Magical Girl

Chapter 10

Upon entering, Marlene’s first reaction was awe—how vast!

The temple hall was so spacious that her footsteps echoed. The vaulted ceiling was so high she couldn’t make out the details of the artwork above. Stained glass windows on the sides of the dome were beautifully transparent, while intricate reliefs and paintings adorned the walls. The statue of the goddess stood tall at the far end, her compassionate gaze seeming to watch over everyone.

The hall was filled with people praying, so silent that one could hear a pin drop. Far in the distance, a slender figure stood with his back to Marlene, bowing as he spoke to someone on the platform.

Marlene waited in the hall. A priest stood on a platform about three feet high, slowly reading from the holy scriptures, while the devout worshippers below prayed intently.

In such a tranquil atmosphere, Marlene didn’t even dare to make a sound.

Then, the deep tolling of bells echoed from within the temple. The sound started from the innermost part, like a signal fire spreading outward, reverberating through the entire hall. Marlene recognized the sound; it marked the end of the prayer time.

She quickly stood, intending to move forward. She had only taken a few steps when someone stopped her. “Prayer time is over. You should be leaving.”

“I have business here—very important business.”

“You shouldn’t disturb the priest. He has spent the entire day reading the holy texts and praying for blessings; he’s quite exhausted.”

“But I really have something important to discuss with the priest.”

“You can come back earlier tomorrow.”

As they spoke, the thin priest had already put away the holy text and was turning to leave.

Marlene watched helplessly as he walked away, unable to do anything. The goddess’s followers were devout, and if she dared to make a scene inside the temple, she feared that the congregation would turn on her like a pack of wolves before any nun or priest could intervene.

Thinking of this made her feel even worse. Would she have to stay in the stable at the inn again tonight? Her remaining silver coins were nearly gone, and at this rate, she’d soon have no money for food or shelter.

Desperate and anxious, Marlene felt she couldn’t just give up. She believed that if she could only speak to a priest and show them the letter, things would be alright. The only problem was that she hadn’t had any chance to approach them.

Marlene decided to take a risk. She broke free from the nun’s grasp and rushed toward the priest. The nun hadn’t expected her to have such sudden strength and couldn’t hold her back.

Marlene ran up to the platform, grabbing the priest’s sleeve, and called out, “Father, please listen to me! I have a letter from Ash Priest—I was told to deliver it to the temple!”

The priest halted and turned to look at her.

He was a young priest, seemingly not yet thirty. When he saw Marlene, his brown eyes narrowed slightly.

The nuns were furious, their decorum forgotten as they approached Marlene roughly, one of them shouting, “Take your filthy hands off him!”

But the priest spoke, “The goddess watches over you, my child.”

Marlene’s fingers were being pried away from the priest’s sleeve by the nuns, but she was still determined. She called out, “Please, I have a letter for Wald Priest. This letter is very important to me. Please tell me where he is, or if you could take the letter instead. I beg you, it’s from Ash Priest. He and Wald Priest studied together, serving the goddess.”

But Sister Cabena interrupted, “Father Vinsen, she’s from Auderin. They can’t be trusted. Even if Ash Priest had an important message, he wouldn’t entrust it to a child like her.”

Marlene quickly replied, “That’s because Ash Priest is recommending me to study at the temple. He said I might have the potential to be a magic-blessed one. By the goddess, I swear it’s the truth.”

The nuns were stunned by her words.

Father Vinsen spoke, “Alright, I believe no one would lie before the goddess’s statue. Cabena, let her go.”

Sister Cabena, clearly uneasy, protested, “Father Vinsen, she’s from Auderin. I’ve never heard of a blessed one being born there.”

Father Vinsen held his silence, conveying his insistence, and finally, Cabena reluctantly released Marlene.

Marlene breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as she was about to retrieve the letter, Father Vinsen said, “I am not Wald Priest, and Wald Priest left Jetugara some time ago. How this letter is to be handled is a matter for High Priest Leo to decide.”

Then he instructed Cabena, “Cabena, take this girl to the waiting room. Child, you will need to wait.”

Marlene was led by Sister Cabena to a spacious, well-lit waiting room at the back of the temple. The room was quiet and mostly empty.

Cabena’s expression remained one of complete distrust, but she followed Father Vinsen’s orders and brought Marlene here. “Stay here. Don’t go anywhere. Father Vinsen will make arrangements,” she said coldly.

Marlene nodded, and Sister Cabena left immediately.

Exhausted and hungry, Marlene noticed there were water cups and a soft reclining chair in the room. She poured herself some water and leaned back in the chair to rest.

Soon, she heard footsteps approaching—three or four people. Thinking it was Father Vinsen, Marlene quickly sat up.

However, when the door opened, she saw four boys of varying heights. They wore the same gray robes she’d seen the previous night.

They noticed Marlene immediately.

“Yanas, look, there’s a little beggar here,” one of them said.

The tall blond boy, Yanas, had hair neatly combed and shiny. He looked down at her, his chin held high, and glanced at her with disdain. “Prayer time is over, beggar. Get out.”

Remembering the behavior of these boys the night before, Marlene felt wary. She replied softly, “I’m not a beggar. Father Vinsen told me to wait here.”

“Oh! I know!” one of the boys suddenly exclaimed. “I just heard a nun talking about some country bumpkin from Auderin causing a ruckus in the temple hall. That was you, wasn’t it?”

Yanas, the blond, suddenly looked interested. “Is that so? Seems like something interesting happened while I was away.”

One of the boys eagerly explained, “Apparently, she claims to have a letter that needs to be delivered to the temple. Father Vinsen is going to ask the High Priest to handle it. This is hilarious—if it were Father Hedsar being fooled, I might understand, since he’s not from the Yamanron region and might not know about Auderin. But Father Vinsen is a true Yamanron native. He should know exactly what kind of scum comes from Auderin, and yet he actually believed her, even going so far as to involve High Priest Leo.”

Hearing this, Yanas turned to Marlene and said, “I’m curious—what kind of sweet talk did you use to deceive Father Vinsen?”

Marlene sensed danger, and it felt even more acute because these were boys. Adults tended to be more predictable, their actions and personalities easier to gauge. But boys could be unpredictable, capable of frightening actions for seemingly no reason.

“I didn’t deceive anyone. I can swear to the goddess that I truly am here to deliver a letter,” Marlene said.

The boy sneered. “A vow from someone from Auderin? Do you really think I’d believe that? You say you’re delivering a letter—so where is it?”

The letter was in her inner pocket, but Marlene didn’t dare reach for it. She cautiously replied, “Ash Priest instructed me to hand it over personally to the priest.”

“Liar!” said another boy behind Yanas. “That’s not what you said in the hall. You wanted Father Vinsen to take it in place of Wald Priest. But a letter like that would have a name and a seal. There’s no way it would be opened by anyone else. You’re clearly lying.”

As he spoke, the boys closed in on her. They seemed well-practiced, likely having done this kind of thing before.

Seeing the danger, Marlene tried to run, but she was no match for their agility. She had only taken a step when someone grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back.

Yanas sneered, “Just as I thought—a fraud. Grab her.”

Two boys each grabbed one of Marlene’s arms, holding her tightly in place.

Yanas didn’t even want to touch her; instead, he picked up a pair of fireplace tongs and used them to lift her apron.

Under her apron was her underskirt, with large pockets on either side. From the edge of one pocket, a corner of a letter was visible.

“So there really is a letter.” The letter was pulled out and handed to Yanas.

He looked at the letter in his hand. “Seems like she really went all out to sell this act.”

Seeing the silver wax seal and the golden stamp, one of the boys asked, “Yanas, what if it’s actually real?”

Yanas glanced at him and replied, “Let’s open it and find out whether it’s real or fake.”

“But what if Father Vinsen finds out? If it’s real, how do we explain ourselves?” the boy asked, surprised.

Yanas smirked confidently. “What’s there to fear? Haven’t I learned the holy arts? Restoring a letter to its original state is no big deal.”

With that, he reached out and peeled back the wax seal.

In that instant, a burst of flame shot out from the silver wax, snapping like a fire beast’s jaws onto Yanas’s finger. Burned, he immediately dropped the letter. It fell to the floor, where the flames quickly engulfed it, leaving not even a trace of ash.

The room fell utterly silent.

After a moment, the talkative boy finally spoke, trembling, “Yanas… that was a letter protected by holy magic, a spell to prevent leaks. It must have been a really important letter. We—we’re in trouble…”

“Shut up!” Yanas cut him off immediately. He looked at Marlene with a wolf-like glare, but his words were directed at his companions. “What nonsense are you talking about? We never saw a letter. What letter? It’s just this girl from Auderin making things up.”

Marlene’s eyes widened in shock.

Yanas’s companion quickly chimed in, relieved, “Yes, yes, you’re right. There’s no one else here in the waiting room. No one saw any letter.”

Yanas said, “With me here, there’s nothing to worry about. As if Father Vinsen would dare do anything to me.”

At that moment, footsteps echoed from outside the waiting room.