The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch - Chapter 142

Ciel had now moved to sit beside Amy. Not many people on the scene had noticed Ciel’s arrival, which made Ciel feel a little less constrained.

Amy was a little surprised to see Ciel arrive and was about to get up to get Ciel some dessert, but Ciel stopped her and just asked her to bring a glass of juice instead.

Ciel had been eating almost non-stop since early morning, and she couldn’t eat anything else now, not even dessert.

With a friend by her side, the somewhat reserved Amy gradually relaxed and started chatting with Ciel enthusiastically.

When Ciel asked why so many people were looking for her father, Amy also shook her head, not understanding why.

But according to Amy’s impression, if someone was looking for her father, it was likely something related to the court. After all, her father was a magistrate, and most cases in Berren City went through him.

However, usually, her father interacted more with factory owners. This time, he was directly engaging with the real power holders behind those factory owners. The level was clearly higher.

Many people had come from out of town for the banquet, and some had even traveled from Ansu personally for business here.

It seems Avena’s “business exchange gathering” did have some influence.

“Don’t you know why they are looking for Baron Hastings?”

A gentle voice suddenly interrupted Ciel and Amy’s conversation. They looked at the newcomer and saw a young girl with a golden single ponytail and emerald green eyes.

“Hello, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Isabella Stuart. My father is the owner of the Stuart Art Exchange.”

Isabella smiled slightly, introducing herself to the two girls.

“My name is Ciel.”

Ciel nodded and gave her name. As for the Art Exchange, she had never heard of it.

“Just call me Amy.”

Amy also didn’t know this girl, but facing the other party’s friendliness, she still gave her name.

“I just heard you discussing Baron Hastings… Are you curious about why so many people are looking for him?”

Isabella sat down very naturally opposite Amy and Ciel.

Her easygoing manner didn’t make them feel uncomfortable. It was mainly because her attitude was very friendly, and what she was talking about was also something Ciel was interested in.

“Yes.”

Ciel slightly nodded and followed the other party’s lead, “Do you know anything?”

“Perhaps you forgot to read the newspaper. There have actually been quite a few things happening recently.”

Isabella smiled and continued to explain, “It’s actually still a little related to the ‘dehydration syndrome’ from before.”

“‘Dehydration syndrome’?”

Ciel blinked, a little curious.

“Hasn’t this matter already ended?”

She had personally put an end to this matter. Moreover, the antidote had also been developed by Adele and distributed by the Church of the Savior Goddess. Hadn’t this matter already passed? And Adele had also completed her Reconstitution Ritual and advanced to Tier 2 “Plague Doctor” because of this.

“Although the ‘dehydration syndrome’ has been cured, the subsequent impact hasn’t ended yet.”

Isabella shook her head and said, “Most of it is about the deaths from the ‘dehydration syndrome’ and the people who lost their jobs because of it.”

“At first, it was because of some rumors saying that ‘dehydration syndrome’ was a virus created by factory owners to kill some disobedient people. Of course, this rumor didn’t stand up. Later, various other rumors spread, basically every single one pointing the finger at various factories.”

“This deepened the hatred of the families of workers who suffered work injuries or died from the ‘dehydration syndrome’ towards the factory owners. Moreover, most factory owners do not acknowledge death from ‘dehydration syndrome’ as a work injury and do not provide any compensation—which is technically correct.”

“Coupled with the fact that some factories already have very high workloads, some people who recovered from ‘dehydration syndrome’ collapsed again while working before their bodies had fully recovered. There were too many such cases, which further intensified the conflict…”

At this point, Isabella shook her head and said, “The situation is like this. The truth about ‘dehydration syndrome’ is unclear, and the conflict between workers and factory owners is becoming increasingly heated.”

Ciel nodded slightly.

This is indeed difficult to handle…

The truth about “dehydration syndrome” involves the transcendent, cults, and the Redemption Society. No party, especially the Redemption Society, would want to expose the matter. The information can only be kept confidential.

But Ciel also noticed an unusual point.

That was the rumors.

Generally speaking, with the existence of the Church of the Savior Goddess, these ridiculous rumors would not spread among the working class on such a large scale. The Church of the Savior Goddess also had to maintain a delicate balance with the nobles and wealthy merchants and would not completely fall out with them.

However, rumors were constantly emerging. This clearly indicated the existence of a behind-the-scenes orchestrator.

“And… something significant has also happened recently. It’s likely to be anything but peaceful during this time…”

Isabella lowered her voice and leaned forward slightly. Ciel and Amy also leaned forward, listening intently.

Among them, Ciel’s heart also beat a little faster. Speaking of recent major events… that would be Ciel obtaining a “Uniqueness.” If the matter were exposed, it would cause a huge uproar in the entire transcendent world.

Is it about the “Uniqueness”?

“Something happened in North Ansu, and the newspapers are not allowed to report it.”

Isabella saw that Ciel was interested and felt a little relieved. She looked at Ciel and slowly said, “Minister of the Interior William’s visit just now was actually just a stop along the way… He is heading to North Ansu to resolve the situation…”

“What happened?” Ciel couldn’t help but ask.

“A great famine…”

Isabella shook her head and said, “News that has been suppressed for a long time, but recently, it can no longer be suppressed.”