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

Volume 1: Chapter 148. The Hidden Item Was Unearthed

On the other side, after breaking away from the main force, Hero immediately circled around to the infirmary, climbed over the balcony of the infirmary to the outside of the castle, and prepared to go to the water spirit room at the back of the castle.

However, just as she passed the warehouse with its doors tightly locked—

"—" "Ugh...!?"

Clang!

A ghostly shadow suddenly attacked from behind. Without thinking, Hiro grabbed the rusty fire poker that was leaning against the warehouse door and turned to block it.

The massive scythe was barely stopped by the fire poker, but Hiro was still thrown back several meters by the violent impact.

"It's ironic that my life was saved by the enhanced physique of being transformed into a witch at a time like this."

Hiro trembled his numb right hand, his eyes fixed on the guard with the headband in front of him.

Miscalculation. He subconsciously assumed that the castle's patrol efforts were still at least as low as before, but Meruru on the ice was still alive, which meant that the warden was currently in a rare "dedicated mode," which was why he ordered the guards to give chase immediately.

Although I have the ability to hold my own against the guards, the most likely outcome of dragging this out is that I will be beheaded, mirroring the result of a speedrun and a roll-based start in the first playthrough...

Hiro suddenly realized that his magic seemed to be completely useless almost 99% of the time, utterly worthless.

If it were Arisa, Sheryl, or Hannah, the magical amplification during witch transformation at this level should easily suppress the guards. But what do I have? Only a fire poker.

Let's think of another way—

Just as the guard with the headband lunged at Hiro again, the warden's voice suddenly came from behind.

"Don't touch that child."

"—!"

The guard with the headband froze on the spot. At the same time, Hiro noticed the source of the voice. It wasn't that idiot warden, but the kimono-clad girl, Hosho Mag.

Her magic is [voice imitation]. Oh right, how could I forget about you when we were talking about useless magic? Our Purple Person is really good at manipulating things.

Although I don't know why Mag followed us, if this continues, it will only repeat the tragedy of the 'second playthrough'.

In the second playthrough, before Chang Rong woke up, Bao Sheng Mag used sound magic to hard-control the guard in order to protect others, but she was attacked by the guard instead. If it weren't for Meruru's careful care, she probably would have died.

At this very moment, just as at that very moment, the guards had even turned their scythes against Baosheng Mag; he had to do something—

"Chang Rong is still alive, and only I can save him!"

"——!!!"

As Hiro shouted, the scythe that the headband-wearing guard was about to strike at Mag stopped. It slowly and stiffly turned around again, and the eerie mask silently watched Hiro, as if waiting for the long-haired girl in front of it to explain further.

“You can fight me, but it’s pointless because I can do it all day long and negotiate with you again and again.”

Heero faced the guard with a fearless smile. Of course, this was just a facade. If her witch transformation weren't so severe, she could genuinely try to leap and attack the guard repeatedly. After all, in Heero's worldview, being instantly killed by a leap attack wasn't considered 'suicide,' it simply meant she had made a mistake in her attack. If she rolled a critical hit, wouldn't she be able to turn the tables and kill him?

However, if I were killed now, the next activation of the death reversal magic would likely turn me into a witch's remains.

Even so, Hiro continued to confront the headband guard using his "false evidence" and "truth".

"Or, you can use what little reason you have left to think about whether you want to live a life where you have Chang Rong on your left and Nai Ye Xiang on your right."

"—" The headband guard paused, and after a moment of silence, he put away his scythe and slowly left the scene.

"call……"

Hiro breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that the headband guard—that is, Nanoha Kaori's older sister—had left.

That would be considered solving one problem, but... there's an even bigger problem yet.

Hiro glanced at Baosheng Mag, who was standing to the side seemingly lost in thought, and frowned slightly.

Unfortunately, she ran into the most troublesome person. She hadn't gathered much information about Baosheng Mag, and she didn't even know her thought process.

“Oh my, you seem to know this place quite well, Miss Fool?” Baosheng Mag asked Hiro with a smile.

"...I'm not a pervert, and this isn't the time to talk about these things. I'll tell you all about it later, but definitely not now—I have more important things to deal with right now, dealing with my unusual situation."

With a forceful pull, Hiro broke the already damaged fire poker in two, using it to tell Hosho Mag that 'Nikaido Hiro' was currently an 'abnormal' situation different from humans, since humans couldn't break a fire poker with their bare hands.

"Alright, alright~ I'm only slightly interested. It seems you're not lying, but genuinely have some kind of resolve... Hehe, that makes me even more interested."

There seems to be someone in the prison who not only gains the favor of the aspiring witch, but also has an ambiguous relationship with the prison's 'employees'. This is truly...interesting. What kind of relationship could such a person have with this 'monster perverted lady' before us?

Baosheng Mag thought that this prison would only bring extremely boring 'trials', but he didn't expect to find so much fun on the first day.

However, I really should hurry back to the reception room for my report. That lady with long, straight black hair possesses superhuman strength, but I don't. I'm just an ordinary fortune-telling girl who can mimic other people's voices. If I were touched by that kind of scythe or firewood stick, I'd really be dead!

Baosheng Mag could only temporarily suppress his curiosity about Hiro and the owner of the name 'Changrong' that Hiro mentioned, and quickly returned to the main group.

"...We've run into one of the biggest problems right from the start."

After Baosheng Mag also left, Hero sighed and rushed to the Water Spirit Chamber.

With practiced ease, he moved the bookshelves, pried open the floorboards, opened the hidden door, and climbed down the ladder—Hiro quickly arrived at the underground facility.

"Hmm... the temperature is still within an acceptable range."

Standing in front of the heavy door of the underground freezer, Hiro disassembled the ventilation pipes next to him while sensing the surrounding environment.

The entire underground facility went through three states during the second playthrough. At the beginning, the freezer wasn't that cold; it was cold enough that even Hannah could crawl in and stay for half a day while playing ice hockey.

However, after Shirley Tachibana violently broke the ice and pulled Chang Rong out, the underground cryogenic chamber became completely inaccessible due to a system malfunction and the owl's reluctance to repair it, even with the elevator locked. Later, following the Sawatari Coco case, the warden repaired the underground cryogenic chamber, which led to a surge in cooling capacity, making it impossible to move without Arisa's help.

Based on the time analysis, the current underground freezer should be the first type, which is also the time period when it is most convenient to retrieve Chang Rong.

Without much hesitation, both his anticipation of seeing Chang Rong again and the urgency of his body and consciousness being gradually eroded by the witch transformation urged him to find Chang Rong.

"It's much more spacious than I expected... I wish I could have come here once during my second playthrough."

Hiro frowned. The underground cryo-chamber that appeared before him was much larger than Hiro had expected. He thought it would be at most the size of a living room plus an entertainment room, but it was actually at least as big as a giant screen theater.

Hiro didn't know the exact location of Chang Rong's ice block, but she remembered that Chang Rong's ice block was numbered [635]. As long as she found this number, that would be fine.

This is the witch's graveyard... those ice blocks, those sealed metal containers, those filing cabinets... all of this is the original sin that you, Xiaoxue, must bear. When I find you, I'll settle this score properly...

Hiro suppressed his sorrow and anger at the graves where the witches ultimately ended up, and focused on searching for the white-haired boy.

"...Damn it, at least arrange them in numerical order properly! And some of the ice cubes don't even have numbers on them, are you trying to make me open a blind box?!"

Hiro was so enraged by the illiterate arrangement of the ice blocks that her witch-like transformation intensified, and she could only lower her head and examine each one one by one using ancient methods.

323, 479, 561, 620-635

When Hiro saw the string of numbers, her heart skipped a beat, and she immediately pressed her face against the ice cube.

"Chang Rong—!"

Within the ice block, which glowed with a pale blue light, lay a boy with short white hair and drooping temples, his eyes slightly closed, like a protagonist in a fairy tale awaiting redemption.

"Ah...that's great, that's great...!"

Even though she had just parted ways with him 'just a few hours ago', Nikaido Hiro felt inexplicably want to cry when they met again this time.

Her bond with him was not severed by this time travel; she returned from the future and rediscovered his presence in the past.

Hello again, good morning! I'll rescue you right away... just bear with it a little longer!

Your beloved Yamato Nadeshiko has come back to find you, you silly rabbit.

Hiro suppressed her turbulent thoughts, punched the ice block with an Ora punch, and then grumbled as she rubbed her fist and looked around.

It seems that Sherry managed to pull Chang Rong out almost a week later, by which time the ice had partially thawed. I probably can't rescue Chang Rong with just my fists now, after all, I'm just a young, 00-year-old Yamato Nadeshiko girl skilled in countless techniques, and I don't have the strength of a Sea King to smash obsidian into a sphere.

After searching around, Hiro noticed the safe not far away. She entered the password that Zedu Coco had written on the note, then took out the ruby ​​ritual sword from the safe. Instead of turning her back to check it, she directly picked up the ritual sword and slashed at Chang Rong's ice block.

"Idiot rabbit... I'm going to... rescue you...!"

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Those who know understand that this is a bond that transcends time and space between Xiluo and Changrong, a promise between a girl and a boy.

If you didn't know better, you'd think it was the Freljord version of Shining.

Click!

With a cracking sound, the ice block was finally shattered by Hiro, and the white-haired boy instantly fell from the frozen coffin into Hiro's arms.

"Idiot rabbit, Chang Rong...!"

Hiro caught the boy steadily and hugged him, warming him with his own body heat.

I wonder what his first words will be when he wakes up? Will it be the Chang Rong from his senior days, who, despite being a bit mischievous, was reliable and serious? Or will it be the Chang Rong from his junior days, who was very unserious, often acted out, but was still kind?

What should she say to him? Should she take the opportunity to say something elegant and gentle to highlight her status as a Yamato Nadeshiko (ideal Japanese woman)?

Hiro continued to daydream, but gradually she noticed something: the boy in her arms showed no signs of waking up.

"...Idiot rabbit?"

The expression on Hiro's face was gradually replaced by panic, and the 'worry' that had been lurking in her heart began to grow larger and larger.

Could it be... could it be that I didn't actually 'rewind', but rather truly jumped through timelines? Could it be that Chang Rong's existence is unique to his original timeline, and that his 'soul' doesn't exist in other worlds? Could it be that I arrived too early, and my premature actions interrupted Chang Rong's awakening? Could it be... could it be... could it be that I personally caused everyone's deaths...?

The seeds of panic continued to take root and sprout, rapidly devouring Hiro's already crumbling heart due to her transformation into a witch.

No... I don't want to... This is wrong, this is absolutely wrong—

Just before her consciousness completely sank into the abyss, the boy in her arms suddenly trembled.

"Well--"

"Chang Rong...!!!"

As Hiro fell, she reached out and grabbed her salvation, the only match that could illuminate her path.

"Ugh... Hiro—?"

The boy slowly opened his eyes with difficulty, and after seeing the girl with long, straight black hair holding him, he whispered two words, two words that were enough to redeem and save those who were lonely and regressing.

"You...you still remember me, Chang Rong! You've retained your memories too!!"

Hiro immediately grabbed Chang Rong's shoulders, asking in surprise and delight.

"No... um... I'm sorry, I can't remember. It just seemed to be some kind of instinct... Excuse me, where is this place? And who are you...?"

"—"

Looking at the boy in front of him who was shaking his head, frowning, and then apologizing to him in a serious manner, Hiro was stunned.