I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

—Anyone with even a modicum of normal thinking could immediately tell the problem with this rhetoric.

After all, Amamiya had never experienced what it felt like to be hypnotized.

"Yeah……"

However... to Amamiya's surprise, Satsuki didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with her words.

Not only did she not notice anything unusual... after she said she was 'hypnotized,' she even chuckled confidently.

Satsuki puffed out her chest, a smug expression on her face saying, "As expected of me," and let out a long sigh of relief: "Plan... successful."

plan?

what's the plan?

Amamiya, who had originally intended to 'end the collaboration,' became slightly curious.

In order to understand Satsuki's so-called 'plan,' let's cooperate a little longer.

Maintaining her 'hypnotized daze,' Amamiya awaited Satsuki's further instructions.

“So, Sensei… next, quietly close the door, and then…”

Tell me your 'first impression' of me.

What kind of outrageous order is this?

Out of curiosity, Amamiya did as she was told, slowly closing the door and replying in a stiff tone, "My impression of Satsuki is that she's cute."

【~???~】

"Varied……?!"

The obviously unexpected answer instantly shattered Satsuki's composure.

"Yeah. Actually, I think Satsuki is very cute."

"Because although Satsuki has a maturity similar to Makoto, she does not have Makoto's unapproachable aura."

"Satsuki has a very gentle aura..."

"wait wait wait……"

Satsuki, no longer caring about shaking the copper coin in her hand to maintain the hypnosis, covered her cheeks to hide her blushing and hurriedly stopped her, saying, "Don't, don't say anymore..."

Amamiya persisted, speaking in a rigid tone: "If we were to choose a wife for the Pandemonium, Satsuki would be the most suitable. Because Satsuki naturally possesses that gentle and approachable quality."

"Beneath that gentle exterior lies a depth that no amount of feigned seriousness can conceal..."

【~???~】

"Wait, wait a minute... Stop the hypnosis, stop...!"

She covered her face with one hand, her cheeks flushed crimson, her pupils trembled, and she was so embarrassed that she was almost flustered...

Satsuki, seemingly finally 'coming to her senses,' quickly shook the copper coin with her other hand while issuing the command to 'release the hypnosis.'

'She has a similar aura to Makoto, but she's much more thin-skinned than Makoto…'

Through Satsuki's reactions, Amamiya's "personality profile" of Satsuki became more and more complete.

She seems to be similar to Aru... with an aura of 'not easy to approach', but in reality she is surprisingly simple, even a little 'clumsy', and is indeed 'inconsistent inside and out', but she is clearly not a girl with the distorted values ​​of 'Goro Akechi'.

He understood. Although he hadn't gotten the details of Satsuki's 'plan,' there was no point in continuing to cooperate now that the other party had 'stopped hypnosis.'

After a brief pause, Amamiya, under Satsuki's panicked gaze, put on a bewildered expression as if waking from a dream.

"What's wrong, Satsuki?"

Looking around, Amamiya asked, 'puzzled,' 'Satsuki, why do you have such a strange expression?'

"..."

Clearly, Satsuki doesn't have Makoto's kind of big heart that allows her to recover quickly from any setback or embarrassment.

After being thrown into disarray by Amamiya's words, she dared not meet Amamiya's gaze, nor could she explain her 'hypnotic' actions from the very beginning.

After stammering for a few moments, Satsuki finally managed to cobble together a sentence: "Sensei seemed to be spacing out just now..."

Amamiya: ...

I'll just pretend I was daydreaming.

With a slight twitch of her lips, Amamiya nodded, seemingly not investigating further.

After confirming Amamiya's attitude, Satsuki's tense and breathless state improved significantly.

"Sensei came to the Pandemonium and even contacted me specifically... does he have some special request?"

Amamiya answered the question with a question: "The Pandemonium recently has a plan for an 'academy exchange' with the Onmyō-bu of the Hyakki Yagyō?"

Because of the previous awkwardness, Satsuki answered without much thought, "Yes. The specific time for the school exchange program is one week from now..."

"I have received a request from the Onmyo Department of the Hyakki Yagyō (Night Parade of One Hundred Demons). In order to ensure the smooth running of the exchange meeting, I need to confirm the details of the meeting."

Upon hearing this, Satsuki visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

'It's something I know myself...'

'Then let's use this to distract Sensei...'

Chapter Twelve: What is the "Kivotos Paradise Project"?

Through his conversation with Satsuki, Amamiya learned about the detailed arrangements made by the Pandemonium for the 'Exchange Meeting'.

This exchange meeting, initiated by the Yin-Yang Department and responded to by the Wanmo Palace, may inherently harbor many unseen dangers. However, if the meeting proceeds smoothly, then the core objective—to promote communication between the Yin-Yang Department and the Wanmo Palace and thereby enhance their relationship—will have already been achieved.

"At that time, the core members of the Pandemonium will all go to the area of ​​the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons..."

"Furthermore, it seems that Makoto-sama has the idea of ​​having the students of Ghena participate in the [Wagakuhime] performance."

Satsuki's subsequent addition made Amamiya vaguely sense the danger of an 'unexpected incident'.

As a phantom thief who has dealt with many dangers, Amamiya is quite experienced in 'predicting danger'.

From the perspective of some "troublemakers," this seemingly insignificant academic exchange activity has a lot of room for manipulation.

Especially given that the vast majority of members of the Pandemonium Palace are going to participate.

Suppose that the demon, or other 'evil forces' roaming the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, received advance notice and plotted to kidnap a core member of the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons, or a core member of the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons...

"……I see."

After listening to Satsuki's account, Amamiya put down the water glass she had just picked up and was about to bring to her lips, and sincerely thanked her, saying, "Thank you for the information, Satsuki."

【~???~】

"Since Sensei is also a participant in this exchange, it's only natural to give Sensei this 'useful intelligence'~"

Having gradually calmed down and no longer felt awkward, Satsuki gradually returned to her proud and aloof self, 'unbroken'.

She clenched her fist, coughed lightly, and then let out a meaningful soft chuckle.

"Sensei...have you finished talking about everything you needed to talk about?"

Are we about to start hypnosis again?

Curious about what Satsuki was going to do, Amamiya didn't hesitate and replied, "Indeed."

"So……"

Satsuki picked up her water glass, took a leisurely sip to moisten her throat, and was about to speak when she suddenly noticed that the water glass next to Amamiya's seat had 'disappeared'.

She was about to say something when she realized that she seemed to have... mistakenly taken Sensei's water bottle.

'...'

'It seems Sensei hasn't noticed...'

Pretending nothing had happened, Satsuki put the water glass back and carefully began, "Sensei, you're quite interested in 'hypnosis,' aren't you?"

The reason Satsuki has this perception is mainly because she had briefly discussed the topic of 'hypnosis' when exchanging information on momotalk before.

Curious about what Satsuki was up to, Amamiya patiently answered with questions: "Why are you suddenly bringing up hypnosis?"

"That's because... regarding hypnosis, this special and worthwhile memory to explore... I have an 'immature plan'."

Having already prepared her answer, Satsuki spoke calmly and eloquently about a topic that left everyone puzzled: "...I'll tentatively name it the 'NK-ULTRA Project.'"

"This super project, known as NK, is inextricably linked to 'hypnosis'."

Amamiya leaned forward slightly, displaying curiosity that would pique Satsuki's interest: "Oh? That sounds interesting."

"What are the specific details?"

Satsuki, who was just waiting for Amamiya to ask this question, grinned and showed her teeth.

"Hehe... It's a complicated story."

"This plan... to put it simply, is to 'use hypnosis to hypnotize and control the entire world.'"

Amamiya: "..."

What is the Eye of the Moon Project?

What is Command & Conquer?

"...Sensei?"

Noticing Amamiya's unusual expression, Satsuki, who had originally planned to write a lengthy account, hesitated for a moment: "...Is there a problem?"

That's a huge problem.

This unrealistic idea of ​​"hypnotizing the whole world"...

If left to the 'righteous' to carry out, the 'righteous' might create an 'Eden' filled with nothingness.

If the task is handed over to the 'villains', they might create the 'Eye of the Moon,' which would put everyone in an illusion.

It is entrusted to 'special individuals' to carry out, and it is even possible to establish a super weapon called the 'Mind Control Tower'.

Amamiya didn't directly state the plan's 'infeasibility,' but rather subtly remarked, "It feels...surprising."

“After all, it’s a long-term project, so it’s only natural that Sensei is surprised.”

Satsuki, completely oblivious to the implication in Amamiya's words, wore an "I understand" expression.

“Sensei is, after all, the ‘Phantom Thief of Hearts,’ and his understanding of the mental world is exceptionally rich…”

"If Sensei could give me a glimpse into the world of the mind, perhaps my NK plan could be completed..."

Amidst Amamiya's silent, slightly disturbed expression, Satsuki continued to slowly recount the contents of her plan.

Amamiya listened attentively to Satsuki's several 'plans' and felt that each plan was more outrageous than the last.

Satsuki has many plans, including but not limited to...

By combining elements of an "other world," a truly effective hypnosis app has been developed.

By witnessing the uniqueness of another world, various tools that can be used for hypnosis are created using materials from that other world.

Through hypnosis, the members of the Pandemonium were made to become increasingly loyal to the Pandemonium.

At the same time, it also makes the members of the Pandemonium stronger;

This allowed Gerina to join the ranks of 'the most powerful and stable academy'...

After hearing Satsuki's 'grand plan', Amamiya could only say... thankfully, Satsuki's mind is simple enough.

The method she conceived of using 'hypnosis' was to strengthen the willpower of the members of the Pandemonium and make the students of Gehenna Academy more self-disciplined...

"What do you think of my plan, Sensei?"

Amamiya: "..."

I really don't know what to say.

If you say she's ambitious... then her so-called plan to 'hypnotize the whole world' ultimately serves such a... innocent and adorable purpose.

To say she lacks ambition... she did indeed propose a grand plan to hypnotize the entire world.

"Very imaginative."

Trying to avoid being hurtful, Amamiya held back for a while before finally managing to come up with a "high EQ reply" that sounded a bit off-topic.

【~???~】