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

Coming to her senses, the pure white nun, Ice Meluru, had already approached the warden. She placed her hands on the silly bird's shoulders, and although her tone sounded incredibly timid and compassionate, there was not a glimmer of light in her eyes, only mourning for the deceased.

"Coo...coo coo—Mr. Chang Rong, help me, coo...!!"

The silly bird helplessly reached out to Chang Rong for help, but no one came.

"...Make sure it's clean."

Xiaoxue, who witnessed the whole thing, remained completely unfazed. She simply picked up her teacup, brought it to her lips, and took a small sip. Her movements were elegant and noble. If one didn't notice her trembling legs, which were spinning around in the air, one could easily discern the aura of someone in a superior position.

"I always feel that this guy's aura is really unpredictable..." Ze Du Ke Ke muttered to herself as she looked at the Snowflake Great Witch in front of her.

“After all, Xiaoxue is the true master of this Witch Island. It’s normal for her to have the demeanor of a witch and her master when she doesn’t need to pretend.” Emma smiled and took out her phone to take a picture of the somewhat unfamiliar Xiaoxue. However, Xiaoxue was nowhere to be seen in the photo. Only the warden, who was enjoying a Meruru head massage not far behind, was visible. This made the pink-haired puppy tilt its head in confusion. Chang Rong noticed this and went over to take a look. After a glance, she understood what was going on.

Today, the "Great Witch" seemed much more serious than usual, and the tense atmosphere was transmitted to every aspiring witch present.

At this moment, Chang Rong suddenly stepped forward.

"Xiaoxue, your forgetfulness magic is such a nuisance!"

Xiaoxue, who was holding a teacup, was taken aback at first, but then immediately understood what Chang Rong meant and smiled as she lifted the forgetfulness spell that had been cast on her.

"Remember to take good photos."

Emma smiled again and pressed the camera button on her phone. With the sound of the shutter, the most powerful witch was captured and her image was left behind by human technology.

"Wow... She's cute in person too, and she looks very elegant in the photos... Now there's going to be a new competitor in the young lady's race."

Hannah Tono also came over. After seeing the dignified and smiling face of Yuki on the phone, she gritted her teeth and complained in a low voice, feeling a sense of crisis.

Xiaoxue did not respond to the commotion. She simply put down her teacup and looked at Chang Rong with her light blue eyes, her smile fading.

"I'm sorry, Rong... It's all because of me that you've developed this constitution that coexists with the witch factor."

After the second battle ended with everyone sneaking away and Xiaoxue being completely bewildered, the group finally began a proper exchange of information. Xiaoxue then learned about Chang Rong's current state and finally understood why her previous water-boiling magic had failed.

Hearing Xiaoxue's sincere apology once again, Chang Rong sighed and sat down next to Xiaoxue.

“You do need to apologize, but the apology should be for making that impulsive, ultimate sacrifice. Although Xiaoxue, you do bear an indefensible ‘sin,’ the way to atone for it should never be through self-destructive self-sacrifice.”

"...I'm sorry," Xiaoxue lowered her head obediently, looking pitiful and adorable.

"Hmm—as expected of the Great Witch who is the final boss, she unsurprisingly has multiple stages..."

Seeing this interaction between the two, Arisa Shito's mind was filled with warnings. It had to be admitted that after Xiaoxue was unilaterally reprimanded by Chang Rong, her demeanor visibly changed. Most noticeably, her 'strength' inexplicably began to surge, as if these two nagging, eccentric individuals had already experienced something similar.

In other words, his own "Yamato Nadeshiko, virtuous wife" category has also encountered a strong competitor!

Seeing Arisa's worried and alarmed expression, everyone blinked and then looked at Hiro in unison.

"...Stirring, what are you stirring!?" Hiro felt uneasy under everyone's stares and immediately hissed and shrieked.

—No wonder this guy has no sense of crisis at all. He probably already knew his own limitations, so he stopped forcing things and removed himself from the Yamato Nadeshiko track in advance.

Seeing Hiro's bewildered and yawning expression, everyone realized something.

The tea party in the courtyard proceeded at a leisurely pace. After giving the warden a full-body massage and treatment, Meruru returned and gave the Great Witch and the other prospective witches a detailed account of the series of events that followed the trial of the veteran witch.

"Great Witch, it's all because of me... If only I had been more understanding of Chang Rong's feelings back then, if only I had realized my sins sooner..."

"No, this is not your problem, Meruru. Your worldview was shaped by me. The only one who should bear the blame for all of this is me, from beginning to end."

Meruru lowered her head, wanting to apologize, but Xiaoxue smiled and stroked the jellyfish's head.

"Great Witch... Waaah... I already promised Lord Changrong I wouldn't drop the little pearls so carelessly anymore, but... Waaah, Great Witch...!!"

The loneliness and obsession that had been guarded for a hundred years finally received a response. In the end, Meruru on the ice could not hold back and transformed into a jellyfish, throwing herself into the arms of the Great Witch, venting all the loneliness and despair she had endured in her dreams all these years.

"Hmm... Meruru, she also has precious family members who are irreplaceable to her, right—Big Sister?"

Nanoha Kaori was somewhat moved by this scene. She wanted to give her older sister a hug as well, but then she suddenly noticed that the headband guard had come to Yuki's side.

"Hiss hiss hiss—"

"Ah, my older sister said she also wants to apologize—"

"There's no need for that trouble."

Xiaoxue interrupted Nanoha's translation, raising her right hand in an ambiguous pose, and then the next second—her older sister, who had been in a wrecked state, suddenly contorted.

Its towering form visibly shrank, its twisted tentacles dissipating like burning cotton, black smoke billowing from its body, and its hoarse, unintelligible roar gradually taking on human syllables. "Hmm...?"

Coming to her senses, before everyone's eyes, the masked alien remains had transformed into a purple-eyed girl with short, light-white hair, wearing a loose robe.

"Huh—" Nanoha Kaori froze on the spot. Her older sister, whom she had been longing to see again, was now standing right in front of her, looking so beautiful and radiant.

"Although I have only retrieved the magic of your generation of prospective witches so far, there are still some spells that I have not yet used, such as the spell to reclaim witch factors, and the spell to undo 'witchification'."

Xiaoxue wiped her forehead. What she had just cast was a spell to undo the reversal of witch transformation. This kind of magic was contrary to the original intention of destroying the world, so she naturally did not choose to spread it.

The choice made in the past, which was intended to destroy all living beings, has now become the cause and effect that allows the two sisters to reunite.

"Big sister...Big sister—!!"

Pfft!

Nanoha Kurobe threw herself into her older sister's loose black robe and hugged the white-haired girl tightly.

"Nanoha Kaori—" the older sister said with difficulty, relying on the vibration of her throat to make a sound instead of using the witch factor, which was still a bit unfamiliar to her.

"Big sister...you won't disappear again this time, right? Right...!!"

Nanoha Kaori has once again reverted to being that silly little sister who needs to be protected, but for her, the way she can snuggle and act cute in her older sister's arms without restraint is much more suitable than pretending to be mature.

"No more, Nanoha. Never again..."

The older sister carefully embraced her younger sister, smiling and gently comforting her.

After confirming that her older sister's return was not a limited-time dream but a real fact, Nanoha Kaori finally let go of her hands with relief and sniffed.

"Xiaoxue—"

The older sister, now back in human form, looked at Xiaoxue and gently walked up to her.

"That's not your fault. You don't need to feel guilty about it. The time we spent together was a precious memory for both me and Meruru. It's all my own fault, the original sin of a witch."

Xiaoxue looked at the girl in front of her and said first that she didn't need to regret the outcome of the witch's trial back then.

"..."

The older sister paused for a moment, then smiled and ruffled Xiaoxue's hair, just as Xiaoxue would stroke Meilulu, just as Changrong would stroke her.

Then--

"Who wants to keep apologizing at a time like this? Now that we've really gotten our bodies back, making rabbit meat is the right thing to do!!!"

"Eh—whoa!?"

Chang Rong, who was wiping her eyes and exclaiming how great it was that everyone was back, hadn't even come to her senses before her older sister grabbed her arm and kidnapped her on the spot.

"--Hello!!"

The witches snapped out of their daze and immediately launched a group attack on the unsportsmanlike old man.

Afterwards, the older sister was tied up again and left in a corner, with a "Danger Person, Keep Out" sign stuck on her head. This supposedly touching reunion between the sisters came to a temporary end in this way.

"Xiaoxue, since you can restore the people who have been turned into witches, can you also restore the people in the basement?"

After confirming that he was not in immediate danger of being pounced on by the perverted woman, Chang Rong asked Xiao Xue about it.

"...Some things might not be possible. Although the physical body serving as the vessel doesn't need to be perfectly compatible, if too much is missing, even restoration magic will struggle to achieve it. But if it's Alice or that idiot reporter, it shouldn't be... um?"

Xiaoxue raised her finger, paused for a moment, frowned, and tried again.

"Only when the soul combines with the body that carries the soul can the witch transformation be reversed, but... I can no longer sense their 'souls'."

"Ah, about that—"

Chang Rong, Meruru, and Renmi Leia exchanged glances and finally told Xiaoxue about their experience in the chasm. They recounted how they fell into the chasm, how they reunited, and how Leia became the idol with the most people prayed for at her concert in history.

However, considering that Xiaoxue's mental state was still unstable after her resurrection, Chang Rong temporarily withheld information about the other great witches, fearing that Xiaoxue would explode if she heard it.

Moreover, Chang Rong actually has her own ulterior motives regarding the truth behind the witch's demise.

Since this is a private matter for the Buddhist old turtles (big witches), instead of letting me, an outsider, suffer on both sides as a messenger, it would be better to find a way to let them resolve it internally.

"I see... You were able to purify the wronged souls of all the past candidates for witch on Witch Island. Rong, you truly are the kindest, purest, and most dazzlingly flawless person."

"Don't say that, it's embarrassing."

Chang Rong awkwardly rubbed his hair. It wasn't out of modesty, but mainly because he felt embarrassed when he thought about how everyone had helped these veterans achieve "Buddhahood and liberation" in batches.

"So, does that mean the other prospective witches can't come back?" Emma asked, somewhat disappointed.

"It seems that's true, but actually this method isn't the optimal solution."

Unlike the others who were disappointed after learning the truth, Chang Rong had a calm expression.

"Even if we resurrect all the prospective witches, wouldn't that really create a lot of literal seniority, ancient seniority? Betrayal seniority? This is just treating the symptoms, not the root cause. There should be a better solution, such as [rewind] or something like that."

Chang Rong looked at Xiao Xue, and the Great Witch nodded as well.

"Rewinding to a specific person is theoretically feasible, but it requires improvements to existing death rewind magic."

"Okay, let's get ready! Improve the magic, reverse and stop the calamities caused by the witch-transforming factors, clean up Witch Island thoroughly, and find the hidden veterans (other great witches) – there's still a lot to do. We'll throw a banquet for Xiaoxue tonight, and you'll be working hard again starting tomorrow. Is that alright, Xiaoxue?"

Chang Rong clapped his hands, and just like that, they finalized what they would do next.

"..."

Looking at the boy's 'tough' attitude, Xiaoxue's eyes became somewhat dazed.

Rong... has always been like this, never changing.

He might be harsh on himself sometimes, make himself angry sometimes, and act like an idiot sometimes.

But... Rong is Rong. From that morning bathed in the setting sun, from the moment he stood before me and introduced himself, he has always been like that.

He will not abandon me, he will not leave me. If I bear the original sin of one person, he will accompany me to redeem that person's sin. And if I bear the original sin of the whole world, he will still accompany me as a matter of course until the sins of the world are repaid.

"Coo coo coo... Um, it seems the humans have dispatched their navy and air force to this island. While they're most likely there for reconnaissance and negotiations, the possibility of armed conflict can't be ruled out..."

As everyone lamented that there was still much to be done, the disheveled young warden approached, bringing news of the government's plans.

"...Rong, can I really do this? Can I try to atone for my sins like this, and live happily with you?"

The Great Witch looked at Chang Rong. Even though she already knew the answer, she still wanted to get it from the boy.

"Silly Xiaoxue—"