Chapter 10
After school, Yu took the train to Shibuya Station, messaging Ren while walking.
[Yu Narukami: Are you there yet?]
[Ren Amamiya: You should see me when you exit the station.]
Yu put away his phone, exited the station, and walked a short distance, spotting Ren in the crowd.
The boy wore his Shujin uniform, a bag slung over his shoulder, his black-rimmed glasses giving him a somewhat gloomy yet innocent appearance. Yu had been curious for a while now. With such a heavy cat in his bag, wouldn’t his shoulder ache?
Yu approached. At the front of the small crowd, a politician was giving a speech.
The sign beside him displayed his name: Toranosuke Yoshida.
“Are you listening to the speech?” Yu asked, standing next to Ren.
“Yes,” Ren replied softly, adding casually, “There are always certain requirements for unlocking new Confidants. I’ll have to work part-time later…”
Yoshida’s Confidant was quite useful, both for money and for negotiations after defeating Shadows.
Yu understood, sighing. “The complexities of adult life.”
The Confidants he had unlocked in Inaba were mostly his peers, but there were also some adults, like the old woman searching for her past or the nurse at the hospital. They had briefly interacted with Yu before moving on with their lives.
These people had taught Yu many things, from compassion to courage. It had truly been a period of growth.
After listening to the speech for a while, Ren turned to Yu. “Let’s go to the Velvet Room now. I have a part-time job at the beef bowl shop tonight.”
“Is it good?”
“What?”
“The beef bowl,” Yu asked curiously. “Can you get me a discount since you work there?”
Ren: …
He was just an employee, not the owner.
But this didn’t deter Yu from wanting to try it. His parents were working late again and wouldn’t be home for dinner, so he might as well eat out, especially with a friend.
There was no reason to refuse. Ren simply nodded and they entered the Velvet Room.
The Velvet Room was exactly as they had left it, the damaged cell unchanged. Only Igor sat behind the broken table, with Margaret and Lavenza flanking him.
“Welcome to the Velvet Room,” Igor greeted them in his familiar voice.
“After much turmoil, tranquility has returned, thanks to our guests.”
Yu finally relaxed, waving at Igor with a smile. “Mr. Igor, long time no see.”
“Indeed, it’s been a while. I didn’t expect a guest who had left the Velvet Room to return through such a unique circumstance.” Igor’s voice was cheerful. “So, were you the one who triggered this miracle, new guest?”
Ren, standing beside Yu, remained silent.
While Yu conversed with Igor, Ren observed the Velvet Room and his own attire.
Good! Although the Velvet Room still looked unsettling, at least he wasn’t in prison garb and chains.
As long as he wasn’t a prisoner, everything was fine.
“Although the Velvet Room was controlled by the false god, rehabilitation proceeded as normal,” Lavenza said softly. “Your rehabilitation progress, guest, is also within the normal range.”
Ren pushed his glasses up. “Yes.”
Igor looked at Ren, then rested his chin on his steepled hands.
“I see. A seemingly endless straight line has somehow intersected, forming a circle and returning to the beginning. Such a thing has occurred.”
“Truly a miraculous and unexpected event.”
Ren slowly looked up at Igor.
Although Igor was still speaking in riddles, he clearly sensed a reference to his rebirth. Igor had realized he had returned.
As expected of the master of the Velvet Room. The seams of the human heart held no secrets from him.
“You may continue, guest,” Igor concluded. “Your current progress is quite satisfactory. As for the arrival of our former guest, consider it fate.”
Yu and Ren exchanged glances, sharing a look of resignation.
Both the former guest who had successfully left the Velvet Room and the returnee guest from a previous life were accustomed to Igor’s cryptic pronouncements.
But at least the Velvet Room was finally back to normal.
Ren, obsessed with fusing Personas and burdened by a surplus he couldn’t combine, immediately opened the execution fusion menu.
Yu watched as Ren fused his Personas, even witnessing a failed execution and a skill mutation.
Execution fusion was truly brutal. How could someone as quiet and serious as Ren stomach such a violent process?
In any case, Ren exited the Velvet Room, satisfied with his three new Personas.
Time stood still in the Velvet Room. To Mona, they had only paused in one spot for a couple of seconds. He couldn’t imagine they had already visited that “terrible place.”
“Are we buying weapons?” Mona asked, looking at the familiar street. “But didn’t we just buy some?”
“Weapons?” Yu looked at Ren. “You buy weapons too?”
“They’re replicas,” Ren explained as they walked away. “Because it’s the world of cognition, replicas are mistaken for real weapons. The more detailed they are, the more believable they become. So I buy these detailed replicas from a specific shop.”
Yu nodded. “So Arsène has the Curse attribute.”
Ren: …?
Was there a connection between those two statements?
Seeing Ren’s confusion, Yu didn’t explain, instead continuing the new topic. “The other world I experienced didn’t have the Curse attribute.”
“It didn’t?” Ren, usually taciturn, was successfully diverted.
“No, but it had the Dark attribute,” Yu recalled. “And the Light attribute.”
“Those two were especially troublesome in the early stages because there were no Personas to counter them. I had to brute-force my way through, which was quite a pain.”
Ren considered this, comparing it to his own experience.
“So the equivalent here would be Curse and Bless?”
“Perhaps.” Yu turned to Ren, his gaze serious, as if about to impart some important information. Ren instinctively tensed.
“Are you going to work now? Thinking about all that made me hungry.”
Ren: …
He had almost forgotten about Yu’s airheadedness.
And he changed topics so abruptly. It was truly disarming.
He should just leave Yu and Yusuke together sometime. He had a feeling they could spend the entire day chatting about bizarre topics.
The beef bowls were delicious and filling, so the shop was always crowded.
Yu looked at the beef bowl placed before him, then at Ren, who was bustling about, almost overwhelmed by the rush.
He took out his phone, snapped a picture of his untouched beef bowl, and sent it to the group chat.
Ryuji, as always, was the first to respond.
[Ryuji Sakamoto: Whoa! So much meat! Wait, is that the beef bowl place on Central Street in Shibuya?]
[Ryuji Sakamoto: Hold on! I’m at the arcade nearby! I’ll be right there!]
[Yusuke Kitagawa: The colors are quite nice. It looks like a good subject for a painting.]
[Ann Takamaki: Wait, are you guys having a get-together? What about me? I can’t eat that much, and I’m trying to lose weight!]
[Ann Takamaki: @Ren Amamiya Ren? Are you joining them?]
Yu opened his camera and took a picture of the busy Ren.
[Yu Narukami: He’s here.]
[Ann Takamaki: …So he’s working there. Narukami-senpai, are you trying to get him more customers?]
But Ren looked completely swamped. He didn’t need more customers.
[Yu Narukami: No, I just wanted to show you the beef bowl. It looks delicious.]
[Ryuji Sakamoto: I’m at the entrance!]
[Yusuke Kitagawa: I’m on my way too.]
[Ann Takamaki: …Fine, I’ll come over after you’re done taking pictures.]
So, when Ren finally had a break, he was surprised to find Yu, who had finished his extra-large beef bowl, sitting at a table for four, with the rest of the Phantom Thieves…
Yu sat upright, his perfect posture masking his naive nature. Ryuji, while eating, commented that ramen was still better, chattering non-stop. Ann hadn’t ordered anything, just sipping water.
And Yusuke was photographing his untouched beef bowl, the flash going off incessantly.
Ren: …
What a bizarre scene.
After his shift ended, Ren changed out of his uniform and approached the table, just in time to hear Yu and Yusuke’s conversation.
“The image of a beef bowl would also make a good logo. It has a down-to-earth feel. Yes, inspiration is striking!”
“But wouldn’t that make people hungry just looking at it?”
“Hunger is a physiological response, unrelated to the logo. Stealth is also a Phantom Thief’s training, and in people’s minds, beef bowl ≠ Phantom Thieves!”
“…Oh, you’ve thought this through.” Yu nodded.
Beef bowl? Phantom Thieves? Logo?
Ren looked at Ann, who was sipping her water.
“They’ve been talking like this for a while now,” Ann said, exasperated. “It’s a completely nonsensical conversation. I don’t understand how they can keep it going.”
“And Yusuke, our goal isn’t to hide. It’s to make our targets aware that they’re being watched. So we have to be flamboyant!”
“I see. It’s no problem. Having my ideas rejected is commonplace,” Yusuke sighed.
Yu nodded again. “Yes, flamboyant. It’s a shame about your idea.”
Ren: …
These two together were a weapon of mass confusion.
Were they genuinely unaware of how strange they were?
