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

As expected of Milia... This gentle and peaceful feeling that brings me so much peace is something I can't get from the other aspiring witch girls.

If a 'lap pillow contest' were to be held on Witch Island, Chang Rong would almost instinctively predict, with professional eloquence, that the winner would undoubtedly be Saeki Miria. That perfect softness, that smoothing touch comparable to Nanoha Kaori bread, those parasols that shield one's face from the scorching sun… anyone who came would likely be irresistibly drawn into this gentle embrace, unable to escape its charms.

Moreover... I have indeed been a little tired lately. So many things have happened: regaining my memories, the 'Edge of the Underworld Concert', obtaining the ritual sword, failing to hold the witch resurrection ritual, the battle royale performance, cleaning up the resurrection competition area—without realizing it, I have done so much in just a few days.

I don't think I'll be criticized for taking a proper rest... But not yet—it's not time to completely lie down and rest.

"Milia... if you don't mind, would you like to try using the swap magic with me?"

Chang Rong abruptly shook his head, forcing himself to break free from the gentle, motherly paradise he had been living in. He looked at the blonde girl in front of him and asked her a question.

If Milia's swapping magic could really swap 'memories' as well... perhaps everyone would have a chance to recover their past memories.

There's only one last little bit left. I should go all out and reach the finish line first, then relax and unwind to my heart's content. That's more in line with my style.

Thanks to Chenguang Moxin for the salted fish spike!

I really need to find a day to adjust in early April; I've unknowingly switched to a Los Angeles-based basketball-playing schedule.

243. Clouds watch a reed?

"If you don't mind, Milia, could you try switching bodies with me? Of course... but if you really mind, just pretend I didn't say anything."

After struggling out of that overwhelmingly beautiful and gentle embrace, Chang Rong looked at the blonde bombshell in front of him and made his request.

"Swap bodies...?" Saeki Miria blinked, seemingly not understanding why Chang Rong suddenly made this request.

"After the previous ceremony failed to take place, I have been thinking about whether it was because some key factor was missing—maybe the memories that everyone had were one of the elements? Of course, I am not sure of the specific possibility, but if we have the opportunity to retrieve the memories of the timeline that everyone has experienced, it should be more helpful for the next action."

Chang Rong put on a thoughtful expression and said that he did not think the 'Great Witch Resurrection Ritual' itself was fake, because the ritual sword, the court of judgment, and that mysterious ancient book were all real props.

Moreover, the other great witches in the gap have all said that the so-called resurrection ritual is actually just kicking a witch who has been sleeping in for too long to wake up, so there must be at least one such method that actually exists.

However, the reason why the ceremony could not be carried out normally is quite subtle. Could it be that certain conditions have not been fully met?

With this in mind, Chang Rong also considered 'memory' as a potential candidate. If it really is related to everyone's memories, then Milia's transformation ability is worth exploring in depth.

"To retrieve everyone's memories... But, um... Xiaoxi and Coco seem to have said that the things we experienced in the past weren't exactly pleasant memories..."

When Milia heard Chang Rong's request, she showed a hesitant and conflicted expression. Although the other prospective witches did not have the memory, they had heard about the things that happened in the 'first and second timeline' from the two multi-cycle information positions, Nikaido Hiro and Zetsu Coco.

Simply put, it wasn't a beautiful memory worth remembering, recalling, or savoring; rather, it was a nightmare filled with betrayal, slaughter, despair, and fear, one that one desperately wanted to forget.

"Indeed, my past experiences were far from pleasant, but even so..."

Chang Rong took out a group photo of his old colleagues from the inside pocket of his clothes and handed it to Milia.

"They were all my comrades-in-arms during that witch trial, though Meruru was one of the shady characters, but that's not the point."

Chang Rong coughed, signaling Milia not to focus her attention on Meruru, but to instead feel the atmosphere of the entire photo.

"Although many traces of that witch trial have completely disappeared, and I even lost my memory of it for a time, and the ending was definitely not 'happy and fulfilling'—it is precisely because of the experiences I shared with my companions in and outside the photos that I am who I am today."

Chang Rong looked at her companions in the photo with a gentle and nostalgic gaze, then carefully put the photo away and turned her attention back to Milia.

"There may be bad memories—no, I should say bad, memories that we want to get rid of are the norm, but within those memories also lie invaluable gems. Those good and bad memories are truly the most important factors that have shaped us into who we are today."

“Yes, you’re right. As expected of Xiao Rong, he suddenly uttered such convincing and incredibly cool lines…” Milia looked at the white-haired boy in front of her, who was unusually quiet and not playing any pranks, and nodded in agreement. After all, his 'experienced and seasoned' demeanor did give him a unique and convincing quality.

"And—actually, I've always wanted to help everyone. Seeing how hard everyone is working, I'm really afraid I might get eliminated if I'm not careful... Everyone's magic is so useful. Even if some people's magic is strong, their own abilities are very powerful. Unlike me, my magic is strong, but I'm not very good at it... If my [Exchange Magic] can help Xiao Rong, I definitely won't hesitate to help!"

Milia mustered her courage, raised her hands in a fist-pumping gesture, looked at Chang Rong and nodded emphatically in agreement to the request to switch bodies.

"Don't say that, Milia. Everyone is indispensable, and you, Milia, must have always been helping everyone in your own way. Anyway... thank you very much for cooperating with my sudden and whimsical experiment."

Chang Rong smiled at Milia, then performed the highest form of etiquette between ninjas before a battle—shaking hands.

"No, no need to say that. Anyway... let's try exchanging them first, right?"

Milia cautiously extended her hand to Chang Rong, and their hands clasped together. At that moment, the [Exchange Magic] was activated.

There were no special sound effects, and even Chang Rong himself didn't feel anything unusual. When he suddenly felt a tightness in his chest and instinctively looked down, he found that his toes were completely blocked by the great thing. Only then did he realize that the magic of the exchange had been completed.

Chang Rong quickly shook his head and averted his gaze, his long, golden, wavy hair flying from side to side as he moved his head. He fixed his gaze on the white-haired boy in front of him, who was both incredibly familiar and utterly unfamiliar, to prevent himself from seeing anything he shouldn't have while glancing around.

Although this situation of "facing oneself" is indeed a bit strange, Chang Rong, as a Sigma man, certainly wouldn't be bothered by such trivial matters.

"Do you sense anything, Milia? My memories... or something else special?"

"Hmm... indeed, it seems like that 'feeling' I had when I swapped bodies with Nanoha-neechan before has come back—"

——^q^ Huh? Wait a minute… If it really is possible to see the other person's memories… what if Milia accidentally sees my CCB memories?

Seeing the 'Chang Rong' in front of him with one hand on his forehead, looking like he was 'not bothering me while I'm thinking,' the real Chang Rong suddenly thought of this question.

As I've said in my previous eloquent remarks, memories are a collection of cruel and arduous past experiences, accompanied by small, sparkling recollections that shine like diamonds.

And in my 'diamond-like memories,' quite a few scenes seem to be inextricably linked to vulgarity...

Upon realizing this, 'Milia' instantly broke out in a cold sweat, wondering if she should switch back immediately, lest Milia, a cloud player, actually end up watching videos online.

"I vaguely sensed some... images, and that experience—it was very, very dark, and very painful, my whole body was ice cold...!"

—Phew, thank goodness. It seems the search started from the beginning of the second playthrough, when the old popsicle was born. So we shouldn't see any bad scenes for a while.

Hearing Milia's pained and furrowed brow in response, Chang Rong breathed a sigh of relief. Thinking back on his second playthrough, he realized it was actually quite proper, at least he protected his younger brother for a considerable period. Unlike his third playthrough, where he just felt the atmosphere was right and started a fight with Herococo, Rea, Meruru, and Alice.

"So, Xiaorong, that's how you were in the basement back then... If Xiaoli hadn't helped rescue you, perhaps, perhaps—"

Boom! ! !

"Whoa!?" "Ugh—!?"

Before Milia could 'carefully recall' Chang Rong's memories, the half-closed door to the infirmary was suddenly kicked open with a muffled thud.

Kurobe Nanoha, who was supposed to leave because of a tantrum, returned for some reason. However, she looked extremely disheveled, like a defeated deserter.

"I'm sorry... I... I failed to carry on my elder sister's mantle and protect you... Quick, run, Chang Rong...!"

"Eh?!"

The sight of Nanoha Kaori collapsing to the ground, clutching her arm, startled Milia, who was now disguised as Chang Rong.

"I, even my brownie, couldn't stop her. She's completely fallen for—ooh!"

"Chang Rong-jun—!!"

Before Naoya Kaori could finish speaking, a terrifying pinkish-white polymer of killing intent suddenly emerged from behind her. The pitch-black avatar of the Dry Rice People refused any interaction and darted straight in front of 'Chang Rong'. It stretched out its seemingly slender and delicate arm, but like a British vise hydraulic press, it fiercely grabbed 'Chang Rong's' arm.

"Finally, filming is finished and the shooting project is done... But, but there's still nothing to eat in the kitchen... Why, why is this happening? I thought Chang Rong-jun would definitely prepare delicious food that would make everyone smile... Hey, where did all the smiles go...?"

"Ughhhhhh!??!"

If it were Chang Rong herself, she might still have the strength to put up a fight against the witch Slayer Emma-san, who was already starving.

But at this moment, 'Chang Rong' was nothing more than an ordinary busty hottie that you could find anywhere, so when she faced the witch Slayer, even the last bit of strength she had left to lose control of her bladder had vanished...

“Sakura Emma…she has completely fallen into the realm of a hungry ghost due to hunger…even Hiro couldn’t…”

"Don't say that, Nanoha Kaori~ We've just gone through such a tough game of fighting each other, the most important thing right now is to fill our stomachs, right, right~ Chang Rong-kun~?"

Emma laughed as she interrupted the mysterious jungler who was lying on the ground with her hands outstretched, mouth open, and eyes closed. Then, her light pink eyes, which had lost their bright focus, pressed tightly against 'Chang Rong' and dragged her away without saying a word.

"Ughh ...

Milia, who had swapped bodies with Chang Rong, didn't even have a chance to reveal her identity before Emma forcibly dragged her away.

"Calm down, Emma...!" Having failed to stop the pink and white serial killer, Nanoha Kaori could only get up in a disheveled state and follow Emma away again.

—I'm sorry, Milia, but this is a good opportunity for me to test the effects of the [Exchange Magic] on memories when no one will bother me. Your sacrifice was definitely not in vain!

Chang Rong watched Milia's disheveled state as Emma dragged her away, showing an indifferent expression throughout.

Why just watch? Because he'll be exposed soon enough. After all, he's just a corporate slave who only eats canned food, instant noodles, and sausages for lunch. When Emma finds out that the product doesn't match the description, she'll naturally come back to claim him.

But such rare moments of 'alone time' are truly hard to come by, and a relatively quiet environment is also needed to verify the 'exchange of memories'.

I can take advantage of the quiet to quickly verify the memory exchange theory, while Milia will be caught in a series of chaotic events and won't have a chance to carefully examine her memories, eliminating the possibility of accidentally seeing the film. It's a win-win situation, I win twice!

Milia, your sacrifice for the greater good will not be in vain... I will posthumously confer upon you the title of 'Gods' Cleansing Demon Slayer', so go in peace.

After casually selling Milia, Chang Rong walked to the mirror in the infirmary and observed the strange yet familiar body from a first-person perspective.

Chang Rong had no desire to do anything strange to Milia's body. Although the first-person perspective was more shocking, that was all.

He was a pure Sigma man who had accomplished a feat that surpassed even the Three Heroes' Battle of Lü Bu by two men. He would never take advantage of someone's vulnerability to do something so dirty and despicable that would betray Milia's trust in him.

After confirming through the mirror that the 'exchange magic' had indeed been activated, Chang Rong withdrew his gaze and sat back on the edge of the bed, closing his eyes slightly as he tried to explore the memories that Milia possessed.

After an initial hazy, dreamlike state, Chang Rong did indeed see fragments of the girl's memories, just as Milia had described.

Because of the leak of chat logs, she was cyberbullied and bullied, which caused her to develop a fear of going to school and social networks. She even had a mental breakdown and wanted to commit suicide. It was during this time that she met the mysterious hedgehog-haired lawyer. These 'memories' were all things that Milia had told her before.

After experiencing it again from a first-person perspective, Chang Rong gained a deeper understanding of the pain that Saeki Miria carried.

The memories that follow are relatively unfamiliar: 'losing my job and taking a break' at the law firm—'being inexplicably dragged to court by an urgent case,' 'organizing case details, dodging the prosecutor's braids, wigs, and coffee cups, being threatened with a gavel by the judge, questioning witnesses, and presenting evidence'...

"What?! You have evidence?!" What—I have evidence?!

The judge's exclamation in his memory overlapped with Chang Rong's gasp in reality, but his own memory of the case in Milia's memory also abruptly ended there.

—Damn it, what evidence is this?! If I could recall at least a few more seconds… how come my memory has suddenly shifted to a group of people making hot air balloons on Witch Island?!

Chang Rong frantically pounded the bedsheets. This 'editing technique,' even worse than that of a eunuch, drove him to the brink of madness. He didn't even realize for a moment that something was wrong with the 'memory' he was seeing.

—Seriously, how could a hot air balloon possibly escape from prison?! Are you all idiots?! Tell me right now what the evidence is...wait, what is it?!

After breathing on Emma Sakura's suggestion from her memories, Chang Rong finally realized something.

The 'memory' he was seeing at this moment was something that, theoretically speaking, 'Milia in her third timeline' should absolutely not have.

Hiro split up early on, and Rhea used a simple spear to pop the balloon teacher (what exactly does a simple spear look like? I still haven't seen it...!!). All of this evidence proves that the 'memory' that Chang Rong is watching at this moment belongs to Milia's memory from the first timeline.

However, these memories from the 'first playthrough' quickly disappeared, and the scenes in the memories were immediately replaced by some of Milia's actions and perspectives from this playthrough. But this time, the 'disappearance' didn't feel like a gap in memory; it was more like the projector running out of power halfway through.

Do memories themselves consume 'power'? They shouldn't, but the 'other cycle memories' I saw before suddenly stopped... Could it be that those memories I shouldn't have seen were caused by other residual 'witch factors' in my body?

Chang Rong quickly recalled the incident where he had used Coco-chan as a substitute that night. The essence of his magic-suppressing technique was to temporarily absorb the other party's witch factors to the point of temporary amnesia. Although most of these absorbed witch factors would be used to maintain the body's own operation, a portion would remain and be preserved.

In other words... if Zetsu Coco's Clairvoyance magic were combined with Milia's 'Exchange' magic... maybe it would be possible to achieve the effect of 'everyone sharing each other's past memories'?

I never expected there to be such a thrilling martial spirit fusion skill. This Witch Island is quite exciting to play. Mag is right, Emma is wrong.

After recalling Milia's memories again, Chang Rong roughly understood the principle behind this memory-swapping magic.

The people who exchange memories can indeed glimpse each other's memories, but these 'memories' are not mindlessly accepted. Only those moments that can provide significant emotional fluctuations for the person involved, whether positive or negative, will be perceived, rather than a stream of memories that are all recorded at once.

But doesn't this mean... there's a greater chance that Milia will see my CCB scene?