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

Chang Rong was extremely conflicted when faced with that blue-haired Lu Bu-like detective.

On the one hand, if it weren't for Tachibana Sherry, I'm afraid I would have had to speedrun through the first playthrough right after being reincarnated, inside the ice block.

But on the other hand, (this guy suddenly exploded,) his act of wanting to smash Ling to death with one punch was also witnessed by (everyone).

If Witch Island is a collection of contradictions, then Tachibana Sherry is a collection of 'chaos'. Chang Rong, who considers himself a master of Galahad, can't find even the slightest clue as to how to get along with her.

"Hmm? It's you... What are you doing here, just standing around in a daze?"

While Chang Rong was still struggling with her inner turmoil, new footsteps came from the stairs behind her. The little blonde girl with twin ponytails, holding a feather fan and wearing a green Lolita lace dress, 'Hannah Tono', also appeared there for some reason.

"Ah, it's Miss Tono! It's my honor to meet you~"

"Stop with the nonsense! I've known all along you're not a knight at all; you're just trying to use this method to rally your allies during the trial!"

Chang Rong immediately switched to her alternate account, 'The Naïve Heiress,' to greet Tono Hannah. However, after experiencing a series of minor incidents, Tono Hannah had gained a better understanding of the true nature of this 'Knight.'

"Oh dear, a wise man does not stand under a crumbling wall. My loyalty to Lady Tono is unwavering, and that is enough for you to know. As for other sweet words? I have nothing to say, I will only show my loyalty with my actions."

Chang Rong revealed a pained expression, a look of resolute determination that only sought to become a Shadow-level powerhouse and silently protect the princess.

"Hmm... I really can't do anything with you, desuwa... Anyway, did you come to see Sherry?"

As always, Tono Hannah was tough, but she was easily fooled by Chang Rong again in less than a minute.

“That’s right. Although it may be life-threatening, I still want to know what’s in Tachibana’s heart. However, considering Tachibana’s mental state… please rest assured, young lady. I will protect your safety here—please.”

"Well, then I won't stand on ceremony—no, since you said you'd protect my safety, then you'd better go first!"

Following Chang Rong's handsome and elegant guidance, Tono Hannah headed into the punishment room, but after taking only two steps, she realized something was wrong and immediately turned around to glare angrily at Chang Rong and complain.

"Wow, as expected of the young lady."

“You ‘ya le ya le’ my head desuwa!”

It seems that Tono Hannah is not at the same table as Kurobe Nanoha, which is a real shame.

With no other option, Chang Rong steeled herself and walked ahead to push open the door to the punishment room, praying in her heart that the guards wouldn't be there at this time.

Although 'playing in the punishment room during free time' is not a prohibited activity in the manual, the mere fact that someone looks like a guard is enough to instill fear in everyone.

Oh, but the guard with the headband, who gently led her to the sewing machine and brought her bedding at night (which was then stolen by Nanoha Kaori) was slightly different.

I forgot the beginning and the end, but anyway, it's different.jpg

Fortunately, the guards in the disciplinary room don't seem to be there right now, so there's only one problem left:

"Miss Tohno, your magical ability is levitation, right?"

"That's right, why are you suddenly asking this?"

"If, I mean if—if Shirley Tachibana gets angry again when she sees me, you must protect me immediately and use your invincible flying magic to pull me away. Don't worry, I will always stay by your side."

Chang Rong spoke to Tono Hanna in a cool, reassuring, bubble-like voice, with a serious expression.

"If you're going to be such a coward, don't say it in such a serious and cool tone! Besides, I already said my magic is levitation, which only makes me float for about 10 seconds. It's not a way to escape at all!"

"tsk"

"Such a blatant and direct complaint... You should try to tone it down a bit with your previous tone of voice!"

"What a useless young lady. By the way, just to be on the safe side, I should ask, Miss Tono, your family doesn't happen to have exactly 6480 Bitcoins, does it?"

"Bitcoin? Although I don't know what it is—cough cough, I mean, of course I can take that little thing whenever I want, desuwa~!"

"You will always be my young lady, and protecting you will be my lifelong dream."

"It changed so fast!"

With her relatively inexperienced background, Tono Hanna was no match for Chang Rong, a seasoned veteran with skin as thick as Galio's. During the conversation, Chang Rong completely dominated her.

"But... why did Sherry suddenly do that? Although she is usually quite eccentric, she would never really hurt anyone..." Thinking of Tachibana Sherry's attack, which was beyond everyone's expectations, Tono Hannah's emerald eyes dimmed.

"That's something only Tachibana can answer herself—if we can still communicate with her properly."

Chang Rong's response also lacked confidence and showed signs of worry.

There are so many mysteries surrounding this blue-haired, eccentric detective girl: her witch-like progress (0/0), her sudden attacks with superhuman strength, her never showing any negative emotions, and her cheerful personality that can be described as 'weird'.

Everything indicated that Tachibana Sherry was the person Chang Rong least wanted to interact with, yet he had no choice but to approach her.

Chang Rong didn't even know the 'reason' for her attacking her. The worst-case scenario was that she would attack again without warning the moment she saw her. In that case, she could only pray that the restraints in the punishment room could control her monstrous strength.

Tono Hannah and Chang Rong, with completely different but equally heavy hearts, arrived at the door of the deepest room in the disciplinary room.

"Hey, gorilla girl... Sherry, are you alright?"

Hannah Tono walked to the closed door and called out softly, but received no response.

The deathly silence, devoid of any sound, felt even more suffocating in the dark basement. Simply standing there was already a form of 'torture'.

With no other option, Hannah Tono, having received no response, could only peer through the small observation window separated by iron bars.

Through the observation window, Tono Hannah saw that scene—

The blue-haired girl, who always had a carefree smile, was tightly bound to a pillar. Her head drooped limply, and her detective hat fell to the ground, covered in dust.

Around the girl, countless blood-red butterflies swirled and danced, like an final waltz performed for the deceased.

"Snow...Sherry—Sherry ahhhhh!!!"

Hannah Tono let out a piercing scream.

next second...

"Zzzz... Hmm? Ah, is that Hannah? What's wrong? Has a locked-room murder happened?!"

He raised his drooping head, drooling as he excitedly asked the doorway.

"Waaaaaahh ...

This time, Hannah Tono's screams rose eight octaves higher.

Volume 1: Chapter 37. The Damaged Detective Girl

"You, you don't seem to be like that!?"

In the corridor of the punishment room, Hannah Tono, separated by the cell door, gasped in surprise, as if Judy had dreamt of a round palm, after realizing that Sherry Tachibana in the room had faked her death.

"Huh? Hannah, how rude of me! I was just sleeping~ After all, there's nothing to do right now, so I might as well sleep to pass the time. What a pity, I was already dreaming about fried eggs, black tea, bacon, toast, pipes, and cocaine!"

—Is this really Sherlock Holmes' breakfast? No, there's something in there that shouldn't be on the table at all!

Although I couldn't see Tachibana Sherry's condition inside the room through the door, judging from her voice, she seemed no different from her usual silly, cheerful self.

"What's with all these butterflies?! And I see you have so many wounds, Desuwa! Were those guys torturing you?! Damn it...!"

Hannah Tono clung to the small window, desperately trying to get a better look at Sherry Tachibana's wounds.

"Hmm? A wound? Hehehe, it's nothing, it's nothing. Nothing happened after the guard brought me in. It seems like the guard just wanted to leave me here in solitary confinement. What a pity! There are so many items in this punishment room whose purpose I have no idea about. I thought I would finally have a chance to solve the mystery myself~~"

"Are you out of your mind?! Then why do you have...?"

"Oh, these wounds? Because I saw the guard's back was exposed, so I was thinking of taking him down by attacking his weak point from behind. You have to hit them head-on, right?"

"Where is Desuwa!?"

Where is the obstacle ahead?

"In short, I didn't elbow the guard, but it seems the guard didn't intend to kill me directly either. He just tied me up and left. That's the truth!"

"Ugh..."

Hannah Tono was at a loss for words.

Not only the young lady, but Chang Rongguang was also almost exhausted from listening to the conversation between I/I Ni Liu Jiu Yi San Lu.

Although Chang Rong already knew from various sources that 'Sherry Tachibana is a strange person,' her bizarre behavior still far exceeded his expectations.

"I feel like my brain is going to shut down if I keep talking to you... Anyway, you're really okay, right?" Tono Hannah rubbed her eyebrows and asked the most important question to her at the moment.

"Hmm~! Those butterflies used to fly around, but they've stopped laying eggs now, what a pity... If they could fill the whole room, it would be so beautiful, right?"

"Then you'll die a horrible death!! I...I can't take it anymore..."

Hannah Tono felt she didn't have enough points to continue the conversation and announced her departure from the group chat.

At first, I was a little curious about what these 'blood butterflies' were, but later I learned that they were actually magic cast by Noah.

Because both the conditions of 'drawing butterflies' and 'the subjective intention is to paint' were met, Noah's magic [Liquid Control] was successfully applied to the prison island.

The resulting effect is that all the blood flowing out of the body will turn into beautiful scarlet butterflies.

Does it seem romantic? You won't think so when you get a nosebleed and find butterflies spraying wildly from your nostrils.

Or maybe one day you'll wake up and change your pants to find it flying everywhere... *cough cough*

—In short, when Tachibana Sherry said 'no more butterflies appeared,' she probably meant that the wound had stopped bleeding.

Considering that the only healer in this 13-man raid was already dead when I logged in, it would be very troublesome to deal with any serious injuries that might occur to other players.

"Hehehe, to be honest, I never expected Hannah-chan to come and see me. I thought you were disappointed in me too!"

"W-what? Of course I'm worried that you, this gorilla woman, are messing around again... Besides, I didn't come here on purpose, you know? I just brought Chang Rong along, don't overthink it!"

"Miss, this version of the tsundere is a bottom-tier profession."

"what……?"

Since the topic had turned to herself, Chang Rong patted Hannah on the shoulder and urged her to change jobs as soon as possible, then also went to the prison door.

Chang Rong finally saw Tachibana Sherry. Although her tone and expression were similar to usual, judging from her tattered clothes and messy wounds, even if she wasn't going to die, it was definitely not a matter of 'just like that'.

"Ah, it's the Frozen Goods False Evidence True Lord!"

When Shirley Tachibana heard Chang Rong's voice and glimpsed those gray eyes through the peephole, she immediately greeted him with a smile.

"Why don't you just call me Captain America like you did at the beginning... Are you really okay, Tachibana? Doesn't your wound hurt a lot?"

Chang Rong himself was the type who would hold back his tears even when his fingers were cut by book pages, cursing the injustice of the world and the cruelty of heaven and earth, and wondering when the people would be in charge. Therefore, he was still a little worried when he saw Tachibana Sherry in such a tattered state.

"You'll get used to the pain, it doesn't really matter anyway, does it? Compared to those things—I'm sorry, Chang Rong. I think I did something unforgivable to you."

"—Hmm"