❝𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐖𝐈𝐙𝐀𝐑𝐃❞

Caught in the trap

*drip* *drip* *drop*

As (Name) ran around the hallways of the school, she finally reached the mirror chamber. Entering Scarabia's dorm once more, she was met by Floyd who was grinning at her...

     "Shrimp-chan~!" Floyd sang and lifted her. "I missed you~," he murmured stuffing his face on her neck. She chuckled lightly, tapping his shoulder, "I'm only gone for a few hours, Floyd-san. Come on now, Azul and Jade might be waiting for us."

     With the others, Kalim cheered, "That was brilliant!" Azul gave him a soft smile, "Pausing after a meal and taking a light walk stimulates the brain to improve your studying efficiency in the afternoon."

     Kalim took his hands, making Azul shocked, "You certainly know a lot, Azul! I'm certainly impressed! And here I am making my schoolmates' life harder without any direction, I feel really bad. You're a second-year dorm leader like me, but I'm very not the brightest one there."

     "Everyone starts at the bottom, Jamil-san," Azul smiled at the poor boy. "It's only half of the vacation, you still have a lot to improve, to say the least." The other students cheered in the background, saying they prefer the training camp of Azul to Kalim's until one of them said they were waking up from a nightmare.

     Jamil was shaken in surprise from the far side of the room, Azul squinted his eyes at Jamil then returned to Kalim, "Scarabia's students sure have a lot of good at ancient incantation and astrology, huh."

     Kalim nodded, "As the stories go here in our dorm, it's said that the Sorcerer of Sands specializes in divination. All the students here are an embodiment of his spirit at least, I'm not one of them I'm sure." He scratched his head. Azul laughed lightly, "I hear about the Sorcerer of Sand's achievements in astrology, he specializes in fortune telling and is using his natural magic. I must say, astrology is a hard subject since it's ancient magic. He's very far ahead of his time, his success must be very pleasant."

     Kalim watched Azul in awe, "The Great Seven never fails to impress me!" He commented.

     Azul looked at the time, "Oh, my. It's almost three o'clock, and all of you get your studying spell books. Let's get a bit of studying then we'll have a break." He told them. "Should I prepare some tea?" Jade offered.

     "Certainly not, Jade. You've done enough for today, besides I'm near the door. I'll do it myself and do look at them for me, will you?" Azul declined his offer. "Can I offer my help then?" Jamil offered.

     Azul nodded, "Of course. Should we head off now?" As the two disappeared in sight, Happy followed silently from behind. In the hallways of Scarabia, the two of them are quiet, until Azul cut the silence.

     "I'm delighted to tell you that the student's completion rate of their assignments went up to 15% compared to yesterday, Jamil-san. Those are some great improvements, I must say," Azul told Jamil. "(Name) and the cats told me about Kalim's drastic mood swings these days. Have you ever had an idea why he's like that? But I thought they were lying because ever since we arrived, Kalim is pretty calm and warm. Isn't great for Kalim to regain his schoolmates' faith in him?"

     "No. It is not," Jamil stated, halting.

     Azul looked at Jamil, "Why not?"

     "Forgive me, but I can't let you linger in the desert anymore. Back to the sea, you three go," Jamil told him. Azul looked at him, oblivious of his actions, "Did I say anything to offend you, Jamil-san? Pardon me for my actions."

     Jamil scrunched his face and made eye contact once again with Azul, "You certainly don't understand it, do you, Azul? How foolish. You've made eye contact with me. The one in front of you is your master."

When I give you my command, you must obey. Snake Charmer.

     Azul groaned in pain, "What?!" He took his hair. "My head..." Jamil went in front of Azul, who was kneeling on the ground in agony. "Don't worry, Azul. The pain will last once you give in, you're a strong one, after all, I'll give you that. Submit it to me and the pain will subside. Now tell me, who's your Master?"

     "My Master..." Azul looked at Jamil. "Is you... Master Jamil. I await your command, Master." He knelt.

     Jamil laughed maniacally, "You think I'm weak because of how my magic was ranked, but you're very mistaken about that part. How embarrassing of you, Azul or the so-called shady Octavinelle dorm leader," he took a chair and sat in front of the kneeling Azul. "Thanks to you, my plans for the dorm went to dust. I just need you and your little minions away from this dorm, so I can make (Name) and her cats gave a little nudge to the other students."

     "..."

     "It was my fault to overthrow Kalim without getting my hands dirty. Do you know how hard it is just to do that? And you with your minions ruined it for me. How despicable, really," Jamil added. "Did the dorm leader of Savanaclaw destroy all of your contracts?" He asked.

     "Yes, he did, Master."

     The snake clicked his tongue, "I have so many plans as my genie lamp. I must have chosen the right option to not befriend you, huh? Your unique magic is quite useful to the very least... Knowing you from the rumors, I wouldn't be able to keep you for so long."

     "I remember all the contents of each contract I made, Master," Azul said. "I remember every secret of all people who made a contract with me. Their troubles. Their weakness. Their desires."

     Jamil smirked, "What a useful collection you have there, Azul. You truly are twisted in your way," he said in an amused way. "Do you have the secrets of the Headmaster? Any troubles? Weakness? Desires?"

     "Indeed, Master. I know one thing he held close to his heart the most. Would you like to hear it?" Azul said. Jamil laughed in success, "That's it! That's all I need to know, Azul! If I finally manage to gaslight the Headmaster about kicking Kalim out of this dorm, I'll be finally free!"

     "And there we have it."

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深海の商人