The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch

Ciel remained calm, just smiling at the other party.

The opponent’s level, let alone evaluating her from the perspective of an “Instigator,” even observing her simply from the perspective of an ordinary transcendent, could only lead to one conclusion.

Immature.

This even made Ciel wonder how she managed to digest the “Instigator” potion and complete the “Dream Thief” Reconstitution Ritual.

Her scheming was only slightly better than Adele’s, but very limited.

Could it be she first digested the Tier 1 “Listener” potion, then jumped to the adjacent Tier 2 “Dream Thief”?

Looking at the opponent’s performance... this possibility is very high.

Ciel actually always had a point of confusion, but she never had time to think about this issue before.

From Tier 1 “Instigator” advancing to Tier 2 “Dream Thief,” that “Dream Thief” would retain the “Instigator’s” ability and also have corresponding enhancements.

This was the case when Ciel’s Tier 1 “Avenger” save file advanced to Tier 2 “Judicator” earlier.

But what if a Tier 1 “Listener” advanced to Tier 2 “Dream Thief”? Would that “Dream Thief” gain the Tier 1 “Instigator” ability from the same path? Or retain the Tier 1 “Listener” ability from the other path?

If the answer is the latter, then even with the same Tier 2 and Tier 3 transcendents, their underlying abilities would be very different.

After all, no one knew what potions she drank in the two stages before.

Ciel kept a mental note. After dealing with the young girl before her, she would verify with Tara.

At this moment, the young girl before her spoke, directly interrupting Ciel’s thoughts.

“I completely don’t understand what you are talking about... I was just going to meet my friend.”

Merritt shook her head, saying in a somewhat trembling voice, “What did you do to my coachman... Also, you mentioned... Divine Advent Church?”

Unsure if it was because she drew herself into the dream that gave her some confidence, the young girl still maintained her “timid” character setting, but her speech was noticeably more fluent. She wanted to pull Ciel into her rhythm of conversation.

Her “fear” earlier was real, but her “fear” now was completely an act.

Ciel, who had already seen through her intention, pretended to look at the stopwatch in her hand, then directly said:

“No need to struggle. In at most 1 minute, your friend will be brought here. When you see them, you won’t argue anymore.”

Ciel specifically revealed a time point to the other party. In fact, the Divine Advent Church people probably hadn’t reached the location yet.

She needed to pressure the other party bit by bit, forcing them to tamper with her memory.

Conveniently, she could also use this simulation to see what happens when her memory is tampered with, in case she encountered similar situations later and didn’t know how to handle them.

“Our family are all people with no church belief. We have no bias against the Divine Advent Church... Please believe this.”

The young girl before her seemed to pretend she just found out Ciel was from the Divine Advent Church, her tone already carrying a hint of pleading.

Knock knock knock—

Just then, a knocking sound slowly rang out from the door.

Ciel glanced at Tara. At this moment, Tara put down the wooden bowl in her hand. After receiving Ciel’s nod, she walked to the door and opened it.

Watching Tara go to open the door, Ciel was thoughtful.

If she and Tara were both dragged into a dream, would they appear in the same dream? Or enter different dreams?

Whether the Tara before her was real or fake, just by looking at her back, Ciel honestly found it difficult to tell.

Tara opened the door. At the entrance was a figure completely shrouded in black robes. He said something to Tara in a low voice, then Tara turned to look at Ciel and said, “Lord Ciel, the person has been captured.”

The corner of Ciel’s mouth curved up almost imperceptibly.

Now, Ciel only needed to say “Then let’s go,” and she could test whether Tara was real or fake. The dream constructed by the young girl before her might even collapse as a result—because she couldn’t possibly know where the person was being taken.

“Bring them in.” Ciel said.

“Yes.” Tara nodded, then beckoned to the black-robed person before her.

Tara is fake. She is in another dream.

Even if she captured someone from the Society of Merriment, Ciel couldn’t interrogate them directly in the house on Gem Avenue, because there were too many interfering factors here. It would instead affect Ciel’s progress.

Her initial instruction to Tara was to bring everyone from the destination the coachman mentioned to the previous underground temporary base.

After confirming that only herself and the young girl before her had independent consciousness in the dream, Ciel’s interest piqued slightly.

Several young men and women in luxurious clothing were brought in with their hands tied behind their backs. Ciel just glanced at their faces and came to a conclusion.

These were not members of the Society of Merriment. They were merely people from the “Dream Thief’s” memory.

But Ciel remembered the appearances of these people. After all, they were all wearing noble attire.

If these were the “ordinary friends” the “Dream Thief” was familiar with, Ciel might be able to directly “box” out this “Dream Thief’s” identity, current location, and name in reality through portraits.

Now, please release your fear and let me see your ability.

Ciel stood up, turned and walked to the kitchen. After carefully selecting a handy kitchen knife, she slowly walked to the young man kneeling on the ground.

“Are you from the Society of Merriment?” Ciel slightly tilted her head. Her smooth red long hair slid down her shoulder, swaying gently.

“So... Society of Merriment? What is Society of Merriment? I don’t know anything about Society of Merriment.” The young man’s face showed fear, and he repeatedly spoke.

Schlick—

The kitchen knife accurately sliced across the young man’s throat and carotid artery. A large amount of fresh blood instantly sprayed out. The young man fell to the ground in disbelief, twitching like a shrimp, gradually losing his breath.

This scene made Merritt, sitting at the dining table, her pupils constrict violently.

This... is this... a cultist?

She swallowed with difficulty, watching Ciel holding the kitchen knife, walking to another young woman, slightly bending down, and slowly lifting the young woman’s chin with the tip of the knife.

“Do you know about the Society of Merriment?”

“I... I don’t kno...”

Schlick—

Ciel slowly pushed upwards. The tip of the knife pierced the woman’s throat and plunged deeply towards her head. She gently twisted her wrist, stirred it around, then pulled out the kitchen knife.

Blood spurted out, spraying onto Ciel’s cheek—she knew how to kill without getting blood on herself, of course, but that wouldn’t have been effective.

Ciel slowly straightened her back, slightly stretched her cervical spine, turned to look at the young girl by the dining table, shook her head with a smile, and said, “No way, she said she doesn’t know.”