Into the World of Twisted Wonderland

🐙The Merchant from the Depths🐙 Chapter 29

After a few more minutes of the cat-and-mouse game, the twins started to get tired. "Okay, I'm tired of chasing 'em around," Floyd says with a bored tone, seeing that the group has regrouped again.

"There's not long to go now. Let's just enjoy it," Jade says with a smile, looking at the surface.

"Hey, Angel! The sun's close to setting!" Jack says as he notices the sunlight in the water become orange.

"Angel, are you SURE you know what you're doin'?" Grim asks, uncertainty in his tone.

"I'm positive," Angel confidently says to the group. "They'll come through for us! Let's keep it up!"

While the five was dealing with the twins, in the VIP Room, Azul sat in his chair, looking at the contract signed by Angel and a watch. He smirks as he looks at the watch, seeing that it was almost time for the sun to set. "Heh..." He chuckles. "It seems Jade and Floyd have matters well in hand. Now Ramshackle Dorm and the photo are as good as mine. Hm hm hm....Ha ha ha ha!" He laughs, playing with the contract.

Suddenly, there's a knock on the door, bringing Azul out of his laughter and a student walks in, panic on his face. "Pardon me, Mr. Manager!" The student yells.

"What is it, and where's your indoor voice?" Azul answers the student, scolding him a little.

"Sorry, sir. The Mostro Lounge is dealing with a problem right now..." The student announces.

"Of what nature?" Azul asks.

"Some customers are arguing and getting rowdy and Jade and Floyd are out right now..." The student announces, his tone getting nervous about the potential fight that's about to break out soon.

Azul sighs as he gets up from his seat. "Really, now. What kind of unmannerly lout starts a scene in a dining establishment? Very well. I'll be right there." The student leaves, heading back to the lounge. "I'm sure Jade and Floyd will handle things well enough on their own. Dear me..." He sighs as he head to the Mostro Lounge, closing the door behind him.

In the Mostro Lounge, what the student said was not far from the truth. A bunch of students gathered in the lounge, yelling, screaming, talking loudly, and walking around, acting like they owned the place. When Azul walked in, the scene surprised him, not really expecting the lounge to be full so soon. "What is the meaning of this? We've barely opened our doors for the day. How is everything already in such disarray?!" He says as he looks around, seeing that some of the Octavinelle students are struggling with the commotion, some trying to deescalate various situations, some trying to take a variety of orders from the students, and some just trying to deliver drinks and food to them.

"HEY! I want my drink and I want it NOW!" A Savanaclaw student yells to an Octavinelle student, who only flinch and nod at the yelling.

"Meat! Meat! Hyaaa ha ha ha!" Another Savanaclaw student laughs, taking a plate from another student in front of him.

"Hey, that's MY meat! I ordered that!" The student angrily exclaims to the student that took his food, growling at him as he stands up and prepare for a fight.

"Clear the way. Coming through!" Azul says, trying to navigate through the throng of students gather in his way. As he walks through, he walks into another student, the two staggering back at the encounter. Azul could only try to focus on the commotion he was heading to. "Excuse me!" He exclaims, not knowing that the person he bumped into was Ruggie and hurried over to the table, hoping to settle things down.

"It's cool, you're excused," Ruggie says, hands behind his back to no one in particular. "Shyeheehee," he snickers as he walks off, heading towards the back of the lounge.

"Hey, waiter! I need a refill!" A student exclaims.

"Yessir! Be right there, sir!" An Octavinelle student answers, trying to empty the tray of food in his hand quickly to the table in front of him.

Two students spotted Azul and run up to him, panic on their faces. "Housewarden! We've been so floored with orders that our stock of food for the day has run out!" One student whispers to Azul, hoping that the Savanaclaw students doesn't hear before they cause a commotion outside their control.

"We're running low on beverages, too!" The other student exclaims.

"Already?!" Azul looks at them in shock and the students only nodded their heads. "Fine. So be it. I'll get some cash from the vault," he said as he puts his hands in his pocket, fishing for the key. "You make a quick run to the school store and...hm?" He says as his fingers grasp nothing in his pocket. He starts to dig into his other pocket, only to not find the key he was looking for. "Ah!" He exclaims, turning his pockets inside out, trying to see if the key is still in there. His hopes were dashed when nothing came out, only the lining of the pocket. "I-it's gone! The vault key is gone!" He exclaims, panic settling in his voice. He looks to the back of the lounge. "Oh, no....Oh, no!" He quickly runs to the back of the lounge, hoping to find the key.

Azul hurries over to the VIP room, hoping that the key was dropped when he left, and when he opened the door, his eyes grow wide, not expecting the sight in front of him.

"Hey there, cephalo-punk," Leona says as he sits on the couch, greeting Azul with a smile.

"Leona Kingscholar...!" Azul exclaims with a glare, trying to hide his panic.

Leona noticed his shift in body language. "What's a calm, collected guy like you doing in such a tizzy?" Leona innocently asked Azul, in which Azul straightens up.

"It's none of your business," Azul answers curtly, heading to the desk while Leona only watches him. "What are you doing here, anyway?" He asks.

"Funny you should ask," Leona says, raising his clenched hand. "Y'see, I've got this key here. Yours, I believe?" He unclenches his hand, showing the key that he was talking about. "I found it on the floor and had a feeling it was yours. So I'm bringing it back."

Azul looks at the key with eyes wide. "H-hey! That's-"

"I knew it. Bingo," Leona interrupts as he stands up.

"Give that back this instant," Azul says in a panic yet calm tone. "Theft is a serious crime!"

"Hah," Leona chuckles. "Here I'm playing nice and bringing it right to you, and you're treating me like a common thief? Fine. Here, it's all yours," Leona says as he tosses the key to Azul and Azul catches it.

"Phew..." Azul lets out a sigh of relief, relieved at the fact that the key is back in his possession.

"That's all I'm here for. See you around," Leona says as he leaves the room, leaving Azul to himself.

Once Azul made sure Leona has left, panic start to rise. "The contracts..." He says as he turns around, using his key to unlock the door. "Are the contracts there?!" He was able to unlock the door, opening it once the locks clicked. When he looked inside, his eyes grew wide, panic evident on his face. "Gh-!" He exclaims as he looked inside the vault. "They're...gone," he says as he looks in the vault, hoping to find the golden pieces of paper inside. "Gone, gone, gone!" He exclaims, panic in his voice. "The contract scrolls are nowhere to be found!" He remembers about Leona and looks at the door, a glare on his face. "Was it...him?!"