I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

Amamiya thought about it carefully for a moment, then looked up and nodded to Himari.

I'll believe it for now.

[...established contact with Riju.]

……

"I am you, and you are me."

"Here you receive a new covenant."

"As the saying goes, 'Break through destruction to seek the wings of resistance.'"

"Bonds will become wings of new life, breaking the shackles of the future."

"Now you receive the blessing of 'flowers, birds, wind, and moon'."

"Bathed in the winds of freedom, we find clues to the future."

"I grant you boundless power..."

……

[Coopetition restrictions have been lifted!]

【Celebrity Himari (Bird and Fish/Empress): ★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

【★Skill 1 is now unlocked!】

【★1. The Allure of a High-Class Beauty】

[The allure of a high-class beauty: A unique, otherworldly charm emanating from Himari, who calls herself a 'super-genius, sickly beauty'...and an extraordinary understanding of things. This can be used to accelerate the analysis of things, while also enhancing her charm.]

[Assistant's Profile: Head of the Special Phenomena Investigation Department. Seems slightly narcissistic, often referring to herself as a "super-genius, clear-headed, sickly beauty" or other similar titles, though the titles seem to vary from time to time (omitted words).]

[She possesses all sorts of extraordinary and special information... Although she's narcissistic and surprisingly has a sharp tongue, she truly has the ability to match those traits. Perhaps I could deepen my relationship with her and uncover even more information and secrets...]

"So... in that case, we can consider the 'transaction complete'?"

"Ha ha……"

The white-haired elf girl chuckled, her voice carrying a barely perceptible hint of ease and relief: "It's like... making a deal with a phantom thief?... An interesting feeling."

"Regarding the request concerning the game development department... I can certainly participate."

Amamiya put away her phone, then took a serious look at the girl who seemed to want to stretch, but stopped because of her presence.

"Do you have any other special instructions... like those from an 'RPG sage'?"

【~???~】

Himari, seemingly amused by Amamiya's statement, actually pretended to ponder it for a moment.

“Well… since Sensei asked, let’s talk about that ‘minister of the seminar’ again.”

“Sensei, I’ve noticed that you’ve had some contact with several members of the seminar recently… Do you know this [Tsutsuki Rion]?”

I'd only ever heard of Amamiya's name before.

"I haven't met him, but I've heard his name by chance when I was interacting with other members of the seminar."

"Well then... Sensei, let me give you some advice."

After a light chuckle, Himari quickly composed herself and said in a serious tone, "Be careful of her."

"Perhaps...we could try investigating whether there's anything about her that you felt compelled to steal..."

"...Twisted desires?"

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Why is the "Emperor" always associated with rainy days?

"Phew... let's see if there are any special plans for today."

It feels so good to sleep until you naturally wake up...

Amamiya, who hadn't stayed up all night, naturally woke up early as well. She picked up her phone, lifted the covers, and went to the window to look at the view outside.

The engineering department, having completed all its work, had already withdrawn yesterday evening when Amamiya went to see the celebrity Himari.

Xia Lai returned to its usual quiet state...

However, it is slightly different from the past.

Perhaps because the site planning and equipment installation were completed, Amamiya looked at the surrounding 'building landscape' and it seemed less empty.

"It's time to deal with today's problems..."

After doing some morning exercises to warm up and getting ready for the day, Amamiya changed into Xia Lai's uniform, grabbed her tablet and phone, and headed to the office building.

Speaking of which...did I forget to assign students to be on duty yesterday?

Is today a rare 'routine activity' without any students on duty?

Amamiya took out her tablet and called out to Alona, ​​who had recently become unusually diligent.

"Arona, have the duty roster been arranged?"

The AI ​​girl's voice coming from the screen was no longer tinged with the sleepiness of early morning, but rather a rather enthusiastic response.

“Sensei didn’t assign any duties yesterday… so Alona took it upon herself to help Sensei complete the assignments…”

"Today's duty student is Kayoko Onikata from 'Convenience Store 68'~ Hehe, she's a target that Alona carefully selected~"

The sea-blue 'sea spirit' that peeked out from the lit screen seemed to have a hint of boasting, its little face slightly puffed out, with a confident look that said, 'How about it, Alona is amazing, right? Hurry up and praise Alona.'

"Well, thank you for the arrangements, Alona... I don't know much about Kayoko... but I have a gut feeling that she's the one I trust most at Handy Shop 68."

Arriving at the door, I pushed it open and stood in the entryway, looking out at the rather unusually gray sky that was perhaps rare in Kivotos.

The leaden sky was filled with dark clouds, as if a light drizzle of early winter rain was about to fall at any moment.

'Hey……'

Amamiya was slightly surprised—after all, this was the first time he had encountered such a rainy day since arriving in Kivotos, so different from a sunny day.

And today, coincidentally, Kayoko was chosen as the student on duty...

what is this?

Is the element of "emperors" always having a run of bad weather also brought into this world?

Amamiya couldn't help but recall that summer at Shigenjaya—ever since he met Yusuke, this good friend who was poor but had a strong will, most of the time when Yusuke came to Leblanc to see him, it was raining.

He was even teased by Futaba and other members of the Phantom Thieves more than once, with questions like, "Are you the Rain Man?!"

With these thoughts swirling in her mind, Amamiya first sent Kayoko a message: "[It looks like it's going to rain... Remember to bring an umbrella, Kayoko-kun?]"

It was early morning, and Kayoko was probably already on her way from Gehenna to Xialai, so she replied almost instantly.

[Kayoko: Thank you for your concern, Sensei... The umbrella, and other small items to prevent accidents, have all been prepared.]

After confirming that there were no problems with Kayoko, Amamiya decisively began to handle official business.

Although the Federation Student Council did not force Amamiya to do 'paperwork'... in order to share the burden of the acting president, Rin, new paperwork was sent over almost every day.

As Amamiya becomes more familiar with paperwork, the amount of paperwork he has to handle each day is also increasing.

As is customary, Amamiya handled some paperwork that had little to do with Gehenna.

Just then, his phone, which was on the table, suddenly popped up with a new message notification.

[Kayoko: ...I'm sorry, Sensei, it seems I won't be able to arrive in Sharai on time.]

Seeing that the message was from Kayoko, and that she seemed to have something she was having trouble saying, Amamiya frowned slightly and replied: 【What's going on?】

[Kayoko: I found a kitten that had been shot on the street... I felt sorry for it, so I wanted to take it to a veterinary hospital... but then I got harassed by the Valkyrie Police Station...]

Amamiya: ...

What an unlucky kid!

Could Yusuke's bad luck have been contagious along with the "Emperor" card?

After temporarily putting down her work, Amamiya sighed helplessly, found some rain gear in the club activity room, slung her backpack over her shoulder, grabbed her phone and Shittei no Hako, and prepared to go out.

Before setting off, Amamiya replied, "I'll go check it out."

Kayoko replied very quickly.

[Kayoko: Okay. Thank you, Sensei.]

Kayoko initiated location sharing.

[Kayoko: Sensei, you can come find me here.]

Amamiya took her rain gear and went outside. Sure enough, a light drizzle had begun to fall from the sky.

The modern metropolis, made of lead-gray and gleaming steel and concrete, is shrouded in a lead-gray overcast sky. The fine, slightly cold rain falling to the ground seems like the city's weeping.

Amamiya opened her transparent umbrella, slung her shoulder bag over her shoulder in her usual special way, and stepped into the rainy scene.

"BGM: Beneath the Mask -rain-"

With the sound of jazz music mixed with the patter of rain echoing in his ears, Amamiya followed the location sent by Kayoko and found her explaining things to the students at the Valkyrie Police Station.

From a distance, Amamiya saw her and the police student standing under the eaves of a building.

She still wore the same slightly rebellious black metallic hoodie and simple dress as when we first met, with the lone little wing on her back drooping forlornly, seemingly reflecting her less-than-ideal mood.

“…Officer, I have explained myself very clearly. I have not done anything to disrupt the law, nor have I instigated any disturbance or planned a surprise attack on any building.”

Kayoko's words were calm, though slightly hoarse amidst the sound of rain.

"I was just feeding the cat."

Amamiya, holding an umbrella, listened to the gentle patter of raindrops on the transparent surface of the umbrella and slowly walked over.

The Valkyrie police station students, who were about to say something, paused slightly when they saw Amamiya walking towards them in the rain, and the words they were about to say got stuck in their throats.

"...You are...the Sensei from Xia Lai?"

Amamiya walked over and observed the Valkyrie police station student who still had to be on duty even in the rain.

He had a head of neat silver hair, wore the uniform of the Valkyrie Police Department, which symbolized 'law enforcement power', and carried a round riot shield with special markings on it.

Valkyrie is rather special.

Amamiya remembered that this academy was currently registered under the name of the head of the defense office, 'Shiranui Hanaya'.

The college is similar to SRT, but also slightly different.

The only difference is that Valkyrie takes the general route, while SRT takes the elite route.

Valkyrie has law enforcement authority, but often lacks manpower and strength, creating a situation where they are willing but unable to do so.

SRT consists of elite squads... Although powerful, without a commander, it is just a masterless dagger.

If SRT is indeed abandoned... the original SRT will most likely be assigned to Valkyrie.

With these thoughts swirling in his mind, Amamiya greeted the Valkyrie student.

"Yes, I am Sensei of Xia Lai... It must be hard work to go out on patrol and enforce the law in this kind of weather."

The Valkyrie student immediately straightened up and said earnestly, "It is our duty."

Amamiya smiled slightly and casually took a folding umbrella from her shoulder bag and handed it to the other person.

"Leave this matter to me... Also, sometimes you can't judge a person by their appearance alone."

"Um... I... I understand..."

After a slight hesitation, the Valkyrie student took the umbrella, opened it, and stepped into the rain.

"what happened?"

Amamiya then looked at Kayoko.

Kayoko thought Amamiya was asking why he was talking to Valkyrie's students, so she simply explained, "Perhaps it's because he looks fierce that he's easily misunderstood."

"No... I mean, the injured cat."

...?

【~???~】