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

Several tens of minutes later—

"Furry, soft, and warm..."

"Cats are everywhere, let's at least go see some rarer animals!"

"Hehe, want some cat treats? Then let Mother pet you some more, good boy, good boy, kind boy...hehehe..."

Chang Rong looked helplessly at Xiao Xue, who was surrounded by several hamsters and was displaying a mysterious maternal glow towards the cat.

If you want to pet cats, go to a cat cafe! What's the big deal about getting so attached to a few kittens at the zoo entrance?!

Although Chang Rong did try to pull Xiao Xue out, the result of rashly trying to do so was that Xiao Xue would just dodge and breathe on him, so he had no choice but to give up.

The turning point came when Xiaoxue licked all the cat treats out of her hand. After the Hakimi, who had been meowing and acting cute for a long time, noticed that this bean sprout skeleton soldier could no longer produce any more rice, they instantly abandoned him and scattered like birds and beasts.

"Ugh...! So, they're really this pragmatic... Cats and humans should just die together after all...!"

"Your thinking is way too extreme!"

Betrayed by her cat, Sato Yuki gritted her teeth and showed a cowardly expression, declaring that Hakimi should also die. Today, she has become the number one cat lover on TV.

After that, the two finally began to stroll around the zoo.

What is this?

"This is a penguin. It can pick up stones, quack, and sing songs that would make elephants react."

"And what is this?"

"Cheese Snow Leopard, speaking of snow leopard reminds me of that strange encounter I had with Boss Yin in Litang before - Snow Leopard, shut up."

"what about this?"

"Stay away from the cheese lynx; this lynx will drag you into a philosophical debate of 5000 to 2 words."

"this?"

"This is a night heron."

"Oh, this is a penguin, right? You just said that."

"This is also a night heron."

"Hmm... this is a seagull. I've seen it in my textbook."

"Sorry, that's still a night heron."

"This is... an orca?"

Night heron.

"Then this can't be a night heron, right...? After all, it looks like a human no matter how you look at it."

"No, no, no, that's the Night Heron Monster."

"What does that even mean...!!"

The Great Witch Yuki's first zoo visit report wasn't very successful; there were just too many Night Masters!

The two chatted casually, and before they knew it, they had explored the entire zoo, just as closing time was approaching.

"I didn't expect you to like animals so much, Xiaoxue."

On the way back from the zoo, Chang Rong happily told Xiao Xue. Although this wasn't a 'date' in the broad sense that the two of them tacitly agreed upon, it was a 'date' for Chang Rong herself, and the overall atmosphere was quite nice.

I thought that Yuki, the eccentric and chuunibyou (delusional) girl, wouldn't be very interested in animals, but Yuki was different from what I thought. She was actually enjoying herself with these little animals.

"Because unlike humans, animals are not sinful—except for those cats that ate my cat treats and ran away, the night heron that disguised itself as an umbrella and startled me, and that monkey that made a nonsensical declaration of independence."

Xiaoxue said softly, then added to the Book of Hatred with a vicious expression, as if she were a nobody.

“Original sin…” Chang Rong murmured the word. He occasionally heard Xiao Xue say this word. It seemed that in her eyes, all humans were born with ‘original sin’, but Chang Rong did not know what this original sin specifically referred to. Was it the sin of color field?

"And...you don't have any either."

"what?"

Xiaoxue's sudden, unprovoked additional explanation startled Chang Rong.

“You are free from original sin, Rong. I am certain of that.”

Xiaoxue didn't brush it off; instead, she repeated the sentence again, her tone even more serious and earnest.

"Really...? I have five or six disciplinary records for fighting, you know? Of course, since I'm a top student and a transfer student, even if I get ten more disciplinary records, the teacher will still keep my scholarship, hehehe!"

"Hmph, the inherent flaws of human bureaucratic regimes..."

"When I treated you to ice cream with my bonus, Xiaoxue, you didn't act like this at all! Oh my god!!!"

"...I was criticizing you!"

Xiaoxue kicked Chang Rong's shin hard, responding to the white-haired boy's teasing with physical means.

boom! ! !

A burst of colorful light suddenly appeared in the sky not far away, accompanied by a loud explosion.

"Oh, speaking of which, there seems to be a fireworks festival nearby. Shall we go check it out on the way?"

Looking at the fireworks in the distance, Chang Rong suddenly remembered the advertising flyers posted on her front door, so she asked the big witch next to her.

"...It's not impossible." Xiaoxue nodded after thinking for a moment.

Since it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, the two did not go to the best spot on the riverbank, which was already crowded. Instead, they randomly found a pedestrian overpass, leaned against the side of the passage, and watched the fireworks that occasionally bloomed in the distance above the scattered traffic.

"We possess so much magic, yet we've never created an effect as dazzling and fleeting as fireworks..."

Watching the flowers, whose lifespan is only a few seconds, bloom and wither continuously, Xiaoxue murmured to herself in a voice only she could hear.

Meaningless, without any practical value, its sole purpose being to burn for a few seconds and then completely dissipate—such a romantic thing, which she, as a witch, had never witnessed in the past hundred years.

Humans are truly...

"Rong"

"What's wrong, Xiaoxue? Don't you like this place?"

"No, it's enough for observing fireworks." Xiaoxue gently shook her head, then looked up at the boy in front of her with her light-colored eyes and asked softly:

Why choose me?

"Huh? Why are you suddenly asking this kind of question... But why? Yeah, why exactly? I'm looking for the reason too." Chang Rong replied with a smile.

—I can't just honestly say, "I'm a body enthusiast, and I was immediately drawn to your looks the moment I saw you!"

Now that things have come to this, I can no longer bring myself to admit that I'm a sucker for good looks.

"..." After hearing Chang Rong's response, Xiao Xue frowned and glared at him with a somewhat disgusted look, but she did not continue to ask questions.

"So, Rong—if I told you that I might fade and disappear one day, just like these fireworks, would you still want to choose me?"

"Of course," Chang Rong replied without hesitation.

“Rong, you…” Hearing the boy’s decisive, almost instinctive response, Xiaoxue’s eyes wavered.

"After all, I've already invested so much time, so I definitely have to keep choosing until the very end. That's what they call sunk costs, waaaaaah!!!"

Unsurprisingly, this overly simple answer earned him a direct kick to the leg from the Great Witch, a gesture of affection and favor.

"Rong, you're such an idiot."

"—"

Chang Rong stood there, stunned. In the light of the fireworks, he saw an expression on the girl's face that he had never seen before: a smile.

A pure white, snowflake-like girl smiled at herself amidst the dazzling fireworks, and at that moment, her smile made all the fireworks blooming behind her pale in comparison.

The most beautiful, blooming flower was the ray of light that appeared on the lips of the girl named 'Snow' in Chang Rong's eyes.

But that smile quickly vanished along with the fireworks, eventually disappearing into the darkness.

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……"

I feel like I had a dream that I miss so much, Xiaoxue... Xiaoxue... um.

Like countless beautiful dreams, Chang Rong woke up from her dream. All the wonderful moments in her mind were slipping away from her mind and fingertips at an unimaginable speed, leaving only an empty, intangible crystal.

Xiaoxue... I feel like I've heard this name somewhere before... Should I ask Hiro Coco-chan...?

Chang Rong got out of bed, covered her forehead with one hand, and tried to pull her thoughts back from the distant past to the present.

Phew, putting aside that somewhat strange dream for now, it was actually a very peaceful night.

Last night before going to bed, Chang Rong specifically asked the warden for a lock and locked the door to the Goblin Chamber. Chang Rong also repeatedly confirmed with the warden that Meruru wouldn't have a spare key before locking the door and happily drifting off to sleep.

Although Chang Rong didn't think these prospective witches would do something as extreme as sneaking into a room in the middle of the night, ... it seemed like physical memories or perhaps memories of the second witch, so Chang Rong felt it was necessary to strengthen preventative measures.

In any case, at least my choice to lock it was the right one! Look how soundly I slept last night—

Good morning, Chang Rong.

"Good morning, Nanoha Kaori—uh?"

Suddenly, a girl's voice greeted him from beside him. Chang Rong instinctively responded, then turned his head in the direction of the voice and saw the black-haired, twin-tailed girl wearing a cycling helmet, Kurobe Nanoha. And Kurobe Nanoha's older sister, the headband guard.

"Please forgive me, I...I...my reckless behavior yesterday caused you unnecessary trouble. So, in order to...in order to atone for my sins, please, Chang Rong, today, um...please use me as you please...!!"

With a resigned expression, Kurobe Nanoha Kaori blushed and, without a word, performed a deep bow to Chang Rong.

"Ughhhhhhhh!!???"

"Hiss hiss hiss!!!"

Meanwhile, the guard with the headband beside her emitted a sharp, agonizing wail, seemingly trying to say something like, "That's not what I meant before!!"

Bad news: The district virus and jellyfish virus are spreading rapidly from person to person on Witch Island.

As for Chang Rong, he even doubted that he was still dreaming. He pinched his face until it was swollen before realizing that this was not a dream, but reality.

"Nanoha Kaori, you you you—"

"It's getting cold, Chang Rong. Remember to cover yourself well with a blanket so you don't catch a cold. I'm here to admit my mistakes and atone for my sins, not to hear you say nonsensical things like 'I clearly locked the door, how did you get in?'" Kurobe Nanoha interrupted Chang Rong, raising her head with an extremely resolute expression.

"So how did you get in here?! And wasn't my blanket on you?!"