The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch - Chapter 281

“I think so too. Only a complete and powerful church can deal with the crisis in North Ansu.”

Ciel thought for a moment, then said with some regret:

“Church merger is simple enough, but inevitably, those within the Church of the Savior Goddess who already have weak faith in the divine, those who believe in justification by works, will again split off into another denomination.”

“This would go against the original intention of church merger.”

Listening to Ciel’s words, Tara nodded repeatedly, her face showing an expression of emotion.

“Lord Ciel is too benevolent. Those who had already abandoned their faith in the Mother Goddess should not even be considered brothers and sisters, yet you still think of them.” Tara slightly lowered her head and sighed, “How I wish more people could know your great and inclusive thoughts.”

Percy: “?”

In Percy’s eyes, the red-haired young lady was talking about wild, unconstrained fantasies, yet Archbishop Tara was directly praising those dream-like words without any restraint. This made Percy feel a sense of dissonance.

Did I miss something after waking up from sleep? Why are everyone discussing things I completely don’t understand?

“Please wait.” Percy finally couldn’t help it. She interrupted Tara’s shameless praise and Ciel, who was about to continue discussing post-merger management issues. She said, “I have a question.”

“Speak.” Ciel looked at Percy, subtly nodding, signaling her to continue.

Percy was a Cardinal of the Divine Advent Church. Her opinion was very important to Ciel. Her attitude basically represented the attitude of the Divine Advent Church’s high-ranking members.

“Why do you all think church unification is a simple matter?” Saying this, Percy directly turned to Tara and said, “Archbishop, why do you also think so? You should know better than anyone that this is impossible.”

Hearing Percy’s words, Tara also looked at Ciel.

However, Tara’s gaze was not one of suspicion like Percy’s, but rather one of anticipation.

In Tara’s view, the question Percy asked was simple enough… The Mother Goddess only needed to display a small miracle, and the church merger would naturally face no obstacles.

Tara had never doubted whether Ciel could perform miracles, because Tara herself had come at the call of a Divine Servant, had witnessed miracles, and had seen a Saintess.

Percy asked a question that was simply not an issue for Ciel. However, this question indeed made Ciel fall into thought.

To achieve church merger as quickly as possible, the simplest thing to do was to sacrifice and use 【Spiritual Summoning】 to summon Divine Servants or Grim Worms.

But this plan would sacrifice the living forces of either the Divine Advent Church or the Church of the Savior Goddess.

Previously in the simulation, when Ciel helped the Church of the Savior Goddess, she directly sacrificed people from the Divine Advent Church.

But when Ciel needed to use the Divine Advent Church, she would, conversely, sacrifice people from the Church of the Savior Goddess to complete the 【Spiritual Summoning】.

No matter what, a portion of people from both the Church of the Savior Goddess and the Divine Advent Church would have to die, and the summoned Grim Worms couldn’t stay in reality indefinitely. This was also an indirect weakening of the church’s strength.

Most importantly, Ciel had not yet found an effective method or a stable “dosage” of sacrifice to reliably summon Grim Worms.

So far, when using 【Spiritual Summoning】, she followed the principle of “the more offerings, the better.” Either a group of Tier 3 and Tier 2 transcendents would die, or she would directly sacrifice one Tier 4 and several Tier 3s.

This was indeed very stable, but such a round of sacrifice would also severely deplete the church’s vitality.

Seeing Ciel’s silence, Percy’s heart also sank slightly.

Sure enough… this young lady was just bluffing… Archbishop Tara might really have been deceived by her…

Let’s see how I expose your lies…

Ciel, at this moment, was unaware of Percy’s changing expression. After a brief moment of thought, she looked at Tara and asked, “Are there any apostates or criminals of high transcendent rank within the Church of the Savior Goddess or the Divine Advent Church?”

Hearing Ciel ask this, Tara almost instantly understood what Ciel wanted to do.

“Are you planning to seek sacrifices?” Tara asked, suppressing her inner excitement.

“Yes.” Ciel nodded and explained, “Whether it’s people from the Church of the Savior Goddess or the Divine Advent Church who become sacrifices, it will significantly weaken one side’s strength. If it can be avoided, it’s best to avoid it.”

Even if she didn’t summon a Grim Worm, if she had a Tier 3 and some low-tier individuals as sacrifices, summoning a Divine Servant again shouldn’t be a problem.

Of course, the simplest method would definitely be to have Amy directly activate the Divine Servant serving as her guardian spirit, but it was best not to involve those close to her if possible.

“Yes. The Divine Advent Church and the Church of the Savior Goddess basically have similar systems. We also have ‘dark dungeons’ where criminals awaiting judgment are held.”

After Tara finished speaking, she thought for a moment and then asked with some confusion, “But… wouldn’t it be too easy on them to make them sacrifices?”

If Ciel needed sacrifices, there would definitely be a large number of people in the Divine Advent Church who would readily and willingly offer themselves, even bribing to do so… Making those condemned prisoners part of the ritual felt like a loss.

If it weren’t for wanting to do more for the Mother Goddess, Tara herself would have wanted to volunteer as a sacrifice.

“As long as there are some.” Ciel shook her head and said, “It’s just summoning a Divine Servant. No need for such a grand display.”

Just… summoning… a Divine Servant? That’s all?!

Percy fell silent once more.

Suddenly, she remembered something.