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

"—"

The photo shows several people smiling and making peace signs at the camera, looking nothing like they're in prison.

The white-haired boy in the middle was himself. Sitting in his lap was a Lolita maid girl with long blonde hair who was dozing off. To his left was 'Kurobe Nanoha Kaori' with a somewhat shy expression, and to his right was a black-haired girl wearing a newsboy cap.

And as the mastermind behind everything, Meruru on Ice is also in the photo, with a seemingly incredibly happy smile on her face.

Is someone missing?

For no reason at all, Chang Rong suddenly thought of this.

Volume 1: Chapter 115. The Mysterious Landmine Woman

At first, Chang Rong thought that the execution of 'Sakuraba Nana' would be the fuse that would plunge everything into complete and irreversible collapse.

The girl, who usually hid behind the long-haired, black-haired high school girl 'Mizuyu Chisa' like a small animal, and seemed like she would never harm anyone, almost killed three people in this prison, and even transformed into a 'witch' in front of everyone during her final execution.

This impact on Chang Rong was far more difficult to accept than all the setbacks he had experienced in his life so far combined.

However… in the month following Nana Sakuraba's execution, things gradually stabilized. There was no second murder, no witch trial, and not much conflict. In fact, as they grew closer, Chang Rong noticed a fresh side to each of the prospective witches, so different from their initial selves. And the prospective witches, in turn, underwent some changes during this time together.

The one who has changed the most is naturally 'Xiaoxue', his childhood sweetheart, a girl as light and ethereal as a snowflake—now she has become more and more 'down-to-earth'.

Unlike when they lived together at home, Xiaoxue no longer clings to him wherever they go as she did at the beginning. She also no longer waits for his help with everything, but instead clumsily but earnestly tries to handle things on her own.

She would squint and frown as she studied how to use the 'glowing bricks' to transmit messages, but that adorable scene would inexplicably remind Chang Rong of her grandmother reading the newspaper in her previous life.

She takes care of her own hair and clothes. Although Chang Rong always ends up smiling and helping her clean up her mess, at least Xiao Xue gets the comb completely stuck in her long white hair much less often.

She would even seek out Chang Rong to learn how to cook in the kitchen—that's right, the kitchen, which was always locked up, suddenly opened one day without warning, and it even had all the ingredients you could need. Aside from the slight drawback of not having many fresh, seasonal vegetables, it was practically no different from a hotel kitchen.

Opinions varied about the sudden reopening of the cafeteria. Pessimists speculated that it was a final meal to ensure everyone could have a good time before their execution, while optimists guessed it was a sign that they had found the witch.

Ice Melulu guessed that this was because the chef and guard who was in charge of making poop had completely broken down and could no longer be commanded. She had been eating poop for hundreds of years and wanted to change her taste. She had always heard Xiaoxue say that Chang Rong's cooking skills were very good, so she wanted to try it out herself, just to treat herself to a little special treatment.

Regardless of the speculation, the allure of delicious food is undeniable. After a brief exchange, everyone finally decided to use the kitchen, and the competition for the title of 'chef' began.

Surprisingly, Nanoha Kurobe's cooking skills aren't very strong, hovering between 'better than Akaishi' and 'weaker than average'. Nanoha explains, "Well, my mother is a great cook, so I don't usually have much opportunity to practice. But when it comes to baking, my sister is definitely a match for me!"

She appears extremely gentle and virtuous, possessing motherly qualities, yet she's even more abstract than Nanoha Kaori. Despite being quite skilled at brewing flower tea, the things she makes in the kitchen are almost indistinguishable from the stones they've eaten before. People even suspect that she might be the mastermind behind it all, as her creations are so incredibly similar. Her response to these questions is to transform into a jellyfish, shed tiny pearls, and then become shriveled and soft.

After much back and forth, Chang Rong finally couldn't stand the waste of ingredients and decided to intervene, unsurprisingly killing the match. Kurobe Nanoha Kaori gratefully ate her meal while feeling somewhat conflicted and embarrassed that she had been outshone in terms of feminine charm, while Ice Meruru turned into a jellyfish for the second time because she had never tasted anything so delicious before.

Only Xiaoxue was standing beside Alice, looking like a victor, showing that this was Rong's strength. She also reminded the short-haired black-haired photographer, Fut, who was wearing a newsboy cap, not to just eat and to quickly take pictures of everyone's embarrassed and unsophisticated appearance and share them with the others.

Chang Rong thus became the acting chef on Prison Island, while Xiao Xue would learn to cook with Chang Rong once a day under the strict supervision of everyone.

The reason for strictly adhering to the frequency of once a day is that if it exceeds this number, Meruru, who is responsible for treating 'kitchen post-traumatic stress disorder scars', will collapse as a result.

Chang Rong still couldn't understand why Xiao Xue always ended up injured when she cooked, but her patient and persistent seriousness made it impossible for Chang Rong to say something as cruel as, "You're not cut out for this, why don't you find a job?"

While learning to cook, Xiaoxue still takes Alice around everywhere, trying to teach the sleepwalking girl in her blonde Lolita maid dress all sorts of things, especially the history of the castle. Many of these histories are so obscure and difficult that Changrong has to wonder if Xiaoxue just made them up.

But Xiaoxue's childcare skills seem to be stuck at the level of an 8-year-old... Whenever Alice asks a slightly different question, Xiaoxue, unable to answer, will give a look of utter disdain and grit her teeth, saying, "How should I know? Why don't you go ask your cheap old man?" But if Alice actually goes to cling to Chang Rong, Xiaoxue will bite her handkerchief with a mournful expression, her face full of unhappiness.

Lately, this girl has even become obsessed with going to the library to read books. Despite knowing absolutely no English, she asks Forte to act as her translator. Chang Rong is very curious about what Xiao Xue has become so engrossed in, but no matter when he comes over, Xiao Xue blushes and kicks him out without a word.

"Idiot, Rong, how could I tell you something like this... It's just a preview, so don't worry about it too much...!"

While uttering these somewhat strange words, Sato Yuki kicked Chang Rong out of the library and slammed the door shut. Chang Rong could only catch bits and pieces of words like 'white kimono,' 'long skirt,' 'sedan,' and 'bride price is bad civilization.'

However, not long after he was kicked out of the library, the newly released translator, Private First Class Rong Fut, found him. The girl, who always carried an old-fashioned camera, patted his shoulder with a serious expression, looked around to make sure no one was nearby, and then leaned down to whisper earnestly in his ear:

“Well, not to be mean, but in this day and age, orthopedics is a bit too advanced, isn’t it… Don’t you already have Anai? Wouldn’t it be better to choose Anai as a safe option…? Xiaoxue said she’d kill me if I dared to leak the secret, but I’ve already considered you family, so even at the risk of being killed, I have to say—you absolutely cannot be subservient to your desires, it’s morally wrong…!”

"...???"

Furt's words, spoken with an air of profound understanding, left Chang Rong completely bewildered. In the end, he could only smile politely and say:

"Rongrong, you really should go to school."

"Go to hell! You'll be crying when someone kicks your door down with a machete!!"

My own plan to encourage students to study was defeated today by the photographer's determination not to attend school.

In short, Xiaoxue's change is a real thing, and Chang Rong is very happy about it. Compared to the Xiaoxue who was once taken care of in every way and was as cute as a little pet, the Xiaoxue who is now trying to learn independently and slowly opening her heart to her peers is perhaps the purest side she truly wants to show everyone.

And the other person who 'changed' was naturally Kurobe Nanoha Kaori...

"Uh, Kurobe-kun..."

After being kicked out of the library by Xiaoxue, Chang Rong went to the second floor and saw a black-haired girl in a cycling hat with twin tails, Kurobe Nanoha Kaori, staring thoughtfully at a blank wall in the corridor.

Upon seeing the other person, Chang Rong felt a little embarrassed and wanted to turn around and go back down the stairs to the first floor, but the sound she made alerted Naoya Kaori first. She collected her thoughts and looked at the white-haired boy, then smiled and took the initiative to come to Chang Rong's side.

"Good afternoon, my boyfriend."

"Uh uh..."

Nanoha Kurobe greeted him with a smile, while Chang Rong was at a loss for words due to the way Nanoha addressed him.

"Um, isn't the boyfriend thing just a pretense? Now that there's no one else around, there's no need for Kurobe-kun to keep pretending, right? Although I think there's really no need to pretend anymore..." Chang Rong said softly, her eyes wandering around.

One night before, I received a message from Yuki to gather at the infirmary. However, when I arrived at the infirmary, I didn't see Yuki. Instead, I saw Kurobe Nanoha Kaori, who locked the door for some reason.

Without saying a word, Naoka suddenly pounced on him on the hospital bed and kissed him, almost causing Chang Rong's brain to shut down. Luckily, he was the one who controlled the invincible second brother, otherwise Chang Rong wondered if he would have been taken care of by Naoka on the spot.

Although she managed to protect her chastity with great difficulty, in other words, almost everything else besides her chastity was plundered by Nanoha Kaori... In fact, if it weren't for Meruru's knocking outside the infirmary, Chang Rong suspected that the purity she had desperately protected would have been taken away on the spot by Nanoha Kaori.

"The ultimate level of disguise is making the act real, isn't it, Chang Rong?"

Kurobe Nanoka smiled as she pinned Chang Rong against the wall, a dangerous, almost lustful smile on her face. She raised her bandaged left hand and placed it on Chang Rong's cheek, then leaned forward, pressing herself tightly against the corridor wall with her prey who had willingly jumped into her mouth.

"Mmm-mmm-mmm—"

Chang Rong couldn't just run away, nor could she refuse on the spot. In the end, she could only let Kurobe Nanoha nibble at her mouth under the guise of "I want to protect you."

Nearly half a minute later, Kurobe Nanoha Kaori reluctantly turned her head back, licked her lips, and then took Chang Rong's hand, placing it on her chest.

"You know the rules, Chang Rong. You don't want Xiao Xue to come back from the kitchen after all that hard work only to find out that you and I were on a date here, do you?" Kurobe Nanoha asked with a smile, tilting her head as she nuzzled against Chang Rong.

"Uh... I... I understand."

Completely under the thumb of Kurobe Nanoha, Chang Rong could only obediently let this 'older sister type' vent the pressure she had accumulated every day on Prison Island on him.

Her behavior was becoming increasingly audacious; if this continued, sooner or later she would find herself hiding under the covers before going to sleep, with Kurobe Nanoha Kaori inside...

Nanoha Kurobe has changed... she's getting weirder and weirder! She wasn't like this at first. Back then, she was reliable, cool, decisive, and serious. She wasn't this weirdo who would grope someone's chest, pin them against a wall, force a kiss, and touch them all over whenever they met, and whose belt would become loose the moment they were alone with someone!

Everything started to get strange when she forcefully claimed to be Nana Sakuraba's girlfriend. And during Nana Sakuraba's case, the false testimony she gave to make Nana Kurobe more resilient seems to have become the catalyst for Nana's complete and utter transformation.

They initially claimed that 'pretending to be lovers' was for mutual protection within their small group to avoid being voted out, but now that the 'White Hair Faction' has become the largest small group in the prison, there's no need to pretend anymore!

Chang Rong also mustered up the courage to talk to Kurobe Nanoha about this matter, but each time it ended with her unilaterally ruining him. No matter how much she tried to reason with her, Kurobe Nanoha would only repeat lines like "This is to protect you," "This is the future I [visiond] that is destined to happen," and "This is fate, fate cannot be revealed or reversed." These lines became less and less of an act.

The two gradually developed into this rather strange relationship: Chang Rong would come regularly to relieve Kurobe Nanoha's stress, and after Kurobe Nanoha left, she would have to tearfully tidy up her clothes to prevent Xiaoxue from noticing anything amiss before she could go back.

"Anyway, I'm investigating the second-floor corridor. I can see a room on the second floor from the atrium, but I can't find the entrance. Chang Rong, would you be interested in helping me take a look?"

"Um, I have something to do, so... um!"

Chang Rong quickly refused Kurobe Nanoha's invitation, but the next second he was hugged by Kurobe Nanoha's neck and their foreheads were pressed tightly together, just like when Chang Rong took Kurobe Nanoha's temperature in the infirmary.

“You’ve done the best you could, Chang Rong. Whatever has happened or will happen on this prison island, it’s not your fault. You’ve truly done your best to help everyone, and we all know that, so please don’t put too much pressure on yourself, okay?”

"...Yes, thank you, Kurobe-kun."

Hearing Kurobe Nanoha's encouragement, Chang Rong smiled at her. Then, while tidying her clothes and messy hair, she ran away from this terrifying older sister who seemed to have said some nice words but would push her to the ground and start a game the next second.

"...Sigh, I'm really terrible."

Watching Chang Rong's departing figure, Kurobe Nanoha sighed helplessly. She was well aware that what she was doing was neither in accordance with the rules nor morality from any perspective, and was even a blatant betrayal to Koyuki.

She had simply been taking advantage of the white-haired boy's overly gentle and delicate nature, unilaterally making demands of him. In a normal school setting, she knew Chang Rong would have righteously refused her advances, but this wasn't a school; it was a prison island where people could die at any moment, and where witches were imprisoned.

In this environment, every time Chang Rong tries to muster the courage to end this strange relationship, he recalls the appearance of other girls who have turned into witches. Then he loses the courage to decisively end this strange relationship with himself because he is too gentle and is afraid that he might become a witch due to mental imbalance caused by rejection.

But... that's what youth is all about, my little sister! Forced relationships may not be sweet, but at least they'll quench your thirst. Some things will never come to fruition if you don't actively pursue them, but if you take the initiative, maybe you'll succeed? That's the darkness of adult society!

If we're being honest... it's all Xiaoxue's fault, no doubt about it! Xiaoxue's actions were problematic! She already has such a perfect partner as Chang Rong, yet their relationship has barely progressed. How can she possibly have a litter of rabbits and regain her former glory with such a nagging woman? I'm protecting Chang Rong from being deceived by bad women, so I need to win him over first... Yes, that's exactly what protection is!

You can fool your brothers, but don't fool yourself too.

After a period of self-deception, Kurobe Nanoka sighed with a bitter smile. She knew very well that her current 'appearance' was fake, her 'girlfriend' identity was fake, her name was fake, her excuse was fake, their relationship was fake, and even the reasons she gave to coax Chang Rong into coming out alone were all fake.

But... this sentiment is at least undeniably genuine. I will definitely leave this prison island alive, and then... then bring a brother-in-law back to my foolish sister!

Thinking this, Nanoha Kurobe clenched her fists, her resolve to escape this hopeless prison island strengthened. In a way, Chang Rong's act of sacrificing herself to spread the truth did indeed cause the prospective witches to display a series of virtues in a short period of time.

On the other side, after leaving the corridor of the 'disappearing room', Chang Rong went around to the entertainment room at the back.

"Ugh, ugh, ugh—" "Ugh, the blood plasma is so fake."

The peculiar pair of "Highland Reika," a wealthy heiress from a prestigious family, and "Vulture" Sharen, a bandaged girl named Kouenhara, are watching an old movie in the entertainment room.

However, the expressions on their faces were completely different. The young lady with twin ponytails, dressed in a gorgeous embroidered lace dress and carrying a parasol, had a livid face and was as if she were sitting on a bed of needles, completely motionless. The girl next to her, whose face was wrapped in bandages, looked calm and collected, occasionally pointing at the screen with a disdainful expression.

"Oh, this prop for the internal organs is actually quite realistic~~" "Ugh—ah, commoner!"

The rich young lady's forehead grew increasingly dark, and just when she seemed about to break down, she noticed Chang Rong passing by and quickly got up as if she had grasped a lifeline.

"I have something to discuss with the commoner. I'll watch this boring movie another time!"

The young lady waved her hand, feigning boredom, and strode away from the entertainment room.

"Hehehe, it's clearly just an act. What a pity, we almost got to see that rich young lady vomit—so, do you want to watch it with me? I can kindly point out all the common sense errors in it for you!"

"No, no, no need...!"

Faced with the invitation from the young girl, Chang Rong, who also has zero resistance to horror movies, quickly waved his hand and ran away behind the young lady.

After the two fled from the invitation to the horror movie as if they were escaping a disaster, Chang Rong hadn't even had a chance to part ways before Gao Yuanlihua took the opportunity to drag her into the sunroom.

There was nothing Chang Rong could do but stay with this young lady for a little while, adhering to the principle of "since we're already here".

Chang Rong took out a teapot and teacups, and using the flower tea brewing technique that his master had learned from Meruru, he stood respectfully beside the young lady, pouring tea for this usually aloof and arrogant twin-tailed girl, looking just like a butler in the mansion.

"Phew... Although the taste is like tap water compared to top-grade black tea compared to my Ah Fu, I'll still give you a compliment—heh heh, enjoying flower tea while basking in the sunlight in the sunroom, that's the kind of entertainment I should be enjoying, not watching some vulgar, meaningless, weird, bloody movie...!"

The young lady, holding her teacup, sipped her tea while complaining, but her anger quickly dissipated as she was surrounded by flowers in the sunroom.

"Grow up quickly, and become as beautiful as one-tenth of me, that would be enough. Or can't you even do that? You're just a nobody... a real nobody flower... hehe."

—I always felt that the life of a rich young lady might not be so pleasant. It's hard to imagine that a rich young lady's hobby is watering flowers while insulting them as trash... But at least the young lady is much more frank than at the beginning.