The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch - Chapter 272

“Hhh…”

Ciel fiercely opened her eyes, gasping for breath.

She quickly scanned her surroundings.

The original Imogen and Mond were both gone… She was the only one standing in this room.

The world-shattering scene from just now also seemed to be just an illusion, its purpose seemingly only to “awaken.”

She looked in the direction where the pink candle had been… The tabletop where the candle had been placed was now empty.

She quickly walked out of the room, retracing her steps, and hurried towards what was her room in the simulation, inside the Prime Minister’s residence.

Ciel directly opened the door and saw Avena and Tara, wearing thin nightgowns, turn to look at her.

Avena, upon “seeing” Ciel, slowly said, “What’s wrong, Ciel?”

“Lord Ciel?”

Tara also made a confused sound.

On Tara’s forehead, a slowly burning, phantom pink candle was stuck. And on Avena’s shoulder, there was also one. Before this, Ciel had been completely unable to notice the existence of the phantom candles.

They were all still in a “dream-induced” state?

Was what she just experienced not a dream? Was it all real?

This was not like the definite dreams caused by a “Dream Thief.” Instead, it was more like… a modification of subconsciousness or common sense.

Even the affected individuals themselves wouldn’t notice any changes. In their eyes, everything was just reality unfolding.

Ciel walked to the window and pulled back the curtains, letting the sunlight stream in.

Below, she saw many men dressed in comical women’s clothing walking on the street, greeting each other in comical high-pitched voices. The only commonality was… there was a burning pink candle stuck somewhere on their bodies.

Did she actually affect so many people at once?

The entire West District?

Or the entire Ansu City?

Is this something a Tier 4 can do?

Or was it with the help of a sealed artifact?

The thought of Charles possibly wearing women’s clothing and discussing state affairs with William, who was also wearing women’s clothing, made Ciel’s lips twitch uncontrollably.

Regardless of the range of this ability’s influence… one thing was clear: the person using this ability definitely possessed an unimaginable perverted sense of humor.

Truly worthy of being a Tier 4 from the Society of Merriment… Her mental state was indeed much more twisted than the Keyman’s.

Now, the entire Ansu City was in disarray. Who knows what those Tier 4s would think when they woke up and saw these changes…

What confused Ciel the most was herself.

She had directly simulated to Future Days. Logically speaking, only a pure save file of her should have arrived. Why was even a pure save file directly affected? And why did it even inherit the previously affected memories?

It should be known that inheriting the memories of her simulated self was something Ciel had always wanted to do but had never succeeded in. Even now, she could only rely on her notebook to understand what her simulated self had done.

Could it be “Uniqueness”?

Or was she instantly “infected” the moment she entered the simulation?

Meme contagion?

Was she spreading a persona, a story, a worldview that she had manually set, causing the infected to directly imitate it?

This was clearly not an ability a “Nightmare” should have… If it did, it would be too powerful.

Instead, it closely resembled a fusion of “Nightmare” and some other ability… Based on Ciel’s current deduction, a high-tier on the “Poison Master” path was the most likely candidate.

This also fit the “esteemed individual” Imogen mentioned, who was completing a reconstitution ritual.

Just as Ciel was lost in thought, looking at the scene outside the window, a figure shrouded in shadow entered Ciel’s vision. It stood out conspicuously among the passersby below—as if it were on a different layer.

The figure adjusted its hat, looked up in Ciel’s direction, and slowly raised its hand, waving at Ciel.

Imogen…

…

In the Prime Minister’s residence conference room, Ciel sat at the head of the table, looking at the transcendent sitting opposite her, quietly waiting for her to speak.

“Your Excellency, I mean no offense to you or your organization,”

Imogen spoke first, breaking the silence. She looked at Ciel and said, “I came to this place with a mission, but I accidentally went too far… I don’t believe we have any fundamental conflicts of interest.”

Assuming the other party was also a powerful, hidden organization, to go all out and destroy each other over a single friction would not align with the Society of Merriment’s flexible bottom line, nor would it serve any purpose for that esteemed individual’s reconstitution ritual.

The current Imogen was thinking about what she could do to compensate for this unintentional offense. Imogen was very confident that she hadn’t killed many people and wouldn’t offend any transcendents.

It was just that some Tier 4s might become enraged after waking up… but they wouldn’t know who did it, and by disrupting the plan to repeal the 《Corn Laws》, Imogen had also accomplished her mission.

It was just a pity that the “talent” she could have taken was gone, and that esteemed individual would still have to continue developing Mond.

However, what Imogen didn’t know was that the moment she appeared in Ciel’s line of sight, reconciliation between them became difficult, unless there was a way for Imogen to never see Ciel again.

Their existence signified chaos, and chaos represented danger… And Ciel had never wanted to be associated with danger, especially in reality.

Compared to violent slaughter, Ciel preferred to “render dangerous objects harmless.”

“State your purpose.”

Ciel showed no compromise in her words. She subtly nodded and said, “I’ll consider it.”

So arrogant?

Ciel’s words made Imogen slightly frown. She had indeed come to talk and make amends, but the young girl’s tone was more as if she held Imogen’s life and death in her hands.

Whether it was her previous negotiations with Pope of Order, Erigma, or Charles, Ciel had learned several truths.

The more powerful a person is, the less you can show any weakness in front of them.

All their actions have a logic. They all have their own needs.

As long as you can pinpoint what they need, you can grasp their weakness and gain the upper hand in negotiations.

Since becoming a transcendent, Ciel had basically negotiated with people more powerful than herself, whether in reality or in simulations. That’s why she appeared so calm when facing Imogen.

“Then Your Excellency should think carefully…”

Imogen’s tone also became tinged with playfulness. She looked into Ciel’s eyes and said with a smile, “If I were to truly reveal what even Forte remained silent about… Your Excellency might not be able to get away clean.”

“Forte?”

Ciel slowly looked up, meeting Imogen’s eyes beneath her veil. A faint, harmless smile appeared on her lips.

“Are you referring to that idiot who could die dozens of times in a second at my hands?”

Imogen looked into Ciel’s eyes. Her face subtly changed.

Forte was killed by her?!