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

The girl had blonde twin ponytails and wore a gorgeous aristocratic dress with a circle of flowers embroidered around the hem.

"That, that girl... she's insane...!!"

The noblewoman suppressed her nausea and pointed tremblingly toward the interior of the entertainment room.

Following the direction the young lady pointed, Chang Rong saw another girl standing in the entertainment room. She was wearing a heavy, dark coat, and inside the coat, she was wrapped in white bandages. Even her face was wrapped in bandages like a mummy, with only a pair of black eyes showing.

The bandaged girl held a dagger in her right hand, from which red liquid dripped continuously. Her left hand was open, palm up, seemingly holding a pile of scattered white fragments and a viscous, unidentified, dark brown liquid with an extremely pungent and foul odor.

"What...what's that in your left hand—Awoooooo!"

Chang Rong swallowed hard, just as he was about to confront the bandaged girl, when a precise kick came from her calf.

"Rong, if you leave me behind and run away this fast again, I'll throw you into Siberia to feed the penguins."

The snowflake-white-haired girl followed breathlessly, and the first thing she did was kick Chang Rong.

"There are no penguins in Siberia, are there...?"

Chang Rong clutched her calf and struggled to utter a complaint.

Meanwhile, other aspiring witches also arrived one after another at the starting point of this riot.

"Click—although it doesn't feel like a murder scene, let's take a serious look at the material first!" The reporter girl 'Ronfute' wearing a fedora immediately pressed the shutter on the bandaged girl in the entertainment room.

"Be careful, she's holding a dagger—although the amount of bleeding doesn't seem like she's stabbed anyone, I can't guarantee her mental state is stable." Kurobe Nanoha also rushed over, coming to Chang Rong's side while reaching out to stop the other prospective witches behind her.

Most of the girls were somewhat afraid of the riot, but a girl with messy hair, wearing a lab coat and glasses as thick as the bottom of a beer bottle, still managed to squeeze in.

"Sniff sniff—hmm, that's it. This ammonia smell mixed with the putrid odor of hydrogen sulfide, something must have 'rotted,' but to rot to this extent in such a short time, even to the point where the flesh and bones are severely separated... it must be magic, it's definitely magic!"

The girl in the white coat sniffed as she analyzed the situation, finally arriving at a conclusion that thrilled her.

"I prefer to call it a miracle rather than magic—hehe... Don't you think being able to communicate directly with the gods is an unparalleled blessing? And this 'ability' that accelerates this process naturally belongs to the gods, a miracle."

The bandaged girl poured some semi-liquid, rotten substance that was no longer recognizable onto the ground and burst into maniacal laughter.

"...I think her name was Gu Yuanyuan. It seems that was her magic—the magic that causes objects to rot."

Nanoha Kurobe frowned as she calmly analyzed the situation, while Meluru Hikami beside her looked like she was about to cry.

"Um... Miss Gu Yuan... what exactly did you do? Even I... even my healing magic couldn't cure that condition!!"

"Huh? I ran into a noisy bird, sent it to meet the gods, that's all. If it weren't for that florist's incessant chirping that nearly shattered my eardrums, I would have already finished sending it on its way. Pshaw!"

The bandaged girl, called 'Koenhara', shook the rotten flesh on her left hand that had once been a bird, then looked at the rich girl who had fallen to the ground in front of the entertainment room.

"Ugh...you, you lunatic...get away from me, get the hell away from me...!!"

The young lady, her face ashen, yelled at the bandaged girl as she backed away.

Just as the scene was about to descend into chaos again, a woman in a dark blue sailor uniform with black hair suddenly clapped her hands.

"Everyone—! Calm down. Although I don't know what happened before, at least one thing is certain—our [prison life] has begun."

The black-haired sailor-uniformed girl's voice sounded loud and firm, giving people a sense of unquestionable trustworthiness.

"That owl's talk was so mysterious, can it really be taken seriously? It's all about witches and magic, but they won't even give me a roll of film!" The photography girl, Rong Fute, complained somewhat sullenly.

—I'm so, so incredibly sorry, Miss Rong… Waaah… I didn't know that a camera actually needs to be used with film… After you die, I promise I'll never make this mistake again…!

On the ice, Meruru looked at Futter with a pitiful expression, as if she wanted to cry but forced herself to hold it back.

"...I think it's better to treat it as true. Actually, you all probably have some premonition in your hearts, right? Apart from that boy who was brought here by mistake, we all have our own 'secrets,' don't we?"

Nanoha Kurobe agreed with the words of the girl in the sailor uniform with long black hair, and the other prospective witches also gradually calmed down and began to seriously consider their current situation and the words of the owl who called himself the warden.

"That's right, this person—"

"Kurobe Nanoha Kaori, that's my name. As for my magic, I can tell you all that it's called [Vision]. As the name suggests, I can get flashbacks of fragments related to an object by touching it. However, this ability is currently somewhat out of control."

The black-haired girl with twin tails gave a clean and concise self-introduction, and also mentioned her magic.

"Thank you for your explanation, Nanoha Kaori. I am 'Mizuki Chisa,' you can just call me Chisa. My magic is [Fix], which, as the name suggests, can temporarily fix an object in place for a period of time—Nana, come and demonstrate."

"Eh...Eh!? Okay, okay..."

A girl with a soft, sweet voice, similar to Meruru's, peeked out from behind the girl in the sailor uniform with long, straight black hair. This girl, named Nana, was wearing a black JK uniform in the same style as Mizuyu Chisa, except that she had short, light pink hair. Compared to Mizuyu Chisa, she was rather plain in both appearance and temperament.

The black-haired high school girl took off the pink-haired girl's hair clip and casually tossed it into the air. However, the hair clip, which should have been caught by gravity, did not fall to the ground. Instead, it remained suspended in mid-air and fell to the ground a few seconds later.

"Ugh..."

Nana, the girl with pink hair, immediately bent down to pick up her hair clip and carefully re-pinned it in her hair. However, before she could even fix her hair, she was dragged in front of everyone by Mizuki Chisa, a high school girl with long, straight black hair.

"By the way, she's 'Sakuraba Nana,' an ordinary girl in every way, but she has 'entanglement magic,' which can make hair, hair ties, or ties get knotted. That's all."

"Ah, um... yes."

Nana nodded, tacitly agreeing to the introduction of the long, straight black-haired Mizuki Chisa.

After the self-introductions of Kurobe Nanoha, Mizuki Chisa, and Sakuraba Nana served as an introduction, the remaining prospective witches then officially began their first self-introductions, which had been skipped in the reception room.

"I, I am Meru on Ice... I can heal some minor injuries. Although I don't want to believe in imprisoning witches or anything like that... I will try my best to get along with everyone and strive to become friends...!!" — Meru, a blonde girl dressed in a pure white nun's habit, timidly introduced herself.

—It seems like the kind of thing that melts quickly if left unattended, Meruru… I need to be a little more careful.

Chang Rong thought to herself.

"I'm Rong Fute, a freelance writer, right? To save money, I also take on some photography jobs, whether it's headshots, cosplay photos or wedding photos, it's all fine! But I don't know how to use a computer, so I can't edit photos!" - A young female photographer dressed as a newsboy said cheerfully, holding up an old-fashioned camera.

—A photographer who can't edit photos? I feel like their existence is about the same as a chef at Xibei who can't use a microwave, Rongrong.

"Damn it, damn it... What is this all about...! I am 'Gaoyuan Lihua,' you should understand when you hear the surname Gaoyuan! I don't care if it's a conspiracy or not, they're all dead, absolutely dead! And that bandaged woman too—you'd better think about how to lick my feet to please me, or you'll die a horrible death! You... madman! Bad person, evil person—!"—The blonde heiress, dressed in a gorgeous dress adorned with flowers, said, making no attempt to hide her disgust.

—Gaoyuan, that prestigious family second only to the Toyokawa family? Tsk… Even a noble lady of this caliber has been dragged into this. Perhaps the situation is far more serious than I anticipated… This is not a good thing.

"Death is a cool summer night~ Oh, just call me 'Vulture'—my hobby is following divine commands, my magic is [Rot], hehe... Some of you are making pretty faces, aren't you? But don't worry, I haven't heard any divine commands about you yet, hehehe..."—The bandaged girl announced the code name of a serial killer who had been reported on television many times. Many girls' faces turned ashen instantly, especially the young lady from the Gaoyuan family who had just made her harsh statement. She looked like a small fry eating a fly, having just concluded 'if the fate is unknown, then the next second she was proven wrong.

—Is this rich heiress a serial killer that even the police haven't caught...? Who's the powerful force behind this prison? They seem to have connections to the highest levels.

"Zzzzz" - A blonde girl dressed in a white maid Lolita outfit had somehow ended up sleeping on the sofa in the recreation room, and naturally, she wasn't introduced.

—This guy seemed to be sleeping in the reception room earlier... Is it that he's carefree or just confident and at ease?

"Hmm, is it my turn? I'm Mari Ebe, and my hobbies are doing experiments and watching the anime 'Dr. Stone.' I never knew magic actually existed—of course, I already knew that, since my magic is [explosion]. But don't worry, everyone, at most it'll only have enough power to barely shatter a person's skull. If we're just talking about killing, making a bomb is much easier." —The girl in the white lab coat with thick-rimmed glasses and messy hair excitedly introduced herself while glancing around at the others. Her fanatical gaze was so intense that just meeting it made one feel uncomfortable, like a lab rat being stared at by a scientist.

Of course, Chang Rong didn't make eye contact with her. Rather, whenever he tried to make eye contact with any of the prospective witches, he would be kicked by the girl next to him.

"Kiriji Ren, my magic is [making myself almost invisible]."

"I'm Chang Rong. Although I'm the most unique being from a gender perspective, I'm actually the most common Muggle from a magical perspective. But speaking of which, I'm quite confident in my housekeeping skills, you know? If you don't mind, you can come and 'woohoo' me!!"

"I'm disgusted, Rong, you better behave yourself."

When it was Chang Rong's turn to introduce himself, he wanted to make a humorous opening, but the girl ruthlessly interrupted him.

"Ah Rong and Sister Ah Nai seem to have saved me before, so they must be good people. I can vouch for them with my camera!"

Fute patted his chest and offered his endorsement to Chang Rong, which surprised and touched Chang Rong.

In any case, after the introductions, the aspiring witches had gained some understanding of each other, except—

"Wait a minute, before the warden said there were a total of 13 female warriors prepared, but after the introduction just now, it seems there's still one missing—"

The black-haired, straight-haired high school girl, Mizuki Chisa, stepped forward to give a summary and wrap things up, but she suddenly realized that one of the prospective witches present was missing.

Just then, the door to the recreation room opened again, and a girl wearing a thick scarf and with tacky braids walked in, looking anxious and uneasy.

"Miss who is late, your name is—"

"Hey everyone, has anyone seen 'Little Pu'? It's a super, super cute little bird, but for some reason we can't find it at all..."

The girl with the ponytail ignored the words of the three black-haired girls and began to ask everyone questions on her own.

"A little bird? No... um..."

Nanoha Kurobe paused halfway through her response. Although she had never seen a live bird, she had seen a dead one.

"Are you an idiot, naming a bird? By the way, I probably killed it, just a quick thing to do~"

"The bandaged girl, 'Vulture,' said cheerfully."

"Zai...wait, wait a minute...what are you saying?"

“If you’re going to kill someone, then kill them. Stop being so womanly.”

"slaughter--"

The girl with the braided hair was completely stunned for a moment. Her eyes trembled violently, and her body began to 'seizure' uncontrollably.

"Hey, are you alright—huh?"

Chang Rong was about to go up and help, but the girl grabbed his sleeve.

The girl paid no attention to the strange changes before her eyes; she simply looked at Chang Rong and gently shook her head.

"Don't go over there, Rong. Stay here and watch carefully."

"Look? What are you looking at—" "Kill—kill—Little Pu… Haha, hahaha, it was clearly, clearly my only family member—"

The girl with the braided hair spoke in a lower and lower voice, which could even be described as 'distorted'. Not only that, her fingernails visibly grew longer and longer, and cracks appeared on her cheeks as if they were being cracked.

boom!!!!

"careful--!?"

Chang Rong couldn't resist any longer. He pounced on the blonde maid loli who was sleeping on the sofa, picked her up, and tore the original 'sofa' in half.

"Gurgle, ugh, woof woof woof—!!!!!!!!!"

That couldn't be described as a 'girl' at all, or even a 'human' voice.

Just seconds ago, the unknown girl was human; now she has become a twisted monster, capable of easily destroying a piece of furniture in the entertainment room or a human body with a single wave of her hand.

"Waaaaah!? What...what is this!? What's going on with that monster?? Where did that monster come from?!" The rich young lady wailed miserably, unable to comprehend what was happening before her eyes.

"That must be what the warden meant by 'witch transformation'... That child has completely become a 'witch'...!" Kurobe Nanoha swallowed hard, cold sweat dripping down her face as she watched the scene unfold before her.

"Wow, this is incredible... If I could film this, it would be worth dying for—Eeeeee!?"

"If you're going to die, at least expose the truth behind this with your Hermit Purple before you die!"

Chang Rong grabbed Fu Te, who was about to take a picture, while holding the sleeping blonde loli in her left arm, trying to escape the witch's attack from the entertainment room in this disheveled posture.

"Let's run—why are you still kicking me at a time like this?!"

"Rong, idiot, idiot, moron."