I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

"Sensei..."

Amamiya, who had already returned to her desk, looked up at the right moment and saw the red-haired girl standing at the door holding what appeared to be a notebook or a novel.

"...Should I say 'nice to meet you'?"

[Assistant: Natsume Iroha / The King of Slacking Off in the Demon King's Castle]

Arcana: The Devil (XV. The Devil)

[Assistance Relationship: Not Unlocked]

'...The third "Devil" card.'

'Given her title of "Queen of Slacking Off"... her Devil card should symbolize... sloth?'

Amamiya hummed in response and greeted the other person gently: "Nice to meet you... Iroha-kun."

His gaze naturally fell on the 'little devil' who was less than 1.3 meters tall to the side.

"Ah...! Now it's Ibuki's turn to introduce herself, right?"

Noticing Amamiya's gaze, Ibuki exclaimed "Hey~" and stood on tiptoe, making a cute gesture as if asking for a hug.

"Ibuki, here I come!"

"Ibuki's name is 'Tanka Ibuki'~ Sensei, nice to meet you!"

Amamiya naturally revealed a kind, elder-like smile.

"Yes, nice to meet you, Ibuki."

【~???~】(from Ibuki)

【~??~】(from Iroha)

"It's Iroha-neechan's turn to do her cleaning duty today, and Ibuki will do her best to help out~ Mm!"

What an adorable little guy...

Amamiya glanced at Iroha beside her, only to find Iroha covering her face with a book, and sighed helplessly.

“…Sensei, let’s begin.”

Chapter 3 Iroha: Sensei, come and make a mistake with me?

With Iroha joining the team, Amemiya's document processing speed improved by more than one level.

Through her intermittent conversation with Iroha, Amamiya roughly understood what Iroha was and what the 'Panma Palace' she was in was all about.

The Pandemonium is a 'student council' that functions almost identically to the Millennium Academy of Science and Technology; the Holy Trinity's tea party...

However, its student council environment is among the worst of the three university campuses.

The reason lies with the current chairman of the Pandemonium—Hanuma Makoto.

Through Iroha's very cryptic description, Amamiya can roughly deduce that the never-before-seen Hanuma Makoto is actually a 'desire-driven ambitious person'.

She has an exceptionally strong inner strength, but the things she does are somewhat abstract...

For example, after hearing that Iroha had the "good fortune" of being able to go to Shala today, she made an unexpected move after a difficult decision-making process—she "repeatedly instructed" herself to entrust Ibuki to Iroha.

As for the reason... Makoto herself did not say it explicitly.

Iroha's one-sided speculation is that she must have collected so-called 'information' from some strange websites—rumors such as [the Sensei of Shalai is actually powerless against young girls who are also small in stature].

Then... let Iroha begin to try to 'approach' Amamiya and win over this 'phantom thief of the heart' with mysterious methods.

"so……"

After giving the bewildered Amamiya a teasing glance, Iroha chuckled half-jokingly, a hint of slyness in her eyes.

"Sensei, are you really like the rumors say... completely powerless against petite girls...?"

Amamiya: "..."

She glanced at Ibuki, who was sitting on the sofa not far away, hugging a toy, swinging her legs, and occasionally waving the toy's arm, and her exquisite, shapely feet, which were only covered by a layer of white socks and made one want to touch and play with them...

"...Where did you hear this rumor from?"

Amamiya remained calm and asked without changing her expression.

“Ghena’s ‘rumors’”.

Iroha's sly smile didn't fade; instead, it intensified: "Sensei... don't you know? Most of Gehenna's students know that you've been getting quite close to that disciplinary committee chairperson lately..."

"And the head of the disciplinary committee, along with the disciplinary committee members she led, were mostly petite women... and recently they've been appearing rather absent-minded from time to time..."

Amamiya: "..."

Oh no, now strange rumors are starting to circulate about Gehenna too.

Thinking of the 'special rumors' about Trinity (referring to the fact that the Phantom Thief of Hearts actually steals hearts to make students hopelessly fall in love with Sensei), Amamiya felt a headache coming on.

Subtle rumors are spreading around Trinity, and rumors are also gradually emerging around Gersena that she 'prefers petite women'...

It is said that among all kinds of information, rumors spread the fastest.

It seems that... my reputation will inevitably crumble one day.

Amamiya sighed.

Noticing the obvious helplessness on Amamiya's face, Iroha's eyes darted around, and she moved a little closer, whispering almost in Amamiya's ear, "Oh my...Sensei, do you mean... you're not going to deny it?"

"Rumors spread incredibly fast... Even if I 'deny' them, it only accelerates their spread..."

Amamiya leaned back in her chair, replying listlessly, "Once someone is 'marked' and a fixed impression is formed, it's really hard to change."

【~???~】(from Iroha)

"Indeed."

Iroha didn't pursue the matter of Amamiya suddenly changing the subject, but nodded in agreement with deep feeling.

The girl, who had returned to her 'duty student' seat, imitated Amamiya's 'looking up at the sky' gesture, and leaned lazily against the back of the chair, remaining silent for the time being.

“Um…Sensei…”

"what happened?"

"Can you do me a small favor?"

Amamiya blinked, not immediately replying with a yes or no, but instead asking, "What kind of help?"

Once he was sure Ibuki hadn't noticed what was happening, Iroha temporarily adopted a weary, lazy demeanor.

The girl's tone carried an indescribable bitterness and helplessness. With eyes that seemed to say, "We're both in the same boat," she looked at Amamiya with tender affection and said, "...Sensei, you should know about the 'mission' I bear, right?"

“…I could guess.” After a moment of silence, Amamiya replied helplessly, “…Judging from the personality of the ‘Chairperson of the Pandemonium’ that you told me about before, and the things she has done, she probably assigned you the task of ‘getting closer to me’, right?”

Iroha remained silent.

Seeing her reaction, Amamiya was surprised and raised her expectations even higher: "...Could it be that we're going to take it 'further'?"

Iroha then gave a helpless "hmm".

“Sensei, if you can do me a favor… to fake a ‘good relationship’ between us, the burden on my shoulders will be much lighter.”

Iroha adopted an even more relaxed, languid posture, sprawling on the chair like a red pom-pom.

“Most of Gerhena’s students… especially the disciplinary committee members, say that Sensei, you are a helpful, respected, and beloved teacher to your students. You wouldn’t refuse a request like this that can help relieve students’ stress, would you?”

Iroha's rhetoric reminded Amamiya of some online novels he had read—

"To stop the advances of someone I don't like, a beautiful girl pretends to be my boyfriend, and we actually develop a special relationship..." something like that.

However, Iroha's actions were more like "being ordered to build connections," which is quite different from the standard light novel format.

Let's set aside Amamiya's little trick of wanting to fish empty-handed, making demands without explaining what she can do.

He looked at the girl sitting lazily in her duty seat, like a red pom-pom, and after a few seconds of silence, he said softly, "Aren't you afraid that I really am the kind of devil that the rumors say... has no resistance to short girls?"

Iroha gave a dismissive laugh, as if she had been appointed.

"...Then I can only 'accept' it."

"Making a mistake together... If something like that really happened, wouldn't that disciplinary committee administrator go crazy first?"

I sensed a slight dependence from Iroha.

Coopation is now unblocked!

【Iroha (Demon) ★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

After a soft chuckle, the girl straightened her posture and greeted Ibuki, who was playing "house" by herself to avoid disturbing the office.

"Ibuki, would you like to play with Sensei?"

Ibuki, who was sitting on the sofa, immediately stopped playing with the doll, jumped down and ran to Amamiya. Her gaze lingered on Amamiya and Iroha for a moment.

Then, she nodded vigorously at Iroha: "Mmm!"

"Ibuki...I feel a really comfortable feeling from Sensei...! Ibuki wants to play with Sensei!"

Iroha glanced at Amamiya out of the corner of her eye, then chuckled to herself.

[...I sensed the intense emotions emanating from Ibuki.]

Coopation is now unblocked!

【Tanka Ibuki (Sun) ★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

"Sensei...you can't bear to refuse a child's request, can you?"

If it were just a typical case of 'moral blackmail,' Amamiya might loudly say no...

But Amamiya really couldn't refuse this.

'With my current 'courage,' I'm not brave enough to refuse the invitation from the lovely Ibuki...'

"...Okay, I agree."

【~???~】(from Ibuki)

【~???~】(from Iroha)

"So...Sensei, shall we make a pinky promise in Erling (Part 2) 10?"

Chapter Four: The Girl from the Demon Palace Falls in Love

Left with no other choice, Amamiya made a pinky promise with Iroha and Ibuki, and spent the entire morning with them before letting out a soft sigh.

Iroha's speed in handling official business was undoubtedly very fast...

But she was slacking off.

After helping Amamiya with some official duties, she spent most of the time afterwards adopting an attitude of "touch if you can".

Her lazy, half-lying-down posture became even more pronounced after she formed a bond with Amamiya.

Fortunately... Iroha is probably the kind of 'high emotional intelligence student' who is good at reading people's expressions.

Amamiya, who could see the slight helplessness in her movements and micro-expressions, keenly sensed that 'Sensei might be going out to take action next'.

Following Amamiya into the kitchen, she helped Amamiya clean the ingredients and assisted her while constantly looking for an opportunity.

It wasn't until Amamiya put the lid on the pot of curry that the red-haired girl, who had found an opportunity, slickly and cleverly approached Amamiya. She first wiped her slightly damp hands with her apron before reaching out and tugging at Amamiya's clothes.

Meeting Amamiya's gaze as she looked down, the girl's eyes held a hint of anticipation: "It's almost noon... Sensei, do you have any plans for the rest of the day?"

"...Indeed, there are arrangements."

Amamiya nodded; it wasn't something that couldn't be said.

Iroha slowly lowered her head, as if she had breathed a sigh of relief.