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

"No, I'm still in the 'die when killed' state, after all, I'm a degraded version of the 'Remains TE'. And unlike those remains that can achieve a bizarre perpetual motion machine if left unattended, I currently need not only a normal source of food calories, but also to absorb and consume witch factors. If the number of witch factors is insufficient, I will enter a low-power energy-saving mode—to put it bluntly, I might revert to a pure corpse without the ability to move. Because now, when I wake up, I sometimes have the feeling of wanting to completely fall asleep..."

Chang Rong had originally intended to use ambiguous words to deceive her, but since she had already chosen to be honest with Hannah, she might as well tell her the whole story.

Chang Rong, who can't even pass the elevator's human-machine detection system, is currently suffering from a chronic hiccup due to a decrease in the concentration of witch factor.

"Then, what should we do...!?" Tono Hannah asked in a panic. At the same time, a muffled thud suddenly came from the hidden door not far from them. However, since it quickly disappeared into silence, Hannah did not go to check it. Instead, she asked Chang Rong what they should do now.

"That's why I did those 'scoring' actions just now. I called the young lady out because I felt that she was easier to observe as an experimental target. I'm really sorry, young lady... cough cough. I want to study how to obtain as many witch factors as possible to maintain bodily functions without affecting everyone."

Chang Rong responded somewhat embarrassedly, which indirectly revealed that his reason for calling Tono Hannah out was just to 'do experiments,' a reason that sounded a bit shady.

"So that's how it is... Really, you should have said so sooner, you stupid knight... So the witch factor will get a 'higher score' because the preparing witch is more excited and intense, right? And the higher the score, the more likely you are to survive, Chang Rong. Since that's the case... then, then I can only reluctantly entrust it to you—the most intense kind of emotion."

Tono Hannah first showed a somewhat dejected expression. While she was still troubled by all sorts of trivial matters, Chang Rong, who always helped her, was alone and shrouded in the shadow of death, without her noticing... If he hadn't chosen to take the initiative to tell her these things, she might have continued to deceive herself and be kept in the dark.

But she immediately revealed a resolute look in her eyes. Although steam rose from her cheeks, her body trembled with tension, and even her voice lacked confidence, Tono Hannah still stared at the white-haired boy in front of her, and then raised her hands to unfasten the chains and buttons of her dark green lace dress.

"Wait, wait, Miss, although I know you don't really want to take your clothes off, right... but why are you suddenly acting like you're going to take your clothes off?" Chang Rong quickly waved his hand to stop Tono Hannah.

"Because...because you said that the more 'exciting' the behavior, the more it can activate the witch factor, so, so the most exciting thing...what else could it be?" Tono Hannah swallowed, her rosy cheeks looking at Chang Rong. Although she was extremely shy, her tone was much firmer than before.

"The most exciting thing would be seeing the shipment arrive only to have the computer crash, and after some troubleshooting, you find out it's a faulty RAM stick—no, no, that won't do, Miss! That's absolutely out of the question right now!? I...I...I'm not even human anymore!"

It's one thing to fool yourself when there's nothing to do, but now that the young lady is about to be honest with you, even Chang Rong can't continue to hypnotize and fool herself. She can only quickly wave her hand and say, "Yada yada oyster oyster."

"You idiot knight, what's wrong with you? Yeah, it doesn't matter to me...!!"

"It really matters, doesn't it?"

boom!!!!

The hidden door to the storage room, which had previously made a 'thud' sound, now emitted an even clearer roar. Accompanied by a sudden impact, the back door of the sunroom, along with its lock and the barricade used to keep the dogs away, was shattered like bubbles.

"That's right~ It's definitely related—because I was the first person to know Watson's secret, so logically speaking, it should be Detective Sherry who's the first to enjoy it!!"

"Whoa!!? A gorilla, a gorilla girl!?" "President—!?"

Hannah and Chang Rong were startled when a sickly blue-haired girl, who had transformed into a battering ram, broke down the door and simultaneously issued a declaration of exclusive ownership.

In horror movies, the "bad guys" usually use props to smash doors to create a sense of terror and despair. But Sherry-sama achieves physical immortality by smashing the door with a single punch, making her even more awesome than Yujiro, who was killed by the doorknob.

However, before Chang Rong could react to Shirley's sudden intrusion, just like the SWAT team kicking down the door to rescue hostages, two other figures rushed into the room one after the other, along with the door.

"Chang Rongjun...you...you're going to die!? No, no, no...Chang Rongjun, don't die...!!"

"Huh? Emma—Pfft!?"

The pink and white puppy, Emma Sakura, suddenly pounced on Chang Rong with such force that Chang Rong, who was caught off guard by Shirley Tachibana's rush attack, almost died on the spot.

Emma tackled Chang Rong to the ground, pleading with him to stop with a tearful expression. Meanwhile, Hiro quickly pulled Emma away and came to Chang Rong's side, looking at the white-haired boy with a solemn expression and arms crossed.

"This isn't some kind of malicious joke, right, Chang Rong? What you said was serious, and it's a 'correct fact' that has been proven, isn't it?"

“Hero…”

"Wait, wait a minute! What's going on? Why are you all here?!"

Before Chang Rong could respond to Nikaido Hiro's question, Tono Hannah, who was standing to the side, was first confused, and then somewhat annoyed, she questioned what exactly was going on with the three who broke through the door.

"Emma insisted on coming to cause trouble, so I came to stop this inappropriate person." "Sherry seems really angry, I...I came to stop Sherry...!" "Oh dear, Emma seems to know this place very well. I followed Emma here, you know?"

The three of them unanimously chose to shift the blame eastward, thus creating a perfect closed loop.

"You...you bunch of idiots...I clearly said not to follow me! And, and wouldn't that mean you already heard everything? My, my experiences—"

Hannah Tono looked at the three people in front of her, her eyes gradually becoming empty. Her originally shy and hesitant gaze was gradually replaced by a kind of bone-chilling coldness.

"Sorry, we never expected to hear your past stories, Hannah..." "Hehe, Hannah, don't be angry~ Everyone still likes the Hannah we know and love!"

Faced with Hannah Tono's questioning, Heero slightly turned his head away. The original purpose of the eavesdropping operation was just to find the philanderer, but he accidentally overheard Hannah's past, which she had been trying to hide, making Heero a little embarrassed.

As for Tachibana Sherry, she remained as carefree and nonchalant as ever.

"You people... people like you who keep calling yourselves best friends—whoa!?"

"Calm down, Miss! We're all good kids at heart, we can't fight! I'm going to rub, rub, rub—"

Before Hannah Tono, who looked like she was about to explode, could finish speaking, Chang Rong suddenly moved closer to her and, without saying a word, hugged her and patted her head to comfort her, as if afraid that the young lady would turn into a witch on the spot and win the KDA King title on Witch Island this year.

"Idiot, you stupid knight, you weren't planning on... umm..."

Tono Hannah struggled to break free, but Chang Rong held her tightly and stroked her wildly until he was sure she had calmed down before reluctantly letting go.

—Phew, as expected of me, I prevented a murder today!

Chang Rong wiped away his sweat with satisfaction, however—

"What is this? Showing affection in front of me, is that a death wish, you idiot rabbit?" Nikaido Hiro rubbed her hands together, veins bulging on her white gloves. She was ready to unleash her full stack of Blood Rage to kill Chang Rong at any moment.

“This is supposed to be our secret little haven, but Chang Rong-kun is here hugging and cuddling with Hannah-chan so intimately. All the scents that Chang Rong-kun and I left behind have been ruined… Chang Rong-kun, in that case… I can only try harder to get my scent on…” Sakura Emma also revealed a hollow and terrifying gaze. She stared at Chang Rong and silently swallowed her saliva, as if she wasn’t talking to a boy, but thinking about how to devour the fresh meat in front of her as quickly as possible.

"Hmm, so that means Watson will prioritize dealing with girls who look like they're about to explode, right? So if Watson doesn't come and hug you, the cute, super popular, humorous, and smart Sherry-chan will just die right there in front of you~~?" Tachibana Sherry nodded, extremely satisfied with her deduction, and then struck a pose as if she was about to swing on a swing in the house.

"Stop messing around, you lot..."

Chang Rong looked utterly dejected. He had tried to stop Tono Hannah from turning into a witch, but then the other three decided to do the same. Seeing everyone else wanting to become witches, Chang Rong thought, "Fine, you become witches, I'll become a witch too! I'll just explode them all!"

It can only be said that the chain reaction of witch transformation and landmine explosions is an ingenious aspect that Witch Island must witness.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Anyway... Miss, you must have felt it just now, right? It felt like something was suddenly being absorbed, and your mind calmed down a bit. That must be the experience of the witch factor being absorbed."

"Hmm...it seems that's true. I was really angry for a moment just now. Putting aside whether I was ready to tell others about my affairs, their eavesdropping was already infuriating! But after being stroked by you, you silly knight, I feel much calmer now."

The commotion caused by the adultery-catching team was temporarily suppressed. Tono Hannah pondered the emotions she had just experienced, becoming even more convinced that Chang Rong's words were true. Not only in the sudden situation just now, but also when she recklessly revealed her identity, it was only under Chang Rong's unwavering embrace that Tono Hannah gradually regained her false yet genuine pride and composure as a young lady.

"So that's how it is..."

Nikaido Hiro, standing to the side, also wore a thoughtful expression. She had experienced being overwhelmed by witch transformation before, only to be interrupted by Chang Rong. Moreover, due to her personality, Hiro actually seemed to experience this the most frequently among all the prospective witches.

At first, Hiro also felt a little strange. This feeling, which was almost on a 'physical level', should not be something that could be explained by 'personal charm'. Maybe it was Chang Rong's magic.

However, as the urge to kill the 'idiot rabbit' involuntarily grew stronger every half minute he saw him, Hiro gradually began to doubt that his initial 'calm mind' was actually not due to Chang Rong. Otherwise, how could his murderous intent towards him become increasingly difficult to control?

But now I have to admit that Chang Rong does have the ability to make people feel calm and at ease on a physical level. In fact, if it weren't for him, I probably would have chosen to kill Sakura Emma.

Thinking about this, Hiro felt a little scared. He did 'hate' Sakura Emma for some reason, but it was definitely not to the extent that he wanted to kill her. Although he occasionally thought about finding time to tie up this naturally evil pink-haired puppy in a place where no one could see her to prevent her from secretly cuddling the idiot rabbit again.

"Hmph! You're only finding out about this now, but Sherry-chan already knew Watson's secret! After all, I was almost killed by the wreckage back then, and it was Watson who chose to use witch transformation to heal my wounds, and then forcibly suppressed my witch transformation process. Oh dear, Watson was super proactive and enthusiastic back then, I couldn't resist even if I wanted to refuse, I could only let Watson do this and that...!"

Now that things have been exposed, I'm not going to pretend anymore. Tachibana Sherry put her hands on her hips, puffed out her chest, and cheerfully recounted her intimate experiences with her assistant Watson with a "I'm so awesome" expression. Towards the end, she even made a blushing and shy pose, a new character design contrast.

"W-what!? I knew what happened between you two by the lake back then wasn't that simple...! Hey, you idiot rabbit, what exactly did you do?!"

Hiro immediately questioned Chang Rong, and Emma Hannah beside her also cast questioning glances at her.

"No, no, it's nothing, just a special operation in an emergency..."

Chang Rong didn't have the courage to think about whether, if the 'young lady' hadn't interfered, she and Tachibana Sherry would have actually ended up having an affair by the lake.

However, since it was ultimately disrupted and there was no follow-up, it means nothing happened! As for biting the mouth, consider it an emergency rescue method of artificial respiration.

"So, so Chang Rong-jun needs to be fed witch factors regularly, otherwise... ugh, he'll disappear?"

Emma Sakura was still a little incredulous. She asked Chang Rong in a low voice, and the latter did not refute her, but simply nodded to indicate that it was true.

“But if that’s the case… we’ve already lost four people, is that enough for you to keep going?” Hiro asked, frowning.

"It's a bit more difficult than at the beginning, which is why I wanted to research whether there were other ways. If the quantity is not enough, we can only try to find a solution from a qualitative perspective—but the concentration and intensity of the witch factor are related to emotional fluctuations, which has basically been proven."

"Hmm, very good. Then I'll let you, you idiot rabbit, experience what the ultimate emotion is—"

"No, no, it wasn't me!? I was talking about the emotional fluctuations of the prospective witches!" Chang Rong quickly retorted. Although she didn't know what Hiro was planning to do to her, she definitely couldn't let her succeed...!

"In other words... well, let me sort out the situation." Emma Sakura made a docile gesture of raising her hand to answer a question, then put a finger to her lips and began to think.

"As a former participant in the witch trial, Chang Rongjun was killed by a witch and for some reason became a 'corpse' driven by witch factors. He also gained the ability to absorb witch factors from witches. At first, because there were enough prospective witches, Chang Rongjun did not need to do anything extra. However, as the number of prospective witches decreased, Chang Rongjun had to find other ways to obtain witch factors, such as making prospective witches have more intense emotional fluctuations."

"If things continue as they are, the concentration of witch factor isn't high enough, and Chang Rong-jun will gradually lose his mobility, like a countdown to his life... I don't want that to happen...! So, we need to do something to keep Chang Rong-jun alive, and this will also slow down our own witch transformation process, which is actually a kind of win-win symbiotic situation. And all of these speculations have been proven true through Chang Rong-jun's testimony, Sherry-chan's experience by the lake, and the exploration of the basement, right?"

"Hmm...that's about it, Emma." Chang Rong nodded. Emma had summarized her current predicament to a reasonable degree. Everything about her corpse was inseparable from the 'witch factor,' which happened to be the root cause of most tragedies among prospective witches. It was indeed a kind of symbiotic relationship.

“In that case…” Sakura Emma swallowed hard, her hands, which she always used to work with both hands, clenched into small fists, striking a serious and resolute pose.

"If that's the case, then we have no choice but to do it, right...!!"

"Yeah... Huh?" Chang Rong nodded in agreement as usual, then blinked, wondering if she had misheard because she was fantasizing too much.

What? What did you do...?

"In order for Chang Rongjun to survive, and in order for everyone to avoid being corrupted by the witch—this is the only way!" Sakura Emma mustered her courage, blushing as she loudly announced the final result of her deduction: kissing.

"No, no, no, there must be another way, right, Emma!?" Chang Rong quickly retorted. The pink and white little dog had demonstrated terrifying logical reasoning abilities during the trial, so how could it come up with such a ridiculous reason now??

"Another way? You mean let us become witches, so we'll have a constant supply of witch genes?" Hiro snorted coldly. Although her heart rate soared to 180 after hearing Emma's conclusion, she still pretended to be nonchalant and in control.

"That won't do... Absolutely not!" Chang Rong quickly retorted, he would never allow anyone to become a witch.

“Then we’ll just have to draft it.” Hiro, who had achieved a score of 5 seconds in the ‘Don’t kiss Chang Rong’ challenge, immediately broke down and blushed, saying that Emma’s suggestion was correct and that she would follow suit.

“That kind of thing won’t do either! Damn it, it’s all Emma’s fault, Emma… right, right!” Chang Rong gritted her teeth and looked at the evil pink-haired dog that had brought the situation to this point, and then suddenly thought of something.

"Emma's magic seems to be somewhat incompatible with my constitution, so no matter what, Emma is definitely not an option!"

If the situation becomes too difficult, try to divide and conquer it one by one. In order to survive, Chang Rong even began to study the wisdom and strategies of her ancestors.

"Holy crap!? How...how could this happen...!"

Sakura Emma, ​​who was rubbing her hands together and wagging her tail just a second ago, was instantly deflated by Chang Rong's words, and drooped her head, revealing a super pitiful posture.

—If you can't help but make eye contact at a time like this, all your efforts will be wasted!

Chang Rong desperately resisted the urge to rush over, hug Emma, ​​and squeeze and rub her hard.

"Hehe, this is the retribution for all the evil things you've done, Emma Sakura. Don't worry, I'll take care of your share for you. You can wag your tail and watch from the sidelines."

Hiro sneered at Emma, ​​having always wanted to see this wicked little dog get its comeuppance!

"Hero! Your point of view seems to have some merit, but I disagree! You can't ignore my wishes and act on your own, right? That's 'wrong'!"

After sinking Emma Sakura, Chang Rong immediately turned his attention to Hiro Nikaido, intending to take her down as his second target. However—

"We wanted to kill you to save you, you idiot rabbit. My heart and actions are as clear as a mirror, everything I do is for my family... everything is right, right? In order to save the most precious life, it is undoubtedly 'right' to adjust the moral bottom line appropriately."

Nikaido Hiro remained completely unmoved. She spread her hands, shrugged her shoulders, and smiled as she spoke to Chang Rong.

—Where have you lowered your moral standards, underground...?