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

"Wow! We get to eat Chang Rong-jun's cooking again!" As soon as Sakura Emma heard the words "dinner is served," her eyes instantly lit up with the eyes of a lion, the kind of lion that hadn't tasted meat for half a month.

"Cooking... well, if it's possible, I'd like to help out."

Upon hearing that cooking was involved, Arisa shyly raised her hand to help. During the first Witch Island Cooking Competition, she hadn't even had a chance to put in the effort before being knocked down by a fever and forced to withdraw from the competition.

“Of course, no problem, Arisa. But let me ask you this: what kind of cuisine are you good at? It wouldn’t be good to make something that’s repeated.” Chang Rong smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Hmm... Pink Devil Claw Rice Porridge?"

"..."

Okay, that's a perfect example of a tearful girl's diet.

"Heh... As expected, you are not Yamato Nadeshiko, only I am...!" Upon hearing Arisa mention the must-eat list of tear-dropping delicacies, Nikaido Shiro grinned maliciously.

I'm the winner!

“That can’t be considered a normal dish, Arisa… But there’s plenty of time ahead. After Hiro goes back in time to correct everything, and after we find the Great Witch Yuki and deal with all of this, I’ll teach Arisa how to cook ordinary meals then, how about that?”

Chang Rong asked Arisa if she could wait a little longer, and that she would teach Arisa how to cook normal meals gradually.

"Um... well, I'm not very talented, so please bear with me...!"

Faced with Chang Rong's invitation, Arisa Zifang showed a shy expression and could only nod to indicate that she would definitely study hard in the future and strive to become independent as soon as possible.

"Gurgle...! I'll help too—"

"Hiro, you're the main force, so just rest and recuperate. You'll be fine."

Chang Rong smiled and waved her hand, rejecting Hiro's seemingly ill-intentioned but ultimately misguided request to help in the kitchen.

"So, what would you all like to eat? Considering that the warehouse access has been granted, it's okay to make a slightly bolder request."

Chang Rong picked up her notebook, ready to jot down what everyone wanted to say at this 'last dinner party'.

"Um... plum seaweed rice balls, roast pork rice, and tamagoyaki...!" Sakura Emma didn't care about anything else and was the first to raise her hand and announce the dishes.

—As expected of Emma, ​​she ordered a simple yet energizing combination of a main dish with an egg.

"Mmm... steak, caviar, and, and red wine!" Tono Hannah covered half her face with her fan, and although she was a little embarrassed, she still said it.

"I doubt they'll have caviar here... and red wine is out of the question! But steak seems like a good option. Sorry, Miss, I hope you won't mind if I substitute apple juice and mushroom sauce?"

"Well, that's fine too... Anyway, I just wanted to experience the meals of a real rich young lady." Tono Hannah glanced at her. Now that things had come to this, she no longer needed to pretend. Tono Hannah's straightforward desire to experience the life of a rich young lady made her seem even more adorable in some ways.

"Grilled saury, green tea, and a soft-boiled egg," Hiro immediately replied.

"Wow, it has a very classic Yamato Nadeshiko feel to it!"

"Hmph...it's just my daily routine." The success of his little plan made Hiro's eyebrows relax considerably.

"Huh? But didn't you often eat sandwiches and coffee at school, Hiro-chan? —" However, Hiro's little trick was immediately and mercilessly torn apart by Emma's innocent expression.

“Sakuraba… Emma—!”

"Waaah...! I'm so sorry, Hiro-chan..."

"No, no! I didn't mean to yell at you... I'm the one who should apologize—"

Hero, who was still breathing in a formulaic way, panicked when he saw Emma about to drop her pearl. He rushed over to try to comfort her, but Hero had almost no experience with this, so he could only stammer and act helplessly.

—The food chain has been completely reversed...

Seeing how well Heero was controlled by Emma, ​​everyone sighed inwardly.

Although no one really knows what happened between Emma and Heero, who were childhood friends at the same school, everyone now realizes that Heero's life is probably going to be spent being chewed up by a pink and white puppy for the rest of his life.

"I... for me, um... omelet rice is fine, Chang Rong," Arisa said softly, her face flushed and head bowed.

—What a good child, a gentle and simple good child.

"If possible, adding 10-15 ibuprofen tablets would be even better..."

—What a good kid, even though he has some weird OCD hobbies.

After firmly refusing Arisa's request, which caused Arisa to start groaning again, Chang Rong walked up to the last customer, Tachibana Sherry.

"President, what would Sherry like to eat?"

"Watson~"

"Yes, I'm here. If it's the president, it definitely has that British feel to it, right? How about fish and chips?"

"Watson~~"

"What's wrong? Don't you like fish? ... In that case, how about baked beans with bacon and eggs?"

"Watson~~~!"

"You don't like it either? Hmm... I'm sorry, Sherry, I don't really know your taste preferences."

"So it's Watson!"

"Uh...uh, uh?"

Chang Rong, who was apologizing to Tachibana Sherry with a note about the dishes in hand, gradually sensed something was amiss as the blue-haired girl gave her formulaic answers time and time again.

"Um, Sherry, you must be joking—"

"Hey Watson, I'm getting a little hungry again... Hehehe, so I hope you can take the initiative and let me enjoy this amazingly delicious treat!"

Tachibana Sherry openly stated that she wanted to eat rabbit meat.

"Stop, stop fooling around at a time like this..."

"In that case, well, I need to change the menu too...! Change it to Grilled Chang Rong-kun!" Upon hearing this, Sakura Emma immediately withdrew her order and then said she would also bring me the food from Tachibana Sherry's table.

"What are you guys doing, Desuwa! Seriously, give me a medley of idiot knights too!"

Hannah Tono gave a stern critique, and joined at lightning speed.

"I didn't expect there to be such a trick... That's right, eating you is indeed the most nutritious and entertaining choice, that's correct—" "Completely incorrect, isn't it!?"

After Shirley Tachibana's stunning debut, everyone changed their tune, saying that since it was their last meal anyway, they should eat something good, and the head chef shouldn't bother cooking, but just pour some honey on his head and lie down on the table.

"Stop fooling around—right, right, I need to go prepare the ingredients ahead of time, so you guys get back to work!"

Chang Rong swallowed hard, indicating that she needed to prepare the dishes first, and immediately rushed out of the infirmary.

"Hmm... I still prefer Chang Rongjun like this."

Seeing the white-haired boy's embarrassing panicked escape, Emma Sakura smiled and whispered.

"It's precisely because we love Chang Rong-jun like this that we must change this ending...!"

Emma Sakura clenched her fist, and then, as if she had made up her mind, she took out an ordinary-looking fever reducer from the shelf.

"Since, since tonight's outcome is already destined to be reversed anyway, then... well, how about we..."

Emma Sakura placed the bottle in front of everyone. She swallowed hard, her cheeks displaying an unnatural mix of excitement and shyness.

"What's wrong, Emma?" Shiro frowned and leaned closer, while Emma clenched her little fists and then unscrewed the bottle.

"——" "..." "——" "——"

The aspiring witches huddled together whispering something. Not long after, Arisa Fujito suddenly jumped up, her cheeks redder than a furnace, as if she had been stepped on.

"Huh?! This...this kind of thing...this won't do! So, the reason I was in the infirmary before was because...well, anyway, this kind of thing is absolutely unacceptable. I have to go tell Chang Rong—uh!?"

"Hold her down! Hold Arisa-chan down!" "Whoa!"

Arisa Fujito's escape attempt failed, and she was almost immediately tackled to the sofa by the crowd.

"Hey... Arisa-chan... we're all in this together now... we absolutely can't let Arisa mess things up, okay? Here are two pills. One is the Ren-type sleeping pill, which will give Arisa a cool, summery sleep, but the price is that you'll only be able to watch us do this and that to Chang Rong afterwards. The other is the Yi-type O-pill. Take it, Arisa-chan, and you can share it with us... how about it?"

"I...I can't betray Chang Rong...but, oh, oh, oh...!"

—I'm sorry, Chang Rong… I can't go back anymore…

Faced with the coercion of the pink-haired girl, Arisa Fujito finally shed a tear of humiliation. This pitiful, kind, and law-abiding girl ultimately could not succumb to the transformation and corruption of the drugs...

------

Unlike usual, today, as soon as you step into the restaurant, you can smell an enticing aroma amidst the comforting crackling of the fireplace—the irresistible scent of 'gourmet food'.

A variety of dishes were laid out on the long table. Although they weren't as dazzling as some food anime where the plates were filled with glittering grenades, the steaming dishes were still enough to make one feel a sense of happiness just by looking at them.

The girls sat together around the dining table, and their eyes lit up when they saw the dishes.

"【Coo coo coo... In all these years of witch trials, this is the first time I've been invited to dinner by prospective witches, and also the first time they've asked me for witch-slayer potions.】"

For some reason, even the warden was invited over. The silly bird stood on Chang Rong's head, tilting its head at a 90-degree angle, looking at the girls in front of it with a somewhat confused voice.

"【If there weren't so few AI guardians left, and if Lady Meruru hadn't died so early, your behavior would definitely have landed you in the punishment room. Although, it seems there were some who actually went looking for trouble and ended up in the punishment room before? Hehehe, you guys are truly the worst class I've ever taught.】"

"Hehehe, don't praise me like that, I'll get arrogant!" "That's definitely not a compliment, you silly gorilla woman!"

Sherry Tachibana scratched her head sheepishly, saying, "Is this ridiculous?" Hannah then immediately dispelled Sherry's hypnosis.

"【However, I really didn't expect you guys to go this far. Hmm... you actually found the Great Witch's trail. Perhaps the day we're free from this place isn't far off. *coo coo coo*... then I can find an amusement park or zoo to be a mascot, and all I have to do is eat and sleep while being fed by a bunch of people. A beverage and dessert shop seems like a good option too? Wow, my career options are really wide-ranging, *coo coo*.】"

"You actually do career planning... It's kind of scary." Tono Hannah muttered to herself as she looked at the warden.

"Recent trends have definitely moved beyond the old days where simply going for a cute style was enough to win over the market. Mascots with some scary elements are actually more popular. Interesting... perhaps this could be a topic for our next discussion."

"You're terrifying..." Tono Hannah muttered again, looking at Nikaido Hiro who seemed to be deep in thought.

"That Meruru is really something. There are so many ingredients in the warehouse, why did she have to make them like that? Just to make us become more witch-like? I really... don't know how to describe that kind of person."

Arisa Fujito frowned as she ate her omelet rice. Even though she knew that Meluru on Ice was searching for the 'secret' behind the Great Witch, many of her actions were still puzzling.

"Perhaps Meruru has her own struggles... If I could, I'd really like to question her about it." Chang Rong sighed in response, casually picking out the peas from the bowl and tossing them to the silly bird on her head.

"【Hmm, as expected of Mr. Chang Rong, his skills haven't declined at all, gulp gulp gulp... Hmm, you even prepared hot drinks? How thoughtful. No wonder you always manage to get yourself into a small room and get pinned against the wall, Mr. Chang Rong... Blue hot drinks, how interesting, gulp gulp.】"

The warden tilted his head at the blue hot drink, but without thinking much of it, he put it in his mouth.

"—!"

Upon seeing the warden finish the 'mysterious blue hot drink,' the girls reacted as if they had seen the smoke from a starting gun, instantly making their movements simultaneously.

"Then, to our friendship—cheers!"

Nikaido Hiro made the same statement again, and the other prospective witches also raised their glasses.

"..."

Seeing this scene, Chang Rong knew that it was only a 'temporary separation' rather than a desperate struggle, but his heart still rippled with some emotions.