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

She just smiled and, carefree and nonchalant, raised her fist and swung it at herself.

In terms of the outcome, she was guilty of attempted murder. But Chang Rong could never understand the 'process'.

"Ju-kun, what exactly are you—"

Thump, thump, thump...!

As if the situation wasn't chaotic enough, hurried and heavy footsteps echoed from the corridor not far away.

This voice is extremely familiar to all girls; just hearing it can send uncontrollable shivers down their spines.

Yes, those were the guards' footsteps.

Ultimately, this isn't a secluded paradise for witches, but rather a prison-like killing ground restricted by rules and regulations. It's clear that the commotion Sherry Tachibana caused just now has violated the prison island's prohibitions.

dong dong dong-

A nearly 3-meter-tall, twisted creature wielding a giant scythe rushed into the cafeteria. After pausing briefly to scan the area, the guard fixed his gaze on the blue-haired detective girl.

“Sherry, no…! But, but…” Sakura Emma wanted to stop the guard, but she knew very well that she had no ability to stop the monster.

Even Emma Sakura couldn't find a convincing answer to whether she should even have the thought of 'stopping the guards'.

After all, to anyone else, the Tachibana Sherry before them was a terrifying being corrupted by the witch's essence, transformed into a witch to the point of utter depravity, teetering on the edge of the witch's precipice. Perhaps having the guards control her was the better option for everyone at the moment.

Everyone remained motionless and made no sound.

In a suffocating atmosphere where even time seemed to freeze, the twisted guard had already arrived in front of Tachibana Sherry.

Some people were too afraid to speak out in front of the guards, while others had no idea who to talk to or what to say.

In this deathly silence—

"What...what are you thinking, you gorilla woman!? Why, why did you suddenly become like this!?"

Hannah Tono couldn't hold back any longer. Ignoring the guards, she yelled at Sherry Tachibana and questioned her.

"Why...why~~~?" Tachibana Sherry held a magnifying glass to her chin, tilting her head slightly as if in deep thought.

"I'm not quite sure what Hannah wants to ask, but I think I get it now. I messed up, oh well~"

Before being forcibly arrested by the guards and sent to the disciplinary room, Yuki Tachibana showed a sudden realization (expression), and then smiled as always and said cheerfully.

Thump, thump... thump...

The guard's heavy footsteps gradually faded into the distance, disappearing along with the blue-haired detective.

"..."

"..."

"—"

Even after the guards had left, the canteen remained deathly silent.

The girls' faces turned ashen. Even the usually expressive Ryota Hasumi was speechless, gripping the hilt of her longsword tightly as if she wanted to crush it.

—This can't go on. They just went through a witch trial yesterday. If things continue like this, more people will be corrupted by the witch's influence.

But what could I say? [There must be a reason why Tachibana-san has her reasons.]

Don't make your brother Rong laugh. Chang Rong isn't confident he can fabricate such false evidence. Leaving aside whether the other girls would believe him, he can't even deceive himself.

In the end, the aspiring witches left the cafeteria in silence, muttering curses and fear, and went their separate ways. The 'Second Exchange Meeting' that Rhea originally wanted to hold never even began, and it all came to nothing.

All the prospective witches left the cafeteria, leaving Chang Rong alone in the room.

He frowned deeply as he mechanically cleaned up the desk debris and disposed of the broken wood.

I've gotten too cocky.

Does he really think he's a 'special existence,' a male protagonist tasked with guiding everyone to a happy ending? How laughable.

Accept reality. Reality is just as the YUKI system said: these people are utterly incapable of being 'saved.' They'll only use ridiculous, childish pretenses to mask their true nature within this prison, ultimately joining hands and smiling as they fight to the death—huh?

Chang Rong's thoughts were interrupted by a butterfly that flew by.

A beautiful butterfly, entirely black with white spots, hovered and danced in the air, swaying freely as it gradually approached Chang Rong.

The almost ethereal beauty of the butterfly made Chang Rong stop his thoughts and his mechanical cleaning. He stood there, letting the butterfly approach and alight on the tip of his nose—

*Plop!*

The black and white butterfly shattered the moment it touched Chang Rong, turning into a thick liquid that seeped into her heart and lungs through her nostrils.

"Cough cough—vomit vomit vomit cough cough!!?"

—The smell of mold, bacteria, and rotten broth… What the hell?! Is this murder? Did the cafeteria lady overhear my complaint and then murder me this way?!

Chang Rong, who was seemingly embracing and kissing expired snail rice noodles and spoiled stinky tofu at zero distance, lay on the ground and kept doing street dance.

And not far away—

"No, no no no no no..."

Noah Shirosaki huddled in the corner of the cafeteria, watching Chang Rong breakdance with a cold sweat on his face, only able to utter cute sounds of embarrassment and panic.

Now that things have come to this, it seems impossible to say things like, "I want to use magic to surprise Rongrong and encourage him to cheer up."

Volume 1: Chapter 33. Noah Kinosaki is a woman who could become my mother!

"Noah"

"No, no, no... Noah is a good boy, isn't he?"

Inside the restaurant, Chang Rong, with her red nose and hands on her hips, looked down at the petite girl in front of her, who resembled a palette of colors.

The girl's eyes darted around, as if she had made a mistake and been caught red-handed, but was still trying to deny it.

"A good child, in the general sense, wouldn't use moldy, spoiled meat broth as paint," Chang Rong said with a smile.

"Because, because Noah's black pigment is almost gone..."

"Then don't fly into my nostrils!"

"Noah, Noah can't control butterflies with such precision..."

"Well—never mind, since Noah is cute and his intentions were good, let's leave it at that this time. Just remember to be more careful next time, okay?"

"Noah understands, no, no, no~~"

Chang Rong had a bellyful of words to say, but they all deflated like a balloon and fell to the ground. She reached out and rubbed Noah while scolding the Palette Girl with mild words. Noah, who was being stroked by Chang Rong, squinted her eyes again and made a comfortable sound.

"..."

As she massaged him, Chang Rong's gaze towards Noah softened, losing its previous doting intensity.

Noah Kinosaki is suspected of possessing a unique magical ability to control liquids. (In the outside world, he is said to be the head of a super-popular, mysterious street known as "Balloon").

However, according to Noah himself, this 'control' ability is actually quite limited.

First, she must subjectively believe that she is manipulating the liquid to perform the act of 'painting'. Second, the content of the painting is not under Noah's control. The only pattern she can control is 'butterfly', but even so, she cannot control it precisely.

In other words, Noah can control the 'rotten soup' to draw the 'black and white ghostly butterflies', but he cannot control the 'pure water' to wash the dirt off the dishes, because the latter is not considered an act of painting.

Rather, the greatest convenience of this ability for Noah is that he can undo strokes at any time with Ctrl+Z. Don't like the look of the paint halfway through spraying? No problem, you can suck the sprayed paint back into the spray can.

But... is that really all there is to it?

If Noah Vegami can view the Manchu people as 'Japanese lacquerware cans', it means that as long as she has the thought of 'wanting to paint,' she can forcibly draw blood from other people's bodies in the next second and use it as a scarlet brush to create masterpieces.

Perhaps, in fact, Noah Kinosaki's magic was never limited in the first place; she could manipulate liquids at will to erode other people's tracheas, causing them to suffocate, or even pierce their eardrums and brain nerves.

"Rongrong looks really tired. Did she not get enough rest? Noah doesn't understand at all..."

When he came to his senses, Noah Kinosaki was looking at him with a worried expression.

Those beautiful, rainbow-like eyes stared straight at him, but what was reflected in those rainbow eyes was a ridiculous fellow who doubted everything and was suspicious of everything.

Doubt is not without its boundaries. Once doubt arises, everything in front of you can be speculated about without limits.

If Sherry Tachibana is suspected of being a witch who wants to kill her, then what about Hannah Tohno, the young lady who is close to Sherry Tachibana? What about Emma Sakuraba, who is close to them? What about Heero, who is hostile to Emma Sakuraba? And what about Noah, who is currently having a falling out with Heero?

The links of suspicion can go on indefinitely.

"From the perspective of sleep quality, I really didn't sleep well, thanks to a certain quilt thief..." Chang Rong shook her head and forced a smile in response to Noah.

"Look—now that I think about it, Noah finally understands!"

"Huh? You know what?"

Noah Kinosaki didn't respond. Instead, he suddenly pulled out a spray paint can and started spraying paint on the white tablecloth.

Before long, two more outlines appeared on the white tablecloth: a black and red cat and a white and gray rabbit.

However, the two outlines quickly merged into one, transforming into another abstract pattern.

Noah now understands why he feels close to Rongrong; it's because Rongrong and Xiluo are the same kind of person!

"Same……?"

Are you saying that both of them use 'perjury' to ramble on, both of them become witch-like and act out, both of them end up in jail stepping on sewing machines, and both of them have been beaten up? That does sound quite similar.

"Hiro was the first person to approach Noah! She diligently helps Noah find places where he can draw freely, takes him to restaurants, and corrects him when he does something wrong—although they're a little estranged now, Noah still really likes Hiro, hehe..."

"Then you should just go and make up with Nikaido-kun." "No way...! Heero's an idiot!"

—Tsk, is this the mistake of youth?

Although Noah appears to be a cute, innocent, and naive little girl, she actually has her own temper and ulterior motives.

Given Hiro's awkward personality—he'd grit his teeth and not utter a sound even if someone stomped on his back—it's expected that the little annoyance between these two will continue for some time.

"Anyway, what Noah wants to say is—Hiro, Rongrong, you're both good people, hehehe...Noah likes you guys~"

"...Noah, it would be even better if you could express it in a different way."

When Chang Rong was suddenly given a "friend card" by her sweetheart, she suddenly realized why Xi Luo had gotten angry after she gave her the "friend card" that morning. It was indeed easy to get angry.

“Even though we have no obligation to help anyone, both Hiro and Rongrong want to help as many people as possible, right? Although Hiro can be a bit of an idiot sometimes, and Rongrong always messes things up and gets beaten up, they still want to help people like Noah, right?”

“The description of ‘being cornered and beaten’ is superfluous, Noah.”

"No...? Noah also thought Rongrong's was 'tragic,' so he immediately copied it! But no matter whether he showed it to An'an or Milia, Hannah, or Coco, everyone said things like, 'What's so tragic about it? It's just that she unilaterally angered someone and got cornered and beaten up!' Noah doesn't really understand either—No, no, no!?"