Twisted Wonderland Book 3: The Merchant from the Depths

Chapter 25: A Cleaning Hint

Sometime later, Briar returned to the dorm to meet with the others. And later in the night, the group are in Leona's bedroom where Leona and Ruggie are giving them chores to clean up the room.

Ruggie says, "Your job for today is to clean Leona's room."

"You'd better earn your room and board, herbivores," Leona says.

Annoyed, Grim complains, "Between Azul bossin' me around at work and Leona doin' it at home, I'm a mess. Uuugh."

"I know you're a little tired, but it's not won't be too much trouble if we work together," Briar says.

"Yeah. There are a lot of us here, so the chores shouldn't be too much trouble," Sereia says.

Grim sighs and says, "Fine."

Then Ruggie says, "Start by putting all his randomly-discarded clothes into the laundry basket, then clean off his desk. Accessories go in this drawer. Books go on that shelf. Once the desk is clear, wipe it off with a dust cloth.

Grim glares at Leona, "You're not a cube. You should know how to clean up after yourself.

"Hm? Care to run that one by me again?" Leona questions with a frown and looks like he's ready to make him his lunch.

Grim yelps, "Eep! I-I didn't say nothin'." and quickly says, "Okay, I'll start cleanin' the pile of stuff offa this desk..."

Grim walks to the desk to start cleaning, but lets out a surprise, "Whoa!"

What Grim sees are Leona's wallet and a small pile of jewelry and expensive accessories, "He left some expensive-lookin' jewelry just lyin' around. And there's his wallet! W-with this much stuff around, surely he wouldn't notice one little thing goin' missing, right?" He then smirks and says, "That's what he gets for not puttin' this stuff under lock and key. Nyeh heh heh..."

Grm tries to reach for the stuff, but Trinket pulls his ears to prevent him from doing so.

"Ow ow ow! Knock it off!" Grim screams.

Ruggie then swipes them away as he says, "Don't even try it. That one's mine to nab—uh, I mean, he'd know immediately if something was unaccounted for."

Then turns to Leona, "I keep telling you to stop leaving your valuables out in the open, Leona. You're gonna get robbed blind one of these days!"

"Ah, shut your trap. What are you, my mom?" Leona questions annoyingly, "So what if my stuff gets stolen, anyway? It's no big deal. I say if someone's got the guts to steal from me, they can go right ahead."

"But it IS a big deal! That's my point! It's all fun and games being rich until the day you suddenly feel the penny drop. They're called 'valuables' for a reason, "Ruggie says.

And mutters, "This is what drives me nuts about you silver-spoon types..."

Briar listens to the two's conversation. She hears that Leona keeps his valuables out almost like they aren't valuable enough. That or Leona knows that anyone who dares is in deep trouble.

Suddenly, Briar remembers something. A few things actually.

Flashback: VIP Room

Briar, Sereia, and Trinket quickly fall to the floor as the cauldron slams right into the face, causing a dent on it.

Azul cries out, "Floyd! Watch where you're directing that spell! You've aimed right for the vault, you fool!"

"Whoopsie-daisy. Sorry about that," Floyd says.

Briar looks at Floyd in disbelief, "WHAT?!"

Azul checks the safe to see the damage that's been done, "No... The door's damaged! The dial and hinges aren't shot, are they?!"