Whose youth romance story begins with a witch's trial?!

"...Tsk!"

It's all Emma Sakura's fault... huh?

Nikaido Hiro instinctively wanted to shift the blame to the pink-haired girl, but she suddenly realized that Emma hadn't left with Nanoha Kaori to find Chang Rong. Instead, she stayed behind with a conflicted expression, as if she was about to cry.

—Sakura Emma…did she have a fight with that idiot rabbit?

Volume 1: Let's have a bounty for January!

A new month is about to begin!

This book has actually survived for over a month! Unbelievable! I initially thought this kind of subject matter was destined to flop...

Thank you all again for your support, I am truly grateful!

Let's set up a bounty to join the fun.

10000 reward + 1 update; 100 blades + 1 update

If there are treasure chests, we'll calculate that later. Gold chests will be counted as 20 chapters, and silver chests as 7 chapters.

I don't know when the monthly pass event will end, but for now, I'll set it at 400 monthly passes + 1 update.

Please do what you can afford; the main thing is to have a good atmosphere...

That's all as of noon on January 5th.

Volume 1: Bounty on hold! Thank you to [March's Red Hare] for the Golden Treasure Chest!

I am deeply grateful to the Red Rabbit of the Three Moons for the Golden Treasure Chest. I am truly overwhelmed with gratitude. I have never seen a Golden Treasure Chest before. I am truly grateful to you.

Thank you for welcoming us to the Silver Treasure Chest of the Anti-Meme Department! Thank you so much for your support!!

Thank you for Walnut's panties (2) - I love you!

Thanks to Nikaido Hiro for the panties, and for the part about the false evidence woman.

Thanks to cgw for the two dog food gifts, woof woof!

Thanks to Yifutang Chushou, Laiqu Yixi, and Akunu for the dog food! Woof!

Thanks to the five lazy stabs from the mystery enthusiast.

Thanks to the worker for the 12 blades, book user 2149667, Hastary (who provides room and board), and purple sweet potato pig for the 10 blades.

Thank you to the anonymous slacker for the 300 monthly tickets. Where did you find that money...?

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In short, the bounty is suspended! Suspended! Why are there still so many monthly passes on the last day of the month?!

Happy New Year everyone! Wishing you all a smooth and successful 26!

Volume 1: Chapter 86. My foolish sister!

"Kurobe-nee, I'm begging you—I'm really begging you, just one more bite! Just one bite, I feel like ants are crawling all over me, sis—"

"Cold, calm Chang Rong...! You shouldn't be the kind of man who would be loyal to his desires... Ugh, you're too close—!"

In the reception room of the prison castle, people poisoned by the chemistry teacher were writhing and agonizing. Such scenes were playing out all over the place, and Chang Rong was the next one.

After being released from the punishment room, Chang Rong was immediately taken to the infirmary for making provocative remarks. Only after a difficult verbal exchange with the person involved and obtaining a letter of understanding did Chang Rong regain his freedom of movement.

Encouraged by Shiro, warmed by the hospital visit from everyone, and kissed by Hannah as a substitute for the 'fairytale prince', this series of events not only made Chang Rong finally believe that he did indeed have the bloodline of the protagonist of Galakrond, but also made him cheer up again to think about how to complete the Ripple that Coco-chan finally passed on: to bring this garbage stage play to an end.

While Chang Rong was still pondering what to do next, he bumped into Kurobe Nanoha, who should have been sitting in jail obediently. As the latter took out caramel biscuits from her pocket and fed him, Chang Rong made up for the OD Ice Wolf that he was missing from Arisa by feeding him.

Nanoha Kurobe had no choice but to resort to violence to forcibly take back the remaining cookies and put them in the front pocket of her black coat.

However, her actions completely triggered Chang Rong's dessert withdrawal symptoms.

At this moment, Naoya Kaori was like a monkey from Mount Emei, pestering her. She had only casually fed it, but the monkey immediately lay down on the ground, wriggled closer to her, drooled and pulled at her black pantyhose as it climbed up, its empty eyes staring at her, constantly murmuring that it would just give her one more bite.

Although Kurobe Nanoka is happy when others praise her baking skills, she still finds it a bit hard to handle Chang Rong's overly enthusiastic behavior after each feeding.

"I've spent my whole life operating a sewing machine, can't I enjoy myself a little?"

"You can't eat half a pound of caramel cookies in one go... Ugh!?"

Boom!

Facing the onslaught of the icy archer Chang Rong, #KurobeKinaYako, who had been retreating, accidentally bumped into the sofa behind her. As always, she triggered her unreliable passive skill and fell backward.

"Waaaaah, I'm sorry, Kurobe-kun, I think I went a little too far..."

It seemed things had gone a bit too far, so Chang Rong quickly went around behind the sofa to check on Kurobe Nanoha's condition.

The girl, who was always aloof and solitary, with sharp, cold words and a terrifyingly powerful weapon on her back, and whose entire body seemed to exude a "keep away" aura, was now sprawled on the ground, her legs spread wide and defenseless. Her plaid skirt was pulled up inside out, revealing the black pantyhose that had been hidden underneath, giving the boy in front of her a complete view.

"...Huh!?"

Realizing that she was completely exposed, Kurobe Nanoha Kaori blushed and adjusted her posture. She performed a cool tactical roll to regain her balance and increase the distance between herself and Chang Rong. Then, she used her legs to get up from the ground.

Thump! "Whoa!"

Then, very smoothly, his head bumped into the protruding edge of the TV cabinet where the monitor was placed.

"Whoa! I just had a hypoglycemic episode, all I could see was black, I couldn't see anything else, so..."

Chang Rong had never seen a monster like Kurobe Nanoha who could use such a monkey-like trick to take away half of his health. He could only awkwardly pretend that nothing had happened, praying that Kurobe Nanoha wouldn't kill him while reaching out to help the girl who was squatting on the ground with her head in her hands.

"You bastard..."

Kurobe Nanoha refused Chang Rong's help. She reached out and put the hat that had just fallen off back on her head. After making sure she wouldn't bump into the strange bump again, she stood up abruptly and glared at the white-haired boy with the same 'coldly looking at a corpse' gaze that the two of them had when they first met in this reception room.

I clearly wanted to show my independent and reliable side, but for some reason, I always inexplicably messed up in front of him...

"Well, anyway... consider the cookies as a thank you for the witch's trial earlier."

"During the witch trial, it was Sakura who was really putting in the effort. I was just trying to muddy the waters... To be honest, I should apologize to everyone. My behavior back then was too much."

Chang Rong, who was full of energy before because Gala gave the male protagonist a trial card and caramel cookies to replenish his sugar, deflated like a punctured balloon as they chatted, becoming soft and limp.

If the previous witch trial proved anything, then for Chang Rong, the biggest proof was that these prospective witches were actually good kids at heart.

What did I do during the witch trial? I made up all sorts of excuses for the murderer, Sawatari Coco, and tricked all the witches into committing suicide. In a moment of impulsiveness, I stormed the execution ground, automatically picked up Rhea's sword, and lost Nanoha Kaoru's Dragon Sniper rifle after failing to save the gun.

Honestly, the fact that Leia and the others surrounded the hospital bed and just covered themselves with pillows instead of actually stabbing themselves is already considered saintly behavior.

In this battle royale-like environment, someone like myself, who talks nonsense and stirs up news all the time, is generally considered a troublemaker who will be voted out by everyone.

Even setting aside anything far off, just now, when his actions were essentially no different from 'lifting up Nanoha's skirt to get a good look,' Nanoha's reaction was merely to throw a tantrum, instead of hanging him in the prison space to apply for witch trial and one-click execution... This is enough to prove that this seemingly cold but actually innocent jungler doesn't have any bad intentions at all.

“Hmm… I’ll handle Sakura Emma’s situation separately. Chang Rong, you have nothing to apologize for. I won’t criticize your actions back then, because your actions were no different from mine; we were both rebelling against this prison.”

Nanoha Kurobe tugged at her cycling helmet. The 'reason for giving cookies' that she had thought of for a long time was exposed by Chang Rong's casual remark, which seemed to have touched on a part that the white-haired boy didn't want to recall, making her feel a little flustered for a moment.

"And—you did indeed clear my name during the trial, and I firmly believe that."

As she said those words, Kurobe Nanoha clenched her fist, her body seemingly resisting the gratitude she felt for Chang Rong's 'protection'.

If he hadn't just pulled down her pants and lifted her skirt, which had given her a huge boost in his favorability, she might have felt even more pressure when she said those words.

"Then I'll accept Kurobe-kun's thanks~ Kurobe-kun, would you like to experience being Cinderella, the Frog Prince, or Snow White too?"

Chang Rong coughed twice, then adopted a serious and solemn posture and asked.

"...?"

—He was glared at by Kurobe with a subtle look that said, "Look at me like I'm an idiot"...

It seems that the 'Garagi male protagonist' thing was just a coincidence after all. I probably just happened to meet the naive young lady Tono who likes to fantasize about beautiful girls' manga, which triggered the special CG in the infirmary.

After being glared at by Kurobe Nanoha, Chang Rong withdrew his arrogant attitude and became docile again.

"Anyway, this should change your mind now, Chang Rong—I'm not the kind of little girl who needs to be taken care of. On the contrary, I'm a lone wolf who can take care of others and even bake desserts for them by hand."

With one hand on her chest, Kurobe Nanoka looked at Chang Rong and said with a hint of pride.

Can the words 'personally', 'for others', 'baking desserts', and 'lone wolf' really be put together in one sentence...?

Chang Rong never understood why Kurobe Nanoha was so insistent on demonstrating her independence, nor did she understand how she connected the two completely unrelated things: "being able to bake desserts" and "so I'm a lone wolf pro."

All I can say is that she is indeed a bit of a natural airhead, and the kind of person who is completely unaware of her own natural airheadness.

Although I really wanted to use the phrase "[False Evidence]: I'll only admit it if you can bake another durian mille-feuille cake, Kurobe-kun" to get Ice Wolf to confess without any reward, it would be better to give him some encouragement at this time.

"Of course, Kurobe. If anyone on Prison Island could survive the longest on their own, it would definitely be you. Your survival skills and unwavering will are sharp weapons that others do not possess."

“…Ahem, yes, that’s exactly right, Chang Rong.”

Having received flattery and affirmation from her 'accomplice,' Nanoha Kurobe nodded contentedly.

"And someone as sharp-witted as Kurobe would surely be generous with the secrets of her bakery, wouldn't she? Like, how exactly are these delicious desserts baked—"

"Of course it's up to me... um!"

Almost blurting out the location of her current secret base, Kurobe Nanoha suddenly snapped back to reality, her gaze towards Chang Rong gradually sharpening.

"I'm sorry, Chang Rong, I can't tell you about this right now. Before I can gather the necessary intelligence, I need to make sure I have a hidden base."

"Oh dear..."

It looked like he would have to continue eating the cafeteria's unidentified feces for a while longer, which made Chang Rong droop his head and wilt.

"This, it's not that I don't trust you...! It's just that I need to be prepared first... Well, anyway, I'll bring you some desserts regularly, is that okay?"

"Great!"

The bitter and desperate life had a glimmer of hope again, which made Chang Rong immediately raise his head and look at Kurobe Nanoha with eyes that shone with admiration and expectation.

—Could it be that Chang Rong is the kind of person who is surprisingly easy to raise...?

He was still struggling with how to dispel Chang Rong's distrust of his secret behavior, but when the white-haired boy heard that there was dessert, he happily agreed.

The two chatted idly along the way and unknowingly arrived at Chang Rong's study, which also served as his bedroom.

"Click, please come in."

"Oh, thanks, Kurobe-kun—wait a minute."