The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch - Chapter 253

The rest of the conversation basically fell under Ciel’s control of the rhythm.

In the simulation, Windsor had been trying every possible way to guide Ciel to drink the drugged red tea and directly incapacitate her. Later, she even wanted to directly control Ciel physically through her teacher.

Ciel could easily handle these little schemes of Windsor’s.

After only a few sentences, Windsor had already stood up and was taking Ciel and the others to the underground collection room.

And Percy’s white shadow had been hidden within Ciel’s shadow. The moment Windsor opened the door to the underground collection room, Percy’s shadow quickly enveloped the entire underground collection room.

Lafayette didn’t even have time to clearly see who the newcomers were before her eyes were covered by a vast white light and her entire body was unable to move—a Tier 4 ambushing a Tier 3 was indeed an overwhelming superiority strike.

Avena also quickly entered the state.

She first implanted a false memory in Windsor, then began to meticulously write and edit Lafayette’s dreams and memories—using the script Ciel had provided.

The implanted false memory was still the version from the simulation, the one where Mond was the “Keyman,” controlling and leading everything.

When Avena finished brainwashing Lafayette, approximately fifty minutes had passed—Avena had completed her goal ahead of schedule.

After the wrap-up work was done, Ciel, Avena, and the others left Windsor Palace.

As for the complete plan that Lafayette was to carry out, it had been fully implanted into Lafayette’s memory.

In the carriage, Ciel looked at Avena beside her, reached out, placed her hand on Avena’s back, and gently held it.

Avena seemed a little uneasy.

“Are you very worried?”

Ciel asked.

“No… I just feel a little…”

Avena took a shallow breath. After hesitating for a moment, she finally seemed to find a more suitable adjective, “Too easy…”

It was too smooth… so smooth that Avena even suspected that she and Ciel had fallen into some kind of trap.

In Avena’s imagination, actions like this, which were enough to shake the entire transcendent circle of Ansu, would require at least weeks, or even months or years of planning, meticulously detailing every step, and then expending vast amounts of manpower and resources to complete.

But Ciel had simply “casually” proposed a plan, then executed it swiftly and forcefully. Following the plan she had laid out, which certainly took no more than a day, she had smoothly approached the final goal step by step…

It was too fast… The process was unbelievably smooth.

It was like redoing a test for which you already knew the answers. All you had to do was simply fill in the blanks based on memory. It was quick and accurate.

If this wasn’t due to luck, it could only mean that Ciel possessed terrifying planning and thinking abilities, just as Ciel had always shown, always solving the most complex problems with the most efficient methods.

She was almost like an omniscient and omnipotent being…

Generally speaking, when someone does something that is too difficult for others to understand, it only causes fear. But Avena did not feel afraid of Ciel.

Instead, she was worried.

Especially when Ciel appeared before her yesterday in a completely recovered mental state, it always made her feel as if she was seeing… the last afterglow of a soul about to burn out.

This feeling made Avena uneasy.

“Ciel.”

Avena turned to look at Ciel, her expression serious and solemn.

“Mm?”

Ciel looked at Avena and asked softly, “What’s wrong?”

“I know there are some mystical rituals that can overdraw one’s life force and demand some reward or help from certain entities… And some sealed artifacts also have similar functions…”

As Avena spoke, she fell silent and lowered her head. But as the carriage gradually stopped, she still looked up at Ciel and asked, “Are you… using such dangerous things?”

Huh?

Ciel was stunned for a moment.

Why would Avena think that?

Ciel couldn’t immediately think of a reason why Avena would think this. It seemed that she had done so many exaggerated things in the simulation that she hadn’t realized how appalling some things were when done in reality.

Perhaps it was because she subconsciously treated this action as a simulation as well.

“Why would you think that?”

Ciel shook her head and said, “I would never do such…”

At this point, Ciel paused.

She… seemed to have no right to say that.

Thinking about it carefully, Spiritual Summoning, Deadly Blood Roland… many of her abilities and sealed artifacts were almost all activated by overdrawing mental power and life force.

Ciel’s critical pause almost confirmed Avena’s conjecture.

Avena’s hand, which had been held, turned and gripped Ciel’s hand. Her fingers were tense, her knuckles turning a little white.

Feeling the strength with which Avena was holding her, Ciel knew she had misunderstood something, but at this moment, Ciel couldn’t offer any explanation either.

The carriage had stopped at the entrance of Ciel’s house, but Avena showed no sign of letting Ciel get off.

After a long time, Ciel slowly turned her body, gently rested her forehead against Avena’s head, and said, “Trust me.”

Now, besides trust, there seemed to be no other way.

Avena slowly released Ciel’s tightly clasped hand. She watched Ciel get off the carriage. Not until Ciel, Tara, and Percy’s figures entered the villa and completely disappeared from sight did Avena let out a deep breath.

Nia flicked the reins. The carriage slowly drove away, carrying Avena away from Ciel’s home.

…

Ciel sat at the desk in her room, but after sitting for a while, she stood up and paced around the room.

Waiting is always difficult to bear.

Based on the previous simulations, she knew that today, the 20th, was the day Forte would meet Lafayette for a reading of his living notes. At that time, Lafayette would follow Ciel’s instructions, use medication to make Forte unconscious, and then inform Ciel and Pope Erigma.

And on the 21st in the simulation, Forte would attend Avena’s housewarming banquet, accompanied by the “Keyman” Mond and Lafayette, in the posture of a victor.

Ciel kept all the time details firmly in her mind. The only change this time was that instead of deceiving Forte, she was going to kill him.

But…

Killing Forte was easy. After so many simulations, Ciel knew him like the back of her hand and had countless ways to kill him.

Killing Forte did not mean the end. His death was just the beginning of the event.

Ciel couldn’t predict how things would unfold after killing Forte. It had been a long time since she had experienced the feeling of having to take risks in reality…

Fortunately, after rewinding, all her actions would be erased.

Forte could only retain information about Pope Erigma, Lafayette, or Mond. He would be completely unable to find Ciel behind it.

Time passed minute by minute. Finally, at five o’clock in the afternoon, Tara knocked on Ciel’s door. Ciel quickly put down the book in her hand.

The door was opened directly by Tara—Ciel had instructed her to do so. This proved that…

Lafayette’s information had arrived.

Forte, already at Windsor Palace, had fallen into a coma.

“Let’s go, inform Pope Erigma and Eleanor.”

Ciel put on her silver mask and quickly walked downstairs.

Next, her only task was to ensure Forte…

Dies first.