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

Chang Rong wiped the sweat from Arisa's forehead with a towel, then looked at the witch on the bed with an extremely conflicted and distressed expression.

Arisa's high fever was caused by herself... She had overdrawn her physical strength and energy to maintain her magic in the underground cold storage, which resulted in a decrease in her body's resistance. Under the erosion of the cold, she finally couldn't hold on and collapsed with a fever.

And all of this is because of me... If I had been more careful when facing the remains of 'Nana' and hadn't been injured, if I had been able to pull myself together sooner when I found the fragments of my past experiences, if I had been able to stay rational after remembering the fates of my former companions instead of running to Alice's ice coffin like a madwoman and having a breakdown... If I had done even a little better, perhaps Arisa wouldn't be suffering from this illness and high fever now.

It's all because he got stuck in his past memories, which in turn hurt the people around him who helped him. This is absolutely despicable behavior...

"Waaah..." "Arisa! Have you regained consciousness—"

The girl on the hospital bed emitted a faint whistle. Chang Rong immediately moved closer to Arisa Zifang again. However, despite Chang Rong's urgent questioning, Arisa remained unconscious due to the high fever and did not respond at all.

"If you weren't feeling well, you should have said so earlier... Honestly, why did you have to tough it out? Isn't that just making your condition worse... Damn it, you've already got an IV drip, but why hasn't your fever gone down? If Ice Meluru, who has 'healing' magic, were here... why did it have to be that kind of person who became the mastermind?"

Chang Rong stood beside Arisa, clenching her fists and speaking softly as if talking to herself.

Despite it being a charade, they were so serious and dedicated to the infirmary. In fact, if everyone hadn't followed the little note Meruru left for Emma at the beginning as a reference, they probably wouldn't have had any idea what medicine could be used to treat what disease.

He's clearly just a despicable, scheming, and twisted schemer, so why is he so seriously dedicated to studying healing others? If it were me, I would at most just use 'restoration (healing)' magic to make a show of it.

Chang Rong watched the IV drip continuously dripping from the bottle in front of her, recalling the commotion that had occurred when she took Arisa to the infirmary.

At that time, Arisa was almost unconscious and couldn't even swallow her medicine, leaving everyone at a loss. Sherry Tachibana even considered using external force to pry open Arisa's mouth and force the pills in.

While everyone was scrambling to get things done, Chang Rong discovered that the infirmary had a complete set of IV drip kits, from saline solution to syringes. Moreover, according to Meruru's list, the infirmary even had bottled powdered medicines specifically for injection.

So, to everyone's astonishment, Chang Rong prepared the medication, picked up the injection needle, and rubbed it on Arisa's hand, thus completing the intravenous injection procedure.

"Watson, you really are Watson...? You can even do something like this?" Even the club president was quite surprised when she saw this. Although they were already used to Chang Rong's various housekeeping skills, a high school student who could give intravenous injections was still a bit too abstract.

"Are you really the same age as us...? Could it be that you're like that Meruru, an amazing old lady whose age is always 17?" Nikaido Hiro frowned as she looked at Chang Rong. No matter how much she prided herself on being an all-around, all-around Yamato Nadeshiko, this kind of professional nursing skills was still a complete blind spot in her knowledge.

"Uh... actually, I think I really did learn these skills from Meruru on Ice."

Chang Rong responded awkwardly. As fragments of past memories resurfaced, Chang Rong also recalled some conversations and daily life with Meruru in the infirmary. Because Meruru had a strange pursuit of 'caring for others,' she had mastered all sorts of medical techniques. Since she was very close to Meruru at that time, she naturally learned some basic skills from her.

Actually, thinking about it carefully, when I stitched up Tachibana Sherry's wound in the punishment room before... that technique was not something I could learn by myself after playing some self-torture mouse game. It was something I barely became familiar with under Meruru's hands-on guidance.

The relationship between Meruru and herself might be even more intimate than the fragments of memory she recalled. But it was precisely because of this that Chang Rong could not understand why Meruru on the ice was the witch's mastermind, and what all her seemingly contradictory actions were for.

"Dad, Mom...I'm...I'm sorry..."

Arisa's murmurs came again. The girl, whose consciousness was blurred by the high fever, frowned tightly and uttered broken words, pulling Chang Rong's thoughts back to the present.

"I...I just...wanted you to blame me...but actually...I've always known that you all love me...I'm sorry..."

Arisa shook her head from side to side as if fleeing from a nightmare, her face pale yet ashen.

"I...I'm...a bad kid—"

"You're not like that, Arisa...!"

Even though the other party was completely unaware, Chang Rong hugged Zifang Arisa without thinking and whispered a rebuttal in the girl's ear.

"You are clearly too kind, gentler than anyone else. You possess 'fire,' a magic that is most likely to hurt others, yet you have never intentionally hurt anyone on this witch island, have you? Instead, you have always used this magic to silently warm me—even when it exhausted you and caused you to have a fever, you clumsily chose to bear it all yourself so as not to worry everyone... You are a gentle and good girl, Arisa."

Chang Rong held Arisa and gently stroked the girl's hair, desperately wanting to share the pain and torment she was experiencing.

It's all my fault. It's all my fault for going to the underground cryogenic chamber without any preparation, which is why Arisa is like this. And I didn't even find a single useful clue. Apart from regaining some memories and learning about the 'Great Witch's' past experiences, it was all meaningless. If only I could get more information, at least if I could find out the 'Great Witch's' specific whereabouts...

If Arisa's condition doesn't improve, Chang Rong won't be able to find any other way to help her on this Witch Island. In fact, if it weren't for Meluru on Ice teaching him injection techniques, everyone would probably just be staring blankly at Arisa right now.

We must leave Witch Island, but I remember the mysterious landmine girl who liked to do scientific research once said that the prerequisite for being released from Witch Island was to 'eliminate the uncertain danger brought by the witch factor'—in the end, we still have to find that so-called 'Great Witch', otherwise all our efforts will not bring about any substantial change in the situation.

—Is this the scene you wanted to see? Tormenting 'innocent' girls for your own pleasure, to satisfy your sadistic desires and desire for revenge—is this your purpose and reason, Great Witch…!?

Chang Rong gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, but he couldn't find a target to vent his anger on. In the end, his anger could only linger in his heart, crushed and swallowed by himself.

"Rongrong...?"

The door to the infirmary was pushed open, revealing a rainbow of vibrant colors, and a balloon-like girl named Noah Kinosaki walked into the room.

"Noah? Didn't I tell you not to come here yet? Arisa's illness might be contagious to everyone. I can't take that risk. Let's go back quickly."

Normally, Chang Rong would just smile and pat Noah, saying, "Since you're here, do whatever you want. After all, he's Noah!"

But not now. Chang Rong tried to drive Noah away in a somewhat stern tone, however—

"Noah, no..."

"—Wh-what!?"

—Hiro, did you see that…? Our Noah has finally gone through her rebellious teenage years…!

Looking at the girl's pouting expression, as if to say, "But I refuse!", Chang Rong felt a pang of heartache. No matter how well a child is raised, this day will eventually come.

"Noah, don't leave like this! And isn't Rongrong worried about getting infected?"

Noah retorted to Chang Rong with a serious yet temperamental expression.

"How can that be the same? I'm different! Don't be ridiculous, Noah—"

"Noah said it himself, Noah, don't go...!" Noah puffed out his cheeks, making a cute, pouty face, and then sat down on the sofa next to him, looking quite determined that he wouldn't leave no matter what anyone said.

“I’m not joking. Arisa is fine with me taking care of her for now. Noah, you should…” Chang Rong wanted to say something more, but Noah interrupted her again.

"But Noah also wants to help Sasha... Although Sasha sometimes does things that bother or even frighten Noah... But even so, Sasha really likes Noah's paintings, so Noah wants to help her too...!"

"—"

Chang Rong blinked, looking at Noah Shirosaki in front of her with a serious expression as he spoke these words. At that moment, Chang Rong understood what it meant for a child to grow up in just a moment.

Unbeknownst to her, Noah Kinosaki has gradually transformed from a reclusive girl who was initially only immersed in her own artistic creations into a well-behaved and adorable girl who understands the pain of others and wants to share their pain.

"I understand, then I'll put on my mask first."

"Nono nono—mmm!"

Chang Rong took out a disposable mask and put it on Noah's mouth without saying a word. Although Noah struggled a couple of times, he eventually put on the mask obediently and then sat quietly to the side, watching how Chang Rong took care of Arisa, who was lying in bed with a high fever.

After all the IV fluid was injected into Arisa's body, Chang Rong removed the syringe. For the time being, she no longer needed to stay by Arisa's side to prevent her from moving around unconsciously and causing the needle to shift and requiring a re-injection.

"Rongrong, you've worked so hard!" "Thank you, Noah, you truly live up to your reputation!"

Chang Rong sat down to catch her breath, and Noah immediately handed her a towel. Since Noah hadn't figured out how to take care of a patient yet, she opted for 'taking care of Chang Rong, the patient's caregiver'.

In front of Noah, Chang Rong also put aside the self-blame and self-torture she had felt when she was alone, and responded with her usual mischievous yet positive attitude.

"Noah is clearly a great artist, but he's also very doting on his fans. If Arisa knew that Balloon-sensei personally visited and took care of her while she was sick, she would probably faint with joy, hehe... Unlike another idol who only tries to seduce fans whenever they meet, and recently seems to be subtly evolving towards sleeping with fans..."

While rubbing Noah's head, Chang Rong whispered about the blonde idol, Hasumi Ryoua. As they spent more time together, Hasumi Ryoua's initial persona of "handsome, reliable, prince-like idol" was almost as obscured as that of a certain gentle, intellectual, and classically beautiful girl with long, straight black hair—you could hardly find her even with a magnifying glass.

“Although Noah also likes Sasha… he likes Rongrong even more! Because Sasha has only seen and liked the pictures ‘it’ draws, but Rongrong not only likes ‘it’s’ drawings, she also likes Noah’s own drawings—ah, I said it, I said it out loud…”

Noah smiled and said to Chang Rong, then Noah himself paused for a moment, as if he realized what his words had just meant.

"Its painting, Noah's own painting... Could it be that Noah is trying to say that all the works you created as a 'balloon artist' were actually created by the [Liquid Manipulation] magic on its own, rather than patterns drawn by your own will?" Chang Rong asked after a moment of thought.

"Waaaaah... Rong, Rongrong, how did you guess...!?" Noah Shirosaki was startled, revealing a cute, panicked expression. She hadn't fully revealed anything to Chang Rong yet, and the little tune for her acceptance speech hadn't even started playing, but Chang Rong had already casually mentioned what she had been hiding all along.

“I’m not stupid. Noah, your painting style has changed so much, especially the way you painted. You deliberately changed from ‘liquid paint’ to solid powder or even tape and sticker cutting. It means you must be trying to avoid your own magic. Also, Noah, the paintings you painted before, although they also had an abstract beauty, couldn’t maintain the way you originally wanted to paint. It must be the will of magic that forcibly changed the works.”

Chang Rong pointed out her finger and analyzed logically. She had actually guessed long ago that there was a conflict between Noah's left and right brain when it came to painting and magic. However, since Noah himself had never mentioned this, Chang Rong did not know Noah's attitude and opinion, so she had never asked him.

"Waaaaah... Look, Noah will be a good boy from now on, Rongrong, you absolutely can't send Noah to the dock...!"

Noah Shirosaki was sweating profusely. His clever little scheme, which he thought he had hidden well, was completely exposed to Chang Rong. If Chang Rong weren't such a nagging and soft-hearted person at heart, he probably would have immediately executed anyone who was corrupted by the witch factor and killed someone...

"My Noah would never do anything to hurt others, right, Noah!"

“No, Noah is a very well-behaved Noah…” Noah blinked and whispered in response.

Since Chang Rong had already guessed the 'truth' that he had been hiding all along, Noah Shirosaki no longer held back and told Chang Rong about the 'knot in his heart' that had been troubling him all along.

From a certain perspective, Noah is somewhat like a mysterious, deceased woman who loves collecting stones; both are the type who like to immerse themselves in their own world and are not so serious about material needs.

Noah loves drawing far more than his peers do, to the point of being almost fanatical. Fortunately, although his parents are not well-off, they still support Noah's hobby.

However, when Noah awakened her magic, it seemed to have a self-awareness, covering all the paintings that Noah had drawn with her own will with pitch black.

It was almost as if they were telling Noah, 'Your drawing is terrible, stop drawing and let me do it.'

In reality, although Noah couldn't understand or comprehend the content of the paintings created by 'magic,' they were indeed sought after by countless people. Noah was even hailed as 'a once-in-a-lifetime street art miracle, the balloon artist is creating his next great spectacle.'

Gradually, Noah gave up on fighting the AI ​​for control of the paintbrush. Anyway, 'it' paints so well and so powerfully, and everyone likes 'Noah's' works, so let it be.

As for the drawings that Noah himself loved the most, the ones he poured his heart and soul into creating... they were terribly ugly, terribly ugly, terribly ugly, terribly ugly.

That's fine. Noah is a great artist of 'balloons,' while those mediocre and boring 'works' can just be painted over and discarded; no one will like them anyway.

"Yeah, this is a scene of fighting two monsters, right? It's very intense, I really like Noah!"

However, the white-haired boy had said these words to him.

He didn't know 'Balloon', had never heard of 'Balloon', liked 'its' paintings, and more importantly... also liked 'Noah's' paintings.

As expected, Noah prefers being praised as a 'balloon artist' to being ruffled in the hair and told, 'As expected of Noah'...!

After quietly recounting his story with the 'AI artist,' Noah blushed and looked shyly at Chang Rong beside him.

"Hehehe... Clearly, clearly I never wanted to tell anyone about this. Clearly I was terrified and hated it so much that I felt that if it were exposed, Noah would no longer be Noah. I even thought about killing the other party if it were really exposed... But after talking to Rongrong, Noah suddenly felt that these things were not as serious as Noah originally thought. It was like... something that could be dispensable."

"Yes, that's what growth is all about, Noah. The process of growth is about gradually making peace with yourself—and the fact that you can use those strange methods and tools to paint proves that you are a true artist!"

Chang Rong rubbed Noah's head and encouraged the girl with serious words.

"Is Noah an artist too? Hehehe..."

Noah blinked, then happily rubbed his hand against the hand resting on his hair.

“That’s right, Noah is already a grown-up artist who can stand on his own.”

"He's grown up... Noah's grown up too, does that mean Noah can finally do this and that to Rongrong...?"

Noah Kinosaki realized something, swallowed hard, and stared at the white-haired boy beside her with the same greedy look she had when she saw the expensive watercolor paint set through the shop window.

"Huh...!? You mean you're going to get me hot water to wash my feet or something? Of course not...!" Chang Rong was stunned for a moment, but immediately forced a smile and said to her little darling, who, although grown up, was still innocent and childlike.

"Rongrong is such an idiot..."

Noah pouted and turned into a balloon in the physical sense. It seems that he still needs a little help from external forces to show his filial piety.

"In short, Noah feels that he can't just be a burden to everyone anymore; he has to help them too." Having no chance to eat for the time being, Noah suppressed his emotions and looked at Arisa, whose breathing was gradually becoming steady, and said softly.

"Noah, you've already helped everyone so much! The role of an artist in a team is very important. Noah, you might feel like you haven't helped much, but in everyone's eyes, you often help everyone relieve stress, which is already amazing! You know, when Luffy went to sea, he specifically sought out an artist as a crew member, right?"

"Hehehe... So Noah is a very important artist after all~" A child is still a child after all, and he was quickly blown away by the evil adult's sugar-coated bullets.