Chapter 94: Whispers of 'Instigator' Ciel

Whispers of 'Instigator' Ciel

The breathing beside her gradually calmed. Ciel now awoke from her light sleep.

Although sleep in the simulation couldn’t truly alleviate mental fatigue, it did offer some relief for Ciel’s mind and body.

A sort of psychological comfort.

Opening her eyes, Ciel faced a new dilemma.

How could she break free from the blockade of Adele and Avena on either side without waking them?

Ciel gently lifted her right leg, using the sole of her foot to push Adele’s leg off her bit by bit.

Then, Ciel slid her body downwards, slipping under the covers, and finally emerged from the other side of the bed.

Fortunately, Adele and Avena’s nightgowns, as well as the sheets beneath, were made of silk, allowing Ciel to slide out silently and smoothly.

Ciel stepped onto the wool carpet beneath her feet. Aided by the faint candlelight, she found a familiar canvas satchel placed on the table by her simulated self.

Opening the satchel, she found a notebook, several potion vials, and a cloth bag wrapped in another bag.

The cloth bag felt thick. Ciel weighed it and suspected it contained another notebook.

However, as Ciel picked up the cloth bag, she noticed a small slip of paper underneath. Unfolding it revealed a crudely drawn radiation symbol.

Probably best not to open it just yet.

Ignoring the other items, Ciel opened the notebook beside it.

Towards the back of the notebook, there was a message left for her, written in Chinese.

【I already bought the potion from Avena. She seems to have collected quite a few “Instigator” and “Listener” potions and materials in the past.】

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【The previous “Other Side Page” seems damaged and not very effective anymore, but I’m too lazy to write another one, especially with a third-tier “Crown Guard” around. So I just redeemed some from the sub-system.】

【Nothing else was worth redeeming, so I exchanged everything for “Other Side Pages.” 25 pages, enough for you to hand out flyers.】

【The stuff is in that cloth bag. See if you can stuff it into the inventory... but based on my guess about the system, probably not.】

【I had Adele inform Uris about everything in advance, then had Adele come over to Avena’s. After all, staying near the “Crown Guard” Nia offers a higher survival rate than staying with Uris, who’s caught in the crossfire.】

【If you’re lucky, you might see Hugh again near the end of the simulation... Of course, it might not be her again.】

【That’s all, dead tired, going to sleep. What you do next is up to you.】

【Oh right, you know, we didn’t do anything.】

【”Charm” and “Art of Conversation” are more effective than you think. If you deem it necessary, you can upgrade these two skills—if it’s too expensive, forget it. After all, besides redeeming things from the shop, I can’t really do anything.】

【88】

This thing... contains a stack of “Other Side Pages”? Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

Ciel looked at the thick cloth bag she had just weighed, never expecting it to hold such items.

Ciel took out the “Radiance Bishop’s Letter” from her inventory, tentatively grabbed the cloth bag, wanting to put it into the inventory, but failed.

After putting the “Radiance Bishop’s Letter” away again, Ciel looked at the cloth bag, her expression slightly confused.

Previously, just one “Other Side Page,” merely being near it, was enough to trigger alarming whispers in one’s mind.

But these 25 pages before her, simply sealed in a cloth bag, gave Ciel no sense of threat.

This doesn’t feel like “Other Side Pages.”

Ciel temporarily set aside the canvas bag, found her clothes and shoes, took them out of the room, changed in another guest room, and then went down to the main hall.

These things were too dangerous. Ciel couldn’t possibly risk opening them directly in Avena’s room, especially with a third-tier “Crown Guard” watching over Avena’s safety almost 24/7.

Finding no suitable room, Ciel took the items to the first-floor washroom.

Compared to the reception hall with its unrepaired wall, this place offered slightly more privacy.

Ciel hung the canvas bag on the back of the door, took out the cloth bag, took a deep breath, and slowly opened it...

Nothing happened.

Ciel reached in, pulled out one of the pages, crumpled it into a ball, wet it with water, then slowly held it up before her face.

Although the blood and text on it were somewhat smudged by the water, and the crumpling made the already illegible script even harder to decipher.

But the text had no effect on Ciel whatsoever.

Ciel tossed the crumpled paper back into the cloth bag, then directly took out an intact page and looked straight at it.

It was the familiar “Other Side Page,” but it no longer held any power.

In previous simulations, Ciel’s simulated self had indeed used Fate Points to transform, redeem Gold Pounds, and purchase various survival supplies with those pounds.

Could it be that, apart from transformation, everything redeemed from the sub-system was fake?

Or were the items real, just lacking any transcendent properties? Only precious metals like Gold Pounds could be used properly?

Ciel checked the remaining pages, confirmed none were usable, then put them back into the canvas bag.

It was commendable that her simulated self thought of this and tried it, just a pity it didn’t work as intended.

However, being able to redeem identical fake items... if used well, this might still be very helpful.

Just not right now.

Ciel rummaged through the bag and found a brand-new potion vial.

The potion inside emitted an overall pink glow. Within these points of light, several tiny tentacles drifted—it looked like the “Instigator” potion.

But this potion looked very different from the one Ciel had seen with Thomas.

Thomas’s potion had fleshy tentacles nearly dyed black, the vial filled with a mixture of black mist and oily liquid, nothing like this clean pink.

It seemed the potion Thomas obtained was likely made from second-hand, or possibly even third-hand, extracted materials.

Basically soul rings attached.

No wonder Thomas needed two vials of the potion, and drinking just one turned him into that wretched state.

A small label, tied with wire, hung from the vial’s neck. “Instigator” was written on it in Ansu script, the handwriting clearly Ciel’s own.

-

Ciel wouldn’t doubt the potion’s authenticity, even without the accompanying Reconstitution Ritual.

On critical matters like this, neither the simulated nor the real Ciel would joke around.

Ciel held up the potion vial and gently swirled it.

The tentacles inside drifted as if alive within the pale pink liquid. Seemingly noticing Ciel’s movement, they all pressed against the side of the crystal vial closest to her, like a school of fish spotting food.

Ciel looked at her reflection in the mirror. She placed her hand on the cap, slowly applied force, and watched her reflection pull out the stopper.

As the cap opened, a hallucinatory fragrance instantly filled the washroom.

Ciel raised the potion vial, tilted her head back, and drank the potion down in one gulp.

The tentacles writhed, entering Ciel’s mouth along with the potion, like fish returning to the sea, splitting into several paths within her mouth.

Some tentacles shot directly from her mouth into her nasal cavity, tearing through flesh as they swam upstream, racing towards Ciel’s brain.

Others descended down her throat to her vocal cords, directly merging with them along with the potion.

“Cough, cough...” Ciel couldn’t stop coughing. She lowered her head slightly over the sink, large amounts of blood mixed with unidentifiable clots pouring from her mouth and nose.

The hallucinatory fragrance in the washroom vanished, replaced by the thick, metallic smell of blood.

Intense pain erupted from her brain and throat, making Ciel feel like she was about to pass out.

Fortunately, she had died many times. While it didn’t increase her pain tolerance, it had somewhat raised her threshold for fainting. She didn’t pass out directly from the pain.

This potion... why is it so torturous...

Ciel looked at the bronze sink, now clogged with blood clots, her vision gradually blurring.

After an unknown amount of time, just as Ciel felt she truly couldn’t bear it anymore, the pain ceased in an instant.

Simultaneously, memories and knowledge not her own abruptly appeared in her mind as the pain vanished.

This is...

Ciel reviewed the knowledge and memories in her mind. Just like after drinking potions upon completing previous Reconstitution Rituals, this was knowledge on how to use the abilities.

This... is it over?

Where are the whispers?

Ciel took a clean towel nearby, wiped the blood from her face, her expression slightly puzzled.

She closed her eyes and carefully sensed.

Indeed... she could faintly hear some whispers, but they weren’t severe enough to interfere with her thoughts.

No... her consciousness must have been altered, but as an “Instigator,” she couldn’t perceive these internal changes, simply finding them normal.

Ciel looked up at the mirror before her.

Her reflection grinned, revealing white teeth still flecked with some blood.

The smooth advancement filled Ciel’s heart with joy.

Humming a familiar tune from her past life, she cleaned up the blood in the washroom, slung the canvas bag over her shoulder, and opened the washroom door.

Just as she opened the door, Ciel saw a silver suit of armor standing not far away. The armor was facing the washroom, seemingly having been watching Ciel the entire time.

“Are you a pervert?” Ciel asked curiously.

After speaking, Ciel’s nostrils flared slightly as she inhaled, still seeming to catch the faint scent of blood.

“Where was the tea kept again? I’ll brew some tea to rinse my mouth... Want some? Oh right... you can’t drink. Sorry, sorry.” Ciel smiled, walked around Nia, and headed towards the kitchen.

“You... drank the potion?” The metallic buzzing sound came from within the armor. “I sensed it just now...”

Ciel’s pace quickened, Nia following closely.

Nia instinctively felt that the current Ciel was very different.

She watched Ciel rummage through the kitchen, eventually just pouring and drinking a glass of water, then holding water in her mouth while looking at Nia.

After a long moment, Ciel swallowed the water and said, somewhat displeased, “You should have told a joke just now.”

“A... joke?” Nia found herself struggling to keep up with Ciel’s train of thought.

“Tell a joke. If I laughed, the water would have sprayed out my nose, rinsing out the blood inside... By the way.” Ciel seemed to remember something, looked towards Nia, and said, “You know about the Divine Advent Church matter, right?”

“I know everything.” Nia nodded. She was currently thinking about how to persuade the Ciel before her to rest properly.

She had clearly drunk some kind of potion, but Nia didn’t know which one yet.

After all, Ciel had at least six first-tier potions in her possession.

“On the 23rd, the Divine Advent Church’s ‘Radiance Bishop’ will come... The Redemption Society, the Church of the Savior Goddess, the Deton Group will all get involved. It’ll be quite lively then...” Ciel shook her head slightly as she spoke, her expression turning somewhat serious. She continued, “But muddying the waters like this creates a problem.”

“That is, the ‘Radiance Bishop’ might notice something amiss beforehand, go into hiding, and investigate secretly—all because we don’t know the ‘Radiance Bishop’s’ identity.”

Hearing this, Nia nodded slightly.

Ciel was right. The waters were muddied, but without coordination between the different organizations, the ‘Radiance Bishop,’ who was expected to appear, might easily detect abnormalities.

Moreover, who could guarantee there weren’t Divine Advent Church spies within those organizations, especially the Redemption Society and the Deton Group?

The regional general agent was already compromised like a sieve; who could be sure about the internal situation of the Deton Group?

However, the plan’s purpose was originally just to stall the Divine Advent Church’s investigation. As long as they stalled, it counted as success.

Afterwards, they just needed to gradually shift the suspicion involving Avena away.

“You think Avena is no longer threatened now, don’t you?” Ciel looked at the silver armor before her and suddenly spoke.

Nia’s body tensed slightly.

“‘Missionary’ Kitty had already begun investigating Adele. By now, she should have discovered that Sherlon didn’t create the virus himself. She would soon shift her focus to Adele.”

“Adele reported it, Adele made the cure, Sherlon’s belongings are all with the Redemption Society and the Church of the Savior Goddess, the sealed artifact has also been taken by the Church of the Savior Goddess...”

“Just kill Adele, and the trail goes cold.” Ciel’s dark red pupils flickered with an eerie light. The armored fists before her slowly unclenched.

Suddenly, Nia clenched her fist again, stepped forward, grabbed Ciel’s collar, and lifted her entirely off the ground.

“‘Instigator’!” Even through the metallic resonance, Nia’s voice couldn’t conceal her unrestrained fury. “You drank the ‘Instigator’ potion?!”

Nia felt that if she weren’t an armored life form right now, her back would definitely be drenched in cold sweat.

-

Just moments ago, Nia, constantly on guard, had seriously entertained the extreme thought of eliminating Adele to completely remove the danger from Lady Avena.

Moreover, she had been genuinely considering the feasibility of it all.

Only the abrupt spiritual alarm sounding in her mind instantly snapped Nia back to reality.

Ciel just drank the potion?! How could she possibly influence a third-tier so quickly?!

And, with so many potions to choose from, if Ciel had any intention of following the “Detective” path, Lady Avena could have practically “sponsored” her all the way to “Crown Guard.”

But why did she specifically drink the potion of the path completely opposite to the Lady’s, and the dangerous and evil “Instigator” at that?

If the Lady knew about this...

“Calm down, calm down,” Ciel smiled, raising both hands. “I was just making an analogy. Adele is my friend, I wouldn’t do anything to her.”

“However, I do have a method here, a chance to resolve this trouble once and for all...”

“But, I’ll need your help...” Ciel spoke slowly, “Come with me to Deton Manor, let’s take care of this trouble.”

Ciel looked at Nia before her, feeling slightly disappointed.

Relying solely on “Art of Conversation,” “Charm,” and the “Instigator” ability still made influencing a third-tier somewhat difficult.

Influencing a third-tier transcendent like this might make them listen to what she said, but when it came to taking action, if the action violated their own principles, they would likely snap out of the “instigated” state.

To successfully instigate a third-tier to act on her behalf, she needed to be extremely careful, “instigating” them over years, gradually instilling ideas they resisted, until their bottom line was compressed enough to allow them to act for her.

But obviously, Ciel’s encounter with the “Radiance Bishop” would be a sudden confrontation, offering no such opportunity for prolonged verbal sparring.

It seemed extreme measures were necessary... like the sacrifice she had envisioned earlier.

Previously, Ciel had some reservations.

Such a large-scale sacrifice would surely consume a significant amount of Ciel’s blood, possibly even requiring the sacrifice of her flesh if blood wasn’t enough.

The former Ciel definitely couldn’t withstand that.

But the current Ciel possessed the exclusive sealed artifact, 【Echo of the Silver-White Timebinder】.

She could simply activate the watch at the start of the sacrifice. When her blood was drained and her flesh nearly sacrificed to the point of death, her individual time would rewind, returning her to her peak state.

In that case... even sacrificing her entire self wouldn’t matter at all.

However, Ciel needed to test this idea in the simulation. Even if Nia refused, Ciel could find Uris and have her accompany her to Deton Manor.

She just didn’t know if, having become an “Instigator,” she could still gain Uris’s trust.

It was conceivable that even if trusted, Uris wouldn’t treat her as a Saintess and help her as wholeheartedly as in previous simulations.

Nia held Ciel before her, her mind in turmoil.

Honestly, she wouldn’t believe a single word from an “Instigator,” even Ciel.

But this Ciel held a special place in Lady Avena’s heart.

If she said something misleading to Lady Avena... it might change the Lady’s mind.

If Nia wanted anything right now.

She most wanted to snap the neck of the beautiful girl before her, who constantly wore that leisurely smile, find some deserted mountain, bury her, and ensure the Lady would never be influenced by her again.

But... she couldn’t hide it from the Lady.

Even if the Lady wasn’t on the “Detective” path, she possessed keen insight and deductive reasoning, practically a natural-born “Detective.”

Even if she couldn’t deduce that Ciel was killed by her, if she brought in senior “Detectives” from the family, they would eventually trace it back to Nia.

At that point, she would lose the Lady’s trust.

So, even though Nia loathed the Ciel before her intensely, she was powerless against her.

All she could do was, after the Lady woke up, remind her that Ciel had drunk the “Instigator” potion, advise the Lady to periodically activate the “Sacrificial Saint’s Relic” to clear any negative mental states.

Did she approach the Lady just to drink the “Instigator” potion when the Lady trusted her most?

Thinking back, the Lady had indeed been instigated by her into doing quite a few things... Even Nia hadn’t noticed that Ciel had actually been completing her Reconstitution Ritual all along.

What an insidious person!

What! Does she truly want!

“I can feel your anger, Nia. You shouldn’t be angry.” Ciel shook her head. “I just want to eliminate the cultists here and return to the peaceful life I desire.”

“As long as you help me eliminate them, I can promise you, I will never set foot in this estate again.”

Ciel’s tone shifted, becoming lower, tinged with a hint of melancholy. “I was originally just an outstanding student at Berren Private High School, a poor student living dependently with my sister... Just as I was about to graduate and life was looking up, I was targeted by an ‘Instigator,’ becoming the target of his Reconstitution Ritual... you know all this.”

“Fortunately, an intelligence organization saved me. They gave me information, helped me overcome the difficulties... Now, just get past this final hurdle, and my sister and I can return to our peaceful life... I should never have been involved in any of this.”

“We share a common interest, don’t we?”

“If you help me... this will all be over before Avena wakes up.”

“My intelligence network and I can guarantee that before the 22nd, Avena and Adele will face no danger.”

“Are you... willing to help me?”

Within the depths of Ciel’s pupils, an eerie pink light swirled.

Reflected in Ciel’s black irises, several pink tentacles burst forth, writhing wildly within her pupils.

“I...” Nia slowly released her grip, taking a deep breath.

“I will return to the Lady’s room to set up a ritual.” Nia turned to leave. Reaching the kitchen doorway, she looked back towards Ciel, the metallic buzzing sounding from within her armor.

“If your purpose is to eliminate the cultists, then I will help you.”

“But the moment I discover things aren’t proceeding as I expect, I will kill you immediately... Those cultist marks cannot affect me.”

“You had better honor your promise, Miss Ciel.”

With that, Nia turned and left.

Ciel, remaining where she stood, curved her lips into a faint smile and murmured softly:

“Of course...”

“Every word I speak is true.”