I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

Secondly, because... she sensed Amamiya's desire for a private conversation, she chose to stay.

The fox ears on her head twitched slightly. After confirming that the voices of her seniors were gradually becoming undetectable, the girl looked at Amamiya and suddenly gave a light and friendly smile.

"If you want to talk about private topics..."

"Now you can talk, Sensei?"

Chapter Fifteen: The Gunsmith's Rant and 'Contempt'

The rooftop of the engineering department building.

"Sensei..."

Standing at a vantage point offering a panoramic view of the entire Millennium Science Academy, the fox-eared girl, who had been waiting silently for a while without Amamiya speaking, slightly turned her head to look at the curly-haired youth standing beside her.

"Is there anything 'personal' you want to talk to me about?"

"About me...?"

After a slight pause, the girl turned her gaze to the albatross parked on the orange-yellow I-shaped sign.

"Is it still about 'us'?"

"A little bit of both."

After a moment's consideration, Amamiya ultimately chose a somewhat strange-sounding word or phrase as her response.

'...A little bit of both?'

Yuriko was momentarily confused.

But then she thought of many things that she could only do with albatrosses—

For example, non-firepower and non-armed operations such as high-altitude surveying and terrain reconnaissance.

Topographic mapping, aerial scanning, high-precision topographic analysis... these kinds of special commissions do indeed require collaboration to complete.

Could it be that...Sensei wants him to draw a topographical map of the "Otherworld Palace"...or perform some other highly difficult terrain reconnaissance work?

Thinking of this, the fox-eared girl quickly concealed the doubt that had been flickering in her eyes.

"Is it about 'topographic mapping' or something like high-altitude intelligence reconnaissance?"

Before Amamiya could give a clear response, she added sincerely, "If it's this type of work... a request from Sensei, I can do it for free."

"...Of course, if it's a request for 'armed attack' or something like that, whether it's ammunition resupply or equipment repair...while it can't be free, I'll consider giving Sensei a discount."

Before Yuriko could finish speaking, Albatross's voice, like that of an intellectual older sister, rang out with a hint of teasing.

[My controller has really figured it out—what did I just hear? Discount? Is that really a word you'd use?]

Of the 537 work assignments of this type completed, I have never found any mention of "discount" or "offer" in the records.

Yuriko, her face darkened by the unexpected sabotage from her "good partner," glared at her with obvious displeasure.

"Albatross, shut up."

[Look, Mr. Phantom Thief—after interacting with you, my controller has not only learned to "give leeway"... or rather, "it varies from person to person"? Oh, perhaps the latter is more accurate.]

In addition to that, she also learned...

Before the albatross could finish speaking, it was cut off by a 'zzzt' sound, similar to electromagnetic interference.

Yuriko, whose eye color changed for a moment, remained silent for a short while before apologizing to Amamiya: "...I'm sorry, Sensei."

“I don’t know what’s wrong with her… she’s been doing this occasionally since we met.”

Amamiya: "..."

In fact, he could understand Albatross's intentions to some extent, and he could also analyze from Yuriko's actions that Yuriko could understand what her 'good partner' was doing.

However, in this respect, Albatross, being an AI, clashes with Yuriko's own consciousness.

With a slight twitch of her lips, Amamiya chose to remain silent and indifferent: "...I understand."

【~???~】(from Yuriko)

"Let's get down to business..."

After being interrupted by Albatross, the atmosphere seemed to ease considerably, and Amamiya began to get down to business.

"First... it's about Yuriko."

When the topic turned to herself, the fox-eared girl immediately adjusted her breathing and suppressed the slightly unnatural expression caused by mild shyness.

Noticing Yuriko's subtle movements, Amamiya continued without hesitation, "I hope..."

'hope……?'

Amamiya paused deliberately, trying to stir up the girl's anticipation, before stating his intentions in one breath.

"I hope Yuriko can provide equipment support for the 'Phantom Thief Operation'."

"Ok?"

Yuriko was stunned by the unexpected request.

To provide equipment support for the Phantom Thieves' activities?

After a brief moment of stunned silence, a fleeting glint of curiosity about new things flashed across the girl's sea-blue eyes.

What kind of equipment would a "phantom thief" have?

Actually… even before she went out on a “mission” (to avoid Rion), Yuriko had heard rumors about the ‘phantom thief’ and had researched related information.

A phantom thief who wanders in another world and steals twisted desires... also needs to fight—fighting the guards of the palace in another world, or fighting against the evil thoughts in other people's hearts... This is only natural.

Aside from the ability called "Persona," which cannot yet be explained scientifically, Yuriko was very curious—

How does the "phantom thief" fight monsters from other worlds when he's not using his Persona?

Should we bombard them with modern weapons?

Or will we use some other unexpected means?

“Sensei, you want me to provide equipment support for the Phantom Thieves' activities… I can agree to your request, but I need to know the ‘fighting style’ in this other world first…”

As she spoke, the girl's expression was somewhat embarrassed, but more than that, it showed "curiosity and exploration of new things".

“Previously, I specially prepared the [Goddess of Wisdom] revolver for Sophia, and also tried to specially make some [Special Shadow Ammunition for Otherworld Combat]…”

"In reality, I have no experience fighting in other worlds, and my knowledge of [Shadows] and other types of otherworldly monsters is based solely on assumptions without any supporting data. Those [Special Ammunition] are simply modified versions of a type of special ammunition used for hunting large animals."

"If you want me to provide equipment support for the Phantom Thief activities..."

This is all explicitly stated, so how could Amamiya not understand?

Amidst Yuriko's fox ears trembling incessantly like a fixed-frequency communicator [curious.jpg], Amamiya drew his otherworldly weapon—the [Destruction God Emperor].

This is a pistol decorated with both platinum and gold accents, and its style is somewhat similar to the Tokarev TT-33.

The prototype gun wasn't exactly good-looking, but it certainly wasn't ugly either.

However, with the filter of the otherworldly art style, especially with the platinum paint job and various exaggerated decorations such as mechanical wings symbolizing "Little Jehovah" (Metatron) and angel armor inscriptions, it looks particularly... unconventional.

Yuriko fell silent: "..."

After receiving the [God of Destruction] from Amamiya, the girl fell even more silent.

Gradually, her silence was replaced by bewilderment and incomprehension.

"This is……"

After examining the gun thoroughly for a while, Yuriko finally offered a rather complex assessment: "Her aesthetic sense is... quite unique."

"Besides aesthetics, is there anything else you want to say?"

Amamiya was curious about the assessment of this 'weapons expert'.

"Um……"

After a moment's thought, Yuriko, drawing on her professional knowledge, summarized in a way that most people could understand: "Very...rough."

"I did a quick inspection of this gun... and found 17 obvious problems and 23 minor, harmless ones. If it's a weapon from another world, all I can say is... that it can fire and be used continuously is nothing short of a miracle."

"From a manufacturing perspective, this gun feels rough... It even gives me an obsessive-compulsive urge to disassemble it, meticulously polish each part, and then reassemble it."

"It must have been made using a super simple method, like 'casting' or 'one-piece pressing,' which is so simple it can't even be described as a process... It was made directly in one piece, right? If this is a product of 3D printing, then I can only say that the technology is extremely crude."

Amamiya: "..."

That's really... a very harsh review.

It's like 'gun enthusiasts have hit a nerve'.

Faced with the girl's gaze that seemed to say, "Am I right?", Amamiya shrugged and then nodded.

"How does this gun 'fire'?" Yuriko asked her second question. "With it designed like this, even loading the bullets is a problem."

Amamiya sighed helplessly and then explained the concept of ranged weapons in the other world to Yuriko.

"The firearms in this other world don't need to be completely real; they just need to look real. Based on this, the more exaggerated the weapon's design, the greater its power. Because in most cases, camouflage paint and exaggeratedly modified weapons give people the impression that this weapon is very powerful."

"As for the issue of reloading... well, I can only say that in other worlds, it's mostly about [idealism]—if the enemy thinks your weapon is fully loaded, then you can fire it."

"You don't even need to change the magazine when reloading. Just take it off and put it back on in front of the enemy, and the enemy will subconsciously think that you have reloaded, and then the magazine will really be full."

Yuriko listened attentively, her face filled with curiosity.

Only after Amamiya finished explaining the 'basic characteristics of weapons from another world' did she express a slightly complicated feeling: "A completely new feature that is independent of modern weaponry. Very interesting."

Looking at the [Destroyer Emperor] in her hand, the girl suddenly understood why the gun's paint job and decorations were so exaggerated—

Believe it or not, these "weapon skins" really do boost "attack power".

She sighed softly.

"...From my personal perspective only...Sensei, the pistol you are using is so precious in terms of materials that I cannot comprehend it, and so inferior in design that I cannot bear to look at it."

"According to you... the more 'real' a weapon looks, the higher its damage and the stronger its effect..."

"Based on this theory... I can make some 'special modifications' to your and the other Phantom Thief Partners' ranged weapons."

The girl had no intention of returning the [God of Destruction]; she looked at Amamiya with a serious expression: "But before that..."

"Could you leave this gun with me for now?"

"I need some time to overhaul this... unbearable thing that can barely be called a gun."

Amamiya smiled and nodded.

Then he quickly reached out and, before Yuriko could react, patted her head and stroked the girl's lively and adorable fox ears.

"...?!"

Ignoring the gaze Yuriko cast at him, Amamiya earnestly made the request: "Please, Yuriko."

[...I sensed Yuriko's sense of responsibility.]

Coopation has been improved!

【Tenshi Yuriko (The High Priestess) ★★ Also? Slipped up is abandoned ten? Silk house tumor ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆】

'...'

'Sofia's side will need some more time to finish...'

'Let's take this opportunity to go to the Pandemonium... then come back to pick up Sophia before evening.'

Chapter Sixteen: Makoto, Borrowing Iroha

"...Good morning, Sensei."

"Welcome to the Palace of Demons."

In the reception room of the Pandemonium.

The silver-haired girl, sitting with her arms crossed and legs crossed, lowered her head slightly, her sky-blue eyes gleaming with an obscure light beneath the brim of her military cap.