I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

Chapter Fourteen: My Own Opinion at the Tea Party

Following behind Mika, Amamiya finally saw the two remaining 'core members' of the tea party after Mika blocked his view.

One of them was a white-haired, flaxen-haired girl sitting on a high-backed chair, with her back to Amamiya from a certain angle, thus exuding a strangely powerful aura.

She was sitting at the table with her back to Amamiya. Judging from her movements, she was probably holding a cup of black tea and enjoying it before Mika abruptly interrupted her.

She possesses an elegant and noble demeanor; she is more like a true "high-mountain flower" than Himari, who calls herself a "flower on a high mountain."

The floral hair ornament on her head swayed in the breeze; the pure white angel wings that gradually unfolded behind her complemented her exceptionally stylish attire. Even without seeing her face, Amamiya could judge her solely by her aura.

Looking at Trinity College, she's probably an 'absolute beauty'.

Of course, judging whether a person is good or bad, or whether they are worth befriending, should never be based solely on their appearance.

After activating his [Third Eye], Amamiya saw Arcana above the other person's head, displaying the following information.

[Assistant: Nagisa Kirito / The Suspicious Bishop of the Tea Party]

[Arcana: The Priestess]

[Assistance Relationship: Not Unlocked]

'A suspicious bishop...?'

It's another very special title, carrying a clear derogatory connotation...

If it's just a minor flaw in a person, there's no need to use such a field as a title to directly assign to the assistant.

The fact that she was given the title "suspicious" can only mean that... the seemingly calm and composed Nagisa, with her aristocratic and ladylike demeanor, is also incredibly suspicious.

Amamiya clearly sensed that after Mika's voice, which sounded like a child showing off that she brought her friends, fell into a brief awkward silence at the tea party.

Immediately afterwards, the girl, who had her back to Amamiya, slowly put down the teacup she had just taken a sip of and stood up with great elegance and deliberation.

Judging from her imposing manner, Amamiya even had a feeling that the next scene would be the famous moment of "plastic chairs being difficult to degrade".

Fortunately, when she turned around, what Amamiya saw was an elegant and flawless smile.

"Greetings. I extend my greetings on behalf of Trinity College..."

After a brief, slight bow with her skirt lifted, Nagisa paid no attention to Mika and continued her elegant 'self-introduction': "I am Kirito Nagisa, the current president of the tea party at Trinity College. It's an honor to meet you. Sensei..."

Amamiya smiled wryly and sighed slightly: "I just had a sudden whim to visit Trinity and experience its various cultures and arts... I never expected to end up here by accident."

"Should we call this an accident, or fate..."

He gently grasped the hand that Zhu extended, then let go in an instant.

"It is an honor to meet you all... everyone at the tea party."

【~??~】(from Nagisa)

【~???~】(from Weihua)

【~???~】(from Saint Ya)

Having noticed the 'third increase in affection', Amamiya turned her gaze to the blonde, fox-eared girl sitting on one side who hadn't spoken until now.

Her posture was serene and graceful, her figure petite, her eyes lowered and closed. Her white dress was spotless, and her golden hair cascaded down. In the gentle breeze, she seemed fragile, as if she could be blown away at any moment, and equally pitiful, evoking a desire to protect her.

Amamiya was very familiar with this person.

At the time when Amamiya was resolving Abydos's predicament, he had seen her once in a dream...

However, it was done in a rather 'special' way.

(Note: Volume 2, Chapter 26)

At that time, Amamiya was summoned to the Velvet Room by Lavenda, who said there was a dream intruder... Then, Amamiya saw her locked in the Velvet Cell.

[Assistant: Lily Garden Saintia / The Riddle Girl in Dreams]

Arcana: The Wheel of Fortune

[Assistance Relationship: Not Unlocked]

Unlike in her dream, she appeared somewhat sleepy in the real world, with a bird that looked like a northern long-tailed tit perched on her shoulder.

"Sensei..."

The moment Amamiya cast a glance at him, the other person opened his eyes at the same time, speaking in a calm and gentle tone, as if greeting an old friend he hadn't seen for many days.

"haven't seen you for a long time."

“Hey~”

Without even a glance, she rushed over, interrupting what could have been a slightly romantic atmosphere.

Standing between Amamiya and Seiya, blocking their gazes, she looked at Seiya curiously and asked, "Seiya-chan? You and Sensei... have met before?"

Saintia did not respond to Weihua's meaning, but simply returned to her quiet state with her eyes closed and lowered.

Her behavior even carried a contemptuous air, as if to say, "I'm too lazy to reason with you; you're not worthy to listen."

Wei Hua, however, persisted and moved closer, shaking the shoulders of the seemingly frail and thin girl.

"...I've seen it in my dream."

Perhaps she was getting annoyed by the constant nagging, so Saintia could only close her eyes and calmly give a reason.

After all, some things are better said than said, even if saying them would make you feel incredibly embarrassed... so Saintia definitely wouldn't say them.

How could you easily tell others about something like 'intruded' into the dream world without permission, then being caught by the 'guardians of the dream world' and even thrown into a cell to reflect on your actions'?

Wei Hua decisively stopped pressing the matter and nodded, looking thoughtful.

"Oh... so, Saintia-chan once 'dreamed' about Sensei."

“Mika…” Nagisa interrupted Mika before she could continue with some trivial talk, “Now that we’ve brought Sensei here, the first thing we should do is to practice proper hospitality.”

Wei Hua shut her mouth in annoyance, her eyes darting left and right, neither refuting nor saying anything more.

To her, this might be one of the few times Nagisa spoke human language—

Indeed, it's impolite to just pull Sensei over like that and start asking all sorts of questions...

Nagisa clenched her fist, coughed lightly, and then seemed to have triggered some special mechanism.

Almost immediately, hurried footsteps were heard outside the corridor, followed by a tea party member who rushed open the door and peeked in.

"Lord Nagisa, is there anything I can do for you?"

"The tea party needs to accommodate Sensei, who came on a whim to visit Holy Trinity..."

Without Nagisa needing to say anything more, the tea party members already knew what they needed to do next.

"Understood, Lord Nagisa! I'll get right away!"

The tea party members politely and hurriedly bowed to Nagisa, then gave a special bow to Amamiya, before quickly but carefully closing the door and leaving.

Having completed a series of instructions, Nagisa gave Mika, who was laughing and joking, a look that was hard to describe as either disgust or 'malice'—in short, a sharp, piercing gaze.

As for Wei Hua, she clearly sensed the malice in that gaze, but simply laughed it off and smiled to 'get away with it'.

"Sensei..."

As the 'person in charge', Nagisa slightly changed his sitting posture, his brown eyes filled with emotions of novelty and exploration.

"A warm welcome once again to Trinity..."

"So, could you please share your own perspective?"

Chapter Fifteen: Praying to Tama until twilight

After all, it was a 'casual visit' and a 'conversation with a guest'.

As one of the organizers of the tea party, Nagisa did not immediately launch into a barrage of sharp questions about stances or other aspects—because even a normal person would know that such things are not suitable for such a casual conversation.

While ostensibly expressing his own opinion, Nagisa was actually using this opportunity to try and further win over Amamiya.

Furthermore, we briefly discussed the topic of 'stealing hearts'—later, under Wei Hua's influence, the conversation suddenly shifted to "chivalric literature" in some novels.

As the 'tea party' continued, Amamiya was able to taste the super high-end black tea served at the tea party... and successfully experienced what 'the lives of young ladies and tea parties' are really like.

To be honest, Amamiya has played roles like "young lady" before.

Noir (Haru Okumura), a member of the Phantom Thieves, is a typical young lady from a wealthy family—she received a high-class education from a young age and has a gentle personality, treating others with humility and elegance.

(Even the ending CG of the final attack features him sitting at a tea table enjoying afternoon tea.)

However, even Amamiya, who had a deep bond with Haru, had never been involved in such a somewhat 'impractical' tea party for aristocratic girls.

For a 'phantom thief' like Amamiya, it was nothing short of "torture disguised as elegance".

Amamiya could certainly have gotten away with a 'lazy' attitude.

However, because Nagisa would occasionally slip in some rather pointed probing questions into seemingly trivial ones, Amamiya had to be alert and carefully consider each question before answering it.

After nearly an hour of back-and-forth arguing about various topics with Nagisa and Mika, Amamiya was starting to get a little tired.

Nagisa is responsible for subtly adding barbs to ordinary topics, while Mika... she's only responsible for steering the conversation off-topic.

Most of the time, Wei Hua couldn't get a word in edgewise; she would just cup her cheeks in her hands, looking on with curiosity, seemingly understanding but not quite.

But once she gets a chance to join the conversation, she inevitably tries to steer the topic off-topic.

Then Nagisa gave him a sinister and terrifying look.

As for Saintia...

(Shengya: What Can I Say?)

Amamiya had never seen her initiate or participate in any conversation—she sat there like a sleeping beauty the whole time, and unless she was really bothered, she was too lazy to do anything.

'Could she be an even more energy-conscious energy-loving advocate than Himari...?'

"Hehe... I see."

"I have indeed felt your attitude and stance towards students."

Setting down her teacup, the slender, graceful, and elegant Nagisa sighed softly.

【~???~】

After arguing with Nagisa for over an hour, Amamiya barely managed to gain a tiny bit of goodwill from him: "..."

Amamiya paused slightly after putting down his teacup, then glanced at the sky.

Nagisa, who noticed Amamiya's unusual micro-expression immediately, tilted her head slightly and asked in a gentle voice, "Sensei... do you have other plans for this afternoon and evening?"

Amamiya hummed in agreement, then rose as gracefully as possible, giving a slight bow to the three girls at the tea party: "Excuse me, I must leave."

Ghana

Because his own 'aesthetics' and this aristocratic style were really not compatible... and also to take care of Yuka's situation, Amamiya decisively slipped away.

After bidding farewell to the core members of the tea party, Amamiya quickly left the tea party headquarters, amidst the curious, admiring, or longing gazes of the girls belonging to the tea party, the nuns' club, and the justice committee.

While passing by the Grand Cathedral, the headquarters of the nuns' ministry, Amamiya met a lovely nun.

[Assistant: Ilormaline/Devoted Angel of the Sisters]

Arcana: The Star (XV. The Star)

[Assistance Relationship: Not Unlocked]

'Another "Star" card...'

As Amamiya pondered this, he indeed felt a similarity to Noah Namashio emanating from this 'nun' who seemed to be radiating a warm, holy light, yet possessed a distinct personal charm.

As their eyes met, Amamiya saw her stop and give him a gentle, comforting smile that seemed to carry a sense of 'divine intent'.

Then, she made a 'prayer' gesture towards Amamiya.

"Sensei...May the light protect you."