"What did I do now?" Jett wondered, his mind racing as he tumbled off the bed. He landed roughly on his knees and hands, muttering, 'Can't a guy get some rest?' Scrambling to his feet, he bolted out of the room.

Just as he reached the door, a swirling portal had materialized on the floor right in front of him. Without warning, he tripped and fell straight into the portal. In an instant, the portal snapped shut behind him, leaving him in a free-fall that blurred the edges of his vision.

When the world finally stilled, Jett found himself plunging into a new environment, one that unmistakably bore the sterile, overbearing aura of Clarence's office.

His heart pounded as he landed awkwardly on the polished floor, and he barely managed to start a sentence before a furious voice cut him off.

"What's the…" Jett began, his words dying on his lips as he came face-to-face with a fuming Clarence. The man stood there, every muscle taut with barely contained rage. His face was flushed, eyes smoldering as if he might burst into flames at any moment, anger radiated off him in visible waves.

"Where is it?" Clarence demanded in a firm, unyielding tone, his voice reverberating off the high, cold walls.

"Where's what?" Jett stammered, genuinely confused and scrambling for understanding.

"You won't answer, huh?" Clarence snapped, his patience thinning to the breaking point.

"Really though, I don't know what you're talking about," Jett insisted, his mind racing as he tried to pinpoint which of his myriad misadventures had driven Clarence to such a boiling fury.

A slow, almost amused smirk tugged at the corner of Clarence's mouth as he snapped his fingers. In response, another portal materialized beneath them, causing them both to fall right into it.

The transition was instantaneous. As he emerged on the other side, he quickly recognized the place. A stark, empty cave that he knew all too well. His heart sank as the realization struck him. It was Mystra's cave.

'Ah crap, he found out. But he's not supposed to be here for another two months. Seems like I changed that somehow,' Jett thought bitterly, staring at the barren cavern with a mix of dread and resignation.

"Maybe this will refresh your memory," Clarence said, arms crossed and eyes narrowing as he fixed his gaze on Jett.

Jett forced a light laugh, attempting to deflect the gravity of the situation. "Ah, well… I think you've got the wrong person," he said, his tone breezy yet strained. But Clarence wasn't having any of it.

"To think you actually found the dream hound I hid in here. You almost got away with it, too," Clarence sighed, his voice heavy with disappointment and disbelief. He leaned in, his tone dropping as he asked, "So, who did you give it to?"

Inside, Jett's thoughts churned with panic: 'There's no point in hiding it. He probably thinks I gave it to those assholes beneath us. If he suspects that I'm even affiliated with them, then I'm screwed.' Clarence's unyielding stare pressed down on him like a weight.

After a long moment, Jett's voice came out in a low confession. "I didn't give her to anyone. She's with me."

"Really?" Clarence's eyes widened in surprise, his expression morphing from stern reproach to incredulous shock. "Then return her."

Jett hesitated, his mind scrambling for an excuse. "Well, you see… umm…" He paused, and then, as if the memory hit him like a bolt, he continued, "I… I formed a soul contract with her."

For an instant, time seemed to freeze. Clarence's face contorted with shock, his mouth fell slightly open, and his eyes widened so much that the normally steely glint was replaced by pure astonishment. The shock was palpable, as if the very air around them had grown denser.

"Wait, pause… say that again," Clarence demanded, his tone cool but laced with disbelief, as though he hadn't quite processed the words.

Jett's attempt to reiterate faltered. "I formed a soul con…" he began, his voice trailing off uncertainly.

"You did what?!!!" Clarence exploded, his interruption abrupt and cutting. His eyes burned with a mixture of fury and incredulity as he demanded, "How? Why? Could you you even be any dumber? I thought you just kept it close to you this whole time. I didn't realise that you even went that far. So much for an elaborate prank."

"Huh?" Jett stuttered, confusion clouding his features. "Hold up… you knew? And what you mean elaborate prank?"

An awkward silence fell between them, thick and heavy. Neither spoke for a long, drawn-out moment; the air was charged with tension and unspoken questions.

Finally, Clarence broke the silence with a weary sigh, shaking his head as if trying to dispel the awkwardness. "You want to go first?" he asked coolly.

Jett's brow furrowed, his voice barely above a whisper. "When did you find out?" he asked not sure to be relieved that he wasn't in any actual trouble or mad that Clarence went out of his was to try and prank him.

"From day one, actually," Clarence replied immediately.

Jett sighed and covered his face with one hand. "And you said nothing? How did you even know?" His tone was thick with exasperation.

Clarence's eyes glinted with self-assurance as he boasted, "I built this place, kid. I'd notice if something important got stolen, even in the simplest manner."

"But you didn't say or do anything, and you never explained how you found out," Jett snapped, his annoyance palpable. "Simplest manner, my ass."

In the midst of his rant, Jett's gaze fell to his palm. Suddenly, realization dawned on him. 'Right, simplest manner. Hidden in plain sight.' He remembered 'this old jerk had implanted tracking devices on all the students during enrollment, and until now, no one ever found out about it.'

"The rings you gave us during enrollment, you added traces of your mana inside all the rings and made them undetectable my manipulating the space around the rings so it wouldn't get detected at all" Jett said slowly, staring at his hand in disbelief, 'That's actually a lot of mana to keep using continuously.'

"Wow, you're a smart kid," Clarence praised, a note of genuine admiration mingling with his usual arrogance. "No one ever figured that out."

As they continued talking, Jett couldn't shake the feeling that he was being played. The more they talked, the more it seemed that he'd been nothing but a play thing to Clarence but he couldn't deny the fact that he also kept a few secrets from Clarence.

Yet, amidst his irritation, another thought began to simmer in his mind.

'Doesn't that mean he knew about the… His thought was cut short as Clarence interjected.

"If you're talking about you and your friends disappearing every two weeks, I know about that too. I do have a hand in that too, and no, I can't explain why right now." Clarence's tone was brisk, as if he already anticipated Jett's questions, his eyes narrowing slightly as he noted the shift in Jett's expression. "Don't worry… I wasn't reading your mind. Next question."

Jett's eyes narrowed further, his voice growing tense. "Hold on a minute. You knew there was a bloodlusted Dyno in my room and didn't try to warn me. The timing was way too suspicious… you just happened to call me the moment they left, huh? That's messed up."

*

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*

You think he has a good explanation?