The Magical Holy Woman Seraphina - Chapter 57

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

Magic Saint Seraphina
Chapter 57
“Yes! Next up, a Border Collie from District One of the capital, Loir. The owner is His Majesty the Emperor’s favorite and proprietor of the seventeenth-closest residence to the Imperial Palace….”
Time swept on, and the competition had reached its latter half.
The sun descended, and the Amusement Park—soon to open—blazed with light against the darkening sky.
“Ooooh….”
Children who had remained outside the barrier, watching from beyond the fence, gasped as the Ferris wheel and carousel—their bulbs suddenly ignited—glittered against the night sky.
An Agility Competition held at Lake Park, with the Amusement Park as backdrop.
Picturesque enough to preserve in a painting.
And even this garish Magic Saint battle suit seemed to suit the amusement park setting.
‘But what does it matter? The whole competition is rotten.’
Without so much as embracing his own dog, who had lost first place by a mere 0.1 seconds, a certain minister—the one who owned the seventeenth-closest residence to the Imperial Palace—waved it away with a dismissive gesture. I caught his expression as I sidled closer to the arena.
“Our final contestant! A dog of unknown pedigree from a Tomato Farm in the outskirts of the capital. The owner is Neotti and Neopi, who produce the Empire’s finest tomatoes and cabbage….”
“Neoguli! You can do this!”
“It’s okay if you can’t!”
Sisters Neotti and Neopi made their way to the starting line with Neoguli.
As Neopi scratched behind Neoguli’s ears, the dog barked sharply.
Those bright, eager eyes. That determined expression.
Adorable.
In the front row of the spectator stands sat Johann, Cassian, and Arden—all who had finished their runs some time ago.
Had bathing him together made them closer?
Johann stood on his hind legs against Arden’s shoulder, barking at something, while Arden—apparently resigned to it—patted the dog’s rump repeatedly with a resigned rhythm.
“Good heavens.”
Arden’s gaze swept restlessly about, as though searching for something (perhaps me?), and I quickly bowed my head to avoid his line of sight.
Swaddled as I was in the Waterproof Cloth I’d picked up from backstage, detection seemed unlikely, but one could never be too careful.
I sidled sideways to the fence and positioned myself where the crowd was thickest.
A small child sitting behind the fence—the one who had asked his sister earlier whether they might slip inside to watch—tilted his head at the sight of me.
“What are you, miss?”
“Oh, nothing at all. Never mind—just watch the competition.”
Neoguli descended from Neopi’s Wheelchair and took his place at the starting line.
Neotti, standing beside Neoguli, swallowed hard.
Bang!
“Neoguli! Go, go!”
With Neopi’s cheers behind him—she couldn’t run alongside—Neoguli shot forward.
“He’s so fast!”
The crowd erupted in amazement the moment he began.
Absolutely!
Short legs and all, how could he be so quick?
The first obstacle arrived in an instant.
A Hurdle.
One that reached nearly to my forehead.
The Hurdle was positioned so impossibly high that even Border Collies several times Neoguli’s size frequently failed to clear it, tumbling over instead.
(How did Johann fare, you ask? …I’ll keep that secret for his honor.)
“Neoguli! Even if you can’t jump it, that’s all right!”
And just as expected, Neotti called out as they ran together.
“Don’t push yourself! You mustn’t get hurt!”
But I would not let him be hurt.
The moment Neoguli—whose facial fur whipped backward from the speed—reached the Hurdle and sprang upward.
First spell.
Boing!
A small spring that had risen from the ground gave Neoguli extra lift, and he soared over the Hurdle.
“Waaahhhhh!”
The crowd roared at the impossible sight.
Ears fluttering, Neoguli landed and barked once before resuming his sprint.
“Wha….”
“Sister!”
Neotti, momentarily dazed, snapped to attention at her sister’s cry.
“Neoguli!”
Clenching her jaw, she bolted after him as he cleared several more Hurdles and approached the second obstacle.
A Seesaw.
Neoguli climbed toward the center of the seesaw at nearly flying speed.
“The seesaw is way too heavy for this pup!”
“It won’t budge at all?!”
That’s why a Magic Saint is here, after all.
The moment Neoguli stood motionless on the seesaw, which refused to tip no matter what.
The second spell followed immediately.
On the opposite end of the seesaw, several heavy gingerbread cookies suddenly appeared, dangling there.
The gingerbread cookies, who already looked a bit aggrieved, grunted and strained with effort.
The seesaw tipped to the other side.
The moment Neoguli descended across the seesaw, the gingerbread cookies vanished once their task was done.
“Just now?!”
Only the smaller children, whose line of sight was lower than the adults’, saw the gingerbread cookies appear and disappear beneath the seesaw.
I waved at the tiny child behind the fence who turned to stare at me in astonishment.
“It wasn’t me.”
Don’t talk to me—I need to concentrate.
‘Because what comes next is crucial.’
The final obstacle.
The Tunnel and Zigzag Jump.
For a dog without a tail, a course requiring such sharp directional changes is fatal.
As it exits the tunnel and turns sharply or twists its body rapidly, it might lose balance and be thrown off course.
I focused intently.
One.
Two.
Three.
Now!
The moment Neoguli entered the tunnel, I conjured two white wings on either side of his body.
To compensate for the missing tail.
The third and final spell was complete.
‘I’ve done everything I can.’
I’ve even used all three spells, for that matter.
I’m telling you plainly—I didn’t rig the match. I only adjusted the conditions so it could be a fair competition.
That’s why I used all three spells.
One spell alone wouldn’t have been enough effort to justify it.
Anyway, all that’s left now is to wait for the results…
“Waaaaaaah!”
Already?!
Before I could even catch my breath, Neoguli burst from the tunnel and twisted his body.
He cleared the final Zigzag Jump in an instant, then barked triumphantly—”Woof!”—and leaped into Neotti’s arms.
I glanced at the large timer displayed in one corner of the field.
37.07 seconds…
What rank is that?!
“37.07! 37.07! Neoguli from Tomato Farm! A new record!”
First place!
“Yay!”
I threw both arms up in celebration.
“Yaaaay!”
“Woohoo!”
The people watching from beyond the fence cheered along with me.
“First place?! We got first place?!”
The little child beside me tugged at my Waterproof Cloth and asked.
Not even his own dog, yet he said “we.”
“That’s right!”
I lifted the child and spun him around.
“We got first place!”
But then…
“Pardon?”
“An Art Score deduction, sir?”
An Art Score in an Agility Competition?
“Normally there wouldn’t be, but this competition is special—held to commemorate the Amusement Park of Dreams and Hope, which opens thanks to His Highness the Crown Prince’s grace….”
“That’s ridiculous!”
“Liar!”
“There’s no such thing!”
“Don’t manufacture standards that didn’t exist before!”
The Imperial Palace official announcing the results, sweat streaming down his face, faced a torrent of jeers from all sides.
Even he seemed to know this made no sense—his head remained bowed.
Anyone could see these were orders handed down from above.
At a competition with so many nobles competing, there was no way a commoner without even a household name—and a mongrel with no bloodline—could take first place.
Always. Every single time.
Nobles had to be superior to commoners.
“This is absurd!”
“Thief!”
“Booo!”
Regardless of the jeers from beyond the barrier, the rankings announcement continued.
“Combining the Art Scores, the first-place winner of the prestigious Golden Ticket is….”
“Yaaaay!”
No matter how much the crowd beyond the barrier raged, inside it was a festival atmosphere.
Even some of the nobles who had been wearing awkward expressions seemed to realize it was better for their own circle to hold the ticket anyway, and soon they lifted their heads and joined in the cheers.
“Congratulations!”
First place belonged to the family of the man whose leg Johann had bitten earlier.
A boy whose face had gone pale from the jeers pouring in from all directions was led up onto the platform by beaming parents, his hand clasped in theirs.
At first the child seemed uncertain, but once he put on the Winner’s Cape and Crown, his expression transformed.
The smiling young boy held up the hand clutching the Golden Ticket high above his head.
As if he truly believed this was a just result.
The little one who had been spinning in my arms just moments ago watched this birth of today’s champion unfold, sucking on her finger.
The older sister standing beside her spoke.
“I guess we have to be born again.”
“For the victor, there is the privilege of enjoying alone the preview evening of Everland Park, which opens tomorrow, and….”
…….
I looked down at the Magic Hammer, now dark after I’d used all three of my spells.
…….
Perhaps I was the one thinking about this wrong.
This competition was corrupted from the start.
So then, perhaps entirely.
“…overturning the whole thing is an option too.”
I unwound the Waterproof Cloth wrapped around my body and threw it aside.
“The Magic Saint?!”
I rushed toward the stands, leaving behind the startled little one and her sister.
“If you’re going to act on your own whims, don’t hide behind the Crown Prince as an excuse! Did you even get his permission?”
Toward Arden, who was unusually excited and now demanding answers from the organizers.
“Sir Arden!”

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