I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

"Because... Kei told Alice that if she could keep Sensei in the game development department all day, she could increase her affection level with Sensei!"

The girl who hugged Amamiya from the front immediately gave an energetic answer: "Alice wants to increase her affection level with Sensei, so she followed Kei's suggestion and decided to keep Sensei in the game club!"

Alice tilted her head as if thinking for a moment, then quickly added, "Kei also told Alice... to prepare a special prop called 'chocolate' today! For this, Kei temporarily 'borrowed' Alice's right to use her body from yesterday evening until this morning to prepare the prop..."

Amamiya: "..."

He was genuinely both annoyed and amused.

Okay, okay, Kei, is that how it's going to be?

When you were negotiating with me by "taking" Alice's body, you kept saying you "hated" being in contact with me... but now you're being so arrogant, taking Alice's body all night to make Valentine's Day chocolates?

Amamiya then looked at Momoi, whose gaze darted left and right before she answered decisively, "...Because I want to participate in a 'special event'."

"A game I've been playing recently called [Phantom Thief: Nightfall] has launched a new event—if you upload your profile and an intimate photo with your 'partner,' you can get a unique reward..."

Amamiya squinted slightly, paused for a moment, then bent down slightly and flicked Momoi's forehead with his finger.

"Ouch! That hurts... Sen, Seni..."

Tears welled in the girl's eyes as she was flicked on the forehead. Forgetting to grab onto Amamiya's clothes, she covered her forehead and cried out in pain.

"Momoi..." Amamiya's tone was helpless yet filled with serious warning, "First of all, I've never heard of this game... It must be a game born out of the 'Phantom Thief' craze, right? Secondly... Has the security of this game been verified? Momoi, didn't you think that uploading personal information and intimate photos would put you in danger?"

Momoi, who was about to tearfully complain to Amamiya about "why," blinked and suddenly fell silent.

"Don't participate in this event... In the future, try to be more cautious about participating in similar game events that require personal information... As compensation for not being able to accompany Momoi this time, Momoi can choose an online game, and I'll buy her a 648 RMB in-game currency... Or, Momoi, you can choose a single-player game, and I'll buy you the deluxe edition, how about that?"

Momoi, who had been looking miserable, suddenly brightened up, her pink pupils sparkling with tiny stars.

"Really?! Sensei, you're not kidding me, are you?!"

Amamiya replied earnestly, "I'm an adult, and adults don't lie."

【~???~】

"Hehehe... In that case, Sensei, I won't be polite..."

Her older sister's "disappointing" performance made Midori, who was still clutching Amamiya's clothes, grit her teeth in a mixture of pity and resentment.

"Sister... what are you doing, sister! Right now, it's clearly more beneficial to keep Sensei..."

Before she could finish speaking, she felt a large, gentle hand from an adult land on her head.

"I'm sorry, Little Green... I can't be with you today."

"There are really more important things to do right now... Otherwise, only disaster awaits me."

A brief struggle appeared in Little Green's emerald green eyes.

After hesitating for a moment, she finally lowered her hand, 'reluctantly'.

“...If Sensei has more important things to do…”

As she spoke, she took out a chocolate box from her pocket. It was mint green and decorated with green pixelated cat doodles drawn by her, a pixel artist, on it. It was a Valentine's Day chocolate.

"Before you leave... please keep this... chocolate..."

After Little Green started, Alice then pulled out two chocolates from the pockets on either side of her oversized Millennium Academy uniform.

"This was specially prepared by Kei... It contains Alice's gift and Kei's heartfelt wishes!"

As Alice spoke, her deep blue eyes were suddenly filled with a pink that symbolized Kei.

"This is... a 'special gift' that I spent a lot of time preparing for the princess... You'd better not let me and the princess down."

Amamiya temporarily put Midori's chocolates back into her shoulder bag, and then took them from Alice's left and right hands. The chocolate boxes were painted with pixelated diagonal stripes, representing Alice's 'sky blue' and Kei's 'pink' respectively, and were full of "pixel game color" style.

"Don't worry, Kei, I will definitely give you, Alice... a satisfactory answer."

"Hmph~!"

【~???~】

Kei blushed slightly, gave a haughty snort with an expression that said, "You better really mean it."

Then, the pink color in Alice's eyes, which symbolized Kei, gradually faded.

Before you set off, please accept Alice's 'pre-departure hug'—

Alice pounced on her again—this time, it was different from hugging her waist.

The girl stood on tiptoe with all her might, wrapped her arms around Amamiya's neck, and landed on his back.

Amamiya lowered his head in response, pressing his forehead against Alice's.

"Alice felt happiness from Sensei..."

"Although the bond relationship didn't improve as much as I expected, it should still be considered an improvement, right?"

Looking at the fifth star that had just lit up among the ten stars on the "Cosmos" tarot card above the girl's head, Amamiya thought to herself, "That's true."

I felt Alice's warmth.

【Coopation↑UP!】

Alice Tendo (Space) ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

[★5 Ability "Threads of Bonds" is now unlocked!]

"I'll try to spend more time with everyone in the games club from now on..."

As soon as Amamiya finished speaking and was about to leave, her clothes were tugged at again.

It was the pomelo that had been timidly watching from afar.

At the last moment, she mustered her courage, jogged over, bent down slightly, and closed her eyes tightly, like a "young girl giving a love letter to her crush," a very solemn but somewhat awkward gesture to outsiders, as she handed over her chocolate box.

The chocolate box that Yuzu prepared was a small tin box—now, it seems that there are still slight scratches and dents on it, caused by excessive force.

This shows just how much tension Yuzu felt that had never dissipated.

“Sen, Sensi…” The girl mustered all her courage, her voice even cracking slightly, “Please, please accept this…!”

[I could feel the effort emanating from the pomelo.]

【Coopation↑UP!】

【Hanaoka Yuzu (The Hermit) ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆】

Amamiya chuckled inwardly.

After a slight pause, Amamiya Yoshiyuki touched Yuzu's smooth forehead.

"Youzi tried her best too."

【~???~】

After meeting the girl's light blue eyes, which were beginning to show small circles, Amamiya stood up and waved to the four members of the game development department.

"Goodbye~"

……

It was evening, at the engineering department.

After taking a tour of the Millennium Academy, Amamiya finally decided that this should be her 'last stop'.

The Engineering Department's headquarters still carries the stereotypical image of a science-oriented girl: cold, yet hiding a touch of girlish sensitivity beneath that coldness. Rational, but everywhere you look, you can see a passion hidden beneath that rationality.

After feeling the gaze upon entering the engineering department, Amamiya knew without a doubt that Yuriko's "partner" was casting her gaze from the rooftop.

Amamiya didn't ring the doorbell, but stood in front of the heavy metal door of the engineering department and waited for a while.

Less than a minute later, the sound of hard-soled leather boots approaching from inside the door could be heard.

The fox-eared girl, who had jogged over, shook her fox ears with a tuft of white down on them and greeted Amamiya while panting slightly.

"Sensei... Good evening."

After glancing at the young man standing in the setting sun outside the door, Yuriko seemed to confirm the situation: "...It's not too late yet."

Immediately afterward, Amamiya heard the synthesized, gentle voice of Albatross, using the gate's identification device and doorbell: "No… my dear controller, once you realize something and try to do it, it's already too late."

After a pause, the albatross continued: "Welcome... to 'Mr. Phantom Thief' on this special occasion."

Yuriko twitched her fox ears, slightly displeased with the albatross's 'complaint'.

"Even if it loses its 'priority,' this special gift of mine will still leave a deep impression on Sensei."

As the girl spoke, she first took out Amamiya's now brand-new pistol from her tactical bag.

"Sensei... This is your [Destroyer Emperor], which I've meticulously upgraded and enhanced as much as possible without straying from the scope of a pistol."

Amamiya took the pistol, which was significantly heavier than before, and weighed it in his hand.

The moment Amamiya gripped the gun, he felt a great deal.

"During the design process, we took into account various detailed data specific to each individual, such as hand size and grip strength."

Gun exterior etching, painting, engraving, modification... tailored to individual preferences and aesthetics.

Compared to before it was delivered to Yuriko, the degree of customization of the [God of Destruction] is now astonishingly high.

"Thank you, Yuriko."

Amamiya casually hung the pistol on the hidden gun rack inside his jacket. Meeting the girl's blue-green eyes, which seemed to ask if he was satisfied, Amamiya said gently, "From this gun... I felt Yuriko's heartfelt feelings."

【~???~】

Yuriko seemed to blush for a moment, her erect fox ears folding to the sides.

But then she heard the voice of her 'good friend'—the albatross: [It seems that my controller is gradually learning to be more discerning, willing to 'only care for one person'—]

Before she could finish speaking, Yuriko raised her voice slightly: "Ahem... Sensei, we still need your feedback on the parameters and specific experience of the [God of Destruction]..."

"in addition……"

She put down a long crate she had brought with her, the contents of which she did not know.

“Sensei, this is for you…”

As she spoke, Yuriko unpacked the crate she had handed her. And then…

Under Amamiya's shocked gaze, she knelt down and pulled out... a cannonball?!

With her greyish-black body swaying and a tuft of white fox tail at the tip, the girl held the cannonball with effortless ease and, amidst Amamiya's slightly bewildered expression, handed it towards him.

"...Valentine's Day chocolates."

Amamiya: "...?"

You call this thing, which looks like a 155mm shell, chocolate?

Meeting Amamiya's surprised gaze, Yuriko calmly said, "This is a heavy-duty chocolate that I personally developed and made, equipped with a special cryogenic propellant cartridge."

"The windproof cap and the projectile body are made of one-piece high-pressure casting material, which contains edible metals, corn flour, oats, and a variety of harmless edible additives..."

"Theoretically speaking, once launched, it can detonate 1314 anti-personnel missiles... chocolates."

Amamiya blankly accepted the "special" chocolate from Yuriko's hand; its weight was initially estimated to be over fifty kilograms.

The albatross's slightly teasing voice simultaneously reached my ears: "A chocolate that can penetrate most field bunkers must surely be able to penetrate the deepest depths of your heart, 'Mr. Phantom Thief'—so, my dear controller, have you succeeded in winning you over?"

Amamiya twitched the corners of his mouth, met Yuriko's 'expectant' gaze, and nodded with a complicated expression.

It really did "move" me...

This might be the most "special" chocolate he has ever received in his life.

"I'll accept the chocolate... However, to avoid the serious consequences of the launch, I'll find another way to 'enjoy' it later..."

Holding the 155mm chocolate shell, Amamiya sighed and walked towards the setting sun amidst Yuriko's greeting, "Sensei, see you next time."

'Let's process the other invitations a bit more...'

This year's Valentine's Day is finally coming to an end...

Epilogue for this volume