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

The girl seemed completely oblivious to the commotion before her, focusing solely on torturing Chang Rong.

Just as the situation was spiraling out of control, heading straight for total annihilation, the warden returned to the recreation room with the 'guards'.

【Oh dear... please don't make it so lively on the first day, okay? The longer you all live, the longer I can slack off. But it seems one of you has turned into a witch, so I guess I'll have to 'recycle' her...】

"Awoooooo googoo ahhhhh—Stop!"

The roaring, winged witch, with her four claws waving three times, was about to tear apart the seven bandaged maidens when a scythe vertically cleaved its lumpy body in two.

[Witches are beings that can only be killed in specific ways and are virtually immortal. Looks like we'll be working overtime today to contain and deal with Ms. Tanaka... Anyway, please abide by the prison rules and try to live as long as possible.]

The guards, carrying the 'witch' who had split in two but was still convulsing, followed the warden out of the recreation room once again.

In an instant, the entire room returned to deathly silence. A truly literal deathly silence.

The last glimmer of hope and expectation was extinguished, and the surviving girls all clearly realized one thing at that moment:

This is indeed a prison for holding and containing twisted monsters called 'Witches', serving life sentences.

And I... am either the 'monster' that is contained, or the 'lamb' that will be killed by the monster.

There are only these two identities, nothing more, no miracles or choices.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

-

In room V, numbered 63-63I6, the young woman sat quietly on the lower bunk of the double bed, silently enjoying Chang Rong's careful hair-tidying as she squinted her eyes.

Although Chang Rong was a little curious as to why her cell was thoughtfully equipped with a complete set of dressing and grooming props similar to those in her original residence, she didn't think too much about it because it had indeed been a great help. She simply attributed it to the clever idea of ​​the mastermind behind the scenes or the exertion of her lingering humanity.

"Rong, what are your thoughts?"

After her hair returned to its original smooth, cascading fringe, the girl tilted her head and looked at Chang Rong, asking a question.

"Thinking...?"

"That monstrous witch who slaughters everything and brings destruction to the world."

The girl asked quietly and waited quietly for a response.

"I...I don't know, it's too surreal. My brain seems to be in self-protection mode, refusing to accept and understand all of this..."

Chang Rong shook his head, unable to offer the girl her own interpretation of what she felt.

I was inexplicably abducted to this prison where witches are imprisoned and judged.

I inexplicably came into contact with a group of girls.

I inexplicably witnessed a young girl transform into a witch, becoming a monstrous witch—

All of this is impacting Chang Rong's already established worldview.

"But if I had to say what I think... I do have some thoughts."

Chang Rong looked at the girl in front of him, gently poked her cheek, skillfully dodged the girl's low kick, and took out a silver-white bell with a snowflake pattern from his pocket.

—It's so good that I still have this on me; it's a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.

Chang Rong knelt in front of the girl, holding the bell, and then opened his palm to show the bell to her.

“I realized that in this place, it’s impossible to know whether an accident or tomorrow will come first, so I decided to express my feelings before the accident happens.”

"Wait...wait a minute, Rong—"

As the boy's words grew increasingly resolute, the beads of sweat on the girl's face became more and more noticeable, and her calm, expressionless face gradually took on a hint of insignificance.

“I like it—” “[Magic]…!!”

The girl, flustered, raised her hand and pointed at Chang Rong. A second later, Chang Rong, who had just been posing as if she were about to die to show her love to the girl, blinked as if she were still half asleep.

"Huh? You mean what I just did..."

"Rong, I want to sleep."

"Is it already so late? Well, so much has happened today... Anyway, goodnight, Xiaoxue."

Chang Rong softly called out the girl's name, then collapsed onto the lower bunk of the double bed and soon fell asleep.

……

After confirming that Chang Rong was asleep, the girl returned to the upper bunk, crawled into bed, and buried her head under the pillow.

—I—Idiot I, Different Idiot, Idiot Without Egg (, x Idiot Seven Egg)……! Why is Nine Liu again the conclusion of Three 2? I didn't ask you to 'confess'……!

The girl, blushing, squirmed on the bed. She felt that her purpose in coming here was completely at odds with everything that was actually happening.

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Number 631, Tanaka Drew – [The Magic of Communicating with Animals]

Number 636, 'Sato Yuki' — [The Magic of Oblivion]

Volume 1: 66. Snowflake Fragments, Part 3

"I feel like... if you guys are behind this, I wouldn't be surprised at all."

Early in the morning, Kurobe Nanoha Kaori got up early and, as she passed by Chang Rong and 'Xiao Xue's' cells, she looked at the scene before her and sighed softly.

"Huh? Black, black curtain...? Is Chang Rong-sang a black, black curtain...?!"

"Sorry, I was just joking, Meruru. Without solid evidence, instead of guessing who's behind this, let's believe we're all innocent victims, right?"

"Yes...that's right, Ms. Nanoha is right!"

When Meluru, the "nun" who shares a dormitory with Nanoha Kurobe, heard Nanoha Kurobe's half-joking words, she was so startled that she almost dropped her pearls on the spot, which Nanoha Kurobe had to comfort her with a helpless smile.

"No, but... Xiaoxue and Chang Rongsang are really close...!"

Meruru also looked at the two people in the cell, smiled and sighed softly.

In the cell, a girl who called herself "Sato Yuki" stood in front of the sink, brushing her teeth with a sleepy, dreamlike expression, while Chang Rong stood behind Yuki, using a wooden comb to tidy her hair. The height difference between the two meant that Chang Rong didn't have to exert much effort to help the girl smooth her long hair.

In theory, a man and a woman alone in a room should cause a huge uproar. However, perhaps because the two were so natural and even seemed to be getting along like an old married couple, the prospective witches didn't sense anything amiss and turned a blind eye.

Rather, even the parties involved have no objections, so what right do we, a group of junior aspiring witches, have to criticize? This fussy white-haired duo is meant to be together like this, and can only be together like this!

"Good morning, Kurobe-kun and Hyokami-kun~ You guys say Yuki and I are very close? Hmm, now that you mention it, we are indeed quite close, aren't we? Although I'm already used to it, wait, thinking about it carefully, isn't this super close? You could even say only couples would be close to each other—oh my god!"

"Don't talk back, Rong. Help me get dressed."

Chang Rong greeted the two with a smile, then pondered the 'distance in his relationship' with Sato Yuki. Unfortunately, before he could even inflate and show off, he was easily sunk by Yuki.

"Pfft... Chang Rong and Xiao Xue are so energetic! It's great to see you two so full of energy. Well then, Meruru and I will head to the cafeteria first." "Please... please make sure you take good care of yourselves. You have to eat breakfast properly, Chang Rong-san, Xiao Xue."

Whether it's the Kurobe or the Hyokami, they tend to address Sato Yuki, this "greatly accomplished witch," in a way that sounds like they're calling her a child.

Although Sato Yuki initially vehemently refuted this, her height of less than 1.5 meters was hardly convincing, and in the end she could only frown and accept the nickname with dissatisfaction.

"Hmm? Want to go eat? Count me in! Yesterday, because that bird-walking lady turned into a witch, I was so shocked that I didn't eat anything, and now I'm starving!"

Upon hearing that the psionics were going to Erhai for breakfast, the photography girl 'Fute', wearing a newsboy cap, poked her head out from the cell next to Lin.

"Let's go together, Futter. You must have been very uneasy sleeping alone last night, right?" Nanoha asked with concern.

"Although I actually prefer to sleep alone, I really couldn't sleep last night... Oh well, there's no point in thinking about that, let's just get through today first."

On my first day in jail, I didn't even get to see my roommate before she was turned into a witch and taken in by the prison authorities.

Even though Forte usually seems a bit eccentric, she still couldn't handle this situation. However, she forced herself to stay alert and followed Kurobe Nanoha and Kameru to the restaurant.

"Right—Jiulingshiliubaerba—Hmm hmm ah ah ah!"

As she left her cell, Fut suddenly remembered something. She stopped, turned around, walked to Chang Rong's cell, took out her camera, and made a strange sound.

The white-haired duo were drawn to Fut's strange behavior, and just then, a pattern appeared on the paper from the old-fashioned camera that Fut had stuck to her chest.

"Although it can't be a proper thank-you gift... please just consider it as my gratitude for saving me yesterday, Ah Rong."

Fute handed over a photo, smiled at Chang Rong, and the picture in the photo was of Chang Rong carefully and gently dressing the girl sitting in his lap.

"Wow...that's a really good photo." Chang Rong exclaimed sincerely as she took the photo.

"Hehe, I really enjoy capturing those heartwarming moments in life that inspire a positive outlook! Oh, and if you're not satisfied, I can even break them down! Like this—this—or this!"

After being praised, Fute handed Chang Rong several more photos. These included a picture of her accidentally tearing off Xiaoxue's pure white undergarments while changing her clothes, a picture of herself being poked in the nose by Xiaoxue's Rising Dragon Fist, and a picture of Xiaoxue making a Shungoku Kill gesture towards the camera after she was knocked down, with the character "Xue" shining on her back.

"...Uh, Rongrong, your part-time job is taking photos?"

After quickly glancing through the 'split photos', Chang Rong asked, her eyebrows twitching.

"It's my main job! I'm currently not in high school for some reasons!"

"That's called dropping out of school! Speaking of your main job... isn't it very profitable?" Chang Rong was thinking about how to subtly tell the girl, 'The photos you're imagining and reciting are like a pile of history.'

"Huh!? How did you know, Rong? I'm almost unable to afford film these days, sob... It must be the big money pulling the strings!" Fute said through gritted teeth.

"Rong, let me see too."

"Wow! No, no, it's nothing. Anyway, I'll accept this gift!"

Although Chang Rong still wanted to criticize the photographer girl's definition of "warm and happy moments," the sight of Xiao Xue hopping on tiptoe behind her, trying to check the photos, made her immediately end the conversation and turn to face her own white-haired, animal-like girl.

"Hey—the other photos are too blurry."

Chang Rong quickly stuffed the last few photos into his pocket, only handing the first photos to Xiao Xue.

"...Not bad, it seems to be a 'valuable' magic, at least for now."

—Even in a place like this, Xiaoxue is still as chuunibyou as ever, which is really reassuring... Hmm?

Chang Rong smiled like a proud father, then noticed that the buttons on Xiao Xue's clothes were a little loose, and instinctively reached out to tighten them.

However, the moment the finger touched it—snap!

With a faint snapping sound, the white-haired girl's personal clothing was cast off without any obstruction, completely revealing her already fair and snow-white skin to the boy.

"——" "——"

In an instant, the already silent cell became even more eerily quiet. If someone who didn't know better had witnessed this, they might have thought that a witch with the 'time-stopping magic' had unleashed her power.

Fun fact: Time has not been stopped.

"...Um, you saw it, right...Rong?"