The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch

Chapter 290.2: Grim Worm, Pure White Armor, and Sadhana

Of course, Percy didn't actually say this aloud, merely remaining curious.If the other party pressed, Ciel would certainly have answered directly. After all, in Ciel's view, Tara was already one of her own, and Percy was half of one herself, having protected her in multiple future simulations. There was nothing to hide.

Keeping too many secrets would easily cause rifts to appear in their trust in her.

However, Percy did not press further, and Ciel did not volunteer an answer.

She took Percy and Tara, who was dressed in a maid outfit, to a clothing store in the East District to change into more ordinary, coarse cloth dresses.

To make it look more authentic, Ciel used her tailoring skills to deliberately add a few patches to the dresses, which would make them appear even more low-profile.

However... because of Ciel's [Charm], no matter how low-profile her clothes were, she would still attract attention, especially through her [Nemesis] effect.

The transcendents in the West District had basically all been stacked with a round of [Nemesis] already, let alone the commoners in the East District—practically none had been missed, and some had even been stacked two or three rounds already.

For convenience, Ciel directly tied a piece of gray cloth over her face, blindfolding her eyes, and used [Precognitive Sight] for observation to avoid causing panic in the East District with [Nemesis].

Of course, the most important thing was to prevent [Nemesis] from making an "evil person" too afraid to engage in a 1v1 duel with her.

In this way, Tara and Percy walked within the shadows of the dark to keep watch, while Ciel stepped into the breeding ground of vice—the Saint Cathedral District.

"The Saint Cathedral is an organ forgotten by God; every dark alley leaks the putrid fluid of moral decay." — This was the Canal News's former evaluation of the Saint Cathedral District.

"Here, infants learn to steal before they learn to cry; a woman's chastity is cheaper than rat meat, and a man's fist holds more authority than the law." — This was a literary figure's evaluation of the Saint Cathedral District.

Ciel had been here many times before, which was why she chose to perform the "Knight" reconstitution ritual here, as there was no shortage of "evil people."

Just as she entered a dark alley, Ciel felt several prying gazes fixed upon her.

And she had only turned two corners when she heard a scream from deep within the alley.

Why were there so many transcendents like "Detectives," yet in both Berren City and Ansu City, low-level crime continued to breed with no one to stop it?

If transcendents wanted to, they could completely construct ironclad laws prohibiting crime, and they had enough power to enforce them.

Now, after hearing that scream, Ciel understood a little better.

Aside from those paths that naturally required killing to disrupt order, the "Order" paths themselves also required the existence of vice.

If this truly were a world where everyone was truthful, good, and beautiful, like a heaven, then paths like "Knight," "Detective," and "Ascetic" would be the first to decline.

Of course, the real reason was surely more complex and multifaceted; what Ciel thought was just one point.

Ciel stepped forward, casually snapping off an iron frame from a nearby window. The rusted metal frame was twisted off directly by her. Dragging this rusted iron bar, which resembled a knightly sword, she walked toward the direction of the scream.

...

"Huuu..."

In the dark alleyway, Ciel slowly exhaled.

On the ground not far ahead, a rusted iron bar was driven into a bald man's eyeball. Blood mixed with brain matter seeped from the back of his head, soaking into the broken stone pavement.

The man had gang tattoos on his arms, and his body bore several marks of heavy impacts, with his torso severely deformed—one could tell what he had experienced before death from that severely deformed iron bar.

The warm-up exercise had slightly loosened the gray cloth tied over Ciel's eyes. As she slowly turned her face, the gray cloth covering her eyes slid off, revealing her dark red pupils.

"It's alright now." A faint smile appeared on Ciel's blood-stained face. Her voice was soft as she extended her right hand to the tattered young girl who was almost pressed against the wall.

But her actions caused the girl to scream directly, fleeing the dark alley on all fours.

Ciel watched the girl's figure leave, slowly pulled up the gray cloth, and retied it tightly.

For some reason, killing this piece of scum had vented a fair amount of the accumulated emotions in Ciel's heart. Even her spirit had entered a state of calm, her mental energy recovering rapidly.

Doing good deeds was indeed more satisfying.

Ciel pulled the thin, rusted iron bar from the corpse. Just as she was about to drag it along and continue walking, a "click" sounded from behind.

Ciel turned around. A terrified young man, also with gang tattoos on his hand, was holding a revolver with both hands. He shouted and pulled the trigger directly at Ciel.

Bang——

The bullet left the barrel, whistling towards Ciel's head.

But Ciel merely tilted her head slightly to the side, and the bullet grazed her cheek. The next second, the iron bar in Ciel's hand was thrown, directly skewering the opponent's chest.

Perhaps because of her previous experiences, Ciel had no mercy for gangs.

Hearing the urgent shouts and disorganized footsteps not far away, she knew more gang members would surely be coming.

Originally, Ciel only wanted to conduct one-on-one duels, but the influx of gang members forced her to change her approach.

Since "Duel" was not feasible, she would take the path of "Honor."

The dark honor of slaughtering gangs.

...

In the evening, at Avena's mansion, inside Avena's room.

"Ciel, are you alright?"

Looking at Ciel, who was holding her and still carried a faint scent of blood despite having bathed, Avena asked with a hint of nervousness.

She had rarely seen Ciel show such a weak side. Avena was more accustomed to seeing that young lady who was fearless in the face of everything, always wearing a faint, confident smile.

"Help me restore my spirit, Avena..."

"Let me briefly forget all of this..."

...

The next day, in Avena's room.

Ciel slowly opened her eyes.

The midday sun shone through the gap in the curtains onto her face. She glanced at the time on the system panel before her.

12:00 PM...

Under Avena's mental healing and hypnosis, Ciel had enjoyed a long-overdue good night's sleep, only now waking up.

Percy, Tara, and the others were all within Avena's mansion, ensuring Ciel would not be disturbed by any transcendents, which was why Ciel was able to sleep until now.

Click——

At this moment, the door opened, and Avena cautiously stepped inside through the darkness before closing it behind her.

When she reached the bedside, she discovered that Ciel was already awake.

"Are you feeling better?" Avena sat on the edge of the bed, reaching out to stroke Ciel's head, asking softly, "What happened to you yesterday?"

"It's nothing." Ciel shook her head.

It was difficult for her to explain the changes in her emotions, especially that sense of relaxation last night when she killed that gang member in a one-on-one duel.

Even though it was just a piece of scum who died, when the feeling of "finding relaxation in killing"—something that was originally only possible in a simulation—actually appeared in her mind in reality, Ciel realized something was wrong.

The successive crises and simulations seemed to have caused a portion of Ciel's humanity to be forgotten by herself. Especially under the shifting influences of multiple potions, even if the whispers were not retained, Ciel still felt a hint of bewilderment.

She could feel that every potion and every personality was herself; it was just that the potions amplified a certain aspect. "Judicator" amplified anger, "Subverter" amplified rebellion, "Coroner" amplified laziness…

But after too many such shifts, Ciel, who lacked a spiritual notebook, had begun to feel the loss of her original self.

Therefore, she decided to find Avena last night and have her back up all her memories from before she encountered the pocket watch, storing them in her subconscious. Avena could activate them at any time, allowing these memories to quickly flash through Ciel's mind.

This could be considered stabilizing her anchor.

The red light in Ciel's mind flickered again. Just as she was about to dismiss it as more of Little Left's daily "information bombardment," an armored figure appeared within the red glow.

Is it the Pure White Armor?

Ciel focused her attention on the light, and the Pure White Armor's voice became increasingly clear.

"Lady Ciel, it seems your friend is severely injured. Your little pet picked it up and brought it back…"

"What did you say Lady Ciel calls you again?"

"Grim Worm?"

"Fine."

"Lady Ciel, it calls itself the Grim Worm. It says that religious nutjob came looking for it."

"What was that nutjob's name again?"

"…"

"Lady Ciel, it's Sadhana."

Sadhana… injured the Grim Worm?

Does She believe the Grim Worm has a connection to me?

Wait! There’s an Other Side node over at the Pure White Armor's place!