I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

Based on Rin's narration, Amamiya sketched out a very unique scene of an 'academy in the desert' in his own mind.

To be honest, since he had never been to the desert for tourism and had never seen what an academy in the desert was like—his only connection with the desert was that 'temple of the desert mirage' he had conquered during the summer vacation when he was dealing with the [Megido] organization.

Although it's impossible to truly visualize the geographical features of 'Abydos High School', Amamiya can still 'feel' the many hardships Abydos High School has endured through Rin's narration.

The bone-sucking and marrow-extracting techniques from Caesars Heavy Industries;

The harsh natural environment with sandstorms everywhere;

For various reasons, it eventually ballooned into an astronomical amount of foreign debt;

Originating from the 'oppression and bullying' of the Highland Railway Institute;

It is said to be a 'terrifying giant serpent' that dwells in the desert;

These negative factors ultimately led to a significant 'population loss' at Abydos Higher School, and even the entire Abydos region... Students left Abydos Higher School wave after wave, until finally...

This academy, on the verge of destruction, is now only supported by a "committee for the closure of the school."

Listening to Rin's narration, Amamiya couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

This suffocating sense of oppression from multiple directions... gave him a peculiar feeling of déjà vu, as if he were seeing his former self and the 'Phantom Thieves'.

"...This is all the information our Federation Student Association has regarding Abydos Higher Academy."

After finishing the story, Rin let out a long sigh, seemingly out of sympathy, yet also out of a sense of helplessness.

Rin couldn't help but feel curious because she didn't understand why Amamiya would suddenly ask about an academy that he seemed to have no access to.

This charming 'advisor' lady gently pushed up her glasses, slightly adjusted her posture, leaned forward a little, and let her naturally falling hair sway gently in the air, carrying a hint of curious exploration.

"Sensei...why do you suddenly want to know about Abydos?"

“I overheard a student from Abydos talking about a little bit about this region and this college, and I became curious, so I wanted to know more.”

After a pause, Amamiya's gaze lingered, and she continued in an empathetic tone, "...This suffocating sense of oppression gives one a feeling, as if one is experiencing it firsthand."

“I can’t just stand by and watch… I have to find a way to help them relieve their stress, and I need to do something about it.”

"Do something...that I can do."

cold:"……"

'Empathy'...

What exactly did this Sensei go through...?

Even someone as powerful as him has personally experienced and felt the oppressive feeling of despair, where not a single glimmer of hope can be seen, and the suffocating agony...

【~???~】

Feeling the emotional turmoil brought about by this extraordinary empathy, Rin could only sigh.

At the same time... she also thought to herself: perhaps... the Federal Student Council President's choice of him as Sensei was not without reason.

Perhaps... this is a choice that can only be made after 'witnessing something'.

“Abydos… had submitted several requests for material assistance to the Federation Student Council.” Perhaps due to this empathy, Rin’s tone became slightly melancholic. “However, at the time, the Federation Student Council was preoccupied with its own problems…”

"Without that authority, we simply cannot handle so many redundant matters at the same time... Consequently, the Abydos matter, along with some other club applications, has been temporarily shelved."

Amamiya could understand—the idea is that good steel should be used where it's needed most.

Before officially obtaining the "permissions," the Federal Student Council should adopt the following strategy: concentrate all its resources on the most needed issues that the Federal Student Council can resolve, thereby temporarily abandoning those "minor issues."

"but……"

Her tone became a little lighter, and her words were filled with reassurance and trust.

“Sensei… If you wish to resolve this crisis, the Federation Student Union will fully support and assist Sensei in all its actions.”

For something that Rin could do 'within her capabilities' but would require considerable effort for herself, Amamiya naturally had no reason to refuse.

"I will contact you if needed."

With that, Amamiya slung her shoulder bag over her shoulder and got up to leave.

Rin remained seated and did not move.

Looking at the young Sensei, who walked briskly and seemed to have received some kind of mission and was full of a sense of mission, she was momentarily dazed.

'The persona is the power within...'

The words the young man had casually uttered during the strength test echoed in his ears.

She understood a little.

Understand where this 'inner strength' truly comes from.

Everyone is born a "fool," constantly learning and growing until they finally reach a world where they can "stand on their own two feet" and "not be controlled by others."

sensei... what kind of despair did you overcome to make this will so strong and passionate?

……

After leaving the Federation Student Council, Amamiya found a 'general direction'.

"Exorbitant debts; unscrupulous heavy industry companies; and... a gigantic, mysterious creature resembling a snake..."

Combining these keywords, Amamiya even sensed a feeling of "another world palace".

Could it be that... there is also such a 'temple' in Kivotos, formed by the extreme distortion of desire?

Kaiser Heavy Industries... Could the person standing at the very top be someone like Kunikazu Okumura?

Amamiya had a vague premonition... perhaps, he might have really waited for another major opportunity to explore another world, search for secret treasures, and make his target "repent".

If only I could be the "phantom thief of the heart" again, stealing away the twisted desires and freeing these Abydos students who are gripped by desires...

it is good.

Let's set this as our short-term goal for now...

[Mison: Investigating various anomalies at Abydos College]

[Remaining days until Abydos College is closed: "XX" days]

【mison start】

After setting himself a short-term task, Amamiya began to think about what he would do next.

First of all... the various matters concerning Abydos Higher Academy, especially those concerning Caesar Heavy Industries and the academy's past, need to be supported by a 'clear historical record' or an 'intelligence chain connecting numerous pieces of information'.

Therefore, he should contact some student clubs that are particularly good at "intelligence gathering"... such as the "Department of Truth" and the "Special Phenomena Investigation Department" that Rin mentioned before.

These two groups conducted some in-depth yet accessible analyses of their Persona abilities and offered some hypotheses based on them—presumably, their intelligence-gathering capabilities are quite good.

Secondly, Amamiya also needs to use "Abydos Higher Academy" as the core and the academy as the target to carry out a social engineering-based search, establish a temporary intelligence network, and figure out the various "positional relationships" of this academy with other schools, such as friend or foe.

Finally... Amamiya also needs to learn about the 'armed forces' he can currently utilize, and try to invite some students to join Sharai... After all, no matter how strong an individual's power is, it is ultimately limited, and 'power' cannot solve all problems comprehensively.

"In order to gather intelligence..."

"It seems I need to make a trip to the 'Millennium Science Academy'."

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Xiaoyu: My Favorite Episode with Sensi

Solving the problems of the Abydos Higher Institute is not something that can be done overnight.

Amamiya certainly has the ability to "rush in and smash the BOSS with a single armor-piercing bullet," but he doesn't, and there's absolutely no need for him to do so.

As I said before... strength cannot solve all problems.

In the evening, after returning to her club activity room, Amamiya began to use a whiteboard to record some of her thoughts, and then tried to outline these thoughts into a complete chain.

'...'

'I used to have a premonition of defeat (I had that uneasy feeling of impending failure)'

'Now I have no fear'

'Since we're here, to fight it together!'

'...'

Softly humming "I Believe," a song he had heard during his "final battle" that symbolized breaking through the false reality and moving forward, Amamiya sketched out his "infiltration plan" until evening.

At that time, the Ministry of Truth.

I believe—we can fly up in the sky!

'One day we may just be able to touch down on a star.'

The girl with light yellow hair pressed her earpiece, listening to the young man's a cappella singing coming from the monitoring device.

Suppressing her breath and concentrating intently, she seemed unaware that her eyes were gradually shining.

It's just an a cappella performance without any post-production audio editing, tuning, or background music... so why is it like a poison disguised in a beautiful exterior, so captivating?

A cluster of bright flames flickered in her crystal-clear amethyst eyes, as she took a long breath during a break in the song.

'Off the road we have to go, the roadless path we shall proceed.'

'Until the end of our roles, there's no turning back for us.'

'Cause we will never give up!'

Boom, boom, boom.

At that moment, the girl seemed to hear her own heartbeat, and feel the trembling, pulsating sensation of her soul about to reach its zenith—

A certain 'almost bursting forth' feeling gave her a sense of déjà vu, as if she were listening to some kind of 'final battle song' that 'shakes the fate of the world'.

For some reason... this song feels more like an 'answer' to me.

It's just like……

The boss, who is almost in control of the entire world, poses a soul-searching question to the protagonist: "After you defeat me, this 'reality that everyone expects' that I created will shatter... Are you really sure you want to continue?"

Then the protagonist retorted without hesitation: "Even if it's painful, it's our right to choose—you have no right to deprive anyone of their right to choose, so I'm going to defeat you here and take back the reality that belongs to us!"

...This is the feeling of...

"...Xiaoyu?"

The sounds coming from my ears shattered the vivid image I had created, like a mirror reflecting my own experience.

For some reason, a slight sense of loss, which she couldn't quite explain, gradually rose in her heart.

"……Um?"

She took off her monitoring headphones, and belatedly looked up at her companion who had made the sound.

Her short white hair was tied into a neat ponytail, and the subtle hairstyle with air bangs and the deep green eyes beneath the bangs carried a hint of curiosity and concern.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to bother you," the other person said with an apologetic smile, "I was just a little curious..."

"Who are they listening to this time?"

Xiaoyu pursed her lips, a little embarrassed to admit that she was eavesdropping on the 'Xia Lai sensei' who had recently arrived in Xia Lai and was the subject of much discussion on the forums of various academies.

"I was just...listening to music..."

After hesitating for a moment, she finally came up with a lie that looked very guilty and didn't give anyone any credibility.

——This is a lie.

As a long-time clubmate, Haru could tell at a glance.

However, since Xiaoyu was too embarrassed to say, she didn't press the matter further out of curiosity.

She scrolled through the forum posts she had found, moving the mouse along.

"Are they talking about that Xia Lai's Sensei again... Hmm, this time there are even photos leaked?"

"A photo of him with Sensei taken by a member of the Federal Student Union..."

Xiaoyu, who was initially feeling guilty, couldn't help but take some action after hearing this 'keyword' that piqued her curiosity.

Driven by immense curiosity, she eventually got the link from her friend, opened the Federal Student Association forum, and took a closer look.

After the webpage refreshed, what came into view was a photo of a young girl and a young man with curly hair.

The young man wore large, non-prescription glasses to shield his eyes and vision. In the photo, he appeared neither too reserved nor too open, giving the impression of being 'just right'.

Perhaps because of the reflection and obstruction from the glasses, he looked so ordinary in the photos.