Chapter 32
“Heh... It seems Floyd have matters well in hand good, good… just a bit more, Slytherin Dorm and the photo are as good as mine” Azul shewed on his lower lip. “But why do I feel uneasy ?”
*Knock knock*
An Octavinelle Student entered. “Pardon me, Mr. Manager!”
“What is it, and where's your indoor voice?” Azul frowned.
“Sorry, sir. The Mostro Lounge is dealing with a problem right now...”
“Of what nature?” Azul looked at him.
“Some customers are arguing and getting rowdy, and Floyd is out right now...”
Azul sighed. “Really, now. What kind of unmannerly lout starts a scene in a dining establishment? Very well. I'll be right there. I'm sure Floyd will handle things well enough on his own. Dear me...”
*MOSTRO LOUNGE*
Azul eyes widened at the chaos in front of his. “What is the meaning of this? We've barely opened our doors for the day. How is everything already in such disarray?!”
Savanaclaw students were loud !
“HEY! I want my drink and I want it NOW!”
“Meat! Meat! Hyaaa hahaha!”
“Hey, that's MY meat! I ordered that!”
Azul tried to pass through. “Clear the way. Coming through! Excuse me!”
Ruggie brushed against him. “It's cool, you're excused. Shyeheehee.”
“Hey, waiter! I need a refill!”
“Yessir! Be right there, sir!” Octavinelle student panicked.
“Housewarden! We've been so flooded with orders that our stock of food for the day has run out!”
“We're running low on beverages, too!”
Azul looked at them. “Already?! Fine. So be it. I'll get some cash from the vault. You make a quick run to the school store and...hm?” He touched his side and panicked. “Ah! I-it's gone! The vault key is gone! Oh, no... Oh, no!”
*MOSTRO LOUNGE - VIP ROOM*
Azul found Leona in the room smirking. “Hey there, cephalo-punk.”
Azul glared. “Leona Kingscholar...!”
“What's a calm, collected guy like you doing in such a tizzy?” Leona mocked.
Azul gritted his teeth. “It's none of your business. What are you doing here, anyway?”
Leona smirked. “Funny you should ask. Y'see, I've got this key here. Yours, I believe? I found it on the floor and had a feeling it was yours. So I'm bringing it back.”
Azul looked at the keys. “H-hey! That's—"
“I knew it. Bingo.” Leona smirked.
“Give that back this instant. Theft is a serious crime!” Azul screamed.
Leona snorted. “Hah. Here I'm playing nice and bringing it right to you, and you're treating me like a common thief? Fine. Here, it's all yours.”
Azul caught the keys after Leona threw them at him. “Phew.” He was relieved.
Leona scoffed. “That's all I'm here for. See you around.”
“The contracts... Are the contracts there?!” He opened the vault only to find it empty. “Gh—!!! They're...gone. Gone, gone, gone! The contract scrolls are nowhere to be found! Was it...him?!”
*Octavinelle Dorm*
“Shyeheehee! Managed to swipe 'em without a hitch, huh?” Ruggie grinned.
Leona snorted. “Y'know, your compulsive pickpocketing never ceases to amaze me.”
Ruggie just gave him a smug look. “Hey, if you wanna keep something' safe, you gotta keep your pockets secured too. I'm still not over how many contract scrolls there are. I count around five to six hundred.”
“Hmph. He's probably been trapping people in contracts and stockpiling 'em since long before he enrolled.” Leona said. “Now that we've got the contracts outside the VIP room, that just leaves one thing to do... I am the one who hungers. I am the one who thirsts. I am the one to rob you of your future—"
Azul appeared just in time to try and stop him. “Hold it!”
“Whoops. That was quick.” Leona said while looking at Azul. “Don't come any closer, or the contracts are toast.”
Azul panicked. “G-give them back... Give them back now, if you please!”
Leona grinned. “Hey now, at least try to sound composed. Have you decided to drop the cool act altogether? Judging by the way you're panicking; Roxana was right on the money.”
“Wait... What?” Azul was confused.
*Flash Back*
“From where I come from you put very important things along with gold and money in a vault guarded by goblins, the level of security will depend on the ground where your vault is located, the deeper you go down the bank the more you will find dangerous security method one deadlier than the other, my family vault for example was guarded by a dragon” Roxana said.
Leona gave her a look of pure disbelief. “The fuck did you hide in that vault”
Roxana smiled. “Some cursed objects, anyways, if Azul has that vault there it will mean that he hides his contracts because they aren’t as unbreakable as he likes to put it.”
“Ooh, now that you mention it, yeah! Something doesn't quite add up right ?” Ruggie said. “If Azul and his boys are right, and the contracts are totally unbreakable then why would they need to keep ‘em locked up tight in a vault at all? They could just leave ‘em around anywhere, like Leona does with his wallet.”
“Put down my wallet” Leona said.
“Dang it”
*End of Flash Back*
“This was Roxana's idea?!” Azul’s eyes widened. “Why? Why am I being hassled like this?! Roxana stands to gain nothing whatsoever from releasing the anemones! It's ridiculous!”
“Frankly, I couldn't agree more, but in her words she made a deal with Crowley, and he paid her good money, and that girl loves money and gold just as much as someone needs air to breath if you bribed her first you may have had a chance for her not to ruin your plans or get half of your dorm students petrified” Leona said. “That’s her way of fun you know, sadistic but anyways… Azul... How about you and I make a deal?”
“I'm...sorry?”
“What are you prepared to offer me if I return these contracts to you?” Leona said.
“I-I'll do anything.” Azul responded. “I'll give you all the study guides you want. I'll write your graduation thesis. I'll pad your attendance. Anything—just name it!”
Leona looked a bit impressed. “Interesting. That's a pretty tempting offer.”
Azul had a bit of hope in his eyes. “Then—"
“Here's the thing, though.” Leona cut him. “No offense, but none of that's gonna be enough to justify me returning these contracts.”
Azul froze. “What?”
“See, Roxana's got me over a barrel right now.” Leona explained. “If I don't help Slytherin dispose of these contracts, she will petrify all Savanaclaw students me included”
“Huh...?” Azul looked shocked.
“Basically, if you take her dorm away from her, Savanaclaw will become a garden of petrified students” Leona said. “And I can’t have that, you saw how your students ended up, so sorry, Azul. You're just not quite as dastardly a villain as Roxana is.”
Azul panicked. “R-ridiculous... Don't do it!”
“Now... "Kneel before me!" King's Roar!” Leona casted his Unique Magic and the contracts in his hands turned to dust.
“NOOOOO!!!” Azul fell on his knees as he looked down at the sand that were his contracts. “Ah... Aaah... Aaaaah! My... My... My golden contracts... All...reduced to dust...”
“Azul's signature spell, It's a Deal...” Ruggie said. “Once the contract scroll is signed, it cannot be damaged, regardless of how many people try.”
Leona looked. “You made a show of how unbreakable it was several times, just to hammer that impression home... But there's no such thing as a spell that's completely flawless. From what I saw, it looked like they were impervious to damage only under specific conditions. Namely, either being in the VIP room, or being in your hands. And judging by how easily my magic turned them to sand, I was right. The contract scrolls themselves are no stronger than any other sheet of paper.”
Azul trembled. “I... I don't believe this...”
Ruggie laughed. “Shyeheehee! Too bad ! I should've taken a peek at what kinda contract you made before you sanded 'em down.” He said to Leona.
“Don’t push your luck.” Leona groaned.
“Ah... Ahhh...”
Leona looked at Azul. “Hm?”
“Aaah, aaaaah...” Azul screamed. “NGAAAAAH! I HATE THIIIS!”
Ruggie and Leona got taken aback by that. “Hah ?”
“It's gone. My carefully amassed collection of magic... My omnipotent power...” Azul lamented.
Leona looked at him like he grew another head. “What in the world?...”
“Talk about changing' your tune...” Ruggie said.
“All of it, up in smoke! How could you DO this to me?!” Azul shouted. “Without that, I... I...I'm back to being that "silly little octo-twerp" again! That's the last thing I want... I refuse, I refuse, I REFUSE! I don't WANNA go back to being my old self again!”
Leona looked around as a black aura started to grow around the place. “What's going on?! There's a black aura growing...”
“This is your fault for getting' his hopes up and then dashing 'em on the rocks, Leona!” Ruggie said. “Okay, Azul. Let's all just...take a deep breath and chill for a second. Okay?”
Azul slapped his hand away. “SHUT! UP!!! You don't know me! You don't know my life! All that time I spent being roundly mocked for my weakness... My intellect... Nobody could EVER understand! ...... Heh. Heh hehe. Of course. It's so simple. If you lose something... just take it back. Give them to me. Come on. I want your prowess... GIVE THEM TO MEEE!”