The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch - Chapter 14

Back home, Ciel, just like in the previous simulation, went straight to bed in an attempt to recover some energy.

When she woke up at 4 AM, she felt that her body in the simulation had mostly recovered, but her mental fatigue remained nearly unchanged.

In short, sleeping in the simulation made no significant difference—it was as if she hadn’t slept at all.

It seemed that trying to exploit the simulation by sleeping to restore energy wasn’t a viable strategy.

To ensure the subsequent events unfolded the same as in the last simulation, Ciel waited until 4:45 AM before quietly opening her door and leaving.

Across the street, in the alley, Ciel not only saw the familiar figure in the newsboy cap but also noticed Uris standing under an extinguished streetlamp, leaning against the pole with her head bowed in prayer.

Uris seemed to sense Ciel stepping out of the house. She stopped praying, her face—hidden behind a white mask—turning toward the direction of the door.

For Uris, nighttime and daytime were no different. She could sense Ciel’s figure passing by her as the girl headed straight for the sleeping stalker in the alley.

“Schlurk—”

The sound of a short knife plunging into a chest echoed in the alley. Uris followed closely behind Ciel, pausing briefly as she passed the corpse.

The kill was clean and efficient, a single stab to the heart, leaving no time for the victim to react.

Uris felt no sympathy for the dead man. She had seen him tailing Ciel and held no fondness for gang members.

She continued to follow Ciel, who stopped a short distance from the Hammer Tavern, lingering in a nearby alley.

So this is the place?

There’s a trace of transcendent energy here… but it’s faint.

Uris didn’t follow Ciel further. Instead, she walked directly to the tavern’s entrance and stood quietly, listening to the conversation inside.

The two arguing voices inside seemed oblivious to the fact that someone was standing just outside.

It wasn’t until the black-robed man inside drank the potion that Ciel finally crept closer.

“He already drank the potion. This isn’t what you described,” Uris said.

“Something must’ve gone differently…” Ciel shook her head. “In the future I saw, I spent more time dealing with the stalker’s body in the alley, which delayed me.”

Uris didn’t seem to pay much attention to Ciel’s explanation. By this point, she was already 90% convinced that everything Ciel had told her was true.

As for the remaining 10%, it would depend on whether she could find those identical notebooks on the man inside.

“Ding-a-ling—”

Uris pushed open the tavern door, extending her right hand toward the faint aura of transcendent energy ahead.

From Ciel’s perspective, the kerosene lamps inside the tavern flickered, then extinguished. After a few flickers, the scene before her completely changed.

The black-robed man, Thomas, who had been turning toward her, and the Blackwater Gang leader behind the bar, were now both on their knees before Uris, like devout worshippers.

Ciel couldn’t make sense of what had just happened.

She could only see Thomas, his movements stiff and unnatural, reaching into his robes and pulling out two notebooks and a potion. He raised them reverently over his head, offering them to Uris.

It was as if some invisible force was pressing down on him, compelling him to act.

What is this? Why can’t I see it?

Ciel widened her eyes, trying to discern what was happening inside the tavern. But all she could see were the two notebooks “floating” along an invisible trajectory into Uris’s hands.

It was as if an invisible person had handed them to her.

Is it because I’m not a transcendent that I can’t see it?

Uris now held two notebooks in her left hand while her right hand held another identical pair. All four notebooks were opened simultaneously, their pages flipping with a soft rustling sound in the silent night.

“Identical…” Uris murmured to herself.

“Ciel.” After finishing the last page, Uris walked up to her, removed her mask, and solemnly asked, “Are you interested in joining the Church of the Savior Goddess?”

“Uh?” Ciel was stunned.

What kind of development is this?

She had expected Uris to press her further about her ability to see the future, but she hadn’t anticipated a sudden attempt at proselytization.

“Here’s the thing,” Uris took a deep breath and began, “Do you know what the glimpses of the future you’ve seen represent?”

“They are the guidance of the Goddess. She is leading you to me so that I may bring you into the Church of the Savior Goddess. These visions are a divine revelation from Her.”

“Ciel, you are very likely the new saintess of the Church of the Savior Goddess.”

“If you come with me to the Holy See, and we present all this to the Pope, you may become the second saintess of the Church of the Savior Goddess.”

“Will you accompany me to the Holy See?”

This was a massive misunderstanding.

Ciel immediately realized what was happening.

She knew better than anyone that she wasn’t some saintess. If she followed Uris to the Holy See, the truth would inevitably come out.

Although she didn’t know what would happen next, Ciel wasn’t about to let herself fall into such a vulnerable position.

“High Priestess Uris, please hear me out.” Ciel carefully considered her words before speaking. “This may be difficult for you to understand, but neither of us is real right now.”

“Everything happening here is part of a future I’m glimpsing… None of this has actually happened yet.”

“When I wake up, everything will reset to a state where you’ve never met me, and you’ll have no memory of me.”

Uris remained silent for a moment before slowly nodding. “That doesn’t change anything, Miss Ciel. You can still come with me to the Holy See—consider it a rehearsal.”

“Along the way, I can also tell you how to find me in reality, so we can meet more quickly when the time comes.”

Uris seemed to accept this explanation readily. She even offered a flawless plan, leaving Ciel with no room for refusal.

How did this escalate to me joining the Holy See as a saintess when I don’t even fully understand what transcendent powers are?

“Hold on, before we do that, I have some questions for you.” Ciel didn’t respond to Uris directly but instead said, “What exactly are potions? What is the Reconstitution Ritual? And what about the ‘Avenger’ potion Duven gave to Thomas?”

“You know about the potion… I suppose the Goddess may have already told you,” Uris shook her head and began to explain. “You’ve read the notes, so you know the Reconstitution Ritual involves retracing the path the Goddess once walked. The ritual’s most crucial component, aside from the reenactment itself, is the potion.”

“The process of reenactment is also the process of digesting the potion.”

“The ‘Avenger’ potion and the ‘Ascetic’ potion come from the same source—they’re both among the most basic potions of the Church of the Savior Goddess. The only differences lie in their materials and the rituals associated with them.”

“The ‘Ascetic’ path is the mainstream within the Holy See. The ‘Avenger’ path is far less stable and has a high risk of mental collapse. Only those selected by the Inquisition are permitted to tread this path.”

“Duven pursued the wrong path, which is how he ended up the way he did… But he was killed before he could even use the potion.”

“In the current Holy See, there is only one saintess following the ‘Ascetic’ path. That’s why I suspect you might be the saintess for the ‘Avenger’ path… Of course, that’s just my speculation.”

“Do you have any other questions?”

Uris answered all of Ciel’s questions openly. At the same time, she moved slightly closer to Ciel, as if worried the newly found potential saintess might slip away under her watch.

“I have one more question,” Ciel said, her gaze fixed on the potion floating behind Uris.

“I want to know… If I drink the ‘Avenger’ potion in this dream, what will happen?”

“If I really am the saintess you say I am… drinking that potion shouldn’t harm me, right?”

Hearing Uris’s explanation of the two paths within the Holy See had sparked a bold idea in Ciel’s mind.

Potions were exorbitantly expensive in the store, costing 100 Fate Points each.

After this simulation, she would be down to just 10 points. Who knew how long it would take her to gather enough for a potion?

But what if she completed the ritual within the simulation?

What would happen?

Ciel wasn’t entirely sure what specific changes would occur, but she was certain of one thing—if she completed the ritual, the system would undoubtedly reward her with a significant amount of Fate Points during the settlement.