The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch-Chapter 148 - Tier 3 "Subverter"? (2/2)

Ciel’s eyes narrowed slightly.

She really didn’t expect that the explosive barrels she had been using, hidden by the Blackwater Gang, would end up like a boomerang, hitting her side in the end.

This was quite simple to resolve. Just need to disclose the information to Avena in advance, let her direct the police department to search for all the bombs.

But who can guarantee that after this batch of military supplies is seized, no other accidents will occur? Will the mastermind behind this give up?

“Continue tracking the whereabouts of that batch of bombs. Must clarify who bought this batch of bombs.”

Ciel ordered, “Also, regarding Isabella, send someone over too. Clarify the buyer and seller of those paintings. Anyone suspicious...”

“No need to report to me. Directly ‘baptize’ them.”

Ciel said calmly.

“Yes!” Tara nodded, saying devoutly, “I will go now.”

“Let someone else go.” Ciel shook her head, continuing, “Later, you will accompany me to a place.”

“Okay, I will arrange people now.”

Tara didn’t ask where Ciel was taking her. Just the fact that she could follow Ciel already made Tara extremely excited.

She quickly ran downstairs, handed Ciel’s missions to several steady and trustworthy bishops, telling them to lead people to the clue points in two teams to continue the investigation.

By the time Tara gathered the remaining people, Ciel had also arrived in the hall downstairs. Ciel and Tara boarded the same carriage. The carriage sped towards Sir’s Bridge District, followed by several bishops and priests on horseback and over ten baptized mounted police.

Ciel, bumping along in the carriage, kept her eyes tightly shut, reviewing what had happened since she arrived here.

Things had developed to this point, and there were actually two relatively logical chains of events.

First chain: This is what appears on the surface—a blatant terrorist attack orchestrated by the Orlando Republican Army, supported by funds from the Grain Import and Export Association, which sought to regain export permits.

Both the anonymous account and money laundering through the art exhibition were merely ways to secretly pay this commission. The purpose was to assassinate the Roswell family, using the hand of the Orlando Republican Army to force the Roswell family to back down and lift export controls.

If you don’t lift import and export controls, grain will never get in. If grain can’t get in, soup kitchens can’t continue operating. If soup kitchens can’t continue operating, more people will die in North Ansu.

The more people die, the more furious the Orlando Republican Army’s retaliation will become.

This is pressure.

Unfortunately, in the matter of eliminating witnesses, they miscalculated. The longer Balfour lived, the higher the probability of their exposure.

And for the Orlando Republican Army, they could also use this to get revenge on the great nobles of Ansu, particularly that great noble linked to Minister William, and also obtain large sums of money. This was a win-win situation.

Second chain: To others, this might sound somewhat like a conspiracy theory.

She was more inclined to believe someone was manipulating everything behind the scenes.

Originally, the Grain Import and Export Association wouldn’t risk “treason” to engage in such political operations; the Orlando Republican Army wouldn’t choose this time to launch widespread terrorist attacks; the mint factory workers wouldn’t burn down the mint factory, hang that factory owner, and engage in large-scale conflict with Orlando immigrants, escalating tensions and changes.

This wasn’t Ciel’s imagination, but a guess based on the situation during previous simulations.

Was there no famine in previous simulations? No mint factory incident? No idiotic decisions by Ansu higher-ups?

These definitely existed, but in previous simulations, these events didn’t intertwine and erupt simultaneously, and were far more intense than imagined.

One could say, except for Ciel, who had seen another possibility, anyone investigating this matter would only arrive at the first speculation.

Because this was the most superficial, the most obvious “fact.”

If the destabilizer, the one escalating the situation, was a transcendent, what potion were they digesting? What outcome did they need to achieve?

A term abruptly appeared in Ciel’s mind.

“Instigator.”

Among the transcendent paths Ciel currently knew of, it seemed only this path would be enthusiastic about accomplishing such things...

The next tier after “Instigator” is Tier 2 “Dream Thief”...

“Tara,” Ciel looked at Tara sitting opposite her, staring blankly at her, and asked, “Are you familiar with ‘Instigator’? What about its subsequent paths?”

A quiz?

Thinking the Mother Goddess was just testing her, Tara instantly straightened her back, saying:

“Lord Ciel.”

“As far as I know, ‘Instigators’ rarely show themselves. Any ‘Instigator’ who has properly completed the Reconstitution Ritual, or is part of an organization, is unlikely to interact with other transcendents. Even if they do, they wouldn’t expose the fact they are an ‘Instigator’.”

“Because no one wants to be friends with an ‘Instigator’. Everyone worries they might be stabbed in the back without even knowing it.”

“Within the ‘Instigator’ community, a saying seems to circulate, ‘When words are combined in the right way, they are sufficient to change people’s minds.’ This seems to be their creed.”

After pausing slightly, Tara continued:

“As for ‘Dream Thieves’, they are even more secretive... ‘Instigators’ can occasionally be encountered in reality, but once you encounter a ‘Dream Thief’, it means you are already in the dream they have constructed.”

“And the subsequent Tier 3 ‘Subverter’... Honestly, I know very little about this. Apologies, Lord Ciel, my knowledge is still too shallow.”

Tara lowered her head slightly, showing some apology.

Her research and knowledge were mostly concentrated in the fields of religion and archaeology. Regarding these transcendent knowledge that circulated very little, it touched upon her knowledge blind spots.

Because she rarely genuinely fought outside. The vast majority of her life was spent in the monastery’s library and in scriptural debates, occasionally teaching classes, but the time spent was not much.

“It’s fine.” Ciel gently shook her head, lost in thought.

“Subverter”...

Just hearing the name of this path, Ciel felt like the case was solved?

The carriage slowly stopped outside a twilight manor. Tara got out of the carriage first, holding up an umbrella for Ciel.

“We’ve arrived, Lord Ciel.”