I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

He suddenly patted Yuka's shoulder gently and said seriously, "If Yuka needs me, I can stay with her forever."

【~???~】

After a few seconds of pause, Yuka's soft, murmuring voice reached Amamiya's ears.

“Sen, Sensi… what you’re doing is really unfair…”

'I was the one who invited Sensei, but because of a moment's hesitation, I ended up being invited instead...'

'Sensei really knows how to control that unexpected moment.'

[...I sensed the sweet emotions emanating from Yuka.]

Coopation has been improved!

【Yuka Hayase (Temperance) ★★★★★★★★☆☆】

“Since Sensei says so…”

Just as Yuka was about to say something, her phone suddenly rang again.

The girl, whose spellcasting had been interrupted again, frowned and took out her phone. As expected, it was a message from Noah.

Noah even used the 'highlight' function to make sure she noticed it immediately.

Yuka sighed and glanced at her MomoTalk app...

Soon, a blush crept up her cheeks and quickly spread to her earlobes.

"Why……?"

"Noah wants to host a..."

"And Sensei's..."

"...A pajama party?!"

Chapter Thirty-Five: Gersina's "Magical Workplace Drama"

The winter evening was increasingly chilly.

"Phew... I've made a tentative agreement with Yuka and Noah to have a 'Christmas pajama party'..."

Sitting in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in her office, watching the world outside gradually turn into a silver-white wonderland, Amamiya gently breathed out a breath at the blurry, hazy window that was slowly becoming as indistinct as a low-transparency acrylic panel.

It was already evening.

"So... now we should think about which assistant we should invite tonight..."

With a slight frown, Amamiya took out her phone and glanced at her 'evening invitation'.

[Chinatsu: Sensei... Today seems especially suitable for soaking in a hot spring.]

[Chinatsu: Sensei, are you coming? 】

'...'

[Mutsuki: It's been a while since I've seen Sensei~ The president misses Sensei a lot, do you want to come and see her?]

'...'

Hina: I've been a bit tired lately...

'...'

[Haruna: On such a chilly night... it seems perfect for a cozy dinner. Sensei, don't you think so?]

...and then there was a deluge of news again.

Strangely enough, there seemed to be more invitations during the snowy night compared to the daytime—perhaps students prefer the cozy feeling of "snow falling heavily outside" and "everyone gathering indoors to chat"?

Speaking of which... it's been a while since I've developed a bond with Hina.

Why don't we go check out the disciplinary committee tonight?

It is said that a snowy night and a night spent alone can inexplicably make one feel even more lonely.

Hina... she's mostly in a state of being 'alone and misunderstood', right?

Perhaps I could try to offer some help in my time of need...

With this in mind, Amamiya did not hesitate for long and chose to reply to Hina's message.

[Amamiya: Is Hina still on the Disciplinary Committee? I'm on my way there.]

About a minute later, Hina gave a slightly unexpected reply.

Hina: Eh... Is Sensei coming?

Hina: I'm still working... If Sensei wants to see me, she can just come to the Disciplinary Committee...

Amamiya changed into a fleece-lined coat and a pair of non-slip boots, then went out with an umbrella.

The trains on the snowy night of Igo VI were still running as usual, but there were very few passengers on board.

Whether they were robot passengers, local Kivotos passengers, or student passengers—there were hardly any in the entire carriage where Amamiya was located.

After responding to several students who tried to chat her up, Amamiya finally got to meet Gehenna at the platform.

On this rare snowy night, the students from Gehenna, who were usually up to mischief, seemed to have lost much of their motivation.

The streets were almost deserted, with only occasional footprints visible in the snow.

Buildings of all shapes and sizes were also lit up with warm lights—creating a subtle Christmas atmosphere.

Amamiya walked and looked around, and soon arrived at the headquarters of the Disciplinary Committee.

After greeting the two short-haired disciplinary committee members guarding the door and giving them two healing spells, as well as presenting them with the scarf and gloves he carried with him, Amamiya entered the disciplinary committee headquarters amidst the shy yet grateful gazes of the disciplinary committee members.

After easily locating Hina's office, Amamiya didn't knock or try to push the door open. Instead, she used her "third eye" to carefully observe the surroundings. Then, she pressed her ear to the door to listen for any sounds inside.

The office was almost silent, except for the scratching of pens on paper and the occasional clinking of objects.

After confirming that there were no other 'strange creatures' such as Ako around, Amamiya knocked on the door.

"...Is it Sensei?"

After the rustling sound of writing stopped, Hina's listless and tired voice reached my ears.

"The door's unlocked, Sensei, just come in..."

Having received permission, Amamiya promptly opened the door and immediately fixed her gaze on the small figure sitting at the office desk.

This was slightly different from the impression that the disciplinary committee chairperson, who was "petite yet imposing," had given Amamiya on several previous occasions.

At this moment, Hina's hair was disheveled, her eye bags were dark, and her eyes looked as unclear as a frozen lake, giving her a hazy, shattering quality.

The person looked like they had been 'staying up too late'... or rather, 'excessively depleted their energy'.

Upon seeing Amamiya enter through the door, the girl sitting in the chair stopped what she was doing, slowly raised her head, and stared blankly at Amamiya.

A moment later, she suddenly made a movement that resembled 'stretching'.

"call……"

"I'm sorry, Sensei, for making you see me like this..."

The girl patted her cheeks to perk herself up, managing a deeply weary smile, before waving to Amamiya: "Welcome, Sensei, to... the Disciplinary Committee."

Amamiya felt extremely sorry for the other person's behavior, which was almost on the verge of a mental breakdown.

Approaching her, Amamiya gently combed her disheveled hair, which had been neglected for a long time.

"It seems like Hina is under a lot of pressure lately..."

The mental dullness brought on by deep fatigue made Hina not resist the feeling of being helped to fix her hair.

Hina closed her eyes, savoring the feeling, and replied in an almost numb tone, "I'm used to it..."

"Getting used to pressure is not a good thing."

Amamiya slowed her movements slightly and said seriously, "If you're just one person, used to pressure, bearing pressure... you're very likely to be crushed."

"When you feel tired and powerless, take a break."

【~???~】

"Um……"

'Psona, Ishtar.'

'Mediarahan.'

"Mediarahan: Fully restores the HP of all allies."

A emerald green light flashed across Amamiya's fingertips, followed by a refreshing, healing breeze.

After feeling a sudden, intense fluctuation, Hina felt invigorated, as if she had been healed.

She instinctively looked up at the young man whose ghostly blue flames were disappearing.

“Sensei…you 'healed' me…?”

Amamiya nodded.

"In my opinion, Hina, you seem to be on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion. It's not a good thing to keep going like this."

Taking the girl's soft, white hand, which was as white as mutton fat, Amamiya half-forced and half-guided her to sit on the nearest sofa, while he dragged a chair over and sat down next to her.

"Hina, if you're having any difficulties, feel free to tell me. Perhaps I can help you with something."

Hina hesitated only slightly before grunting in agreement and beginning to recount her recent experiences in a low and slow tone.

Actually, it's quite simple – it's about preparations for the imminent signing of the Eden Treaty.

For this treaty, at least Gehenna's side had started preparations several months in advance.

The Pandemonium, in turn, assigned a significant portion of the preparatory work to the Disciplinary Committee... and Hina was thus forced to bear a considerable amount of pressure.

"It must have been really tough..."

Amamiya finally understood why the Disciplinary Committee members sometimes expressed a kind of "disagreement"—a feeling somewhere between hatred and helplessness—when mentioning the "Pandemon Palace."

Through Hina's one-sided venting, Amamiya also gained a general understanding of what was happening at the Pandemonium.

Makoto Hanuma of Pandemonium, who is also the president of Pandemonium and the student council president of Gehenna, seems to have recently expressed a feeling of 'unrequited love' for Amamiya.

—What exactly does the so-called 'unable to obtain what one desires' mean?

Simply put, it's like "a child who likes a certain toy can't get it no matter how much they plead, act cute, or act unreasonable"... They can only look at it longingly, wanting to have it but never being able to get close to it.

Then, Makoto 'discovers' that a member of the Disciplinary Committee is getting close to Sensei, whom she greatly admires...

As a result, some people may have developed other unbalanced emotions, such as jealousy... During this period, they began to deliberately make things difficult for the disciplinary committee.

"..."

Listening to Hina's fragmented description, Amamiya was speechless.

no……

This 'Student Council President of the Pandemonium' doesn't sound like a normal person.

It feels like she's even more extreme than the student council president who's been around for ages.

Although Rion was also twisted to the point of having a temple, at least her starting point and series of actions were generally 'more understandable'...

What is Makoto doing?

Because Amamiya was close to the Disciplinary Committee, she, as the student council president, directly started to make things difficult for them.

Who would be so petty as to antagonize the head of a department over something like this?

If the entire drama "Ghena" were a workplace drama, Makoto would portray a boss who lacks wisdom and emotional intelligence and makes decisions on a whim.

The disciplinary committee is essentially the most performing department in the company...

One day, this top-performing department negotiated a deal with a major client (Amamiya)...