Chapter 157: Berren City, the Sky Has Changed

Berren City, the Sky Has Changed

Low-key, steady, and peaceful were basically Ciel’s requirements for her simulated self in the 【Endless Manual of Instant Forgetfulness】.

Better for the simulated self to do nothing than to make mistakes.

The entire purpose of the simulation was to let her see the future situation of Berren City. If, on top of this foundation, she could digest another bottle of potion or complete a Reconstitution Ritual, that would be even better.

Therefore, Ciel, hugging Avena, was still relatively relaxed when the white light swallowed everything before her eyes.

...

The white light gradually dissipated before Ciel, and before her eyes, a silver-white system panel appeared, gradually fading.

【Future Days】

【Holy Year 741, July 31st, 11:59】

【Countdown – 23:59:59】

Very good, the time matches, her simulated self didn’t die early...

When she perceived her surroundings again, the sensation in her hands no longer held the warmth of the quilt; what she stroked was not Avena’s soft, flat abdomen.

The cold, damp air made the hairs on Ciel’s hands stand on end. The instantaneous contrast made Ciel unable to adapt for a moment.

She quickly opened her eyes. Before her was a dim space. Moss covered the gray-black bricks. Black, solidified blood filled the cracks on the ground. The only illumination came from the candle lamps hanging on the walls.

And before her, several figures hung in the darkness untouched by the candlelight. They struggled forcefully, but their mouths seemed gagged by something, only able to emit muffled “mmph mmph” sounds.

Due to the distance, Ciel couldn’t see who they were.

Kidnapped?

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Ciel quickly looked down, slightly stunned.

She wasn’t hanging. She was still completely dressed in black robes, no wounds on her hands, her right hand still holding a notepad.

What exactly is going on?

She picked up the notepad, opened the first page, and saw what her simulated self had recorded.

But at the very top of the first page, a few extra lines were added.

【I have no time】

【No time to get the subsequent potions for “Judicator”】

【It’s up to you now】

【——741.7.31.11:58】

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Her simulated self still had things unfinished, needing her continuation?

Knock knock knock—

A knocking sound came from behind Ciel, making Ciel quickly turn around.

She saw a slightly dilapidated wooden door. Through a finger-width crack in the wooden door, Ciel could see light coming in from outside.

Who?

“Lord Ciel, I’ve brought the things you wanted.”

Outside the door, a familiar voice sounded, slightly dispelling some of Ciel’s doubts.

It’s Tara.

Although their stances weren’t quite the same, Tara could be considered the person Ciel trusted most besides her close ones, without question.

If talking purely about obedience, she was even more trustworthy than Avena—after all, she completely, unconditionally believed in Ciel. Even if Ciel ordered her to commit suicide on the spot, she wouldn’t hesitate at all.

“Come in.”

Ciel said.

Conveniently, she could subtly ask Tara what exactly had happened.

Ciel lowered her head, flipped through the notepad in her hand, starting to extract noteworthy information.

She needed to understand what exactly happened now at the fastest speed.

The wooden door opened. Tara walked in carrying a tray, placing it on the wooden table to the left of the entrance.

“I’ve placed the potion on the table, Lord Ciel.”

After placing the tray on the wooden table, Tara looked towards Ciel, who was looking down at the notepad, her expression full of reverence.

And Ciel, at this moment, the more she looked at the notepad in her hand, the heavier her heart became.

Things were heading straight towards the direction she least hoped for.

The containment of “Uniqueness” indeed caused deviations in the original world’s development, leading to events that had never happened before.

And the development of Berren City was far more chaotic and complex than Ciel imagined...

Queen of Ansu calls for attention to North Ansu famine, triggering public boycotts and protests;

Large number of North Ansu immigrants transported to Berren City and other industrial cities;

Clock Tower Church ordered closed by Berren City Municipal Council Chief John Chamberlain, on charges of suspected treason;

A terrorist organization named “Orlando Republican Army” carries out terrorist crimes across Ansu, these attacks dubbed the “Famine Rebellion”;

Berren City Mint bombing case, factory owner Mige hanged on the lamppost at the factory entrance;

Large-scale conflict between Orlando immigrants and local workers in Berren City;

All these things happened within this month.

And around the middle of the month, Adele left Berren City.

As a volunteer, she boarded a train, following the Mercy Corps formed by the Redemption Society and the Church of the Savior Goddess to Orlando, where the great famine was occurring, aiming to reinforce the transcendents still investigating the cause of the famine there.

Considered fulfilling the promise Adele made before—after making a mistake once, when capable, she would save more people.

And when Ciel flipped to the last page, she saw the record on it, her pupils shrinking slightly.

The handwriting on it was extremely messy, showing how chaotic her own thoughts were when writing this line.

The “Orlando Republican Army” launched a do-or-die assassination operation, targeting those nobles who had targeted North Ansu in Parliament, as well as their relatives.

This fire also burned Avena—a premeditated banquet bombing and shooting incident almost took half of Avena’s life, even Nia couldn’t rescue her in time.

And at that time, the simulated Ciel, because she didn’t want to attend the banquet, wasn’t present—the time was 5 days ago, July 26th.

Now, Avena was still at home, receiving treatment, not yet awakened from her coma.

Seeing this, Ciel’s hand holding the notepad began trembling slightly. The thick notepad was deeply indented by her fingers.

She only knew the appearance of “Uniqueness” might cause certain changes in the future, but didn’t expect the changes to be so drastic...

In previous simulations, even after thirty or forty days passed, such major events hadn’t occurred so densely in Berren City.

In the simulation where Ciel was a clerk, she only learned about the court hearing between the mint workers and the factory owner through her position as a clerk.

Even later, this matter didn’t actually stir up too much trouble, let alone escalate into things like the mint bombing case and hanging the factory owner.

Even the great famine incident affected Avena—remember, previously even after more than forty days, Avena was still alive and well. Ciel didn’t even know any reports or details about the great famine, completely unaffected.

Is this really just a simple butterfly effect?

Or, is someone pushing things behind the scenes?

Ciel, having experienced two different world lines, took a deep breath and began analyzing.

The rapid deterioration of the great famine incident led to a series of consequences. It must be caused by human factors, plus the impact of “Uniqueness” appearing...

Ciel could likely confirm that the potato blight in the great famine was definitely caused by transcendents artificially. Otherwise, such drastic changes wouldn’t occur between two different timelines, especially when Ciel hadn’t influenced North Ansu at all.

Remember, even Ireland in her previous life didn’t establish a Republican Army during the Great Famine, although uprisings and terrorist attacks did occur, just the impact wasn’t this large.

And the original worker issues within Berren City...

Ciel remembered, previously during the court hearing, the notepad recorded that the workers’ demonstration was backed by the Church of the Savior Goddess...

But this simulation recorded that the Clock Tower Church of the Savior Goddess had also been banned by the Berren Municipal Council...

And Orlando primarily believed in the Church of the Savior Goddess.

Is the Church of the Savior Goddess behind all this? Is it the mastermind? Or the one being framed?

And the assassination attempt targeting Avena...

This, Ciel must stop in advance.

Who could it be? Who orchestrated this assassination attempt, or provided help behind the scenes?

Ciel didn’t believe that just the Orlando Republican Army alone could successfully carry out an assassination attempt against Avena with so much protection.

Instantly, names of possible individuals appeared before Ciel’s eyes.

If it were me... If it were me... I would...

-

Ciel abruptly thought of something. She picked up the candle placed on the table, walked towards the few hanging figures.

When the candlelight illuminated their fearful, angry, or bewildered expressions, Ciel took a deep breath, gradually calming down.

All this hasn’t happened in reality yet, there’s still a chance to remedy...

And the method of remedy, in simulation, can be very simple and crude...

Ciel scanned from left to right, across those people tied with hands behind their backs, hanging in mid-air.

Grain merchant, Balfour Huntington.

Municipal Council Chief, John Chamberlain.

Church of the Savior Goddess High Priestess, Uris.

Knight Commander of the Queen’s Sword, Oppold Thaddeus.

Besides these familiar faces, Ciel also saw a few unexpected people.

Deton Group Senior Special Commissioner, Lucy Silva.

Daughter of the Stuart Art Exchange owner, Isabella Stuart.

And a pink-haired woman Ciel seemed to have seen before, but had no strong impression of.

They were all hanging in mid-air, looking at the current Ciel with different expressions.

Yes...

Her simulated self, and her current self share the same feeling.

Just by empathizing slightly with what her simulated self encountered, Ciel could quickly know what she would do.

Investigate slowly like before when she had no power? Unravel things bit by bit?

No.

This is simulation.

In the shortest time, capture everyone possibly knowledgeable about the situation, conduct harsh interrogation, extract information helpful to herself from them—this is what her simulated self would do.

However, only five days had passed since Avena was attacked. Subtracting the time for Tara to go back and gather people, the time left for the simulated Ciel was really not much.

She only had time to capture the people. The interrogation matter could only be left to the Ciel arriving now.

But... why did the simulated Ciel also prepare a bottle of potion?

Ciel looked towards Tara.

After Avena was attacked, nothing was recorded in the notepad. Tara might know more than the current Ciel.

“Tara, what potion is that.” Ciel pointed towards the potion bottle, asking calmly.

“Hm?” Tara was slightly stunned, but quickly, she still replied respectfully, “It’s ‘Butcher’ potion, Lord Ciel.”

You are very angry, aren’t you...

Me.

...

“Mmph!!! Mmph!!!”

Damn it... damn damn damn!!

Goodwin hung in mid-air with hands tied behind her back, pink long hair scattered before her face.

She held a stone shard in her palm, grinding away at the hemp rope tying her hands behind her back, bit by bit.

Previously, she could directly break free from this damn hemp rope; these things couldn’t hold her at all.

But the potion forced down her throat just now made her spirit dazed, unable to exert even a fraction of her strength.

Devil... truly a devil!!

She looked at the small figure writing something under the dim candlelight before her, her eyes full of terror.

Damn it...

Why am I so fated with these damn cultists!

Previously wanted to take some missions at Deton Manor, encountered the cultists’ sacrifice incident, scared her into running away quickly.

Just over a month later, she encountered those lunatics from the Divine Advent Church again, and got captured by them.

What on earth do they want!

Suddenly.

The young girl writing at the desk stood up, turned towards them.

The young girl held a notepad, her fiery red long hair glowed orange at the edges under the candlelight’s halo. She swept her cold, dark red pupils across the people hanging here.

When Goodwin was scanned by the young girl’s gaze, goosebumps rose all over her body. Unexplained fear occupied her heart... as if she had experienced the same fear before.

She swore, this was definitely the first time she saw this red-haired young girl.

But those eyes, clearly the kind looking at dead people... the killing intent in her eyes was chilling—this young girl definitely killed many people, otherwise couldn’t make even a first-tier transcendent like her feel fear seemingly from the depths of her soul.

Damn it! She looks like just an underage ordinary person!

Goodwin was sweating profusely. She stopped the action of grinding the hemp rope in her hand, afraid her small movements would be discovered by the other party.

The young girl just glanced around, then slowly closed her eyes.

A few seconds later, the red-haired young girl opened her eyes again. The killing intent in her eyes disappeared instantly, replaced by confusion and vigilance.

Goodwin saw the young girl move back slightly, glancing fearfully at the hanging people, until the knocking sound came from behind, the young girl’s expression gradually calmed down.

What’s going on...

The young girl’s unusual behavior sent a chill down Goodwin’s spine. Just closing her eyes for a few seconds, the young girl’s performance was like two different people, as if her soul or memory was replaced.

The wooden door opened. The young girl began looking down at the notepad she was writing in just now. During their conversation, Goodwin quietly started again, using the stone shard to grind the rough hemp rope.

Under constant shaking, the hemp rope had already completely chafed her wrist, tearing the skin, revealing pink flesh.

But even so, Goodwin didn’t dare stop her hands, because she noticed, after the young girl finished reading what she recorded on the notepad, seemed to recover her memory, her eyes gradually becoming terrifying.

The tinnitus brought by fear prevented Goodwin from hearing the subsequent conversation between the young girl and that cultist. Now her entire focus was almost on the stone shard in her hand. Slowly, the twisted hemp rope was already cut through one strand by her.

Possible... possible...

Just when Goodwin felt slightly relieved in her heart, she saw the young girl called “Lord Ciel” leading that cultist, walking step by step towards the fat man furthest to Goodwin’s right.

Crack—

The rope hanging the fat man suddenly snapped. A white shadow hung on the rope, swaying gently with the hemp rope’s movement.

Two white shadows pressed the dizzy fat man down to kneel. The young girl holding a carving knife stood before the fat man, saying expressionlessly, “Next, I ask one question, you answer one question, no nonsense.”

The rag in his mouth was also pulled out by a white shadow. The fat man trembled, tears already streaming down.

“Don’t... don’t kill me, all yours, all my money is yours...”

Before the fat man finished speaking, a white shadow choked his throat, making him shut his mouth.

“Five days ago, what were you doing.” The red-haired young girl held the carving knife, asking coldly.

The hand choking the fat man released. The fat man, sweating profusely, trembled and said, “I... I...”

Due to excessive fear, the fat man couldn’t recall what he was doing five days ago for a moment. After stuttering for several seconds, he finally said, “I attended the banquet hosted by Lord Oppold...”

“And then?” The young girl continued asking.

“Because something came up midway, I went home first...”

Before the fat man finished speaking, the cultist transcendent standing behind the young girl, looking not much older than a little girl, slowly said, “This is a lie, Lord Ciel.”

“No... no... don’t, I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”

The fat man’s hands were directly pulled out by two white shadows.

Schlick—

The sharp carving knife directly pierced through his palm, fresh blood splashing onto the ground from the wound.

“Ahhhhh!!!”

Tragic screams echoed throughout the underground dark room. Almost everyone seeing this scene felt a chill in their hearts.

As expected of cultists... completely devoid of humanity.

This was almost everyone’s first thought.