The Witch Trial Begins with the OO Buckethead Zombie

You have to maintain a good balance.

Find that balance between physical and psychological liking.

Physiological liking and psychological liking complement each other.

Physical attraction can trigger psychological attraction, and similarly, psychological attraction will inevitably lead to physical attraction.

There's no need to distinguish between high and low, noble and base, nor is there any need to criticize primal desires.

But it's true, being too pure can lead to extremes.

Extreme psychological infatuation can turn into Platonic love, an unlimited sanctification of the person one likes, ultimately leading to a situation where one is completely unable to fall in love.

Extreme physical attraction can stifle the existence of psychological attraction, and a distorted and pathological form of dependence can amplify possessiveness to an unlimited extent. In the end, the relationship will evolve into something more like physical friends than lovers.

Neither of them is something Hoshino Utsunomiya would want to see.

Although he knew very well that he had no chance of successfully developing a relationship with any of the girls, and that it might not actually go to that extreme.

But at least, if it's possible to achieve a balance, we should still try to achieve one.

Well, what he meant was...

"Meruru".

"Well?"

"Meruru".

"Huh?"

"Meruru".

"Hoshino, just say what you want to say..." After calling out Meluru's name three times in a row, Meluru finally couldn't help but rub her body and complain:

"If you shout like that, if you shout like that..."

The name called out, the body touched, the sensation of friction.

It will trigger a conditioned reflex.

"Meruru knows that I like her, right?" Hoshino Utsunomiya let go of her hand and instead cupped Meruru's pretty face on the ice: "When you like someone, you want to like them even more, and you also want to try to make the person you like like you back."

I don't know if Meruru has grown to like me any more.

"But I want to like Meruru a little more."

As he poured out his thoughts, and saw Meruru's pretty face begin to panic and well up with tears, Hoshino Utsunomiya smiled.

"How can I like Meruru even more? Should I beg her to let me touch her more? If I touched everything about her, I'd definitely like Meruru even more, wouldn't I? Those intriguing, captivating parts..."

"Touching until you're satisfied, touching until you're bored and weary, and then coldly saying that you no longer like Meruru."

Hoshino Utsunomiya paused slightly, then gently shook his head.

"...I don't really want it to be like this."

“I want to touch it until I get tired of it, but I don’t want to touch it until I don’t like Meruru anymore,” he said.

He took a deep breath and squatted down.

"So, in order to make me like Meruru a little more, and also to let me learn more about Meruru."

His hands slid down her waist and encircled her lower abdomen. His face pressed against her waist and abdomen, and his breath brushed against her skin.

He raised his head.

Then he let go.

His right arm was around the girl's shoulder and back, while his left hand hooked down onto the girl's legs.

"We should chat a bit more."

A proper princess carry allowed the girl's delicate body to rest on his arms.

"I want to talk about it like this."

Her warm, soft body embraced him, her delicate form like water.

The novelty of touching one's body is amplified by the change in position.

"Waaaaah..."

Meruru dared not move on the ice.

She felt suspended in mid-air, being held close to him, with one side of her body against his and the other side held by his hands.

It's supposed to get hot naturally.

It's even hotter now.

Breathe, breathe, breathe...

It was probably because it was too hot that my body started to secrete sticky sweat.

On the ice, Meruru felt herself getting dizzy again.

Shall we chat?

Is this how you chat?

"I went back and reflected on it. Although I may have had a pleasant chat with Meruru yesterday, the way I asked her questions was a bit like interrogation. I shouldn't have asked her those questions."

But isn't asking me this now more like torture?!

On the ice, Meruru opened her little mouth and breathed heavily.

"But I still want to know more about Meruru."

As he spoke, Hoshino Utsunomiya smiled at Meruru on the ice once again: "So, from now on, please let me ask Meruru a question about herself every day."

"Then, after I touched Meruru, Meruru told me the answer to this question."

"These words are meant as farewell and an ending, and also to let Meruru understand my terms of exchange better."

"Meruru, can you leave me with a question about myself?"

"I will tell you the answer to this question when we meet the next day."

It's still a question-and-answer exchange.

However, what's a little different is that he set several delivery dates.

His question will be answered once his favorability rating increases.

Her question will be answered just as her favorability rating increases.

There was no particular reason; he just felt that this might be more appropriate.

As for why it's one question per day...

Well, it's probably because he prefers to take things one step at a time.

Anyway, it can't be the fault of some witch.

It has nothing to do with her. He just felt that if he could fall in love with someone just by reading through their entire life story, he wouldn't need to put in so much effort to get to know them.

Some things cannot be easily memorized by words that are instilled in one breath.

Although he didn't know whether lengthening the time frame would change the problem.

but......

It's never a bad thing to give it a try.

"Is it okay?" Hoshino Utsunomiya asked the girl for her opinion.

"Waaah..."

Meruru on the ice snapped out of her daze.

Do you understand? Do you have any questions? Do you like it?

what......

She finally remembered why she had initially approached Hoshino Utsunomiya.

It wasn't to make him tired of her body.

Instead, it was through him that I learned about the Great Witch.

How could I forget something so important?

Regret, remorse, and then realization.

opportunity.

Oh, right, he said I could ask.

Just ask.

Although I don't know what Hoshino wants to ask me or what he wants to know about me.

it's fine.

Just ask.

"Yes, yes..." Ice Meluru wanted to cover her face, but when she moved her hands, she realized that she was being held unbalanced. She subconsciously wanted to grab something and wrapped her arms tightly around Utsunomiya Hoshino's neck.

Her chest felt heavy and tight, making it hard for her to breathe.

Not daring to hug her too tightly, she loosened one hand and brushed a strand of hair from her forehead.

“Sure,” she said.

"Hoshino, is there anything you want to ask?"

The first question of the day awaits.

“Hmm…” Hoshino Utsunomiya murmured.

Yesterday, he and Meruru exchanged their preferred types.

His goal was to increase mutual affection by getting to know Meruru and by letting Meruru get to know him.

...Let's start with something simple.

"What does Meruru like? I don't mean people, but things, interests, hobbies and the like."