I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

Serika, who seemed to be lost in thought, was brought back to her senses by the call. After a calm, light cough, she began to observe the club activity room of the Countermeasures Committee.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that many items in the activity room showed signs of having been moved or rummaged through.

I was unconscious for almost three days... What exactly happened?

For a moment, this feeling of being completely bewildered, as if 'only I don't know what happened,' left Qinxiang speechless and her heart pounding like a cat's claws.

"It's about the agenda for this countermeasures committee meeting. Serika-chan, you'll find out in a little while..."

After letting out a sigh of 'weariness,' Hoshino turned his gaze to Amamiya, his eyes clearly showing no trace of drowsiness.

Her voice held a hint of skepticism: "Sensei... can you finish it?"

"We will give you a satisfactory result."

Amamiya didn't wait long; less than ten minutes later, Nomiya and Ayane, each carrying a stack of documents, walked into the club room one after the other.

Upon entering the club room, Ayane and Nomiya began distributing documents as if it had been planned beforehand. The folders, several centimeters thick, were spread across the conference table like a shower of flowers, yet miraculously, they didn't cause any disorder whatsoever.

Amamiya, and even 'honorary alumna' Hifumi, were given a copy of the document to review.

Ayane pushed up her glasses slightly, her voice heavy with weariness.

"Well then... let's begin the regular meeting of the Countermeasures Committee."

Chapter 45: Let's use the Phantom Thief's Announcement on the Caesar Group!

"Well then... let's begin the regular meeting of the Countermeasures Committee."

As Ayane announced the start of the meeting, the girls on the countermeasures committee, who had been laughing and joking, quickly got into focus and became cautious.

Amamiya picked up the document, which was probably compiled by Ayane, and looked through its contents.

This is a land deed.

The area closest to Abydos still has some development or other value, and there are still land deeds for a small number of residents living there.

The land parcel indicated on the land title is not owned by 'Abydos Higher School', which symbolizes the core campus of the region, but by 'Kaiser Group'.

Amamiya was not surprised by this result.

Logically speaking, for sites like the Millennium Science Academy and Gehenna, the academy should theoretically have special privileges such as 'regional autonomy' for the corresponding areas.

Rights such as 'ownership of the land' are naturally included.

The land deeds that Ayane collected were all recently signed, and most of them were agreements for the Caesar Group to lease or sell land.

This corresponds to the information Amamiya received from [Beritas].

In order to 'pay off the debt,' Abydos had to borrow money and even sign contracts such as mortgaging land.

—Does the Abydos Higher Institute have a lot of debt?

There are indeed a lot... so many that it's almost unbelievable.

Compared to the land plots in Abydos that had to be used as collateral for credit due to debt, or that had to be sold for other reasons... how much is this debt worth?

The fact that they could mortgage or sell most of the areas except for the core area of ​​the academy, and still owe 900 million in debt, really makes one wonder how much debt they owe.

"These are the contracts we've collected... concerning Abydos's 'land deeds' and other special rights such as 'autonomy'... These are contracts that our 'predecessors' have signed..."

Ayane, who really didn't know what to say, let out a long sigh, feeling a deep weariness that was blocked by an indescribable bitterness.

The girls on the countermeasures committee fell silent, and for a moment the only sound in the club room was the rustling of papers as they flipped through documents.

After a moment, Hoshino put down the documents in his hand, stretched as if to relax, and his voice was devoid of any emotion other than sleepiness.

“Hey~ Sensei, you see that too, right? This is the real ‘current situation’ that Abydos is about to face…”

"This is a problem that's hard to resist and almost impossible to solve~ Are you sure you still want to help like this?"

Hoshino's words were practically an explicit statement of the concept that "escaping is shameful but useful."

'It's still not too late to escape... but if it's even a little later... who knows what might happen?'

'For the sake of just a few of us... to fight against a behemoth like the Caesars Group... Sensei, is it really worth it?'

The girls on the countermeasures committee sat around the conference table, looking either lost or bewildered, remaining silent.

Honestly, they really didn't know what to do.

Even if we can pay off all of Abydos's debts... what good will it do?

A company like the Caesars Group always has a way of making their countermeasures committee in debt again, ultimately forcing them to sell the academy's land as well.

Even if this crisis is alleviated... so what?

Will the entire Abydos region be bought back from Caesar?

How much money would that cost? Is it really possible for those few people to do this?

If it were just about repaying Abydos's debt, Nomiya could easily do it...

But if it's about buying land in the Abydos region, the amount required would probably be something even Nomiya couldn't easily come up with.

"Why don't we just sell ourselves to Sensei?" Hoshino suddenly chuckled as if he had given up on himself, and said in an extremely serious tone, "Just kidding."

However, it was clear that no one responded to her "joke" in the oppressive atmosphere.

The silence and helplessness of the girls on the countermeasures committee reminded Amamiya of the peculiar sense of bewilderment that the Phantom Thieves experienced later in the series.

“Hoshino’s suggestion is tempting and feasible, but it’s just a last resort, a desperate measure.” Amamiya echoed Hoshino’s seemingly self-destructive “joke” and stood up to say seriously, “But now, we’re not at our wits’ end yet.”

Instead of continuing to explain just how powerful the 'repentance' was, which the girls had never seen before, Amamiya took out a USB drive that she had recently obtained from [Beritas].

He put the keychain attached to the USB drive on his index finger, twirled the USB drive which had a particularly novel and unique design, and then handed it to Ayane: "Take a look at what's in here, Ayane."

With a glimmer of hope, Ayane took the USB drive and softly hummed in agreement before connecting it to her device to read the data.

Ayane opened the various data that Chihiro had already categorized and organized, and began to read through the information, becoming increasingly astonished.

"Huh... this is... intelligence about the Caesar Group?"

"There are many..."

"These are... 'loopholes' and 'dirt' about the Kaiser Group?"

"And outrageous negative rumors..."

Suddenly, Ayane looked away from her device and stared in surprise at Amamiya, who had dropped this bombshell.

Meeting the girl's surprised gaze, Amamiya calmly said, "Ayane, you should know... what kind of consequences such a massive amount of 'dirt' would cause if it were released."

Ayane nodded with difficulty.

The hidden information and vulnerabilities on this USB drive... if leaked, even from the perspective of the Caesars Group and with the best-case scenario, could cause a huge uproar, resulting in massive losses and various other significant damages for the Caesars Group, and creating temporary chaos within the Caesars Group's controlled territory.

Is Sensei planning to use this to fight against the Kaiser Group?

It did work... but its effect was merely to create temporary chaos and huge losses for the Caesars Group... it seemed to have little impact on Abydos...

……Um?

Ayane, who was about to say something, suddenly froze.

"Sensei, you mean to..."

Ayane took a deep breath, and at that moment, when she met Amamiya's gaze, her eyes shone brightly.

Amamiya smiled meaningfully and nodded: "If used properly... this is a good opportunity to 'take back the future,' isn't it?"

"Reclaim the Future"...

Amamiya's 'unique description' caused the girls on the countermeasures committee to fall into deep thought.

This is a "special term" that requires courage and conviction just to say it, and even more so, unimaginable perseverance or a series of miracles to put into practice.

But Sensei spoke without the slightest hesitation or pause...

It's as if he's done 'this kind of thing' more than once.

【~???~】

Seemingly sensing Amamiya's conviction, Hoshino stopped trying to persuade him and stopped acting languidly. Instead of acting normally, she moved closer to Amamiya and looked intently at this adult who seemed very mysterious to her.

"Sensei... what do you plan to do?"

Amamiya stated decisively, "Our opponent is a 'major villain' who intends to take control of the world. Such a being must have his desires stolen and be made to repent."

"To dig out the truth buried in the yellow sand and make it public."

"We will take back everything that Abydos has lost..."

"Let those despicable and vile individuals...be held fully accountable for their evil deeds."

"As for how to do that..."

Amamiya paused for a moment amidst the curious or intrigued gazes of the group of girls, keeping them in suspense for a moment.

“Send them a notice, then steal their twisted desires… in other words, steal their evil hearts.”

"Stolen..."

Celery put down the documents in her hand and repeated them thoughtfully.

"An evil heart...?"

To be honest, when the girls heard Amamiya's rather 'strange' proposal, their first thought was "impossible".

But when they thought of that bizarre and fantastical other world... they all had a premonition: if they could infiltrate other people's inner worlds, then stealing other people's hearts... wasn't such an impossible thing to do?

Hoshino asked with great interest, "What are the specific details?"

"If Sensei doesn't give some explanation... I really can't believe him... I might as well just sell myself to Sensei for a high price..."

"Alright... since everyone is so curious, I'll explain in detail."

After thinking for a moment, Amamiya took out a whiteboard and began to write and draw on it.

"Ayane, how many days are left until Abydos's latest repayment date?"

Ayane was probably taken aback by Amamiya's sudden question, and was slightly surprised for a moment. However, she knew the answer, so after a brief pause of surprise, she decisively gave the specific number of days.

"Seven days later. The repayment date for this month is the 30th, seven days from now."

"So... if we calculate it that way, we probably have at least five days left to operate, which is quite a lot of time."

Having received Ayane's answer, Amamiya began to doodle and draw.

The girls gathered around out of curiosity, and then they all saw that Amamiya had written a task panel with a very unique format.

[Seven days remain until the Abydos repayment deadline.]

[Announcement Letter Released]

[Stealing the heart of the 'Kaiser Group'.]

Chapter Forty-Six: A Heart-Stealing Announcement to the Caesar Group!

"Release a notice..."

"Stealing...the heart... of the Caesars Corporation?"

As expected, Amamiya, who was the subject of the girls' curious gaze, nodded slowly after Hoshino and Hifumi read out the contents of the mission board.

"Next... I'll explain some more detailed mechanics of the 'Otherworld Palace'."

Amamiya snapped his fingers and zoomed in on the whiteboard in his hand.

"First, let me explain what a 'preview letter' is... If you've read any 'phantom thief' novels, you should know what this preview letter is all about... The 'master thieves' in those novels like to issue preview letters before committing a theft, to highlight their actions and showcase their superb thieving skills."

As Amamiya spoke, she used her index and middle fingers to pull out a specially made small card from her bra collar and slammed it onto the table with a 'smack'.

This is a small card with a red background and black concentric circles on it, giving it a particularly trendy feel.

Hoshino picked up the small card, examined it carefully, and then tried to read its contents aloud.

"The Caesar Group, which has committed the grave sins of greed and arrogance, we are aware of your wicked deeds..."

"Their ambitions to seize the future are far-reaching..."