Book 3 - The Merchant from the Depths: Chapter 19; Wracking the Brain

The screen turns on as the chapter title plays "Chapter - 19; Wracking the Brain".

Now the next night at the Savanaclaw dorm lounge. Leona was lying lazily on one of the spots near the watering hole with Ruggie sitting backwards on a chair he pulled over nearby.

Meanwhile Jack, Yuu, and Grim are all just standing in front of them.

Ruggie asks them slightly amused "What? You guys actually went to Coral Sea?" Leona snorts what kinda seems like a laugh as he puts a two fingers to his temple and asks them "How stupid can you get?"

Grim yells "Mrah?! But you're the guy who said to "get the ball rolling" right now!" angrily at him.

Leona annoyedly huffs at Grim as his tail flicked behind him and tells them "I never said anything about diving headlong into the sea. Your time's limited. What I was suggestin' was that you use your head and find a worthwhile use of your time. Challenging merfolk head-on in the water is a losing proposition no matter how you slice it. It's like walking into a carnivore's mouth."

Jack seems to realize something as he asks his two seniors "Wait. Did you guys know the twins were actually mermen this whole time?"

Leona's ears flick as he tells them "Maybe." with a slight smirk. Ruggie puts his hands behind his head and leans back a little as he tells them "I saw Floyd in his natural form at a joint swimming class last summer, and boy, let me tell you…"

He pauses as he leans forward again and crosses his arms on the chair's back as his ears flatten and he finishes with "If that guy came after me in the water, I'd be done for. End of story."

Jack shouts at them "It woulda been nice to know that beforehand!"

Leona sits up on his arm as he says "Last I checked, you were the guys who ran off half-cocked without bothering to gather any intel." As he smirks as he finishes with "I would've been happy to share it all in detail if you'd asked." Ruggie puts his arms out to the side as he agrees and teases them "Yeah! You gotta cover your bases before you start pickin' fights, y'know?" Before doing his signature laugh and continuing "Back at the Savanna, you gotta tread carefully if you don't wanna end up as someone's dinner."

Grim grumbles for a second before yelling "You're the same couple of scheming jerks as always!" at the two.

But Jack is actually thinking as he rubs the back of his head and asks awkwardly "Does this mean Azul was planning on interfering from the start when he made the offer?"

Leona rolls his eyes as he answers "Uh, duh? Obviously?" Ruggie further explains to them "The Leech brothers are Azul's top men. They're known for collecting all collateral and compensation from his contractors. And rumor has it they run interference to make sure the contract terms can't be met."

Grim shouts the insult, annoyed by what's happening "What a bunch of low-down, dirty cheaters!"

He then seems to almost be in tears as he asks rhetorically "If Yuu loses, am I gonna be stuck workin' day and night for Azul forever?"

Yuu pulls Grim into her arms and pets him as she tries to reassure him "I'm sure we'll manage something." While thinking rather negatively 'Pretty sure, at least…'

Leona stares at the two while staying quiet prompting Ruggie to ask him confused "Leona?"

Leona closes his eyes for a second before explaining to them "Azul's signature spell/unique magic is a golden contract scroll called "It's a Deal". It enables the caster to take one power from a target if that target signs the scroll. In addition, in the event of a contract breach, the breacher is compelled to obey Azul's every command to a T.'' Ruggie shrugs as he adds on "They say spells with a tricky activation requirements are especially potent, but man… Isn't that messed up?"

Leona continues his explanation with a side glance at Ruggie "When the power gets taken, it's elated inside the contract and made available for Azul to use as it suits him."

Jacks ears flatten as he says "Wait, so all those times Azul busted out different sortsa high-difficulty spells like it was nothing…"

Ruggie's eyebrows furrow and a light snarl form on his face as he tells them "I'd bet you anything that those were powers he swiped from contractors as collateral."

Jack balls a fist as he shouts "That's nuts! That means he's cheating at everything!"

Ruggie's back to normal as he shrugs and tells Jack "Technically, no. As far as signature spells/unique magic go, his is at crazy high-level. Guy's gotta have some chops to pull something like that off." Leona tells them honestly "I've never put up my power for collateral, so I've got no idea how it works, myself."

Jack is now curious as he asks "Wait, then what DID you put up for collateral?"

Leona growls as he puts a hand to his head as he appears to think back on it before telling them "What's it matter? It's all in the past anyway."

He then quickly moves the conversation along as he tells the first year group "ANYWAY. Contracts with him'll last as long as that special scroll is around. Which is why Azul makes very carefully worded offers." Ruggie shrugs as he tells them "And then gets suckers to sign on with terms they can't possibly meet." Leona smirks as he finishes with "The only way to win against Azul is to not make a contract at all." with a small chuckle at the end.

Grim cries out "Mrooow… What are we supposed to do?!" as he buries himself in Yuu's arms again. Yuu looked down at Grim and thought about asking the older duo to help but knew begging wouldn't do anything.

She frowned as she mumbled "We can't afford to lose, but this is looking bad."

But Leona hears as he snaps his fingers and rhetorically asks her "How about you try using your head, dimwit? How do you win against someone stronger than you? You use your noggin."

She rolls her narrowed eyes at him as she believes that he was only making fun of her situation.

Leona sits fully up and puts a hand to his chin as he says "But, hm… If I were in your shoes…"with a bit of smirk. Yuu looks up hope-fully, but what he said isn't heard.

The screen fades to black and "To be continued" plays before it fully turned off.