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

"Don't worry, Xiao Rong, I'm very relaxed here! I don't have to get up in the middle of the night to look through case files from decades ago, nor do I have to spend the whole morning walking around various crime scenes pointing and collecting clues. It's as comfortable as a dream!"

"It's just that your original 'job' was too abstract, Milia... Anyway, it's really great that you can help, but considering that this matter is somewhat dangerous, we need to find someone else first."

Chang Rong complained helplessly, then led Milia to the second floor of the castle, a room that used to be so crowded that you couldn't leave without doing something, but has now been converted into Noah's studio.

"Huh? Isn't this Xiaoya's studio? Is Xiaorong looking for Xiaoya? Oh, could it be that Xiaorong wants to be a nude model, but is too shy to do it alone, so she dragged me along? Uh, I'm not good enough...! No, but if it's with Xiaorong, I can try my best..."

"That's not what I thought at all!?"

—Milia seems to have acted a little strange ever since she came out of the confessional…

Chang Rong wondered if she should really take some kind of 'pastor's certificate' exam before returning to her prayer work, otherwise she might end up leading the aspiring witches down some strange and bizarre path instead of guiding them onto the right track...

After refuting Milia's claim that she had no intention of coming to be a nude model, Chang Rong pushed open the door to the art studio.

"Excuse me—"

Upon opening the door, three girls were found in the small room.

"Hmm... You stupid monster...? [What are you doing here? Are you here to mock me for being fooled and tormented by the 'God of No Inspiration'? Well, I can only say you've come to the right place...]"

A white-haired girl named Natsume An'an, who calls herself a writer but has yet to release any works, sits at a table with blank manuscript papers on it, wearing an overly fluffy and soft dress.

She was listlessly watching the peeling plaster on the wall with a pen between her teeth, until Chang Rong entered the room. She then shifted her gaze, immediately exhaling and sketching on the sketchpad with swift, flowing strokes.

"Even if I had a lot of free time, I wouldn't do something like that..."

Chang Rong complained helplessly that it seemed that in An An's mind, he was still seen as a slightly sadistic man.

Beside An An, Nikaido Hiro and Shirosaki Noa sat together. In front of them was a complete set of paints and two easels, but the contents of the canvases on the easels were completely different.

The canvas in front of Hiro clearly depicts a vase and a fruit basket, while the canvas in front of Noah, after a long period of contemplation, led Chang Rong to guess that it might depict a 'mutant terrifying robot with a pointed head and a durian shell'.

"Chang Rong, Milia?" "Ah, it's Rongrong! Uncle's here too~"

Hiro put down his paintbrush, frowned, and looked at Chang Rong, while Noah beside him happily waved his hands in greeting.

"Good morning, are you painting here?" Chang Rong greeted Noah as she approached, trying to get a closer look at the painting in front of him. The only thing she was sure of was that it was not a portrait.

"Ah, I'm teaching Noah how to paint normally without using magic. A qualified artist can't always take shortcuts; he must have his own real skill and ability."

"Teach drawing? Hiro, you can even do that? And—you're really good at it!"

Chang Rong blinked. Unlike Noah's abstract masterpieces, the paintings on Hiro's canvas, whether in terms of lines, colors, or composition, all exuded a kind of orderly and restrained beauty.

"There's nothing to brag about; it's just a clumsy imitation with lines all there is." Hiro scoffed, but judging from her expression, she was quite happy to hear Chang Rong's praise.

"It's called imitation, but it's already far beyond the level of ordinary people..." Chang Rong sighed from the bottom of his heart. This guy, Hiro, always manages to show off his terrifyingly over-the-top hexagonal all-around data in all sorts of strange places.

"But in the end, it's just at the level of an enthusiast. Truly excellent art lies in the soul and inspiration, and painting skills are merely a means to achieve these two things." Hiro responded softly. She didn't seem to feel complacent about such terrifying painting skills. Instead, she genuinely believed that this level of copying didn't even qualify as art. It was just copying from a picture that anyone with hands could do.

"Hehehe, so that means Noah has a soul!" Noah immediately boasted to Chang Rong.

“That’s right, Noah. Now, summon all your ‘souls’ and I will hand them all over to Zeiss without leaving a single one behind,” Nikaido Hiro said with an incredibly bright smile.

"Waaaaah... Hero's an idiot...!!"

"I'm such an idiot for spending my time teaching you to draw—even crying has its limits, keep drawing!" Faced with Noah's pleas, Hiro transformed into a heartless educational robot, simply telling Noah to keep going until he could draw something that passersby could recognize as an 'apple'.

"Inspiration... my inspiration..." An An groaned softly from the side, clearly indicating that she was experiencing writer's block and her consciousness was becoming blurred.

"By the way, did Rongrong come to see Noah? If that's the case, then there's nothing I can do. Noah will have to rest for a while and then go keep Rongrong company—" Just as Noah put his hand on the paintbrush, he suddenly thought of something and looked at Chang Rong with an expectant expression.

"Um, I actually came to see An'an."

"No, no, no, no!?" "We...?"

Noah was originally looking forward to getting a chance to catch his breath from Hiro's iron-fisted education by getting a chance from Chang Rong's side. However, Chang Rong's choice of Natsume An'an was so unexpected that Noah burst like a balloon. Even An'an herself stared at Chang Rong with wide eyes, looking incredulous.

"【I won't go out with you...】" After a brief moment of shock, Natsume An-an immediately blushed, picked up her sketchbook, and muttered softly behind the whiteboard.

“When you’re stuck, just burying your head in your thoughts isn’t necessarily effective. It might be better to change your approach at times like this, right?” Chang Rong quickly used the thing An An needed most right now, ‘inspiration,’ as a sugar-coated bullet, trying to coax An An to come over.

"Hmm... even if you say that..."

"And what we're about to do is something that's hard to come by normally, an exciting and interesting event that's really helpful for writing novels! Only if you and Uncle work together can we make this happen!" Noticing that An'an was wavering, Chang Rong quickly pressed on while the iron was hot.

"Only we can...?" Sure enough, upon hearing this, Natsume An'an's eyes, which always looked like she hadn't woken up yet, widened considerably.

"No, Noah can do it too! It's just something exciting and fun... Noah noah... Noah is coming to battle Rongrong right now!"

Noah, who felt impressed by the awe-inspiring gesture, quickly moved closer and said that he was all that was needed for any thrills.

"Children shouldn't say things carelessly... especially things that are easy to misunderstand."

With veins bulging on his forehead, Hero pulled Noah, who had come closer, back away.

"Hmm... What's wrong with that? Hero and Noah are the same age...! Only Hero always acts like a mature adult, it's so cunning!"

Noah Kinosaki complained angrily, "They're both 00-year-old girls, so why does Heero occupy my mother's niche?"

"Hehe, because maturity isn't just about words. It also requires corresponding awareness and actions. Watch closely, Noah, see what a mature woman should do! Trying to seduce my idiot rabbit first thing in the morning, I'll kick you to death—"

"This isn't maturity at all, it's just plain infatuation!!" Seeing that the 'mature demonstration' that Hiro was talking about was actually a fangirl, Chang Rong was so frightened that she quickly backed away.

"Really...uh...we know!"

Realizing that the white-haired boy was about to become a teaching tool in front of her, Natsume Anan finally couldn't bear it anymore. She grabbed Chang Rong's hand and hurriedly fled the art studio.

"Don't overthink it...! [I'm not trying to get information from you, I'm just giving you face, don't get the wrong idea!]"

After leaving the art studio, An An blushed and shook her overly loose sleeves, pretending to be serious as she shook her sketchbook and said to Chang Rong.

"Hehe, An is so cute..." Milia saw An'an's appearance and showed an expression that was somewhat ominous in various ways.

"Yes, yes, anyway, it's so great that you did me the honor of helping out, An'an. But..."

Chang Rong looked at Saeki Miria and Natsume An'an in front of him, and his expression became serious.

"The matter I need your help with next involves a trap set by the witches, so it is indeed quite dangerous. Therefore, I need to seriously ask Milia and Anan—are you willing to use your [magic] to help me and for everyone?"

"Magic... well, I'm fine with that, Uncle." Milia rubbed her hair. Although her swapping magic had been conjuring up some weird and wonderful images lately, she wasn't particularly resistant to using it.

"We..."

But Natsume Anan is a bit different. Her magic has caused irreparable tragedies in the past. Although Anan will still use magic instinctively when she is under the influence of the red heat, it is still a bit of a stretch to ask her to actively use [hypnotic magic].

“It’s okay, An’an. Even if you can’t make a decision right now, it’s alright. We’ll wait for you. I just want you to know that your magic isn’t a curse. It also has an irreplaceable aspect that can help everyone.”

Chang Rong squatted down in front of An An, without putting any pressure on her, and just said with a soft smile.

"Helping everyone... no, don't underestimate us! We're fully prepared to gather material for our novel!"

After a brief silence, Natsume Anan nodded emphatically, blushing, demonstrating her resolve in a way that seemed quite adorable.

—Can our 'magic' really... help everyone?

An'an followed Chang Rong with a mixture of anticipation and worry, thinking to herself.

--------

Thanks to Chenguang Moxin·Fulan Hongxia for the unexpected help.

Thank you so much, Starry Moon Reflection, for the 32 blades! I'm extremely grateful!

Thanks to Clock·Binglin·0,·Kujo Jota Wang·Admirer·Hope·Kamizu Izuru·Book Guest 6296597·yyt Chen·v I 50, I'll show you·330ml of feeding!

194. Hypnotist An An (10K)

"Uh……?"

"These two are the helpers I found, Naoka."

In front of the shower room, Chang Rong explained to the somewhat confused Kurobe Nanoha that the two people beside her were not cheerleaders, but 'investigator' companions.

"Hmm... Although I'm not entirely sure, based on the 'contents' I saw, this mirror contains some kind of magic that can take over other people's bodies. It will be triggered as soon as you get close and touch it, making it a very dangerous trap."

Nanoka Kurobe pointed to a mirror with a warning sign posted on it and explained to everyone.

“Breaking the mirror might not be effective. The best solution is to deal with the ‘witch’ hiding inside the mirror directly, and that’s where I hope Milia and An’an can help,” Chang Rong added from the side.

"Um... Uncle, I'm still not quite sure how to do it exactly?" Milia asked awkwardly, raising her hand.

“It’s very simple! The ‘Mirror Demon’ will ‘swap’ its own body with the person outside the mirror, and coincidentally, Milia, your magic also swaps the person you touch, so—just like the warden’s head, if you turn it 180 degrees and then another 180 degrees, the result is still the same!”

"Eh...? Okay, it seems theoretically possible..." Milia blinked. When she touched the Mirror Demon, she would be 'possessed' and sucked into the mirror, but if she activated the 'Exchange' spell at the same time, how would you deal with that?

"Considering other unknown risks, An'an will be responsible for conducting the 'trial.' An'an, you need to use [hypnosis] magic to confirm whether Milia is really herself. Because An'an's hypnosis can only work on people who are 'not hostile and trust An'an.' Even if the Mirror Demon is swapped out, we can confirm her authenticity immediately. After all, Milia is a kind person and will unconditionally trust An'an."

"Haha, I really can't really argue with that, Uncle." Milia, with her easygoing nature, rubbed her hair and smiled in agreement.

"So, our hypnotic magic..."

"An'an's hypnotic magic is to find everyone's companions, and to protect Milia's seatbelt guardian."

"...We understand."

Natsume Anan nodded, her lazy gaze becoming much more serious.

Of course, even if Natsume Anan couldn't confirm Milia's authenticity immediately, Milia, who possesses the 'exchange' magic, could still return to her own body by canceling the magic's effect if she successfully activated her spell, which is another layer of protection.

"Alright, the emergency anti-magic rope is ready. Let's begin the [Shake Hands, Shake Hands] Operation!"

"Ugh... what a lame codename. Are you illiterate, you stupid monster...?"

"I said don't stir up Meruru's troubles—it's up to you, Milia!"

Chang Rong clapped his hands, ignoring An An's mockery, and announced the official start of the mine-clearing operation.

"Although I still don't understand, let's leave it to the uncle!"

Saeki Miria clenched her fist to cheer herself up, then walked forward to the mirror.

"The witch of mirrors, she will switch places with anyone who touches her..."

Milia stood in front of the mirror, swallowed hard, and after a brief moment of mental preparation, she reached out and gently placed her hand on the mirror while looking into it.

Hehehe, can you see me? Since you can see me, then your body is mine...hehe.

"Ugh...!?"

[Exchange] Magic—!

Milia suddenly felt a chill spread throughout her body. Without time to think, the moment she felt her body being invaded by some foreign object, she immediately used the exchange magic.

"Hoo...!"

Milia quickly broke free from his arm, and at the same time, Chang Rong and his group, who were standing by, immediately came over.