The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch
Chapter 162 - The Mother Goddess’s Scent, I Know (2/3)

“Tsk... So this is Ansu? Why does it feel even more dilapidated than Clock Tower Alley?”

On the outskirts of Easton Station, in a crowded alley, Ciel looked at the dilapidated and densely packed worker dormitories around her, frowning slightly, appearing quite disappointed.

The train had also passed through an outer town connected to Ansu. Factories, warehouses, and worker residential areas were piled together, as if she had arrived in a slum even more suffocating than Clock Tower Alley.

Even sneaking into the city after getting off the platform, she saw a dim and crowded scene, which caused a huge discrepancy in Ciel’s feelings.

“Easton Station is like this, Lord Ciel,”

Tara, who had been to Ansu many times, explained, “If we got off at the West District or Queen’s Cross Station, the scene might be more prosperous.”

After answering Ciel’s question, Tara couldn’t help but turn back and look at the gradually dissipating blood light in the distance. Her heart was also filled with a sense of sadness.

Until the Holy Spirit left, she hadn’t been able to bow in reverence from the front... But she couldn’t think about this matter at this moment. Before the train entered the station, she felt the aura of the “Disciplinarian Saint” and had already quickly left with Ciel.

Mainly, the DNA of a mouse hiding from a cat was triggered, making Tara temporarily forget the fact that the Mother Goddess was right beside her. Otherwise, she definitely wouldn’t have been in a hurry to leave. She would just have stood there and waited for the “Disciplinarian Saint,” showing them the Mother Goddess and herself bowing respectfully, venting her anger.

“Lord Ciel, the Holy Spirit’s aura seems to have disappeared...” Tara spoke up, reminding her.

“Doesn’t matter. I’m already surprised it could last this long.” Ciel shook her head, not particularly concerned, just a little disappointed.

At this moment, Ciel’s face was pale, her hands were almost covered in fine cuts. She didn’t even know how much blood she had shed to lead that Grim Worm all the way here.

Compared to the spiritual summoning before, this one lasted for almost 12 hours, which already surprised Ciel greatly—and it didn’t consume a particularly large amount of blood.

Perhaps it was because it found quite a few meals for itself.

She had originally thought she could also survey the population of Ansu, but now it seemed Ciel was overthinking... Ansu was much larger than she had imagined. Adding the surrounding connected villages and towns, its size was far from comparable to Berren City.

However... wasn’t that more challenging? The more solid the fortress, the more fulfilling it was to dismantle it—this kind of pleasure was incomparable to anything else.

Thinking of this, the disappointment on Ciel’s face gradually disappeared, replaced by a smile. She nodded, sighing, “Ansu is quite safe and livable.”

Looking at Ciel’s expression, Tara’s mind couldn’t help but become active.

The descent and expulsion of the Holy Spirit. Lord Mother Goddess seems completely unconcerned... It seems just as she thought, Lord Mother Goddess doesn’t care too much about a Holy Spirit.

Coming to Ansu this time is very likely to summon an angel, something above a Holy Spirit... And the weak Holy Spirit before was at most a small welcome gift for the Ansu transcendents.

It’s just a pity that the Mother Goddess’s human body is somewhat frail. She will probably need some time to recover before continuing the summoning.

“Tara, do you have a place to stay in Ansu?” Ciel looked at Tara and asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“Yes, Lord Ciel.”

Tara nodded, “I will take you there.”

Tara seemed not very familiar with Ansu. She led Ciel through streets and alleys, walking for almost 30 minutes before finding a familiar, bustling main road.

However, while walking, Ciel also learned about the structure of Ansu from Tara.

Ansu as a whole could roughly be divided into two areas.

One was Ansu City, the other was the Greater Ansu Area.

Ansu City was the core of Ansu, with an area of about 1.12 square Ansu (approximately 2.9 square kilometers). It was the historical core area and also the financial and commercial center of Ansu.

The Greater Ansu Area, on the other hand, was divided into several large districts, such as the prosperous West District, the East District where the poor resided, and the South Shore District along the river. And within these large districts, there were many small areas.

Each small area was larger than Berren City’s Clock Tower Alley District.

Ciel had never had a concrete idea of Ansu’s size before. Now, truly knowing the scale of this capital, her mind immediately became active.

“Roughly how many people are in the entire Ansu Capital Area?” Ciel looked at Tara and asked.

“This...”

This somewhat sudden question seemed to stump Tara. After hesitating for a moment, she said:

“About... two million or so, ten to twenty years ago? Population movement has been too great since the railway opened. The population has definitely increased significantly in these twenty years. Sorry, Lord Ciel, I don’t know the exact number...”

Tara’s head was slightly lowered because she couldn’t answer Ciel’s question accurately. She looked somewhat ashamed.

“Didn’t Ansu City release any census data?” Ciel asked somewhat puzzledly.

“Ansu does have census registrars, but they only register people with fixed addresses. And many people fill it out incorrectly due to distrust of registrars, leading to significant discrepancies in the final results.”

Tara replied.

She wasn’t trying to excuse the Ansu census registrars. Population statistics was a very complex issue, requiring the government to have strong public credibility and organizational and deployment capabilities. It was almost impossible to obtain perfect data.

Not to mention, many workers and families had very low literacy rates and couldn’t fill out forms themselves. And many registrars, to save trouble, didn’t even bother to investigate in the slums and just filled it out themselves. This was also a major influencing factor.

After explaining these things to Ciel, Tara added, “Do you need this data? I can try my best to have my subordinates... have the monastery students help investigate, but honestly, population census is still very difficult...”

“It is quite difficult.”

Ciel thought about Berren City’s population data and nodded.

It would take quite bad luck to make that happen.

“We’re here, Lord Ciel. This is it.”

Tara stood before a detached two-story house and said, “This is my place to stay in Ansu.”

This was a residence near the West District, in the southwestern direction of Ansu. Across from the residence was a river. It looked like a rather nice residential area.

After waiting for Tara to open the door, Ciel walked in. She reached into her pocket and took out a notepad.

This was the Keyman’s spiritual note.

If she went back to reality and exchanged the note for investigation, it would waste some Fate Points. Better to have Tara help her break the spiritual imprint on it while there was still some time.

How to break a spiritual imprint was in Ciel’s knowledge blind spot. She didn’t even really know how to place an imprint on a note.

Although she had caused quite a few things, she was still half a novice in the transcendent field. Compared to a complete novice like Amy, she was knowledgeable, but before Tara, who had been immersed in the transcendent field for many years, she was still a fledgling.

“This is the Keyman’s note. Help me read it. I’ll rest for a while.”

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