Chapter 132: Holy Era, Ancient Era, and Chaotic Era

Holy Era, Ancient Era, and Chaotic Era

【Dear Ciel:】

【This set of books is actually what the Old Ansu script professor in Ansu recommended to me. I’ve borrowed them all and sent them to you】

【After all, my skills are lacking. I couldn’t even translate a few sentences well. Although you said in the letter that my translation was very good, I know my own level clearly; it’s just amateur】

【Hope these books can help you solve the puzzle in your heart soon】

【Also, I’ve arranged for two maids to live opposite your house. If you need a carriage or need to relay information, just go find them. They are right across the street, on standby at any time】

【If you don’t need them, feel free to send them back if they bother you】

【Your Friend】

【Avena】

Ciel looked at the books already piled up in her room and placed Avena’s letter in the desk drawer.

Although they hadn’t known each other for long, Avena had become a considerably reliable person in Ciel’s heart. Not only could she complete the tasks Ciel entrusted her with well, but she was also exceptionally meticulous.

Like when Ciel previously borrowed life-saving items from Avena, even knowing the threat of cultists, Avena lent them to Ciel without hesitation.

Regardless, this trust still moved Ciel deeply.

Life-saving items...

A light flashed in Ciel’s mind.

She didn’t miss this spark of inspiration, grabbing onto it.

Life-saving items...

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“Substitute Death Relic”...

This transcendent item could create a few seconds of “feigned death.” Consciousness and spirit were absorbed, then after a few seconds, a purer consciousness and spirit would return to the body, eliminating most mental interference, including the brainwashing of a “Missionary.”

Then...

Could the “Substitute Death Relic” clear the influence of that feather?

After being controlled by the feather, activating the “Substitute Death Relic,” both her own and the feather’s spirit and will would be confined within the “Substitute Death Relic’s” cage. As the original owner, she would be released after a few seconds, while the feather, as the intruder, would be trapped inside until the relic burned out...

During this time, wouldn’t the feather sealed artifact itself become an item without consciousness?

During this period, taking the sealed artifact out of the simulation... even directly using 【Spiritual Summoning】 to draw a blood array and sacrifice the “Substitute Death Relic” containing the spirit and will...

As long as she could bring it back to the system store, Ciel could learn some information about the feather.

Feasible... Worth trying.

Although this plan was extremely dangerous, in the simulation, danger was what Ciel feared least. Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

Conversely, lack of clues and intelligence was what Ciel feared most.

Ciel opened the simulation interface, preparing to check the simulation days.

A silver-white screen unfolded before Ciel, quickly switching to the simulation interface.

【Future Days: 27 Days (Holy Year 741, July 21st, 16:00) (Cost: 10 Fate Points)】

【Past Days: 11 Days (Holy Year 741, June 13th, 11:55) (Cost: 10 Fate Points)】

【Old Days: ***, *** Days (???) (Cost: 10000 Fate Points)】

27 days later... Almost hitting the limit where 30 days cost 100 Fate Points. For Ciel, this was the most cost-effective simulation.

Moreover, with so many ample days available in the simulation, Ciel could arrange her time well, trying to make the outcome align with her thoughts.

This amount of time should also be enough for her simulated self to learn Old Ansu script, right?

Ciel silently recited the words spoken by the feather she heard before from beginning to end in her mind, deepening the memory—she had been doing this occasionally since coming out of the simulation.

Now she could basically recite the sentence, even though she didn’t understand what those few sentences meant at all.

This time, it was another simulation that didn’t require direct combat. Ciel planned to digest another bottle of potion, trying her best to ensure it could be saved as a save file.

After careful consideration, Ciel had a few alternative options left in her mind.

“Assassin,” “Butcher,” and “Adventurer.”

For the “Assassin” and “Butcher” paths, Ciel believed she should have completed their Reconstitution Rituals. At the very least, she could directly drink the potion and start digesting.

Even if the digestion quality was poor, it was enough. If she wasn’t satisfied later, Ciel could get a better save file to overwrite it.

As for “Adventurer,” Ciel wasn’t sure if she had completed its Reconstitution Ritual. It was possible, but the probability wasn’t high.

Mainly because with the foundation of “Gambler,” Ciel thought digesting “Adventurer” should also be quite easy.

Temporarily putting aside the three alternative plans, Ciel picked up a book about teaching Old Ansu script and quickly flipped through it.

The title page of the book had a message from the professor Avena mentioned.

Most of it consisted of encouraging words, thanking Avena for being interested in the niche subject of Old Ansu script.

Judging solely from the text’s description, the professor didn’t seem like a transcendent, but just an ordinary person interested in Old Ansu script.

She taught Avena knowledge about Old Ansu script, and as compensation, Avena would find some Old Ansu script books that ordinary people basically had difficulty accessing—most of these books’ contents were related to theology, some even involving transcendent powers.

At the beginning of the book, Ciel learned a piece of knowledge she had never learned in the academy before.

Currently, academia mostly uses the end of the Holy War before Holy Year 741 as the dividing point. Before the end of the Holy War was the Ancient Era, and after the end of the Holy War is the Holy Era.

According to all current records, the Ancient Era lasted a total of 1100 years. During these 1100 years, countless religious groups engaged in brutal slaughter and conquest, engulfing almost the entire world.

Countless religious groups were destroyed during these 1100 years, and countless new religious groups more adapted to the times were born. After several ups and downs, the current church system, maintaining a delicate balance, was formed.

No wonder secret cults weren’t novel to Avena. Even though the Holy War ended so long ago, many scriptures of already extinct religious groups would remain. Some people obtaining these scriptures might regard them as true classics, thereby founding new secret cults.

And the piece of knowledge Ciel learned that she hadn’t known before was that before the Holy Era and the Ancient Era, there existed a Chaotic Era, unrecorded in any books or scriptures.

The Ancient Era was too close to the present. Even adding the Ancient Era and the current Holy Era together totaled only 1841 years.

Ciel deduced that the Old Days simulation likely simulated eras before the Ancient Era, at least the Chaotic Era.

Since no materials were left behind, Ciel couldn’t investigate easily and could only temporarily set aside matters of the Chaotic Era.

Her current goal was to spend an hour quickly learning Old Ansu script, to see how much influence 【Linguistics Lv.1】 had on her.

If the bonus wasn’t high, for her simulated self to accurately translate the information Ciel needed, she would have to spend points to raise the level of 【Linguistics】 further.

This was spending Fate Points where it mattered most; Ciel wouldn’t consider it a waste.

Calming down, Ciel began the long-missed learning process after graduation.

-

Unsure if it was due to the crisis’s influence, or because she had experienced too many things recently, Ciel always felt knowledge slipped away soon after entering her brain, making it difficult to concentrate.

Fortunately, this situation disappeared after four or five minutes, and Ciel entered a state of serious study.

She scribbled on draft paper, recording the Old Ansu script letters organized in the book.

Only after truly starting to learn did Ciel notice something unusual.

English and Old English in her previous life didn’t differ drastically. Old English, influenced by Old Norse, Latin, and French, gradually developed into Middle English and Modern English. These developments were traceable.

The alphabet also had 26 letters. Compared to Modern English, Old English just had some special characters like Æ, Ð, Þ, Ƿ.

But Ansu script and Old Ansu script were different. The alphabet itself showed huge differences, like a new language.

Especially cumbersome to write. If someone in her previous life handed Ciel such a string of characters, Ciel would think it was generated by AI.

Fortunately, there was Ansu phonetic notation, making it not difficult for Ciel to read.

Moreover, perhaps due to the influence of “Linguistics,” Ciel felt an unusual ease in learning the language.

Even without a teacher, Ciel never encountered any stuck state.

In about half an hour, Ciel could already completely write the thirty-plus letters from memory, familiarize herself with their pronunciations, and memorize about 50 simple words.

For an extremely complex language, this learning speed was already fast enough to make Avena feel ashamed, but Ciel still wasn’t satisfied.

This was still too slow...

During the learning process, an idea emerged in Ciel’s mind.

Her main purpose was just to translate the few sentences spoken by the feather.

Now, the materials Avena provided included phonetic dictionaries and word lists.

Knowing the letters and pronunciations now, Ciel didn’t need to follow the normal learning logic, learning vocabulary and grammar from beginning to end.

She could directly search for answers backward based on phonetics.

Before entering the simulation, Ciel could analyze the meaning of those few sentences. Perhaps the information those sentences brought Ciel would be enough for her to change her plan?

Ciel’s method wasn’t difficult, and the materials were now sufficient. If she just leveled up “Linguistics” a bit more, perhaps she could figure it out in an hour.

Coincidentally, Ciel also planned not to simulate so quickly to recover her spirit. This free time was perfect for studying.

Ciel opened the Basic Disciplines interface in the system store, found Lv.1 Linguistics, and spent 2 points to upgrade it.

A silver light flashed. The original Lv.1 Linguistics became Lv.2.

【Linguistics (Lv.2): 3 Fate Points】

【Linguistics Lv.2: Moderately increases your aptitude for linguistics, making it easier for you to learn various basic languages. With a little effort, you can become an excellent linguistics master】

Fate Points decreased from 165 to 163. Ciel closed the system interface and looked at the materials on the desk before her.

She wanted to see if spending these 2 Fate Points was worth it, how much difference it made.

Ciel began trying to translate the first sentence she remembered.

She silently recited the specific pronunciation in her mind, then started searching for words based on the pronunciation.

This task wasn’t difficult, and the first word was “I,” which Ciel had already memorized before.

“So you were just one of my...”

About ten minutes passed. Ciel translated the first half of the first sentence, but the latter word was somewhat advanced, and the pronunciation remembered might not be accurate, slightly stalling Ciel.

However, this progress was already much faster than Ciel imagined. Her method of deducing the whole sentence’s meaning backward from pronunciation was more efficient than she thought.

And with the bonus of 【Linguistics Lv.2】, she didn’t feel this process was difficult anywhere.

It was merely recording pronunciation, searching syllables, then connecting context to analyze the sentence and make inferences... But Ciel knew, if she hadn’t leveled up Linguistics, she might not have realized this, and the time consumed would be ten times more.

At this moment, Ciel looked at the small segment she translated, somewhat baffled.

So you were just one of my? What does that mean?

If the latter word wasn’t translated, the whole sentence’s meaning would become very strange.

After thinking for a moment, Ciel decided to level up Linguistics to Lv.3.

From 0 to 3 only required 6 points in total. Ciel felt that not just Old Ansu script, but other ancient languages would surely be useful somewhere.

As long as these 6 Fate Points could exert far more than 6 points’ worth of effect, Ciel felt it was worth it.

Raising the Linguistics talent higher was considered an advance investment.

Later, when her points were ample, she would eventually max out all other basic disciplines, achieving “omniscience” in basic disciplines to some extent.

This would greatly help her complete any Reconstitution Ritual.

Moreover, Ciel could clearly feel that the increase in linguistics talent wasn’t just simply increasing talent.

Her memory and logical thinking also improved significantly, especially memory. This point was very important to Ciel.

Ciel spent another 3 points, leveling Linguistics to Lv.3. Her Fate Points also reached the round number 160.

【Linguistics (Lv.3): Considerably increases your aptitude for linguistics, making it easier for you to learn various basic languages. Without effort, you can become a linguistics grandmaster renowned in history】

From scholar to grandmaster, only required 6 Fate Points.

Even if Ciel didn’t upgrade further, she could rely on this talent to master multiple languages, make a living at university, and become a linguistics expert recorded by posterity.

However, this wasn’t Ciel’s goal, so she didn’t consider it further.

After reaching Lv.3 Linguistics talent, upgrading further to Lv.4 required 10 Fate Points, a significant increase in cost.

But Ciel didn’t plan to upgrade further. Lv.3 was already sufficient for her now.

This time, when Ciel tried translating again, she discovered something very surprising.

The current Ciel could almost achieve eidetic memory.

This point wasn’t reflected as a skill, but Ciel’s feeling was extremely obvious. Now, memorizing some words was very easy. Just glancing at it, her mind could automatically associate the approximate pronunciation and meaning, and the word basically became etched in Ciel’s mind.

Truly powerful basic talent...

-

Relying on eidetic memory, Ciel’s translation progress advanced at extreme speed. When flipping books, she almost just needed to glance before turning to the next page. And when encountering those words again, Ciel could remember what she had flipped through without needing to check the book.

Unsure if this talent was limited to linguistics... If not, it would be too powerful.

In less than half an hour, all the words spoken by the feather had been roughly translated by Ciel.

Ciel didn’t directly write down these Old Ansu words but visualized them in her mind, analyzing sentence by sentence.

“So you were just part of me... No wonder you knew so much.”

“I will become more complete...”

“Stop struggling. In another day, you will completely dissipate.”

“And I, at least, still have three hundred years to research how to repair the body... Although time is short, but it’s enough.”

“Just quietly await your death. As a vessel, you should feel honored.”

“Why does it have to be the power of nature...”

“Do I have to wait until her consciousness completely dissipates... Having waited so long, a few more days don’t matter.”

I am just part of it?

This sentence, Ciel knew, she was definitely not part of it.

Because it didn’t even know itself what exactly it was missing.

As for why the other party was puzzled why she knew so much... That was natural, because Ciel had already experienced it once.

Ciel sorted out several clues.

1. The opponent was an incomplete sealed artifact, searching for a vessel, and it had been waiting for a very long time.

2. After her body was occupied by it, her consciousness would dissipate in one day at the earliest.

3. “Coroner’s” ability was classified by it as “nature” ability. Based on its definition of abilities, it could be traced back to the era it belonged to.

Of course, besides these, there was some less important information.

According to the feather sealed artifact’s deduction, “Coroner” Ciel could live for at least another 300 years by advancing...

Ciel wasn’t particularly keen on a 300-year lifespan, at least not currently.

In a world with crazy transcendent abilities, longevity didn’t necessarily mean a good thing, especially in this transcendent system where spirit was extremely important.

Time would wear away your anchors. When you look back on the past and can no longer find anything to support your will’s existence, you are not far from madness.

“Nature” power became one of Ciel’s investigation targets.

A silver light flashed. The 【Endless Manual of Instant Forgetfulness】 appeared in Ciel’s hand.

She picked up the dip pen, dipped it in some ink, and began writing on it in Chinese.

【Exploring the “Nature” affix might become a breakthrough in finding information about that sealed artifact】

【Borrow the “Substitute Death Relic” from Avena, but it must be activated after being possessed, when unable to control the body. This requires you to devise a method, as your time is much more ample than mine】

Ciel paused her writing slightly, thought for a moment, then continued writing.

【To make the feather sealed artifact appear, Lucy and Oppold must die. If you really can’t think of a way, have Tara go back and summon reinforcements in advance】

【Good luck, my simulated self】

Ciel stopped writing. A silver light flashed. The endless manual disappeared, returning to the system inventory.

She tidied up the desk, took off her shoes and socks, lay down on the bed, and closed her eyes.

Her simulated self this time had a full 27 days of free action time. Honestly, Ciel didn’t arrange too many tasks for her simulated self.

Previously, she packed the schedule tightly, but the originally planned 96-day simulation ended after only 44 days, with her simulated self dying.

After all, the situation was also different. Previously, it required 100 Fate Points; Ciel naturally wanted more intelligence.

But now, only consuming 10 points, Ciel’s point crisis wasn’t as severe. In this case, completing the most important task was enough.

As for the free time, let her simulated self arrange it.

Ciel, with her eyes closed, saw the system screen flash silver in the darkness before her.

Ciel slowly spoke in her mind.

“Future Days.”

“No.0.”

Silver light covered everything before Ciel’s eyes, swallowing all her senses.

A few seconds later, noisy sounds came from her ears. Ciel opened her eyes.

...

【Future Days】

【Holy Year 741, July 21st, 16:00】

【Countdown – 23:59:59】

The system countdown began, and the interface gradually disappeared from Ciel’s sight.

The double vision before her eyes gradually merged, and the noise became specific language.

Bang bang bang—

“Silence!”

A somewhat familiar voice came from behind. Ciel turned around and saw Baron Hastings sitting behind the ornate wooden long table. He now wore a silver-white curly wig, sitting sternly at the highest position.

The sign before him indicated his current identity—Magistrate.

Ciel turned her head, looked at her own desk, quietly moved the sign in front slightly backward, and saw the words on it.

Clerk.

A notebook lay before her. Ciel was currently wearing plain black robes, holding a quill pen, recording the case before her.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers sat at tables to the left and right below. The jury box held over a dozen agitated citizens shouting loudly, seemingly insulting the criminal awaiting judgment in the center.

This is the Magistrate’s Court?

The job Baron Hastings promised her before?

Why did her simulated self go find a job?

Ciel didn’t see any notebook on her person or before her. Information inside the endless manual wasn’t shared.

But Ciel wasn’t anxious. Instead, she took a deep breath and patiently continued recording based on the previously recorded content.

The notebook explaining the situation wasn’t even around...

And she inexplicably found a job...

Even if her simulated self and real self had minor disagreements due to different tasks, she would never do anything inexplicable.

She must have her reasons for doing this.

The trial seemed to be nearing its end. Ciel decided to observe quietly. After quickly finishing the recording, she began flipping through the previously recorded material.

Berren City Mint?

Roughly flipping through the records, Ciel generally understood what kind of case this was.

This was a case where factory workers sued the factory owner. This case wouldn’t have normally gone to trial, but previous worker rallies, protests, and strikes pushed it to the Magistrate’s Court.

The initial cause was two mint workers dying from overwork, but the mint offered no compensation. Their bodies were still placed outside the mint now.

The mint director was a merchant from a noble family but hadn’t obtained a title. In this awkward situation, his style became a mix of noble arrogance and merchant self-interest.

To avoid paying compensation to these “lowly” workers, he directly hired Blackwater Gang members to intimidate the deceased’s families.

The deceased’s families just wanted an apology but were beaten severely. Under these circumstances, the mint workers, who had long worked in poor conditions for low wages, were finally ignited, taking to the streets to protest.

This protest rally seemed to have the backing of the Church of the Savior Goddess, as workers were their main believers; they had to seek some justice for them.

Ciel in the previous simulation hadn’t paid attention to matters in Clock Tower Alley, so she didn’t record this rally and march. But working at the court this time, she learned about it.

However... this didn’t change anything.

With Hastings declaring the merchant not guilty, it was also time for Ciel to get off work. After bidding farewell to Baron Hastings, she picked up her canvas bag and boarded the carriage heading back.

Ciel recognized this carriage because of the Roswell family crest on it. Riding this carriage to work was akin to delivering takeout in a Rolls-Royce in her previous life.

She had no intention of standing up for those workers, because Ciel knew that soon enough, the merchant would “miraculously” convert to the Church of the Savior Goddess and pay a large sum of atonement money.

As for whether he could live, that depended on his fortune later.

Ciel opened the canvas bag, saw a notebook inside, took it out, and began flipping through it directly.