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

"Hmm...it looks familiar, especially that pool over there—"

Looking at the clear, bright lake not far away, Chang Rong felt that this place must also be some kind of ancient battlefield.

It was clearly a lake outside the castle, but the sense of déjà vu I felt was no less than that of the rooms inside the castle. It was truly amazing.

"..."

Not only Chang Rong, but the guard with the hairband also acted strangely when she arrived near the lake. She would look into the forest deep in the lake from time to time, as if checking if anything was coming.

"Hmm... there seems to be some kind of water ghost-like creature in this lake that will attack everyone." Nanoha Kaori withdrew her hand and pointed to the depths in the center of the lake.

"There's also the water monkey part... How do we deal with that?" Chang Rong narrowed her eyes. As expected of Witch Island, even the ecological resources are quite magical.

"Can we use electric fishing to bring it out?"

"...You said something quite extraordinary in such a serious manner, Nanoha Kaori."

It is well known that the more animals you release, the greater your merit, and the greater your merit, the greater your reward.

Someone like Naoya Kaori, who releases 220V electricity at the drop of a hat, will surely attract many fish to come up and offer their bodies as a form of almsgiving in return.

"Let Noah give it a try. She has the ability to manipulate liquids, so maybe she can separate the water from the lake. If we find that water ghost, we can ask Arisa to dry it out."

Hmph, I'm quite adept at elemental reactions myself.

"But I'd better check out the surrounding area first—uh, wait? Big sister?"

"Fizz!"

Chang Rong was about to approach the lake when the headband-wearing guard suddenly waved its thin, twisted arm. It looked anxious and seemed to want Chang Rong to stay away from the lake.

"What's wrong, big sister? Don't worry, I won't go near the center of the lake—waaaah! Okay, okay, I won't go!"

Chang Rong was poked hard in the nose by a tentacle and had no choice but to admit defeat.

Although she didn't know what was going on, her older sister's behavior seemed to reveal a resolute determination that left no room for negotiation or compromise. Chang Rong could only deal with it in the same way as the possession mirror in the shower room and the confession corridor, temporarily putting up a sign to indicate the danger.

"Anyway... let's leave it at that for today. Although I have a vague feeling that there are still landmines that haven't been dug out, this is not something that can be done in a day anyway, so let's take it slow."

Chang Rong clapped his hands and said to Naoya Kaori with a smile, "Today's results are actually quite impressive."

"Um……"

Nanoha Kurobe nodded, it seemed that her time with Chang Rong in a legitimate relationship was about to come to an end.

The two walked through the woods on their way back to the castle, but as they passed a path covered by bushes—

"Pfft!" "Ugh...!?"

Kurobe Nanoka felt herself step into thin air and fall forward.

"Nanoha Kaori—!"

For some reason, the headband guard remained a distance behind the two of them and failed to react immediately. At this moment, the person closest to Kurobe Nanoha was Chang Rong.

Almost instinctively, Chang Rong reached out to try to grab Nanoha Kaori, who was falling forward, but he couldn't find any fixed point to hold onto and could only be dragged along by Nanoha Kaori as she fell.

In the nick of time, Chang Rong made a decision—he pushed forward with both feet and lunged into the inexplicably appearing pit, then tightly hugged the black-haired girl with pigtails, wriggling in mid-air and desperately trying to adjust his body.

"Chang Rong, you... um!?"

Boom! ! !

A muffled thud came from Chang Rong's back. In the nick of time, he turned around with Naoya Kaori in his arms, using himself as a cushion to absorb the impact of the fall.

"Ugh... thankfully, this pit isn't as deep as I thought..."

The impact felt like it almost knocked their lungs and hearts out, but thankfully they didn't fall for too long. Blood slowly returned to their brains, and their vision, which had been completely dark, was now bright again. Judging from the white light at the entrance, the pit was about three stories high.

"Chang Rong, are you...are you alright...?!"

Kurobe Nanoha, who was being hugged, hurriedly got up. She wasn't injured, but she looked anxious and nervous as she approached Chang Rong and asked in a flustered tone.

"It's alright, there's mud and dead leaves down there, so it'll serve as a buffer... Honestly, how old are you to be playing with traps—ugh!"

Chang Rong tried to get up, but was met with a piercing pain. Only then did he notice that the tip of a tree branch had pierced through his left arm.

Why does it always feel like my little Zuo is the one who gets hurt?

For no reason at all, Chang Rong suddenly thought that this wasn't the first time her arm had been skewered like a candied hawthorn.

"You, you're injured...! Chang Rong!" Kurobe Nanoha Kaori noticed the terrifying penetrating wound on Chang Rong's left arm, and her expression instantly turned ashen.

"It's all my fault. If I had been watching my step, if you hadn't fallen after me, if you hadn't protected me—[protected]..."

As if she had caught a key word, Nanoha Kurobe's body suddenly began to tremble, and her tone became so fragile that she seemed on the verge of collapse.

Nanoha Kurobe's taboo is being protected. She was once protected by her older sister, but indirectly hurt her sister in the process. Since then, Nanoha Kurobe has had an almost pathological pursuit of independence and not being protected.

"It's all because Chang Rong protected me that...that's why—"

Something as black as ink slowly emerged from the corner of Kurobe Nanoha's eyes, flowing out as if it wanted to devour and engulf her.

"That's not how it is!"

"Ugh—!?"

Chang Rong roughly hugged Naiye Xiang with his intact right hand, pressing her forehead against his own.

"It's not that I protected you, it's more like we 'protected each other'!"

"each other……?"

"If it weren't for your magic, Nanoha Kaori, everyone would have been trapped by those messy traps sooner or later. It was your illusion magic that protected everyone! Even me, if it weren't for your repeated reminders, those traps would have been unavoidable. I wouldn't have been able to save my own life, let alone help."

"Well……"

"Besides, there's no such thing as one-sided sacrifice among accomplices, hehe... You think I'm protecting you? I just want to use this self-inflicted pain to make you feel guilty and keep you by my side, hehehe!"

Chang Rong suddenly changed his tone, speaking to Kurobe Nanoha in a sinister and cunning voice. He even felt that wasn't sinister enough, so he deliberately added an overly dramatic, villainous three-part laugh at the end of his sentence.

"Hmm... a self-inflicted injury ruse?"

Nanoha Kurobe blinked, looking confused and bewildered by Chang Rong's words.

"That's right! This was all part of my plan—ouch, ouch, ouch... Anyway, Nanoha Kaori, your illusion magic is so useful, how could I bear to let go? Since Nanoha Kaori, you are a very serious and kind girl, then I only need to use a little trick to make you willingly work for me for free, right? Hehehe!"

Chang Rong revealed a sinister and cunning smile, as if he had mastered his plan. He only needed to play the victim a little to keep the naive and foolish girl by his side. It was a win-win situation!

Faced with Chang Rong's wicked smile, which seemed to be possessed by a green worm, Kurobe Nanoha lowered her head.

"If it can help Chang Rong, no plan is needed... I'm willing to be your accomplice for life."

"^q^ Huh?"

Chang Rong, who was only planning to give false testimony and make threats, vaguely felt that she had accidentally created a brand new Chong Nv.

"But... the premise is... I really deserve to be your accomplice... Chang Rong—can I really, truly be considered to have helped everyone? Did I really... help you?"

Seeing the white-haired boy's feigned sinister expression, Naoya Kaori's emotions gradually calmed down, and the dark substance stopped overflowing, replaced by a look of insecurity and pleading questions.

"Yes, you can be more proud, more arrogant. After all, your contribution is much greater than anyone else's so far, Nanoha Kaori."

"If that's the case... then... that's really great."

Naoya Kaori leaned against Chang Rong's chest and whispered.

"I... I don't know why, but I always feel that I don't deserve this kind of 'happy daily life' at all, because... because I seem to have destroyed everyone's happiness with my own hands. But, but—if I really help everyone, if this [Vision] can be used as a tool for protection rather than destruction... then, do I also... have the right to try to find happiness?"

"You don't need any qualifications for that kind of thing, you idiot Nanoha Kaori."

Chang Rong hugged the girl with pigtails tightly and responded with a helpless, bitter smile.

"Pursuing happiness is a natural thing. If you're scared to be alone, Nanoha Kaori, I can stay with you for a little while, okay?"

“…Hmm,” Nanoha looked at Chang Rong, and a slight smile finally appeared on her lips.

At the edge of the cave entrance not far away, the headband-wearing guard rushed to the side. She watched the two of them nervously, and only breathed a sigh of relief after realizing that they had not suffered irreparable injuries. Then she silently watched the heartwarming scene of the two of them embracing tightly in the pit.

"..."

"..."

"Hiss hiss hiss...? (Why aren't you kissing me yet?)"

Finally, the guard with the hairband, unable to bear it any longer, pulled the two out of the water, who seemed completely absorbed in their pure love and had no intention of taking things any further.

"Uh, is this alright? This hairband is something you cherish, Nanoha Kaori..."

"No, this is fine."

After emerging from the pit, Kurobe Nanoha used her treasured hairband to tie Chang Rong's arm to stop the bleeding, and said with a soft laugh.

This hairband was once her most precious possession. Using it to 'package' her now even more precious self is a way of making the best use of it.

"By the way, Chang Rong, I also made some chocolate while I was baking, but... um..."

Nanoka Kurobe remembered something, and she carefully took out a chocolate from her waist pouch, but it was already torn and tattered from the fall.

I couldn't find the opportunity or reason to give it away, and as time went on, I never had the chance to give it away in its entirety.

Nanoha Kurobe looked at the damaged chocolate with a disappointed expression, and then her flat cycling hat was gently patted twice.

"When I get back, I'll have Meruru help treat my arm, and then Nanoha will teach me how to make chocolate, okay? Let's make a new one together~"

"……Um!"

Looking at the innocent smile on the white-haired boy's face, Kurobe Nanoha nodded seriously and accepted Chang Rong's promise and invitation.

"Hiss hiss hiss...?" The older sister leaned closer to Nanoha Kaori and seemed to say something, and Nanoha Kaori's cheeks instantly turned crimson.

"No, no need for weird accessories...! The ordinary ones are enough...!!"

Kurobe Nanoha waved her hand to shoo away her unreliable yet overly proactive older sister, then helped Chang Rong slowly leave the forest.

"..."

The headband-wearing guard first looked helplessly at the two women, then turned back to look into the depths of the forest.

Should we tell Chang Rong about the lingering 'original sin' from the past? It's clearly not the boy's responsibility, but if anyone can save 'them'... perhaps only Chang Rong can.

Finally, the older sister caught up with the two of them and left the lake, returning to the castle.

The values ​​on the 'Love System' have also quietly changed once again.

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.

Nanoha Kurobe: [87/100] → [99/100]