Book 3 - The Merchant from the Depths: Chapter 30; Contract Dissolution

The screen turns on as the chapter title plays "Chapter - 30; Contract Dissolution".

Leona is seen meeting up with Ruggie at the front of the main Octavinelle dorm.

Ruggie does his signature laugh as he asks "Managed to swipe 'em without a hitch, huh?" Leona chuckles before telling Ruggie "Y'know, your compulsive pickpocketing never ceases to amaze me."

Ruggie smirks as he tells him "Hey, if you wanna keep somethin' safe, you gotta keep your pockets secured too."

But then as he takes the contracts out of where he was hiding them Ruggie tells Leona "I'm still not over how many contract scrolls there are. I counted around five to six hundred."

Leona snorts as he rolls his eyes and states "He's probably been trapping people in contracts and stockpiling 'em since long before he enrolled."

All the contracts are now out as Leona tells him "Now that we've got the contracts outside the VIP room, that just leaves one thing to do…

Leona then starts to use his full signature spell without being overblotted as he states "I am the one who hungers. I am the one who thirsts. I am the one to rob you of your future–"

But is cut off as Azul runs up shouting "Hold it!"

Leona partially stops as he says "Whoops. That was quick." He then warns Azul "Don't' come any closer, or the contracts are toast."

Azul panics as he shouts "G-give them back… Give them back now, if you please!"

Leona smirks as he teasingly asks "Hey now, at least try to sound composed. Or have you decided to drop the cool act altogether? And judging by the way you're panicking, they were right on the money."

The 'they' confuses Azul as he asks "Wait… What?"

It then switches into a flash-back to the night before when Yuu had come up with the whole plan.

It's all in black and white to represent the flash-back as Leona asks "So what you're saying is that the contracts could be breakable when they're not stored in the vault?"

Grim is confused as he asks "Huh? 'Scuse me? What? How would that work?"

Ruggie now seems to fully understand as he says "Ooh, now that you mention it, yeah! Something doesn't quite add up right, huh? If Azul and his boys are right, and the contracts are totally unbreakable and jolt anyone who touches them… 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."

Grim then understands as he says "Oh! Now that you mention the vault… Remember how freaked out he got when the vault got a little dinged up?"

It then goes into another flash-back, although to show difference this one also seemed to have some kinda vintage filter on it.

Azul then spots a small spot where the cauldron hit the vault which makes him run over to it shouting "No…! The door's damaged! The dial and hinges aren't shot, are they?!" Before frantically checking, then sighing in relief before saying "Okay, good." He then shouts at Floyd some more "How many times have I told you not to use your signature spell/unique magic so carelessly?! What will it take to get it through your head?!" scolding him. Floyd almost seemed to pout a little as he argued back "I said I was sorry, okay? You don't gotta get all bent outta shape over one little ding." The first-years look confused at the argument going on before them between Azul and one of his right hand men while the other seemed to just be watching them. Azul shouts back at Floyd "You'd have me save my protestations for when it's completely demolished, then?!"

It then goes back to the original flash-back as Ruggie states "Yeah, huh? It's just common sense to put valuables in a safe, so I didn't even question that part. Who knew our pampered prince's inability to tie his own shoes in the morning would be the key to solving this mystery?"

Leona lets out what is essentially a growl before he clicks his tongue and tells Ruggie "You always hafta get in a dig."

But they quickly move on as Ruggie tells them "Y'know, I'm startin' to think that whole bit about the contracts electrifying people was another bluff on their part."

Grim shouts "What did mew say?!" letting out a cat sound instead of you in his panic.

Leona shrugs as he tells them "He knew you froshes were watching them, so they conveniently "forgot" a contract scroll and left it on a table. All they'd have to do at that point is wait for one of you to touch it, then use some lightning magic to jolt you."

He closes his eyes and crosses his arms as he scolds them "Maybe don't fall for such an obvious trap next time."

But Grim shouts "Azul ain't just duplicitous! He's like, octaplicitous! We've been had again!"

Leona rolls his eyes as he tells Yuu "Regardless, the quickest way to test your theory is to remove the contracts from the vault."

It then switches back to the present as Azul shouts, rather angrily "This was all Yuu's idea?! Why? Why am I being hassled like this?! Yuu stands to gain nothing whatsoever from releasing the anemones! It's ridiculous!"

Leona shrugs as he tells Azul "Frankly, I couldn't agree more. So, Azul…"

His voice trails off for a second and the screen already starts to fade to black as Leona is heard finishing the sentence asking Azul "How about you and I make a deal?"

It then goes entirely black as "To be continued" plays before it fully turns off.