I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

"Amazing……"

Tsukuyomi, who also witnessed Izuna's 'other side,' felt as if her eyes had been opened.

So... this is what Izuna is like when he gets really serious?

"Lord!"

The fox-eared girl, having completed her transformation, appeared before Amamiya with a nimble little leap, amidst the astonishment of her companions and the starry-eyed curiosity of Ibuki, and the keen observation of Iroha. Then, like a true ninja, she knelt on one knee with great ceremony.

What should we do next?

Amamiya could naturally see that Izuna was having an unusually strong desire to perform in front of his friends and 'strange students', so he readily cooperated.

"Next... let's march in the streets."

“Then…” Izuna accepted the order, nodded vigorously, and stood up. “I, Izuna, am not very capable… but I will protect everyone in place of my lord!”

"I am you, and you are me..."

Chanting a summoning incantation for the mask, which resembled a necromancy spell, Izuna abruptly removed the half-face fox mask from his face.

With a whoosh, the mask that was blown off turned into flames in mid-air, and then coalesced into a female ninja with the same heroic and elegant figure, fox ears and a fox tail, holding a kunai.

"Mochiyoko Mochiyo..."

"Ninjutsu: Divine Concealment Technique!"

Chiyome Mochizuki took out a small bottle, about the size of her pinky finger, from her ninja tool bag, and with a push of her thumb, removed the cork.

Then, she quickly ran around the small cage (II) without the protection of the Persona mask, spreading the incense-like substance onto her body.

The literal meaning of "神隐" is that one is hidden away by gods or monsters and completely disappears from the human world.

Considering the hierarchy of ninjutsu... this might also be an excellent ninjutsu technique for ninjas to conceal themselves.

Colorless and odorless mist spread out and clung to the girls whose faces were full of curiosity.

"Then... let's set off."

With the ability to conceal themselves through "divine invisibility," none of the strange 'monsters' wandering the streets of this shogunate city, where a hundred demons roam at night, could detect that 'a few living people had infiltrated'.

With the girls, some nervous and some curious, Amamiya and her companions naturally blended into the night parade of a hundred demons under the lamplight.

After familiarizing himself with the environment, Amamiya immediately set his sights on a destination, following the guidance of "Prometheus"—an otherworldly village corresponding to the venue of the academy exchange meeting between Gehenna and Hyakki Yagyō in the real world, namely [Whirlpool Cinema Village].

After leaving the bustling city and the brightly lit Shogunate city, the girls hiding on the rooftops immediately sensed that... the atmosphere around them seemed much colder.

After leaving the 'urban area', all that could be seen was a desolate landscape that could be viewed from any high vantage point.

In the vast wilderness under the moonlight, only a few places were lit up.

They stopped before reaching the village, and Amamiya, leaning against the wall, turned to the girls and briefly summarized the purpose of their trip: "To check the situation of the area corresponding to 'Swirl Movie Village' in advance..."

Amamiya's arrangement was simply a standard procedure for 'phantom thieves' to conduct preliminary investigations in other worlds.

However, influenced by the beautiful and evocative art style of the other world, Xiaoman felt her blood boiling with excitement.

"Traversing the darkness to eliminate potential enemies ahead of time..."

He's both a phantom thief and a ninja!

From now on, I will have to 'hide' in this bustling shogunate city, traveling between villages to gather intelligence and resolve problems in advance...

To become, in the truest sense, a "guardian under the darkness"...

A certain flutter in her heart made the girl, who was somewhat lost in thought due to her boiling blood, breathe rapidly.

After looking around at the girls traveling with her, Amamiya quickly made arrangements.

"Let's split up and gather information for now."

"Be careful with your wording during negotiations. If you approach the target without actively revealing your identity, the chances of the target noticing anything unusual are very low."

"Izuna, you'll be paired with Iroha and Ibuki."

"I'm paired with Tsukuyomi, we're in the same group for Xiaoman."

After all, it's an exchange between Hyakki Yagyō and Gehenna... It's the best choice to let students like Izuna from Hyakki Yagyō get acquainted with Ibuki, the true 'future Demon Emperor of Pandemonium'.

As for myself, I can take this opportunity to try to awaken the Personas for Xiaoman and Yueyong.

If Xiaoman or Yueyong awakens their Personas...

Who will the Persona be?

Chapter Sixteen: What if your stealth is discovered? Then go all out!

The Whirlpool Cinema Village, which corresponds to "Cinema City" in the real world, is reflected in the other world... and naturally, it is also related to opera.

But it's different from what you'd generally think of as opera...

The opera in another world should, of course, be performed by the "demons and monsters" themselves.

"Your Highness Sensei..."

Xiaoman, who was cautiously following behind, gradually noticed something unusual: "It seems like there are quite a lot of 'samurai' wandering around here..."

Amamiya, who was about to approach a shadowy figure to strike up a conversation, was tugged at by her sleeve and turned to look at Komatsu: "It feels like the security is very strong, doesn't it?"

"Um……"

"That's because the shadows of another world change in various ways as our understanding of the real world evolves..."

"The reason there are more wandering samurai is because more students, as well as other potentially hostile entities, have taken notice of this place."

"Xiaoman, Yueyong...you should know the relationship between 'ninja' and 'samurai', right?"

Xiaoman and Yueyong both nodded in agreement.

Logically speaking, 'ninjas' and 'samurai' should both serve the shogunate and be on the same side.

But that's not always the case.

In the ninja era dramas they had seen... ninjas were mostly portrayed as 'complex' wanderers.

The samurai, on the other hand, would likely be portrayed as blindly loyal lackeys.

Or the other way around... Ninjas are blindly loyal while samurai are dissolute.

In short, ninjas and samurai will not always be on the same side.

"Therefore, when we try to talk to the samurai, we must be prepared at all times to be ready for them to draw their swords and attack."

"While one should not let one's guard down when talking to 'ninjas' or ordinary villagers, one can generally relax a bit."

After sharing a little "tidbit of knowledge" about another world, Amamiya stepped forward and approached the shadowy figure of a seemingly down-on-his-luck samurai, actively drawing its attention.

"What?" His path blocked, the samurai looked up in annoyance. "...What is it?"

Upon noticing Amamiya, and Tsukuyomi and Koman beside him, the samurai became even more displeased: "You lackeys of the shogunate... why are you blocking the path of a bandit samurai like me?"

"Heh... You can't find out anything about me even if you try to gather intelligence, can you?"

Amamiya gave a deep chuckle: "In order for the shogunate's plans to proceed smoothly, it is necessary to collect even the most unsubstantiated information."

Upon hearing this, the samurai became even more disdainful: "A dog's mouth can't produce ivory; a hound is a hound."

Although it didn't give it a friendly look or say anything kind, it still leaned back against the wall and sat down, completely relaxing the samurai sword that was pressed against its waist, ready to be drawn at any moment.

"Speak, you bunch of lackeys, what do you want to get out of me, a bandit warrior?"

Amamiya didn't speak, leaving the opportunity for 'free rein' to Komatsu.

Feeling the pressure, Xiaoman gritted her teeth and took two steps forward, her raccoon ears trembling.

"First of all—we are not lackeys, but ninjas who serve His Highness."

"hehe."

The samurai rolled his eyes, seemingly ignoring Xiaoman's attempt to correct him.

"Secondly..."

"We want to know about 'Vortex...'"

Realizing she shouldn't use keywords from the real world, Xiaoman quickly changed her tune: "All the rumors circulating about 'this village' at the moment."

After thinking for a moment, to avoid suspicion, she added, "The more secretive the information, the better. As for whether the information is true or not... we will verify it again and again before submitting it to Your Highness."

You got into the zone pretty quickly, Xiaoman.

Amamiya nodded to himself as he watched this scene.

"really……"

The samurai in shadow scoffed: "So, the shogunate's lackeys have also caught wind of this and are starting to act ahead of time...?"

After its initial reflection, it continued, "If we're talking about noteworthy gossip... there certainly is."

"hehe……"

The Shadow Warrior smiled deeply, as if he was brewing something, but he didn't continue.

Just when Xiaoman and Yueyong thought it would reveal some earth-shattering secret, the Shadow Warrior gestured with its chin towards Amamiya: "Hey...you, we're about to tell you all the details...aren't you going to offer any reward?"

Xiaoman was surprised, and then felt as if she were in a period drama.

Is this what they mean by "no one gets up early without a reason"? That's way too blatant...

Why did you ask... the captain and not me?

The samurai said with disdain, "What do you know, you little brat? Your presence is nowhere near that of your boss, and you still need to ask me why?"

Xiaoman: "..."

How could you say that your ninja spirit training is not up to par?!

Amamiya sighed: "What kind of reward do you want?"

"Let's get some bar drinks. I want to have a drink."

Amamiya used a 'summoning jutsu' to directly produce a sake bottle, playfully hefting it in his hand: "I dare to give it to you, do you dare to drink it?"

"I am a samurai who lives on the line; what is there that I dare not do?"

The samurai chuckled and caught the sake bottle that Amamiya had tossed to him.

"Heh heh... As expected of the Shogunate's lackeys, they're really generous... Fine sake, fine sake!"

"To be able to drink wine like this... even living a life of decadence would be worth it!"

'...'

"Since you're so sincere, I'll tell you something that nobody else knows..."

After finishing his drink, the seemingly intoxicated samurai spoke mysteriously from his shadow: "You all..."

Have you ever heard of the legendary 'Crimson Calamity Fox Demon'?

You're talking about Wakazama, right...?

Amamiya twitched the corner of her mouth and answered vaguely, "She coveted me."

"...Then we really have to ask the Shaanxi gulls to cry and the sulfur mountain er."

After giving Amamiya a look of surprise, as if to say "Wow, you're something else," the samurai shadow continued, "What I'm about to say is related to this 'Crimson Calamity Fox Demon,' and yet it's not..."

"If there's a connection, it's because she's recently heard some rumors... perhaps she came looking for you, which is why she's reappeared."

"The reason I say there's no connection... is that she really doesn't have much to do with the events behind the scenes. She's just a pawn."

Amamiya raised an eyebrow: "Oh?"

The shadow warrior glanced around furtively, then chuckled softly in a lower voice.

"You all..."

Have you ever heard of the "Smiling Strategist"?

...A smiling strategist?

The first person Xiaoman thought of when asked about this title was the head of the Yin-Yang Department – ​​Tiandi Nia.

Whether it's that squinty-eyed smile, an expression that never changes under normal circumstances, or that deep-seated scheming and unpredictable actions, they all deserve this title.

Noticing Xiaoman and Yueyong's helplessness, the Shadow Warrior scoffed, "A newbie is a newbie."