The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch - Chapter 245

Ciel’s response made the man’s spirit lift. He quickly said, “When I saw you through the carriage window just now, I knew this beautiful young lady must be a close friend of Miss Roswell… I had no intention of being offensive. I was just saying that both of you have the same noble and charming demeanor.”

“Cough cough…”

Seeming to realize that he had talked a bit too much nonsense, he coughed slightly, cleared his throat, and said:

“I wanted to find you, primarily to ask if you could introduce me to Her Excellency Avena… Before that, please allow me to introduce myself.”

As he spoke, he took out two steel wheels from the satchel he carried. One of them gleamed with a blue mirror-like sheen, while the other was heavily corroded. Just the act of taking it out caused some reddish-brown fragments to fall off.

“Does Your Excellency know why the steel-wheeled carriages on Ansu’s streets always have a rusty smell? Unplated steel wheels become as brittle as wafer biscuits after soaking in coal slag and horse manure for three months. Last winter, a carriage on Regent Street had its axle suddenly break. The splashing rust fragments cut the throat of the horse pulling the carriage. The blood spurted…”

“Get to the point.”

Tara spoke, directly interrupting the other party’s narration.

Lord Ciel’s time will not be wasted on such trivial matters.

“I can bet that the members of the Westminster District Council are already fed up with horse manure, let alone the environmentally polluting metal fragments on the road.”

He sped up his speech, quickly took out a yellowed copy of 《Canal Daily》, and pointed to the headline on it, saying: “‘City Hall Annual Report: Steel Wheel Replacement Costs Exceed Parliament Building Stone Repair Costs by Double.’ At least thirty thousand carriages in all of Ansu! They have to be replaced every six months. This is paying tribute to rust with golden pounds!”

“And this is the new type of chrome-plated wheel I have developed…”

A salesman.

Ciel listened to what he said, but did not reply. She simply listened quietly.

He seemed to have been waiting here for a long time, wanting to use her to meet Avena, to ensure he could speak about these matters in front of Avena.

Because he heard that Avena had a large amount of funds on hand and was interested in finding some projects to invest in, that’s why he came and waited patiently.

It wasn’t just because of the funds, but also Avena’s relationship with the council… an uncle who is the Minister of the Interior.

“As long as I recommend this new process to the council members and have them pass some laws to replace the old wheels… Believe me, within three months, the flagstones under your wheels will be cleaner than the Queen’s tableware!”

“If my invention and related laws can be implemented, I can guarantee that from patent fees alone, I can earn at least 12,000 Su Pounds in profit per year… If Miss Avena is willing to help me promote it, I am willing to authorize this process to her and only charge half of the patent fee!”

Selling patents, huh.

Ciel said, “Give me your business card. I will mention it to Avena.”

“Thank you, thank you!”

The man quickly handed the business card to Ciel. After repeatedly thanking her, he left Ciel’s carriage.

Ciel took the business card and handed it to Tara, telling her to keep it.

Ciel had no real judgment about business. She would just mention it to Avena briefly.

Tara took the business card and just casually glanced at it, then she scoffed.

“What’s wrong?”

Ciel looked at Tara and asked.

Tara seemed to have been hostile towards that man the entire time.

“The date on his business card is even printed incorrectly,”

Tara shook her head, pointed to the number on it, and said, “Doing business with such an unreliable person requires caution.”

“Holy Year 770…”

Ciel looked at the number written in gold-stamped lines below the business card and also smiled and shook her head, “This is ridiculously wrong.”

However, Ciel did remember the name on the business card—Horatio Marlin.

This was just a minor, unimportant interlude while waiting. Ciel quickly put this matter aside.

Not long after waiting, a maid quickly ran to Ciel’s carriage, guiding the coachman. They bypassed the other people in line and led Ciel’s carriage to the garden.

Ciel got off the carriage and, led by the maid, walked towards the study.

Knock knock knock——

The study door was knocked open. Ciel walked in. There were not many books inside the study now. The rows of bookshelves were empty.

Avena, knowing Ciel was coming, seemed to have intentionally stood by the window, away from the door. She was looking out the window and did not turn to look at Ciel.

However, the indentation on the sofa, which had not yet sprung back, proved that Avena had been sitting on the sofa just now.

“Wait for me outside.”

Ciel said this to Tara, who was following behind her. Then, she walked into the study, closed the study door, and went directly towards Avena.

“What are you here for?”

Avena still did not turn around. She seemed to still be upset about what happened before. After all, for Avena, not much time had passed before Ciel came to find her.

Ciel stood behind Avena. Reaching out from behind her, she gently put her arms around her waist, rested her chin on her left shoulder, and asked in a low voice, “Is there a place where no sound can be detected from outside?”

“What do you want to do?”

This time, Avena’s voice finally showed a slight ripple. She slightly leaned her head to the right, seemingly wanting to get away from Ciel’s face, but there was no resistance from her body.

“There’s something I want to discuss with you, something very important.”

Ciel said in a low voice.

“…”

Avena gently pursed her lips. She seemed to look slightly disappointed.

She reached out, gently pushed away Ciel’s hands that were around her waist, then took Ciel’s hand and walked towards the inner part of the study.

“There are still a lot of people waiting outside. Don’t you need to deal with them?”

Ciel, being led away, asked from behind, “I can wait.”

“Are those things as important as you?”

Avena did not turn around. She just pulled Ciel and walked towards a room inside the study.

Ciel was slightly taken aback by the sudden overly sweet words. Soon, she was led into the inner room.

This was a completely sealed space. There weren’t even any windows, nor any ventilation facilities. It was roughly the size of a single room.

Especially after the door was closed, it was so quiet inside that you could hear a pin drop. Moreover, it seemed that no lighting equipment had been installed inside yet.

In the pitch-black darkness, Avena slowly turned around and said, “Don’t let go… otherwise I won’t be able to find you.”

“Okay.”

Ciel nodded. After taking a deep breath, she said, “Avena…”

“Mm…”

Avena responded softly, waiting for Ciel to speak.

“I need you to help me… kill Forte.”

Ciel said in a low voice.

“Mm… Huh?!”

In the darkness, Avena froze directly. She seemed to not understand the meaning of Ciel’s words for a moment.