Jack was quick to perform a simple sleeping spell on the mer-guard before they all quickly swam out of the museum and hid behind the chunk of coral again. When they snuck a peek at Ace, they're quite impressed that he's still keeping the conversation up with the guard outside.

"...And I really love the story about the human prince and mermaid princess my grandma read to me." Ace continues to rant with the biggest smile on his face,"They made that into a movie, right? I went and saw it with my wife when we were young! That was 30 years ago." the guard says with a fond tone,"That scene where they embrace at the end still brings me to tears." he says as he wipes a little tear from his eye.

"Totally! That scene really stay with you." Ace nods rapidly and y/n tilts her head at this,[Huh, the movie sounds pretty good. I'll ask Ace where I can watch it later.] she thought with a small smile as she hugs the picture close to her.

"You're pretty knowledgeable for someone so young." the guard comments,"Well, my brother loves movies. And the songs are really memorable." Ace ruffles the back of his hair,"Oh yeah, is it true that all merfolk can sing really well?" he asks with curiosity.

The guard laughs as he waves his hand in denial,"No, no, no, that's just an urban legend. There were a bunch of guys in school who couldn't carry a tune..." he tells him with an amused smile.

"Ace is still caught up in the conversation with them, y'know!" Grim says with an irritated expression,"He's really good at talking to people he just met." Deuce praises and y/n mods in agreement,"We accomplished our goal. Let's get back to the surface." Jack says.

"I'll catch his attention really quick." y/n offers and she waves her arms around, successfully catching Ace's attention as she shows him the photo, to which he beams at before turning back to the guard,"...Oh, y'know, I better get going." he says with a sheepish grin.

"Oh really? If you like merfolk this much..." the guard leans in close to whisper to Ace,"How about I let you take a quick peek inside the museum?" he offers,"No, no, we shouldn't break the rules." Ace quickly denies the offer,"Next time I'll make sure to look up the museum schedule! See you again!" he waves before swimming towards his friends.

The guard waves after him,"Be sure to come again!" he calls out before putting his hand on his waist with a proud and satisfied smile,"...It's been so long since I've met a youngster like that." he comments.

"So how'd things go on your end?" Ace asks and y/n shows off the photo with a smirk,"We got the photo! It was a piece of cake!" Grim brags from y/n's shoulder,"Then let's get back to school while the gettin's good." Ace points in the direction of the mirror portal.

"Yeah. Let's go throw this photo in Azul's face." Deuce grins widely while Jack's ears twitches,"... Wait!" he stops them as he goes on the defense just as y/n spots two, very long shadows swimming over them, causing her to break out in cold sweat.

"Hehe... Did anyone else see two really long shadows just now...?" she says with a very anxious smile as she hugs the photo closer to her chest,"Aaaah~" Floyd and Jade made their appearance once more before them, blocking their only way out.

"...They're here. Lil' Shrimp." Floyd cooes, sending a wide grin in y/n's direction as he eyes the photo in her hands,"How are you all this fine day? I see you haven't learned your lesson and came back to the bottom of the sea." Jade remarks with an amused smile.

"The moray eels are here!" Jack was quick to pull his magical pen out as he glares at the twins as Jade turns his attention on y/n and the photo,"It seems you were able to get your hands on the photo." he remarks with narrowed eyes,"No shit." y/n hisses at him.

"So hard working. Good little kids. But..." y/n had very little time to react as Floyd swam towards her in an attempt to snatch the photo, but she narrowly dodges him,"Waah! Shit, that's damn scary!" y/n yelps as she curls up into a ball and floats to the side.

"We can't have you running off with it so we're gonna chase you around until sunset, m'kay?" Floyd smirks widely,"I knew you guys would be here. I thought this was going way too smoothly." Ace glares at them as he and Deuce whip out their magical pens.

"Your plan is to chase us around until time's up then just pluck the photo out of our hands, right? Then we can't get these anemones removed and you still get your hands on the photo!" he scowls at the thought as he tightens his grip around his magical pen.

"Fufufu..." Jade chuckles as y/n swam towards Jack,"Using the least amount of effort to get the maximum amount of returns. That's just smart business." Jade tells them,"What...? You are really conniving!" Jack growls at them.

"So, y/n, now what do we do?" Ace asks,"I didn't think you would come this far without considering this." Deuce admits as y/n switches her gaze between the twins,"For now, we're gonna play 'Keep Away' with the photo. No matter what, don't let them snatch it from us!" y/n says as she holds up the photo with a grin and a challenging gaze.

"Alright, keeping it simple." Deuce nods with a grin,"I don't know how well it'll go without my specialty magic, but..." he adds,"We came this far so let's just do it!" Jack screams as y/n holds the photo higher up,"Game on!" she shouts just as Ace snatches the photo from her and the twins gave chase after him.

Ace then uses his magic to distract them long enough for Deuce to take the photo and swim away. He did the same so Jack could take the photo, who then passes it on to y/n who passes it on to Deuce after Grim distracted the twins.

This went on for a while,"I'm getting really fed up with this game of tag." Floyd frowns as his eyes held irritation,"It's only a bit longer. Try to keep your momentum." Jade encourages his brother

"Y/n, the sun is going to set at this rate." Jack warns the Ramshackle Prefect,"Are you sure this plan is going to work out?" Grim asks with worry and y/n grins down at the photo,"Don't worry, Buddy. It will. After all..." she looks up with eyes that held victory,"We've got 'those guys' on our side!"

Back at Octavinelle...

Azul was sitting at his desk reading through some paperworks, but he was entirely focused on another subject,"Fufu... Jade and Floyd must be doing a wonderful job. Ramshackle Dorm and that photo are already mine." he grins widely as his shoulders start to to shake with laughter,"Fufufu... HAHAHAHA!" he laughs loudly.

A knock was quick to interrupt him before a fellow Octavinelle resident bursts into the room,"Pardon for the intrusion!" he says with panicked tone,"What is all the fuss about?" Azul asks as he stood up from his seat.

"I'm terribly sorry, but there is a problem in Mostro Lounge..." Octavinelle A says and this catches Azul's attention,"What is it?" he was quick to ask,"A bunch of rowdy customers are causing a scene in the lounge and since Jade and Floyd aren't here right now..." Octavinelle A explains with worry.

Azul shakes his head at this,"Unbelievable. Have they not been taught to not stir up trouble in a restaurant?" he grumbles to himself before nodding at his fellow resident,"Understood, I'll head over. Jade and Floyd should have no problem handling things in their end. My goodness..." he sighs as he leaves for the lounge.

Though he's flabbergasted at the sight of his restaurant bustling with life as people rush around to serve the rowdy customers,"What the...? How is it already this crowded just after opening?" he questions with complete and utter confusion.

"Hey! Get those drinks over here already!" Savanaclaw A bangs the table,"Meat! Meat! Hyahaha!" Savanaclaw B cackles from the other side of the room as he dances around with a plate of meat in his hands,"Hey, asshole, that's the near I ordered!" Savanaclaw C growls at him with a glare.

"Make some room in here. Coming through!" Azul quickly rushes through the crowd, but bumps shoulders with someone,"Apologies." he says without looking at who he bumped into,"Don't worry about it. Shishishi." Ruggie snickers as he twirls a key around his finger before blending into the crowd.

"My glass is empty over here!" Savanaclaw A yells once more as he waves his empty glass around,"Yes, just a moment!" Octavinelle A was quick to run off to grab a pitcher to refill his glass.

Two other Octavinelle residents were quick to run up to Azul,"Dorm Head, we've had an extraordinary amount of orders and we've completely run out of food for today!" Octavinelle B yells with with worry,"Drinks are also close to running dry!" Octavinelle C adds on.

"Already!?" Azul's glasses almost slides off his nose in shock at this revelation,"Alright, I'll go get some money out of the vault so I'd like you to go to the student store to buy some... Hm?" he searches his pockets for his key, but he's horrified to find out that it's not on his person at all,"I-It's gone! The key to the vault is gone! How... Where!?" he panics before running back to his office.

"Hey there, octo-punk." Leona greets him with a smug smile and a two finger salute as he's found leaning against Azul's desk,"Leona Kingscholar..." Azul spat out his name with suspicion.

"What's wrong? You look pretty freaked out for someone usually so in control." Leona mocks as his tail swishes with amusement,"It's none of your business. More importantly, why are you here?" Azul asks with narrowed eyes, his gaze switching briefly to his vault and then back on Leona.

"Why you ask...?" Leona smirks before pulling out a familiar key,"It's about this key. Isn't it yours?" he dangles the little item above himself as he pretends to study it,"I just happened to pick it up off the ground and graciously came to return it to you." he says with 'honesty' as he gives Azul a side glance.

"Th-That's...!" Azul is left speechless by this,"So it really is yours?" Leona fully turns to face him again,"Give it back. Theft is a terrible crime!" Azul immediately demands as he holds his hand out with urgency.

"Hah. You're treating me like a thief even though I came to return it out of the kindness of my heart. That's fine, I'll give it back. Here." Leona tosses the key over to Azul, who catches it with ease and sight with great relief.

Leona then gets up from his leaning position and starts to walk past Azul," That's all I had to do. See ya." he greets, closing the door behind him on his way out.

"My-my contracts...! Are they safe?" Azul immediately rushes over to his vault and unlocks it, fearing for the worst. Unfortunately for him, his greatest fear came true when he finds that the vault completely empty,"... Gone. They're gone, gone, gone!!! They're all gone!!" he grips his hair so tight, one might think he was gonna rip his hair out,"Did that bastard...!?" he whips around to glare at the doorway Leona left through, wondering if he had anything to do with his missing contracts.

"Shishishi! We got them outta there with no issue." Ruggie snickers as he and Leona left the dorm,"Hmph, your sticky fingers sure are impressive." Leona praises as he pulls out the stack of contracts from his vest.

"If you don't want something to get stolen then you should lock it in your pocket." Ruggie says with an obvious tone before peering at the stack of contracts,"There's a crazy number of contracts here. Easily 5 or 600." he guesses with a tone that says he's impressed with how Azul managed to collect so many.

"Hmm. He's probably been making these shady deals since long before he came to this school." Leona thought out loud,"We got the contracts out of the VIP room. All that's left is..." he lifts up his hand and his magic surrounds it as he starts to chant,"I am hunger, I am thirst. I am that which steals your tomorrow..."

"Stop right there!!" Azul's voice was quick to stop his actions as he ran towards them,"... Uh oh, here already?" Leona smirks at him before holding the contracts closer to his hand,"Don't take another step closer if you care what happens to your contracts." he threatens and Azul was quick to come to a halt.

"Give them back... Please give them back!" Azul pleads with panicked eyes,"Whoa, whoa, at least try to keep up appearances. What happened to your mask of control?" Leona mocking questions with a cruel smirk.

"Seeing you like this proves that her hunch was right on the money." he says and Azul's eyes widen at this,"What... did you say...?" he mutters as his stomach twists with dread.

Flashback to last night...

"Are you trying to say that as long as the contracts are secured inside the vault they are in a state of 'invincibility'?" Leona questions and y/n nods,"That's exactly what I'm trying to say." she says.

"...Hm? Hmmmmm? I don't follow at all." Grim admits with utters confusion,"Ah, now that you mention it, yeah, it is a little weird." Ruggie hums,"If what Azul says is true and anyone who touches the contract is in for a shock... There's no reason to keep them in a vault. He could just throw them wherever. Like Leona's wallet." he says, making y/n snorts at the last comment.

"Ah! About that vault... He really lost it when it got the tiniest scratch." Grim points out to them as y/n remembers that as well.

Y/n' Flashback...

"Aah, there's a scratch on the door!! Do the dials and hinges still work?" Azul was quick to test them out and to his luck, they still work,"... Oh good." he sighs with great relief before glaring at Floyd,"I'm always telling you to not fire off your Unique Magic without thinking! How many times do I have to say it!?" he scolds the taller male.

"I said sorry. You don't have to get that pissed over a tiny scratch." Floyd immediately frowns with displeasure at being yelled at,"It's too late if it breaks!!" Azul shouts at him.

End of y/n's Flashback...

"That's right. He went completely ballistic over a tiny little scratch on the thing." y/n snaps her fingers when she remembers that fact,"Oh yeah. It's common sense to put your valuables in a safe so we didn't think to even question it." Ruggie grins before turning to Leona,"Even the habits of an out of touch prince can be useful sometimes." he teases.

"Tch, you really don't know when to shit up." Leona clicks his tongue at him,"... This means that the zap you guys got was another one of their expert magic tricks." Ruggie tells them,"My thoughts exactly." y/n nods,"Ha-what!?" Grim's jaw drops at this new information.

"They knew you fresh-babies were there so they left a contract on the desk especially for you. All they had to do was watch and wait for you to touch it then zap you with a lightening spell." Leona explains to him before he pokes y/n's forehead,"Stop falling for such simple traps." he scolds as y/n whines at his poking.

"That Azul, be just keeps duping us at every turn! I'm tired of being tricked!" Grim shouts as he pulls at his ears,"Being able to get the contracts out of the vault should speeds things up." Leona smirks at the thought of besting Azul.

End of Flashback...

"The prefect did this...? Why does y/n keep getting in my way!?" Azul shouts in anger before gripping the side of his head,"Freeing the anemones doesn't benefit her at all!" he yells, confusion clear in his eyes.

"I agree with you." Leona says as he pulls his hand a bit away from the contracts,"... Which leads to my next point. Azul, let's make a deal." he offers with a smirk.