I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

After considering what to say as a farewell, Amamiya decisively abandoned the idea of ​​'seeing her off' and instead said earnestly, "Remember to discipline Yuki well."

【~???~】(from Yuka)

【~??~】(From Noah)

“Well then, Sensei… I won’t bother you for now.”

After dragging Xiaoxue into the driver's seat, Noah and Youxiang got into the passenger seat, while Noah opened the back door and climbed in.

Afterwards, the vehicles belonging to the seminar slowly drove away.

"Alright... it's time to plan our next steps."

After reviewing his recent schedule, Amamiya began contacting Arius's squad.

They had already agreed to explore another world—and Amamiya always made sure to keep his promises as long as possible.

Previously, when conquering the Halls of Fame, Amamiya preferred to complete the Halls of Fame within the first few days, rather than conquering them little by little each day.

After all, the shorter the time required to conquer the Hall of Fame, the more time you have to develop relationships with your companions.

With so little time available, why not speed up the process of conquering the Hall of Fame and compress the stages of conquering the Hall of Fame into the shortest possible time?

[Amamiya: Saori, it's time. Are you all ready to go?]

Since the appointment had been made in advance, Saori responded very quickly.

[Saori: Of course. We deliberately put everything aside today to await Sensei's summons.]

[Amamiya: Then come over to Xialai. I'll prepare breakfast for you, and we'll set off after you've eaten.]

The members of Arios's squad, who had been scattered and waiting at their hideouts near Xialai since early morning, quickly assembled with extraordinary efficiency and appeared in front of Amamiya.

The girls, who usually appear overly mature and even slightly 'lifeless', all seemed to be showing quite a bit of energy and spirit today.

However, their expectations seem to be somewhat different...

The green-haired girl wearing a beret seemed very 'realistic'. She looked at Amamiya's plate full of dishes with the lids upside down, and smelled the exquisite fragrance that she had never smelled before, feeling somewhat euphoric.

"Hehehe... What kind of breakfast will Sensei prepare for us...?"

"It smells...so good..."

Yajinzi had already removed her hood and mask, revealing her original, beautiful and serene appearance without reservation.

Through familiar contact, she has gradually come to trust the 'Sensei' in front of her.

Her crimson eyes also held a hint of expectation—however, this expectation seemed to be directed only at Amamiya.

Strictly speaking, the four members of Arius's team did not experience a true 'campus life'.

For them, the kind of 'youthful and carefree life' seems so distant and unattainable.

But... now, the 'life of a phantom thief,' which is no less vibrant than the everyday life of youth, seems to be just around the corner.

What will the daily life of a phantom thief be like?

Can it really be like a fairy tale, persuading people to repent, even the most wicked person?

“Sensei… I’m looking forward to it.”

After saying that, Ajinko naturally sat down and lifted the lid of the steaming, fragrant plate.

The rising smoke and the intensely hot, blissful aroma that hit her made her momentarily lose her composure.

A subtle sense of relaxation...

Is this feeling called 'happiness'?

【~???~】(from Azuko)

【~??~】(from Saori)

Even Misaki was looking forward to it—but her expectations were somewhat different from those of Akiko and Hiyori.

Phantom Thief... A world of desires built from the human heart.

In a world like this... can one find true meaning in living?

"Alright, everyone, sit down and finish your breakfast... then we'll be going on an adventure to another world right away."

After greeting Saori, who hadn't yet taken her seat, Amamiya shared breakfast with the four slightly apprehensive girls.

It must be said that Sakura Sojiro's curry recipe is truly captivating.

Combined with culinary skills that can "make food bloom with happiness," it can truly dispel accumulated mental stress and allow one to briefly experience happiness.

“Ugh…so good…(choking up)…Sensei is so good to me, I’m starting to suspect that she’s trying to win us over first, then catch us all and lock us up in Xia Lai’s basement…”

【~???~】(from Hiyori)

Amamiya: ...

Don't say such strange things while you're eating and choking up.

It's like I actually built some kind of Darkest Dungeon-like basement...

After a moment of helplessness, Amamiya suddenly raised an eyebrow.

Wait, how did this rumor about the basement start?

Could it be that Koharu or Hanako did it again...?

Saori, Akiko, and Misaki, while not as exaggerated as Hiyori, all showed varying degrees of bewilderment.

The meal, which had a few minor hiccups, ended quickly. Saori then got up and tactfully gathered the dishes to prepare for washing.

After all, they are guests. Since they've already eaten, shouldn't we help clear the dishes...?

Amamiya raised her hand, stopping Saori from taking any further action.

"Let's not waste any more energy on trivial matters... Let's rest for a bit, and then we'll prepare to head to another world."

Last time, in order to solve the bullying problem at Trinity College, Amamiya took Hifumi to the Impression Space corresponding to Trinity College—a 'town' composed of medieval fortresses and the World Tree.

The Impression Space corresponding to the millennium is a medieval landscape of a fantasy world.

The Impression Space corresponding to Abydos is a lawless city of sin.

So... what will the other world corresponding to Arios be like next?

After resting for about ten minutes, Amamiya gave the girls a meaningful look.

Upon receiving the order, Saori and her group immediately prepared their squad's various tactical equipment and were ready to go.

Amamiya nodded slowly to them, then took out her phone.

“Impression space.”

Chapter 51 Arius's Impression Space - Garden of Mist and Roses

“Impression space.”

[Start Navigation].

Saori and her three companions, who were all ready to go, were a little surprised that Amamiya hadn't magically opened a portal or used something even stranger to get them into the other world.

But after the initial surprise, the girls all felt a high-frequency, dizzying buzzing sound explode in their minds.

The world before my eyes was stained and shattered by swirling black and red waves.

"Huff...Huff..."

The sound of the wind carrying a hint of rose fragrance gradually painted a gloomy world, dominated by light gray tones, before Saori and the other three, like swirling clouds and mist.

"Oh... the alternate world corresponding to the Arios branch is the two key elements of 'Foggy City' and 'Rose Garden'...?"

Feeling the overwhelming smell, a mixture of dampness and pungent medicine or other acrid substances, Amamiya frowned and said with slight surprise.

The world that appeared before him was a street scene somewhat resembling that of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The ancient buildings with pointed roofs were partially obscured by the surrounding smog;

The sounds of steam engines and various factories working could be heard in the distance;

With extremely low visibility, the surrounding air seemed to be filled with mysterious thorns, and the few buildings that appeared in the field of vision looked like the outer wall of a super-large rose garden.

Feeling that the air quality was truly appalling, Saori immediately put on a face mask.

Her voice, heavy and somewhat incredulous despite being behind the mask, followed: "This is...another world...?"

"Hmm... according to your understanding, this is the 'other world,' a world constructed from the desires deep within people's hearts."

As Amamiya tried to discern the surrounding buildings, she explained in a low voice: "To be more precise, this is the other world corresponding to the Ariane branch school... In the eyes of most students at the Ariane branch school, this is the environment they are in, so what is reflected is this misty garden full of roses."

Saori fell silent.

...It's terrible, but undeniable.

She didn't know how Arius's other students viewed it... but how she herself viewed it, didn't she know herself?

"So, how do we achieve 'repentance'?"

"You guys come with me."

With the help of his "third eye," Amamiya can make everything hidden under the thick fog impossible to hide.

If he wants to get close to the temple that may exist in the center of the fog, he should lead Arius's squad to the core area of ​​the fog.

However, Amamiya did not do that, but instead took them away from the 'city edge'.

Gradually, the fog thinned out considerably, and Saori and her group gained a much wider field of vision.

Then they witnessed something even more perplexing—

Among the ruins of the buildings, various shadows, seemingly angels with wings and halos, now roam, but are actually composed of twisted malice.

Those 'Shadow Angels' with angel wings but covered in black and red mud, patrolling as if sweeping away enemies, made Saori inexplicably feel annoyed just by looking at them.

Without a doubt... if the other world has a mapping relationship with the real world, then these patrolling angelic figures...

They were the Trinity students who had been constantly tracking them and had never liked them.

"Did you see that? Those are monsters called Shadows... The embodiment of negative consciousness in people's hearts, presented in the form of 'monsters'."

After confirming the emotions of the other three girls, Amamiya continued to briefly explain the habits and characteristics of these shadow monsters.

After their disguise is 'ripped off,' they will transform into various corresponding shadow monsters.

Defeating them allows you to extort money and obtain spoils... defeating them will also yield some useful materials.

Furthermore, after 'shedding their disguise,' they will use magic from another world. And some other world magic is spells that can be cast simply by name—so it's best not to directly address someone by their name in another world.

Finally... if these shadow monsters are eliminated in large numbers in a short period of time, it will directly lead to 'a temporary improvement in the atmosphere of the entire region'.

By targeting a specific shadow, defeating it, and persuading it to do good, one can induce the person in the real world corresponding to that shadow to repent.

As for the "Hall Master" with even stronger desires, the first step is to ascertain the specific form of his hall, and then find a way to infiltrate the hall alone and steal his desires.

After listening attentively to Amamiya's explanation, Akiko looked at the 'angel's shadow' in the distance and said with great interest, "Is this... how the phantom thief punishes evil and promotes good?"

"Anyway... we just have to defeat them, right?"

Saori, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief. After checking the ammunition reserves and other secondary weapons, she was ready to fire at any time.

If all that matters is fighting... that's something she's definitely good at.

She's probably not very good at persuasion or the like...

However, if we only consider combat strength, Saori's combat strength, even if she can't squeeze into the monster level of the "top echelon", is at least at the top level of the "first echelon" - the top level of normal students.

"That's right... just take them down—but don't eliminate them outright."

"Before eliminating them, you can try to extort money from them, or ask them for information they possess."

Amamiya did not act immediately, but pondered for a moment why the outer perimeter of the Impression Space corresponding to Arius was swarming with monsters resembling students of the Holy Trinity.

The Ariana branch was 'expelled' from Trinity College because it opposed the merger of its branch campuses. Amamiya can learn this through the 'Déjà Vu' ability.

Are the students of Trinity College and Arius branch still hostile to each other...?

After a brief moment of contemplation, Amamiya gave a tactical hand signal, then led the girls carefully around the ruins of the building, finding a lone 'Angel Shadow'.