I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

Why are you staring at Alona like that while she's eating?!

With a 'click', amidst Alona's embarrassed, surprised, and unexpected expression, Amamiya calmly pressed the 'screenshot' button on the Shitte no Hako, 'freezing' Alona's rather adorable expression.

"Huh?! You... you even took a screenshot?!"

The AI ​​girl, who was initially shocked and shy, felt a sense of panic as if her embarrassing past had been preserved on the spot after experiencing the 'frozen moment' of the Shiting Box.

"What on earth is Sensei doing?! Delete it, delete it now!"

Amamiya, who had casually taken a screenshot, calmly waved to Alona amidst her 'little fists pounding the screen' and her adorable (〃＞＿＜;〃) threat.

"Arona's expression at that time was so cute, so let's keep it as a 'treasure'."

"Also, stop eating, Alona... Has the Federation Student Council sent any special messages?"

"This, this..."

Perhaps because the 'awkward moment' had been exposed and 'screenshot', Arona acted very proactively, but at the same time, she felt very guilty.

“Alona, ​​let me see… Sensei, it seems we received a letter from the Federation Student Council, it seems they want you to come over…”

Without a doubt, Amamiya knew that the 'contact information' Alona found was most likely due to the aftermath of this 'heart-stealing operation' and various other issues, big and small, from the Federation Student Council.

Perhaps Rin specifically asked me to go to the Federation Student Council because she had questions about the "Heart Stealing Activity".

After reading the ambiguous message from the Federation Student Council that "did not mention any purpose for the contact, but only asked me to go there," Amamiya already had a general idea of ​​the Federation Student Council's purpose for contacting them.

She definitely has to go to the Federation Student Council, since Rin is, in a sense, Amamiya's 'boss', and Xia Lai's activity expenses are all provided by the Federation Student Council.

Amamiya nodded, then asked, "Besides the Federation Student Council, are there any other contacts worth noting?"

"Hmm... Ah! Found it! It seems to be a message... from Gate Maria?!"

What is Gat Maria...?

Amamiya narrowed his eyes slightly, clearly sensing Alona's unusual surprise, and promptly pulled up the online email to check it.

This letter is very special.

What makes it special is that... even the style of the emails it comes in is different from other online emails.

It's unclear what technology was used to achieve this, but the letter exhibits a strange behavior, sometimes displaying garbled text and sometimes returning to normal.

In addition, the letter's 'icon' and the unfolded 'letter paper' are both black, while the text written on the letter paper is white.

“Sensei of Sharai… I have truly experienced the power of your ‘Persona’…”

"Hehehe... What a magnificent force that 'penetrates the heart'... Just one shot was enough to bring 'that thing' to the brink of death..."

"If it weren't for your 'first shot on the battlefield,' if it weren't for that shot that directly weakened the enemy by ninety percent... those children you valued would ultimately not have been able to achieve victory."

“I see in you… a ‘sublime mystery,’ and something ‘special’ that transcends those children you value.”

"You can call me Black Suit... I come from Gate Maria. Or... to put it more simply, 'Symphony'."

"Hehe... Please rest assured, Sensei. We have no hostility—or rather, at least I have no hostility towards you."

"Now, you should also be aware of the various fundamental laws of Giwatos... You may have already learned from elsewhere that we, the 'Numerical Mystics,' possess many 'secret rituals.'"

"Sensei... Now, on behalf of myself alone, I extend to you an invitation for cooperation from Gate Maria... or rather, from the 'Symphony of Numbers'."

“Since you, Sensei, have some knowledge of the culture of the Classic of Mountains and Seas… then you should naturally understand that it is better to have one less potential enemy than to be constantly targeted by others.”

"We, the Mystic Arts, possess many secrets... everything about Givotos that you are curious about, whether it concerns the 'students' or 'this world.' If you are truly curious, or perhaps you intend to turn an enemy into a friend... feel free to contact me further."

"By the way... we have already studied the [Pharaoh's Millennium Artifact] that you obtained through some means. That product from another world, formed from the convergence and condensation of human hearts... is truly astonishingly pure."

"By the way... if you're interested, you can try looking for information about 'color'."

"Hehehe... Looking forward to our 'cooperation'... I believe that as a 'con artist' with the determination to 'save the world' by using everything at your disposal, you shouldn't refuse our good intentions..."

After slowly reading through the long letter, Amamiya pondered for a moment.

Should we try cooperating with the occult...?

Given his 'phantom thief' style, this could certainly be an option...

After all, as long as a bond can be established and bond skills can be learned from the helper, then for Amamiya, it is a gain and part of the "Fool's Journey".

The letter seemed to detect that Amamiya had scrolled the mouse to the bottom and finished reading it. With a 'sizzle', it turned into a jumble of garbled text, undergoing a data-level self-destruction.

The letter is still there, still in its original form, but the contents have been broken down into a jumble of characters that can no longer be restored by any technical means.

After thinking for a moment, Amamiya did not immediately drag the letter back to the recycle bin, but let it lie in the 'read area' for the time being.

"Sensei...Should we reply to this letter? Or should we report it to the Federal Student Council?"

Alona cautiously raised her question.

"Let's stay here for a while. If we can really get information through the mystical arts and get their help, it might not be a bad thing."

Arona, unusually silent after receiving Amamiya's response, remained so.

After a long silence, Alona finally hummed in agreement and expressed her opinion: "Alona... trusts Sensei's choice."

Amamiya raised an eyebrow but did not respond.

It seems... Alona must know a few secret techniques, or at least have some recollection of them.

Judging from her attitude, cooperating with the secret arts of numbers could indeed be like seeking a tiger's skin.

However, whether it is truly "seeking help from a tiger" or "pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger" is another matter—the premise of the idiom "seeking help from a tiger" is "the weak turning to the strong."

Amamiya was quite confident in his abilities.

Of course, he also wouldn't underestimate the power of the Mystic Arts, which could cause trouble at any moment.

A certain degree of 'cooperation' would allow him to understand the truth behind this secret technique, and in a sense, also to get a feel for the future enemy's trump cards.

We'll see, it's not the most important thing to consider right now.

Amamiya closed the email interface of Shitte no Hako, then casually pinched the cheek of the silent Alona.

"Don't overthink it, Alona."

Arona sighed. These days, she's gotten used to having her cheeks pinched and her head rubbed through the screen from time to time.

"...In short, we need Alona to lead the way, right?"

"Let's begin preparing navigation for Sensei..."

With Alona's 'optimal route planning' along the way, Amamiya quickly arrived at the Federation Student Council, a place he had been away from for some time and which was very likely to become a place he would visit often in the future.

This time, there was still no need to ask for directions. After verifying her identity at the bottom of the Federation Student Council building, Amamiya went straight to Rin's office.

Gently pushing open the office door, Amamiya saw... a 'fairy girl' whom he hadn't seen for some time. Although she was as beautiful as an elf from a Western fantasy fairy tale, her face was mostly expressionless.

"Rin, I'm here."

The 'consultant lady' paused in her work, a pen still between her fingers, adjusted her glasses, and slightly raised her head, her gaze briefly falling on Amamiya.

She immediately stopped working on the documents and stood up, using the table for support.

"Sensei..."

She paused on the form of address with a complex expression before speaking in a slightly incredulous tone: "...Congratulations on successfully resolving the current situation of 'Abydos Higher Academy'."

"Using a special method... called 'stealing desire,' or rather... 'stealing hearts.'"

【~???~】

Amamiya didn't mince words, asking directly, "Is there anything Rin needs to know about my 'solution'?"

To reiterate, when dealing with the holders of the "Advisor" Arcana, it's best to be as 'formulaic' as possible.

At least, it's necessary to do this before you've gained enough favor with your target.

Rin nodded.

"Indeed... Sensei. Your recent 'phantom thief activities'... have raised questions about the Federation Student Council from both the Uncharted Academy and the Corporate Team. In order to quell these voices... and also to further understand Sensei's actions in the other world, the Federation Student Council needs to gain some understanding of your... methods of stealing hearts."

Amamiya, who already knew this outcome, wasn't surprised.

It's perfectly normal for academies and corporations to become wary of his "phantom thief activities" and then try to find out "how he steals hearts" through the Federation Student Council.

Regarding this... Amamiya can speak on it.

But I can only say part of it.

Under Rin's probing gaze, Amamiya carefully selected her words before slowly speaking.

"Rin, you've heard of..."

Is it cognitive science?

Chapter 21: Rin-chan's Cutest Episode

"Rin, you've heard of..."

Is it cognitive science?

...cognitive science?

This unfamiliar term made Rin frown slightly, and she began to subconsciously search for some psychology-related terms she had heard before.

"Never heard of that before... Is it some kind of psychology term, Sensei?"

"...I suppose so. Cognitive science, in a sense, is an in-depth study of the human 'inner world'."

"Rin, do you remember the concept of 'persona' we discussed before? Actually, the concept of persona is also related to cognitive science."

After a moment's thought and some organization, Amamiya described a brief concept of the 'Otherworld Palace' to Rin.

The so-called 'other world' is actually a region linked by the 'consciousness of everyone', that is, the collective unconscious. The 'collective unconscious' of each academy and each region is different, so the appearance of the corresponding other world will obviously be different as well.

Subsequently, in this other world, one can find a special kind of monster, which can simply be called a "shadow." This monster is the evil thought born from the collective unconscious of humanity.

Then... if someone's desires or evil intentions are strong enough, then a special area called "Hall" will be formed in the other world.

The temple represents the embodiment of the corresponding desire, which will manifest in all sorts of bizarre forms. Once the core of the desire is stolen, the distorted desire will disappear, the person whose desire was stolen will return to normal, and will repent for the mistakes they have made.

To steal a target's desires, "issuing a warning letter" is a necessary procedure... This is a one-time opportunity to alert the target and make them realize that "a phantom thief has entered their inner world to steal their desires and glimpse their evil side."

In this way, desire will become materialized... and then, after this materialized desire is stolen, the temple master's 'temple' will collapse, and he will enter a state of 'repentance'.

"..."

After listening in silence as Amamiya finished explaining the 'general principles' of the hall, Rin nodded gently.

"It's really... a 'special phenomenon' that sounds really strange."

"If possible, I'd like to see the world that Sensei mentioned... what would it be like to correspond to the Federation Student Council's 'other world'?"

She sighed like this.

"If Rin has any free time, I could take her to that other world right now. Maybe we'll even run into Rin's own 'shadow' if we're lucky."

【~???~】

“A very tempting suggestion…” Rin sighed, adjusting her glasses, “but now is not the time.”

Even if exploration of another world can be carried out at any time... it still requires advance mental and material preparation.

"In other words... Sensei, the way you made the Caesar Group repent was by truly infiltrating their inner world and stealing their inner desires..."

"..."

“I have some questions about the temple, Sensei.”

Rin, lost in thought, suddenly looked up, a cryptic glint in her eyes reflected behind her glasses.

Does the "temple" exist for everyone? What is the specific scope of "repentance"? Is it possible for there to be cases of "repentance"?

"First of all, not everyone has a palace... Of course, if we consider the Impression Space as everyone's palace, then we can actually say that 'everyone has a palace.' Only some special beings with 'exceptionally strong desires' will have their own exclusive palace."

"The specific scope of repentance... The reaction of the Caesar Group, located on the black market, after being repented is the most vivid example - even the most evil 'born bad seed' needs to repent for the mistakes they have made."

"As for Rin's 'repentance,' in my understanding, Rin wanted to express that 'are there any examples of good people suddenly turning bad,' right? In fact, there are such examples, but compared to 'bad people turning good,' they are extremely rare, both in terms of probability and manifestation."

That's true.

When a bad person suddenly turns good, it's a "clear change" that can be seen overnight.

And if a good person turns bad... even if it really happens, it's very likely to happen silently.

"We have learned the basic information about the other world..."