The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch - Chapter 37

“System.”

Ciel silently uttered the word in her mind.

The familiar interface unfolded before her. Aside from the 「Inventory」 tab, which was lit up, all the other tabs were dimmed and inaccessible, just like when she first entered this simulation. She could only check the time.

If it weren’t for the contract she had exchanged from the system being stored in the inventory, even the inventory would likely be unusable.

Had the simulation version of herself… gone mad?

Ciel briefly searched the usual hiding spots where she might stash items, but she found nothing—no gun, no gold pounds, no potions, no notebooks. Nothing remained.

Pushing open her room door, she walked down the wooden stairs to the ground floor, where she was greeted by a scene of chaos.

Metal water containers and wooden barrels were scattered across the floor, with a thick pile of broken glass and pottery shards accumulated in the corner. Some of these had been used to store drinking water, while others had once held various types of alcohol. The air was heavy with a nauseating stench of liquor.

Drinking alcohol to quench thirst… Was this really something I would do?

A sudden buzzing sound struck abruptly, causing Ciel to stop in her tracks, clutching her forehead with her hand.

She could hear all sorts of sorrowful cries and wails echoing in her ears, these laments swirling in her mind like delirious murmurs. Yet her emotions began to be overtaken by an inexplicable sense of exhilaration.

【Calm Mind Lv.1】 suppressed the impulse, leaving Ciel with a faintly puzzled expression.

What was that?

This didn’t seem to be a symptom of dehydration syndrome…

As the ringing in her ears gradually subsided, her gaze shifted toward the door.

Hanging carelessly on the back of the door was a familiar canvas bag. She walked over and opened it. To her relief, the two potions and two notebooks were still resting quietly inside.

Ciel threw on her black rain cloak, slung the canvas bag over her shoulder, pulled up her hood, and stepped outside into the street.

The overcast, rainy weather made it hard to distinguish day from night. The streets were deserted, devoid of any signs of life. Even the once-constant rumbling of nearby factories had fallen silent. The only objects lining the streets were rows of barrels and clay pots used for collecting rainwater. The scene was eerily quiet.

Her shadow followed close behind, rising onto its toes and lifting its hands above Ciel’s head as if trying to shield her from the rain.

Ciel decided to head to the Church of the Savior Goddess to see if she could learn anything.

Given the scale of this catastrophe, the workers of the Clock Tower District—who formed the church’s core congregation—would surely be a major focus of their efforts. And yet, according to the notebook, High Priestess Uris had only appeared briefly.

It didn’t add up.

Where were the higher-level transcendents of the Church of the Savior Goddess? Why did the notebook describe only those who had yet to step onto a transcendent path—those seemingly sent here to endure hardships and digest their potions, as if the district had been turned into a testing ground?

After agreeing to protect Lichie, Avena had also vanished without a trace. What were her and her family’s intentions?

Leaving someone like Ciel to investigate the entire Clock Tower District on her own was no different from searching for a needle in a haystack. She needed to understand what actions and thoughts the known transcendent factions had regarding the current situation.

As she contemplated these questions, Ciel made her way toward the Clock Tower. Oddly enough, the closer she got to the district’s center, the more intense the buzzing in her head became.

Abruptly, she stopped in her tracks.

Before her, a phantom seemed to manifest out of thin air, like a beam of moonlight plunging straight toward her knee!

The silent ray of moonlight passed through her knee and embedded itself into the cobblestone street behind her!

No pain?

Foresight vision!

Her body reacted instantly. Ciel dove to the right in a roll, just as a streak of silver light shot down from above, piercing the spot where she had just been standing and embedding itself in the ground.

The object buried itself almost entirely into the black cobblestones, leaving only a bright silver handle exposed.

A scalpel?

As Ciel recognized the object, the scalpel suddenly lifted into the air, flying back toward the direction it had come from. Upon closer inspection, a faint silver thread seemed to be attached to the handle.

A transcendent!

The moment she realized this, Ciel’s shadow dove into the ground, slithering across the cobblestones like a dragon. It surged forward and grabbed hold of the scalpel’s shadow as it flew.

The instant it latched onto the shadow, the scalpel hesitated in midair. In the next moment, the shadow melded into the scalpel’s own shadow.

It was as if black flames ignited along the scalpel’s shadow. The flames raced down the barely perceptible silver thread connecting the blade to its source, tracing the line all the way forward before stopping about 24 meters ahead.

Not close enough!

Steadying herself, Ciel wasted no time. She sprinted toward the direction of the burning shadow. As she ran, the black flames continued to spread forward.

“Avenger?” A voice rang out from the rooftop ahead. A figure clad in black robes and wearing a black-and-silver raven-beak mask leapt down from the roof, landing gracefully a short distance in front of Ciel.

Seeing that Ciel had no intention of stopping, the masked figure backed away repeatedly, shouting, “Hey! Wait! Misunderstanding! We’re on the same side!”

The raven-masked figure’s words did nothing to slow Ciel. She closed the distance to within 24 meters and extended a shadowy black hand from the figure’s own shadow, grabbing hold of their ankle.

Just as her shadow was about to twist the figure’s ankle, they raised a hand and removed their mask, hurriedly saying, “We’re from the Redemption Society! The Inquisition! We’re allies!”

Beneath the silver raven mask was a tall girl with long, silver-white hair. Her face was partially covered by a thick gauze mask, and her bright blue eyes were filled with panic.

Ciel’s shadow climbed up the girl’s ankle, coiling around her waist and locking her in place. Its arms wrapped around her throat.

The slightest movement, and Ciel wouldn’t hesitate to snap her neck.

If she hadn’t mentioned the word “Inquisition,” she would already be dead.

“Redemption Society?” Ciel maintained a safe distance of about 18 meters and asked, “Why are you here?”

“Huh?” The silver-haired girl looked startled by the question. After a moment of realization, she responded, “You’re… not from the Inquisition?”

“I’m not.” Ciel didn’t deny her assumption.

“Then who are you…”

“A well-meaning passerby with transcendent powers.”

Even in the drizzle, Ciel could see the beads of sweat forming on the girl’s forehead.

The Redemption Society… Is that a transcendent organization?

After discovering that she was an Avenger, the girl had ceased her attacks. Was she familiar with the transcendents of the Church of the Savior Goddess?

Moreover, the silver-haired girl’s earlier strike had been aimed at her knee, avoiding more lethal areas.

“What’s your purpose here?” Ciel pressed on, letting her shadow tighten its grip slightly.

“Investigating the dehydration syndrome,” the silver-haired girl quickly answered, wincing from the pressure around her waist. “It’s part of a Reconstitution Ritual. We’ve entered a collaboration with the Church of the Savior Goddess!”

“Collaboration… for the Reconstitution Ritual?”

Ciel frowned slightly and continued questioning. “What sort of collaboration?”

“The Church of the Savior Goddess is dealing with a large-scale, unexplained epidemic in one of their key districts. They turned to the Redemption Society for assistance. The terms are…”

“The terms are that we claim all the gains after the matter is resolved, including all the bodies of the deceased.”

All the… bodies?