My Dream

🐙 School Business

Jack and Gwen regretfully left their friends behind and went back to the Ramshackle dorm. It was looking a lot nicer these days.

After Gwen's birthday, the rest of the staff came by the next day, as if to confirm what they had seen. The next day, a very scared looking Crowley had arranged for the inside to be completely renovated.

"Those guys with the anemone on their heads, in order to get a good test score they were tricked into forming a contract with Azul..." Jack recounted. "I don't think I got anything wrong. The condition was that they had to get into the top 50 grades but because there were so many students that made contracts most of them couldn't make the cut. That's what Azul was aiming for from the start."

"Vi-vicious." Gwen shuddered. "I thought it was weird for Grim to score above 80."

"There's no meaning in using someone else's power to get good grades." Jack replied. "Wasting the chance to show off their true power to everyone is what really makes them stupid."

"Everyone at this school is self-obsessed like Mr. Howl, it's so troublesome..." Crowley lamented. "If they took things seriously we could avoid hardship for everyone, including myself."

Gwen and Jack flinched, turning to look behind the couch at Crowley.

"Waaah! Headmaster!" Jack gasped. "You scared me!"

"Oh golly! When did you get in here?" Gwen asked.

Crowley ignored him, walking around the couch to take a seat in the armchair. "Huuuh... I couldn't put a stop to Mr. Ashengrotto's business again this year." He bemoaned.

"Business? What do you mean?" Gwen asked. "Headmaster, do you know something?"

"Mr. Azul Ashengrotto. He is a second year that works as the dorm head for Octavinelle." Crowley began. "He is an extremely extraordinary student to be the dorm head as a second year like Mr. Rosehearts but... there are a few, no a great number of problems."

"Problem, like the scam incident?" Jack asked. "If that's the case then as the headmaster can't you just order him to stop?"

"The things is... precisely because I am a teacher, I can't prohibit his activities." Crowley replied nervously.

"What do you mean?" Jack narrowed his eyes.

"The test notebook that Mr. Ashengrotto distributed throughout the school... wasn't something he made by stealing test answers, cheating or anything like that." Crowley admitted. "He throughly read through the last 100 years of test answers from Night Raven College and refined a test key with his own abilities."

"The last 100 years of test answers!?" Gwen repeated in shock. "Golly, that's actually amazing!"

"Using his own power to make something like that, he's pretty good!" Jack said, sounding impressed. "Hm? Wait. So you're saying that because it's not cheating that's what makes it troublesome... right?"

"Mr. Howl, that's a very good conclusion." Crowley nodded. "From the position of a teacher, we can't prevent one student from creating a test notebook like that from their legitimate efforts. And the fact that he kindly helped others with their studies."

"If you did you'd pretty much be telling everyone "don't study" or "don't work with your friends"." Jack growled a little. "That is troublesome."

"That is correct." Crowley agreed.

"By the way, Headmaster, didn't you say something like "I couldn't stop his business again this year"?" Jack asked. "Did he actually do this last year, too?"

"Yes." Crowley answered. "His notebook didn't gain as much fame and notoriety last year so it didn't become a huge incident like this year but... this year it seems the rumor "if you want to get good grades on your exams then come to the Mostro Lounge" was spread all around campus."