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

Nikaido Hiro, holding a fire poker, wiped the blood (tomato juice) from the corner of his mouth while yelling at the blonde bombshell in front of him.

"Even someone as old as me sometimes has a desire to fight tooth and nail for certain things! Like... rubbing Xiao Rong until I feel good...!"

Saeki Miria abandoned her usual amiable demeanor, proudly displaying her front armor and refusing to back down even as Hero pressed closer.

"Since things have come to this, there's nothing more to say—"

"That's right, Xiaoxi, the only way to settle this is through battle—Domain Deployment: Execution and Death!!"

"Realistic Marble - Infinite Fire Stick Technique!!"

While Chang Rong and her group were still engaged in the traditional witch battle royale, Xi Luo's side had already begun to break into a new chapter.

Thanks to Chenguang Moxin for the sudden, unexpected help!

Thank you for feeding the deer, Young Master.

An extra 4,000 words today, still need 1 more chapter (3-2=1)

I'm going on a long trip with my family to sweep the tombs today and tomorrow morning. Since it's over 500 kilometers round trip, today's update was rushed out in the early hours of the morning. I just arrived and found an internet cafe to roughly proofread and finish it before posting it. Please forgive any grammatical errors or typos.

We'll see how it goes tomorrow. If I get home late, there might only be one update again. That way, I can also make up for the extra updates for the New Year.

I'll probably try opening another bounty at the end of the month.

234. Hiro: Am I the only one seriously cleaning the map?

Warning: Today's weather on Witch Island is 27 degrees Celsius, sunny, with occasional meteorite impacts.

"Hehehe~ Don't run away, Watson! It's just a little pillow punch, it won't kill anyone. Pillow fights are every girl's dream, right? Hiding like this is so boring, come and play with the cute, clever, and petite Miss Holmes~~!"

*Screech!* Thud!

Shirley Tachibana's carefree and somewhat unconventional sunny and cheerful voice echoed in the corridor, occasionally accompanied by some extremely abrupt, piercing sounds.

Anyone who didn't know better would probably immediately suspect that a siege catapult was throwing stones at the city walls upon hearing this sound. However, the terrifying sound of air being pierced came from the 'pillow' that Tachibana Sherry had thrown.

"Whoa, lie down—that was close...! No matter how innocent, cute, and girlish you sound, Sherry, I still have to refuse! Whose pillow fight 'pillow' is stuck to the wall and can't be pried off?!"

Chang Rong frantically dodged, pulling Zifang Arisa beside him. Then, he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and watched the terrifying scene of the 'pillow' whizzing past his nose, carrying a gust of air that seemed to pierce his skin, before embedding itself straight into the wall. He exclaimed loudly.

"Hmm~ Why did it turn out like this? Hehehe, it must be magic at work, right? Don't worry about the details, Watson, just be a good boy and let me lull you to sleep with my pillow, okay?"

Shirley Tachibana chuckled and casually picked up a few more cushions, smiling at Chang Rong as she made a suggestion.

"Isn't this a bit too dangerous, you super-strong fly girl...! Even if it's just a joke, is this level of destructive power really okay!?"

Arisa, who was standing next to Chang Rong, questioned Tachibana Sherry with some unease.

Aside from the fact that everyone got serious and turned into "Dark Souls 5 kicking generals" because of the prize issue, this "battle royale" was essentially just a "performance" to fool the humans outside Witch Island.

However, it is clear from Arisa's perspective that the 'Sherry Body Pillow,' which has seemingly evolved into a siege weapon, cannot be considered a mere entertainment item.

"Hmph... You really do have a haughty air about you, Arisa~ I'm more curious about what you're actually doing, Arisa. This is supposed to be a stage for witches to fight each other and risk everything, right? Why is Arisa the only one acting like a princess being protected by Watson? Isn't that a bit unfair? Or is this—Arisa's battle of wits~?"

With her amber eyes fixed on Arisa, Tachibana questioned her softly. Although her tone was as carefree and irreverent as ever, the words that came out of Tachibana's mouth were like a pillow thrown from her hand, hitting Arisa like a huge boulder.

"I didn't... um, I didn't..."

Arisa wanted to refute, but she suddenly realized that ever since she was 'chased' by the intruding Tachibana Sherry in the courtyard, she had been holding the white-haired boy's hand tightly and running behind him all the way. Occasionally, Chang Rong would suddenly exert force and pull her to avoid meteorite strikes in a way that was almost like pulling her into his arms.

Looking at it this way, it seems that... I really have been protected by Chang Rong from the very beginning, almost like... a princess?

"Waaah...!"

Thinking of this, Arisa Shito, who considered herself a delinquent, instantly felt her cheeks burning. She had to put her hands on both sides of her face to try to hide her somewhat embarrassed and shy appearance.

"Ah! That's the kind of expression you get when a protected, innocent princess doesn't know anything about the world—it's foul! It's foul! This is a complete foul, NG, a blooper!!"

When Shirley Tachibana saw the cute expression on Arisa's face, she quickly pointed at Arisa and loudly complained and tried to stop her.

"Since it's a battle royale now, then we need to bring out something even more twisted, brutal, insane, and extreme, crying and shedding blood and tears while displaying the delicious expression of Amaterasu!" Tachibana Sherry complained to Arisa while showing a terrifying smile that could stop a child from crying at night.

Fun fact: Battle Royale is an extreme arena where everyone tears off their masks and fights each other to show their bottom line, not a place for you to show off your cute feminine strength and Nadeshiko power while going on dates and having a sour romance.

"Are you some kind of bloodthirsty spectator who just popped out of the magnetic field world?!" Chang Rong shouted at Sherry, his club president seemed to have a deep-seated hostility towards Arisa from the very beginning...

"Damn it... Sherry is completely possessed by Khorne! I can't communicate with her and I can't beat her. At this point, I can only keep running away...!"

Judging from the president's current fighting stance, Chang Rong was likely to be knocked out with a pillow before he even had a chance to use the "Can we reconcile?" option. After briefly weighing the pros and cons, Chang Rong could only continue to flee with Arisa.

While dodging the supersonic low-altitude tactical pillow attacks that came from behind from time to time, the two tried to find a place in the castle where they could shake off Sherry. At first glance, the scene looked like being chased by a tank and having a car thrown at them.

"This...this won't do...we'll be caught up together, Chang Rong...!"

Arisa's breathing gradually became more labored, and her steps were no longer as light as when she first fled.

As Chang Rong dragged her along, a fleeting look of melancholy and reluctance crossed Arisa's face, but she quickly concealed these emotions and gave the white-haired boy beside her a firm and fearless smile.

"Hold on a little longer, Arisa! We'll be able to escape from that humanoid weapon's clutches soon!" Chang Rong noticed that Arisa's strength was gradually failing, but he continued to encourage her.

"No... this is the end for me, Chang Rong. The time I spent with you was the most precious moment of my life, and I... have had enough. But Chang Rong, you must... live on—"

Arisa Zifang gave Chang Rong a poignant yet resolute smile, then shook off the arm that had been holding her and stopped in place, turning to face the mysterious blue-haired siege weapons that were constantly attacking from behind.

"Come on, Fly Woman, I'll be your opponent!!" "Arisa—!"

"Still provoking me, huh? Fine, fine, this is your last statement as the speed bump, right? Well then, let me show Watson your ugly face after you've been thoroughly humiliated by the pillow!"

Arisa Fujito resolutely used her body to block Sherry Tachibana, while Chang Rong desperately reached out to try to grab the girl who had already made up her mind, and the blue-haired pursuer had veins bulging on his head and a smile on his face.

This nagging duo is actually flirting right in front of me, and even I, the famous detective Sherry, have become part of their play... Arisa is no ordinary aspiring witch; I have to deal with her decisively!!

The scene almost froze for a moment; if nothing unexpected happened, Arisa's fate was already sealed.

However, at that very moment, another unexpected event occurred, and history took a dramatic turn!

"Hmph... We've finally got our chance!"

Around the corner, a purple-eyed girl with long, fluffy, silver-white hair and wearing an overly loose, lace-trimmed dress that resembled pajamas suddenly appeared.

Although the girl's expression still carried a lingering sense of sleepiness, her eyes were wide open at this moment, revealing a rare expression of great excitement, and her overly long sleeves swung back and forth with great liveliness.

This unexpected fourth person to appear is none other than Natsume Anan, the only designated author of Witch Island.

An An suddenly emerged from around the corner, but unlike usual, she was exceptionally proactive this time, and her tone was excited and happy.

Natsume Anan's actions were even more unusual. She raised her right hand and brushed aside the bangs that had been covering her right eye, spreading her five fingers to reveal her purple eyes through the gaps, and a slightly upturned, wicked smile appeared on her lips.

"Since this is a special time when we are fighting to the last man... then I will no longer hide this power! I wanted to interact with you as an ordinary writer, but all I got in return was estrangement and silence—so this time I will not hold back! You foolish, stupid monster, you have personally released the ancient demon that has been sealed away!"

Natsume Anan exerted force with all five fingers, and even widened her eyes desperately to create an imposing aura.

"Explode, reality! Shatter, spirit! Banish... wait, why are there so many people?"

After reciting all the lines she had rehearsed countless times without thinking, Natsume Anan suddenly noticed that Chang Rong was not acting alone; Arisa and Sherry were with her.

"Hmm... well, although I don't know exactly what's going on, you can all become our eternal slaves as well!"

"Wait a minute, An'an! Now is not the time to play with you—" Chang Rong hurriedly tried to stop An'an from causing any more trouble, as she was already overwhelmed just dealing with Shirley.

"I'm not playing around, and... now's the perfect time! I, I'm going to let you, you stupid monster, know... that I, too, am a mature and beautiful being who can be a worthy partner...! Anyway, take this! Hypnosis—Pfft!?"

With her face flushed, Natsume Anan desperately tried to suppress her increasingly burning cheeks, while stammering out her resolve with all her might.

However, the next second, before the Word Spirit Hypnotist could use his magic, a square pillow suddenly flew over and landed squarely on An An's face.

"Oops, I couldn't stop~☆"

Shirley Tachibana gave a cute laugh, explaining that she had simply slipped her hand and had absolutely no intention of eliminating this unexpected competitor.

Just as Shirley casually ran over Anan as a speed bump and was about to continue dealing with Arisa, Anan, who was lying on the ground, suddenly raised her hand, trembling.

“I…I hypnotized myself with the command to ‘live on.’ Although I will die after the adrenaline rush ends, I must at least…I absolutely cannot let this guy feed this stupid monster—take my last Ripple…[Commit suicide, Sherry Tachibana!]”

An An pointed at Tachibana Sherry and uttered this 'command' in her dying moments before she breathed her last.

"Eh?!?" Tachibana Sherry was frozen in place by Natsume Anan's death sentence, and was a little confused for a moment.

"An-An-!!"

Chang Rong let out a desperate cry, and then, taking advantage of Tachibana Sherry's dazed state, quickly grabbed Arisa and ran away again.

—Your sacrifice will definitely not be in vain, An'an…! I promise I will never laugh at you for being a scatterbrain again next time! When we reunite in the new world, let's watch movies together again then!

Chang Rong mourned An An in her heart, and at the same time, she used the last bit of time she had gained to successfully escape with Arisa again while Tachibana Sherry was in a daze.

An'an's sacrifice was so noble and heartbreaking, bringing tears to the eyes of all 13 people on Witch Island. As for what An'an planned to do by hypnotizing Chang Rong before her forced sacrifice, don't ask; respect the dead.

"Waaah, don't run away, Watson—uh... What's going on here? Am I going to die too?"

Unwittingly controlled by An An's death speech, Tachibana Sherry could only watch helplessly as Chang Rong once again dragged the Flame Princess Arisa away. Then she turned to ask the warden's clone on her head.

"【Coo coo coo... Don't ask me about this... But if you have any doubts, how about asking the person who used the magic?】"

The warden's helpless voice came from his clone. He was just a lazy bird who came to watch the show and casually recorded the wonderful life on Witch Island, not a judge who would never act impulsively, never miss a wrong judgment, and was absolutely fair and beautiful.

"Oh... what happened..." Tachibana Sherry rubbed her hair. At the same time, the girl in the bathrobe who had turned into An-an-chan got up from the ground. She hugged the pillow in her arms and put her messy, fluffy head on it to look at Sherry.

"My magic... for commands like [self-destruction], unless it's someone who truly loves my companions, it's very difficult to carry out, because the content is too extreme. Of course... even those who love me won't actually be hypnotized by me, since I've gradually mastered hypnotic magic, and this kind of 'false evidence' that isn't my actual will won't trigger the effect."

An An hugged her pillow and explained to Shirley. If it's a neutral, objective command like 'smile,' 'stop,' or 'pick your nose,' then even if the other person doesn't know you, there's a pretty good chance of success.

However, if it involves behaviors that the person would never normally do, such as "becoming our dog," "licking our feet," or "committing suicide," then the person being hypnotized must be a close friend or relative who is willingly being hypnotized.

"I see, I see~ In that case, this detective is still alive! Resurrected!" After hearing the explanation, Tachibana Sherry nodded, then gave a thumbs up and prepared to win the resurrection match on the spot and continue her hunt for Watson.

"So... you don't like me either, do you..." After learning that Sherry had not been 'hypnotized'—meaning that she didn't like her—Natsume Anan raised her overly loose and long sleeves to cover her eyes, her tone becoming lost and sad.

"Huh? Not really~" Tachibana Sherry blinked, not expecting this gloomy, bean sprout landmine girl to suddenly ask such a question.

"If that stupid monster found out about this and discovered that Holmes didn't actually like anyone else... what would he think then...?"

Pressing her advantage, An An asked Tachibana Sherry in a tone that sounded self-deprecating and self-pitying, what she was going to do.

"Anyway, anyway, we're not liked by anyone, so this is what we deserve..."

"Alright, alright~! Seriously, come to think of it, this isn't the first time Holmes has won a revival match by elbowing someone directly. Anyway, I give up, I give up, I'm dead now!"

Seeing An An becoming more and more delicious, fluffy and soft, Shirley Tachibana could only raise her hands high to indicate that she had lost. In the instant that An An used her last breath to hypnotize her, she had already committed suicide and died.

Shirley Tachibana pretended to break her neck and lay down on the ground dead with a snap. After the warden's double finished recording the scene, she immediately got up and went to An An's side.

"Hehe, at least my KD isn't negative anymore...!" An An puffed out her chest with pride. Now, at least her stats looked better than her best friend, Gyro Noah's.

"Oh dear... I'm going to be completely left behind by Watson..." Tachibana Sherry sighed. Before she could even test her skills and make a name for herself, she was forced to make a regretful exit by stepping on the mysterious and gloomy bean sprout landmine woman.

"It's really strange, if it were before, I probably wouldn't have played with you like this."