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

A hoarse, intermittent voice came from behind. Then a 'wreck' slowly appeared from behind and circled around to the front of Chang Rong.

The part resembling "clothing" on that 'wreckage' was more obvious than the other wreckage. From the outline, it could be barely made out that it looked like a JK sailor uniform.

The thin strands that drifted down behind the wreckage were barely discernible as long, straight black hair that might have once belonged to the 'wreckage'.

"You are--"

"Because of you...that guy...she betrayed me—"

"Are you 'Mizuyu-kun'...!?"

Chang Rong stared wide-eyed at the wreckage before her, recognizing her former identity as a 'prospective witch'.

The girl who calls herself the student council president, 'Mizuyu Chisaki', possesses a magic called [Fixed], and is also Sakuraba Nana's childhood friend—however, judging from Nana's later statements, it seems more like a one-sided bullying and domination relationship between Mizuyu Chisaki and Nana.

The remains trembled briefly upon hearing the name, but she immediately gripped Chang Rong's neck tightly with her twisted hand.

"It's all your fault... If you hadn't appeared... that child would still be my tool... I wouldn't... hiss hiss hiss—such a ridiculous death—I, I absolutely wouldn't... hiss hiss hiss howl!!"

The wreckage roared in a hoarse, distorted voice.

"Cough cough...!!"

Chang Rong, whose neck was being choked, was unable to struggle and did not know how to respond.

The broken, hoarse screams from that wreckage were exactly what Chang Rong had personally experienced. Even the last plea from the pink-haired girl before her execution would sometimes echo in his ears.

Help me, Chang Rong!

She did nothing back then, merely watching helplessly as the child became a witch in the most twisted and desperate way. In this timeline, she is still imprisoned and tortured as a remnant.

"Why are you the only one still alive... Hiss hiss hiss—why are you the only one who can receive the Great Witch's favor and blessing—Hiss hiss...!!"

"I...cough cough cough...I..."

--I have no idea

I don't know why Xiaoxue chose me, and I don't know what I can do to save you all...

His vision gradually turned black due to lack of oxygen, and even though he wanted to struggle, he couldn't even lift his arms.

Just before Chang Rong's consciousness began to fade—

"Weren't you so smug when you were sending me to the afterlife? Why are you so pathetic when facing this inelegant, pathetic, and twisted commoner?"

A voice that sounded incredibly arrogant, yet tinged with affectation, suddenly rang out, followed by a few peppercorn-like objects flying over.

"Hiss—Gurgle…!?"

Suddenly, those 'peppercorns' burst forth and bloomed, the bright red bouquets accompanied by thorny vines directly enveloping the remains.

The clothes that had been restraining her were removed, and her body regained its freedom. Chang Rong immediately covered her neck and gasped for breath.

What's going on...? That voice is...

No, we need to save Rhea Meruru now, but... but Mizuyu-kun...

"Stop worrying about it, or you'll end up like Mom, a nobody."

A somewhat lazy, childish voice, as if the person hadn't woken up yet, came from beside me, along with a warm current from my palm.

Chang Rong looked in the direction of the sound and the touch. The petite girl with long blonde hair, dressed in a Lolita maid outfit, had appeared beside her at some point. She held her hand and had a smile that was almost imperceptible on her face.

It's... Alice...

------

Thanks to Chenguang Moxin for the sudden, unexpected attack.

Thank you to Fairy Knight Melsin Admirer Crimson Flame for the feeding.

------

10 chapters updated today, plus 3 bonus chapters, 24 chapters still needed.

------

Half dragon, half zone, can I call it a draw and a reconciliation today? Let's all listen to Guan Yu's song and let's find peace.

220. I said I get along well with the juniors, so why are you seniors in such a hurry?

Alice—

A girl who is always sleeping, a girl who disguises herself with 'innocence' and 'weakness', a girl who manipulates the 'rainbow (light)', a girl who calls herself 'Dad'.

The girl he thought he would never see again appeared before him, with her usual tired expression and her usual lazy voice.

Not only Alice, but also that haughty voice and the sudden blooming of the roses must have been the work of that young lady.

"Alice, how could you..."

"This is not the time to talk about these things, 'Dad'."

Too many things to say were crammed together and there was nowhere to say them. Instead, Alice gently shook her head, indicating that now was not a good time for idle chatter.

"—It's dangerous here, you should get away from here right now!"

Chang Rong then snapped out of her daze. Although the 'wreckage' in front of her had been held in place by vines for a time, it had quickly broken free. She couldn't let Alice move around in such a dangerous place!

He instinctively wanted to push Alice away from the wreckage, but the blonde girl simply shook her head.

"Alice is alright, Father. Please bring her relief. That was not the companion you knew, but the last lingering obsession."

Alice raised her hand and pointed to the remains of the girl who had once been named 'Mizuki Chisa', who was gradually descending into madness, and said softly.

"I……"

Chang Rong was still hesitating. He had already personally seen off too many of his former companions, and he didn't want to experience that again. It would make him want to vomit.

"Hiss hiss hiss—I'll kill you all, execute you, let you be executed—"

However, Chang Rong was never a saint. He was incapable of treating all lives equally.

As the wreckage roared and tore through the vines, rushing towards Chang Rong and Alice, Chang Rong took action to protect the person she cherished even more.

He raised the ceremonial sword and pierced the wreckage straight through its chest, roaring as he ran forward desperately. He slammed the wreckage against the edge of the boiling lava beneath Meruru on the ice.

"I'm sorry, but... I won't lose that child again."

"Hiss hiss hiss, you, you—"

boom!

The bullet from the magic spear pierced through the skull of the wreckage, blasting the upper half of its body backward, where it fell into the lava and slowly dissipated.

—I'm sorry, there's no way to save you and Nana, I'm so sorry.

"...We have to get out of here right now! Leia-sama, Meruru!"

There is no time for mourning or being in a daze; there are many companions around who need protection and are waiting for you.

Chang Rong pulled Lian Jian Lei Ya out of the Iron Maiden device, and at the same time, the blooming flower vines lifted the ice-covered Meruru down from above the lava and placed her safely back on the ground.

"Hmph, should I call it bad luck or good luck? I never expected to run into the two of you at a time like this."

A haughty young lady with blonde twin ponytails and wearing a gorgeous long dress embroidered with lace flowers appeared in front of Chang Rong. She put one hand on Ice Meluru's shoulder and greeted Chang Rong in a deliberately indifferent and arrogant voice.

"Miss-"

Boom!

Before he could even exchange a word with the genuine heiress from a prestigious family, the courtroom doors were broken open again, and more debris poured in from the outside, heading straight towards Chang Rong.

"There are too many...! We need to get out of here first! Young lady, I'm leaving Meruru in your care!"

The witch assassin's potion has been used up, and he is back to a passive situation with no way to counter it.

Chang Rong used his spear to break through the mosaic stained glass wall in the corner of the courtroom, revealing the path leading to the flower field outside, and shouted to Miss Alice behind him to hurry up and follow.

"No problem."

Unlike the nervous Chang Rong, Alice's tone remained calm. She gently raised her hand and made an upward finger gesture that was extremely familiar to Chang Rong. Immediately afterward, the debris that had been heading straight for her, after a brief moment of hesitation, all surged in another direction.

"Alice deflected the light, causing it to move in a false direction."

"As expected of Alice...! She's much better than that cheap, lowly mom!"

Chang Rong reached out and ruffled Alice's hair. Alice blinked and then showed a subtle expression of enjoyment.

With Alice's light-deflection magic providing cover, Chang Rong and her group were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief from the attacks by the wreckage. However, the interior of the castle was still too dangerous, so Chang Rong carried Hazumi Rhea on her back, and the young lady rode on Ice Meruru, and under Alice's cover, they moved to the lakeside, far away from the castle.

Arriving at the lake, which held many meanings for Chang Rong, Alice, after confirming that no other debris was wandering around, withdrew her magic, gently exhaled, and wiped her forehead. Chang Rong carefully settled Rhea and Meruru to the side. Only after confirming that they were still breathing and had heartbeats did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"So... um, what's going on? Alice, young lady—am I dreaming?"

Chang Rong looked at the two companions in front of her who had participated in the witch trial with her, and asked in a somewhat incredulous tone.

If it's a dream... it's a bit too elaborate, so elaborate that it makes you curse your brain for creating such a dream when you wake up.

"Hmm...who knows? I was already here when I came to my senses, but before I regained consciousness, I did know that 'my original self' seemed to have been wandering around this lake all along—tsk, since it's not an interesting memory, I might as well just let it go."

The young lady, Gao Yuanlihua, put one hand on her hip and tossed her long hair with the other, letting out a cold snort. Even in this place, she did not forget her pride as the eldest daughter of a noble family.

"This is the limbus between the witches' life and death. It is not only the final resting place for the witches who wander here before starting their lives anew, but also the path for the witches to the afterlife."

Unlike the clueless but self-satisfied young lady, Alice blinked and directly revealed the true nature of this place to the two of them. If it were before, Chang Rong would have immediately gone over and ruffled Alice's hair, praising her as truly remarkable.

No, we can do it now too.

"As expected of Alice, she even knows this kind of knowledge!"

"After all, Alice isn't just sitting here for nothing..." The blonde girl whose head was being rubbed showed a rare expression of innocence and shy cuteness that a girl her age should have. She shrank back, but soon took the initiative to rub against him.

"Hmph... So this is what you call the Sanzu River or something, right?" The young lady snorted in dissatisfaction at the interaction between the two, then crossed her arms and concluded.

"And we're just lining up here waiting to be reincarnated, huh? Seriously... I'm a noble lady, can't I cut in line or use some special privileges or something?"

Gao Yuanli waved her hand, revealing an impatient expression. As expected of the young lady of a major conglomerate, even when it comes to something as urgent as reincarnation, her first thought is whether she can find a way to get some special privileges to get ahead of others.

"Actually, if you want to leave from here, you can just leave through the main gate over there. There are no middlemen here who will charge you for smuggling. As long as you want, you can leave this remote place immediately."

Alice used magic to project an image of the area near the castle's main gate into the air in front of everyone. The gate, which had been locked, was now wide open, and what they saw behind it was not the lonely sea, but a blank space that inexplicably made them feel at ease.

Not only that, but a 'wreck' was slowly approaching the entrance. The twisted thing slowly walked towards the entrance and disappeared the moment it came into contact with the white light. Anyone who saw that scene would think it was an ascension to heaven on the spot, rather than Dio waking up from a sleepless night and turning into ashes on the spot.

"Miss Lu Ren seemed to have been waiting for something, but a few days ago she suddenly let go of her worries, muttering something like 'Yangjiao is terrible, I'm so useless' before leaving. Also, Miss Drew left quickly after finding her pet bird. Alice didn't even get to touch its feathers..."

"This is way too simple! What about the background check? What about the career aspiration inquiry? Am I supposed to just jump in like those ugly freaks and get randomly thrown into another body? I should at least pay to be alive!"