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

The blue-haired detective poked his head out from the side, humming and patting Chang Rong's shoulder, his tone incredibly boastful.

"There's no need to shoot it down without saying a word!"

"How rude! That's why I told you to use the vibranium shield to throw it and take it out from a distance! Eliminating such dangerous elements is also part of our detective agency's job!"

"Is there such a foreshadowing?! Seriously, their first job is something like exterminating insects and shooting down the sun. That's a bit too far-fetched for a detective agency!"

"Relax, Watson! Even if wasps do spawn inside, I'll use my ki blast to blast them all away!"

"Uh……"

Seeing the cheerful blue-haired detective, Chang Rong didn't continue her吐槽 (tu cao, meaning to criticize or complain).

After all, maybe this guy was just stating a fact...

You know, this is Tachibana Sherry, that Tachibana Sherry...!!

Even so, is it really necessary to do something so scary to yourself? Did I do something to anger this guy?

Did I accidentally hurt her when I changed her dressing? Or did I refuse her request to help sweep the floor? It couldn't be because I, her 'Watson,' have been too busy lately, so she's angry, haha.

Right, it must be because I solved the 'sewing kit mystery' in a flash that made this Miss Holmes feel threatened, which is why she's targeting me like this, questioning who the real boss is!

Tsk tsk tsk, what a terrifying yet realistic workplace environment...

But to put it another way, does this guy really feel 'anger'? It seems our president is gradually regaining his lost humanity.

"Anyway, that completes Hannah-chan's request. Now let's go to the underground cryogenic chamber you mentioned before, Watson!"

—What a guy with top-notch initiative!

When Chang Yirong was in a good relationship with Tachibana Sherry, she hardly needed to guide her to do anything. On the contrary, she had to be responsible for keeping this girl from running around.

Following Shirley Tachibana to the back of the castle, we saw three wooden cabins with a very similar decor, arranged side by side.

According to the map description, the three rooms from left to right are the 'Fire Spirit Room', the 'Water Spirit Room', and the 'Goblin Room'.

"It looks like three copies were copied and pasted, right? But only the foundation of the middle room is solidly connected, otherwise you could use these houses to do the same three-ball juggling trick~"

"...?"

Despite her strong inspiration, Yueyi Art Flagship Second Division U-Chang Rong completely failed to understand the meaning behind Tachibana Sherry's words.

However, the blue-haired detective did not continue to explain. She led Chang Rong into the central crystal room, pried up a floorboard from the corner of the room, and revealed a hidden underground passage.

Meanwhile, Tachibana Sherry stood to the side with her hands on her hips, looking like she thought, "I'm so awesome."

"Hehe~! How about that? This is Sherry-chan's famous deduction! She found the strange underground passage in the strange room in no time, and then found the strange popsicle Watson in the strange basement~"

"How did the club president discover such a hidden place?"

"Oh... actually, it's because Coco-chan suddenly yelled 'Whoa! You are, you can't forget—' one morning, and then jumped out of bed. Because she looked so strange, I investigated and saw Coco-chan crawl into this room. I investigated a little more later and it was easy to find this hidden passage."

"What a loser, Coco-chan..."

Chang Rong was too lazy to comment on Ze Du Ke Ke anymore. His expectations for Ze Du Ke Ke as an information position had gradually changed from "You are definitely the key core role in breaking the deadlock!" to "It is more important than anything else for you to live your own life well."

Anyway, this is the place—the place where 'I' was discovered and rescued, and also... the graveyard of the [witches].

Looking at the passage leading to the underground cold storage, Chang Rong swallowed hard, clearly feeling her heart racing.

Something is waiting for you on the other side, and it's highly unlikely to be something that will make you happy.

Perhaps ignoring those things that were hidden along with the ice is the best choice for Chang Rong at this moment.

"Hey, Watson, Watson~~"

A reassuring touch came from her shoulder, and when she turned around, she saw Tachibana Sherry's usual carefree, silly grin.

"Watson is Watson, you know. Since we've signed a contract, I have to work hard for Detective Sherry-chan. No matter what Watson becomes, that's the only thing that won't change, right~?"

"...What a ruthless Sherlock Holmes!"

He was the 'sand culprit' who almost punched himself to the very end of the series, yet he shamelessly made such a blatant declaration of a black contract. He's a boss who's terrible in every way.

However, my heart wasn't beating as violently anymore.

Taking a deep breath and making up his mind, Chang Rong followed Tachibana Sherry down the stairs.

however--

[Beep beep - Warning, overweight, warning, overweight]

Inside the metal elevator filled with complex gears, Chang Rong and Tachibana Sherry stood side by side, the constant mechanical warnings reminding them that they could not continue exploring.

"Um, President."

"Hmm~? If Watson wants to ask something like, 'Does Sherry-chan have ten times the muscle density of others, so her weight is also ten times that of others?', then even someone as smart, cute, and intelligent as me will get angry~?"

With a smile, Tachibana Sherry raised her high-damage left fist and said.

"I...I didn't mean to ask about that!"

For a moment, Chang Rong felt the ominous sign of death shining brightly above her head, but thankfully she didn't actually ask it.

Despite being prepared, after going down the stairs, they didn't reach the freezer directly; instead, a luxury elevator blocked their way.

Upon entering the elevator, the only buttons next to the door were for "Up" and "Down". Although the "Down" button was pressed, the elevator did not move; instead, it kept sounding an overload alarm.

At first glance, Chang Rong thought that Tachibana Yuki was a burly and strong woman, but even though Tachibana Yuki got off the elevator and left alone, the overload warning sounded endlessly.

—By the way, speaking of which, Rhea-sama seems to have mentioned before that the elevator leading to the underground has been overloaded for some reason.

With no other option, Chang Rong could only step out of the elevator and stand staring at Tachibana Sherry at the doorway leading to the underground freezer.

"..."

"...Right, let's have a snowball fight!"

"Although I still can't keep up with the president's unconventional thinking, please allow me to refuse, or I'll die."

Are you kidding me? Putting aside the fact that it looks like springtime on Prison Island right now, even if it really snowed, the snowballs that Tachibana Sherry made could probably be used to make a diamond set. Getting hit by one of those things would definitely turn you into Kakyoin Noriaki.

Ugh... I was just trying to get some rest late at night, but the alarm keeps going off... Can you please stop giving me extra work?

Just as the two were contemplating whether to slink away like this, an owl emerged from the ventilation duct.

“...Warden!”

[Huh? I didn't expect you to still be alive... I thought you'd been killed long ago, but it looks like it'll be over soon.]

"?"

The warden glanced at Chang Rong, then at Tachibana Sherry beside him, and uttered a cryptic remark.

"Hey, Warden! We want to go to the underground freezer, but the elevator seems to be malfunctioning!"

—Wait, can you just say something like this out loud?! Right here?!

Upon hearing Tachibana Sherry directly reveal what she wanted to do to the warden, Chang Rong transformed into a super-giant beside Reiner, looking utterly incredulous.

Fortunately, the warden seemed completely unconcerned about the two's subtle FIFA behavior, and instead turned his head 90 degrees.

Normally, you're not allowed to enter the basement, as that would cause Meruru a lot of trouble... But now that Meruru is dead, and the remaining Witch Slayer potions have been recovered and stored as much as possible, so—I'll just pretend I didn't see it.

—That's the face of a typical office worker who can slack off however they want in the office while the boss is away on a business trip.

As for the elevator... the freezer was impacted for some unknown reason, triggering an alarm. However, due to aging equipment, the alarm system only delayed locking the elevator. Well... repairing and unlocking it is too much trouble. Until the freezer is used again for the next Witch Trial, let's leave it for now.

—This level of professionalism is a bit of a waste for a warden on Prison Island. Why not take his talents to the brewery next door? That's where his expertise truly shines.

Moreover, the 'unexplained impact' mentioned by the warden...

Chang Rong seemed to realize something and turned to look at Tachibana Sherry.

"Sherry-chan doesn't know anything~ Hehe~?"

The blue-haired, super-strong detective stuck out his tongue and tried to get away with it by tapping his head cutely.

[That's all for now. Please don't try to press the elevator button anymore; it'll only trigger the alarm and disturb me. Remember to stay in your cell until you're grounded... *coo coo coo*]

After confirming there were no further issues, the warden gave the two men some instructions, then flapped his wings and disappeared into the ventilation duct, clearly not wanting to work overtime for even a second longer.

For a moment, the area in front of the underground elevator fell into dead silence.

"...So, what do you think, President?" Chang Rong spoke first, asking Tachibana Sherry beside him what she thought of the conversation that had just taken.

"Hmm...it sounds like the warden would taste really good roasted!"

"It needs to marinate for a while longer to absorb the flavor—no, no, that's not what I meant!"

—For a fleeting moment, I actually started following this guy's train of thought and researching how to roast the warden... I'm afraid I'm really going to be turned into a witch by the cafeteria food.

Kurobe-nee, help me!

"Is it about the elevator? Hmm... The warden wouldn't lie to us, would he? So we're probably just locked onto by that strange impact. What bad luck!"

"A strange impact," he said.

"There's nothing we can do. It seems we won't have a chance to investigate the underground cold storage until the freezer is reopened."

For some reason, after saying those words, Chang Rong felt a little relieved, and the sticky, indescribable chill gradually dissipated.

"Actually, there is a way!"

Tachibana Sherry's tone suddenly became very serious.

"Is there another way?" Chang Rong blinked, wondering what kind of amazing wisdom this blue-haired man was about to share.

"Well, I just need to take out one person."

"I said with a smile."

"That would allow us to initiate the Witch's Trial, right? If it's for Watson, I'm perfectly fine with it. What a genius—pfft!"

Shirley Tachibana was interrupted halfway through her sentence by Chang Rong, who grabbed her detective hat.

"Don't force yourself to do things you're not good at, President."

"Hmph, you're wrong, Watson! The genius beauty Sherry is very good at killing—Waaaaaah! What, what did you do!"

Sherry Tachibana was interrupted again, this time by a violent rubbing of her hair through the detective hat.

“If it were anyone else, they could use witch transformation to excuse their murderous intent—and it really is a problem of witch transformation. But you can’t justify yourself, can you, President? I can’t let you take action under any circumstances, except for you.”

"—"

Shirley blinked, and for a moment she was unusually quiet, unlike her usual self.