The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch - Chapter 32

Knock, knock, knock—

“Oh, Goddess, I’ve already said no, no, no! The budget is what it is! You want a band here, they want a ball there, and on top of that, we’re supposed to supply desserts?! Oh, Goddess, those desserts have to be ordered all the way from Sir’s Bridge! Why don’t you just say we should hold the graduation ceremony at the theater?!”

The deep-brown wooden office door in front of Ciel was slightly ajar. From inside came the sharp, exasperated voice of someone clearly not in the best spirits.

Ciel waited for the complaints to subside before speaking softly, “Headmaster Jenny, it’s me, Ciel.”

“Oh!”

A flurry of shuffling and rummaging sounded from within. Soon, an elderly woman leaning on a cane pulled the door open and looked at Ciel. “Sorry, sweetheart, I thought it was those bloodsuckers again. Come in, what are you waiting for?”

Ciel helped the plainly dressed woman, clad in a gray gown, into the room and seated her on the sofa in the reception area.

“Yesterday was the graduation ceremony. Did you sleep for two whole days?” Headmaster Jenny picked up a pair of round-framed glasses from her desk, putting them on as she looked at Ciel. “You look well-rested.”

The headmaster’s attempt at humor left Ciel momentarily at a loss for how to respond. She decided to play along. “Yes, a well-rested Ciel is here to ask the Headmaster about a recommendation letter.”

“Recommendation letter?” Jenny looked surprised as she glanced around the room. Then, lowering her voice, she leaned in conspiratorially. “They told you, didn’t they?”

“Who?”

“The bloodsuckers!” Jenny chuckled, standing up slowly and walking to her desk. She retrieved an envelope sealed with red wax. “Come here, Ciel.”

Ciel approached the desk, puzzled, and took the envelope Jenny handed her.

“Don’t open it,” Jenny patted Ciel on the shoulder with a smile and said, “I was planning to surprise you with this tomorrow.”

“What is this…” Ciel was a bit puzzled, unsure of the purpose of the envelope.

“You don’t know?” Jenny looked genuinely surprised. If Ciel didn’t know about this, why was she here asking for a recommendation letter?

“This is a recommendation letter for the Law Faculty at Ansu University,” Jenny coughed lightly twice and said gently, “The teachers know your family’s financial situation is a bit tight, so after some discussion, we decided to forgo applying to Augsforth University and instead wrote you a joint recommendation letter for Ansu University. Take this letter to the Dean of the Law Faculty, and they’ll arrange a scholarship for you.”

“I did the math for you. While the living expenses are a bit higher there, the tuition is almost halved. In total, it costs about the same as studying here.”

Seeing Ciel’s silence, Jenny assumed she was discontent with the idea of attending Ansu University and quickly reassured her.

“Even though Ansu University was established recently, it has a dedicated Law Faculty. Augsforth University, as you know, is a place for nobles and their offspring—it’s full of those seeking political connections. Even if they have good professors, the environment isn’t ideal.”

“Headmaster Jenny, it’s not that. I don’t think Ansu University is bad.” Ciel took a deep breath and placed the letter back on the desk.

According to Jenny, with a scholarship cutting tuition in half, the total cost—including living expenses—would be roughly the same as studying here.

But studying here had only been possible because her sister had used the compensation money from her disfigurement, combined with exhausting amounts of overtime, to barely scrape together the funds.

Now, with the compensation money long gone, relying solely on an ordinary worker’s salary made it impossible to support a college student who wasn’t bringing in any income.

She wanted to enjoy a peaceful university life, but not yet—not until she had arranged everything, laundered the money, and set things in order.

“I came here today for a recommendation letter for a position at the Berren City Police Department.” Ciel lowered her head, unable to meet Jenny’s gaze.

The silence between them stretched on. Eventually, Ciel felt Jenny push the envelope back into her hands.

Jenny then wobbled her way back to her desk, rummaging through its drawers before pulling out a blank sheet of paper. She began writing.

Her handwriting was slow, and she even made some rare spelling errors. After finishing her draft, she stamped her signature at the bottom, sealed the letter, and began applying wax to the envelope.

Throughout the entire process, neither of them spoke. The silence was heavy, the only sound coming from the scratch of pen on paper and the soft crackling of the wax seal.

Once the academy’s official seal was pressed into the wax, Jenny handed the envelope to Ciel.

“Thank you, Headmaster Jenny.” Ciel took the letter and expressed her gratitude, but when she tried to pull the letter away, Jenny didn’t let go.

Ciel looked at the headmaster and found her staring intently at her.

“You haven’t given up on your education, have you?” Jenny asked.

“…No, I haven’t.” Ciel nodded.

If circumstances allowed, she wanted to follow the normal path forward in life.

“That’s good.” Jenny released the letter and turned away, speaking more to herself than to Ciel. “The recommendation letter for Ansu University will always be valid. But if you miss this academic year, you’ll have to wait for the next. You’re a girl with a plan—go ahead and follow through.”

Ciel gave a small bow, then pocketed the two letters and left.

Though she felt like she had let down the headmaster and the other teachers’ expectations, she had no choice.

She could, if she wanted, spend dozens of Fate Points to exchange for hundreds of gold pounds, settle down with her sister in a quiet corner, and live a peaceful life.

But who could guarantee what tomorrow might bring? Would it be fortune or disaster? Fate Points were too precious to squander, and until she found a way to launder gold pounds, she couldn’t rashly exchange them.

Ciel made her way toward the Berren City Police Department in the city center. The academy wasn’t far from the station, and after walking for about twenty minutes, she arrived at the entrance.

Pushing open the door, she entered the police department’s reception hall and approached the counter to register her purpose.

“Applying for a clerical position?” The receptionist looked a bit surprised at the reason Ciel wrote on the form. “Do you have a recommendation letter?”

“I do.” Ciel took the letter from her bag and handed it over.

“One moment. I’ll take your letter to the superintendent.” The man stood, pointing toward the public waiting area. “You can take a seat over there, miss.”

“Alright, thank you.” Ciel walked to the public waiting area, found an empty seat, and sat down. Suddenly, she seemed to sense something and turned her head toward the entrance of the police station.

A black-haired girl, cloaked in a police-issued cape and wearing boots with a black uniform dress, pushed open the door to the station.

She instinctively scanned the reception hall, as though her subconscious had prompted her to do so. Her gaze landed on a beautiful red-haired girl sitting in the waiting area, smiling at her.

For once, the usually impassive girl didn’t ignore the greeting. She gave a slight nod in the red-haired girl’s direction before proceeding past the reception desk and heading toward the stairs to the second floor.