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

Arisa Wisteria did not adjust her stance, and the flame attack visibly shrank.

"Eeeeeee!? No, no, no, don't shut up at a time like this, Arisa!"

"Gaa ...

"Ugh!? Oh no... Disgusting thing, since you're already a pile of wreckage, you might as well just die a peaceful death—wailing!"

Arisa Fujito tried to activate the magic, but the iron balls on her feet were hit by the magic first. The chains twisted and tangled together, binding Arisa Fujito's legs and causing her to fall to the ground.

...It seems necessary to adjust the pre-exploration notes list next time, adding an item: "Remember to remove any strange decorative parts issued by the prison (except Emma's leg ring)."

Without the suppression of firepower from Arisa Wisteria, the wreckage, which had been under control, slowly rose again and began to move slowly toward Chang Rong once more.

"Take this punch—whoa! Seriously, it's impossible to hit you!!"

Tachibana Sherry unleashed her ultimate attack, the right punch, from behind, dealing high damage. However, the result was the same: her clothes were entangled, and the direction of her attack was reversed, much like practicing Tai Chi.

"I might as well just take all my clothes off! That way it won't have anything to 'tangle' around, and I can just punch it, right?!"

"Don't take it off! Do you have some kind of knight-errant tattoo on your back too?!"

Chang Rong hurriedly and loudly complained to stop Tachibana Sherry's castoff. Putting aside whether she would be frozen into an ice pop after taking off her clothes, even if she abandoned Ronri's attack and hit the wreckage after taking off all her clothes, it would be meaningless in essence.

—Relying solely on Arisa's suppression isn't a solution; it's already a 'wreck,' an immortal wreck... To eliminate the wreck, one could either use the [Witch Slayer Potion], but that stuff has already been disposed of by the Warden. Or, one could only rely on oneself... like before.

Chang Rong recalled the scene by the lake where she 'killed' the remains of the parasol.

Neither human nor witch, and not even a 'corpse', I can absorb 'witch factors', but I cannot completely remove them.

This prevents Chang Rong from fundamentally healing the prospective witches; she can only alleviate their stress. However, if all that remains are remnants of 'witch factor residue,' Chang Rong's existence is almost like a broom and sand, or Hakimi and a big dog chewing—naturally incompatible.

"Shirley, throw the remaining ice blocks at that guy!"

After realizing that he was the only one who could carry out the next action, Chang Rong immediately realized what he should do and shouted the order to Tachibana Sherry.

"No problem!"

Without even asking Chang Rong "why" or "how," Shirley Tachibana ran to the ice block that had been holding popsicle sticks almost simultaneously the moment she heard the white-haired boy's words. She picked up the remaining ice block, which was about knee-high, spun it around twice, and threw it at the witch's remains.

"Arisa! When I get back this time, I'll be wearing size 42 leather shoes and kicking your ass hard—so I'll bombard that ice block with your best flames!"

"Kick, kick the ass... Oh my God..."

Having received such an enticing promise, Arisa Fujito was instantly energized. She gripped her right wrist with her left hand, raised her right hand, and unleashed her magic at the ice block.

boom!!!

As expected, the ice blocks thrown at the wreckage were 'entangled' and their trajectory was altered, but the exploding flames still struck the ice blocks precisely.

The high temperature and impact force instantly tore the ice apart and liquefied it, but these tiny water droplets then crystallized again at low temperatures, much like the [Atomic Breath] that Shirley Tachibana used on Chang Rong.

In an instant, a thick, pure white fog enveloped and covered everything.

"Gaga ah ah ooh ooh ooh ah..."

The witch's remains were shrouded in white mist, losing all visibility. Just as it stopped in place, the figure of a white-haired boy emerged from the thick fog.

"Gaa ...

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!"

Chang Rong roared and lunged from the blind spot toward the witch's remains, who was also roaring, and desperately hugged the remains into her arms.

Hiss hiss hiss—

Thick smoke billowed from the witch's remains, like butter being roasted.

The witch's remains initially struggled and writhed frantically, but with Chang Rong's gritted teeth and desperate restraint, the remains quickly stopped struggling and instead knelt quietly on the ground, letting their bodies dissipate completely.

In the final moment before the girl's face, already distorted beyond recognition, vanished, a light and gentle voice, like a breeze, entered Chang Rong's consciousness.

[I... I've been waiting for you for so long, and you really came, Chang Rong. Thank you. If possible, I really hope that next time I can be...]

“Sakuraba-san…Sakuraba Nana…Sakuraba…”

Chang Rong remained kneeling on the ground, still embracing the girl, repeatedly uttering the girl's name, the meaning of which he himself didn't understand. Although he didn't know its meaning, his body was desperately telling him that he shouldn't forget the name he had finally managed to recall.

I failed to save you, and you ended up like this. This is my 'sin'... Hmm?

After the adrenaline subsided, Chang Rong finally felt a strange sensation in his abdomen. He looked down at his lower abdomen and discovered that blood had been seeping out without him noticing.

Come to think of it, when I lunged at it, I do feel like I was poked by something...

"So that's your magic! I knew you had magic, you actually managed to erase that thing like that... Was it some kind of cool magic like Imagine Breaker that can wipe out all magic...? Hey, what's wrong with you?! Hey?!"

Arisa moved closer, initially expressing envy and complaining about why Chang Rong kept such cool and powerful magic hidden. But as she spoke, she realized that the white-haired boy was unusually quiet.

"—!"

At the same moment she heard Arisa's exclamation, Tachibana Sherry instantly composed herself and rushed over.

When she arrived, Shirley Tachibana saw Chang Rong clutching his abdomen, his face contorted in pain, sweating profusely, and unconscious.

For a moment, Tachibana Sherry felt as if her breath had stopped. The scene she prayed every night would never happen seemed to have played a cruel joke on her and appeared right before her eyes.

Chang Rong didn't even have the strength to grit his teeth and make a face at himself, saying, "Sherry, don't take advantage of me!" Instead, he simply fainted.

Watson, Watson... Watson, who has no magic and is fragile, always likes to bravely run ahead and try to protect everyone in the most clumsy way.

No... no, sadness, indecisiveness, and shock are emotions that only 'humans' should possess. I don't need them, and I don't have them.

"Arisa, get some fire source right now, the more the better!"

Sherry Tachibana's expression became incredibly determined, and she immediately signaled to Arisa to help gather firewood.

"Okay, okay!"

Arisa, snapping out of her daze at Tachibana Sherry's command, hurriedly piled up all the surrounding crates, regardless of whether they were useful or not, and lit a fire to raise the temperature.

On the other side, Shirley Tachibana walked to Maroudo's side, tore off a piece of her pure white nun's habit, and wrapped it around Chang Rong's abdomen to stop the bleeding.

The wound was deep, but not a penetrating one; this simple hemostasis was better than nothing. However… the key point is that Watson himself wasn't an ordinary person who needed 'serious rest and treatment' to recover.

"..."

Shirley Tachibana squatted down beside Chang Rong, and after a moment of silence, she leaned down and kissed the white-haired boy's lips without saying a word.

—Stupid Watson, unlike you, I won't accidentally throw up after a kiss...!

"This should be enough for now. Should I go upstairs and ask someone for help... Waaaaa!? Sherry Tachibana, what are you doing...? What are you doing...?!"

Arisa Wisteria, who brought over another pile of boards, was so frightened by the sight of Tachibana Sherry holding the unconscious Chang Rong and frantically biting her lip that she could barely speak.

This guy said something like, "Watson's words can be taken while they're hot," back during the 'draft' phase, and now he's actually taking advantage of the situation!?

"...It doesn't seem like enough."

Ignoring Arisa's words, Shirley Tachibana licked her lips, still wanting more, and after observing Chang Rong's face, frowned and whispered.

Immediately afterwards, Tachibana Sherry turned to look at Arisa, who was standing to the side.

"Arisa, come and kiss me too."

"...Huh?"

Arisa Wisteria's brain instantly overclocked and upgraded on the spot.

"Let's all support Watson; he'll definitely get better."

"Me...me...me...can I kiss you too...???"

"right"

Arisa Fujito, sweating profusely, pointed to herself, only to receive an unquestionable nod of confirmation from Sherry Tachibana.

"If Watson doesn't wake up, we'll commit suicide. He'll definitely wake up."

"Am I going to die too...?"

"Correct."

Seeing Tachibana Sherry's unprecedentedly serious expression, Shizuka Arisa, her eyes filled with confusion, knelt down beside Chang Rong and brought her cheek close to his.

Jiahao's younger sister has thought a lot about the future, most of which are not pleasant scenarios, but occasionally, she will fantasize about her first love and her first kiss in the quiet of the night.

No matter how hard Arisa thought about it, she never imagined that her first kiss would be given away in this way, under these circumstances, at the cost of her life.

--------

"Ouch...it hurts...!"

Chang Rong slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the plastic sheet covering her body, then the burning campfire in front of her, and then—

"Oh, you slept for 15 minutes, Watson. As compensation, you'll have to let me cover for 15 minutes next time~"

"What, what do you mean...?"

Is this the first thing you say when you open your eyes, Haki Orange...?

"I think I was injured earlier, but was it something serious...? Oh, by the way, thank you so much, Arisa—uh?"

"No, no, nothing happened...!"

Chang Rong looked at Zifang Arisa, but for some reason, the latter was frantically avoiding his gaze. Her cheeks were even redder than the campfire in front of her, as if she would run away and disappear at any moment.

"...?"

Why did Arisa wake up feeling like a lovesick teenage girl with butterflies in her stomach? What happened?

"Well, um... I hope you'll continue to guide me in the future, Chang Rong."

"Okay, nice to meet you...?" Chang Rong blinked, it was the first time that his classmate, Arisa Fujito, had addressed him by his name so formally.

"Also, um... I'm not very talented, and I haven't learned any skills to support myself over the years. But... for the sake of my future, I... I... starting today, I will study hard and strive to become a girl who truly deserves this identity as soon as possible...!"

"Uh, ah... okay, although I think Arisa was cute before too, it's naturally better if you want to change, Arisa—whoa!"

Gaba!

Although Chang Rong was confused about the situation, he still smiled and responded to the sudden politeness between him and Zifang Arisa. Then, the next second, his rabbit head was forcibly turned over by Tachibana Sherry.

"Oh dear, Arisa was just startled by the wreckage. Oh, Watson, this is a photo I found on Meruru."

Tachibana Sherry abruptly interrupted the conversation, handing a photo to Chang Rong.

Although Chang Rong looked completely bewildered, as if he had skipped over some favorability event again, he still accepted the photo.