I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

"Xiaoyu...why do you have that expression? What are you doing?"

The voice from behind made the girl, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, exclaim in surprise, "Oh my!"

"babble--?!"

Stiffly turning her head, Xiaoyu met a pair of inquiring and curious eyes.

Maki, who was holding a can of energy drink, pushed open the door and walked in. She stood in her seat, ready to sit down, and looked at her curiously while maintaining this position.

"...Xiaoyu?"

Seeing that Xiaoyu was still stunned and unresponsive, Maki's curiosity grew even stronger. She put down her energy drink and prepared to go over to Xiaoyu to see what was going on.

"Why are you so easily startled..."

Xiaoyu, who was a beat slow to react, seemed to only come to her senses at this moment. She quickly stretched out her hands to block Maki's steps and gaze as much as possible.

"Just now... I was just analyzing some special frequency bands, so... so... I was a little scared."

Maki paused, silently observing Tama's current condition.

"Really? I don't believe it."

Maki simply couldn't believe that Tama, whose face was slightly flushed, her forehead was covered in fine sweat, and whose eyes darted left and right, avoiding eye contact with her, would give such a completely unbelievable reason.

'Ding-dong! Your mailbox has received a new email from "Xia Lai Sensei"~'

While still trying to figure out what was going on, Maki heard a sound coming from a small device behind Tama. Her tightly furrowed brows suddenly relaxed, and then she smiled with relief.

"So that's it..."

As if oblivious to Xiaoyu's panicked expression, as if she wanted to dig a hole in the ground with her toes and crawl into it, Maki turned and walked back to her seat.

"Speaking of which... Sensei seems to be coming to Beritas soon. Apparently, he's going to discuss some things with the minister and us..."

After settling into her seat, Maki casually operated her device.

"Oh... Vice Minister Chihiro sent a new message."

Xiaoyu was still in a state of confusion and bewilderment: "W-what news?"

"...Vice Minister Chihiro said that Sensei will arrive this afternoon."

"……Eh?"

Chapter Two: Maki - The Story of Hidetaka Miyazaki's Childhood...?

"Sensei, we've arrived at our stop! If you don't get up soon... you'll miss your stop!"

The headset emitted Alona's voice, which sounded as if she had deliberately amplified it by making a megaphone shape with her hands. Half-asleep, Amamiya rubbed her temples, yawned, and got up.

Unfortunately, the journey between different college areas often takes one or two hours, and listening to white noise on the train... can easily make one sleepy.

Shaking his head to clear his mind and banish his drowsiness, Amamiya waited for the train to slow down, pull into the station, and stop before decisively getting off.

'A thousand years...?'

After observing the academy that gave him a special first impression, Amamiya had a feeling that "he might be dealing with students from the Millennium Academy frequently for some time to come."

"So, as planned, we'll go to Beritas next..."

Having already been shown the way by Noah and walked around the academy himself, Amamiya was quite familiar with the environment of the Millennium.

(After all, as a phantom thief, one must have spatial imagination and terrain memory, right? What kind of phantom thief is one who often gets lost?)

Following his memory, Amamiya made his way to the 'club activity room' where Beritas belonged.

Although it's called a club activity room, its size is actually quite similar to that of a typical office building. It's more than enough space for a few club members to work together.

This sense of 'luxury' reminded Amamiya of Gehenna's Disciplinary Committee headquarters.

In contrast, Gersina's Disciplinary Committee headquarters leans towards a more low-key and practical style.

As for the convenience store... well, although it has a homey feel, I didn't expect that even the club activity room was rented.

As for Abydos's club activity room... to be honest, it's even more 'unbearable to look at'.

"I have to say, the gap between clubs is really huge..."

After a brief moment of reflection, Amamiya entered the Beritas club room and went directly to the doorway where the Beritas members were.

As always, a casual glance with a third eye reveals dozens of surveillance cameras of various types.

Amamiya knocked on the door, but this time it seemed to be locked and wasn't opened immediately.

'Oh—is that Sensei? Just a moment!'

However, Amamiya's knocking was immediately answered by a lively, energetic voice that seemed to have a bit of a tomboyish style.

Immediately afterwards, Amamiya heard a light, hurried footstep, and then the door was opened.

The girl with red hair tied in a bun maintained her peek-out posture, one hand on the doorknob, and the other hand waving to Amamiya.

Maintaining that cute yet cool demeanor, like 'your best buddy suddenly appeared~.jpg', she greeted Amamiya with a cheerful smile: "Sensei, come in quickly."

"I thought you guys were going to give me a joke like 'The door can't be opened from this side,' and then open the door."

The girl, who was about to turn and walk into the house, paused slightly.

She then turned around and curiously looked at Amamiya.

"Is Sensei also a fan of the 'Elsword' and 'Dark Souls' series?"

Amamiya returned a calm smile, while correcting, "To be more precise... I'm more like a game enthusiast. I can 'compare' the vast majority of games. Like 'El-Falcon Ring' and 'Dark Souls,' which you mentioned, I know quite a few..."

"The story of Miyazaki Hidetoshi and Yang Qiyinggao when they were young."

"Pfft... Is Sensei talking about that really funny game reference? I know that one too, it's really interesting."

【~???~】

“However… Sensei’s ‘suggestion’ is indeed very interesting… Next time, let’s ask the engineering department to make a special door lock, such as one that pops up a holographic message saying ‘It cannot be opened from this side’ when you press the doorbell…”

Muttering to herself, Maki led Amamiya into Beritas's activity room.

The art style of the activity room was something Amamiya couldn't quite understand; it was somewhere between the style of The Matrix or other futuristic sci-fi movies.

'If Futaba comes over, we'll probably have more in common to talk about.'

Unfortunately, I have hardly learned anything about hacking or network engineering... at most, I only learned a little bit of the basics from Futaba.

Looking around the room, Amamiya noticed that two people were not there and became slightly curious.

"Where are Chihiro and Haru? Aren't they here?"

"Well... it seems that Vice Minister Chihiro and Haru went to the engineering department early because of Sensei, they should be back soon..."

So that I could go to the engineering department ahead of time?

The Engineering Department... I think Noah mentioned it when he was introducing the millennia-old clubs?

Recalling Noah's description of the engineering department, Amamiya somehow conjured up an image of an old man in suspenders, carrying various tools and tinkering with all sorts of useless inventions.

'Engineering fanatics'...that was Noah's summary of them at the time.

To be described as a "madman" by Noah, a "literary girl," must have some unique reason... Perhaps, he's worth befriending?

If we could use the skills learned in the engineering department to make infiltration tools and other everyday items...

Amamiya nodded gently: "I see..."

After putting "getting to know the engineering department" on the agenda, Amamiya then turned his gaze to Tama, who had her back to him and remained unresponsive.

The letters they sent before were full of honorifics and the writing style was quite refined...

But why not take the initiative now?

"..."

Amamiya moved closer, placing his hands on the back of the ergonomic chair, and silently observed Tama, who was wearing headphones and showed no reaction to his entry.

"..."

From the reflection on the screen, in the girl's complex expression—a mixture of guilt and other emotions still faintly visible—Amamiya understood her.

I suppose... it's probably because she's somewhat similar to Sumire Yoshizawa, with that particular kind of 'inexpressive' personality?

From the other person's subtle movements, her body that seemed to be trembling slightly, and her irregular breathing, Amamiya could tell that she was nervous.

But... is it really necessary to be so nervous?

I wasn't that nervous when we first met... so why am I so reserved now?

"...Xiaoyu?"

Amamiya tried calling out.

He could sense that his shouting had some effect.

The girl whose name he called visibly jolted, then belatedly took off her headphones and looked up, looking bewildered.

“sen, seni...? Um... welcome to Beritas.”

Can not be done……

This 'acting' is just too stiff.

After a sigh, Amamiya, not wanting to expose her and embarrass her, decided to continue 'acting' with her.

Thinking of the other party's title of 'eavesdropping expert', Amamiya narrowed her eyes slightly, trying to find common ground: "Is Xiaoyu doing some kind of audio analysis work?... Sorry, I seem to have disturbed you."

To his complete surprise, after he brought up this "topic," Xiaoyu immediately showed a look of surprise and panic, as if something had been exposed.

"..."

【~???~】

And then, they even increased the affection level?

After a few seconds of silence without receiving a response, Amamiya had only this thought in her mind.

It seems... geniuses do indeed have their own unique ways of negotiating.

After failing to reach an agreement with Tama, Amamiya decided to wait for Chihiro and Haru to return.

"Hey, Sensei, want a Monster Energy drink?"

Maki, who was not content with being alone, casually took out a specially packaged beverage, similar to a canned soda, from Haru's position, and then handed the still slightly chilly beverage to Amamiya.

Monster Energy Drink: A uniquely flavored beverage with an energizing effect, one of the favorite drinks of the 'genius girl', Makoto.

[Drink: Restores 50 points of Spirit, removes mental-related abnormal effects, and prevents the user from falling into special abnormal states such as 'fatigue' or 'weakness' for a period of time.]

"..."

Amamiya was surprised as she took the drink and glanced at the drink with her third eye.

Unexpectedly, this is a special beverage that can be used as a recovery product in another world...

"Thank you for your kindness, Maki... but is it alright to just take Haru's drink like this?"

Maki waved her hand with a smile: "It's okay~ Sensei, just drink it. I'll explain later. If you need more, I'll just give you a refill. It's just a can of soda after all..."

As she was speaking, a slight sound of a door lock opening came from the doorway.

"Ah... Vice Minister Chihiro, and Haru, you're back?"

Chapter 3 Chihiro Discovers Something Strange

"Ah... Vice Minister Chihiro, and Haru, you're back?"

Maki, who was also holding a can of Monster Energy drink that she had "borrowed" from Haru and was about to open it and "drink with Sensei," froze on the spot when she saw the two people who came in.

Subconsciously, she hid her can of Monster Energy drink on the table behind her, then waved and greeted the two people who came in, pretending to be calm.

"..."

Amamiya also put down his newly opened Monster Energy drink, stood up, and greeted Chihiro and Haru: "I apologize for bothering you. I've come here today because I have a little something to discuss with the geniuses of Beritas..."

Chihiro seemed to know what Amamiya wanted to say, and nodded gently to Amamiya with a serious and calm expression.