“You’re right, he did go a bit far with his words.”
“Sure, it’s funny to watch some commoner farmer blunder in without proper awareness or sense of station, but frankly it’s not our concern.”
“Exactly. He’s not even real competition.”
“Even if that peasant farmer had brought a perfectly healthy dog without any handicap, the situation would be the same. There’s no way for him to win.”
“He’d be lucky just to finish the course.”
What?
“What do you mean?”
Sure, he wasn’t real competition—I’d grant them that. But finish the course? Why wouldn’t he be able to? I turned to look at the woman who’d spoken.
“I don’t believe you’ve seen it yet?”
The woman’s eyes widened as she met my gaze.
Another woman, her face half-hidden behind a fan, snapped it shut and pointed it toward the Competition Arena where the officials were currently setting up equipment.
What? I craned my neck to get a better look at the arena.
And immediately understood.
“The obstacles that have been installed….”
“Yes. They’re designed for large dogs.”
Every single obstacle the competing dogs would need to run through, leap over, and press down with their body weight was sized and designed entirely for large-breed dogs.
“Why would they do that?”
The entry requirements didn’t specify that only large dogs were eligible.
In response to my bewildered question, the woman who’d just answered me opened her fan again, hid her mouth behind it, and spoke.
“A certain minister who was tasked by the Crown Prince with overseeing the opening of this Amusement Park happens to be my cousin.”
“And?”
“He said that regardless, all the noble competitors would surely bring large-breed dogs of a specific type, breeds famous for their intelligence.”
“…….”
She turned to look at the Border Collies scattered about.
Dogs that didn’t even seem to know their own owner’s face—the one who’d just been bitten by a Maltese moments ago—watching only the trainer, indifferent to what had happened.
“That’s why I said there was no need to design a separate Competition Arena for small breeds. One arena is sufficient.”
“…….”
“You seem to be nobility, so it’s unfortunate things turned out this way.”
“…….”
She looked behind her.
Beyond the fence, she could see commoner children watching them, unable to enter this space.
Only the Netty-Nephi sisters had managed to cross that line, but even they were destined to lose.
The Competition Arena had been designed with the odds stacked against them from the start.
“…….”
‘Am I over-identifying because I’m a commoner?’
A small child, who looked even younger than Nephi, stood at the front of the fence and tugged on the hand of the teenage girl who’d brought her.
“Sister, can’t we go inside and watch?”
“How could we? We don’t have a dog.”
“Then I can’t get a Golden Ticket?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. You can’t even enter the competition—how are you supposed to get a ticket?”
“But I still want a ticket…….”
“Give up.”
The girl spoke flippantly.
“Give up on this life and aim for the next one. Or maybe go back in time or something.”
“What’s going back in time?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“…….”
Noble children boasting about how their dog would obviously win the ticket, how impressive their dog’s bloodline was and what an excellent trainer it had been trained by.
And children outside the line, merely watching.
“…….”
If you’re born a commoner, you can’t even enter past the fence.
And even if you somehow struggle your way inside,
‘it’s useless if you don’t have a large breed.’
Just as graduating from the Academy and finding a good job doesn’t let you catch up to children born with status.
Am I thinking too much about a single Agility Competition?
* * *
“Johann Mendelssohn Handel Beethoven Bach Schubert Mozart Debussy Park Yeon Strauss III often mentions his bloodline because it’s his weakness.”
While Arden, who couldn’t stand anything dirty, had volunteered to scrub the pup clean,
Cassian spoke.
‘The proud bloodline of the Divine Beast, Johann Mendelssohn Handel Beethoven Bach Schubert Mozart Debussy Park Yeon Strauss III!’
She recalled what the pup had said to her when they first met.
Cassian continued.
“Johann Mendelssohn Handel Beethoven Bach Schubert Mozart Debussy Park Yeon Strauss III has Pure Blood Divine Beast lineage, but unfortunately, he only has three toes.”
“How many toes does a dog normally have?”
“Five on the front paws, four on the back.”
“Hmm.”
The pup’s paw pads were three, that’s true.
You couldn’t usually tell because they were covered by fur, but when you touched the pads, you could feel it distinctly.
“But does that matter? The number of toes?”
It’s convenient anyway—takes less time when trimming his nails. Cassian countered my remark.
“Do you know anything about the Gumiho of the Eastern Empire?”
“The nine-tailed fox? The one that does tricks and transforms into a human?”
“Like that Gumiho, Divine Beasts can originally transform into humans too.”
“Really?!”
“Only Divine Beasts with normal toes, though.”
“…Which means.”
“Exactly. A pup with three toes… Johann Mendelssohn Handel Beethoven Bach Schubert Mozart Debussy Park Yeon Strauss III is like a fox without a tail.”
Like a raccoon that lost its balance when swept downriver because something went wrong with its tail.
“The pup can’t transform either.”
“Ah.”
So that’s why he got so angry at what the man said earlier.
‘He had every right to be angry. I was angry too.’
I only held back because I didn’t want to get arrested for biting some stranger’s calf.
“How did Debussy end up like that?”
“From birth.”
…….
“A rare Pure Blood Divine Beast, but cast out from his clan due to a deformity.”
Cassian told me how he’d found Debussy shivering beneath the Temple Wall on a rainy day, a single bag slung across his shoulders.
“Exiled for nothing more than a missing toe?”
“Exiled for nothing more than a missing toe.”
“But.”
Debussy lives with the High Priestess now. I said it, and Cassian picked up the thread.
“He’s a Divine Beast who serves the Magic Saint.”
“The most successful Divine Beast there ever was.”
I bit my lip and looked around.
A direction emerged from the discomfort that had been gnawing at me since earlier.
I stared at the Competition Arena — tilted from the start, designed for a large dog.
‘At this rate, Debussy and the raccoon won’t even finish.’
I wasn’t trying to win first place ahead of everyone else. They deserved a fair chance to compete, didn’t they?
“Cassian. Do you know what I’m thinking right now?”
“It seems like you want to carry out justice?”
“Exactly.”
But to do that, I’d need to handle one crucial thing first.
At the gravity in my voice, Cassian leaned toward me.
“First.”
“First?”
“I need to ditch Arden for a bit.”
I pointed toward Arden coming our way while wiping Debussy’s head and paws with the handkerchief.
His white shirt was soaked at the front as if he’d just fought a battle, but the way he looked after scrubbing the dog clean made him seem utterly refreshed.
I didn’t feel good about deceiving Arden, who knew nothing of this.
“I can’t use Transformation in front of him and risk getting caught.”
“That’s fair.”
Cassian nodded.
The two of us exchanged a knowing look and stared at Arden for a moment.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Arden, unaware of what was happening, furrowed his brow at our gaze.
I looked up at him and spoke.
“Arden.”
“Yes?”
“I just realized I have an urgent matter.”
“An urgent matter?”
“It’s just—”
I was about to say I needed to use the restroom when I flinched.
‘I used the restroom excuse last time at the ball too.’
And I was gone for quite a while.
If I disappeared again with another restroom excuse and stayed away for ages, what would that look like?
I’d seem like—
like someone with chronic intestinal problems……
Of course! Not that Arden and I are dating, or that he’d introduce me to those terrifying parents of his, or that I have some unrequited love for him—that’s certainly not it—and neither he nor I has any interest in each other, and we’ve never felt our hearts skip a beat, well, not exactly, there was maybe one time but that was just the situation, and the only reason my Hammer got charged because of him was pure coincidence, so it’s ridiculous to worry about my image in front of him now anyway!
But I still can’t say it!
Why is my excuse taking so long to come up with?
I don’t know!
So the excuse I finally landed on was.
“I’m suffering from a woman’s ailment right now.”
“Huh?”
“So I need to step away for a bit to find a place to ease the pain.”
Cassian shook his head beside me as I internally screamed at the pathetic quality of my own excuse.
“Then I’ll be going.”
I turned away holding my side like someone who’d been slashed rather than someone with stomach pain.
“Senior, let me take you to the infirmary—”
Cassian grabbed the approaching Arden.
“Arden. You’re young, so you may not know this, but at times like these, it’s proper etiquette to let the lady have her privacy.”
“Ah….”
“There’s nothing for it. While we wait for Seraphina to return, let’s just stay close and enjoy the competition together, shall we? Sound good?”
“I really don’t like that idea.”
“Come now. Don’t you dare wander off.”
After leaving the two of them—fretting as they were—he excused himself once Debussy had begun to doze after washing up, and set out to find a place to transform.
He gripped the Necklace in his hand and closed his eyes.
“Money, fame, good health… dogs, cats….”
Rabbits, red pandas, squirrels, koalas, tigers……
★★★★★
Magic Saint Seraphina!
Transform!
★★★★★

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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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