The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch - Chapter 178

Rustle rustle rustle—

At the desk, Ciel was writing something in the notepad.

She seemed to be listing future plans. What was written in the notepad were things to do before leaving Berren City.

For example, the remaining “Chaos Squad” in Berren City, and the siege explosive barrels from the Blackwater Gang that hadn’t been dealt with yet.

None of them were major threats, but they couldn’t be forgotten.

And Avena, wearing a slip, sat on the bed, her arms wrapped around her knees, showing half of her face, watching Ciel, who was writing something. Her eyes seemed a little red. Her expression was a little flustered. However, there were no injuries on her face or body.

She seemed to have paid a heavy price for the little advantage she took earlier.

At this moment, Ciel seemed to have finished writing the memo. She put down the pen and paper and walked towards the bed. She sat on the bed and looked at Avena.

Avena lightly snorted and turned her face away, not daring to look Ciel in the eye.

And Ciel looked at Avena before her, her expression a little helpless.

If Avena were to look at Ciel directly at this moment, she would see the quite vivid “scars” on Ciel’s face.

A clear red scratch mark was on Ciel’s right cheek, almost from her cheek all the way to the corner of her mouth. And the corner of her mouth seemed to be a little damaged, looking as if it had been bitten.

If she were to take off her slip and count the scratch marks on her body, there would be even more.

Avena was like a Hajimi. She reacted defensively with just a touch. The space in the bathtub was small and it was hard to move around freely. Coupled with avoiding using too much force to injure Avena, Ciel ended up getting wounded.

Next time, I definitely have to tie her up—Ciel had this thought again.

[Translator’s Note: Hajimi (哈基米) is a term that is popular on Chinese social media, often used to describe cute, sometimes sensitive or jumpy animal reactions, especially those of cats, when touched.]

At this moment, Avena, seeing Ciel remaining still for a long time, quietly turned to look at her. She saw the wound on Ciel’s face. She lightly pursed her lips, her heart filled with guilt.

Injuring Ciel was not her intention. It was just that every time Ciel’s hand touched her chest or other sensitive areas, she would instinctively resist—this was her natural reaction.

It wasn’t because she was rejecting Ciel, but rather the strange, tingling sensation that made her very uncomfortable.

Avena’s delicate body seemed a little too sensitive.

Moreover, their roles should have been reversed. If Ciel hadn’t resisted, neither of them would have been injured…

“Sorry… Ciel…”

In the end, Avena, who couldn’t bear it any longer, lowered her head and apologized to Ciel in a low voice.

“It’s alright,”

Ciel shook her head and asked gently, “Are you feeling better now?”

“I didn’t mean to, Ciel. I just…”

“It’s alright.”

Ciel climbed onto the bed, reached out, and gently rubbed Avena’s head, saying, “It’s just a small injury. It will be fine after a night’s sleep.”

She had died countless times. Ciel didn’t really care about such a small injury.

But the more thoughtful and gentle Ciel was, the more guilty Avena felt.

“You sit… sit here…”

Avena patted the empty space beside her with her right hand.

After Ciel knelt down facing her on her right side, Avena took a deep breath, as if she had made up her mind. She grabbed Ciel’s left hand.

“This way… this way, it should work…”

Ciel was pulled forward by Avena. She could only crawl forward two steps. Then she saw Avena pulling her hand, extending it towards Avena’s front.

Avena slowly pulled down the strap of her slip with her left hand, then pressed Ciel’s hand against her front.

The soft touch on her palm made Ciel’s heart tremble slightly. She subconsciously wanted to withdraw her hand, but her hand was held down by Avena.

“Avena…”

The dim yellow light shone on both their faces. Ciel looked at Avena before her, who had tightly pursed lips, and leaned forward slightly.

This time, Avena didn’t dodge. Instead, she slightly extended her neck forward, meeting her.

Girls in love would never get tired of kissing.

…

Holy Year 741, July 9th, morning.

The two, who had slept embracing each other, woke up almost simultaneously. After a brief good morning kiss, Ciel and Avena washed up, changed, and came to the dining room.

By the dining table, Nia looked at the terrible state of Ciel’s face and sighed silently in her heart.

Finally, she quietly made a thin metal mask for Ciel to wear, to slightly cover the wound.

Avena still had many handover matters at the mine to deal with. She had almost no free time these past few days. After breakfast, Avena left with Nia.

And Ciel, on the other hand, decided to first deal with the siege explosive barrels.

During breakfast, Ciel briefly mentioned this matter to Avena. The solution Avena provided was quite simple.

That was to anonymously report it to the police station.

This was military material and was currently stolen. For any department of the police station, it was a great achievement that absolutely could not be ignored.

At least a two-rank promotion was guaranteed.

Originally, Avena was planning to send someone to complete this matter, but Ciel always felt that this was not reliable enough. Instead, she asked Avena for an official recommendation letter and prepared to handle this matter herself.

After all, these explosive barrels were probably the most powerful offensive weapons that could be found in Berren City right now. They had shown extraordinary effectiveness in multiple simulations.

Even the people from the Society of Merriment had instigated the Orlando Republican Army to use these to assassinate Avena, severely injuring Avena in the simulation.

Ciel wouldn’t forget this matter.

Including the Blackwater Gang from the very beginning.

Before leaving, they all had to be cleared out… Just consider it cleaning up hazardous waste for Berren City.

However, just as Ciel was about to go out, two letters and a large bag of attachments were personally delivered to Avena’s residence by Lucy, specifically addressed to Ciel.

One letter was for Lucy. It was a commendation for her contribution in this mission, capturing the “Subverter” from the Society of Merriment, confirming the truth of the Deton Manor sacrifice case, and instructing her to return to Ansu City to receive her reward.

Deton Group was urgently needing to provide an explanation to its members for this incident, especially to those prominent figures who frequently came to “stock up.” Now, Lucy had produced this perfect “scapegoat,” so a promotion and raise were definitely in the cards.

The other letter was Ciel’s appointment letter. It seemed the high-ranking officials of Deton Group had also seen the suggestions Lucy submitted and approved this personnel appointment.

Ciel looked at the silver employee card in her hand, and the neat uniform in the bag. After accepting this, she was considered to have a “position” in a major company, a person with status.

Moreover, her weekly salary could be withdrawn from any bank using the employee card, essentially a bank card—this concept was nearly a hundred years ahead of other companies.

Most importantly, using the employee card to purchase items at Deton Manor only had a 5% handling fee. Although there was a monthly limit to prevent employees from reselling items, it was enough for Ciel.

Anyway, there was no limit on items bought in the simulation in reality.

After delivering the items, Lucy, upon learning that Ciel was also going to Ansu City, planned to delay her reward for a few more days and travel to Ansu City on the same train as Ciel. This was also an expression of loyalty and taking a side.

After Lucy left, Ciel took the recommendation letter and the Deton employee card and left the manor by carriage.