The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch - Chapter 208

“What are you waiting for?”

A muffled voice came from Lafayette’s headless chest. She didn’t move forward another step either, as she was also worried that she might be walking into some kind of ambush.

After all, the methods of that red-haired young girl opposite were truly bizarre—she could actually cause her harm.

Moreover, Forte would arrive soon. With Forte’s ability, she could quickly be captured.

“Waiting for Forte.” Ciel slowly said.

Forte, who couldn’t ride his horse in the alley at this moment, must have lost track of them without scanning. Ciel now had to wait for Forte’s next scan before she could continue.

Otherwise, she couldn’t stall for the remaining few minutes.

“Whoa—”

A strange whistle came from Lafayette’s chest. She slowly shook her arm, and a pulsating red tumor appeared in Lafayette’s hand. Holding the tumor, she said, “It’s alright. I’ve called him for you.”

“Then… thank you?”

The heavy sound of horse hooves seemed to follow the whistle again. Accompanied by a crashing sound, clouds of smoke rose from the alley entrance.

“15 seconds… scan 10 seconds…”

In the dust from the alley entrance, Ciel saw a tall figure.

Cannot wait. She had to take a gamble.

“Don’t worry. There’s a second round.”

Click—

Ciel reached into her pocket and pressed the pocket watch. The corner of her mouth curved into an arc. She directly crashed into a shack beside her.

Bang—

The thin wooden door was directly shattered by her. She quickly opened the underground passage and leaped down.

Forte had just arrived behind Lafayette. He quickly said, “Lafayette? What happened?”

“Your Excellency Forte, someone killed Windsor and stole that thing…”

Lafayette said as she quickly rushed into the shack. She looked at the underground passage below and frowned slightly.

This kind of place obviously has traps…

Someone stole that thing?

Connecting this with the cultists who had tried to block him earlier… Forte linked the two incidents.

Is this the Keyman’s plan…? Are they finally going to make a move?

This feeling of being seen through made Forte feel a chill down his spine—he didn’t know how long it had been since he had felt this way. Normally, he was the “prophet” who saw through everything.

“Wait.”

Looking at the underground passage within the shack, Forte raised his hand and stopped Lafayette.

He was also worried that there would be danger inside… a gift from the Keyman.

He admitted, he was afraid…

Keyman was definitely the most difficult opponent he had ever encountered in his life…

After a few seconds, a phantom key appeared in Forte’s hand. He quickly turned the key. A muffled heavy note rapidly spread out from him as the center.

Everything around him was reconstructed in his mind. A phantom figure, running in the sewer, opening a secret door as if preparing to enter, with a panicked expression, was also constructed in his mind.

No trap… This is her lair. She is at a dead end.

“Let’s go.”

Forte directly jumped down the secret passage and rushed towards the young girl’s location. This was a rare clue he had found during his investigation these past few days. Even if there was danger, he had to pursue her and investigate.

Lafayette also quickly leaped down and followed Forte. The two passed through the underground secret room and rushed along the sewer passage towards the young girl’s “hiding place.”

At this moment, Ciel, who had already opened the door to the secret room, was slightly panting, looking at the empty Divine Advent Church hiding place.

Over there, the sound of pursuing footsteps echoed in the sewer. In just a few seconds, they would catch up to her…

However, the 15 seconds of 【Echo of Time Lv.2】 had already ended.

Buzz—

Ciel’s figure shattered into a silver halo.

The next moment, her figure appeared at the place she was 15 seconds ago—the entrance of the dilapidated shack.

And Forte and Lafayette at this moment had rushed to the entrance of the secret door. Forte looked at the secret room inside, took a deep breath, and said, “Search. She’s in there. She used some method to conceal her aura.”

…

Ciel walked step by step, holding onto the wall, moving through the alley, walking away from the shack.

After walking for less than ten seconds, an intense wave of dizziness came over her. Ciel’s trembling legs could no longer support her actions. She knelt down, trembling, and supported herself with one hand on the ground to avoid falling.

A small sound of footsteps came from ahead. Ciel slowly looked up. In her blurry vision, she saw a child wearing dirty, torn clothes, her gender indistinguishable, looking at Ciel with some fear.

As she met Ciel’s eyes, the child paused for a moment. Then, slowly, she knelt down and said weakly, “(Orlando language) Do you… need help? Big sister.”

It was a little girl.

Ciel knelt on the ground, barely raising her hand, wanting to tell the child to stay away to avoid being implicated.

But the next second, a familiar feeling came over her. She felt her body rapidly dissipating.

The “side effect,” 【Temporal Disorder】, had arrived.

Ciel’s original fiery red hair was instantly covered by curly sky blue hair at the ends. Her clothes also changed instantly. Along with this came the feeling of weakness as her muscles dissolved, which also disappeared instantly.

Ciel’s face broke into a smile.

She had gambled correctly!

Ciel looked back. There were no pursuers. She knew that she had shaken them off.

At least for the next 6 minutes, without the heavy note scan, they wouldn’t be able to find Ciel again.

And after six minutes?

Sorry, she would be gone.

Ciel stood up, supporting herself against the wall. She smiled and reached into her pocket, magically pulling out a 1 shilling silver coin and placing it on the forehead of the child who was looking up at her.

“(Orlando language) Everyone who sees gets a share.”

Ciel brushed the dust off her clothes, and walked with a leisurely pace past the little girl, leaving the alley.

…

“Save, No.7.”

【No.7: “Detective” Ciel】

【Reality】

【Holy Year 741, July 17th, 14:45】

【Evaluation: Running away! Awesome!】

【Although it was so cautious before that I almost fell asleep, the final daring escape was truly beyond my expectation—”Detective” is still a bit too cautious. Use it less next time】

【Take it. This is what you deserve based on your performance.】

【Rewards: Fate Points × 19, 【Concealment Lv.1】】

【Fate Points: 517】

【Concealment Lv.1: Slightly increases your concealment ability, allowing you to conceal your aura to a certain extent, making it difficult to be detected】

Ciel slowly sat up, supporting herself on the table. She felt a slight dizziness in her brain, but this feeling was fleeting.

Although she had stayed in the simulation for 24 hours and saved the file, she hadn’t used abilities that severely polluted her mind, such as 【Spiritual Summoning】. Her mind hadn’t suffered any injury.

The items were already on her. They should have entered the system store. She just didn’t know if that frontal lobe had shattered… The running just now was quite intense.

Just as Ciel was about to open the system store, there was a knock on the door.

Ciel temporarily stopped opening the system panel and turned to look at the door.

It was Avena who opened the door.

“I gave the ingredients to Adele. She just needs to mix them. If she’s fast, she should have the ‘Detective’ potion tonight… When are you planning to use it?”

Avena walked to Ciel and asked.

This was an item that Ciel needed before the simulation. But now, the simulated Ciel had already obtained the potion and had saved the “Detective” file. She no longer had a need for the “Detective” potion.

This is awkward… She should have had her simulated self do these things…

“I might not use it. I want to test each potion first.” Ciel said.

“I know.” Avena wasn’t surprised.

Before they became official, Ciel had always been buying and selling potions from her, and each time it was a different potion. She could probably guess Ciel’s intentions.

However, she wasn’t sure how Ciel was “testing” whether a potion was suitable or not. Of course, if Ciel didn’t want to say, she wouldn’t press.

Although Ciel had many secrets, Avena could feel her sincerity towards her.

Avena took out a few 20 Su Pounds notes from her pocket and handed them to Ciel. She said, “Remember to give Adele some money for making it. She should be running out of money soon. She needs money for food and rent.”

“Also, the money for the potion has been deducted from the Su Pounds you temporarily deposited with me. If you need money, tell me.”

Ciel nodded. “Got it.”

Suddenly, Ciel realized something.

This conversation… Why did it feel so strangely familiar…?