Chapter 27
For just a brief moment,
it felt like time had stopped.
Under the moonlight, the only thing that stood out clearly was Arden’s golden hair, his pale face, and his light green eyes.
And then—
“Just what in the world is that outfit?!”
An indignant voice…
…Huh?
“Climbing onto the roof wearing a skirt like that?!”
…So he didn’t recognize me?
I steadied my ankle, which almost slipped, and looked down at Arden.
“What are you looking at?!”
Yeah, guess not.
He was just furious about the clothes.
But I didn’t have time to confirm again.
“It’s the Magic Saintess!”
Because people were starting to gather under the building I was standing on.
“It’s the Magic Saintess!”
“Where?!”
“Over there! On the roof!”
“That blonde?!”
“What’s with that weird outfit?!”
“Seraphina! Let’s go this way!”
Flattened against the roof, Tofu pointed with his paw to the connected rooftops, out of people’s sight.
“Hurry!”
“Yeah!”
“Wait!”
Arden shouted as if he’d sensed I was about to bolt.
“Wait!”
As Arden looked like he was about to climb onto the roof, I shouted back at him.
“Hey!”
“What?!”
“Who do you think I am?!”
Maybe he’d recognize me?!
“An exhibitionist pervert!”
“…!”
I’m not!
“Hek hek hek.”
Don’t laugh, Tofu!
Just as I was trying to pull myself together and run off again—
“Nooooooo!”
Ah, right.
I still had something to do.
I turned toward the loudly wailing Skitter, the reporter.
“Corrupt reporter of the year.”
He must’ve rushed over after brown-nosing some nobles and hearing there’d been a robbery at a noble’s house. The sight of reporters tying narrow neckties around their foreheads instead of wearing them as cravats was… honestly ridiculous.
“Nooooo! My film!”
Skitter screamed, spittle flying, his face red from drink.
I swung my now truly magic tool—the cherry-colored boing hammer.
Pyoro-long!
Hundreds of copies of the letters exchanged between reporter Skitter and an anonymous social club member, which had been inside Tofu’s bag, scattered through the air.
“What is this?”
“What’s going on?”
The people who’d been murmuring while watching me caught the falling scraps of paper.
“Ugh!”
Arden, who got smacked in the face by a page, pulled a handkerchief from his chest.
“What… slum demolition?”
“They tried to cover up something like this?”
“By making a scandal?”
“What was the scandal, though?”
“Idiot! It’s written right here. They said they wouldn’t make it public because attention might turn toward the victim!”
“Wait, more is falling!”
“This is… a newspaper?”
– Sena Daily –
[Exclusive] Imperial Daily reporter Skitter looks down on the people’s intelligence… Citizens ‘shocked’
Do we really deserve to be treated as idiots who only chase celebrity gossip instead of seeing what actually matters…?
Is the public’s right to know important, but other people’s right to privacy not?
“The right to know?
I didn’t want to know things like that!
You were just curious yourself and used us as an excuse—
I hereby report your crime!
Please have a day where you respect other people’s privacy☆
– Magic Saintess Sena 💫 –”
And finally, in the blank space of the hastily made front page of Sena Daily—
Click!
A front-facing photo of Skitter the reporter, sweating bullets over his exposed disgrace.
“Waaah!”
“Wow!”
I looked back at the people who stared open-mouthed at the photo appearing in midair.
“This is what a real ‘right to know’ looks like.”
Alright then—now!
Shall I make a stylish exit by scattering flower petals and candy?
Because!
In the middle of all this, Arden was climbing up the wall chasing me!
“That stubborn bastard!”
But I’ve got magic!
Now!
Bang!
Bang!
Ban—
“…Why isn’t it working?”
“Seraphina only just awakened a new magic tool. You can probably only use magic about three times a day for now.”
“Hey!”
You should’ve told me that sooner!
While backing away to avoid Arden—who was already almost all the way up thanks to how agile he was—I protested.
“I haven’t used it three times yet!”
Once when I got rid of the black-haired guy, once just now…
“Don’t tell me the heart button I pressed earlier to make that light also counts as magic?!”
“That’s right.”
“No way…!”
“If you help more people with the power of justice and grow, you’ll be able to use bigger magic more often…”
“Let’s just run!”
I tucked the nagging Tofu under my arm.
“Waaaah!”
“Magic Saintess!”
“She’s disappearing!”
The people, distracted by the newspaper I’d published, pointed as I ran across the rooftop.
Click!
From the crowd of reporters who’d gathered hoping for a story, one quick-handed guy lifted his camera and snapped a photo of me.
“Stop right there!”
Arden’s shout to finish it off.
But I was already far away.
Bleh☆
* * *
To the audience.
Hello, this is Rosena.
This is the first time I’ve ever written a letter to all of you, and it will probably also be the last.
I, Rosena, will be leaving the stage after this final performance of the opera Cernier…
I’m truly sorry that I couldn’t repay your love…
“Haa…”
Thump.
“…Huh?”
Thump.
In the now-empty dressing room of Opera Cernier, after everyone had gone home—
A space cluttered with wreaths and cute gifts with messages like ‘Our daughter is so proud of you’ and ‘We love you, big sister’.
As Rosena sat alone writing her letter, a strange sound reached her ears.
A thump, thump sound, like something repeatedly bumping against the tightly closed door.
Even someone trying to ignore it couldn’t, thanks to how irritatingly persistent it was.
Someone else might’ve wondered, “But shouldn’t there be no one here right now?”
But the despair-stricken Rosena was different.
By tomorrow, she planned to leave behind only this letter and disappear.
Even the urge to be curious felt like a luxury.
She simply walked toward the door, wanting only to get rid of the irritating noise.
When she carelessly yanked the door open, what she saw was—
A basket on the floor.
“…A film canister?”
An old film canister, scratched all over with the signs of age.
One she recognized—because Skitter had once shown it to her.
And a note placed together with it.
“The price for returning the film is as follows:
Do not be crushed by malice.
Do not give in.
Remember that your talent lies not in your appearance, but in your soul.
Pride is a right granted only to people like you, who chase the light within themselves—so never lower your head.
And last of all:
Be happy.
– Your fan, Magic Saintess Sena”**
“P.S. Sorry for sneaking into your dressing room!”
“…Ha.”
How ridiculous. Rosena let out a hollow laugh.
Lowering her eyes, she rested the hand holding the note on her waist—then used that same hand to cover her eyes. In her other hand, she tightly gripped the film canister.
“…Ha.”
Ha. Ha. Hahaha…
“Ughhh…”
The brightly lit dressing room and the dark hallway.
At their boundary, Rosena collapsed to the floor and burst into tears, light sparkling over her rose-gold hair.
* * *
The next morning. Costume room.
[Actress Rosena shocks with confession: “The victim the Magic Saintess talked about was me”]
[“I even considered retiring because I didn’t want this to be revealed”]
[“I tried to hide it… but I realized it’s not something I should be ashamed of”]
[Rosena explains why she revealed her past herself: “Because I didn’t do anything wrong”]
“…I see.”
“I feel kind of bad. We always said Rosena must’ve been born pretty.”
“She must’ve suffered a lot… Those guys were really trash, weren’t they?”
“Unni, I love you!”
“Uwaaaah!”
Just like yesterday’s Rosena, Ellie cried, waving a light stick she’d probably picked up somewhere.
“Whether you’re three kilos or three hundred kilos, I don’t care! Waaaah!”
“Me too!”
Another coworker cried along with her.
“What’s wrong with them?”
“They went to Opera Cernier and watched the performance yesterday.”
Figures.
No wonder I saw a silhouette that looked like Ellie in the distance while I was sneaking into the dressing room.
Since I’d already used up my three magic uses for the day, I’d had no choice but to deliver the film canister in person.
Good thing Rosena stayed late in the dressing room.
“Anyway, I’m glad it worked out. Thinking Rosena retired for such a ridiculous reason…”
“Right. That would’ve been a huge loss for the empire.”
“It makes no sense that she even considered retiring over something like this. Her co-star was caught driving a carriage drunk and still gets to perform, didn’t he?”
“Exactly!”
“And as expected of the Magic Saintess…”
I watched my coworkers chatting contentedly and stood up from my seat.
“I’m going to take out the trash.”
Lifting the boxes left over from cleaning that morning, I headed outside. I set the box down in the alley and pulled out the hand mirror hanging around my neck.
A hand mirror that had become even more ornate after merging with the brooch.
My magic tool.
“Seraphina!”
“Did you come, Tofu?”
I looked at Tofu waddling toward me.
When I squatted down and scratched the top of his head, he flopped onto his back. While rubbing his round belly—no idea what he’d eaten so early in the morning—I said:
“Hey, Tofu.”
“Hm?”
“The holy relic and my brooch combined. So my brooch disappeared.”
“That’s right.”
“Then the temple is going to compensate me for the price of my brooch, right?”
“……”
Why are you so shocked?
The job’s done—time to settle accounts.
“I can’t sacrifice my brooch for the sake of justice.”
Once again.
♧☆♡ Yes, I am completely broke ♡☆♧
