The Speedrun Manual of Miss Witch-Chapter 142 - The Great North Ansu Famine (4/4)

At this time, Ciel had already moved beside Amy and sat down. Not many people on the scene noticed Ciel’s arrival, which made Ciel slightly less constrained. freewёbnoνel.com

Amy was somewhat pleasantly surprised by Ciel’s arrival, prepared to get up and help Ciel get a portion of dessert too, but Ciel stopped her, simply asking her to bring a glass of juice over instead.

Today Ciel ate almost from morning till now, couldn’t eat anything more at all, even dessert.

With a friend accompanying her, the originally somewhat constrained Amy gradually loosened up, starting to chatter with Ciel.

When Ciel asked why so many people were looking for her father, Amy also shook her head, not understanding why.

But according to Amy’s impression, whenever someone came looking for her father, it was mostly related to court matters. After all, her father was a magistrate; most cases in Berren City passed through his hands.

However, usually, her father interacted more with those factory owners. This time it was direct contact with the real power holders behind those factory owners, the level clearly much higher.

Many people came from out of town to attend the banquet. Several even came specifically from Ansu for business here.

Looks like Avena’s “business exchange meeting” still held some influence.

“You don’t know why they’re looking for Baron Hastings?” A gentle voice suddenly interjected, interrupting Ciel and Amy’s conversation. They looked towards the speaker, saw a young girl with a golden ponytail and emerald green eyes.

“Hello, allow me to introduce myself, my name is Isabella Stuart, my father is the owner of the Stuart Art Exchange.” Isabella smiled slightly, introducing herself to the two.

“My name is Ciel.” Ciel nodded, stating her name. As for what art exchange, she had never heard of it at all.

“Just call me Amy.” Amy didn’t know this girl either, but facing the other party’s goodwill, still gave her name.

“Just now I heard you discussing Baron Hastings... Are you curious why so many people are looking for him?” Isabella very naturally sat opposite Amy and Ciel.

Her familiarity didn’t make people feel repulsed, mainly because her attitude was very friendly, and the topic she discussed was also something Ciel was interested in.

“Yes.” Ciel nodded slightly, following the other party’s words, “What do you know?”

“Maybe you forgot to read the newspaper, there have actually been quite a few things recently.” Isabella smiled, then explained, “Actually, it’s still somewhat related to the previous ‘dehydration syndrome’.”

“‘Dehydration syndrome’?” Ciel blinked somewhat curiously.

“Hasn’t this matter already ended?” This matter could be said to be ended by her own hand. Moreover, the antidote was developed by Adele and distributed by the Church of the Savior Goddess. Hasn’t this matter passed already? And Adele also completed the Reconstitution Ritual because of this, advancing to second-tier “Plague Doctor.”

“‘Dehydration syndrome’ is cured, but the subsequent impact hasn’t ended yet.” Isabella shook her head, saying, “Mostly related to the deaths from ‘dehydration syndrome’ and those who lost their jobs because of it.”

“Initially because of some rumors, saying ‘dehydration syndrome’ was a virus created by factory owners to kill disobedient people. Of course, this rumor couldn’t stand, later, various other rumors spread, basically every one pointing fingers at various factories.”

“This deepened the hatred of families of workers injured or killed by ‘dehydration syndrome’ towards factory owners. Moreover, most factory owners don’t recognize death from ‘dehydration syndrome’ as work-related injury, giving no compensation—which it originally wasn’t.”

“Plus some factories themselves have heavy workloads, some people recovered from ‘dehydration syndrome’ haven’t fully recovered their bodies, collapsed again during work. Too many such examples further fueled the conflict...”

Speaking here, Isabella shook her head, saying, “The situation is like this now. The truth about ‘dehydration syndrome’ is unclear, and the conflict between workers and factory owners is intensifying.”

Ciel nodded slightly.

This is indeed difficult to handle...

The truth about “dehydration syndrome” involves transcendents, cults, and the Redemption Society. Any party, especially the Redemption Society, absolutely wouldn’t want the matter exposed. The news could only remain suppressed.

But Ciel also noticed a somewhat unusual point.

That is, the rumors.

Generally speaking, with the existence of the Church of the Savior Goddess, these ridiculous rumors wouldn’t spread on such a large scale among the working class. The Church of the Savior Goddess also needed to maintain a delicate balance with nobles and wealthy merchants, wouldn’t tear faces apart.

Yet rumors emerged endlessly, clearly indicating the presence of a behind-the-scenes pusher.

“And... something major happened recently too. Things will likely be difficult to remain peaceful during this period...” Isabella lowered her voice, leaned forward slightly. Ciel and Amy’s bodies also leaned forward slightly, listening carefully.

Among them, Ciel’s heartbeat also slightly accelerated. Speaking of recent major events... that would be Ciel obtaining a portion of “Uniqueness.” If the matter was exposed, it would cause huge waves throughout the entire transcendent world.

Is it about “Uniqueness”?

“Something happened in North Ansu, newspapers are forbidden to report it.” Isabella saw Ciel was interested, slightly relieved. She looked at Ciel, slowly saying, “Minister of the Interior William came here just now, actually just passing by... He is heading to North Ansu to quell the situation...”

“What happened?” Ciel couldn’t help asking.

“Great famine...” Isabella shook her head, saying, “News suppressed for a long time, but recently can’t be suppressed anymore.”