I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

As soon as she finished speaking, Saori noticed the warm yet slightly teasing gaze from Amamiya.

"Saori is such a thrifty and hardworking girl."

"?!"

After opening her mouth in surprise, Saori belatedly understood Amamiya's words, which carried a slight hint.

【~???~】

After a moment of confusion, Saori quickly regained her composure thanks to her strong mental fortitude.

"Well then... let's get down to business."

In order to change the subject, and also knowing that her group didn't have much time to waste, Saori decisively began to recount the information that her group had gathered during this period.

Amamiya also toned down the warmth she had shown when giving the gift, and listened attentively and seriously.

Ever since Amamiya accepted the commission, Saori has been working to collect all the information about the "Arius Branch School" from its inception to the present.

To this end, she even sneaked into the Trinity Antique Library several times, and almost got discovered by the 'Antique Library Manager' (Gu Guanyou).

Saori handed over the paper documents she had copied and collected to Amamiya. While Amamiya was reviewing the documents, she added various details that she knew, giving Amamiya a detailed understanding of the story of the Arios branch school in a way that was both an explanation and information.

"...In short, the current Arios branch campus is controlled by a guy called... 'Madam'."

When the keyword "Madam" was mentioned, Saori, who is usually calm, showed a very obvious emotion that was somewhere between fear and hatred.

She clenched her fists instinctively, her knuckles turning slightly white from the force.

"……"lady"?"

"Um……"

After letting out a sigh of relief and calming her emotions slightly, Saori said softly, "That's... the 'respectful title' the students at the Arius branch school use for her."

"Her real name should be... Beatrice."

Amamiya did not press further, but instead nodded slowly as if deep in thought.

【Déjà vu】The continuous strengthening of the bond ability allows Amamiya to see more of the 'truth of the world'.

The last time he was with Arios's team was shortly after they solved the Abydos problem (The Fall of the Tower, Chapter 33). At that time, his bond with the chairman wasn't as deep as it is now.

The message completion feature provided by this seemingly familiar service isn't that powerful either...

The past was before and the present is now.

As the bond with the guild leader deepens, and we're about to cross the line from 'ordinary bond (one to four stars)' to 'profound bond (five stars to full bond)', a familiar power-up occurs—

Amamiya learned more about the organization 'Shukujutsu'.

At the same time, it is understandable, even though the "method" may be particularly despicable.

But in reality, the [Symbolism] is not a true enemy.

However, that's only relatively speaking.

The occultists plotted to seize the students' bodies, which housed divinity and mystery, intending to conduct human experiments; they committed various despicable acts, such as intimidating the academy, to achieve their goals... These sins remain unforgivable.

And among them...

“Beatelice…she promoted her distorted, dark, and negative values ​​and pessimistic way of thinking in Arios…in this way, she indirectly provoked the conflict.”

Saori spoke calmly, but she was secretly gritting her teeth, as if she had some deep-seated hatred for the 'Madam'.

—It is precisely because of the implementation of that kind of 'teaching policy' that Beatrice can be said to be the culprit and the instigator of the current chaotic and confused situation at the Arios branch school.

Needless to say, a 'special existence' like Mio 1 Umbrella Forest definitely exists in the Hall of Fame.

After recounting all the information she had gathered over the past period in a manner that was as free of personal hatred as possible, Saori let out a deep sigh.

"...This is all the intelligence we have gathered."

"I don't know if this will be helpful to Sensei..."

Amamiya, who had been listening the whole time, smiled and nodded firmly, saying, "Of course it's helpful."

[...I sensed Saori's unwavering belief.]

Coopation has been improved!

【Spindle-front yarn weaving (high tower) ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

"There's still some time before the Eden Treaty is reached..."

Amamiya suddenly thought—perhaps, having Saori and the others rebel against the 'Madam' who taught them might be a good choice.

The best way for a person to grow is to let them experience stories directly.

"I will begin preparing to investigate the 'Hall of Fame' soon..."

After a pause, Amamiya suddenly glanced at the members of Arius's team.

"In the meantime... may I invite everyone to explore this 'other world' together?"

Chapter Thirty-Three: A Pajama Party with Yuka and Noah?

After Saori and her group of four temporarily finalized a simple plan to travel to another world, the last bit of time of the day was used up.

The long, cold night continued until a sliver of dawn broke the silence of the night once more.

Amamiya woke up naturally, a rare occurrence. She wasn't woken up by Alona or Sofia, nor did she hear the rustling sounds of fabric being deliberately made by her self-proclaimed personal maid, Toki, standing outside the door, or the voice 'Sensei, it's time for you to get up.'

'It's unusually quiet today...'

Exhaling a puff of white breath, Amamiya got up and changed into the Xia Lai uniform hanging on the clothes rack by her bed. She then drew back the curtains and glanced out the window.

'Hmm...'

Unlike the previous weather, which was mostly sunny and bright.

Today in Kivotos, the sky is leaden gray, with wisps of white snowflakes falling from the sky... Clearly, it's snowing.

Amamiya observed carefully and, based on his experience, roughly deduced that the snow probably started falling around midnight.

By early morning, a thin layer of dead vegetation had accumulated on some open ground nearby, including areas with semi-dried vegetation.

No wonder they didn't bother me early this morning...

I guess it was because it was snowing and quite cold that I overslept...

After changing his clothes, Amamiya checked, as usual, if there were any urgent messages to be processed that day.

Perhaps because of the snow, there were far fewer students contacting him today compared to his usual sunny days.

That's normal, after all, not everyone likes to go out and play in this kind of weather.

"It's already dragged on long enough... Should we go check on the situation with the engineering department first?"

"I wonder how the engineering department is doing now..."

After finishing breakfast and handling official business, Amamiya pondered for a moment and decided to go check on the engineering department first.

On the way, Amamiya casually turned on her phone to check recent news.

[Noah: Yuuka seems to be thinking of you again... Sensei, do you have any 'special plans' lately?]

Noah: I've heard that Christmas is a great time for dates. Especially a snowy Christmas...

The message that caught his eye was one with a particularly suggestive meaning, and Amamiya twitched the corner of his mouth as he read it.

Christmas...maybe I should really consider a 'date' or something?

[Amamiya: Noah...do you have any thoughts?]

Noah replied at lightning speed.

Noah: Hehe... Sensei, don't forget, I still have a 'One-Day Wife Treatment Coupon' here~

[Noah: If we're using this special ticket, it's okay to make some 'whimsical requests,' right?]

Compared to Yuka's 'girlfriend-like innocence and cuteness', Noah's performance was much more... alluring.

After all, she's the kind of literary girl who loves to fantasize... so it's understandable.

[Amamiya: That's possible...]

Noah: So, Sensei... how about we throw a special 'pajama party' together?

Amamiya paused slightly in her hand holding the phone, almost letting it slip from her grasp.

A pajama party?

seriously?

Let's not even talk about whether Yuka will agree...

Just the idea of ​​a 'pajama party' is already quite incomplete...

[Amamiya: ...I'm fine on my end.]

Noah: Since Sensei agrees, then there's no problem—all we need to do is use that ticket, right?

Noah: If it's to avoid suspicion, we can also invite Xiaoxue~

Amamiya paused for a moment, thinking to herself, what if Yuki joined the 'pajama party' too...

Given Xiaoxue's mischievous personality, the 'sexy' level of the pajama party would be significantly lowered.

'Jingle Bell--'

The train's arrival announcement and arrival bell rang in succession.

Amamiya gave up replying to the message and instead glanced at the station sign where she was about to enter.

After sending Yuka a message in advance, Amamiya left the station and headed straight for the engineering department's activity building.

Similar to the game club's activity room... the engineering department's activity building also seems to have undergone a 'renovation'.

Of course, even if it wasn't renovated by Rion's robot army, the engineering department building was still changing every day—it was either being destroyed or rebuilt every day, so it was never peaceful.

Last time, when Rion was about to repent, she launched a final counterattack, and the Engineering Department was surrounded by a mechanical legion as a result.

Then, adhering to the principle that "if the seminar side does not use human wave tactics, then we will never use magic attacks," the engineering department dispatched a magical plant army.

In any case, in Beritas's video, the engineering department has been transformed into a plant castle by 'Legendary Animated Plants' (a legendary Druid spell from D&D).

It seems that things have returned to normal now.

When Amamiya arrived at the foot of the engineering department building, she happened to see a pale purple figure standing out conspicuously amidst the snowy landscape, yet seemingly exceptionally delicate.

She seemed to be rubbing her hands to warm them, occasionally stomping her feet or taking a few steps to raise her body temperature.

"...Yuka?"

The girl, who had clearly heard Amamiya's soft, questioning exclamation, suddenly froze.

"Sensei..."

After exhaling a puff of white breath, Yuka's lips gradually curved into a bright, sunny smile.

With her fingers intertwined and a gentle smile on her face, her voice trembled noticeably from the cold, sounding disjointed: "Sen, Sensi... wait... I've been waiting for you for so long."

It's said that 'being in love makes a girl's brains noticeably lower,' and now, Amamiya is increasingly understanding the truth of this statement.

There's definitely a reason for that...

In fact, 'the higher a girl's IQ and the more rational she is, the more obvious the "IQ drop" effect may become after falling in love.'

Amamiya came to Yuka's side, put one arm around the girl's slender waist, and wiped the snowflakes off her head with the other.

After wiping his head, he 'habitually' poked Yuka's cheek, which seemed to have been poked a lot before, and then, seeing her subconsciously puff up her cheeks like a hamster, he said with a mix of exasperation and helplessness, "Yuka, if we're going to wait, can't we just go inside the building and wait there?"

Feeling the warmth of the embrace as she turned her cheek to the side, Yuka did not immediately respond to Amamiya's concerned and critical words.

She focused intently, listening to the healthy, rhythmic beating of the young man holding her in his arms, feeling the sensation of 'two hearts meeting' at such close proximity...

"...because I wanted to see Sensei as soon as possible."