Twisted Wonderland x (Todoroki) Reader

The Merchant from the Depths

-3rd POV-

The two were sitting in the lounge of the Ramshackle dorm.

"I think it's safe to say that everybody with an anemone stuck on their head...gambled on Azul's contract and lost. The terms of said 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 said.

(Y/n) tilted her head slightly, "I did find it weird that Grim managed to score over 80 on a test." She said.

"I mean, c'mon! If you're gettin' good graded 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 different voice said, making the two turn startled.

Well, the girl had her fire ready, but then calmed down, seeing that it was Crowley.

"Whoa! Headmage?! You startled me!" The wolf male said.

The male sighed, "So transpires another year of me being unable to clamp down on Ashengrotto's little "side business.""

The girl narrowed her eyes at him, "What do you mean by that?"

"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 said.

"Ah, but it is precisely because I am in a teaching position that I cannot prohibit his actions."

"Why not?" The girl said.

"Here's the thing about those study guides that Ashengrotto handed out to the students. 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 an entirely legitimate study guide."

Her eyes widen, "A century's worth of test questions...?!"

The silver haired male smirked, "Huh. Well, I'll be. If he did all that by hand, the guy's got chops." He said, before looking at the male, "Hm? Wait...So the problem is that there is no problem with it?"

"You strike right to the heart of the matter, Howl. As a teacher, I can hardly prohibit a student from crafting an exam study guide via honest work. Nor can I prohibit a student from "kindly" sharing their notes with friends." Crowley said.

"If you did, you'd basically be tellin' students, "no studying" and "no helping your buds."" He growled softly, "Talk about a seriously briny pickle."

"That is most certainly is."

"And earlier you said "another year," yeah? Did the same thing happen last term?"

"Indeed it did. Of course, last year his study guides didn't have quite the reputation they carry this year. So the commotion was much more contained, relatively speaking. This year, on the other hand, rumors abounded throughout campus that if one wished to score well on a test, they should visit the Mostro Lounge."

"And I'm guessin' the nasty little caveat in the contract in the event of a break stayed hush-hush because of that binding NDA."

"So it would seem. Thus did Ashengrotto have a steady stream of students lining up to accept his bargain this year. And the test average across all subject and years has jumped above 90, much to my chagrin. Of course, I would be even more chagrinned if all of our subject averages were failing grades. But still!"