I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

[Assistance Relationship: Not Unlocked]

'Another "Tower" image...'

Amamiya was genuinely puzzled by the Arcana on the head of this girl whose art style was completely out of place with the "Tower" brand.

Why would such a seemingly lively and adorable "foodie loli" be associated with "The Tower," which is arguably the worst card in the entire Arcana?

Amamiya was puzzled for a moment, but he immediately saw...

The red-haired girl, who was starving, blinked, perhaps thinking of taking something out to fill her stomach before the meal officially began.

So she took out a plastic bag of cookies from her pocket, tore it open, and prepared to have a little treat.

Just as she tore open the bag in her hand, the student next door, Gehenna, who had been complaining earlier, suddenly stood up and looked at Haruna, who had previously scorned and mocked her.

"What did you just say, Kora! What, are you looking down on me? Huh?!"

...What's with that tone that's like that of a female gangster boss?

Without further ado, the student named Gehenna fired a shot—and by sheer coincidence, the bullet struck Junko's hand, which was holding a cookie, shattering it into crumbs on the ground.

Junko was still in the position of putting the cookie in her mouth, seemingly not having come to her senses immediately.

After blinking blankly for a moment, her originally energetic and lively expression instantly turned gloomy.

"I haven't eaten yet..."

Haruna then slammed her hand on the table and stood up, angrily saying, "You... this is a desecration of food!"

Akari quietly got up, maintaining her squinting smile, but a heavy black aura seemed to emanate from her, instantly transforming her from a 'Yamato Nadeshiko' into an 'Evil Demon King'.

He didn't say a word, but his aura instantly sent chills down people's spines.

As for Izumi… just before the situation reached a stalemate and a full-blown fight was about to break out, she did something that even Amamiya didn't expect—

She quickly gathered up the cookie crumbs that had fallen on the table, still smelling of gunpowder, and licked them.

'Hmm... it smells of gunpowder and the heat of burning firearms... surprisingly, it has a strange smell.'

Amamiya was stunned.

no……

You can't be that hungry... You even want to try a cookie that's been smashed by a gun?

What kind of abnormal person would do this?

Amamiya watched from the sidelines. Meanwhile, at the same table as the student with brown-gray hair, Gehenna, the other students also stood up with unfriendly expressions.

"Heh...Want to fight? I'm always ready."

"Don't think you can bully others just because you have more people..."

"Sisters, let's go! Let's crush them!"

The surrounding students all turned their gazes toward them, their expressions clearly showing they were enjoying the spectacle.

Amamiya even saw some students preparing to cheer, and some even planning to fire a few shots after the battle started, stirring up trouble and making a scene for their own amusement.

'...'

To be honest, it's a bit difficult.

The current situation is likely to escalate further, and Amamiya has no choice but to take action to curb the impending chaos.

'PSONA—Bali!'

Amamiya did not directly 'summon' her Persona, but simply switched Personas to fully exude Baal's aura. She further enhanced her influence by using "Malignant Charm - Aura Enhancement" (Kayoko's Bond Skill); "Final Act Prelude" (Hina's Bond Skill); "Mad Snow Moon Flower"; "Calamity Plunder"; and "Crimson Calamity Charm" (Wakamo's Bond Skill).

A calamity-level aura swept out instantly with the snap of Amamiya's fingers, immediately silencing the soon-to-be noisy and chaotic cafeteria.

A chilling gust of wind, seemingly from nowhere, suddenly blew in, and in an instant, all of Gehenna's students felt a sense of awe, as if "the Demon King had spread his wings and descended behind them."

For many of the students from Ghena who had caused trouble and been punished, this was a 'psychological shadow' that would haunt them for life.

Under the influence of the skills "Blooming Heart" and "Crimson Echo," which can more easily stir up the bonds between emotions and memories hidden deep within people's hearts, this sense of fear becomes even clearer.

"..."

After a brief silence, someone shouted, "The disciplinary committee chairman is here?!"

Then, one by one, Gehenna's students immediately adopted the posture of obedient children—the Gehenna students near the door opened the door and fled outside.

Amamiya withdrew his imposing aura and then walked nonchalantly towards the kitchen.

Chapter 18: My favorite is maple leaves.

By imitating Hina's powerful aura and using his own series of 'aura enhancement abilities,' Amamiya calmed down the impending chaos in the supply department with just a moment of imposing presence, and then went to the kitchen.

As the saying goes, "the kitchen is the battlefield."

Upon opening the kitchen door, Amamiya was immediately hit by the pungent smell of cooking oil, a mixture of various spices and flavors, and... an extremely subtle odor that seemed out of place in a kitchen.

Many of Gehenna's students, wearing aprons and chef's uniforms, were busy in the kitchen.

Amamiya easily found the student he had met briefly before among the dozens of busy students.

Her long hair, somewhere between black and blue, and her warm, calm red eyes, along with her simple, unpretentious black and white lace pleated skirt that exuded a girlish charm—the way she held the kitchen knife with exceptionally steady movements, precisely controlling the cooking process on each stovetop…

Despite her relatively petite stature, she exudes an unprecedented sense of 'virtuous wife'.

[Assisted by: Ai Qingfeng/Angel Chef of the Demon King's Castle]

[Arcana: Love (L'amoureux)]

[Assistance Relationship: Not Unlocked]

'...Love. The second "Love" card...'

Looking at the 'Love' card in the Marseille Tarot and the extremely unique title 'Angel Chef' given by the third eye, Amamiya roughly understood what kind of personality she had.

"Phew... I chatted with Sensei for a little too long, which caused a slight mishap..."

"No, we need to speed things up a bit more... otherwise, the students who can't get their food will riot..."

Hearing the little cook's 'mutterings' from afar, Amamiya felt a little apologetic.

So the reason the supply department was 'late' was because of him?

"Julie, send out all the prepared portions first..."

The girl, caught up in her haste, seemed oblivious to her surroundings. With intense focus on controlling the stove, she simply called out to the person beside her.

"it is good."

The tall, pink-haired girl next to her gave a simple reply and then pushed the fully loaded food cart away from the kitchen.

[Assistant: Julie Niu Mu / The Great Alchemist of the Demon King's Castle]

Arcana: Alchemy (X.L'Art)

[Assistance Relationship: Not Unlocked]

The fourteenth card of the Thoth Tarot can almost be equated with "Temperance" in the Major Arcana...

Watching the tall, pink-haired girl's departing figure, Amamiya felt a slight sense of unease.

Why is she called the 'Great Alchemist'? Arcana is also known as 'Alchemy'.

Although the Alchemy card seems to represent Temperance in the conventional Tarot system, ... given this strange name, Amamiya always had a feeling that the Alchemy card might not symbolize any other way of writing "Temperance".

It really is just expressing "alchemy" itself.

After Julie left, it seemed that she was the only 'chef' left.

Amamiya didn't rush over to disturb her astonishing concentration while cooking, but instead observed her from a distance.

Is she usually like this?

According to the 'basic information' that Amamiya obtained from Hina, the supply department is responsible for the meals of most of the students in Gehenna...

If we calculate that there are four thousand students in Gehenna, even if half of them choose not to eat in the cafeteria but to eat in the surrounding streets of Gehenna area... then she would have to be responsible for providing meals for at least two thousand people each time.

Moreover, the food and beverage supply cannot be as perfunctory as the academies outside of Givotos that Amamiya knew.

In the world outside of Kivotos, even if it's just 'pig feed,' as long as it's edible, the students have to grit their teeth and accept it, no matter how much they complain—after all, they have no power to resist, and it's unlikely they'll choose another place.

And in Kiwatos...

If you dare to make 'pig swill' to fool people, then these students will dare to take out all kinds of firepower equipment on the spot and bombard your restaurant, making it impossible for you to continue operating.

Given the premise that 'doing it poorly could seriously threaten one's personal safety,' Fengxiang also has to single-handedly maintain the supply of high-quality meals for approximately two thousand people or more each day...

It was extremely difficult.

Amamiya switched her Persona to Hestia, the "fireside goddess," and silently walked over to Julie's original spot, helping Kaede prepare the ingredients while secretly observing Kaede's actions.

"Phew... Finally, it's all done..."

"I hope there hasn't been a riot at the cafeteria..."

The girl, focused on the stove, seemed to sense a strange feeling of being 'protected'. The inexplicable sense of security made her let out a long sigh, and she looked up at the working range hood and the ceiling.

"If only today could pass by peacefully..."

'Is your only wish simply to get through another day peacefully? That's rather pathetic...'

Amamiya, who was also handling the ingredients cleanly and efficiently and starting to cook curry, sighed softly upon hearing this.

"Is it ready now?"

The soft yet unfamiliar voice startled Fengxiang, and she instinctively reached for the ladle in her hand.

Then, in the next moment, she froze.

"……Why?"

The action of wielding the ladle stopped, and Kaede turned her head to look at Amamiya, who was holding a kitchen knife and slicing onions with a swift knife technique.

"Sen, Sensei...?"

Nowadays, Amamiya's 'appearance' is no secret to most of the students at the academy—in addition, he is an extremely special existence, so Kaede recognized him at a glance.

Amamiya calmly replied, "Mm."

He then opened his own boiler to take a look inside, and after putting the lid back down, he said leisurely, "I never imagined that Fengxiang would go through such hardship every day..."

After removing his glasses, which were fogged up by the rising steam, Amamiya greeted the seemingly slightly bewildered girl: "Good evening, Kaede-kun."

After a brief moment of bewilderment, Kaede quickly adapted to Amamiya's naturally approachable aura and became less nervous.

"Um...Sensei, thank you for what happened before."

"Thank you for helping the disciplinary committee members earlier... Otherwise, I probably would have been tied up by those students from the Gourmet Research Club and forced to make some weird dishes..."

Amamiya smiled gently and calmly replied, "It's just something I should do."

"Although it was just a small favor for you, I still wanted to thank you in person..."

After turning off the stove and plating the last dish onto the food cart, she relaxed completely, gently brushing aside her slightly disheveled hair, which had become a bit fluffy from the heat of the cooking fumes, and tidying up her hairstyle.

"Fengxiang is such a gentle and kind student."

【~???~】

This seemingly unintentional, heartfelt 'remark' gave Fengxiang a slight feeling of being understood and recognized.

After calming herself down, Kaede started talking about the message Amamiya had sent.

"Sensei...you said you have some cooking-related questions you'd like to ask?"

“Hmm…” Amamiya nodded, “I’ve heard that Kaede is incredibly skilled in cooking and food-related matters…”

【~??~】

"Ah ha ha……"

The girl gave an awkward and slightly bitter smile, which could be considered an acknowledgment of Amamiya's 'praise'.

But to be honest... in some ways, she was less inclined to want what might be her innate culinary talent.

After all... she really didn't want to live a life where she was constantly held hostage by those people from the Food Research Club just because she cooked so well.