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

"Chang Rong, Noah needs a massage."

While Chang Rong was struggling to breathe under Emma's intense gaze, a girl who looked remarkably like a color palette also came over.

"Hmph, I knew my head-patting skills were unbeatable! That Nikaido guy must have never eaten fine food before. Ruffle, rub, rub, rub—"

"No no no...~~" Noah made a strange sound, but judging from his expression, he seemed to be enjoying it.

"Yoshi yoshi yoshi—uh!"

Chang Rong, who was wearing a doting (and slightly disgusted) smile, suddenly felt a sharp gaze piercing through her from behind.

"It's not right for you to be so close to someone of the opposite sex you've just met, Noah," Hiro lectured Noah in a reprimanding voice.

"Hiro is an idiot, Noah likes Chang Rong," Noah replied briefly.

Contrary to what I had imagined, these two were not strangers; on the contrary, they seemed quite close, but it appeared they were having a falling out.

None of that matters. What matters is—

“Chang☆Rong☆”

Hiro once again transformed into his sardine-like criminal mode, his blood-red eyes fixed on Chang Rong, the killing intent behind him almost coalescing into a Stand, wishing he could give the 'frivolous white-haired' in front of him three and a half pages of 'Ora' right now.

—Why does it feel like I'm about to get stabbed in the kidneys by two people at the same time, even though I've only been here for less than a day...?

With Emma's gaze in front and Heero's gaze behind, Chang Rong felt like a steamroller caught between Jotaro and DIO.

"Oh dear, it's great that we can gather on time. Let's get this mess sorted out as soon as possible."

From the ventilation duct above the corridor, the warden owl fluttered out. It briefly scanned the people present before opening the door to the courtroom.

creak-

Behind the heavy, luxurious doors lies an even more magnificent and grand room.

Inside the circular building, resembling a gladiator, the first thing you see is the outermost ring of huge glass windows covered with colorful mosaic patterns.

The crimson sunset streamed through the window into the center of the circular room, where a massive, gear-like base lay silently. Above the base stood a spiked pillar.

For some reason, it inexplicably evokes images of medieval witch hunts. Innocent victims labeled as "witches" were bound, impaled, or burned alive on pillars.

That's right, it's the 'Witch's Trial'.

Almost everyone involuntarily swallowed hard, while the warden flew to the railing and extended a wing to signal everyone to enter the courtroom.

"Now, let me briefly explain the process of the Witch Trial. You all see that pedestal over there, right? That's the execution platform where witches are executed. What you'll be doing is voting to decide who will be executed during the one-hour debate. Now, please go to your respective speaking positions around the perimeter of the pedestal. Make sure you check the prisoner's number so you don't stand in the wrong place."

The gear-shaped 'execution platform' was surrounded by something resembling a courtroom witness stand. Regardless of their motives, everyone obediently walked onto their designated 'stage'.

"Nikaido-kun."

Just as Hiro was about to take a step, Chang Rong suddenly called out to her.

“…What?” Hiro frowned. The boy in front of him no longer had the blank look he had before. Instead, he looked determined and, for some reason, seemed very reliable.

"Please don't let it suddenly flare up again, aww, sob sob sob!!"

Chang Rong's serious suggestion was interrupted by Xi Luo's tactic of pulling rabbit fur (hair) before she could finish speaking.

"What a terrible temper. What do this guy have in common with that 'gentle, considerate, and understanding Yamato Nadeshiko' that Emma talked about...? They're both human?"

No, this Hiro in front of me is a [Preparatory Witch]. So it seems we have nothing in common, QED.

Chang Rong, feeling his good intentions were being misunderstood, rubbed his head and complained before preparing to sit down. But he paused as soon as he lifted his left foot, and after a brief moment of thought, turned to look at the warden beside him.

"Uh, Warden, where should I stand? The spot where the deceased named Meruru is?" Chang Rong, a substitute firefighter, asked curiously.

“Oh dear… that is indeed a problem. Although I would love for you to stand in Meruru’s position, everyone’s position and number are fixed, and uploading the court records later will be very troublesome… Oh, I’ve got it.”

After a moment of contemplation, the warden suddenly flapped his wings, revealing an expression of astonishing wisdom.

Chang Rong had seen this expression before; this expression meant—

-

"Then, the witch trial is now in session!"

With the warden's unusually loud words, the battleground of debate between life and death, sacrifice and offering, witch and human, officially began.

only……

All the girls stared silently at the warden in the 'judge's' seat.

More precisely, it was looking at the mysterious white-haired boy standing in the presiding judge's seat, with the warden perched on his right shoulder.

"This guy is definitely pulling the strings! He's so arrogant!"

"No matter how you look at it, this is definitely the mastermind behind it all! What's with the attitude? I'll kill you!"

"I, I, I knew you weren't a good guy, Desuwa!!"

"Chang Rongjun...how could this be..."

"This guy isn't some kind of mastermind, are you all idiots...?"

"Gurgle...! Everyone's attention has been drawn to that, Chang Rong, you rascal...!!"

Seeing the girls' eyes that seemed to say, "The first thing we'll do after the trial is find a way to stab this guy to death," Chang Rong felt like she had swallowed shit and couldn't express her bitterness.

The warden's comparison was definitely intentional, wasn't it? It must have been intentional!

"Coo coo coo... It feels surprisingly good to step on someone else, no wonder Lady Meruru likes to order me around so much."

You actually enjoyed it!

Now, it's not just Nikaido Hiro who's trying to find a way to survive the Witch Trial; there's also a seemingly ordinary but ultimately powerful boss behind the scenes (fake).

Volume 1: Chapter 10. Please, look at me carefully...

Although the warden announced the start of the witch trial, everyone froze in place, their multicolored eyes all staring intently at Chang Rong.

A mysterious young man, dressed in expensive and luxurious attire, suddenly appeared and stood in the judge's seat, looking down at the girls with disdainful eyes. The warden, standing on his shoulder, was as obedient as a pet.

If this person isn't the mastermind, I'll eat the monitor upside down.

"Warden, could you... perhaps give me another seat?"

"—"

That stinky bird is playing dead!

As always, after saying "Hey! I have a plan" and then making a fool of himself, the warden seems to have completely entered a slacking-off mode.

"Um... everyone, although the current situation is easy to misunderstand, I can... uh... I can guarantee with Nikaido's reputation that I am absolutely not the mastermind!"

Chang Rong wanted to say something: to change the fact that he (in the Da Jiu family) had the "Number One on the List of Deadly Sulfur" (Zao Si Gao) Yin Liu Xiang Qi, but in the next 8 hours, it seemed that he had nothing to offer as collateral, so he could only throw out Xi Luo.

"Aha?"

"Hiro-chan? Guarantee? You must be joking!"

"Betraying his subordinates' secrets right from the start, at the very least desuwa..."

"Uncle, I feel like things are developing really strange right now...?"

Chang Rong presented Hiro-chan!

The crowd's suspicions deepened!

—How could your reputation score be this low?!

—Is your rabbit head filled with rabbit fur?!

--ha!

--ha!!

Having failed to prove his innocence, the mastermind (the villain and the criminal glared at each other and hissed at each other) could not escape from the banquet and had to come over to fight back.

This is terrible... Hiro was put in the 'suspect' position without any information or influence, and I am in the same situation.

There was no evidence or testimony to prove his innocent identity, it was all blank, it was like he was on the defense and found that he only had a lawyer's badge in his pocket... Hmm?

As Chang Rong complained, he casually reached into his pocket and pulled something out of the inside pocket of his coat.

It was a bell.

The structure is very well preserved; it should make a sound if you pick it up and shake it slightly. The bell is decorated with snowflake and white rose patterns on both sides.

It doesn't seem to be any particularly valuable piece of art, but for some reason, just looking at this bell gives me a feeling of... ugh.

The long-lost throbbing pain in her brain interrupted Chang Rong's thoughts. Although this small discovery was of no help to the current situation, on the bright side, at least next time someone showed their lawyer's badge, she would have something to counter.

Simply put, it's completely useless.

"Everyone, everyone—[Look at me]!"

Suddenly, the slightly androgynous, dashing voice of 'Prince' Hasumi Ryoya rang out.

Along with the sound, a command entered his brain. It was a strange power that was almost impossible to disobey, forcing Chang Rong to look directly at Leia.

Not only Chang Rong, but almost everyone present was drawn to Renmi Ryoya.

—What, what's going on? My vision is out of control... Is this what they call magic?

"This is my magic, [Gaze Guidance]. How about it, everyone, can you feel this burning gaze that makes your hearts race?"

The prince placed his left hand on his forehead, striking a pose that seemed to say, "I really can't do anything with you guys," before revealing his magic.

"Gaze guidance? Rhea, you clearly said it was [Charm Magic] before, why did you suddenly change it to desuwa?" The tiny green Lolita girl, Tono Hannah, asked with wide eyes.

"Hahaha, sorry Hannah, many people have indeed said that my charm is comparable to magic, so perhaps that's why I'm confused, yare yare—"

—This guy is actually troubled by the fact that 'I'm too charming,' Hasumi Ryoya... What a terrifying comedian!

Chang Rong stared wide-eyed at Leia, while simultaneously having to re-evaluate her assessment.

From "an actor who seems to have some mental issues" to "an actor with mental issues".

"In short, I'll vouch for it with my real magic, how about that?"

Ryota Hasumi stopped smiling and spoke seriously to everyone.

"—!" "What do you mean?" "You mean..."