Anime, but the Phantom Thieves of Heart

While saying strange things, Lan Ke and Busujima Saeko walked out of the dojo side by side and headed towards the school gate.

Not until the two figures disappeared from sight did a head quietly pop out from the corner.

Although Fujimura Taiga was dressed as rustically as usual today, her clothes did not make her look like she was only 7 years older than Lan Ke and the others, but rather 27 years older. However, her flushed face made her look a lot younger.

She held her head in her hands and rubbed her face to cool herself down as she watched the two men disappear.

"What's the relationship between Narukami and Saeko? They've only known each other for a little over a month, right? Do students nowadays develop so quickly... No, Saeko wasn't like this before. Could it be because of Narukami..."

As a high school teacher, Fujimura Taiga had seen student couples before. Although Teitan didn't object to romance, it was very strict about discipline. Few students dared to hold hands in school, and the discipline committee was no pushover...

No, Saeko seems to be the discipline committee member, right?

Is this considered embezzlement?

Fujimura Taikawa felt like his brain had turned into a mess and couldn't help shaking his head.

Fortunately, she calmed down quickly.

"Both Narukami and Saeko are good kids. I don't object to them dating, but it has to be a 'healthy' relationship..."

Although he spoke seriously, his flushed face made him unconvincing.

On the other side, Lan Ke, who had no idea what was going on, walked out of the school gate side by side with Busujima Saeko.

At this time, Busujima Saeko had gradually returned to normal, her breathing had calmed down, and the redness on her face had faded.

Although she was still a little weak, but with the action of holding her schoolbag in front of her with both hands, she looked more like a 'Yamato Nadeshiko'.

Although their destination was the "subway station", Lan Ke deliberately detoured and chose a road with fewer people, while Busujima Saeko gradually slowed down her pace.

Sure enough, Lan Ke took this opportunity to speak.

"Senior, I would like to invite you to join us."

Busujima Saeko was a little surprised by Lan Ke's straightforward invitation. She originally thought that Lan Ke would ask her to keep it a secret or something. In fact, she would keep it a secret for Lan Ke and the others even without Lan Ke asking. After all, the "Phantom Thieves of Hearts" have done things that are "very pleasing to the people" since their debut.

Even though the official announcement of the "Arasaka Case" has not been made yet, as one of the parties involved, she knows a lot of secret information, such as "human experiments", so she naturally supports the "Phantom Thieves of Hearts".

But no matter how hard she thought, she could never have imagined that Lan Ke would invite her to join the Phantom Thieves.

But unlike Shirou Emiya and Lucy who agreed immediately, Saeko Busujima shook her head after thinking about it.

"I'm sorry, Narukami-kun."

Lan Ke was obviously a little surprised when his invitation was rejected for the first time, but when he thought about it carefully, this kind of thing was consensual, not to mention that the job of "Phantom Thief" was full of risks.

Shirou Emiya wanted to protect his sister, and Lucy wanted to avenge her father. For them, joining the Phantom Thieves was the easiest and safest way.

But Busujima Saeko had no such reason.

Seeing Lan Ke's somewhat surprised expression, Busujima Saeko explained very seriously, but before explaining, she asked a question first.

"Narukami-kun, do you know how I noticed your abnormality?"

"How did you notice that?"

Being rejected did surprise Lan Ke, but he was more concerned about this issue, after all, it was related to his true identity!

"Because of the sword."

These few simple words made Lan Ke even more surprised.

"But I clearly didn't use the moves you taught me..."

"Indeed, your moves are the most obvious characteristic, but there are also some habits that are equally difficult to hide. For example, when facing the enemy, Narukami-kun, you deliberately avoid the vital points. For example, your deliberate avoidance of the 'upper level' behavior makes me suspicious..."

"So, Senior Sister, you relied on these clues to find me?"

Lan Ke felt that it was simply ridiculous, but he didn't expect that Busujima Saeko, who always looked mature, would cover her mouth and chuckle.

"That's right~ I just have a suspicion. There is no evidence to prove that it is you, 'Narakami-kun', so I came to ask you directly~"

Looking at the chuckling Busujima Saeko, Lan Ke's expression became very interesting. After all this time, the other party was actually not sure whether it was him?

So, I was... self-destructing before?

But after chuckling, Busujima Saeko straightened her expression.

"But I believe that you, Narukami-kun, will not lie to me~"

It was clearly just an ordinary sentence, but coupled with Busujima Saeko's eyes, it made Lan Ke instinctively dodge.

Looking at the somewhat shy Lan Ke, Busujima Saeko's smile became even brighter, but she still did not forget to remind Lan Ke.

"If someone is unfamiliar with you, Narukami-kun, they naturally wouldn't notice anything unusual. However, someone familiar with you would probably notice something unusual after fighting you a few times. This is one of the reasons why I refused."

"After all, my features are more obvious than yours, Narukami. After all, as the 'daughter of the Busujima Dojo', I basically know anyone who has achieved some success in the way of the sword. If I fight with them, I will most likely be exposed."

Having said that, she sighed helplessly.

"Although I am willing to help you with your 'part-time job', Narukami-kun, I cannot bring out my greatest advantage without using a sword, but once I use a sword, I may be exposed..."

Hearing this, Lan Ke nodded in understanding.

Unexpectedly, Busujima Saeko chose to refuse for his sake.

But Lan Ke shook his head.

"Don't worry, Senior, 'part-time job' isn't just about showing off. There are plenty of opportunities to utilize your talents. All you need to do is..."

Before Lan Ke could finish his words, a finger suddenly stood between the two of them.

"Don't say any more. Although I'm happy that you're willing to trust me, Narukami-kun, this is a matter of 'company secrets' after all. It's better not to let irrelevant people know."

Looking at Busujima Saeko who was reminding him seriously, Lan Ke once again felt that he had not misjudged her, and he also adjusted his expression.

"Don't worry, Senior, I won't tell anyone. I only tell you because you are my senior."

Faced with Lan Ke's increasingly serious expression, Busujima Saeko no longer stopped Lan Ke. After all, the "Phantom Thieves of Hearts" were now making more and more noise. Even she had developed a strong curiosity about the "Phantom Thieves of Hearts" after several contacts with them, especially about the issue of "how the Phantom Thieves stole hearts."

"Senior, aren't you curious about why I always master something the next day after studying it at the gym?"

Having said that, Busujima Saeko's eyes suddenly became serious, after all, she was really curious.

"The answer is simple, because—actual combat!"

"It's not just practicing alone, but through actual combat, constantly fighting enemies and mastering these moves while swinging the sword. After all, if you don't master it, being stabbed or hit will still hurt."

If most people heard what Lan Ke said, their first reaction would probably be "Why does stealing hearts actually happen, and it happens every day?" However, Busujima Saeko's reaction was different.

"So, after joining your 'part-time job', Narukami-kun, I won't actually need to show up in public, and I'll also be able to have such an opportunity?"

Busujima Saeko is not interested in the 'reasons' or anything like that. She only cares about one thing - the result!

For her, fighting is everything!

"That's right~ I wonder if you're interested in this kind of 'part-time job'?"

Faced with Lan Ke's question, Busujima Saeko finally stopped hesitating this time.

"Of course~!"

Seeing this, Lan Ke stopped talking nonsense and took the other party to an increasingly remote corner.

An ordinary girl would have started to get nervous at this point, but Busujima Saeko became even more excited.

Obviously, in her opinion, the so-called "actual combat" should be gangsters or Yakuza or something like that.

As for worrying about what Lan Ke might do to him?

She wasn't worried. After all, neither the 'Narakami Lan' she knew nor the 'Doctor' was someone who would do such a thing.

What's more, her mind was full of thoughts about the 'competition' before, but now that her mind has calmed down, she couldn't help but start thinking about other things.

For example, her views on both sides.

On one side is her junior fellow student whom she has high hopes for, and on the other side is her opponent who can bring her "pleasure".

When the two figures merge into one, is there anything in the world that would make her happier than this?

It's like someone who likes pizza and pineapple sees pineapple pizza.

Lan Ke, who was originally pulling Busujima Saeko's hand towards a hidden corner and preparing to use the 'extra-dimensional navigation' to take her to the 'cognitive world', suddenly heard a familiar sound of waves.

I am you...you are me...

Here you gain a brand new bond.

Qi is like the firewood that is reborn from the ashes.

I, the 'Devil' mask, was born bathed in the wind of blessing.

To further develop the future...】

There's nothing strange about this. There's nothing strange about getting a personality mask from Busujima Saeko. The only strange thing is probably why it was given to him now.

But what Lan Ke didn't expect was that the sound didn't end there.

[RANK1: Shura Road]

[RANK2: Experience increased when synthesizing Demon Tarot]

【RANK3: Bloodthirst】

What the hell? !

The moment Tarot awakened, it directly reached Rank 3?!

Lan Ke was completely bewildered...

Chapter 91 Everything I have will belong to you.

The sudden prompt scared Lan Ke, especially the RANK skill prompt that popped up three times in a row, which made Lan Ke stunned on the spot. After all, he had never seen such an outrageous situation even in the game.

However, Busujima Saeko, who didn't know the reason, obviously had some misunderstandings.

"Narukami-kun?"

"Sorry, I just remembered something. I'm fine now."

Not knowing how to explain, Lan Ke simply skipped the topic. After making sure that there was no one around, he decisively took out the "Other Dimension Navigation" and activated it. Then Busujima Saeko felt dizzy.

The only difference between this and the discomfort that most people feel after experiencing dizziness is that Busujima Saeko is more alert.

But when she regained consciousness after shaking her head, she looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar environment around her in surprise.

It felt familiar because she had some impression of the buildings around here. After all, no matter how remote it was, it was near the school station. It felt strange because those familiar buildings had become dilapidated. The scorching sun that had originally appeared with the arrival of early summer had disappeared, and the whole world seemed to be covered by a strange curtain.

She looked around nervously, but she soon realized something.

"Narukami-kun, this place should be related to your 'part-time job', right?"

Just like before, Busujima Saeko didn't have any substantial evidence to prove that Lan Ke was the Phantom Thief, and she didn't even have any feeling before she had doubts, but after she had doubts, she vaguely felt something.

It was the same right now. She didn't know the process of 'stealing hearts', nor did she know the particularity of this world, but considering what Lan Ke had said before, she made a reasonable guess.

Lan Ke, who had originally intended to invite the other party to join the Phantom Thieves, naturally did not deny it.

"That's right, this place... or rather, this 'world' is one of the biggest secrets of the 'Phantom Thieves of Hearts'!"

"It's like a 'mirror', a world that corresponds to the world we live in. Here live 'monsters', 'demons', and even 'gods', but the most numerous are projections of human will..."

Lan Ke tried to introduce the world view in the shortest possible sentences, but Busujima Saeko's attention was clearly distracted.

"Narakami-kun, you said...monsters? Demons? Could it be that the questions you asked the last time you went to the ramen shop were all true?"

What was the problem with the ramen shop last time?

Lan Ke thought for a moment before realizing what the other person was saying.

At that time, Lan Ke was precisely attacking the 'Hall Master' for the first time, and with the attitude of not asking if it was unnecessary, he asked Busujima Saeko about the question of 'how to hunt giant monsters'.

Busujima Saeko naturally didn't understand this, but as a kendo master, she still provided Lan Ke with a lot of reliable advice, some of which were even effective.

"Roughly the same……"

Because the "hall" had not been introduced yet, Lan Ke did not say much, but the other party's attention was obviously not on this matter.

"'Killing people' is indeed not allowed in this day and age, but if it's 'killing ghosts' or 'killing demons', there shouldn't be any problem, right?"

Should Lan Ke complain that the other party is worthy of being called 'Bujima Saeko'?

This is clearly a discovery that could change the world, but all he can think about is 'hunting demons' and 'hunting monsters'. In a sense, he truly lives up to his identity as a 'battle maniac'.

But he still nodded out of courtesy.