Chapter 50
“Just what is wrong with you?!”
“……”
“Can’t you act normally for once?!”
“……”
“Every time I see you, I’m disappointed!”
“……”
“How much weirder are you planning to get?!”
“……”
While Arden hurled four accusations at me, I was simply drifting gently in midair.
Why?
Because even if I had ten mouths, I’d have nothing to say……
‘I mean, it’s true that I’m currently sprawled out like laundry on top of a soap bubble……’
“Was this fire your doing, Magic Saintess?!”
But this—this I could answer.
I pushed myself up from where I was lying and shouted back.
“How could it be?!”
Arden didn’t back down and yelled right back.
“Then why are you here?!”
“To put out the fire!”
“Then do it!”
“I will! If you’d stop chasing me!”
No—wait a second!
Dodging Arden’s hand as he tried to grab me, I protested.
“Why are you chasing me, Sir Arden?! You put out the fire yourself!”
“I am putting it out right now!”
Huh?
Since when does grabbing me count as firefighting?
I stared at Arden’s face.
Before I knew it, we had reached a narrow tributary of the Hane River that runs through the capital—the small canal by Plank Street.
When our eyes met, Arden’s cheeks reddened, and he shouted,
“Magic Saintess Sena, you can use magic, can’t you?! Can’t you use that magic to put out the fire?!”
“……”
“……”
Sadly, I immediately understood why Arden had no choice but to come to me.
‘There’s no fire brigade in this district.’
But the fire still needed to be put out.
So his plan was to catch me and use me like a fire extinguisher….
But what do I do?
‘I’ve already used up all my magic for today.’
I’d scraped together every last bit of magic I had earlier to save people from that animal-abusing lunatic.
I glanced awkwardly at my poppy hammer, which had lost its glow.
Just in case, I tried chanting the spell silently—but it didn’t budge.
If I said I couldn’t do it, Arden would definitely look at me like, “What kind of useless pervert is this?” or “Did you waste all your magic blowing soap bubbles?”—
“Why aren’t you answering, Magic Saintess?!”
“Well, actually….”
That was when—
Flap!
A heron burst out of the river and attacked Arden.
Did we wake it up with all the shouting?
It aimed straight for Arden’s head with its long beak.
Caught off guard while focused entirely on me, Arden failed to dodge and stumbled.
“Ugh!”
“Sir Arden!”
Without thinking, I jumped off the soap bubble and grabbed him.
Just like Arden had done to me earlier during the dance, I wrapped one arm around his waist.
…No. Even closer than that?
Arden’s eyes widened as he found himself pulled into my arms.
“……”
“……”
Someone please put on some background music.
“……”
“……”
We were even closer than when we’d danced so chaotically at the ball.
The feel of Arden’s back beneath my palm…
Even through his winter clothes, it was unbelievably firm……
“No—!”
This is not it!
I hurriedly jumped away.
Between me and Arden, the heron—having completed its attack—returned to the river, looking satisfied.
“No, no, no!”
Arden stood there in shock, clearly rattled by the sudden close contact with a woman. I rushed to explain.
“I wasn’t trying to touch you! You were about to fall into the river!”
The river’s filthy, okay?!
“See?! It’s basically sewage!”
You get me, right?!
“Y-you believe me, right?!”
“……”
Arden glanced at me and asked flatly,
“Then why is your face red?”
“……”
“……”
Shing.
“Hey—why are you drawing your sword again?!”
“Pervert.”
“I said I’m not!”
I backed away in protest when—
Pling-plong.
“Huh?”
I looked at the poppy hammer in my hand.
The red heart at its center, which had gone dark after I used all three spells allowed today, was now shining brightly.
The entire hammer glimmered softly, as if it had been charged by lightning.
What the—?!
“Look at this!”
I thrust the hammer toward Arden.
“It’s glowing!”
Arden stared at me coldly, his eyes saying, ‘So what?’
“Is that your weapon?”
“Yes! It’s not supposed to glow like this! But… wait a second.”
‘By helping more people with the power of justice and growing stronger, you’ll be able to use greater magic more frequently…’
Don’t tell me—it recharged?
Why?
Because I saved a lot of people today?
I don’t know, but—
Let’s try it!
I closed my eyes to chant, then opened them again.
Arden was still watching me.
“Could you step back a bit?”
“Why?”
“Because once I put out the fire, you’re just going to arrest me if you’re standing right there.”
“……”
“Hey. Move back. Shoo. Go on. No—actually, get inside that soap bubble.”
“You think I’m going to climb into that filthy, unidentified soap bubble—”
“Hey. Don’t you want the fire put out?”
“……”
With an expression full of complaints, Arden obediently walked over to the soap bubble.
Before he could change his mind, I stuffed him inside.
“Be careful. It pops if it’s attacked.”
Arden sat there awkwardly with his legs tucked in as I floated him up into the air and shouted,
★★★★★
Magic Saintess Seraphina!
‘In the end, I do everything myself!’
Hammer strike!
★★★★★
At the same moment, tens of thousands of water droplets burst up from the river with a shaaah.
Despite me calling it sewage earlier, they sparkled beautifully.
The shining droplets flew toward the burning Plank Street.
The raging flames hissed as they were extinguished.
And soon, a massive rainbow appeared in the sky.
Scientifically speaking, it made no sense—but it was pretty.
“…Wow.”
From afar, the residents of Plank Street still trapped in soap bubbles, along with the knights who’d fought their way here with Arden, stared up at the rainbow.
Flap. The heron flapped its wings again.
“……”
“……”
I met Arden’s gaze.
“……”
“……”
Time to run!
I had no soap bubble to ride now. As I fled on foot, Arden shouted from inside his bubble,
“Magic Saintess Sena!”
I assumed he’d say something cliché like “I won’t let you escape next time,” so I ignored him—
“Why didn’t you send a calling card?!”
Are you kidding me?!
“I didn’t even know I’d be here today! How was I supposed to warn you?!”
“With magic!”
“Why would I?!”
“You promised!”
“I did?!”
I shook my head. I’d never promised anything!
But then I noticed Arden, all scrunched up inside the soap bubble.
He was pounding on the bubble wall as he shouted,
“Then promise now!”
“Promise what?!”
“That you’ll send a calling card next time!”
“Oh, give me a break!”
Arden really was younger than me.
It was ridiculous—but the way he earnestly insisted made him look kind of cute.
“Depends on how you behave!”
I blew him a kiss and ran.
“…And because of that, not a single noble showed up!”
Sure, a few had expressed concern and sent manpower—but most of them just kept enjoying the ball!
“They’re just as bad as the arsonist!”
At the entrance to Plank Street, Cassian stood with his arms crossed as I fumed.
“So… you want to do it?”
“Yeah!”
Why, is it not allowed? At my question, Cassian smirked.
“Of course it’s allowed. You’re not the one who gets arrested if this goes wrong. Do whatever you want, Magic Saintess.”
“Well, when you put it like that…”
“I’m heading out.”
“I’ll stay here and help with the cleanup,” Cassian said.
I waved him off casually and pulled the watch out of his coat pocket to check the time.
I had to hurry back to the imperial palace before the twelve midnight bells rang.
Just as I was about to undo my transformation and run—
“But what was in that sack earlier?”
I’d left it piled at the village entrance, just in case. Cassian asked about it.
Oh—that sack.
“Cassian. When your house burns down and you lose everything, do you know what you need most? Especially in this season?”
“I don’t,” he replied.
“Open it. It’s what the people of Plank Street need the most right now.”
“Well then, I’m off!”
“Magic Saintess!”
“What now?!”
“How do you know what people who’ve lost their homes to fire need?”
Because—
“I’ve been through it.”
“……”
“……”
“I’m leaving.”
