The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch - Chapter 256

I can kill him.

Separated one by one, Charles recognized these words, but combined, they caused him incomprehensible confusion.

Kill, Forte?

You?

Charles looked at the red-haired young girl before him. Although her gaze could bring him a pressure of unknown origin, that pressure could not make Charles simply believe her.

“You have probably come to the wrong person.”

Charles’s face was like frost. He sharply said, “If you were to carefully understand the relationship between the Queen’s Sword and the Roswell family, you would regret saying these things in front of me.”

Clash——

A greatsword quickly materialized in Charles’s hand. He raised his hand, the tip of the sword pointing directly at Ciel.

“For… Avena’s sake, I can allow you to leave a final message.”

Charles looked coldly at Ciel before him. Almost anyone seeing his expression of anger at this moment would believe that after Ciel said her last words, he would definitely carry out what he just said and pierce the young girl before him with a single sword thrust.

Looking at the tip of the sword before her, which was emitting white steam, the heat that had not yet faded from the long sword rushing towards her face, Ciel slowly shook her head.

“I had a dream, Duke Charles.”

Ciel’s gaze slowly moved upward along the tip of the sword, looking at Charles.

“In the dream, you, on the verge of death, also said the same things to me. Your family, your relationship with the Queen’s Sword, your reasons for being unable to help yourself…”

“Finally, do you know what you said?”

Ciel looked into Charles’s eyes and said, word by word, “You said ‘If you were in my position, you would also make my choices’.”

“Have you had enough of your dreams?”

Charles’s expression did not change at all. He pushed the tip of the sword forward a little. The sharp blade rested against Ciel’s neck, cutting a slight wound.

A thin trickle of blood seeped from the wound. If the tip of the sword went forward any further, it would be enough to cut through Ciel’s carotid artery, causing her to bleed to death.

He seemed completely unaffected by Ciel’s words, but Ciel knew that a slight flicker of doubt had definitely appeared in his heart.

Because the killing intent in Charles’s eyes had disappeared.

This was something Ciel detected through 【Acuity】. Moreover, her 【Precognitive Sight】 in her mind also consistently showed no action of Charles pushing the sword further—this was the confidence Ciel had to remain still.

Through Charles’s death in the previous simulation, Ciel knew that his daughter Avena still held considerable weight in Charles’s heart.

“Stab down. You might not be able to kill me. And the price will be Avena hating you for a lifetime.”

A faint smile appeared on Ciel’s face. She said, “Why don’t you listen carefully to my detailed plan?”

“Are you threatening me?”

Charles’s expression still did not change.

“I just want you to know that there are no conflicts of interest between us,”

Ciel continued, “But we both have conflicts with Forte.”

“As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Wouldn’t you agree?”

The final step was taken. Finally, after a few seconds, Charles slowly withdrew his sword.

He took a bottle of potion from his waist and tossed it to Ciel. After Ciel caught the potion, Charles continued, “You win. Let’s talk.”

Ciel opened the potion bottle and applied the liquid inside to the wound on her neck. Feeling the slight sting of the wound, she slowly let out a breath of relief in her heart.

In case Charles had truly decided to kill her, Ciel would not only have to use her save file to transform, but also possibly use Echo of Time and Overlimit 【Nemesis】 to have any chance of escaping.

This would not only create a considerable disturbance but also consume a lot of Ciel’s Fate Points… Fortunately, the 【Art of Conversation】 had worked, saving Ciel from having to face a Tier 4 in combat directly.

Charles sat on the sofa, waiting for Ciel. Ciel, after her wound had mostly healed, sat opposite Charles.

After Ciel was seated, Charles looked at Ciel and slowly said, “While I admire your courage, you must know in advance that this conversation is solely for Avena’s sake… Don’t ever think that your threat just now will have any effect.”

“If I wanted to kill you, I could find a thousand ways that Avena would not detect.”

“Mm.”

Ciel slightly nodded, not refuting.

Charles’s personality had many similarities with Avena’s, especially the stubbornness and unwillingness to lose face. It was almost as if they were cut from the same mold.

However, when Avena, a beautiful young girl, was stubborn, it was quite cute and enjoyable to tease her. But when Charles, a middle-aged man, was stubborn, it only made Ciel struggle to hold back from laughing out loud.

“I don’t need you to make a move or take any action,”

Ciel shook her head and said, “I just need to know what exactly happened at the royal luncheon an hour and a half ago, nothing more.”

“That’s it?”

Charles slightly frowned. He seemed a little unconvinced by Ciel’s words.

Her opponent was Forte. Ciel came to him, and even used Avena as a shield… Charles’s heart had almost already decided that the other party wanted to drag him into it, to stand against Forte together.

He had sufficient reasons to deal with Forte, and Forte’s enemies had come to him for cooperation before, but Charles had refused them all.

He knew that those people would all fail—they simply did not understand the terrifying nature of Forte.

The reason he agreed to talk with Ciel was indeed because of Avena, and that phrase from Ciel’s mouth, “Avena’s lover.”

Charles wanted to understand the young girl’s conflict with Forte, to see if he could persuade this red-haired girl before him to give up, to prevent Avena from becoming a young widow at this age in her teens…