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

Upon hearing Chang Rong's explanation, the mysterious con artist, Bao Sheng Marge, widened her eyes in disbelief. From her perspective, Meruru had merely gone to the basement with Chang Rong and Leia to retrieve the ceremonial sword; such a short time shouldn't be enough for someone like the world's number one AD to cook three meals a year, right?

"Of course, there is another flaw regarding Meruru... but most importantly, I believe that you, Mag, would not do such a thing as actually trying to kill someone."

"—"

Baosheng Mag's purple eyes widened in an instant. The words of the white-haired boy in front of her were a fundamental rebuttal to her deception.

Such a grand setup—changing clothes, setting up the scene, faking a phone call, searching for props—all of these actions were merely to make those who witnessed the scene believe 'this is a real murder,' and then easily eliminate the other party during their panicked and confused reaction… No, eliminating the other party was completely irrelevant; the most important thing was to enjoy the expression on the other party's face at the moment they 'thought that Hosho Mag had killed Ice Meluru.'

However, the boy in front of him destroyed the entire deception from its very foundation. From the very beginning, no matter what scenes he saw, no matter how the environment and emotions were set up and shaped, he simply believed that he would not actually do anything to harm anyone, so he took all these arrangements as part of the deception and laughed them off, and even used them against him.

Am I really worthy of his trust...? This is simply... incomprehensible behavior.

"Oh dear... Honestly, I put in so much effort, and even had Meruru prepare a spare outfit, and this is just clownish behavior that doesn't even qualify as entertainment?"

After his initial surprise, Baosheng Mag showed a helpless yet unexpectedly happy wry smile on his face as he spoke to the boy in front of him.

"Don't say that. If it were someone else, they would probably be scared by your scam, Marge."

Having worked in the after-sales service of the battle royale game, Chang Rong was already very familiar with this process. He comforted Bao Shengma, who was leaving with regret, and at the same time, as if by instinct or path dependence, he raised his right hand to stroke Ma's head.

But Chang Rong immediately remembered that Bao Shengma was very resistant to being touched by the opposite sex, so she stood there awkwardly.

"Um...can I pat your head, Margot?"

Chang Rong, who had previously banned Emma's wheelchair ability [Demon Slaughter], was surprised to find that his own wheelchair skill [Head Rubbing] was banned by Mag in the blink of an eye. Feeling somewhat lost, he could only tentatively ask Mag if she minded him rubbing Emma's head.

"Hehe... You're too kind, Brother Chang Rong. Theoretically, I'm a corpse now, so you can do whatever you want with a corpse...?"

"Okay, then I'll go in—"

"Um... I was just joking!" Marge, who had been joking with ease just moments before, blushed and backed away, a rare blush appearing on her cheeks.

Unlike others, this seemingly harmless white-haired boy could actually get involved in something. Mag didn't dare gamble that Chang Rong would suddenly have a change of heart and switch to "wise man mode," instead of starting a game in this deserted place like they did in the infirmary before.

In the end, Baosheng Mag lowered her head slightly and revealed her short black hair to Chang Rong. She suppressed her somewhat strange emotions and was gently patted on the head by Chang Rong, which could be considered as completing the "humanitarian care before the loser leaves the stage" segment.

—I didn’t expect him to see through my scheme again. As a con artist, this is really annoying… No, actually I’m not that angry. Rather, this feeling is quite subtle.

—But… he never exposed my deception during the ritual to summon the Great Witch. Was it on purpose? Or… was it precisely because the 'trust' he built up by exposing the deception that he didn't realize I had tampered with the ritual?

As Chang Rong gently patted his head, Baosheng Mag pondered to himself.

"Speaking of which, where did the real Meruru go?"

After defeating Mag through a clever scheme, Chang Rong asked curiously where the original jellyfish lady had gone.

"Of course, I'll kill and dispose of them... Never mind, there's no point in weaving a lie that's already been exposed. Come with me."

Marge's wicked smile was barely started before she pulled it off herself. The girl sighed and led Chang Rong directly to the punishment room next door, pushing open one of the doors.

"Lord Chang Rong...!!"

The moment the door to the punishment room was pushed open, Meruru, who was sitting in the room slowly sipping her flower tea, pounced on it.

"Chang Rong, I... I hate battle royale so much...!!" Without saying a word, Meruru hugged Chang Rong and began to complain. Although she didn't drop her little pearls at the drop of a hat like before, the nun's words still sounded particularly mournful.

"I... I originally wanted to use my ample experience to eliminate all my opponents and obtain Lord Changrong fairly and squarely, but... but... as a result, not long after the beginning, I've been recording the damaged furniture and props everywhere. And because my restoration magic hasn't recovered from the witch factor concentration, I can't restore them on the spot, so I can only record them one by one, and I also have to collect the broken fragments, otherwise I might not be able to put them back together later..."

"That girl, Hiro, did go a bit too far. I'll talk to her about it later. Thanks for your hard work, Meruru."

As Chang Rong listened to Meruru complain about being treated like a corporate slave, constantly cleaning up messes, he rubbed Jellyfish's head to comfort her.

"And the worst part is the reception room on the first floor. The entire room is covered in dry powder from the fire extinguishers. Even with restoration magic, it will take a long time to clean it up...!"

"Oh dear, why is my Shiro so wicked!" The culprit, Chang Rong, was covered in cold sweat. After hesitating for a full two seconds, she decided to shift the blame onto Shiro as well.

"I finally managed to tally up the damaged items, and then I suddenly received a call from Lord Chang Rong inviting me over. I came over excitedly, only to be ambushed and killed by Miss Marge... Ugh, this kind of battle royale... I don't want this...! Wasn't I the mastermind? Why did I keep doing all the work and then just get killed for nothing...!!"

"Heh, so this is the cruelty of battle royale, isn't it, Meruru~"

Baosheng Mag smiled, finally understanding what Chang Rong meant by 'another reason for seeing through the scam'.

The answer is Melulu on Ice herself. This conversation reveals that Melulu simply doesn't have the ability to calmly call and report the situation and information when faced with an emergency... More likely, she would just turn into a jellyfish, crying and complaining, and then wither away like a shriveled-up jellyfish.

To put it bluntly, it's because I'm too cultured and can't imitate Meruru's natural simplicity.

"【Coo coo coo... Now that Lady Meruru's body has been discovered, I will no longer help Miss Marg conceal it and will report the kill information of the two of you. Also, since there are too few remaining players, I will directly announce the locations of the remaining players so I can finish get off work early, coo coo.】"

The warden's voice came through, and at the same time, Chang Rong realized that without realizing it, only he, Hiro, and Arisa were left on the entire Witch Island.

"We need to find them and reunite with them quickly—no, things have deteriorated to the point where they're fighting amongst themselves. If that's the case..."

On one side is the ruthless, all-powerful, and cunning general, Nikaido Hiro; on the other side is the gentle, delicate, and seemingly cold but actually warm-hearted Yamato Nadeshiko, Shito Arisa. How should one choose...?

Of course, we should team up with Arisa to take down Hiro first! Otherwise, if that guy wins, will we even see the sun rise tomorrow? I ask you!

Upon realizing this, Chang Rong rushed towards Arisa's direction without hesitation, preparing to deal with the situation together with Hiro before he kicked down the door.

"I have some things to take care of, so I'll be going now! Also, you two... I hope you get along well."

Chang Rong greeted Magmerulu and then hurriedly ran away.

"Hehe... It's really noisy and full of energy, Brother Chang Rong."

Baosheng Mag gently brushed his hair aside as he smiled and remarked.

"Um, Miss Marge... have you been wary of testing Lord Chang Rong all along?"

"...Oh? Why are you asking that all of a sudden?" Meruru leaned over and asked in a low voice, while Mag responded with a smile and asked in return.

"Actually... at the beginning, I only used Lord Changrong as an excuse and a target to escape reality. As long as I kept repeating the words 'The Holy Son will redeem everything,' it seemed that my sins would be swept away. It was like... I told myself again and again that the Great Witch could change everything. In fact, I was just deceiving myself and escaping."

"..." Listening to Meru on Ice's confessional tale beside him, Baosheng Mag put away his professional smile.

"But, but later I realized that I seemed to have slowly fallen in love with Lord Changrong! Although Lord Changrong would sometimes comfort and soothe me, he would also use strict reprimands that were truly for my sake, instead of repeating empty words over and over again."

On the ice, Meruru's hands were clasped tightly together, and the blush on her cheeks had not faded at all.

"I love Chang Rong's happy side, his shy side, his angry side, his disappointed side, and, and, his overly domineering and willful side when he wouldn't let me commit suicide... I love it all! So that's why—"

"Ugh...!?"

Meruru suddenly grasped Baosheng Mag's hand, startling the latter from Miss Black Curtain's unexpected intimate contact.

"Miss Marge, please also come and believe in Lord Changrong!"

“…Huh?” Baosheng Mag was initially just a little surprised, but after hearing this, he was completely stunned.

Is this what they call a die-hard fan...?

"Hehe, I'm not afraid to have faith in you, but is that really a good idea? Maybe I'll accidentally steal Chang Rong away from you, Meruru?"

Marg feigned composure, revealing a wicked smile as she countered with a question.

"It's fine if I just watch from the sidelines! It's a pleasure for me too... Besides, I've actually already... Waaah, no, no, it's nothing...!"

"—"

Looking at Meruru on the ice in front of her, Baosheng Mag was completely stunned. She didn't even know whether to first criticize this guy's pure masochistic nature of enjoying any kind of game, or to criticize the sentence that Meruru seemed to have let slip.

Now even the dark secrets were completely subdued, becoming Chang Rong's dual slave in body and mind. That white-haired boy was terrifying...!

Could it be that by now, I'm the only normal girl on Witch Island with a legitimate view of love...?

Or perhaps, in truth, I already already...

Baosheng Mag took out his phone and used the camera to check himself. He saw that the faint blush on the black-haired girl's face on the screen had not completely faded yet.

Oh dear, this is really... indeed, exposing a con artist's scam makes me feel 'red-hot'... Brother Chang Rong.

-

Today's bonus chapter is 8 words, bringing the total to 4+3 bonus chapters.

The reward ends tomorrow at noon, so I feel like I should be able to pay it off quickly this time.

You can go climb the tower now.

239. You're not Milia, who are you?!

Inside the courtroom—

"Arisa, no—!!!"

The white-haired boy held the hooded girl in his arms and roared to the sky in despair.

The girl in his arms had vanished... Although she had a lovely and gentle smile on her lips, Chang Rong knew very well that she would never make a sound again, and her body, which could warm others, would only gradually grow cold and would never be able to unleash any flames again.

In the final stage of this battle royale, Chang Rong was ultimately forced to stand on the opposite side of Nikaido Hiro. Although he and Arisa successfully killed the Great King Hiro, whose mind had been consumed by the desire to clear the map, everything had already fallen into an irreversible state.

"Damn it, why did it have to be like this... No, Arisa, this isn't the ending I wanted...! If this is really how it has to end, then I might as well slit my own throat and die with you—"

The white-haired boy spoke in a somewhat manic tone. He trembled as he slowly placed the blushing, laughing girl on the ground. Then, he held the unsharpened fruit knife to his own neck, knowing that a single, gentle cut would send him to reunite with everyone else.

However, just before he was about to act, Chang Rong stopped what he was doing. He raised his arm to wipe his eyes, and with a mixture of grief, indignation, and a sense of realization, he abruptly stood up from the ground.

“No… Death is just an escape. I must carry on everyone’s will. Someone has to bear the burden of everything that happened on this island and pass it on. And I… am the one who remembers everything and cannot forget.”

After saying this, Chang Rong walked out of the courtroom without looking back. His back, that of the most Sigma man in history, left the warden, who had just said a few minutes ago that it was time to wrap things up, stunned. Even Hiro and Arisa, who were lying on the ground, had a look of confusion on their faces, as if they had seen a ghost.

"The time has come, Great Witch. I'm here to take your life and fight the right battle—OK, how about this ending? Doesn't it feel cool and leave room for a sequel?"

After putting on a stern face like a powerful magnetic field master and uttering harsh words to Xiaoxue, who was probably making a fortune somewhere, Chang Rong nodded, extremely satisfied with his masterful acting skills that had brought the 13th prospective witch of Witch Island to tears.

"Much more from Europe and America," "European and American style," "I didn't wear a condom," "Eek yeah eeeh eeeh eeeh yeoh oh."

Chang Rong pushed open the door of the courtroom, and all the witches who had been 'killed' and left the stage appeared in front of him. A group of people surrounded the white-haired boy, clapping and congratulating him on his fortune, and announced that the first Witch Island Battle Royale had officially come to an end.

"Although I initially thought it was going to turn into some inexplicable development, it actually ended up being a smooth and pleasant ending, which is really incredible...!" As one of the first to leave, Tono Hannah, who had taken the initiative to perform a tough act before leaving, waved her feather fan and sighed softly.

"Haha, isn't this ending awesome, Romeo! I knew you had unparalleled stage performance talent; now the role of the prince is definitely yours!"

"I'm dying of my own handsomeness," said Ryota Hasumi, the blonde idol, while fiddling with her bangs in a greasy yet dashing manner to Chang Rong.

"It's all settled now, let's hurry up and get to the celebration..." Emma, ​​the pink and white dog, was a little listless. Not only had she missed out on enjoying Chang Rong's food, but she also had nothing to eat because Chang Rong was the last one to survive and hadn't cooked. After the symbolic congratulations, all she wanted to ask was, "What are we going to eat later?"

The group of friends who were once fierce rivals, fighting tooth and nail, reunited after the 'Battle Royale' event, their past grievances forgotten, and they celebrated the perfect end of the battle royale.

"【Coo coo coo... Although it's not good to interrupt everyone's celebration at this time, there's something I still have to say—putting aside the difficulty of editing the video due to everyone's terrible acting, if the performance continues according to the current script, in the end, only Mr. Chang Rong will be left...】"

The warden's true form fluttered to the crowd and said somewhat helplessly to the witches who had already started popping champagne to celebrate the perfect ending.

"I think it'll be fine if I'm the only one left, right? As long as those people find out that we're all still being controlled by the witch factor and killing each other, that should be fine."

"【Coo coo coo... Of course there's a problem. If there are still three or four witches left, we can turn a blind eye and continue to leave them alone. But if there's only one 'ordinary person who isn't a prospective witch' left, then the national authorities on the other side will simply send an additional 13 new prospective witches to Witch Island... Ooh coo...】"

"Eh!?" "Thirteen, new, new witches?" "Does that mean Lord Changrong is going to be devoured by a bunch of new juniors? No, no, no... No way!"