I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

"interesting……"

Hanako, who felt her horizons being shattered time and time again, gradually developed a subtle, surging feeling.

"Let's follow them and see..."

……

That time and that moment.

“These black thorns… are a clear symbol of Arios’s temple…”

"And the black thorns that have eroded the tree roots signify that Arios's temple is eroding the temple of the Holy Trinity..."

As she passed a huge tree root, Hifumi glanced at it a couple more times. The root was almost entirely covered in black thorns, and she became slightly worried.

It's hard to imagine... just how badly the temple has been eroded.

"Therefore... resolving the issues of the temple must be put before the Eden Treaty."

"If we hadn't conquered the [Complex Hall] of Arios and the Holy Trinity before the Eden Treaty, all sorts of unexpected outcomes could have occurred."

Amamiya sighed, and as he used [Prometheus (Arcana: The Hermit)] to search for his target in the Impression Space, he suddenly stopped.

"...A target for repentance has been found. Copain, get ready."

"Um... I'll do my best, Jok!"

After receiving a warm response from the girl beside him, Amamiya smiled gently, then immediately composed himself and prepared for battle.

He wouldn't be like those protagonists in novels who, even with great strength, always act lazy and let others think they're useless, only to get serious at crucial moments and perform their so-called 'show-off and slap in the face'.

When it's time to be serious, we should be serious.

Amamiya waved his hand, summoning both the Destroyer Emperor and Paradise Lost into his hands. Holding a dagger in one hand and a pistol in the other, he led Hifumi toward the target location.

As they got closer to the World Tree, the surrounding scenery seemed to gradually become more and more 'dreamlike'.

The walls were stained with a layer of crystal-clear, dreamlike, and dazzling colors;

The castle's spire is painted with a rainbow composed of sacred creatures such as angels and unicorns;

The creatures that came and went seemed to have transformed into all sorts of angels, as well as various beings that should have been dwelling in the Garden of Eden—

It's too dreamy, which gives people an absurd feeling of being in a fairy tale.

The black and red vortex was right in front of me.

After confirming that there was no danger around, Amamiya turned around and looked at Hifumi, who was also on high alert, nodded slightly to her, and then reached out to touch the vortex.

Chapter Fifteen: A Fog of Lies; Thorns of Despair

'call……'

The empty sound of the wind rang in her ears the moment the dizziness ended, and the sharp wind blowing in her face, almost like that of a wasteland, instantly perked Hifumi up.

"It's all meaningless..."

"No... Someone like me... I guess I should just die..."

"Ahhh... If I could die right now, all this suffering would end instantly..."

The sound that entered her ears, with its reverberation and echo, made Hifumi frown immediately.

The goal of this commission...

"Was that the one Fumi-chan saw on the [Phantom Thief Channel] before, the one about the classmate whose inner world is in trouble?"

After assessing the level of 'resentment' lingering around the target's shadow, Amamiya said softly with a hint of regret, "The degree of 'yearning for death' emanating from her is simply astonishing."

"What exactly happened..."

Upon hearing this, Hifumi also looked at the shadow of self-pity with great concern.

She only decided to come and see because she saw the request... but she didn't know the story behind it.

Such self-pity must mean... he's been through a lot of pain, right?

"Hey……"

As Amamiya stepped forward, making a sound with his footsteps, he called out softly to the shadowy figure of self-pity.

"...?"

The shadow of self-pity shifted, and he looked towards Amamiya and Hifumi.

After carefully examining her, she spoke hesitantly, "...You are...."

"...The Phantom Thief of Hearts?"

"Yes. We came here on behalf of your classmate to see what happened."

Without Amamiya taking the initiative to speak, Hifumi had already stepped forward to try to negotiate with the other party.

"Can you tell me what exactly happened? Perhaps we, the 'Phantom Thieves of Hearts,' can be of help..."

The shadow student remained silent for a few seconds, then sadly lowered his head and laughed.

"hehe……"

"As expected, a special being like the Phantom Thief of Hearts responds to the pleas of the weak and shows them mercy..."

"but……"

"It's all over now, it's pointless..."

'It's all already happened, it's all meaningless...?'

Hifumi was slightly taken aback, but then she realized what she meant and continued to gently persuade the other person: "If there's anything bothering you, talking about it with someone else might be a good option."

"If... if you don't mind, the 'Mind Thieves' can also take on this pain for you—of course, provided that you are willing to cooperate with us and reveal your secrets."

"……All right."

The other person's depression had reached such a level that they seemed to have no desire to fight at all.

"It's actually quite simple... Do you know about that 'transfer student' at Trinity College recently...?"

'Transfer student...'

Without a doubt, this must be referring to Xiao Zi, right?

"Transfer student...what's wrong?"

Hifumi continued to ask questions patiently and persuasively.

Perhaps it was because of Hifumi's gentle, sun-like listening nature, or perhaps it was because her kind and gentle questioning naturally evoked no hostility, but Hifumi's words still received a fairly positive response.

"Um……"

"In fact, I am the student who bullied her before..."

"After discovering this, the transfer student, driven by what I found ridiculous at the time, attacked me out of a sense of 'fighting for justice'... Then, after I was defeated, I used the power of the Justice Fulfillment Committee to fabricate a story and 'arrest' her..."

Hifumi immediately realized.

Oh... so that's what it was about.

Come to think of it... if this hadn't happened, Xiao Zi probably wouldn't have been sent to the tutoring center...

No, given Nagisa's current 'suspicious' personality, I'm afraid even if Azusa doesn't join the tutoring club, she won't do well at Trinity College... right?

After regaining her composure, Hifumi asked incredulously, "You feel remorse for what happened back then... right?"

"Um……"

"At first, I felt a sense of exhilaration, as if I had finally gotten my revenge."

"But soon... I felt very guilty."

"Gradually, this guilt developed into deep regret for what I had done..."

Hifumi wondered – Is it possible for an ordinary person to feel guilty about something as trivial as 'I might as well be dead'?

It seems... unlikely.

If someone is really like that, then they must be a special existence at the level of a 'saint', right?

How could I possibly do something like bullying?

Such an 'abnormal' change...

"Did you notice, Copain?"

Amamiya's voice brought the girl back to reality from her thoughts.

'Noticed...'

Hifumi was slightly taken aback, and then she noticed... there seemed to be a light mist around her.

Also... are there very faint traces around here, like those left by black thorns...?

“That’s right…” Amamiya explained softly, “Normally, a person’s ‘guilt’ wouldn’t be this intense… especially since she was previously a bully with little compassion.”

"This phenomenon of excessive and extreme self-distortion due to guilt... is an 'abnormality'."

Is it a psychological abnormality caused by the erosion of impression space or temples...?

Hifumi thought about it for a moment and quickly accepted the premise.

After all, stealing a treasure from another world can make the corresponding target in the real world repent...

Therefore, it is not impossible to cause the target in the real world to become depressed by projecting negative emotions onto the target in another world.

"The fog is made up of 'thousands of lies,' which will plunge everyone into negative emotions symbolizing 'separation,' such as suspicion and jealousy towards each other..."

Amamiya took a deep breath, recalling the "thousands of curses (thousands of lies)" unleashed by Izanami Oogami in that "late-night television world".

Amamiya herself is the holder of the [World] Arcana and is also a very powerful Persona manipulator, so she is unaffected.

Hifumi is also a Persona manipulator. Although she is not powerful enough, she is already strong enough to ignore the erosion of negative consciousness by the fog of 'thousands of lies'.

As for Hanako and her two companions who entered this other world... they were protected by Amamiya's Persona magic.

However... those who already live in another world will be affected.

"A fog of lies..."

Hifumi softly repeated the word, and suddenly had a very special feeling.

"As for thorns... if I'm not mistaken, they should be composed of emotions like 'nothingness' or 'despair'."

Hifumi now understood why the shadow in front of her could 'disdain the world' to such an extent.

"...Phantom thieves, if you've come here to make me repent...then just..."

"and many more!"

Hifumi suddenly raised her voice slightly, interrupting the gloomy shadow's 'mutterings'.

"……What?"

Do you know my 'phantom thief' code name?

Hifumi's eyes were bright and sparkling, as if burning with a bright flame.

She removed her persona and, illuminated by clusters of eerie blue firelight, looked directly into the other person's eyes.

"...I don't know. What does that have to do with me?"

"My code name as a phantom thief is 【Copain】, which means 'friend'."

Hifumi moved closer and spoke in a very serious tone.

"……friend?"

"Yes, friend."

The girl nodded very seriously: "If we break down this word, we can break it down into 'co' and 'pain'."

"Leaving aside 'co' for now, let's just talk about 'pain'—why does a word that clearly represents 'friend' also carry the meaning of 'pain'?"

The shadow was taken aback: "...Why?"

After a moment of stunned silence, she began to seriously ponder... why the word 'friend' could carry the connotation of 'pain'.

"because……"