The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch - Chapter 168

【Reality】

【Holy Year 741, July 2nd, 18:08】

【Evaluation: You have mastered the power of 【Overlimit】】

【The stronger the skills you obtain, the more powerful 【Overlimit】 becomes… but to forge iron, one must be strong oneself. The real danger might lie within the skill 【Overload】’s cooldown period】

【Take it. You deserve this based on your performance】

【Reward: Fate Points ×4】

【Fate Points: 336】

A strong sense of dizziness struck. The throbbing pain in her temples seemed to linger in Ciel’s mind. Her eyes were tightly closed, fine beads of sweat emerging on her forehead.

Death, no matter how many times one experiences it, is difficult to get used to. All one can do is overcome the fear of death.

After recovering slightly, Ciel looked at the system introduction text before her.

Ciel had no objection to these 4 Fate Points.

Repeatedly killing transcendents would reduce the Fate Points gained from simulation settlement. Moreover, in this simulation, she had only tried the effect of 【Nemesis】 after 【Overlimit】 and had not truly killed any transcendent.

On the sofa, Ciel opened her eyes, her mind immediately sinking into contemplation.

Driving a transcendent insane, for her current self, was not too difficult.

Moreover, through this simulation, she also unexpectedly discovered that Bishop Hugh of the Church of the Savior Goddess seemed to have significant problems with potion digestion—it seemed the insect shadow she saw on her when she first met her might not have been entirely her hallucination.

However, through this simulation, she also discovered a problem.

An out of control Tier 3 transcendent’s destructiveness and the commotion caused were a bit too great.

She lacked a means to kill the Keyman after driving her insane.

Otherwise, the longer she was out of control, the more ordinary people she would endanger.

This wasn’t Ciel’s compassion at work, but the more people died at the banquet, the harder it would be to clean up the mess.

After all, there would be quite a few nobles present, and possibly even transcendents other than those from the Society of Merriment.

Is there any way to get the banquet invitation list beforehand?

Avena’s figure surfaced in Ciel’s mind. Regarding nobles and banquets, she likely knew much more than herself.

However, Avena had likely not returned home yet. Ciel opened the simulation interface and glanced at it, confirming the subsequent simulation.

Is it the day after tomorrow?

Ciel frowned.

What Ciel hoped for most now was a simulation 30 days later or at least after July 7th, so she could see the result directly.

Working backward from the result was much better than trying little by little herself.

However, Ciel didn’t plan to continue the simulation now. She had gained enough information. What was more important next wasn’t considering how to kill the Keyman, but how to kill her quietly without alarming too many factions.

She had to die naturally.

Knock knock knock—

At this moment, a knocking sound echoed. She knew without thinking, it must be Avena returning.

Perfect. She could ask her now.

The door was opened. Avena, with her head hanging low, walked in, closed the door, and shuffled towards Ciel.

“Avena?”

Ciel stood up. She saw that Avena’s mood was not right at the moment. She asked, “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

The Avena in the simulation was fine, just slept until ten o’clock. Her simulated self also didn’t record anything special. It shouldn’t be a big deal, so Ciel wasn’t too worried.

“Tired…”

Avena walked directly to Ciel, burying her face in Ciel’s embrace. Ciel, carried by the momentum, sank onto the soft sofa, letting Avena lie on her like this, burying her face in her chest.

Avena reached out and wrapped her arms around Ciel’s slender waist. It seemed doing this could replenish a lot of her energy.

Just as Ciel was about to reach out and rub Avena’s head, Avena happened to turn around and slumped onto the sofa, muttering softly without any regard for appearance, “Damn nobles…”

“The railway company matter?” Ciel asked. She wasn’t in such a hurry to ask about the banquet.

Avena didn’t hide anything, telling Ciel everything in one go.

Turns out, the people responsible for negotiating with Avena this time were not just the representatives of the Great Western Railway Company, but also nobles from Ansu.

Things didn’t go as Avena had hoped, having the railway pass through the gem processing factory Avena owned so she could get a substantial compensation.

When Avena mentioned this, Ciel already roughly understood what had happened.

Compulsory purchase rights—this was a right granted to railway companies by Ansu’s 《Railway Treaty Act》—although this law seemed extremely inhumane from a modern perspective, it truly existed in this era.

Moreover, this was a law passed not long after the Great Famine in North Ansu occurred.

The railway company’s visit this time wasn’t for negotiation, but a prepared notification.

They had the approval of the Ansu government and a “fair” amount of compensation, demanding the compulsory purchase of several mining areas and mining rights held by Avena—even if those railways only passed near the mines, not through them.

Without the mining areas, Avena’s gem processing factory would lose a large number of orders, and she would even have to sell it to them at a low price.

If they truly were forced to purchase the mining areas at this price, only one outcome awaited Avena—bankruptcy.

At the very least, she definitely wouldn’t be able to afford the expenses of Manor No. 15 anymore.

Strange, she had simulated events nearly a month into the future before, but Avena didn’t seem to have mentioned this to her… Was it because their relationship wasn’t as close then as it was now?

It was indeed possible, because Avena’s personality was inherently strong. If they were just friends, Avena definitely wouldn’t show her frustration and weakness.

“Why do they dare to do this?” Ciel asked, a little confused. “They know you are a Roswell.”

“Of course they know,” Avena sighed, saying helplessly, “And they also know that my family members are wishing I would go bankrupt and return… This might even be pushed by some people in the family.”

When mentioning “some people,” Avena’s tone deepened, clearly a little resentful.

Logically, if Avena went to Ansu and argued her case, she might be able to overturn this compulsory acquisition through legal means. The cost would be offending the Minister of Commerce and the Minister of Finance.

Avena wasn’t unable to offend them, but this compulsory acquisition case couldn’t possibly have passed without the Minister of the Interior, William… William not opposing this matter meant he tacitly approved it.

This indirectly indicated that Avena no longer needed to resist this acquisition law. If she made a fuss, she might even attract family members.