The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch - Chapter 28

As they descended the stairs step by step, the air grew colder, heavier, and more oppressive. Before long, Ciel and Pauly reached a massive steel vault door.

“Open it, now.” Ciel cocked the hammer of her revolver, the sharp click echoing in the enclosed space.

Pauly flinched violently, his knees nearly giving out as he stumbled. Fear pressed on him, and he limped toward the steel door, trembling. He opened a key box beside the door with shaky hands, retrieving two keys and inserting them into the locking mechanism of the wheel.

Turning the keys engaged a thick steel plate at the center of the wheel lock. The plate retracted, revealing a combination dial. Pauly worked quickly to input the correct code, then turned to Ciel.

“Miss… Miss, this vault requires three grown men to open. The two of us won’t have enough strength…”

Ciel called back her shadow, which promptly handed her the two double-barreled shotguns it had been holding. She turned and aimed at the dark stairwell behind them.

The shadow then crouched down and began to heave at the wheel mechanism.

Heavy mechanical grinding sounds filled the air as the vault door slowly creaked open, inch by inch, until there was just enough space for one person to squeeze through.

Ciel tossed the shotguns back to the shadow, picked up her burlap sack, and rushed into the brightly lit vault.

Rows upon rows of cabinets and shelves stretched out before her, laden with neatly boxed stacks of gold pounds and gleaming bars of solid gold.

The sight left Ciel momentarily breathless, her heart racing.

Time was running out.

She summoned her shadow and began frantically sweeping gold pounds into her burlap sack.

Unfortunately, the safes remained inaccessible—according to Pauly, they contained the true treasures, possibly priceless gems or just important documents. Either way, she had no time to crack them open. Her focus was solely on filling her sack with coins.

This was the definition of “literal money-grabbing.”

Meanwhile, Pauly, seeing the shadow holding the shotguns wander into the vault, took a moment to catch his breath. Summoning his courage, he opened a hidden compartment on the vault door and slammed his fist against a bright red button.

Psssst—!

Scalding steam hissed through cracks in the steel door. The sound of grinding gears roared as the door slammed shut with a resounding “boom,” sealing the intruders inside.

Pauly collapsed to the ground, utterly drained. His face twisted between a mix of laughter and tears, overwhelmed by a sense of relief at narrowly escaping death.

Bank robberies work like this: the manager just provides directions, while the person filling the sack has to deal with the logistics.

「Time Remaining: 00:00:58」

One final minute!

Ciel paid no attention to the closing vault door behind her. In fact, she welcomed it—it would block the guards outside from intervening. She continued shoveling gold into her sack.

The problem was that the sack, now nearly half full, had already grown too heavy for her to drag to a new position. The coins weighed too much.

Still, Ciel was determined to focus on gold pounds. Gold bars would fetch lower prices on the black market and increase her chances of being targeted, whereas gold pounds could be discreetly spent without suspicion.

If weight weren’t an issue, she might have opted for high-denomination su pounds, bonds, or checks. But that would contradict her principle of staying low-profile.

Clink—clink—

The sound of gold pounds spilling into the sack was music to her ears, like playing one of those arcade coin-pusher machines and watching the coins tumble into the prize slot.

Goddess, just one more box, let me grab one more box…

Ciel felt her hands going numb. Exhaustion crept in until all she could do was hold the sack open while the shadow clumsily scooped gold pounds into it.

With just three seconds left on the timer, Ciel tied the sack shut and hugged it tightly, resting her entire body against its bulk.

It was the warmest embrace she had ever felt.

A flash of white light enveloped her, and Ciel blinked to find herself in a silver-white space.

Before her sat a version of herself holding the massive burlap sack of gold pounds, her eyes shut tightly.

「Save Character to Archive?」

“Can I overwrite a save slot?” Ciel asked directly.

「Yes.」

“Save it to Slot No. 2.”

Ciel immediately saved this version of herself—the Avenger Ciel from this simulation—to the second save slot.

Although this version of herself had significantly recovered from her injuries, Ciel still preferred to save her progress into a new slot whenever she had an available one.

It was like playing a galgame where every choice needed to be saved in a separate slot. Overwriting a save risked losing something important she might not yet realize.

「Save Complete」

「Returning to Reality」

Silver light engulfed Ciel’s consciousness.

…

「Reality」

「Saint Year 741, June 18, 4:00 AM」

「Evaluation: You’ve discovered another path to survival, gained a bit of skill in the art of conversation, and further uncovered the hidden truths of this world.」

「Also, congratulations on experiencing firsthand what it feels like to play a genuine version of GTA. Honestly, simulating this at the cost of 10 Fate Points was quite the bargain.」

「You’ve realized that no matter how monstrous your actions in the simulation, they will be wiped clean in reality. No one will ever know what you’ve done. Your sins are forgotten. Your triumphs are unacknowledged… Enjoy it, but don’t let yourself get lost in it.」

「Take this—it’s your well-deserved reward.」

「Rewards: Fate Points *15, 【Art of Conversation Lv.1】」

「Total Fate Points: 48」

Ciel opened her eyes, staring at the system’s evaluation screen and the familiar ceiling above her. She took a moment to calm her racing heart.

No denying it—the thrill of robbing a bank had sent her pulse skyrocketing. It was an act she never would’ve dared to consider, let alone carry out, in reality.

Switching between simulations and reality so frequently was beginning to blur her memories.

Thanks to 【Calm Mind Lv.1】, Ciel managed to sort through her thoughts.

The sensation just now was akin to waking up from a dream within a dream within a dream, still unsure of what was real.

Was this because she had slept during the simulation?

The feeling made Ciel wary. Once her heart rate returned to normal, she opened the skill description screen.

「Art of Conversation Lv.1: Your words are more likely to be heard and trusted.」

Did she gain this skill from talking to Avena?

Honestly, it wasn’t a bad skill—especially since it could be leveled up.

With enough upgrades, perhaps she could reach a point where even blatant lies would be believed without question.

That would be close to a superpower…

Ciel exited the skill screen and opened the Fate Points store.

What she was most eager to know now was whether the Order’s contract and those gold pounds had made it out with her.

The system interface populated with a long list of items before her eyes.