I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

The bell that rings periodically is undoubtedly a form of restraint over 'theology'.

If a Persona from Trinity were to come, they might not be able to explore this place unscathed...

"arrive."

Athena's voice interrupted Yuriko's thoughts.

She looked up and saw a building that looked particularly peculiar.

It looks... like a... well, a super huge Trojan horse?

"This is what I told you about before... one of the central hubs of this city today."

Its name is 'Troy'.

Standing at the entrance of the building, catching her breath slightly, 'Athena' turned to Amamiya and her group and calmly introduced: "A symbol of wisdom, but also a tool of deception and destruction."

Looking at the massive wooden horse, large enough to store a small elite army, Amamiya smirked, speechless for a moment.

It's all connected to the Trojan War again.

The development of the temple is truly... more wondrous than imagined.

Not wanting the atmosphere to become awkward, Amamiya took the initiative to ask, "Why is this one of the central hubs of this city?"

"Because here, the city's 'star map' is stored... or rather, the map that heroes will explore further."

Athena turned around.

"Heroes, follow me..."

She tapped her spear on the ground, demonstrating her power despite her limited strength.

Rumble…

The enormous wooden horse opened to both sides, spitting out a huge stone slab covered with patterns.

The stone slab crashed to the ground, then just before collapsing, it transformed into a halo of light, condensing into a map in Amamiya's hand.

"This should be what the heroes need: the location of the 'Sea God,' and..."

"Deep structural diagram of the Temple of Poseidon".

Using 'Athena' is already a very euphemistic way of putting it.

Amamiya glanced at the diagrams and immediately noticed a deeper area that deserved extra attention.

Despite being able to accurately deduce the location of the hidden treasure, Amamiya did not reveal it directly, but instead handed the map to Fubuki: "Take a look, my 'little helper'."

【~???~】(Fubuki)

With her eyes lowered and cheeks slightly flushed, Fubuki calmly accepted the map and began to analyze it in detail.

Unlike Yuriko, Fubuki didn't witness the moment the palace was formed, nor did she know the true form of the treasure. Therefore, she could only rely on her experience in Valkyrie 'criminology' and her knowledge of the other world to deduce the truth.

Given the personality of the hall's owner, the secret treasure would either be hidden in the deepest part of the hall, where only he could access it.

Alternatively, the temple owner would keep it at all times, never letting it out of his sight.

Hibiki Shiranui... She's probably the type who 'trusts herself more', right?

Relying on Navi's perception and understanding, Fubuki's gaze quickly swept across the map, finally settling on a separately designated area.

It is not the "Throne of Neptune," which symbolizes power.

It was used to entertain guests... "The Last Restaurant".

The reason for this speculation is that when I first entered the other world, there was a large restaurant inside the ship.

Although she didn't know why Hana was so fixated on the "restaurant" element, Fubuki realized something was wrong and confirmed that this was the most crucial place.

"I think……"

Fubuki raised her index finger and pointed it at the area map of the restaurant: "The place to really explore... should be here."

Kayoko was momentarily stunned before she realized what was happening.

"A restaurant..."

Alu felt a sense of déjà vu.

Stroking her devil horns, she said somewhat bewilderedly, "Come to think of it, we did see a 'restaurant'..."

"What is the connection between this 'restaurant' and the one we saw before?"

Even if it's that 'idiot' Aru, she can keep up with the pace perfectly, let alone the rest of the 'temporary phantom thieves'.

Yuriko pondered for a moment and speculated from her own perspective, "It should be the relationship between 'exhibits and genuine articles'."

Some priceless treasures, unless the security measures are particularly strict and the company is extremely confident in its security methods, are mostly exhibited under the principle that 'what is on display is a fake'.

Of course, even if it doesn't involve art exhibitions... there will be such a 'process' for the sale of ordinary items.

Few of the guns displayed on the 'shelves' of Fox Workshop are actually usable just by changing the magazine.

Following Yuriko, Kirino, whose academic abilities are outstanding but whose shooting skills are terrible, also offered her own guess: "It could also be part of the set design, or a rehearsal for the real 'Last Supper'?"

"In any case... now that we've identified our exploration target, let's begin our journey towards it."

Chapter Thirty-Three: One Code, One Code

If I had to describe the exploration experience of the Hanaya Palace in the most concise and simplest terms, I could only give three words.

Large and empty.

Hmm... It's like the games that followed the trend after the "open world game" craze, lacking sophisticated gameplay and emergent interaction, with large but empty maps filled with various question marks, and the maps being "open" just for the sake of being "open".

Without a doubt... Huaye's palace is so large that Amamiya has to summon a vehicle-type Persona for transportation, and even then, it still takes a long time to travel there.

Aside from its size, the first impression it gives is one of emptiness.

The buildings look like gray models that haven't had time to be rendered yet. Although they appear to use exquisite and elegant silver and gold with a sense of holiness, they can feel glaring and monotonous after a while.

The scenes are all the same, the regions are copied and pasted... there aren't many 'treasures' worth exploring.

Looking at the unchanging sunset in the distance, Amamiya, sitting in the driver's seat, pushed up his mask and sighed out the window.

"This should be the last place we need to visit on this trip... Everyone, please get off the bus."

His call immediately roused the girls who had been losing interest and energy in the back seat and front passenger seat, and they got out of the car one after another.

After getting off the vehicle, they all glanced at Athena, who was riding in the unicorn, with a resentful or even hostile look.

As for Athena... she herself was a little embarrassed.

"Although I was once the guardian of this land, please don't look at me like that..."

He jumped off the unicorn and watched as the magnificent creature transformed into a strangely shaped apple in Amamiya's hands.

"What a convenient mode of transportation..."

After making a 'sigh', 'Athena' looked slightly embarrassed and serious: 'Even 'gods' have moments when they are dominated by ambition and childish ideas.'

"The goddess of wisdom does not hold onto it for long; she will become involved in a war over a dispute over an apple."

"...In short, the idea that the world is vast and expansive is simply a common mistake."

Amamiya sighed.

Those who are arrogant and haughty... are indeed like that.

They often see the vastness of the 'world' clearly, but they can't see the 'color' of the world.

Huaye should also be one of them.

Her inner 'soft and gentle side,' the kindness of the 'goddess of wisdom,' and her ability to recognize and feel ashamed of her mistakes are rare and precious qualities that many proud and arrogant people cannot achieve.

"Let me introduce this last location."

"Um."

An embarrassed 'Athena' nodded, then changed to a more divine tone.

"This place is the 'Saltwater Spring.' It's a famous landmark left behind by the 'Sea God' in this city called the Acropolis."

The saying "criminals often return to the crime scene to admire their 'achievements'" should also apply to the world you inhabit.

"This place is the embodiment of one of the few glorious moments of the 'Sea Goddess'... although she quickly suffered a setback. But she still resolutely built the entrance to her 'temple' here."

Her voice became ethereal and gentle, as if recalling some past events; 'Athena's' tone became even softer and sweeter.

"I've also wondered what I would have done if they had chosen the 'saltwater spring' instead of the 'olive branch'..."

"I stopped thinking about it later, simply because... I felt it was stupid to worry about something that had already happened."

Amamiya raised an eyebrow, tried to connect it to Hana in the real world, and then immediately understood: this must be referring to the time when Hana became the head of the defense office.

It's hard to say whether good or evil is the true nature of intelligent beings.

If this is just a personal opinion... Amamiya believes that the fundamental nature of intelligent beings is mostly good.

Amamiya believes that even Hanaya, who is now known as "Hana-chan," had a reserved and naive past before becoming the head of the Federation Student Council's Defense Office.

—The 'Athena' in front of us should correspond to the still green and inexperienced Hanaya, who can be described as a 'passing by fish sauce' stage.

At this stage, she must have been very kind and naive, both cute and pitiful.

But as he had said during his previous meeting with Ye Zhu...

"Good cannot be simply added together, nor can good and evil be simply canceled out."

Yes, Huaye was indeed pitiful, but then what?

Just because she's pitiful, does that mean we should forgive her without making her pay any price?

Just like forgiving Goro Akechi, who had killed someone, she would pardon all her past sins simply because she was lovable.

Although it has a script that feels very much like a 'fairytale RPG'.

But this is not some 'fairytale RPG'.

Regarding this 'balance of good and evil,' Amamiya particularly liked a quote from the masked, mute man:

One thing at a time.

Amamiya felt sympathy for Hanaya's soft and innocent side, but she still had to steal the treasure and make her repent.

As the last remaining goodness in her heart, 'Athena' was most aware of the complexities within herself.

With Athena as the precise guide, Fubuki as the treasure and key item, and the detailed map for navigation, the exploration is progressing smoothly.

Having roughly confirmed the method for further 'diving', Amamiya and the girls accompanying her held their breath and descended further through the 'saltwater spring'.

Soon, they "saw" a magnificent underwater temple, almost a perfect replica of the Federal Student Association's Impression Space.

Looking around at the 'temple' that appeared exceptionally deep and silent under the faint light of the sea crystals, the exhausted girls were all filled with complex thoughts.

Kayoko: 'It should correspond to the "Sanctuary Tower" in the real world, right...?'

Aru: 'It's different from the Impression Space; the atmosphere here feels... eerie.'

Kirino: 'I think I've finally experienced what thalassophobia is...'

Fubuki: 'A very oppressive atmosphere... It seems we've almost reached the 'final deduction' stage.'

Yuriko: 'You've even prepared the Shadow Council, Hanaya? You bastard.'

Amamiya, observing her surroundings through a "third eye," posed her question in a declarative tone.

"The secret treasure... should be here."

"Hmm... According to you, that thing called 'secret treasure' is indeed here."

The 'Athena' who was being questioned nodded slightly: "However, my perception range is limited... I can only lead you here."

—To narrow down the investigation from an entire holy city to a single temple is an incredible level of 'narrowing the scope of the investigation'.

Just like when we explored Junya Kinjo's palace before, the initial scope of our investigation was the entire Shibuya area, which later became a small bank.

Upon hearing this, the 'phantom thieves', including Amamiya, all breathed a sigh of relief.

It's finally coming to an end...

Having explored with 'Athena' as my accessory, I had to face the shadows while avoiding being affected by unknown area-of-effect attacks, which greatly increased the difficulty of the exploration...

The overall exploration process was even more grueling than Miyazaki's games.