An Earl in Night Raven College (Book three)

The Merchant of the Deep Sea: Part 22

*Third POV*

Once he had the key out, Azul types in the passcode before inserting the key into the slot and twisted it. He then proceeds to back away with a smile from the vault as it's door began to open wide. Ciel carefully leaned forward, while also not making a sound, to see if the contracts were really in there or not. At first, he only saw a lot of money but that was due to the fact that he was sitting on the ground so se couldn't see what was on the higher shelves. Thankfully he didn't have to as Azul pulled out a stack of contracts from the vault.

"Hey... Those are the contracts we signed!" Deuce whispers with wide eyes

"So he's been keeping 'em in the vault after all." Ace whispers back

"Be quiet you two!" Ciel scolds them in a whisper.

"One, two, three... Heh heh heh..."

Azul began to count the amount of contracts he had, which Ciel kept up with for later, while a smirk began to form. Ciel felt disgust as he watched Azul counting the contracts, but he had to wait since this was not the right time to make a move. Then he hears shuffling behind him, he turns his head to see that the others wanted to see what Azul's counting. He moves his upper half out of the way so they can see while making sure he doesn't get spotted. The four saw what Ciel was looking at with wide eyes as they continued to watch Azul counting.

"He's counting those contracts like they're a wad of bills! Look at that smirk on his face." Grim whispers in disgust

"What a twisted pastime..." Jack whispers with a growl.

"Guys, quiet!" Ciel whispers with a glare this time

"Ahhh. That's that. I'd better be getting back now." Azul states in a happy tone.

After he puts the contracts back into the vault and closing it, while also making sure that it was secure, he leaves the room. The group waited until his footstep could no longer be heard before getting out of hiding. Much to the relief of Ace, Deuce, and Jack since they were being crushed while Ciel wasn't fazed by the tiny space due to familiarity. While for Grim it was because of his small stature. Though the group was very grateful that they weren't spotted by Azul since he was busy with other things.

"Phew!" They all sigh in relief

"We were THIS close to gettin' noticed." Grim exclaims.

"That was because you guys wouldn't stop talking." Ciel scolds them as they look away.

"Wait, look! He left a contract out on the table." Jack states while pointing at the contract

'Azul isn't the type of person to leave something like this out in the open... Unless..." Ciel began thinking as the others smiles.

"For real?! Lucky us! Let's swipe it and see if we can tear it up." Ace cheers in excitement.

"Who knew Azul was so sloppy with his stuff? Let's see what we got here..." Grim said as him, Ace, Deuce, and Jack reached for it, causing Ciel's eye to widen.

"Wait, don't-"

But before Ciel could finish what he was gonna warn them, the four touched the contract in an attempt to grab it. But the moment they did so, they were electrocuted by it right before Ciel's eye. Ciel watched as they they scream out in pain with a sweatdrop and groans a bit in disappointment.

"AGHAGHAGHAGHAGH!!!" The four screamed out before pulling away as Ciel facepalms.

"... Now I see why Leona said think with your brain."

"PBBTABABABABA!" Deuce short-circuits from the pain

"MRAAAH! My whole body's paralyzed!" Grim cries out.

Ciel began to hear the door open as he quickly hid behind the desk before peaking from the corner. He saw Azul and the twins entering the room with smiles on their face that speaks 'you've been caught.' Well, Floyd was laughing his ass off but that's just how he is at times. Ciel frowns at the sight but was grateful that they were to focus on the four instead of him. Which means he can test out that theory of his but he had to wait until they were even more distracted.

"Bwaaa ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!" Floyd laughs while Jade smiles

"Dear me. You're all twitching like you got attacked by an electric catfish. You look positively silly." Azul states with a smile.

"You were onto us the whole time?!" Jack exclaims in shock as the three nods.

"Of course I was. Your fluffy tail was perfectly visible under the desk. It would appear you were trying to steal the contracts... Unfortunately for you, they're rigged to jolt anyone who touches them aside from myself." Azul states, though he was disappointed and confused that Ciel wasn't there but shrugs it off.

'I call bull!" Ciel thought with a small glare.

"So the whole thing was a setup?!" Ace exclaims

"I told you that my contracts are completely unbreakable." Azul reminds them

"Aha ha ha! What a bunch of schmucks! Why would you even try when you know how this is gonna go?" Floyd said while laughing.

"*Snicker* Floyd, don't laugh at the poor things. That's just mean. They're wracking their little peabrains. This is simply the best they could come up with. Heh heh heh." Jade states with a chuckle.

"Trying to steal someone else's valuables merits a proper punishment, wouldn't you say?" Azul questions as the twins nods in agreement.

"Indeed. They need to be taught a firm lesson so that they never think of doing it again." Jade states.

"I'm gonna squeeze you all, ooone byyy ooone." Floyd states in a creepy tone.

"Rgh... Watch out, guys! Incoming!" Jack exclaims.

Once the four were able to move again, the fight began but this time it was a little more fair but not by much. Ace, Deuce, and Grim were still having trouble since their attacks weren't strong and their aiming was off again. Which left Jack to do all the heavy hitting while Azul and twins sent everything they had at the four. And since Azul had other students' spells in his arsenals, it was most likely they were gonna lose this fight. While everyone was distracted, Ciel carefully reaches up from behind and grabs what he was aiming for and noticed something off. He then carefully puts it back before he began to smirk.

'Time to move to the chess piece.'

(I changed it a bit since Ciel would feel something off.)