Book 3 - The Merchant from the Depths: Chapter 6; A Contractual Setback

The screen turns on as the title card plays "Chapter- 6; A Contractual Setback".

The two had gone to Yuu's dorm and had just started talking in the lounge.

Jack restated what they knew "I think it's safe to say that everybody with an anemone stuck on their head… gambled on Azul's contract and lost. The terms of said contract were apparently to place in the top 50. But with the sheer number of students signin' on most of them never stood a chance of getting in at all. That was Azul's game from the start." Yuu was just nodding from time to time, to show that she was listening and understood. Yuu then put her right hand out to her side palm up as she told Jack "I DID find it weird that Grim managed to score over an 80 on a test."

Jack's ears turned to the side as he disgruntled "I mean, c'mon! If you're gettin' good grades off someone else's work, what does that even prove? You're throwin' away a perfectly good opportunity to show others what you're capable of. Frankly, you're cheating yourself."

Just then the headmage stepped in saying "If only the rest of the student body here were as principled and tedious… I mean, as "serious" as you, it would spare me such grief!" He then took a seat next to them without asking if he could join.

Meanwhile Jack exclaimed "WHOA! Headmage?! You startled-" He was about to say us but then saw Yuu had a pessimistic face on but wasn't surprised by the headmage dropping in so he finished with "-me!"

The headmage ignored Jack's outburst and Yuu clearly being irritated with him being there, as he sighed and said "So transpires another year of me being unable to clamp down on Ashengrotto's little 'side business.'"

Yuu thinks 'What do you mean, "side business"?' as she asks him as politely as she can "Do you know something about this, Headmage?"

This makes Crowley tell them "Azul Ashengrotto: Sophomore. Housewarden of Octavinelle Dorm. Much like Rosehearts, he is a highly capable student already running a dorm as a sophomore, but… He's a bit –no, daresay QUITE a bit troublesome."

Jack is kinda confused as he tells the headmage "Are you talking about him swindling people? Seems to me like one word from the headmage could put a stop to this whole thing."

The headmage looks down as he says "Ah, but it is precisely BECAUSE I am in a teaching position that I cannot prohibit his actions." Jack asks "Why not?"

The Headmage then looks the two in the eye as he tells them "Here's the thing about those study guides that Ashengrotto handed out to the students. There was no illegitimate activity involved in their production. Nobody snuck looks at the test questions or answers beforehand. It was crafted exhaustively by hand, after researching the past century's worth of Night Raven College exam questions and their patterns. In other words, it's an entirely legitimate study guide."

Yuu shoots up from her seat and shouts in surprise "A century's worth of test questions?!" before quickly sitting back down and thinking 'That's actually amazing!' Jack now has some respect for Azul as he says "Huh. Well, I'll be. If he did all that by hand, the guy's got chops."

Before getting back on track as he asks "Hm? Wait… So the problem is that there IS no problem with it?" The headmage nods as he conforms saying "You strike right to the heart of the matter, Howl."

He then continues, telling them "As a teacher, I can hardly prohibit a student from crafting an exam study guide via honest work. Nor can I prohibit a student from "kindly" sharing their notes with their friends." Jack concludes "If you did, you'd basically be tellin' students, "no studying" AND "no helping out your buds".

Before growling as his ears flatten and he states "Talk about a seriously briny pickle." The headmage nods saying "That it most certainly is."

Jack then questions the headmage "And earlier you said "another year," yeah? Did the same thing happen last term?"

The headmage admits "Indeed it did. Of course, last year his study guides didn't have quite the reputation they carry this year. So the commotion was much more contained, relatively speaking. This year, on the other hand, rumors abounded throughout campus that if one wished to score well on a test, they should visit the Mostro Lounge."

Jack then guessed "And I'm guessin' the nasty little caveat in the contract in the event of a breach stayed hush-hush because of that binding NDA." The headmage nods as he confirms Jack's guess "So it would seem. Thus did Ashengrotto have a steady stream of students lining up to accept his bargain this year." Before begrudgingly admitting "And the test average across all subjects and years has jumped above 90, much to my chagrin. Of course, I would be even more chagrined if all of our subject averages were falling grades. But still!"

Yuu sighed as she asked as a statement "So what you're saying is that most of the student body cheated." Which got a confirmative nod from the headmage.

Jack asked next "Does that mean that there are guys from last year who lost the bet and still haven't gotten their powers back?" Crowley answers "Actually, he returned the powers he took from students last year as part of an arrangement he made with me. In return, I granted him permission to run Mostro Lounge on school property." Jack exclaims "WHAT?!" at that.

It then switches to a small flashback to when Azul started making his deal with the headmage. As Azul states "Night Raven College is a historic and prestigious institution famed for producing the finest of magicians. Yet now the campus is replete with students capable of only minor feats of magic – a fact I'm sure you're none too pleased about, Headmage. Which is why I have a proposal…and it's one I think you will find to be quite beneficial." as he handed over some documents to the headmage.

The flashback then closes out as Crowley says "That was how he framed it." Both Yuu and Jack have their mouths hanging open as Jack rubs the back of his head and states "Talk about brazen. I mean, blackmailing the headmage into a deal? No wonder Leona wants nothin' to do with this guy."

Crowley then revealed the real reason he agreed saying "And when he offered to contribute 10% of the proceeds to the school… Why, how could I say no to such a mutually beneficial arrangement?" all the while continuing to play his victim act.

But this also causes Jack to shout at the headmage "Wait, so you're gettin' something from it?!" clearly irritated.

Crowley keeps his victim act on though as he says "Dear of dear. I can only wonder what demands he'll make of me this year. Whatever he wants, I will undoubtedly be forced to acquiesce. What else can I do for our idiotic –ah, that is, our poor, unfortunate students?"

But his head picks up as he boasts "My immense kindness always gets the better of me." which sets off alarm bells in Yuu's head as she remembers what happened with the Spelldrive tournament and how the headmage told her to investigate.

But Crowley continues on, although now a bit more positively "Ashengrotto "merely" studies diligently, then shares his rightfully-earned knowledge with other students out of the kindness of his heart… It wouldn't do for a teacher to discourage such earnest behavior."

He then complains about something only Yuu truly has the ability to do "Why must every student in our school arrive with some amount of baggage to sort out?! Oooh, woe is meee!"

At this point everything in Yuu is telling her to run away and not listen to another word the headmage has to say. She points an accusing finger at the headmage as she tells him "I-I know where this is going…" While the 'stop it' is left silent it is understood that it's what comes next.

But Crowley ignores her as he tells Yuu "And that's where you come in, Yuu. Would you be so kind as to persuade Ashengrotto to cease this little game of his?"

Yuu's mouth hangs open before it deadpans and she mentally shouts 'I don't think anybody could "persuade '' him to do anything!' But to be respectful only tells him "Please don't ask the impossible."

But this makes Crowley once again blackmail her as he states "Incidentally, Ramshackle Dorm's food expenses have been mounting as of late, as I recall. You must be terribly strapped for cash… And alas, I'm so preoccupied researching a way to return SOMEONE to their home, I have so little time to address other problems…" He then smiles a sick smile as he waves his hand and tells them but mainly her "Oh, but don't worry about me, really. I am, as you know, a philanthropist to the core."

Jack then realizes this was most likely why she interfered with the Spelldrive tournament when it had nothing to do with her or her dorm. So he whispers over to her "With teachers like this, no wonder our students are the way they are." in some kinda small form of solace.

Yuu gulps and pulls herself in as she reluctantly agrees and says "...You drive a hard bargain. I suppose I can't say no." Crowley happily claps as he says "You'll accept my request, then? Wonderful, Yuu! I knew I saw potential in this prefect!"

He then gets up telling them "Then I'll be going now, as I am a very busy man. I'm counting on you!" as he then leaves the dorm entirely.

Yuu rubs her eye as Jack says "Boy, you never know when the headmage'll pop up."

But she's in an annoyed state, which gets worse with the mention of the headmage so he instead moves on asking "Okay, so what exactly is your plan here? Because you're kinda right – just going up to Azul and askin' him nicely isn't gonna get you anywhere."

She smiles a little at Jack confirming that she was indeed right, about Azul being difficult and near impossible to have just change or let go of the students.

She looks Jack in the eye as she states "A good investigation starts with observing the target." Jack nods as he happily nods telling "True. A successful hunt starts with learnin' all you can about your target."

His tail is then seen wagging as he finishes by telling her "You actually know your stuff." Yuu's chest puffs up slightly with how Jack seemed to positively react to her comment, unlike how Ace, Deuce, or Grim would just typically brush it off and only in important times would they listen to her first then argue about what they should/should've done.

Jack's smile turns a little more wicked as he states "Besides, letting Ace and the others stew in the mess they made might help 'em learn something from this." Which makes Yuu's smile also turn a little wickeder.

The screen then fades to black as they plan to learn more about Azul and "To be continued" played on the screen before it fully turned off.