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

"You're wrong, Xiaoxue."

"...Rong?"

“That’s not ‘inferior,’ but a girl crushed by pressure. (She rises and takes a step forward.)”

"If that's what 'inferiority' is, then those who turn a blind eye to it are truly disqualified from being human—"

Chang Rong stood up from her seat and took the initiative to meet the hysterical twin-tailed rich girl who was constantly pushing and smashing food.

"Miss Gaoyuan—"

"Get away from me!! You're the witches... That's right, all witches should just die! That way I can be proven innocent! And I won't have to be disgusted by this kind of food that's worse than pigs and dogs in this place anymore!?"

The girl's words were cut short, or more accurately, the mouth of the young lady from a prestigious family was stuffed with an apple.

“I can understand your feelings, this anxiety about the future, the fear of death that is visible to the naked eye, and the nausea from the food that is hard to swallow—these feelings are all too natural. But if there is anyone among us who has no right to be angry about this—it is you.”

"Snap...cough cough, what are you talking about!? Why can't I—ugh!?"

The young lady's angry roar after biting into the apple was interrupted again. This time, it wasn't the apple that blocked her lips, but Chang Rong's index finger, which was close to her lips.

Not only did Chang Rong use her index finger, but she also took the opportunity to pin the girl, who had been incredibly assertive just a moment ago, against the wall next to the fireplace stone wall in the restaurant.

"Because you are the guiding star of the 'A Plateau' family, Miss Liwuhua, if anyone in these three prisons has the qualifications to lead everyone to survive, or even to rebel against the warden, then it must be you."

"Me...me?"

The aristocratic young lady, who had been pinned against the wall by Chang Rong, visibly reduced the hostility in her tone.

“That’s right, it is you, Miss Lihua. Your vision as a daughter of a prominent family, your leadership qualities as an aristocrat, and your calm wisdom as a young lady—these are all weapons that we do not possess, but that you alone have.”

"Leader, weapons..."

The girl blinked and repeated the words Chang Rong was saying.

"That's why, no matter how much we break down, complain, or even despair, you alone must persevere, because you are the only one who can lead everyone to the future."

"Hopefully... cough cough, that makes a bit of a twisted logic. Only I am qualified to lead those commoners—but, anyway, let me go first, commoners...!"

The young lady calmed down considerably from her furious and manic state, and quickly blushed as she slapped away Chang Rong's arm that was pinning her against the wall.

"That's right, this elegant arrogance is exactly what a commoner like me knows about the proper demeanor of a young lady from the Gaoyuan family. In short, please, Miss, start with this apple and lead us to support the land!"

"Well... then, I'll reluctantly show you commoners what the glory of the Gaoyuan family is all about!"

The rich girl with twin ponytails took the apple, half out of spite and half as if to prove something to others, and popped the crumpled apple into her mouth.

After confirming that the noble girl in front of him had regained her senses, though her cheeks were still flushed from the commotion, Chang Rong kept his mission accomplished and turned back to Sato Yuki's side.

"How easy is it, Xiaoxue? The skills I learned from Qigalula for Muli are pretty good, right? That child is actually just a girl who has been temporarily overwhelmed by pressure. She's not despicable, not stupid, and not sinful—guwa!?"

Before Chang Rong could finish his smug words, Sato Yuki hit him hard on the bridge of his nose with a headbutt.

"Idiot, moron, idiot, idiot...! Rong, you're the biggest idiot ever—let's just get a divorce... I'll keep the kids...!"

"I've never been married at all...!" Chang Rong retorted with difficulty, covering her nose, but was immediately hit on the shin by Sato Yuki.

—I wonder how Misawa Alice would feel if she woke up to find that her parents had divorced.

Looking at the scene before her—which was neither a prison nor a large escape room, but was indeed quite 'desperate'—Kurobe Nanoha Kaori thought to herself.

—But…Chang Rong, do you really know what you're doing?

You're playing with fire.

There is only one boy, who is in the 'suspension bridge effect' caused by murder and witch-like transformation, and is at the age when he is most curious about love during adolescence.

In such a dire situation, you still did something that seemed to come from a seasoned veteran of the woodworking world—

If Xiaoxue doesn't work harder, who knows, she might end up with more than one label on her head in the future...?

Although they hadn't actually exchanged many serious words, Kurobe Nanoka was already starting to worry about the love life of her friend 'Sato Yuki' whom she had met since arriving here.

For some reason, 'Kurobe Nanoha Kaoru' is different from the other prospective witches.

Although she was also captured and brought to this prison island, she had done a lot of research before coming here, including some scattered notes about witches.

As prospective witches gradually transform into 'witches', not only will their magical abilities become stronger, but their physical functions will also become more powerful.

What does this mean? It means that although Chang Rong can currently use her skills or physical abilities to pin other aspiring witches against the wall, as time goes on and the witch transformation deepens, the witches' physical strength will increase—

If this guy continues to shamelessly flirt with girls like that, he'll almost certainly end up being dragged to a basement to unlock all sorts of CGs...

Because Chang Rong easily fools the girls using the Gala Gemu method, she becomes an arrogant soldier. And as an arrogant soldier, Chang Rong will inevitably fail in her resistance against the witches who transform into witches and come to kick down her door; this is the inevitable defeat of an arrogant soldier.

As for whether Chang Rong will become a victim of adversity and thus succeed in winning over the next character after causing such a terrible incident, that remains to be seen.

Nanoha Kurobe was absolutely certain of this conclusion, and the most crucial figure in debunking it was naturally Chang Rong's 'partner,' Yuki Sato.

However… Kurobe Nanoha wasn’t entirely at ease about Yuki’s presence. For some reason, although Yuki seemed like the kind of quiet, unfathomable, and powerful behind-the-scenes boss girl with a heavy past, Kurobe Nanoha also had a strange feeling that she was just a nobody, someone who couldn’t get involved and could only help push her from behind or even just watch the show.

—If Xiaoxue, you're too naive and too indulgent towards Changrong, then… it wouldn't hurt for me to take on this responsibility of acting as a firewall. I will definitely protect Changrong; consider it a promise I make to myself so I can survive here.

To survive in this desperate prison where witch trials can be triggered at any moment, one must have their own group. And to ensure that the small group has the power to protect itself, it must remain stable.

—If we want to keep the team stable, we have to 'protect' Chang Rong and keep him from being attacked by those prospective witches whose mentality is extremely unstable.

Everything is for my sister... I will live to the end and leave this place to see my lovely sister again. I will do anything for that.

In short, I will definitely protect you and keep you from being 'attacked' by other witches, Chang Rong!

Kurobe Nanoka looked at Chang Rong and thought this with unwavering determination.

As for the minor questions such as what exactly Naoya Kaori ultimately protected, and why she protected him so much that she ended up in his bed, those are not things we need to consider right now.

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.

-

"Chang Rongjun—"

"Hmm...?"

"It's time to wake up, Chang Rong-jun. Although I want Chang Rong-jun to sleep a little longer, it's almost time for your curfew..."

The sound of Emma Sakuraba reached Chang Rong's ears, causing him to groggily open his eyes again from his sleep.

"Little...little—wait? Wait, wait!?"

The first batch of brain cells to awaken immediately jolted awake upon seeing the pink and white-haired girl in their field of vision. Chang Rong finally fully recovered from her dazed state of muttering some name, and at the same time, she became aware once again of the fact that she was 'being given a lap pillow by Sakura Emma's'.

This fact immediately caused Chang Rong to plunge into the pit like a dragon, wriggling and crawling up from the ground like a pupa.

"Haha...no need to react so strongly, Chang Rongyiqi Liu Yichan Erjiu Yue/Yijun—Ugh!"

"careful!"

Seeing Chang Rong spring up from between her legs like a startled rabbit, Sakura Emma also smiled and got up.

But perhaps because she had been kneeling as a human body pillow for too long, the pink-haired girl lost her balance as soon as she stood up, made a small noise, and fell down. Fortunately, Chang Rong reacted quickly and caught Sakura Emma steadily.

"Ahem... Don't do that again, Sakura-kun."

Chang Rong looked away from the pink-haired girl nestled in his arms, coughed twice, and scolded her for using her lap as a 'lap pillow' as 'incorrect'.

"Hehehe... I wanted to pat my thigh coolly and say 'I'm fine!' but I still messed up and made Chang Rong worry... I'll definitely be more careful next time!"

Emma Sakura shook her head, gave a shy smile, and responded.

"Next time or something—uh, Nikaido-kun?"

"Have you stirred things up enough, Chang Rong? I'm here to kill you."

Chang Rong was just about to ruffle the pink-haired puppy's head when she raised her arm and discovered a mysterious woman in red and black clothing who had been standing next to her with her arms crossed, acting as a third wheel.

Putting everything else aside, the hellish beams of light emanating from Hero's demonic eyes were indeed quite dazzling.

"Wait, wait a minute, I—" Erlong Er Er Yishan Long Er Yueyi

"You're sleeping so soundly, Chang Rong."

Nikaido Hiro slowly approached Chang Rong with a smile, cracking and twisting her wrists.

"Huh? No, wait a minute, I don't think I did anything 'wrong'!"

"Shamelessly burying his head between a girl's legs and snoring away, he was practically begging to bite into that pink-haired dumb dog's leg like a carrot—so what do you say?"

The veins on Nikaido Hiro's forehead became more and more prominent. She made chest-expanding exercises with her hands, clenched her fists and placed them on both sides of her chest, as if telling the white-haired boy in front of her, "You're going to lose a lot of health in a moment."

"Hehe—alright then, what else is there to say? If you have nothing more to say, please get moving quickly!!"

"You...idiot rabbit!!"

Chang Rong wanted to at least put on a calm and collected demeanor before being crushed, but before he could even finish his trash talk, he was taken down on the spot by Nikaido Shiro's standard Rising Dragon Fist.

"Shameless, improper, and idiotic bastard who sleeps everywhere...!"

After defeating Chang Rong, Nikaido Hiro rubbed his gloves while hurling insults at Chang Rong. Just then, Sakura Emma approached...

"Hiro-chan, that's so violent... Will Hiro-chan be—woof woof woof...!?"

"You'd better stop now, Emma Sakuraba—!!"

From the moment they met at the restaurant, he was completely dominated by this evil pink-haired puppy. Now, facing Emma Sakuraba, who was showing off her award acceptance speech, Nikaido Shiro finally let go of all restraints and directly placed both hands on Emma's head and gave her a good beating.

Poor Hiro, who was completely manipulated by the evil pink-haired dog during the Cold War, finally decided to switch to a hot fight.

Sure enough, this thing is much more useful! (Referring to the fist of justice the size of a sandbag)

Looking at the rabbit and dog lying on the ground with their tongues sticking out, one on each side of him, Hiro sneered and raised his right fist, like an assassination boxing champion from the end of the century.

See that?! The ultimate winner is me, Nikaido Hiro! Only I can correct all the mistakes in this world... Yeah, right!

Does spending too much time with idiots really turn you into an idiot yourself?!

The torment of her own life's value and meaning instantly shattered Nikaido Hiro, who prided herself on being elegant and perfect. She became unsteady on her feet and collapsed onto the grass, unable to get up again.

"..."

The guard in the distance remained silent, watching the three who had been wiped out not far away, then looking back at the clock on the bell tower that was about to indicate the end of the curfew.

One last glance was at the mysterious jungler, Nanoha Kurobe, who had been crouching in the bushes further away at some point, her head covered in branches, thinking her disguise was flawless, but in reality, her back and buttocks were completely exposed.

All the guard could do was shake his head, turn back to the castle, and continue cleaning with the broom that had broken into four pieces, an effort that would make even Hannah Tono sigh.

On the other hand, after the three of them had completely extinguished the spring water and survived, they were also preparing to return to the castle prison in Japan.

"what……?"