The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch
Chapter 161 - Ciel Lays Traps, Ansu Attacked (2/3)

Instantly, the conductor’s body stiffened. He seemed to have lost control of his body. Even his thinking became sluggish.

On the ground he couldn’t see, beside his shadow cast by the gas lamp, a white shadow covered it, controlling his shadow, making him unable to move.

He didn’t even last a second. The ordinary train conductor’s mental defense was instantly shattered. He blankly withdrew his body, opened the vacuum pump, and ended the gradual braking.

The air from the brake pipe was pumped out. The brake pads on the wheels beneath the carriage slowly released. The screeching sound of braking disappeared. The train’s speed gradually increased again.

At this moment, not only the conductor, but even a few stokers began speeding up, adding coal to the boiler. With the coal burning completely, the train’s speed began to pick up again.

At this time, the signalman holding up the torch in front of the platform held up the passenger ticket in his hand. He loosely held the hollow center, waiting for the train conductor’s hand to pass through before releasing it.

But in his field of vision, the train went faster and faster, roaring past him. He held up the passenger ticket in his hand, and only after the train had traveled far away did he slowly lower it blankly, blinking somewhat in confusion.

“What’s going on? Fell asleep? Drank alcohol?”

He looked at the direction the train had gone, and then at the railway from where the train came. Only after there was no other illumination visible besides his torch did he return to his duty post, somewhat bewildered.

In his ordinary person’s field of vision, he couldn’t see the constantly approaching scarlet brilliance in the sky in the distance at all.

Meanwhile, at this moment, Ciel was staring directly at the scarlet curtain of sky constantly approaching along the railway. Her expression gradually became serious.

Visually, that brilliance was still over ten kilometers away. At this moment, it could be clearly seen on the horizon from the flat, open ground. It was likely a matter of hours before it caught up to them.

No... The train is too slow...

Even if the steam train reached its maximum speed, the highest it could go was just under 40 kilometers per hour. This speed was even slower than a family car in her previous life.

But she couldn’t just run from here to Ansu... her physical strength wouldn’t last. In fact, it was extremely lucky to even get on this train.

Berren City is at least five hundred kilometers away from Ansu. It would take at least another 12 hours to reach Ansu...

Before, when Uris of the Church of the Savior Goddess sent a message to the Ansu Holy See, she also mentioned that for a letter to go and come back, even at the fastest speed, it would take over a day to get reinforcements.

Now it seemed, it wasn’t that the Church of the Savior Goddess’s procedures were too cumbersome. It was purely limited by the railway’s maximum speed. Not to mention, ordinary trains would stop at stations.

Ciel’s hand tightly gripped the railing. Her eyes held a hint of unwillingness.

If they were truly caught, she might have to consider committing suicide, abandoning the practice of saving the save file.

Because this would bring great risks to her physical self’s spirit. Anyway, the purpose of completing the ritual and obtaining the Keyman’s spiritual note was already achieved. To save a save file, she could just use the “Instigator” save file in the next simulation and drink the two bottles of potion directly.

The reason for Ciel’s unwillingness was that she hadn’t managed to get this thing to Ansu yet.

She had finally created such a big toy. It was perfect for testing Ansu’s safety level. Most importantly, the greater the destruction caused by this spiritual being, the better her potion digestion progress would be.

Moreover, the rewards from the system for successful survival versus failed survival were vastly different.

Have to think of a way.

“Lord Ciel, Tara has completed the mission.”

At this moment, the white shadow that suddenly appeared beside her began to twist. Tara’s figure materialized beside Ciel, lowering her head and saying respectfully.

Tara...

Ciel slightly lowered her head, her gaze falling on the slender Tara.

As the archbishop of the Divine Advent Church, the person most loyal to the Mother Goddess, having her test the “Grim Worm’s” friendliness... how much time could that buy?

At this moment, Tara happened to look up, meeting Ciel’s highly aggressive gaze. She felt no fear. Instead, her heart began to pound.

What’s going on? Is the Mother Goddess finally going to...

Tara slightly parted her lips, just waiting for the words “I am willing” to directly escape her mouth.

It was her honor to be able to sacrifice herself for the Mother Goddess.

Ciel stared at Tara for a long time, and finally averted her gaze.

Relying solely on the flesh and blood of those transcendents, without much of her own blood for support, that Other Side being might not have enough energy to pursue them the entire way.

Having Tara get off the train to block was a backup option, not Ciel’s only choice. She still had a chance to observe further.

If it were Ciel following the “Assassin” path, she might have kicked Tara off without hesitation.

At this moment, Ciel did have a faster means of movement.

That was to summon Little Left from the Other Side, have it drag her into the Other Side for rapid movement, and arrive in Ansu beforehand.

However, doing so would mean entering the Other Side again. This would go against Ciel’s original intention of stabilizing her spirit.

Seeing Ciel’s gaze move away, Tara felt a wave of disappointment in her heart. Even her shoulders slumped. One could sense her disappointment just from her body language.

An hour passed, two hours passed...

To increase the train’s speed, Ciel disconnected a few freight cars at the tail, but didn’t disconnect any more.

If the counterweight wasn’t sufficient, the engine also had a high risk of derailing.

The scarlet halo got closer and closer to the train. It was probably only about six or seven kilometers away. Ciel could almost see the giant phantom of the insect wings cast from flesh and bones.

Feeling the gradually intensifying buzzing in her mind, Ciel again directed her gaze towards Tara.

At this moment, Tara was excitedly looking in the direction of the “Grim Worm.” Even with the buzzing in her mind and the objects before her starting to appear distorted, it didn’t dampen her passion.