I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

Page 469

Amamiya, of course, did not step forward to 'draw the sword' as expected. Instead, he went around to the back of the sword pedestal and grabbed Alice, who was squatting behind the pedestal and providing voiceover for this 'fantasy adventure'.

"Wow~!"

Alice, whose cheeks were gently rubbed in both hands, instantly transformed from a 'mysterious sword mentor' into a pitiful, captured 'little elf'.

"Alice has been captured by Sensei..."

After finishing her tearful explanation, Alice was still 'unhappy' and wanted to correct Amamiya's behavior.

“Sensei is clearly a hero, yet he acted in a way that is not befitting a hero, exploiting game loopholes…”

Amamiya released her hands from Alice's cheeks and wagged her finger at Alice earnestly: "A true hero should not be bound by plot and animation."

"Only those heroes who can break through the limitations of the game's storyline and move freely even in the story animations are recognized as heroes."

'A hero who is not bound by constraints is a hero who is truly recognized...'

Alice blinked, trying very seriously to understand the meaning of Amamiya's words.

"Oh, right...Sensei! Alice has something very important to tell you..."

Chapter 40 Kei: I Want to Become Human

"Sensei, Alice has something very important to tell you..."

Before coming here, Amamiya had already learned some 'key information' through Yuzu.

After observing Momoi and Midori's expressions, and noticing that they either seemed confused or wary, Amamiya immediately made an accurate judgment as to whether they knew the truth.

Kei probably only told Yuzu about it while using Alice's body...

Momoi and Midori probably didn't know about this beforehand.

"Wait, Alice needs to talk to Kai first..."

Alice closed her eyes solemnly as she spoke.

Upon hearing that Kei was coming out, Momoi and Midori immediately showed a complicated expression of 'both anticipation and disapproval'.

Currently, the fact that Alice's body also harbors a consciousness called 'Kay' is no secret to the other three members of the game development team.

Compared to Alice, the 'simple hero of light', the consciousness named 'Kei' is more mature and closer to the lofty and awe-inspiring aura of a 'princess'—if Alice is the hero, then Kei is the demon king who shares the same soul with her.

Kai is quite strict when it comes to the game club.

—Just how strict are they?

Yuka, who used to look after the game development department like a mother, has gradually relaxed her supervision of the department...

Kai, however, used reasons such as "for the princess's rest," "to protect the health of everyone who is traveling with the princess," and "to carefully plan even their diet" to provide "meticulous care" to Momoi, Yuzu, and Midori, which made them suffer greatly.

The main reason why Momoi and Midori didn't want to see Kai was because... they had developed some psychological trauma from Kai's motherly behavior pattern of 'glaring at them with slight dissatisfaction, then starting to scold and correct their behavior'.

Immediately, Momoi and Midori retreated behind Amamiya in perfect unison—while Yuzu didn't need to retreat, as she was already standing behind Amamiya.

Alice ended the communication and opened her eyes again.

After her eye color changed from azure blue to pink, Alice's aura underwent a significant change, as her body was temporarily controlled.

He transformed from a "hero" with an inherently approachable aura into a "demon king" exuding an aura that keeps strangers at bay.

"Sensei... regarding the Princess's recent life..."

Standing atop the sword pedestal, looking down at Amamiya from a slightly elevated position, Kai slowly spoke: "Recently... there have been some... strange inertia anomalies appearing in the Princess's 'emotional readings'."

"Since I haven't seen Sensei for a while, I've noticed... the computer module of the Queen's current body, specifically the module responsible for processing other parameters, has experienced 'inertial downclocking'..."

"A decrease in processing speed will naturally lead to a decrease in data load."

"Although the princess can now live without this mechanical body... it is ultimately not a good thing for her."

At this point, Kay paused for a moment, then raised his voice slightly: "...Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Amamiya looked at Kei and smiled gently.

She deliberately used roundabout 'technical terms' that Momoi Yuzu and Midori couldn't understand, all for the sake of getting more opportunities to meet with herself and Alice.

"..."

【~???~】(Kay)

With a slight blush creeping up her cheeks from feeling guilty, Kai glared at Amamiya resentfully: "...What kind of expression is that?"

“I’m getting serious, Sensei! Please… be serious…”

Amamiya's smile faded, and she answered seriously, "I understand... In order to prevent Alice's computing module from experiencing 'inertia throttling' and 'emotional data load,' I can come to the game development department more often in the future..."

"Or, conversely, Kai, you can come to Xialai to find me."

"..."

【~???~】(Kay)

Kai coughed lightly, his expression changing from 'angry' to 'fierce and cute'.

"Besides resolving the issues related to the princess's body... there's another matter."

Kai slowly stepped down from the pedestal and stood in front of Amamiya, his perspective changing from looking down at her to looking up at her with a pleading air.

"I hope... that you can prepare a body for me... that I can move freely."

"Even if this body doesn't possess the great power the princess currently has, just the ability to perform normal activities will be fine..."

"That would be enough for me to become a maidservant attending to the princess."

The princess's... maid?

Amamiya met Kei's vivid, yet mechanical, red eyes with a white halo.

“Kay, you don’t need to belittle yourself at all.”

Kay seemed quite surprised: "...Huh?"

"You are the fifth member of the game development team, and you always have been."

"...?!"

Ignoring Kai's momentary surprise and panic, Amamiya continued seriously, "Kai... in my eyes, Alice's eyes, and in the eyes of everyone in the game club, isn't a 'maid,' but more like a 'demon king.'"

With that, Amamiya turned to look at Yuzu and the other two, asking for their opinions.

Xiaotao was the first to stand up, nodding eagerly: "Mmm... I think Sensei is right!"

"Kei is a demon lord... but not the kind of demon lord who often appears in games and can't do anything but evil!"

"More like..." After racking her brains for a moment, Xiaotao clapped her hands and gave a wonderful but accurate description, "A demon king who joined the hero protagonist group after being redeemed!"

Following Xiaotao, Xiaolv also expressed her opinion after a sigh.

"Hmm... Kai is also an indispensable partner of ours... although he's a bit too talkative sometimes."

Kei, who was initially touched by Xiaotao's words and had very complicated feelings, glared at Xiaolv on the spot upon hearing this.

"You don't have to say that last sentence."

Standing behind Amamiya, Midori fearlessly glared back: "Kay is our partner, that's a fact. But it's also a fact that Kay 'takes too good' of us and makes us feel like he's nagging."

Finally, there's the pomelo.

Yuzu no longer gets timid when she speaks.

She carefully summarized her views on Kei since she met him.

“Kay… is an indispensable companion.”

Amamiya picked up where Yuzu left off, offering a final summary: "Alice never unilaterally considered Kai as a 'handmaid,' did she? Everyone felt that Kai was an indispensable partner..."

"So, Kai shouldn't underestimate herself or think of herself as a 'maid' or something..."

[I sensed the change in Kai's emotions...]

[My bond with Kai has deepened...]

【Alice Tendo/Kay (World) ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆】

Kay fell silent, remaining silent for a full half minute.

"……Um."

After giving a deep "hmm" with her head down, she then steered the conversation back to the main topic.

"Let's get back to the topic of health..."

“Whether it’s serving the princess or daily life…” Kai’s words were filled with helplessness. “In short, I’ve gradually realized that… many things are impossible to do without a body that I can control.”

"But using the princess's body for this purpose could 'taint' her body, thus severely impacting it..."

in short--

Kei certainly has many things he wants to do.

However, she also worried that if she did certain things, she might unnecessarily implicate Alice because she had "used Alice's body."

After understanding Kai's intentions, Amamiya pondered for a moment.

“If that’s what Kay’s request is… then we can grant it.”

"And there is more than one option for Kay to choose from..."

After carefully considering his words, Amamiya presented the two options.

"Kai was given two choices—the first being 'a completely new body.' The advantages and disadvantages of a physical body compared to a mechanical one are quite obvious, and Kai should be well aware of that."

"As for the second option... it's to create a nearly identical 'mechanical body' that perfectly replicates Alice's current body. I imagine Kai is familiar with the Engineering Department's masterpiece, the 'Elpis' body currently used by Sophia, isn't he?"

"She is now draped over me in a special way."

"So……"

"Kay, what choice will you make?"

Faced with the two options offered by Amamiya, Kai fell into a long period of contemplation.

The advantages and disadvantages of the two bodies are quite obvious...

After thinking it over, Kay slowly raised his head.

"I choose... the first option."

Amamiya asked in surprise, "Why?"

His response was Kai's unusually profound words, which seemed to carry a certain expectation.

"I think……"

"To become human."

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