Tokyo's Phantom Thief

Asakura Rinto wasn't the type to brag about being some kind of legendary Phantom Thief.

He didn't go around claiming to be a shadowy knight who'd stolen over a hundred hearts and prevented countless crimes and tragedies.

But objectively speaking… that was exactly what he was.

An irrefutable fact.

So to be honest, when he learned that Kamoshida really did have a Palace, Rinto didn't feel any urgency.

This was small fry.

Back when he saved Yoshizawa Sumire, he'd already gotten a general read on the Palace's depth, size, and the intensity of Kamoshida's desires.

Judging by his extensive experience, this one was maybe a mid-tier Palace.(Mid-tier by Rinto-sensei standards, that is.)The kind of job where hyping up the difficulty would only get you laughed at.

"So don't be scared. Just follow me and you'll be fine."

He stood at the gates of Shujin Academy—now transformed into a castle—alongside the Yoshizawa sisters, giving them a crash course in the basics.

Using Sumire's phone and her navigation app, the three of them had once again entered the Metaverse.

This time, Rinto made sure to watch Sumire activate it, and released his Persona at the same time to monitor the process—confirming the app's range and effects.

The moment Sumire started navigation, he felt a distinct pull toward the Metaverse, and that gravitational force dragged everyone nearby along with her.

So it was an area-of-effect ability.Using it in the enclosed space of the love hotel had definitely been the right move.

Even Kasumi, who didn't have the app yet, was pulled in along with them—still just as curious about this shadowy alternate world as ever.

Sumire, on the other hand, was a little nervous again. She clung timidly to Rinto's arm:

"Last time I used the app… I ended up inside the castle right away. But this time we landed out front? Why's that?"

"Because I'm here," Rinto replied.

He rubbed his fingers together, and a soft shimmer of light flickered in his palm.

The sight of it gave the sisters a deep sense of security, like their very souls were being gently warmed from the inside.

It was one of the effects of Rinto's Persona.

He could synchronize emotionally with the people around him, calming their spirits.

He continued explaining:

"Like I said before, every time I enter the Metaverse, I have to 'kill' my own mind first. That drops me into the same location as in the real world—no spatial shift."

"But when you activated the navigation just now, Sumire, I felt a strong pull—probably because you were targeting Kamoshida's Palace here at Shujin. That pull drags you directly into the core of the Palace. It's dangerous. You could land right in front of the enemy."

Sumire paled, remembering her experience yesterday. It had been terrifying.

But this time, they weren't dealing with a rookie. They had a pro.

Rinto had resisted the pull of the navigation force and intentionally veered off-course, landing safely at the castle gate with both girls in tow.

That gave him another working theory about the app's limitations.

"Sumire, try canceling the navigation."

"Eh? Oh—okay."

She quickly pulled out her phone and began fiddling with it.

Yesterday, when she'd been inside the Palace, her phone had gone completely static—the screen unreadable.

But once she left the bounds of Shujin Castle, it worked again.

So it was safe to conclude: the app didn't function inside a Palace's territory.

Right now, they were still outside the threshold, so the app was working.

But as she tried to cancel the navigation, her brow furrowed in confusion:

"It says… I have to return to the navigation's starting point to exit. The marked exit is… the love hotel we were just in?"

"Exactly," Rinto confirmed his theory.

The navigation app, while convenient, was a one-way ticket.

When it activated, it could suck the user straight into the center of a Palace.

But to exit, you had to return to where you started the navigation in the real world. You couldn't just come and go freely.

Rinto, on the other hand, operated differently:

"When I enter by 'suicide,' I can exit anytime I want. Say I come into the Metaverse from the love hotel—if I then move to the real-world location of my house within this layer and leave, I'll pop out at my actual house in reality. Instant travel."

"You two already experienced that, remember? Three months ago. When I saved you from that truck."

"From the outside, people saw you just… vanish. I bet that ended up as some kind of urban legend for a while."

"Mmh…" The sisters nodded awkwardly.

That day, they'd almost been hit by a runaway truck.

Rinto had rushed in and pulled them into the Metaverse just in time to avoid impact.

To the real-world onlookers, they'd simply disappeared on the spot.

The incident made local news—briefly.

Luckily, it hadn't spread much. Within a few days, it faded into obscurity, chalked up as mass hallucination or a viral hoax.

Rinto had reflected on it since then. The situation had been urgent, but his execution had been sloppy.

After bringing the sisters into the Metaverse, he'd walked them to a deserted alley before returning to the real world—a controlled reentry.

And that outlined the key difference between the two travel methods.

Rinto flexed his fingers and nodded in confirmation.

"I can still leave anytime. If I use my method to take you two back right now, we'll show up right at the front gate of Shujin in the real world. Like teleportation. The navigation app can't do that—but at least you won't risk being seen by people."

"Hmm… that's kind of a shame," Kasumi said, hands on hips with a sigh.

"If your method's really that convenient, we could use the Metaverse to go anywhere we wanted! No traffic, no crowds—just flip between layers and boom, you're there!"

"Don't go thinking about cheating the system." Rinto gave her a light flick on the forehead.

"I told you—this world's dangerous. There are Shadows everywhere. Risking your life just to skip a traffic jam? Way too reckless."

"Ehehe~ (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)" Kasumi stuck out her tongue, full-on cute mode.

This girl was way too good at playing innocent. You couldn't even get mad at her. Dangerous stuff.

With the basics covered, Rinto moved on.

"Anyway, since I'm explaining how Personas work, let's go clear a level while we're at it."

Like a max-level player guiding newbies through a low-tier dungeon, he motioned for the sisters to follow.

Kasumi and Sumire glanced at each other—and saw the same thing in each other's eyes:

A burning spark.

Admiration for Rinto.

In the Metaverse, when he took on the role of Phantom Thief, Rinto carried a rare kind of energy. His entire being lit up with purpose. His eyes gleamed with it.

They realized something then.

He really loved this job.

He just kept it buried, pretending he didn't care.

And that—was such a waste.

The sisters wished, from the bottom of their hearts, that he would keep doing it.

To keep being their Batman, bringing justice to the shadows of the world.