The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch - Chapter 18

Saint Year 741, June 18, Berren City, 3:50 AM.

In the small upstairs room of the row house at 44 South-North Stone Street in the Clock Tower District, Ciel slowly awakened from her slumber.

Nearly nine hours of deep sleep had restored her energy. At the moment, she lay limply in bed, her body relaxed, seemingly reluctant to get up.

But soon, she forced herself to sit up, grabbing the cup next to her and taking a sip of water.

Perhaps it was due to sheer exhaustion, but this sleep had been especially refreshing.

Still kneeling on the bed, Ciel silently summoned the system in her mind.

The bright silver screen appeared before her, bringing her a sense of reassurance.

At least she hadn’t woken up to find that everything had been a dream.

She opened the simulation interface and glanced at the available simulation times.

「Future: 1 Day (Saint Year 741, June 19, 6:25) (Cost: 10 Fate Points)」

「Past: 3 Days (Saint Year 741, June 15, 7:30) (Cost: 10 Fate Points)」

「Old Days: ***, *** Days (???) (Cost: 10,000 Fate Points)」

June 19th, 6:25 AM… If she did nothing, her death would come six minutes into the simulation.

It seemed that until she survived past the 19th, the simulation would remain locked at this point.

Ciel had hoped to simulate events further in the future, and she couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed after seeing this.

Her first two simulations had also started at this time point, both ending quickly with her dying under gunfire, having gained only minimal information.

For Ciel from ten hours ago, reaching this time point was undoubtedly a dead end.

But for the Ciel who had now experienced four simulations, this “dead end” no longer brought her any sense of tension.

Ciel lit the candle on her bedside table, grabbed a pencil, and opened her notebook. She tore out the first few pages, burned them over the candle, and crumpled the ashes into the trash.

Then, on a fresh page, she began writing.

【1. Familiarize myself with the abilities of the saved version of me.】

【2. Arrange for my sister to take time off and wait at the café in the city center, as before.】

【3. Develop a plan to eliminate Thomas, Solari, and their accomplices while clearing myself of all suspicion.】

These were her goals for her future self. Of course, the first goal was the top priority, while the third was a way for her future self to brainstorm strategies during the simulation.

This would save her significant time and effort.

“Good luck, future me.”

Ciel smiled faintly and drew a simple smiley face at the bottom before closing the notebook.

Lying sprawled on the bed with the notebook in hand, Ciel prepared to enter the simulation. But before doing so, she wanted to check if the store had any new useful items.

Judging from the clothes on her unconscious body in the saved simulation, her outfit had likely been changed by Uris, possibly into Uris’s own clothing.

Perhaps there might be something useful in the store.

Opening the store, a list of items appeared before her.

「【Uris’s Personal Undergarments】」

「Fate Points: 1」

「【Uris’s Personal Corset】」

「Fate Points: 1」

「【High Priestess Robe of the Savior Goddess Church, ‘Silver Grace’】」

「Fate Points: 5」

「【Insignia of Salvation – ‘Servant’】」

「Fate Points: 1」

「【Bloodied Bandages】」

「Fate Points: 1」

…

Aside from some personal clothing items, the rest were various herbs and bandages.

It seemed Uris had indeed changed her outfit for her, but all the valuable items had been taken, leaving behind only miscellaneous things.

Finding nothing immediately useful, Ciel closed the store interface and opened the simulation.

“Future,” Ciel silently recited.

This time, she didn’t enter the simulation immediately.

A new interface appeared before her.

「Select Character」

「No.x: Ciel (Pure Mode)」

「No.1: Unnamed」

「No.2: None」

「No.3: None」

So it can be renamed?

With a thought, the “Unnamed” entry transformed.

「No.1: Ciel the Avenger」

After all the fire and shadows from before, Ciel was tempted to call it “Fire Shadow,” but for the sake of clarity between different saved versions of herself, she opted for a more standard name.

She selected Save Slot No.1. A beam of white light engulfed her.

…

「Future」

「Saint Year 741, June 19, 6:25」

「Countdown: 23:59:59」

“Tap, tap, tap…”

She opened her eyes.

Before her was the familiar room, and outside the window came the familiar sound of rain.

What wasn’t familiar, though, was the burning, stinging pain radiating through her body, accompanied by a growing sense of agitation and anger brought on by the discomfort.

Fortunately, with the help of 【Calm Mind Lv.1】, Ciel didn’t let these emotions overwhelm her. She raised her hand, and the sleeve of her robe slid down to reveal her bandaged arm.

The burns hadn’t fully healed… but the cool sensation from the bandages suggested that the medicine Uris had applied was working.

There was also something else different from her current self: a chaotic, indescribable fragment of knowledge that now resided in her mind.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she looked straight ahead.

Her shadow, flickering in the candlelight, began to shift. Then, as if it were clawing its way out of a swamp, a black silhouette emerged from the shadow.

It was a completely black version of Ciel, with no other color present. Its eyes had no pupils, only a faint white glow, with wisps of white mist seeping from its eye sockets.

Not only that, but its body seemed to be surrounded by a faint, grayish flame, giving it an eerie, flickering appearance like a ghostly figure from a horror film.

If this shadow suddenly appeared before someone, it would undoubtedly scare them half to death.

This was the first time Ciel had experienced using a transcendent ability. Under her control, the shadowy duplicate moved as if it were an extension of her own body. And yet, she could sense that this wasn’t the extent of her power…

But first, she needed to see what her notebook had recorded.

She opened the notebook on her bedside table. It contained sparse records, mostly investigations into events she hadn’t experienced firsthand.

For instance, what happened to Thomas and Solari after the tavern incident? And what were Eddie’s movements?

She had pinpointed the addresses of Thomas and Solari, while Eddie had been completely brainwashed by Thomas, following his every order.

And as for planning?

She had left behind this note:

【Just kill them first and analyze the aftermath. Overthinking won’t help ^_^】

The same smiley face was sketched at the end. Ciel felt like she was fighting herself.

Reading this, Ciel suddenly laughed in relief.

It was exactly her style.

Closing the notebook, Ciel glanced at the time.

6:28. Three minutes left until her “death time.”

Kill them first and analyze the aftermath, huh…

Ciel stood up, her hand reaching toward the mask on her face. But halfway through removing it, she put it back on.

If this looked like the work of a “transcendent,” no one would associate it with an “ordinary person,” right?

Especially since she was wearing the robes of the Savior Goddess Church. No one in their right mind would connect these events to someone like her—a non-believer.

“Sorry, Goddess.”

Ciel adjusted her mask.

“I’ll pay back those two pennies when I return to reality.”