The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch-Chapter 107 - Avena’s Soul Healing Therapy (3/3)

Nia beckoned to Ciel, leading her directly into the house.

The servants were all asleep now. Only a few gas lamps remained lit inside the estate.

But Ciel could barely see what was in front of her now. Even the points of light from the gas lamps, under the shroud of bloody mist, looked like scarlet ghost eyes staring at her from the depths of the fog.

The mist before Ciel was even thicker now, reaching a point where it somewhat affected her breathing—it might sound unbelievable, but Ciel even felt a sensation akin to drowning, as if blood had completely blocked her lungs.

Fortunately, Nia’s armor glowed faintly, preventing Ciel from completely losing her direction.

Following Nia ahead, Ciel stumbled up the stairs, the chains in her hands clinking crisply against each other.

Only when Nia stopped before a dilapidated, decaying wooden door did Ciel realize this was Avena’s room.

This time... should be around three or four in the morning...

Nia slowly pushed open the door. Ciel seemed to think of something, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes.

Now, anything Ciel saw would undergo bizarre transformations. Both people and objects lost their original appearance in her eyes.

Realizing this, Ciel really didn’t want to see people she knew turn into some kind of monster in her eyes.

Ciel walked forward a few steps with her eyes closed, stopping only when she stepped onto the soft wool carpet.

Beside her ears, gurgling, obscure language sounded continuously. It seemed Nia was communicating something with Avena.

After about ten seconds, Ciel felt her hand, hanging down in front of her, being taken by a soft hand, leading her forward.

Soft... hand?

A trace of doubt arose in Ciel’s heart.

The monsters she saw earlier didn’t even have the concept of “hands.” Most were just jumbled insect limbs or tentacles, with some withered bones at most. freēwēbnovel.com

Could it be they just looked different, but felt the same?

Ciel couldn’t resist squeezing the warm palm holding hers. It indeed felt like a human hand.

Led by Avena, Ciel sat down by the bed, gently pushed by a soft force to lie down slowly.

Perhaps because she had closed her eyes and no longer saw the bloody mist, Ciel’s heart gradually calmed down.

She could feel a pair of hands stroking her eyes. When Ciel felt the warmth before her eyes, a white light tore through the darkness.

“Ciel?” A familiar call finally allowed Ciel to let down her guard. She slowly opened her eyes.

Before her was a grey-white world. A naked, pale blue illusory figure stood before Ciel, waving a hand in front of her eyes.

This was Avena’s phantom image.

“What happened, Ciel?” Avena’s calm voice sounded. She looked at Ciel and asked, “Why is your spirit...”

My spirit?

Ciel looked down, slowly raising her hands.

In the grey-white world, Ciel saw herself also sitting naked on a ground composed of darkness, but her phantom image wasn’t pale blue; instead, it flickered constantly.

With each flicker, the color of Ciel’s phantom image changed. Each flicker also caused some mutation in Ciel’s body, pink tentacles emerging from under her skin or thin insect wings tearing out from her back.

These changes continuously caused stabbing pain in Ciel’s spirit.

“Can you tell me what exactly happened these days?” Avena looked at Ciel, her voice gradually softening. “And those strange... misfortunes?”

Unsure if it was due to Avena’s transcendent ability or her own fragile mental state at the moment, Ciel couldn’t suppress the urge to confide, beginning to tell Avena about the events after the train explosion.

The bizarre rules of not contacting transcendents, not leaving Berren City...

Impersonating the Judicator’s Court, investigating the misfortune, Lucy Silva trapped in Deton Manor, Oppold forced to abandon all his glory and wealth...

The consecutive misfortunes, the “Strong Luck Coin” landing reverse twice, the pursuing Church of the Savior Goddess “Radiance Bishop” Hugh, the short-distance travel through the Other Side...

While recounting all this, Ciel’s spirit and consciousness were in a normal state. She deliberately omitted parts about the system and the stopwatch, recounting everything that happened today that could be told.

With each event Ciel recounted, she felt her mental stress visibly easing. Even the constant stabbing pain had transformed into a barely perceptible dull ache.

After finishing everything, Ciel felt a cool sensation spread from her brain throughout her body, like having a basin of ice water poured over her head on a hot summer day. Ciel instantly felt immense pressure relief, her thoughts becoming active again.

Is this the soul healing ability of a “Listener”...

She hadn’t felt much when unconscious before, just felt very comfortable. But now it seemed this was the correct way to use the “Listener” ability.

At this moment, Avena, sitting opposite Ciel, listened to Ciel’s account, her mood sinking bit by bit.

In just one day, Ciel had experienced so much... even becoming a second-tier “Judicator” without Avena knowing.

Regarding this point, Avena wasn’t actually too surprised. After all, Ciel’s “Judicator” potion was given to Ciel by Avena herself. The only surprise was how deeply Ciel had hidden it.

It was just that what Ciel experienced a few hours ago was too much, making it difficult even for Avena to digest this vast amount of information in a short time.

Ciel held too many secrets. Even after revealing so much information, Avena could still sense many secrets hidden within Ciel.

But now wasn’t the time for Avena to ponder these things. She temporarily set aside the slight doubts in her heart, looked at Ciel before her, slowly approached her, extended her arms, and gently embraced Ciel’s shoulders.

“You’ve already done very well... Next, you just need a good sleep...”

“You are lying on the grassland, the cliff is to your right...”

“But you accidentally slipped and fell down, below is a pool of water...”

“You woke up startled...”

Under the inducement of Avena’s ethereal, distant voice, Ciel began to feel an intense sensation of falling, followed by incredibly realistic drowning and suffocation, as if everything she said truly happened.

Ciel struggled awake, pushed herself up from the copper bathtub beneath her, breaking the water surface abruptly, panting heavily.

She quickly scanned her surroundings, saw Avena watching her nearby, and also noticed where she was currently.

This was Avena’s bathroom, and she herself had been undressed and placed inside the bathtub.

Spirit... recovered?