Twisted Wonderland

Contract Dissolution

Leona leisurely walks outside of the Octavinelle dorm. He stops when he stands next to Ruggie. You rush towards them, finally making it to the dorm.

"Managed to swipe 'em without a hitch, huh?" Ruggie laughs.

Leona tosses a packet of golden papers to you. "Y'know, your compulsive pickpocketing never ceases to amaze me."

The hyena shrugs. "Hey, if you wanna keep somethin' safe, you gotta keep your pockets secured too." Ruggie looks over your shoulder at the contracts. "I'm still not over how many contract scrolls there are. I count around five to six hundred."

Leona rolls his eyes. "He's probably been trapping people in contracts and stockpiling 'em since long before he enrolled. Now that we've got the contracts outside the VIP room, that just leaves one thing to do..."

You hand the contracts back to Leona and he pulls out his pen. It glows a bright orange. "I am the one who hungers. I am the one who thirsts. I am the one to rob you of your future-"

"Hold it!"

Azul rushes to you and the Savanaclaw boys. His gaze lands on you for a moment but he quickly turns to Leona.

Leona turns around with a smirk. "That was quick." He holds up the contracts. "Don't come any closer, or the contracts are toast."

Azul glares at the lion. "Give them back now, if you please!"

"Hey now, at least try to sound composed. Have you decided to drop the cool act altogether?" Leona grins at you. "Judging by the way he's panicking, you were right on the money, Y/N."

Azul pauses. "Wait... what?"

Last night, you explained your theory to to Ruggie and Leona.

Leona tilts his head in thought. "So what you're saying is that the contracts could be breakable when they're stored in the vault?"

"Huh? 'Scuse me? What?" Grim looks between you and Leona in confusion. "How would that work?"

Ruggie's ears perk up. "Ooh, now that you mention it, yeah! Something doesn't quite add up right, huh? If Azul and his boys are right, and the contracts are totally unbreakable and jolt anyone who touches them..."

Ruggie brings a hand to his chin. "Why would they need to keep 'em locked up tight in a vault at all? They could just leave 'em around anywhere, like Leona does with his wallet."

Grim's eyes light up. "Oh! Now that you mention the vault, remember how freaked out he got when the Vault got a little dinged up?"

You tell the two how upset Azul was when Floyd hit the safe with the cauldron. It only dinged the door but Azul was so mad at the twin. Practically panicking if the contracts were damaged.

"Yeah, huh?" Ruggie grins. "It's just common sense to put valuables in a safe, so I didn't even question that part."

Ruggie throws a smirk at Leona. "Who knew our pampered prince's inability to tie his own shoes in the morning would be the key to solving this mystery?"

Leona rolls his eyes. "You always hafta get in a dig."

Ruggie turns back to you. "Y'know, I'm startin' to think that whole bit about the contracts electrifying people was another bluff on their part."

"What did mew just say?" Grim asks.

"He knew you froshes were watching them, so they conveniently forgot a contract scroll and left it on the table." Leona explains. "All they'd have to do at that point is wait for one of you to touch it, then use some lightning magic to jolt you. Maybe don't fall for such an obvious trap next time."