Into the World of Twisted Wonderland

🐙The Merchant from the Depths🐙 Chapter 6

As the two arrive at the dorm, Jack could only sit down in the lounge, observing the new décor in the lounge. Jack remembered that Angel went to him one day and asked if his dorm had anything that stands out in their dorm, more so in the like of technologically furniture, and he told her about a stereo they had in the lounge, in which she only thanks him and left. He could see why she asked him, since compared to the last time he sees that she had a television and stereo system, along with some new furniture and the lounge was cleaned up more thoroughly. When Jack first came here, the dust made him sneeze, but since the lounge is cleaned up and decorated decently, he hasn't been sneezing as much as he only looks at his surroundings. Angel came back from the kitchen with sandwiches and drinks, as Jack has said he didn't really care for sweets unlike the others, as placed them on the table in front of him, in which he carefully took a sandwich and ate it, eyes wide at the delicious sandwich as she only meekly eats her, still thinking about the students' situation in Octavinelle. As they eat, they could only sit in silence, trying to think of a solution to the situation.

"I think it's safe to say that everybody with an anemone stuck on their head..." Jack starts, making Angel look at him. "....Gambled on Azul's contract and lost. The terms of the contract were apparently to place in the top 50, but with the sheer number of students signin' on, most of them never stood a chance of getting in at all. That was Azul's game from the start." Jack scratches his head as he speaks, trying to make sense of the situation.

Angel could only think about the situation. "You know, I DID find it weird that Grim managed to score over an 80 on a test. In fact, they all got good grades all of sudden. I just thought they studied hard."

"I mean, c'mon!" Jack shouts. "If you're getting' good grades off someone else's work, what does that even prove? You're throwin' away a perfectly good opportunity to show others what you're capable of. Frankly, you're cheating yourself."

"If the rest of the student body here were as principled and tedious...I mean, as 'serious' as you, it would spare me such grief," a voice said, making both Angel and Jack jump in surprise, seeing Crowley besides the teens, sighing at the words he just heard.

"WHOA! Headmage?!" Jack exclaims. "You startled me!"

Crowley sighs. "So transpired another year of me being unable to clamp down Ashengrotto's little 'side business.'"

"Huh?" Angel asks. "What do you mean, 'side business'?"

"Azul Ashengrotto: Sophomore. Housewarden of Octavinelle Dorm. Much like Rosehearts, he is a highly capable student already running a dorm as a sophomore, but...He's a bit- no, I daresay QUITE a bit troublesome."

"Are you talking about him swindling people? Seems to me like one word from the headmage could put a stop to this whole thing," Jack states while Angel thinks.

"Could it be...you can't really do anything about it?" Angel asks Crowley.

Crowley could only sigh at both teen's statements. "Ah, but it is precisely BECAUSE I am in a teaching position that I cannot prohibit his actions."

Angel and Jack could only look at each other, then look at Crowley confused. "Why not?" Jack asks.

"Here's the thing about those study guides that Ashengrotto handed out to the students," Crowley explains. "There was no illegitimate activity involved in their production. Nobody snuck looks at test questions or answers beforehand. It was crafted exhaustively by hand, after researching the past century's worth of Night Raven College exam questions and their patterns. In other words, it's a entirely legitimate study guide."

Angel and Jack's eyes widened at the explanation. "A century's worth of test questions?!" She exclaims. "That's actually amazing..."

"Huh. We'll I'll be. If he did all that by hand, the guy's got chops," Jack smiles, admiring the explanation.