The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch - Chapter 279

After passing through several ordinary college buildings, and walking through a quiet garden and a few checkpoints, the bustling atmosphere of the college disappeared. A tranquil atmosphere enveloped the few buildings before them.

Lush forests served as the best protection surrounding this hidden college, effectively blocking most views from ordinary people.

There were no students in the central garden. Occasionally, people wearing black crow masks and long coats hurried by. The young man leading the way occasionally stopped to greet those wearing black crow masks.

Ciel and Adele were led to the innermost building, to a room on the third floor. They stopped at the doorway.

The young man raised his hand and knocked on the door at a fixed rhythm. Ten seconds later, he directly opened the wooden door, then stepped aside and turned to Ciel and Adele, saying, “Please come in. Professor Ashford is waiting for you inside.”

It looked like a study…

Ciel stood at the doorway and watched for a moment. Not until Adele’s hands rested on her shoulders behind her did she realize that if Ciel didn’t go in, Adele wouldn’t quite dare to enter alone either.

Ciel walked directly into the room. Adele followed closely. After they entered, the door behind them slowly closed.

Ciel looked around, then walked around the bookshelf, looking towards the center of the room. She saw the experimental area hidden behind the bookshelf. Various precise instruments and bottles were placed on several tables. In a few of the reagent bottles, Ciel saw a few charred violet petals.

It seemed these were the few samples that had survived the explosion.

And their arrival seemed to attract the attention of someone shaking a reagent bottle. Ciel made direct eye contact with him.

This is…

Ciel looked at the young man, who appeared to be in his twenties. He had a full head of white hair, but his scalp was slightly bald, a stark contrast to his youthful face.

“Ciel, Adele,” Ciel pointed to the person behind her and introduced, “We are here to see Professor Ashford.”

“I am Ashford.” A faint smile appeared on the young man’s face. His gaze swept past Ciel and landed on Adele. He said, “Long time no see, Adele.”

“Professor… Ashford?” Adele looked at the young man before her, her voice tinged with confusion.

This person before her was Ashford?

In Ciel’s impression, Professor Ashford had quite distinctive features. Besides looking old, his brain was also slightly enlarged, and there was a slight protrusion at the back of his head.

But the young man before her now looked like an ordinary young person. He didn’t even have the aura of a Tier 3 “Reborn.”

“Are you surprised?” Ashford said with a bitter smile, touching his cheek. “Rejuvenation… this is one of the benefits of becoming a ‘Reborn.'”

“Rejuvenation?” Ciel asked, “Is this the ability of a ‘Reborn’?”

“Hahaha, that’s just a slightly more interesting way of putting it.” Ashford laughed aloud and explained, “The correct term is that I used a ‘backup body’ stored within me, exchanging it for a shell I nurtured internally.”

A shell nurtured internally…

Ciel remembered Lafayette, who had a second life. She now had a general understanding of the “Reborn’s” abilities.

Nurturing one’s own second life, huh? No wonder every Reborn she had seen had such strange forms, with many areas showing unusual swelling—especially Lafayette, whose height had reached two meters. Even when hunched, she looked like a giant.

So if Adele advances to “Reborn” in the future, will she also have to nurture a second life in this way?

After her second resurrection, will Adele’s age also decrease?

Adele was only about a year older than Ciel and Avena. Judging by Ashford’s current state, he wouldn’t directly regress Adele into a baby, would he?

“What an amazing ability…” Ciel asked with some curiosity, “Does this ability activate automatically after severe injury?”

“No.” Ashford shook his head.

He didn’t seem to mind the secrets of the “Reborn,” and seemed quite happy to explain—or rather, to explain to Adele.

“At the moment of advancing to Reborn, depending on the degree of potion digestion, ‘Reborns’ will undergo several rounds of metamorphosis… This is a process of transformation from being corroded by the potion to becoming a normal human. It is very different from other potion digestions.”

“The shed flesh and blood will re-enter the body’s circulation and be metabolized again. Some people, however, will deliberately retain a portion of their flesh and blood, nourishing it within their bodies. When severely wounded, they can use this nourished flesh and blood to repair their bodies.”

Saying this, Ashford paused slightly, then continued, “So far, among the ‘Reborns’ documented in papers and literature, they generally only undergo 3 to 5 rounds of transformation. I’m not entirely clear what kind of results subsequent transformations will produce.”

“However, what is known is that it will definitely be beneficial. The more one transforms, the closer one gets to their original human form, achieving ‘new birth.'”

“I seem to have strayed from the topic a little…”

Ashford looked at Adele, who was deep in thought, then smiled and turned his gaze to Ciel, saying, “Forte is dead. I want to restart the ‘Rotting Disease’ research, with Adele.”

He seemed to know that talking about such things with Adele was useless, and even with Uris it was useless. Only by speaking to the red-haired young lady with intimidating eyes before him could Adele possibly join the research.

“Before I answer that question, I have another question.” Ciel looked at Ashford before her and asked with a smile, “Who are you?”

In the simulation, when Adele visited Ashford with Ciel’s letter, she returned and told Ciel something.

She saw Ashford half-dead from the bombing and brought back Ashford’s consent to the deal. Ashford, to survive, had to attempt to advance to Tier 4 “Reviver”… these were Ashford’s exact words.

“I am Ashford,” Ashford’s expression was somewhat confused. He said, “Ask any professor here, and they will recognize me.”

“Then I’ll phrase the question differently,” Ciel calmly looked at Ashford before her, then asked, “In the Redemption Society… is there a Tier 4 ‘Reviver’?”

Ashford fell silent.

“The ‘Reborn’ ability ‘healed’ your body… but this is only temporary, isn’t it?”

In the simulation, I saw you on the verge of death.

You can’t fool me, Ashford.

In Ciel’s eyes, a silver watch face gradually appeared. If Ashford dared to make any unusual move, 【Overlimit Nemesis】 would activate immediately.

The shadow beneath Ciel was wriggling. Tara and Percy’s shadows were boiling within it, poised to strike.