Book 3 - The Merchant from the Depth: Chapter 13; A Dorm Suite

The screen turns on as the chapter title plays "Chapter - 13; A Dorm Suite".

Yuu, Jack, and Grim had just finished explaining the situation to Leona and Ruggie as well as stated their request. Leona states "Not a chance." immediately after.

Jack's ears fold back for a second as he says embarrassed "You didn't even pause before answering…"

Leona explains lazily with his tail lightly swishing behind him "No pets allowed in the dorm. They shed all over the place."

Which makes Grim shout at him "First of all, I AIN'T NO PET. Second of all, I DO NOT! Aren't you guys, like, a billion times furrier than me?!" Ruggie smiles and shrugs as he tells Grim "This is about you, not us."

Leona then explains the real reason "For one thing… Our empty rooms haven't been cleaned in months. Dorm students use 'em as a dumping ground for their junk. Where are we supposed to put up two extra freeloaders?"

Ruggie shoots his hand up, like they're in class and he knows the answer to the problem, shouts "Ooh, I know!" He then puts his hands behind his head once everyone was looking at him as he suggests "Why don't you just bunk with 'em in your room, Leona?"

Everyone, slightly horrified, shouts "What?!"

Leona's ears flicked with irritation as he puts a hand to his head and tells Ruggie, "Ruggie, if you keep flapping your lips, you're about to find 'em sewn shut." Ruggie isn't discouraged as he puts his arms out to the side and tells Leona "Think of it this way, Leona. You're used to havin' people do everything for ya, right? What if we put 'em in charge of serving you instead of charging for room and board? Seems like a win-win to me." Leona growls as he says "...Ruggie, you little…"

Ruggie's ears flatten as he looks at the spot on his arm where Leona was holding him and turning him to sand as he says "Hey, I still ain't fully healed up from the interdorm Spelldrive tournament, y'know? I dunno if it was that major magic I chugged a whole potion to use or what, but hard work's been wearin' me down more than ever lately. And if I might remind you, Leona. I busted my tail for you."

Ruggie then looks up to Leona, who's glaring at that same spot on Ruggie's arm with a frown.

He smirks as he finishes with "So I'm thinkin' I'd heal a whole lot faster if I had these guys waiting on you for a while!"

Leona meets his gaze, as he notices that it was mostly an act and scoffs before telling him "You're a regular mercenary sometimes." Ruggie dramatically puts a hand over his heart as he says "Hey now, I haven't said a single dishonest word!" before doing his signature laugh with a toothy smile.

Leona rolls his eyes at Ruggie's antics, as he decides to let them stay if they complete a trial, as he says "Maybe, but I don't let just anyone cozy up to me like that."

He then calls "Hey, boys! C'mere a sec!" as it switches over to the three Savanaclaw boys they had first met messing around in the lounge.

They walk up as the brown haired one shouts "Yes, sir! You called, Housewarden!" The pink haired one recognizes them as he says "Oh, hey, it's the schmucks who spied on Savanaclaw before the Spelldrive tournament." The three then fully recognize them as the silver haired one shouts "Ain't every day an escaped quarry comes back to us!" before laughing.

Leona smirks as he tells them their challenge "Fight my dorm's students. If you win, I'll let you stick around as gophers. I don't care if it IS just for three days. Savanaclaw's got no use for dead weight, no matter how short or long you stay."

Yuu is at this point entirely annoyed as she shouts "Bring it on!"

Which surprises most of them, while Leona only smirks.

Yuu and Grim then start to fight with the trio from Savanaclaw with Jack later jumping in to help as well after getting the a-ok.

…

And they manage to win the fight!

Leona scowls at his dorm members as he scolds them "How could you lose to some puny little herbivores that fast? You're givin' me a bad name over here."

The brown haired one exclaims "Yipe! Sorry, sir!" in some kinda pain.

Grim then demands "Okay, a deal's a deal! I want that three-day stay and I want it now!"

Leona growls as he puts a hand to his head before clicking his tongue. He then looks straight at them as he says "Just remember, even the slightest bit of trouble from you and you'll be out the door faster than you can say "tuna casserole." You hear me?"

Being tired from the fight, and his tone being similar to that of right before his overblot, she kinda nervously shouts "Y-yes, sir!" Grim lets out a breath of relief as says optimistically "At least we don't gotta sleep outside."

Ruggie smiles as he instructs Jack "All right. Jack, bring some spare bedding to Leona's room." Jack's tail is wagging as he nods and answers "Will do."

Once Jack's gone Ruggie does his signature laugh as he cheers quietly to himself "Lucky me! I get to coast down easy street for three whole days!" Leona glares at Ruggie as he tells him "I heard that, you know. You're in for it later." Which Ruggie only smiles at the threat.

Leona then looks back at Yuu and Grim as he tells them "Okay, herbivores. Get the lead out and follow me."

They then head up to his room, both look around in some wonder as this was their first time seeing it. Grim even says "Daaang! Now this is a wild man's room!"

Leona's tail is thumping unpleasantly on his bed as he tells them "Quit yer gawkin'. I'm goin' to bed now, and if you disturb my sleep, I'll turn you into a shag carpet." He growls at them before lying down on his bed.

Then within seconds he's snoring.

Grim exclaims "He was out in literally three seconds!" while still trying to stay kinda quiet. Yuu walks to the bedding set up on the side for them as she whispers to Grim "Keep it down. We don't want to wake him." Grim gulps as he cautiously flies over to her side to sleep.

The screen then fades to black as "To be continued" plays before fully turning off.