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

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.

"Well……!"

As the flashback of past memories ended, Hiro covered his head, his forehead already soaked with sweat.

Xiaoxue...she's a great witch, she altered my memories?

That's right, she was not bullied, nor did she die by suicide... She was a great witch, how could a great witch be bullied by humans?

She left because of heart failure... But if that's the case, then everything I've done for Emma so far has been wrong... So, so I'm the one who made the mistake!?

I cannot tolerate any errors—everything I have is wrong.

A drop of poison in a lake will cause extinction—that drop of poison was me.

Adding scratches to a painting diminishes its value—that scratch was mine.

It was me...it was me—the real mistake was me...!

But... but why did Xiaoxue do this? Why did she fabricate the memory of suicide?

The flawless person must be Chang Rong. Xiao Xue wants to save Chang Rong, but she can't do it herself, so she puts her hopes on me and Emma.

My magic... Yes, Xiaoxue wants to take back my magic, but she said that the recovery of magic requires a ritual. Right, a ritual...!

"Emma, ​​you can do whatever you want with me after this—do you still have that witch's book that Noah was carrying!"

"Eh!? Hiro-chan, what are you saying...!" Sakura Emma was startled by Hiro's sudden admission of wrongdoing.

"Oh? That book was collected and burned during our witch trial, wasn't it? After all, it was already chopped up." Shirley Tachibana replied after thinking for a moment.

"destroy--!?"

Upon hearing this answer, Nikaido Hiro's legs went weak, and he collapsed to his knees.

He had been blindly treating Emma Sakura as an 'enemy' and had been unwittingly bullying her... These things weren't even his biggest concerns right now.

Xiaoxue is the root of everything. She is clearly a great witch, yet she inevitably faced death. On the eve of her complete dissipation, she used her final 'original sin' to guide Hero and Emma here.

But... all the clues have disappeared. How am I supposed to 'correct' all of this?

"Ring ring!!"

Just as the atmosphere in the recreation room became somewhat deathly still, the phone in Chang Rong's pocket suddenly rang.

"Arisa? What's wrong—"

"Hurry to the infirmary! Milia suddenly has a fever... no, it's not Milia... anyway, get here quickly!!"

Arisa's voice on the other end of the phone was incredibly anxious and flustered, leaving everyone no time to sort out the clues and mistakes they had gleaned from their past memories. They had to rush back to the infirmary.

"What, what should I do in a situation like this...!? Another fever... Why, why do I always get a fever...!!"

As soon as they returned to the infirmary, everyone saw Hannah Tono's panicked and terrified expression as she kept changing the wet wipes on Milia's forehead to cool her down.

"We're back—Milia, how are you?"

Chang Rong immediately went to Saeki Miria's side, half-kneeling by the bed to ask the blonde, kind-hearted girl dressed in sexy clothes.

At this moment, Saeki Miria was leaning against the bed with a wet towel on her forehead, but even so, you could still see the unnatural flush on her cheeks and the unsettlingly hot temperature on her body.

"You're here. Don't be sad about Nanoha's situation, Rongrong—"

"—!"

When 'Milia' opened her eyes and saw the white-haired boy in front of her, she instinctively called out the boy's name. It was at this moment that Chang Rong realized the meaning of the words 'She is not Milia' that Zifang Arisa said on the phone.

The girl standing in front of him right now... was exchanged by the old man using [Exchange Magic], Noah Kinosaki.

"Ah... Noah got caught right away... He was originally planning to keep pretending to be an old man..."

Noah Kinosaki blinked, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible. She forced a wry smile, as if apologizing for messing up her first sentence.

"Noah...!? Noah, you...you switched places with Milia, right? That means...Milia—"

“Noah, I saw it… Noah saw Milia’s past, the taboos that Milia feared, and… he also saw Milia’s awareness back then.” Noah whispered to Chang Rong.

When Noah Kinosaki was shot and fell next to Miria Saeki, the girl who considered herself an "older man" was on the verge of collapse.

She knew very well that she would never have the courage of Noah to stand up for others, and she also knew very well that she was a useless old man who was only good at being a peacemaker.

Milia once thought that this wasn't so bad. At least on this witch's island, the steady and methodical actions would prevent any mishaps. Since that was the case, she didn't need to make any changes.

But the truth is... almost everyone is trying to change, even that kid Noah Kinosaki has long had the resolve to move forward in order to protect others.

But it was Noah, who was like that, who was now lying beside him, his life constantly slipping away from the wound in his chest.

Is something wrong? Noah tried so hard to change, she was trying to become a better girl... but why did it end like this?

If, if someone really has to die because of this... then it should be a useless 'old man' like myself, right...?

When Saeki Miria came to her senses, her hand was already tightly gripping Noah Kinosaki's. It was almost instinctive, an action that even Saeki Miria herself didn't realize, like that of a martyr or saint.

Perhaps... perhaps at least... my magic can do something, can't it?

Ouch...it hurts so much—being pierced by a bullet feels so painful...Xiao Rong, Uncle, I'm so scared...I'm so afraid you'll think my scarf is too ugly...

In her final moments, as life slipped away, Milia was filled with regret—if only she had started learning knitting from Xiaona earlier, could she have put that scarf on Xiaorong herself?

"And so, Milia swapped bodies with Noah... But, but Noah is really useless—" Noah, who was swapped, struggled to get up from the bed.

"Don't speak yet, Noah! I'll give you an injection to bring down your fever!"

"No, Noah doesn't want to let Milia down... It seems the magic of the exchange can't continue after the possessor leaves, so... Noah hopes, hopes to fulfill the old man's wish, and fulfill Noah's own wish—"

Noah Shirosaki seemed to have realized something. She struggled to get up from the bedside and, with Chang Rong's help, slowly walked to a table next to the infirmary. Inside the table was a 'scarf' that didn't look very nice.

“Milia has always wanted to sew a scarf for Rongrong… It looks ugly, right? Like Noah’s painting, but if it were Rongrong, she would definitely love it, right? Because Rongrong is Rongrong, after all…”

Noah slowly put the scarf around Chang Rong's neck. It looked really bad and didn't match at all. The color scheme also had a kind of crumbling, middle-aged and elderly feel to it.

“There’s another way, Noah…! We can rely on witch transformation—” Chang Rong gripped the scarf tightly, staring intently at the girl in front of him who carried two wishes.

"Yes, Noah won't have the [Forbidden] anymore... Rongrong unconditionally loves Noah's paintings, and Noah is really happy about that. Besides, there's no internet here that would scare Milia, right?" Noah shook his head, still smiling.

What was once a taboo that girls would avoid at all costs now completely blocked the possibility of the girl's survival.

"Besides, Rongrong 'hates' witches, and Noah doesn't want Rongrong to force herself anymore."

"I...I don't like you, Noah, I've never liked you—neither you nor Uncle, I've never liked either of you!"

"Yes, Noah and Milia also like Rongrong the most."

"I will never forgive you two. You just went and died on your own. What kind of behavior is that? I can never forgive you!"

"Noah and Milia will definitely not forget Rongrong either."

"Noah, you're a bad kid... Milia's a boring, unfunny old man—"

"Hehehe, Noah is indeed a bad kid... If I could, I'd like to be Rongrong's daughter in my next life, the kind where my fatherly love occasionally turns sour. I'm sure Milia wouldn't mind, right...?"

Noah responded to Chang Rong's every word with a smile. She adjusted the scarf around Chang Rong's neck slightly, then took out a pencil and sketched the boy in front of her on a sticky note, wanting to copy his appearance.

For a moment, only the scratching sound of pencils filled the infirmary. But gradually, the sound of pencils faded and eventually stopped completely.

The ends of the scarf around Chang Rong's neck were still unfinished, with a few strands of yarn sticking out awkwardly. And the life drawing of the model that Noah had been longing for on the notepad hadn't been completed yet, with the expression on the boy's face still unfinished.

Although Saeki Miria's actions at the end failed to save anyone, she used her magic to fulfill the small wishes of two girls who had never been able to achieve them, even though those wishes were somewhat incomplete.

I... I don't want to think about anything anymore, whether it's Xiaoxue, the witch, or my own body... I don't want to think about anything anymore.

When Chang Rong lost Nanoha, Emma's desperate cries brought him back to his senses.

However, the frequency and frequency of farewells were too high, and this time no one was able to step forward and continue to encourage everyone to 'not give up'.

My magic is—[Death Rewind]

In the deathly silence, Nikaido Hiro took a deep breath and spoke his magic.

Volume 1: Thanks to Dobi686 for the Golden Treasure Chest, and thanks to Akanagi Kagen for the Silver Treasure Chest.

Thank you so much for the generous donations of these two generous donors! I am truly, truly, truly grateful. If I were a girl, I would have given myself to them in gratitude.

Let's add 18 chapters for the Golden Treasure Chest and 6 chapters for the Silver Treasure Chest, making it 24 chapters. Adding the previous 1.5, we'll round it up to 32 chapters.

It's truly a bittersweet experience, but mostly blissful. Having someone give me a tip makes me so much happier than not having one at all.

Thank you again for your support, both of you!

Thank you all for your support and encouragement. Love you all!

Finally, today's update might be a little late. I just finished writing 15K, but it's the type of thing I do that I review again after I finish writing, so it will take some time.

I'll probably update around 12:40, sorry.

Volume 1: Chapter 143. Death Retrospection

"Death reversal? What does that mean... Hiro-chan?" "Hmm... I don't understand, but it sounds really high-tech!" "You've been hiding magic all along... Mysterious Perjurer."

In the dead silence, Hiro's words were like a lifebuoy thrown to someone about to drown; regardless of whether it was actually a 'lifebuoy' or not, there would still be people who would rush to grab it immediately.

The remaining trainee witches found their target and took over the conversation, asking Hiro what was going on and whether she could really turn the tide in the next second, reversing the almost hopeless situation.

"I didn't intentionally try to hide it... Anyway, this magic is exactly what it sounds like. I do have magic, but the magic I possess is rather special, and its usage and effects are quite subtle. That's why I've been pretending to have no magic; it's more convenient that way—"

Now that things had come to this, Hiro had no reason or meaning to continue hiding, so she directly revealed her abilities to everyone.

"【Death Rewind】, as the name suggests, means that I have the ability to rewind time. However, this ability cannot be used by me voluntarily. Instead, it can only be rewound after death. As for the time point of rewind, it is the time when I regain consciousness from sleep every day. Judging from the schedule of Witch Island, it should be around 5:30 in the morning."

Nikaido Hiro walked to the center of the room and stood next to the girl who originally belonged to Noah Kinosaki... or rather, Miria Saeki, and spoke to everyone.

After the pencil in her hand fell, Noah Kinosaki's body dissipated like countless rainbow bubbles in front of everyone. The cruel yet beautiful scene left Hiro Nikaido unsure of how to react.

She longed to touch her companions again, yet she was also afraid to witness the passing of those who had died. Hero herself was completely confused about what she truly wanted.

She didn't know whether witnessing Milia and Noah's deaths would make the white-haired boy more desperate, or whether the disappearance of the last traces would make Chang Rong even more devastated.

But all she knew was that she had to step forward and do something...

"5:30... That, that doesn't mean you can tell me everything that happened today, Hiro-chan...!" Emma Sakura realized something, and a glimmer of light returned to her almost empty eyes. Even Chang Rong, who had been slumped in her chair, barely reacting, slightly raised her head after hearing Hiro's words.

“That’s right—if I can use magic to go back to this morning, I’ll have a chance to reverse everything that happened—the root of it all is that Nanoha Kaori accidentally ‘hallucinated’ to a scene she couldn’t accept when Chang Rong wasn’t around, which caused her to gradually become a witch. And because everyone’s actions violated the taboo of her ‘protection,’ it gradually evolved into the scene we see now… In other words, if I can go back to this morning and stop Nanoha Kaori, then the tragedy of everyone, whether it’s Nanoha Kaori, Noah, Rhea, or Milia, can be changed, and they can all be redeemed!”

Nikaido Hiro clenched his fist and spoke in a deliberately unquestionable tone.