Royal Pride (Leona Kingscholar/Yuu)

14 ~ Enter Octavinelle

"So, I got some information from Epel yesterday," Leona said, pulling up a chair next to Yuu. She and Ruggie both stared at him for a few seconds and then at each other.

"We're... in the middle of a practical experiment," Ruggie spoke, breaking the silence. He and Yuu were, in fact, in the middle of an Alchemy class. They knew Leona had information, but they didn't expect him to interrupt them in the middle of class.

He pulled out a folder. "I've compiled some information about all the possible suspects. Most of them are underclassmen."

"You've made him a changed man," Ruggie whispered. "Look at all the hard work he's putting in for you!"

Yuu gazed at the folder, intensely wanting to snatch it and track down all of the people in the folder to find the culprit. Especially since Leona let her know that someone's definitely following her around and it's so far been the same person, she wanted to find them out. She didn't enjoy living her life feeling uneasy with every movement.

"I appreciate it, I really do," Yuu said, "But can you save this for after class? If Crewel sees you here... I shudder to imagine what our punishment for 'harboring a fugitive' or whatever would be."

He stared at the assignment paper before rapidly tossing a bunch of items into the cauldron. Yuu and Ruggie both exclaimed in protest, but Leona held up what seemed to be a perfect sample of what they were supposed to be making.

"What are you two gawking for? Hurry up and hand this over so we can go over this stuff, now." Leona tossed the vial over, which Yuu shakily caught.

Though Yuu felt a little guilty for not doing the assignment herself, they both turned it in, were given full points, and, as hoped for, were let out of class early.

Leona led them around the school, then into a classroom down a hallway that seemed less used than most. "These classrooms're usually used when clubs need extra space to work in or whatever, so we shouldn't have to worry too hard about being overheard or anything."

He handed Yuu the file and she practically tore it open. She pored over all of the pages—there were six students listed, all from Savanaclaw. They all seemed like regular students.

"The only issue is that none of them are physically nor magically strong enough to do the damage that they were able to do, so..." Leona trailed off. "I've been keeping an eye on all of them today, but so far, they've just been attending class like normal. This doesn't help us much."

Yuu felt a pang in her chest. The information was useful to have, but she had glorified this information in her head. There was never any certainty that one of these students would even be guilty.

"What if they used potions as magic enhancers?" Ruggie proposed, but they all knew that Vil was probably the only person who would be able to whip up something so potent. It was Ruggie's attempt at not allowing Yuu to lose hope.

"Well, well, well..." A sinister voice spoke from the doorway, making all three of them jump. All of their arms went crashing into each other as they tried to hide the files, making for a very ungraceful display. "What have we here?"

They turned to see the Octavinelle trio, all standing in the doorway. "Pardon the intrusion," Jade said with a smile on his face. Floyd's eyes widened as his mouth split into a grin. "Lil' Shrimpy~ Sharksucker~! I haven't seen you guys since last year~!"

"Hi," Yuu replied awkwardly. Azul cleared his throat. "We were going to use this classroom to discuss the Mostro Lounge's finances, but... you all seem very preoccupied. What, pray tell, might be in that folder you all are trying to hide?"

Leona snatched it from Ruggie, who had been holding onto it, and gripped it tightly. "None of your business," he growled.

"Wait..." Yuu muttered quietly, putting a hand over her mouth in thought. "Have you guys made any deals with anyone from Savanaclaw lately?"

"Now, now, that's private information... though I may be inclined to tell if you're willing to pay my price~" Azul mused, a smirk on his face. Yuu furrowed her brows. Even if they were acquainted, that didn't spare her from his constant search for profit.

But... that offer did sound awfully enticing.

"Why don't we discuss your price, then?"