The Magical Holy Woman Seraphina - Chapter 7

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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 7
“I’m only doing this for exactly one year. Of course, I should be free to quit whenever I want before that, if I choose.”
“Understood.”
“If I make it through the year without incident, you’re writing me a recommendation letter when I apply for an Imperial Palace Civil Servant position afterward. Under the Temple’s name.”
“Got it.”
“All medical expenses, activity costs, anything that comes up during the work—that’s all on you, the employer.”
You saw what happened earlier, didn’t you? I nearly took a bullet.
I fixed him with a hard stare.
“The longer I stay a Magic Saint, the worse my chronic injuries will get. It’s an occupational hazard.”
I’m not the type to age into a life of aches and pains, lying alone in a tiny room with no money for a doctor, telling myself, “Well, at least I saved the world when I was young, so no regrets.” That’s not me.
So pay up.
Give me proper compensation for my effort and sacrifice!
—Question: Doesn’t it bother your pride, getting paid by a dog?
—Answer: Why should it? There are plenty of bosses out there worse than dogs.
“Put it in writing.”
“Will do.”
Tofu nodded and retrieved a sheet of paper stamped with the Temple Seal from his desk.
The desk was too high for him, so I took out the pen.
I drafted it carefully, word by word, signed it, and we each kept a copy.
Since Tofu couldn’t sign, he pressed his paw print instead.
“Well, I’d better head out. I have to show up for work in a few hours.”
The Costume Room’s going to be a disaster, so I won’t actually get any work done, but I still need to show up and act ignorant to stay off the suspect list.
I stood and glanced out the window, still dark outside.
If I leave now, I can get maybe thirty minutes of sleep at home. I hurried toward the door when Tofu called out from behind me.
“Seraphina!”
“What?”
I turned around. There in that vast room stood a tiny dog, tongue hanging out. When our eyes met, Tofu wagged his tail.
So cute…
I couldn’t help myself—I went back and scratched the bridge of his nose.
“Seraphina, why did you write something on the back of that letter? ‘Have a righteous day’?”
It would be better for your activities if nobody knew you existed!
“Oh, that.”
I touched his fluffy paw. Soft pads underneath.
‘This guy only has three toes,’ I thought.
“There are so many wicked people in the world. I can’t punish them all by myself.”
Since I’m going to be a Magic Saint anyway, I want to do it right. But the way things are, I’d need to stay awake twenty-four hours straight, punishing nothing but evildoers, and it still wouldn’t be enough. And I still wouldn’t catch them all.
“Besides, I’m only doing this for one year before retirement. So…”
“So?”
“I’m going to make as much noise as possible.”
I’ll make sure they know that if they commit wrongs, the Magic Saint could visit them at any time.
That someone is always watching.
That even if the laws and vested interests of this nation forgave them, the Magic Saint would not.
“Then at least they’d hesitate once before doing something wrong. Wondering if maybe the Magic Saint is watching right now.”
“Woof.”
“Ugh, look at the time… I really have to go!”
Don’t forget to pay me my wages retroactively!
“Hand over the money!”
I made my warning clear and rushed out.
* * *
After the new Magic Saint Seraphina had left.
The dog left alone—Tofu—spoke aloud.
“Come out now.”
With that, the space behind the picture, which had looked like nothing but wall, opened up, and a tall man emerged.
He pushed back his hood and raised his head. His eyes were a cold, pale blue.
The man pulled jerky from his pocket and tossed it to Tofu.
Snip—Tofu caught it deftly in mid-air and began tearing into it vigorously between his jaws.
He chomped away as he spoke.
“So, watching her just now—what did you think?”
“Of what.”
“A new Magic Saint!”
Without a word, the man walked to the window.
After a moment, he spotted Seraphina slipping out of the building.
Voluminous black hair bound loosely into one knot, large round pink eyes. Thin wrists that seemed impossible to belong to someone with such tremendous strength.
As he watched, her Hair Tie snapped—apparently it couldn’t manage the weight of her hair—and she stopped to curse under her breath.
Seeing the cascade of dark strands tumble down her long pale neck, the man spoke.
“You know what? Every Magic Saint in history came from a harmonious family.”
Warm, devoted parents. Siblings who grumbled but cherished the Magic Saint regardless. Friends they could truly rely on.
“That’s why they could throw themselves into their duties without reservation. Even if their studies suffered from nocturnal patrols, even if things went wrong and crisis struck—they had something solid to lean on.”
Growing up unmarred by hardship, they all had such radiant natures that they ended up supporting those wounded by life.
“A Magic Saint without a single place to return to, without a soul to depend on—she’s the first in history.”
No home to go back to. No one to rely on.
For someone who must fend for themselves, each choice carries a weight all its own.
“A new era. A new Magic Saint, then.”
“So you’ll help her out?”
“Why would I?”
Everyone has to manage their own affairs. The man shrugged with an irritating nonchalance.
Just then, the new Magic Saint glanced back, and their eyes met.
Though she was below him where she shouldn’t have been able to see, she looked up directly. Dark shadows pooled beneath her eyes, worn thin by exhaustion, yet her gaze burned with life.
Meeting that stare as if drawn to it, the man murmured to himself.
“Still, I’m curious. Might as well watch her up close for a while.”
* * *
“This makes my skin crawl. A saint, no less.”
There’s a certain feeling that comes with the word “saint.”
No matter how hot it gets, never short sleeves or shorts. Even when fury bubbles up, never raise your voice. Always that subtle smile, always speaking gently, and whenever trouble strikes, you have to be the first one out there taking the hit. That’s what it means.
A Magic Saint is no different.
What even is that Combat Uniform?
“Sigh.”
No. Think positive.
The money from Magic Saint Activity would wipe out my Student Loan and school development fund in one stroke, and by next autumn there’s no reason I couldn’t take the Imperial Palace Civil Servant exam right away.
I could cut down the timeline drastically.
If I somehow end up serving the full year, I’ll make sure to ask for Severance Pay.
“Mom!”
“Pepper!”
As I nodded to myself with the calculations running, a small child brushed past me, running hard. A woman coming from the other direction quickly bent down and scooped the child up.
“What are you doing out at this hour! It’s dangerous!”
“I came to pick you up, Mom! You’re getting off work now!”
“Oh my!”
Still, you shouldn’t be out alone at this time. She scolded gently, yet a smile bloomed across her face.
“What about Collie?”
“Sleeping right now!”
The child nestled in her mother’s arms puffed out their cheeks and laughed.
“Did you wait long? Aren’t you cold?”
“I’m fine!”
“I brought Roasted Sweet Potato for Pepper.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
The mother fastened her daughter’s coat snugly and took the small hand in hers, quickening their pace home. They’d eat once they got there.
I watched them disappear in silence, and my breath fogged out in a small cloud that scattered into nothing.
‘I had a mother when I was that small too.’
‘Sena! Where are you going?’
‘To meet a friend!’
‘I was planning to make your favorite Onion Soup for dinner tonight!’
‘I’ll be back soon!’
‘Wait, Sena! You need to wear your Scarf!’
‘But Mom—why do you and Dad call me Sena? I heard the nickname for Seraphina is Sera, not Sena.’
‘Well, that’s…’
‘That’s…?’
‘I’ll tell you over dinner.’
‘That’s so unfair!’
In the end, I never did learn the reason.
By the time I came home from playing with friends, our house was already engulfed in flames, collapsing in on itself.
My mother, who had been making Onion Soup in the kitchen, and my father, who had rushed into that burning inferno to save her—both of them were caught inside.
The person who set the fire was never caught.
If not for that day, would I have had a family?
“What’s the use of dwelling on it? Apparently someone carelessly knocked over a cigarette and that’s what started it.”
They panicked after setting the fire and scattered, or so they say.
“Ugh!”
I pushed the thoughts away and jumped up onto the wall in one bound.
I’d expected to wobble, but my balance held firm with surprising ease.
“Of course.”
As befits a Magic Saint chosen for her physical abilities.
The view that spread before me the moment I reached the top drew a gasp of wonder.
A clear, transparent river that bisects the heart of the Capital, its waters mirror-bright with streetlamp glow.
Along the Riverbank, a succession of noble mansions, the Royal Art Museum, the War Memorial, the Library—
The windows of these historic buildings, their names immortalized in history texts, were etched with Ancient Protection Spells, and the pristine glass gleamed a brilliant sky blue.
Like an ice palace.
The night was beautiful in a way I’d never imagined.
My neighborhood looked dreary even in daylight.
Come to think of it, people living on Demarcy Street would venture out in their pajamas without a care at this hour.
Do that in my neighborhood, you’d run into a mugger.
“I’ll have to make good money and move here someday.”
It was in that moment, lost in admiration and swinging my feet, that I came face-to-face with someone emerging from beyond the wall.
The stranger’s pale green eyes went wide as our gazes met.

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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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