Book 4 - Schemer of the Scalding Sands: Chapter 29; Setting the Bait

The screen turns on as the chapter title plays "Chapter 29; Setting the Bait".

It cuts to after they had finished with the memorization stuff.

Back in the Scarabia dorm lounge both Grim and Kalim look pleased as the latter cheerfully says "Yes! I think I managed to memorize a spell I was having trouble with!"

Jamil stares silently with a bit of a huff.

It then cuts to them all in p.e. uniforms in the area in front of the large Scarabia fountain.

The uniforms still look like prison outfits, but Jade and Azul are wearing them fully and properly as most of the students are although a few do have slight customizations or styles added to them.

While the Scarabia student's uniforms have red and gold accents, unlike the Heartslabyul red and black ones, the Octavinelle trio's are light purple, to the point it looks almost blue, and purple.

Azul explains to the students "Proper exercise is critical to honing a more efficient mind for study. However, overstraining yourself will have an adverse effect." Jade crosses his arms as he adds on "Mock battles are a good way to exercise while venting stress."

Floyd is then seen, wearing his p.e. uniform incorrectly as the bottom part is tied around his waist and he's wearing the light purple almost blue shirt that comes with it as well as a white long-sleeve shirt under it.

He laughs before asking the other students "I'm in the mood to cut loose! So count me in!~ Hmmm, who to fight?~" although he looks more cheerful and peaceful despite what he's saying so who knows how his battle will go.

Kalim and his p.e. uniform is then seen. Kalim also has the black main part tied around his waist although the red shirt that goes along with it is rolled up to his armpits allowing some white tattoos to be seen on his arms. He also has a red sweat-band around his head with two thin white lines going along the top and bottom of it with some gold dangling earrings as well.

Kalim tells the other students "All right, split into teams of five and let the melee begin!"

It then cuts to after they had finished up with all of the mock battles.

Kalim laughs cheerfully and says "Mock battles really are fun! And they're a great way to gauge the results of your training!" before letting out another laugh.

The other students also seem at least kinda happy with how the training and stuff is going now, as they rather happily shout "Yes, Housewarden!"

Jamil doesn't seem to be wearing the top half of the p.e uniform and instead wearing a red sleeveless hoodie, he also wears two sweat-bands around his arms- one on each. Jamil sighs at these turns of events.

It then cuts away to the cafeteria.

Back into the dorm uniforms again, Azul begins to explain "There's one main reason we've grown as well as we have. And that would be…our diet, of course! It's about getting the nutrients you need – not too many and not too few. This helps your afternoon performance." Jade folds his hand in front of himself as he adds on "Cooking is an essential life skill for gaining an understanding of food and developing a healthy diet."

Kalim seems to think for a second before saying "Maybe I should start cooking every now and then… I wouldn't have to worry about poison if I prepared meals myself." Jamil frowns as he tells Kalim "Don't. You'll injure yourself again."

But Jamil gets ignored as Floyd tells Kalim "Okay, Sea Otter. You're in charge of stirrin' the pot!~" Jade also seems fine with the arrangement as he further asks Kalim "Keep an eye on that soup and make sure it doesn't boil over, would you?"

Kalim is happy at being given the opportunity to help, fist-pumping the air, he tells them "Sure thing! Glad to help!"

Jade smiles as he puts his right hand over his chest and tells the students "All right, everyone. Let's make this a meal to remember." The students all shout "Yes, sir!" in return before everyone starts to get to work.

It then cuts away again to when the students have finished preparing the meal.

Kalim is happy about the soup, as he had helped, happily saying "Done! Wow, even I can make a simple soup, huh?" before laughing a little. Jamil crosses his arms and complains "All you did was stir the pot…" before sighing.

It then cuts to later again, now back in the Scarabia dorm lounge.

Kalim happily says "Ahhh, that was fantastic!"

Azul states "Pausing after a meal to take a light walk stimulates the brain and improves your study efficiency in the afternoon."

Kalim then compliments Azul "You know a lot about this stuff, Azul. I'm impressed."

It then takes a bit of a self-deprecating turn as he continued with "And here I was just pushing for frantic hard work with no real direction. I think I've pushed my students in an unfair position. You're a sophomore housewarden just like me, but I'm woefully behind."

But Azul only tells him "Everyone makes mistakes. Our vacation's only half over. There's still room to make up for lost time."

A Scarabia student can then be heard saying "With a training camp this helpful, staying at school doesn't sound so bad." Another says "Yeah, agreed. The only chance we get to spend time with you guys is when we're at school." Another adds on to mini-conversation "It feels like I'm waking up from a nightmare…"

Jamil also hears this and seems upset.

Azul then asks Kalim, rather out of the blue, "Scarabia's got a lot of people good at astrology and ancient incantations, right?"

The main Scarabia dorm with the sorcerer of the sands statue in front of it is shown as their conversation goes on.

Kalim answers "As they tell it here, the Sorcerer of the Sands specialized in divination, and this dorm is populated by students who embody his spirit."

Kalim then adds on "I'm not good at either thing myself, though." Before he lets out a laugh that almost sounds a little forced.

But it seems Kalim's laugh tone isn't noticed, as Azul instead continues talking about one of the great seven "I hear the Sorcerer of the Sands successfully utilized a man-made device for fortune-telling that required natural energy. The study of astrology took shape relatively early when compared to other fields of magic… He was so far ahead of his time. I suppose his successes played a major role in that."

It then cuts back to the regular dorm lounge with all of the students.

Kalim says "Ooh… The Great Seven never fail to impress!"

Jamil is glaring at Azul and Kalim as they talked.

Azul then took notice of the time and said "Oh, it's almost three o'clock. Let's get in a bit more studying, then take a break."

At that Jade asks "Shall I prepare some tea?" But Azul tells him "No, I'll handle it. I'm the farthest along with my assignment, after all."

Jamil then speaks up, telling Azul "Allow me to help." Azul smiles one of his businessmen smiles as he tells Jamil "I'd appreciate that. Shall we be off, Jamil?"

It follows the two as they start to walk down one of Scarbia's hallways.

Azul makes conversation with Jamil, telling him "The students' completion rate for these assignments is up fifteen percent from yesterday. Those are some statistically significant results."

Jamil stays silent still as the two continue walking.

Azul then says "Yuu and Grim told me Kalim was going through drastic mood swings… But he's been acting pretty calm since we arrived. Isn't that nice that Kalim's regained the faith of Scarabia's students?" Azul has a certain glint in his eyes as he asks that last question and watches Jamil's reaction closely.

Jamil is silent for a second before quietly saying "...No. No, it isn't." Azul hears him though and asks "It's not?"

Jamil then stops in the middle of the hallway, now decently away from the other students, and glares at Azul as he tells him "No offense, but I can't let you people stay in Scarabia any longer. It's time you went back under the sea."

Yuu then gets another vision thing of the dark orange, now almost a blood-orange, shadowy flat background as three more drops of the black liquid fall making the puddle just bigger.

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