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

Chang Rong clenched his fist. As a seasoned internet surfer, he was quite adept at pointing fingers, making boastful remarks, and threatening others.

"Answered... No, that's right!"

Meruru was also an extraordinary person. The timid nun listened and nodded, her eyes changing from initial timidity to confusion, but now becoming incredibly determined, as if she was about to put it into practice and confront the other party face to face at any moment.

"Even if that person really doesn't want you anymore, at least you've seen her true colors this way, so you can start a new life without regrets, right?"

"...Yes, thank you, Chang Rong-san. As expected of Chang Rong-san...!" Meruru excitedly grasped Chang Rong's hands. Although it was just a casual 'suggestion,' it did give Meruru, who had been struggling internally, a clear direction.

"If I could... I really want to be friends with Chang Rong-san forever..."

"Of course, no problem." Chang Rong gave a thumbs up. Although how to leave this prison was still a long way off, it was obvious that becoming companions with such a cute nun jellyfish would be all benefits and no harm.

“But… Chang Rong-sang, you’re just a human…” Meruru suddenly changed her tone, her shoulders drooping with a hint of disappointment as she spoke.

"^q^ Is that really the reason..."

There are so many weird girls with weird egos lately! Where did you come from, guild leader, recruiting members? Are you just passing on ordinary people?!

No... wait a minute, perhaps Meruru's "humans are not good" is because—

Chang Rong was mentally making a rant when he suddenly remembered that Meruru did indeed qualify as 'human or non-human' because... she was a 'witch'.

"It's alright, Meruru. Whether you're a witch in the making or a real witch, as long as our hearts remain pure, we can connect and become companions. This power isn't a curse, but a blessing—doesn't it make you feel better if you think about it that way?"

Chang Rong took the initiative to hold the hands of the nun wearing long white silk gloves on the ice and said with a smile.

"—"

Looking at the white-haired boy in front of her, Ice Meluru was completely stunned.

She did indeed regard her 'magic' as a blessing, a blessing personally bestowed upon her by the Great Witch. However, this 'blessing' was gradually worn down in one witch's trial after another, revealing the core that was called 'curse'.

But he, this young man... he tried to mend his already broken and withered heart, and once again give this blessing into her hands.

If she could, Meluru on Ice really wanted to hold his hand tightly and never let go. But... that wouldn't work. It was impossible.

She knew very well that the Great Witch wanted to destroy humanity, and that the Great Witch was still trying to destroy humanity to this day.

If we don't find the Great Witch, if we don't 'stop' the Great Witch, Chang Rong-san will definitely disappear along with everyone else.

But how exactly can she find the Great Witch? Even if she does find her, can she really 'stop' her? Will she really try to 'stop' her? Meluru on Ice knows nothing, just like her countless self-doubts over the past century, and will never find the answer.

"Waaaaah... Waaaaah...!"

Thinking of this, Meru on the ice started uncontrollably shedding small pearls again.

"Waaah, don't cry! There's always a chance, we'll definitely get out of here. Look, we've all got two lucky clovers, haven't we? We're super lucky now!"

"Waaaah... Pfft, Chang Rong-san, you really are... you really are..."

Listening to the boy's flustered ramblings and watching his clumsy attempts to form hand seals, Meru couldn't help but laugh through her tears. She opened her arms and gently embraced the boy.

Even if it's just for this one moment... at least let me, let me feel this long-lost happiness...

Melulu on the ice so sincerely hoped and prayed.

------

"Zzz...Rong, come here and let me hug you—hmm?"

The Great Witch Yuki woke up from her drowsy sleep and instinctively called for her 'roommate' to come and act as her body pillow, but received no response.

A few seconds later, Xiaoxue realized that she was in the infirmary of Witch Island. And her personal body pillow was currently dozing off beside the hospital bed.

"Rong, that idiot... Meruru?"

Xue frowned as she got up. She carefully moved her feet and pulled the blankets from the next bed over to cover Chang Rong, making her look like a victim of an avalanche.

Then, Xiaoxue saw the nun lying on the sofa coffee table, using her chest as a pillow, also wandering in a dream. This nun was also the human girl, Meruru, whom Xiaoxue had raised.

"—"

Xiaoxue stared blankly at Meruru's sleeping face. After a while, she slowly walked up to Meruru, made a mysterious downward finger gesture, and gently waved her fingertip.

"Meruru, open your eyes, I am the Great Witch."

"Waaah... Please, please stop torturing me... Huh? Huh... Huh? Great, Great Witch, Great Witch—"

Meru on the ice woke up from her nightmare. She looked at the girl in front of her in a daze, blinked first, then blinked hard, and then let out a gasp.

"Shh... Shouting will wake you up from your dream prematurely," the Great Witch whispered, putting a hand to her lips to signal silence.

"Waaaaah... I, I know... Great Witch... So it was just a dream after all? But, but, I'm so happy to be able to dream of the Great Witch, I, I'm so happy...!!"

On the ice, Meruru desperately suppressed the urge to cry out loud. She immediately rushed towards the gentle phantom she had longed for day and night, the one she had fantasized about touching countless times, the one she had always been chasing.

"Gurgle...!"

"Lady the Great Witch...?"

"No, it's just a little bit of hardship—Meruru." The Great Witch, whose ankle was nearly knocked out by Meruru's ball-carrying tackle, suppressed the urge to roll around. She gritted her teeth, her face ashen, and pretended that nothing had happened, managing a weak smile at Meruru.

"Great Witch... Great Witch... I've been searching for you all this time. Where have you gone...? Why did you leave me? Did you... abandon me?"

Meruru threw herself into the Great Witch's arms, sobbing and desperately trying to keep her voice down, pouring out all the confusion, bewilderment, and entanglement she had accumulated over the past hundred years.

Hearing Meruru's almost pleading words, the Great Witch's tense expression, originally caused by the pain in her ankle, was gradually replaced by one of guilt and longing.

"Meruru..."

"Great Witch... Is this really how it is? You... have abandoned me, haven't you?"

Faced with the Great Witch's silence, Meruru realized something. She looked up at the Great Witch with an expression like that of an abandoned cat or dog, making one want to pet and comfort her.

"...On the island, only you can understand me."

The Great Witch reached out and gently stroked Meruru's hair, her tone tender and tinged with a hint of relief.

"Back then, everyone showed an attitude that I couldn't understand at all in the face of the human attack, but only you, Meruru, supported my anger and confusion. And only you would agree with my action to launch an act of annihilation against another race; and only you would willingly agree with my theory and become the first test subject of the 'witch factor' I created."

“But… is this really ‘approval’? No… Meruru, no matter what I say, no matter what I want to do, you will definitely choose to agree without hesitation, but this is not real ‘approval’, but rather a one-sided, blind pursuit of me…”

The Great Witch cupped Meruru's face in her hands, looking at the lost girl who had been waiting for her on Witch Island for a hundred years with an expression that was half-smiling, half-crying, and half-guilty.

“I don’t want you to become my ‘tool,’ Meruru. You are human, but you are also a special being. Every time I see your smile, I realize that humanity is not beyond redemption, and that humanity has brought me smiles and salvation... And these emotions, this hesitation, will... prevent me from continuing my revenge plan.”

The Great Witch bit her lip and said softly.

"Great Witch...do you...do you still want to continue like this? Can't we go back to living together like before?"

“I…I am also waiting…for the response from the flawless one…”

"A flawless person? Great Witch, please answer me, do you really consider me family?"

"I... well, although at first I simply wanted to have a pet, but... well, it's also true that I used you as a guinea pig. There's no point in trying to explain that away. Regarding that, I..."

—The Great Witch revealed a cowardly expression, as if her left and right brains were fighting each other.

Looking at the great witch in front of her, who was gritting her teeth, sweating profusely, and talking about other things, Meru on Ice suddenly remembered Chang Rong's words.

We must strike back hard!

Thinking of this, Meru on Ice mustered her courage and took the initiative to hold the Great Witch's hands.

"Please answer me, Great Witch! If you don't respond, then, then—then I'll have to spend the rest of my life with Chang Rong-san and bear him 1 to 13 children... By the way, Chang Rong-san is a very powerful young man I've met. If it's him, I'm truly willing to become his family...! Even if I'm just treated like a toy and played with until I'm worn out—!"

"Uh huh huh!?"

Meluru's words on the ice instantly caused the Great Witch's brain to shut down.

What is this guy... talking about?! Meruru, you really want to steal your mother's man?! Do you even know what filial piety is?!

I'm already furious because I sprained my ankle and can't have rabbit meat today, and you come here to tell me this, huh?

"Meruru, you unfilial brat—"

Click!

The Great Witch viciously tried to give Meruru a complete childhood, but as soon as she took a step forward aggressively, the next second, her twisted ankle stood firmly on the ground, and a crisp and pleasant little sound came out.

"—!?!?"

Accompanied by the Great Witch's wailing, Chang Rong, who was still sleeping, was suddenly awakened.

"Huh? Xiaoxue—" "Great Witch...Xiaoxue?"

"Waaaaah... [Forgetfulness Magic]!!"

The nagging witch, facing a cataclysmic situation, once again forcibly reversed the timeline. At that time, she was unaware of the price she would pay in the near future for her reckless abuse of this magic.

She was unable to respond to Meruru's question.

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One more chapter to come

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Thanks to Sakaki for the 8 blades.

Thank you so much to Chenguang Moxin for the unexpected help, and the generous support even included a bonus sign-in... I'm so touched.

Thanks to the incurable salted fish king, the great sage of Gensokyo, Admiral Centipede, for his testimony, and for feeding me by the unknown dawn.

207. You stinky jellyfish, eat my witch's judgment!

Unfamiliar... no, firstly, it's not unfamiliar at all, and secondly, this meme seems to have been used so many times that it's a completely rotten meme.

Looking at the ceiling of the infirmary in front of her, Chang Rong felt as if she had returned to the safe house checkpoint, and her heart was filled with a sense of security.

"Ugh... I feel so dizzy..." Taking a deep breath, I used my left arm to support myself and get up from the bed. A wave of dizziness, accompanied by a sharp pain in my right wrist, swept over me.

Along with the dizziness came a slightly noisy sound from the surroundings.

"Hey Chang Rong, are you alright?!" "Chang Rong-kun! It's so good... you're alright!" "Rong Rong, Rong Rong, you're such a pain in the ass..." "Ugh...! You're finally awake! Is there anything I can do? Anything is fine, I'll do my best...!" "Onii-chan, Onii-chan! Waaaaah, Onii-chan, you really scared me to death...!" "Sleeping Beauty isn't your role, Chang Rong... it's so good that you're awake." "Yeah, yeah, as expected, Watson should crawl out of the waterfall and escape death, resurrected in style!"

"It should be Sherlock Holmes who has been resurrected—"

Chang Rong looked at the prospective witches surrounding her, each saying something that was even a bit noisy, and forced a smile as she muttered a complaint.

It seemed that all the prospective witches on the entire witch island were crammed into the infirmary. Even An An, a gloomy bean sprout who was not good at handling big scenes, was huddled to the side, cautiously watching Chang Rong, holding a sketchpad that read "Wake up quickly."

Nanoha Kurobe desperately tugged at her older sister, who seemed about to pounce on her. She was truly grateful, Nanoha-sama…

As for Baosheng Mag, he was a little further away, smiling at me from a distance from the hospital bed, maintaining his unfathomable and superior demeanor as always.

“That’s great… Don’t move around yet. Chang Rong, do you know what you went through before? No, now is not the time to ask that. How are you feeling? To be honest, the amount of blood you lost back then was not something a human could survive… But luckily, Chang Rong, your constitution is quite special.”