The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch - Chapter 287

“Boss, I’ve left the items here.”

Lucy’s voice appeared in Ciel’s mind. Ciel looked forward from the main perspective.

This seemed to be a huge round conference table—generally speaking, Ansu’s high-ranking officials were very wary of round tables that didn’t reflect status differences. Round tables only appeared occasionally in tea parties led by women.

“Alright, thank you~” The main perspective, Cora, spoke, smiling and expressing her gratitude to Lucy. Then, Cora seemed to suddenly remember something and beckoned to Lucy, “Wait, Director Lucy, come here for a moment.”

“How may I help you?” Lucy dared not delay. She walked to Cora’s side in a few steps, bending slightly as she asked.

“How is your relationship with Ciel? I see you running to her side quite often.” Cora patted Lucy’s shoulder and asked with a smile.

Cora’s question made Lucy sweat. She swallowed hard and said, “Is… is that so? Because Miss Ciel’s proposed amusement park project is nearing completion, so I frequently go there to consult on some details…”

The more Lucy explained, the more she seemed to be trying to cover something up.

“Hahahaha, why are you nervous? Stand tall, you’re a director now,” Cora said, patting Lucy’s shoulder with a smile. “Keep up the good relationship. Perhaps you’ll be the bridge between the group and Miss Ciel then. Alright, go get busy.”

“Okay… okay.” Lucy pondered Cora’s meaning, leaving the conference room completely bewildered.

After Lucy left and closed the door, Cora’s smile vanished. Her fingers lightly tapped the round table before her.

She opened the brief in her hand and looked at its contents.

The brief contained a long section of investigative information, as well as a sketch. The person in the sketch was Tara.

And what the brief described was information about how, before the church merger, this Archbishop of the Divine Advent Church had been serving an ordinary young lady named Ciel…

【Besides Archbishop Tara, there is also a mysterious Cardinal who has been secretly protecting the young lady named Ciel.】

【This young lady is not simple… If it weren’t for the exposure of Archbishop Tara’s information due to the church merger, I would never have imagined that an Archbishop of the Divine Advent Church had been right under my nose all this time.】

【Could she be Sadhana? The Ascender’s physical manifestation walking in reality? No matter how you think about it, that young lady is not simple.】

【Anyway, they are all people from the Divine Advent Church. Helping them more won’t hurt. Perhaps it will make Sadhana complete the transaction earlier and give me “Uniqueness.”】

Cora put away the brief and stood up.

Cora’s thoughts could be vaguely heard by Ciel. She knew what Cora was thinking at the moment, and Ciel listened intently.

【But it’s strange… if she is Sadhana, and Sadhana herself has already pushed for the church merger, gathering faith in one place… why would she still make a deal with me and ask for my help?】

【Anyway, completing the transaction earlier is good for me… and I don’t even need to put in much effort.】

【Although They gave me the ritual, I can’t verify if it’s correct… I don’t know when the next communication will be…】

Ciel sensed Cora’s thoughts and her internal words, feeling a slight surprise.

Sadhana also wanted to facilitate church merger? And even made a deal with Cora for it?

But before Cora acted, her simulated self had already merged the Church of the Savior Goddess and the Divine Advent Church? Cora didn’t notice anything unusual, and even Sadhana thought it was Cora’s doing?

Other Side creatures can at most pinpoint people in reality. They cannot directly observe reality through the Other Side… Everything between them developed so smoothly, possibly due to this misunderstanding…

But later, how did Sadhana discover Ciel?

Faith gathered in one place…

Did Sadhana discover that she wasn’t correctly “receiving” faith?

Ciel could vaguely sense why Sadhana was so angry.

Because of the church merger and the issues of mutual compromise and adaptation, the Savior Goddess and Divine Advent Churches reached a consensus: maintain faith in the Goddess, do not use the specific term “Sadhana” (exclusive to the Divine Advent Church), and return to their prayer habits from before the split.

And a very important point was that, because there was no need to hide and control secretly, they returned to orthodoxy… The rather sinister “Sadhana Mark” used to control believers in the Divine Advent Church was abolished…

Is this why faith wasn’t correctly flowing to Sadhana?

【Let’s try the ritual They gave again…】

Suddenly, the scene before Ciel began to collapse and tear apart, like a world being ripped open, revealing the vast starry sea and countless light spheres behind it.

Those light spheres rapidly burst one by one. The scattered halos surged towards Ciel like waves. Amidst the golden, dazzling lights, an entity with an unidentifiable face lunged directly towards Ciel, filling her entire vision—

Sadhana seemed to have completely pinpointed Ciel, preventing her from continuing to pry.

…

“Hah… cough cough…”

Ciel abruptly opened her eyes. The instant her vision returned, she saw Avena directly extend her right hand towards her, quickly severing the nerve threads of blood that connected to her eyeballs.

The nerve threads of blood that had drilled into Ciel’s eyeballs and reached her brain surged out wildly. At this moment, Ciel seemed to be shedding bloody tears. Her vision went black. Not until something cool and mint-scented flowed past her eyes did she slowly regain her sight.

“Ciel! Are you alright?!”

Avena’s anxious voice sounded from above. Ciel’s vision gradually refocused, and she looked at Avena before her.

“I’m alright…”

Ciel was helped back to her feet. She looked at the tabletop.

Cora’s brain was completely burned out, leaving only half a skull without eyeballs. Those empty eyes stared at Ciel, sending shivers down her spine.

Even in a dream, as long as that red crystal was present, could Sadhana break through the crystal and cause destruction…?