The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch-Chapter 148 - Tier 3 "Subverter"? (1/2)

“You... Who exactly are you?”

“I can give you money, please don’t kill me...”

“I will cooperate with whatever you want me to do, please...”

A somewhat thin middle-aged man was held in the center of the bank lobby, a burlap sack over his head, wearing only pajamas. He was likely brought here directly in his sleep.

He had no idea what was happening, couldn’t see where he was at all. The rain he was exposed to mixed with nervous sweat flowed down his back. He could only keep begging in a low voice, terrified that a loud sound would anger the “robbers.”

A familiar, soft melody from a music box sounded, making the man slightly startled.

Immediately after, the man felt something pull off his hood. He regained light, seeing everything around him.

This is...

Before him was his familiar bank, where he worked every day.

The bank was deserted at this time. Night watch guards and staff had vanished without a trace.

Instead, there were dozens of police officers wearing steel helmets, and more than ten mysterious people in black robes. They surrounded the man in the center.

And directly in front of the man, a young girl leaned against the counter table, eyes closed, her delicate fingers tapping rhythmically on an exquisite music box placed on the desktop, following the music. The music just now came from inside the music box.

No... no no, these couldn’t be police officers. Police officers couldn’t capture a figure as somewhat well-known as him in this manner this late at night.

Almost instantly, the man found the core figure within this group. He knelt and moved forward a few steps, saying, “Sir, Your Excellency, is there anything I can assist you with? I will definitely...”

The man’s voice seemed to interrupt the young girl’s appreciation of the music. She stopped her fingers and opened her eyes.

But she showed no sign of irritation at all, just calmly and elegantly looked towards the man. This instantly raised a glimmer of hope in the man’s heart.

She can communicate... Good as long as she can communicate...

But just as the young girl slightly curved her lips into a smile, the man saw the saw-like sharp fangs in her mouth. Instantly, the hope that had just risen plummeted directly to the bottom.

“Pauly... right.”

Ciel no longer leaned against the table, stood up, casually waved her hand at someone to the side, seemingly not planning to waste time.

“Although I’d like to talk to you properly, given that you’ve previously wronged me... it’s better to use a simpler method.”

Listening to the young girl’s words, the bank manager Pauly was completely bewildered. He had never met this young girl before, had absolutely no interaction. How could he have possibly wronged her?

Just as Pauly was about to speak up and explain the misunderstanding, a person in black robes slowly stepped forward, attracting Pauly’s attention. The moment he looked at the black-robed person and their gazes met, instantly, Pauly’s spirit fell into a state of trance.

“In the endless darkness, I call upon You, Mother Goddess Sadhana...”

The black-robed person slowly spoke.

Just as he finished reciting this sentence, all the police officers, black-robed people around, slowly lowered their heads, chanting devoutly in unison: “In the endless darkness, I call upon You, Mother Goddess Sadhana...”

The endless darkness, in an instant, completely eroded the remaining sanity in Pauly’s mind.

...

“Lord Ciel, based on the time point you provided, I indeed have a strong impression of such a client.”

In Pauly’s manager’s office, Ciel sat on the sofa, playing with a small art sculpture in her hand.

It was a small obelisk, inscribed with some words begging for wealth in Ansu script. Just an ordinary desktop ornament.

And Pauly handed over a document and a check, then respectfully retreated to the side, continuing, “This is the transaction detail for that anonymous account. Please review it.”

Ciel picked up the transaction detail, glanced at it, then put it down.

There wasn’t much transaction content in this account. Only Balfour transferred a sum of money, the amount being ten thousand Su pounds, consistent with what Balfour said in the dungeon earlier.

The transaction detail of this bank account only provided one new clue.

The attack happened on July 26th. Balfour’s transfer was on July 24th. This money was withdrawn on July 27th, and the time the paintings consigned at Isabella’s place were purchased was also on July 27th.

This almost directly proved it was the same sum of money. The Grain Import and Export Association that disbursed this money was definitely involved.

Now the question was, who received this money? And what was the purpose of receiving this money?

“Do you remember the appearance of the person who withdrew the money?” Ciel asked.

“I remember that,” Pauly nodded, saying, “This was a large sum. Even Charlie Bank doesn’t have this much cash on hand. I had to run to other banks to transfer some funds to barely gather ten thousand Su pounds.”

“Among them are two very rare 1000 Su pound banknotes. If he were to spend them, they should be identifiable by this characteristic.”

Then, Pauly described the appearance and identity of the person who withdrew the banknotes to Ciel.

The more she listened, the more Ciel’s brows furrowed.

Ciel remembered this person.

The first time she attended a banquet, the very next evening banquet was hosted by him. The location was at No. 5, Sir’s Bridge District, not far away.

But from any perspective, he was just an ordinary noble making money from factory business, and his title wasn’t high, not even a transcendent.

Could such a person be the mastermind behind this banquet attack?

Ciel absolutely could not believe it.

But no matter what, the clue led here; the investigation could only continue along this line.

Ciel always felt the investigation seemed to be at a standstill. Even though clues were moving forward, it gave people a feeling of still making no progress.

As if the further she investigated, the more mysteries appeared... as if artificially created.

Ciel wouldn’t believe all this was coincidence.

She didn’t say anything, just got up and walked out of the manager’s office. At this moment, Tara, standing at the door, called out to Ciel.

“Lord Ciel, news has come from Clock Tower Alley.” Tara lowered her head and said to Ciel.

“What about that batch of bombs?” Ciel asked.

“According to the current leader of the Blackwater Gang, they were secretly traded and sold long ago.” Tara replied.

Sold?

Could it be...