Harem Tournament of Champions

Slamming his hand onto the table, Aster flashed a grin the moment Hisha turned his attention in his direction.

'Good, I have your attention.'

Hisha furrows his brow at the interference, noticing the sad look in Lancaster's eyes.

Lancaster had his shoulders droop as he walked over to his seat on the far end of the table.

"It is a pleasure to have you here, my lord!"

Looking around him, Hisha clicked his tongue. "I can't say the same about you though."

Lancaster burst into laughter, pointing a mocking finger at his brother.

Snarling at Lancaster, Aster wished so badly that they were alone, if they were, he would have pounced on him a long time ago.

"Watch it, Lancaster." He warns through gritted teeth.

Gulp!

Taking his silver cup, Hisha raised it in a cheer and was about to take a sip when Kritz snatched the cup from his grasp.

'What the hell?!'

"Kritz?" He called, trying his best to be calm so he could understand the motive behind it.

Snnf!

Snnf!

Kritz sniffed the rim of the cup, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

[That right there is an extremely loyal friend]

Hisha stares in shock upon realizing what he had failed to consider–poisoning.

Aster got to his feet, pointing an accusing finger at Kritz. "Surely, there's no way I would poison our lord, I'm not that stupid!"

Lancaster coughed, whistling when he got a glare from his brother.

"Sit," Hisha commanded with a grim look.

An overwhelming demeaning aura had him cower and sit as told.

Lancaster smiled sheepishly at the display, it had been the first time he would witness his brother being controlled with relative ease.

'My one ticket out of here!' He looks at Hisha in admiration.

"Kritz did nothing wrong to inspect what I take, after that incident in Winst, it's only natural that he does so."

Kritz had a proud smile, handing it over to Hisha with a nod to its safety.

Gulping down the wine in a go, Hisha cleared his throat as he prepared to get down to the main reason for his visit.

Looking over to Lancaster, unsure about his presence, he raised a brow at Aster.

"He's very much aware of the situation, my lord. His presence would shape his thinking towards the future of our people."

Lancaster nodded his head to the words, looking with longing and hoping Hisha would oblige.

"He would make a fine tribal head one day," Hisha concludes with a smile Lancaster's way.

[Smooth, host. Keep it coming]

Ahem!

Aster brushed off the praise, hoping to get on to the question instead.

Throwing his leg onto the table, Hisha tilted his head as a smirk played on his lips.

Aster's mouth gapes open at the display, his brows twitching at the sight.

Unable to speak, he forces a smile, awaiting his questions.

"How long have you known about the hobgoblins?"

Aster's heart sank at the question, feeling cold sweat break out. There was something off about the way it was asked that had his heart thumping hard in fear.

'I had been told stories while as a young lad, I didn't think they could be real.'

[He's lying]

HTC deadpanned, it could register the quivering lips and trembling hands of Aster.

Highlighting the various pointers to his deceit, HTC repeated its disdain for Aster's behavior.

"You should know it's not to your benefit if you lie to me," Hisha warned, dropping his feet to the floor and leaning forward.

Kritz could feel the chilly atmosphere and knew it took self control for his lord to keep his anger in check.

'It's best you speak while you still can, there isn't much time left before it all goes bad.' Kritz calls out in his thoughts, glad he couldn't hear, and hoping he wouldn't think in that line.

Tugging at his brother's chain, Lancaster gave a subtle shake of his head, hoping Aster could see the reason to come clean about his knowledge.

As much as he enjoyed making fun of his brother, he also felt it terrible to watch him mask what he could have used to save his ass.

"You could provoke something that's beyond you." He whispers, giving pleading eyes.

Shrugging off his hand from under the table, Aster flashed a smile. "My people have been plagued by the very creatures our elders had dreaded and warded off. "

Kritz looked down at his food, unwilling to be bothered by the discussion. Taking a scoop of the food and munching on it.

Beckoning Lancaster to sit by his side, he needed to know how useful this jovial contrast could influence Aster.

Pointing to himself in disbelief, Lancaster looked behind him, just to make sure he wasn't imagining anything.

"Yes, you." Hisha asserts.

Aster held onto his brother's arm, skeptical as to why he would be called.

Pulling his hands away, Lancaster walks over to a seat beside Hisha sitting down.

Kritz raises his head as he stares at Lancaster with his eyes narrowed.

Making a cutthroat gesture as a warning, Kritz looked back down at his food, taking yet another bite of his food and ripping off the flesh of a large drumstick.

Steepling his fingers in front of him, he smiles, "if you do tell me the truth, I will pardon you with a lesser penalty."

Gulp!

"One of them had attacked us back when we were fishing." Aster blurts out.

[That is not a lie]

"You had been attacked, yet you didn't alert anyone, not even me?"

Hisha couldn't even begin to quantify the level of pride that could lead to his tribal chief's downfall.

First, it had been Mich, and now Aster?

Lowering his head in shame, Aster nodded his head, seemingly having a rethink of his decision.

"Because of this mistake, my people were hurt, and some were abducted!" Hisha spat out in an explosive rage.

Aster flinched at his lord's rage.

"Can you give an estimate of the number of people who were abducted?"

Aster nodded his head, "twenty males and twenty females."

Although Hisha knew the number of abductees, he had simply asked to stress the severity of his negligence.

"You will have your powers stripped."

Aster gasped, getting to his feet in disbelief. "My lord, please no!"

Hoping they could get past it with a little distraction.

Clapping his hands, the doors were opened as semi-clad ladies walked in with a sultry and seductive look in each eye that was concentrated on Hisha.

[When in trouble, always remember that presenting beautiful ladies solves all your problems]

HTC placed a laughing-hard emoji to mock Aster's method and its host for being considered an epitome of a lustful ruler.

Hisha's brows twitched at the imminent approach of the ladies.

"If any of you gets within a five-meter radius around me, consider yourself a slave who will be given a century of hard labor!" Hisha hissed in disgust, pointing an accusing finger at each one of the ladies.

They all stare at their tribal head, skeptical about their next action and inability to get closer to him and risk being forced with hard labor.

Aster's heart raced at the thought of his plan falling through.

If using ladies couldn't work for the once lustful ruler, he couldn't bear to think of the consequences that would befall him once he dismisses the ladies.

Reluctantly, he dismissed them.

Sigh!

Lancaster leaned forward with a grin, his gaze still on the ladies' buttocks as they left.

'You just entered some deep shit, brother Aster.'

Hisha pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering if he should comment on what had transpired a few minutes ago.

Choosing to ignore the attempt to lure him with a distraction, he decides to make it more tasking for Aster.

"Tell me, how can you stop these creatures from returning to cause havoc?"

Activating the glow in his eyes, he glares as he explains. "Any pointless discussion would trigger my anger, speak and act wisely."

Gulp!

With a nod of his head, Aster searched his thoughts as to the best method of approach to the question.

'Would that work?' His thoughts wander off to an ancient book that had been left behind by the elders.

With it having a lock that could only be triggered with a large amount of Sux, he had been gathering the one he could in Asrinth using the windmills to one day peer its content.

With an idea springing up in his thoughts, he needed to test out the possibility of Hisha being able to open it.

"There is an ancient book..." He began, slightly unsure if this could aid in him keeping his ability.

"Go on." Hisha urges.