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

Melulu on the ice smiled again, but Chang Rong noticed that this time the smile on the nun's lips was more like a bitter smile at something that couldn't be undone.

"Don't think like that, Meruru. Although I'm not qualified to comfort someone who has waited for the Great Witch for a hundred years, even so... shouldn't some things be judged after being told to the other person in person? At least you should tell that Great Witch your feelings, shouldn't you?"

Chang Rong vaguely sensed something unsettling, so he walked up to Meruru and refuted her overly arbitrary judgment.

"...Chang Rong-san, do you think I'm a 'bad guy'?"

Instead of directly responding to Chang Rong, Ice Merry suddenly threw out a somewhat abrupt question.

Even if you ask me that, Meruru—

"That young lady who turned into ruins, she was personally instigated and provoked by me, driven to despair and turned into the remains of a witch..."

"—!?"

The saintess's words suddenly became incredibly unfamiliar and cold.

Chang Rong looked at Ice Melulu, the girl who had accompanied him to search for four-leaf clovers just a few minutes ago and always had a soft, timid smile. But now she was expressionless, as if she were simply stating facts recorded in the file.

“Miss Lihua… She was still praying for Chang Rongsang’s salvation until the very end, but it was too late. She received no salvation and could only become a wreck, her last bit of consciousness fading away in endless regret and despair.”

"Meruru, what are you saying—"

"That rainbow in the sky over there is beautiful, isn't it? That's Alice's magic... That child was always clinging to the Great Witch and you, she was so adorable that even I was incredibly jealous. So, so when she was killed, I... was really happy, because now, whether it's the Great Witch or the Holy Child, your eyes will only belong to me, Meruru!"

"Ice Melulu pointed to the rainbow in the distance, which was still incredibly bright even in the dead of night, like a dream," she said.

"This photo... was taken with Miss Furt's camera. It wasn't until Miss Furt breathed her last in Chang Rongsang's arms that I realized that old-fashioned cameras had to be used with something called 'film'."

Meru took out the photo she always kept on her person and stroked it as she spoke.

"Oh right, and there's Nanoha Kaori... no, I should say Nanoha Kaori's older sister, right? She's still wandering around as a wreck, and she'll probably never be able to turn back into her original form. When the controller ages and breaks down, will it still be able to maintain human consciousness? Or will it swing its scythe at her sister...?"

"Ah, and there's Miss Nana who wasn't captured in the photos. After all, Miss Nana had already been executed by then... Miss Nana seemed to really like Chang Rong-san. But her words, like the execution she suffered, were already distorted beyond recognition. How much of what she said was truly sincere?"

Meruru looked troubled, pondering a question that seemed impossible to answer.

Then, Meru looked at Chang Rong again on the ice, putting on that innocent, saintly angel expression once more.

"Having said all that—Holy Son, now? Do you still think of me as a pitiful being beyond judgment? Or... have I finally become a qualified mastermind, a witch who should be executed and judged?"

"—"

Chang Rong moved her throat, but didn't know what to say.

Although Meru's words on the ice still failed to bring back his memory, those words, those girls' death sentences, felt like a heavy blow through a boxing glove, making him want to vomit.

But...even so—

"...Meruru, you're not enjoying these perverse sins, are you?"

“Chang Rong-san…?” Ice Meluru’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected that Chang Rong was still asking her questions.

"These tragedies, these atrocities... were not your true intentions. You did it to protect them from government execution, to wait for the day the Great Witch would resurrect them, to find the Great Witch and have her correct this distortion—"

"That's not how it works!!!"

Suddenly, Meruru on the ice roared, her voice filled with unbearable agony.

"No, no! This is my sin, no matter how high-sounding the reason, it cannot be denied! They all became witches because of me, and they died on this island because of me!! And, and, and—"

"And... there will be no more Great Witches."

Meru slumped to the ground on the ice, her voice trembling with despair.

"The Great Witch abandoned me... no, it was I who 'abandoned' the Great Witch... I destroyed the 'happiness' that the Great Witch had searched for for a hundred years to finally find, I destroyed your happiness, Chang Rong-sang, and I destroyed... everyone's..."

Suddenly, dark cracks appeared on Meru's forehead on the ice. Chang Rong knew very well that this was a sign of her transformation into a witch.

"Ah... perhaps the Great Witch never considered me family from the very beginning. And I... I was always just that hypocritical, fake, ridiculous witch. A worthless... defective witch who only knows how to mess everything up."

Meruru gave a pained smile, but she, who had always loved dropping little pearls, did not shed a tear at this moment.

"I'm so sorry for giving everyone sleeping pills. It seems I'm still that evil witch until the very end... But, but I really wanted some time alone with Chang Rong-san, undisturbed by anyone. Considering that Arisa-san often takes sleeping pills, I thought for a long, long time before finally coming up with the idea of ​​using alcohol to cover up the smell. I guess I'm a complete idiot, aren't I? But, it's so good that we weren't discovered."

With trembling hands, Meru took a glass bottle from her pocket. The bottle had an inconspicuous label on it that read the number [13].

Chang Rong had seen that label before. When Ze Du Coco and Shiro first confronted Meruru, Coco-chan was holding this bottle in her hand, and inside it was—a potion that was said to be able to kill witches.

Chang Rong realized something instantly, but it happened so fast that he couldn't even fully comprehend it.

Meru on Ice unscrewed the cap of the Witch Slayer Potion and brought the bottle to her lips.

“Witches… should be destroyed, right? But… if even witches can have an afterlife, I… I really, really don’t want to go through this again.”

Meruru's hands trembled as she gripped the bottle, resisting and fearing death. Yet, even so, she did not loosen her grip on the bottle.

"I just want a family where I can stay, I just want a family who can gently hug me... that's all I need."

"So...can the Holy Son pray for me this time? If there is an afterlife—"

"Meruru!!"

Chang Rong lunged at Meruru on the ice, but just before the boy knocked the witch over, the witch had already put the potion into her own mouth.

thump!!

Chang Rong tackled the ice-bound Meryl to the ground, but the bottle that rolled out of her hand was now empty.

If there is an afterlife...

"I hope I can be as happy as I am now."

The girl smiled at Chang Rong.

"..."

Chang Rong looked at the girl beneath him and clearly felt her life slipping away.

Is this the relief she prayed for? Is this the choice she made after summoning up all her courage?

Since that's the case, I...

……

Don't joke around...!! What a joke! You 'witch' haven't been judged by me yet. This is suicide out of guilt, it's 'wrong'...!!

Chang Rong stared at Ice Meluru, whose eyes were gradually becoming crystalline, and racked his brains.

The effects of the Witch Slayer Potion and the Witch Slayer Magic should be similar, both eliminating the witch factor within the target's body.

In other words, if a large amount of substance containing witch factors is added to the witch killer potion to trigger a reaction, it might be possible to prevent the user's own witch factors from being killed. It's like pouring a large amount of water onto an object corroded by sulfuric acid to dissipate the heat of the reaction.

So, what contains enough 'witch factor'?

The answer is obvious—it's yourself.

Tear it apart!!

Chang Rong bit through her right wrist with her teeth, forcefully biting down on the artery hidden deep inside, releasing the circulating fluid that gushed out.

Crimson blood gushed from his veins and he shoved it directly into Meruru's mouth, forcing it into the girl's body.

"Are you like Emma too?! You just guzzled that huge bottle of potion down your throat like that... At least think about us first-aid team members who don't have healing magic!!"

Chang Rong cursed loudly, while placing her left hand on both sides of the wound on her right wrist, gritting her teeth and desperately trying to pry the wound open to increase the flow of blood.

In an instant, the only sound in the silent flower field was the gurgling of liquid flowing.

The effects of blood loss quickly spread throughout Chang Rong's body. She felt a ring of black mist around her eyes that she couldn't shake off, and her body felt as if it had been immersed in ice water.

Wake up, wake up, wake up...!

"...Cough cough!!"

Meruru, who had been motionless on the ice, suddenly coughed violently. With her chest heaving, bright red liquid vomited from her mouth, and the crystals that had covered the corners of her eyes slowly melted away.

"Phew... Healer, don't be the first to surrender..."

Before he could confirm Meruru's condition, Chang Rong fell directly into the soil.

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Today's update is 16K, so it's still a little late. I'm still a dragon!

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【58.5-6=52.5】

206. Veteran Roundhouse Kick!

"Ah...! It's a four-leaf clover!"

In the flower field, Ice Meluru picked up a small green leaf and said with a hint of surprise.

"Really? Then equip it quickly! Based on my past experience, this thing can increase luck!" The white-haired boy standing next to Meruru immediately echoed in the same excited tone.

"Eh... equipment? Luck stat...? What is luck stat?" Ice Meluru blinked, holding the four-leaf clover and standing there stunned for a moment, seemingly unable to understand the meaning of the white-haired boy's words.

Chang Rong took the four-leaf clover from Meruru's hand and, without saying a word, pinned it to Meruru's blonde hair on the ice as an ornament, then gave Meruru a thumbs-up.

"Luck probably means being able to find more gold coins and better equipment."

"Ugh...? I'm sorry, I still don't quite understand..." After all, it was luck that was increased, not intelligence. Ice Meluru still couldn't understand Chang Rong's words and showed a tearful expression as if she wanted to shed little pearls.

"I was just making a joke... Speaking of which, I've actually been wanting to ask you something for a while now—Meruru, are you some kind of ancient person?" Chang Rong rubbed his eyebrows, looking helpless. As everyone knows, what's more awkward than a joke going silent is trying to explain the meaning of your joke, only to have the other person still not understand.

"Hmm...? How could this be? Chang Rong-san, don't joke around. I, of course I'm a modern person just like everyone else, right?"

When questioned, Ice Meruru broke out in a cold sweat. Her gaze towards Chang Rong became unsteady and hesitant, and even her rebuttal sounded incredibly guilty.

"But Meruru, you completely miss a lot of the conversation. For example, when we were talking about our favorite fast food brands in the cafeteria, you didn't join the conversation at all. And when we were talking about our favorite movies in the recreation room, you didn't say anything, you just smiled on the side, as if you didn't even know what a dishwasher was—"

Chang Rong frowned, listing Meruru's various bizarre behaviors. He always felt that this blonde nun was either an ancient creature pulled out by the bloodthirsty Autobots, or an incredibly old lady who looked 17 but had the mind of a 70-year-old. Otherwise, it would be hard to explain Meruru's various age-related behaviors.

"No, that's not it...! Oh, right, Chang Rong-san, look, I know how to use a mobile phone, don't I?" Ice Meruru hurriedly took out her mobile phone from her pocket, tapped the screen, and showed it to Chang Rong.

"And the phone even uses the elderly mode, with extra-large fonts and simplified functions, and the speaker is super loud!" Chang Rong looked at the phone in Mei Lulu's hand, and now there was another piece of evidence.

"Waaaaah!? No, no... I, I really..."

"I understand now, Meruru Ice Rider! Why do you look like a modern person, but act in such a retro way? Why do you look youthful and cute, but think like an old lady doing square dancing? Meruru Ice Rider!" Chang Rong pointed at the blonde nun in front of him, who was equipped with an old-fashioned mobile phone and a four-leaf clover, and loudly announced his conclusion.

"Waaaaah...!" Meruru shrank her head, and apart from dropping little pearls like a jellyfish, there was nothing else she could do at this point.

"Because you, Meluru on Ice—are a reclusive nun from a remote, secluded town, unaware of the ways of the world, right!"