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

"Hey, clench your teeth, don't bite your tongue, Watson."

"What—Goo-wah!?"

As Chang Rong frantically pounded on the ice, a vibrant, incredibly familiar girl's voice came from beside her.

Before my chaotic and fragmented brain could even analyze the source of the voice, a sharp pain shot through my cheek first—

No, no, no, this isn't a 'stinging sensation' at all! It felt like being run over by a hundred-ton king!

Boom!

Chang Rong was sent flying by a punch, only managing to stop after crashing into a sealed metal container used to hold the witch's remains.

"Because you've regained your past memories, are you planning to abandon us now, Watson?"

"I... um..."

The footsteps approached Chang Rong's side. He barely managed to lift his head and finally saw the owner of the voice—a sickly, delicate, and intelligent fairy-like detective girl named Tachibana Sherry, who wore a detective hat, had blue hair, and always had a carefree smile on her lips.

"No matter what Watson becomes, he will always be my Watson—so what does Watson think? Just because he found his past memories, does that mean he's going to immediately abandon this adorable president and go off to be all lovey-dovey with other women? If that's the case, then I'm going to cry my eyes out and commit suicide with Watson, sob sob~"

"...I'm sorry, Sherry. My outburst just now worried you. Please don't make life-or-death jokes like that again, okay?"

After a brief silence, Chang Rong smiled at the blue-haired girl, took her outstretched hand, stood up, and ruffled Shirley's hair as he spoke.

"—v—..."

"Um, the whole 'suicide pact' thing is a joke, right...?"

The cold sweat that had stopped broke out again the moment he saw Shirley Tachibana's smiling face.

"Well, whatever you want to do, Watson, you'll have to wait until next time. After all, Arisa is almost at her limit!"

Tachibana Sherry, who was hesitating in her mind about whether to just kill Watson on the spot, managed to barely overcome her lust with reason after a brief confrontation.

"Arisa—I'm so sorry...!!"

Chang Rong looked at Arisa beside her and realized that the hooded, white-haired delinquent girl was also on the verge of collapse, looking no better than herself.

She had been using magic almost constantly to maintain the temperature around the three of them, and the excessive pressure had already severely depleted her physical strength. Even so, the girl still stood there pretending to be strong, desperately conjuring flames from her fingertips to appear as if she still had the strength.

However, the sight of her thin body trembling from the cold made Chang Rong's heart tighten the moment he saw it.

"I...I'm fine, Chang Rong. I can't help you much, and I don't know what you've been through, so at least...I can do this in a way—Pfft!?"

"I'm so sorry, so sorry—I've caused you so much trouble. Don't worry, Arisa, I'm fine. Anyway, let's get out of here first. You've done a great job!"

Before Arisa could finish her trembling words, Chang Rong rushed over and embraced her cold body. A blush instantly returned to her pale cheeks.

"I...I did very well...Is that so...Well, in that case, as your—cough cough—I guess I barely managed not to disgrace your reputation, Chang Rong, right?—"

Arisa blushed and stammered something.

"...?"

Chang Rong tilted her head. What was Arisa trying to say? What did she mean by not disgracing her own reputation?

"—Hmph, I'm freezing cold too, Watson!"

Seeing Chang Rong tightly hugging Arisa to keep her warm, Shirley Tachibana coughed twice and said with a smile on her face.

"Oh, President, why don't you blow on it and turn it to the second setting to heat it up yourself? Or beat the air conditioner until it's boiling hot—yeah!?"

Judging from Chang Rong's suggestion, Tachibana Sherry wasn't very satisfied. At least, judging from the way she was pinching Chang Rong and lifting her up with a smile, Chang Rong's response was certainly not a good one.

Arisa was nearing her limit, and the three of them had to return to the ventilation duct to get back to the ground.

"..."

Before it was Chang Rong's turn to leave through the ventilation duct, he glanced back at the ice blocks emitting a faint glow in the dark underground freezer, and the broken metal can lying on the ground.

—I'm sorry, I haven't fully recalled my past memories yet, and now we have to part again. I can't save you from this cold grave right now, because there are more important people who need my help…

After silently mourning his former companions, Chang Rong glanced one last time at the 'mastermind', Ice Meluru, who lay alone in the cold storage not far away. Although he still felt a sense of resistance, an indescribable sadness still lingered in his heart.

Perhaps... it shouldn't be like this.

------

"By the way, Watson, I didn't have time to ask earlier, but isn't there an old acquaintance in this photo?"

After climbing back into the control room from the ventilation duct and putting on their heavy, warm coats again, the three of them huddled together like three ground squirrels in front of Chang Rong's house. Tachibana Sherry pointed to the photo of 'Kurobe Nanoha Kaori' and asked.

“Oh, this isn’t the ‘Kurobe Nanoha Kaori’ you know, but her older sister. Nanoha Kaori’s older sister seems to have the magic of ‘transformation.’ She came to Prison Island in her younger sister’s form to protect Nanoha Kaori,” Chang Rong explained.

Although Chang Rong had learned about the transformation from Nanoha Kaori, she vaguely felt that she had also witnessed her 'older sister's' transformation magic. However, this memory was equally hazy.

"So it was all for my sister! It's like a pair of mandarin ducks playing on the rain-soaked water, a bittersweet longing..."

"What are you lamenting about..." Arisa muttered to herself about Tachibana Sherry's sudden outburst, then looked at Chang Rong.

"Then why did the Kurobe still come to Prison Island? Wouldn't that mean her sister's sacrifice was in vain?"

"Well... Nanoha Kaori probably has her own reasons for this. In any case, it seems that Nanoha Kaori herself is not ready to talk about this with everyone, so could you please keep this topic out of the loop for now?"

Chang Rong wondered if it was too early to expose the wicked affair between Kurobe Nanoha and the 'Hairband Guardian', and decided it was better to leave the choice to Nanoha herself.

"Okay, keeping silent and complying with wishes is a quality a young lady should possess." "Hehe, you'll have to pay hush money, Watson. Anyway, let me pout for a mere 10 minutes first~~"

Arisa and Sherry Tachibana responded in completely different ways, but for the time being, they agreed that Chang Rong would not expose Nanoha Kaori's matter.

"So this photo is all we got from this exploration?" Arisa asked, pointing to the photo in Chang Rong's hand.

"Didn't we also help a veteran, crippled senior to pass on to the afterlife?!"

"Hmm... I don't know if this counts as intelligence, but I suddenly remembered something. I think I hid something before—I'll look for it when I get up there."

Chang Rong rested one hand on her chin and said in a low voice, somewhat uncertainly.

"Um, Chang Rong, about your previous wound—"

"Oh, the bleeding has stopped and there's not much pain anymore. I feel like I just need to rest a bit." Chang Rong patted the bandage wrapped around her abdomen, giving a thumbs-up to Arisa Fujito.

"So, Tachibana, back then you made me, I, I... kiss you..."

"kiss?"

Arisa blushed and stammered for a long time, unable to speak, while Chang Rong tilted her head and asked what was wrong.

"Oh dear~ Anyway, Watson's physique is indeed quite special! We need to burn calories when we exercise, but Watson is a new energy extended-range hybrid, so he needs to burn calories and replenish witch factors at the same time—Arisa, just knowing this is enough!"

Sherry Tachibana smiled and waved her hand, indicating that there was nothing to worry about, while Arisa nodded obediently, putting a finger to her lips with a thoughtful and unsatisfied expression.

"Replenishing the witch factor..."

Chang Rong also looked thoughtful. After leaving the underground cold storage, he felt it was time to tell everyone about this.

Although this exploration still failed to recover all of his memories, it can now be concluded that he "died in that witch trial".

The only question is how he died, what caused his death, and who killed him—these more specific and important details remain shrouded in the fog of war.

I hope I don't just get casually killed by some soldier; that would be too humiliating... If I really had to choose, it would be better to die in someone else's arms, being held by them and crying uncontrollably until I faint, filled with regret for the rest of my life... Hehehehe.

"Let me break your hypnosis!"

"Eh? Guwa!!"

Chang Rong, who was just about to fall into the trap of constructing an IF scenario where no world line exists, was immediately restarted by Tachibana Sherry before he could even start daydreaming, returning him to reality.

"Ding~~~"

The elevator finally reached the ground floor, and the three of them stepped inside. As expected, there was no overload alarm, which meant they had been completely classified as something other than 'human'.

That's actually pretty much true... The injury to my abdomen from being attacked by the 'Nana's' remains back then is almost painless now, and it's probably almost healed on its own.

Enhanced recovery ability is something that only happens when one is on the verge of becoming a witch... In other words, one's progress in becoming a witch may be much faster than it appears.

—But my consciousness is still clear… Even if I am neither human nor a ‘witch,’ but some kind of dregs that have long since become remains… I am still me, still Chang Rong, that master of Galagumo, that one who controls everything, that pure Sigma man who has transcended base desires…!!

"The elevator is so slow! Oh, right, Watson, let's play a forced kissing game! As the name suggests, I'll keep kissing you until the elevator doors open, and then see if I can stop in time, or if the people outside the elevator will notice something's wrong. How about it~?"

Bored to the point of stomping her feet and tapping her feet to the beat, Shirley Tachibana suddenly had an idea, moved closer to Chang Rong, raised her hand, and cheerfully made a suggestion.

"I would like to decline those nonsensical little games and retire to my hometown." Chang Rong, a man from Sigma, directly refused, firmly saying no to XSR behavior.

"That's right, that's right, Watson, if you agree, then it won't be forced kissing~"

"Eek!?" The Sigma man made a sound like a small fry being hit.

"Hey... Arisa! The president has been holding it in for so long, but she still had a relapse. Aren't you the last line of defense that everyone entrusted to you? Come and help...!"

Faced with Shirley Tachibana's relentless advance, Chang Rong could only fight and retreat, his face ashen, while frantically signaling for reinforcements, urging Arisa to come and help. However—

"Me, do I want to kiss the rice too?"

"No...no, no, Watson is mine! Arisa, you can't just make a move on him!!" (puffs up)

Arisa Shito blushed, covered her face with a mask, and quietly submitted her application to become an accomplice. Sherry Tachibana almost accidentally clicked "accept".

Wait a minute, was this Arisa's character and personality before she went into the dungeon...?

Chang Rong couldn't understand the answer. The only thing he knew was that the terrifying creature slowly approaching him in the elevator doubled in size, turning from one to two like a fungal nail infection.

It's like John Connor sending his best friend to protect his mother, only for that friend to turn into a doting father figure—and Arisa Fujito, the 'final line of defense against Sherry Tachibana' on whom everyone placed their hopes, seems to be experiencing a change in their brotherly bond, suddenly embracing him with a "brother, you smell so good" attitude—

Oh no, oh no, oh no!

Ding~~!

As the elevator doors opened, the figures of three people came into view.

Chang Rong stood in the center, flanked by Tachibana Sherry and Wisteria Arisa on either side. The white-haired boy's left cheek was inexplicably swollen, as if it had been sucked up by a toilet plunger, while his right cheek emitted a faint smell of roasted rabbit.

"……what"

Holding a kettle of hot water in his left hand and a loaf of black bread in his right, Nikaido Hiro looked at the scene before him, tilted his head and muttered softly.

"Hiro, what are you doing holding that bread? You look like an idiot—puwuwuwu guwuwu!?"

"Of course it's to replenish your energy, you silly rabbit...!"

Chang Rong, who almost got kissed in the elevator, couldn't escape her fate after getting out of the elevator. The veiny Xi Luo shoved his hard black rod into her throat without saying a word, and she almost cried because of its size.

However, with the intake of carbohydrates, my body, which was initially somewhat exhausted, did regain some energy.

"Thank goodness! Xiao Rong, Xiao Li, Xiao Sha, I'm so glad you're all alright! As for me, I couldn't help at all, I was just so worried, I was almost dying of anxiety...!"

Unlike Hiro, who immediately pulled out his hard, black cigarettes upon meeting them, Saeki Milia, seeing the three of them, quickly came forward, gently handing them the insulated hot water bottle she was carrying. The tense expression on Milia's face finally disappeared.