Book 3 - The Merchant from the Depths: Chapter 36; Scarfing Down Fast

The screen turns on as the chapter title plays "Chapter - 36; Scarfing Down Fast".

Jack states "Anyway. We held up our end of the deal and brought the photo to you within the deadline you gave us. We'vd completely fulfilled your terms."

Grim is smug as he leans against Jack saying "Yeah. Real shame about the contracts gettin' sanded before we did."

But Jack pushes Grim away as he seems to suddenly change his tone as he essentially growls out at Azul "But stealing just doesn't sit right with me. Azul, you're a law-abiding sorta guy, right? Take some responsibility and return the picture back to where it belongs." His voice slowly returned to normal the more he talked.

Yuu was about to say 'I'll go with you.' when she saw a certain spark in Floyd's eyes, so instead she tells Azul "We can return it together." allow the possibility for others to join in as well if they want.

Azul sighs as he says "Fine…" but then grips his jacket ends as he said quite loudly for him "But at least let me switch it out for a version where I've been edited out of the picture."

Yuu gives him this deadpan but puppy-dog eye stare at his last bit, to just put the photo back as it already is.

But Leona is the one who actually speaks up as he lets out a laugh before telling him "You just don't know when to let something go."

Azul glares at him, but suddenly Jade tells him "He's right, you know. Records are a valuable treasure."

But Floyd doesn't really care how or if the photo goes back and is more excited by actually going to the museum for a visit rather than stopping a deal from being completed.

This is especially clear as Floyd essentially changes the mood cheering "Ooh, field trip!~ When do we go? We're goin' as a group, right?~ I haven't been to the Atlantica Memorial Museum since our elementary school field trip. This is gonna rule!~"

But then Grim is seen sniffing around the ground.

So Ace asks him, confused "Hm? Yo, Grim. What are you sniffing at the ground for?"

Grim tells him rather smugly all while still looking "My gourmet hunting instincts are tellin' me… that there's a pitch-black treat as delectable as a truffle around here!"

Ace shouts at him "What are you, a truffle hog?!"

But Grim finds and picks up another one of those stones as he shouts triumphantly "Myah! There it is – a black stone! There's no foolin' gourmet hunter Grim's nose!"

Leona looks as he asks "A…black stone?"

But Grim doesn't waste any more of his time as he shouts "Time to chow down! HOMPH!" as he eats the stone in one bite. Or at least puts it all in his mouth at once.

He then goes on another flavor rant "Mmm… It's rich, with a briny punch like salted squid guts… This would drive any discerning gourmand wild! Seriously top-tier stuff!"

Deuce only now notices as he shouts at Grim "Really? You're eating off the ground AGAIN?!" Ace seems to almost deflate a little as he shakes his head and says "Feels like a waste of breath to even tell him to stop at this point. There's just no accounting for a monster's palate."

Leona is silent with his brows furrowed, almost looking like he wants to say something about Grim eating the stone but instead just asks the magicless prefect "Hey. Does that weasel always pick up black stones off the ground and eat them?"

Yuu moves her head left and right as she kinda dodgingly answers "Not constantly, but…"

Jack also picks up on Leona's hesitance to say something as he asks "Something wrong, Leona?"

Leona crosses his arms, closes his eyes, and shakes his head as he tells them "Nah. Don't mind me."

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