Harem Tournament of Champions

Kritz's grin widened as his suspicions were nearly proved true–there was something he was hiding.

Looking over his shoulder, "is there a problem in wanting to have fun?"

Bart's brow twitched at the silly excuse that was used. "The rooms are occupied, how about joining the others in a bit of fun?"

He maintained a calm posture as he gestured towards the rest who were drowned in self-entertainment.

Kritz narrowed his eyes and grinned mischievously, determined to get to the bottom of the issue.

Shaking his head, Kritz was adamant about getting to that specified door and his eyes began to glow with the passing second.

Bart's brown eyes glowed, ready to give as much time to help the stranger out of his predicament–if he could assist him with his escape, there might be a hefty price he could get when he returns.

"You would dare to foil my investigation?!" Kritz sneered, adamant in going further.

Channeling his Sux into the bottle of drink in his hand, he manipulated the liquid and made a whip that wrapped around Kritz's neck.

"This is my tavern, unless you have a logical reason for doing this, I suggest you back down and get out!" Bart snarled in rage, disgusted by the method used by those in the citadel.

Kritz bent and looked at the wrapped-up liquid contraption, "you possess this ability, huh?"

"You're a merfolk I see." He snickered.

In contrast to the usual long hair and fair skin, Bart had jaggy brown hair and stubble on his chin, he could finally understand why he had an unusually high-neck shirt underneath his vest.

'He was covering the scale pattern, huh?' Kritz chuckled in disbelief.

"I have cut ties with my people, there is nothing that connects me with them except my ability!" Bart snapped, suddenly triggered by Kritz's reaction.

The partying and music had come to a standstill as everyone looked shocked at the two.

When they could come to terms with what was going on, they all scurried off out of the tavern in groups.

There were a few who had to be dragged due to how wasted they were.

The sudden decline in his customers only made Bart angrier than he already was about the loss.

Cara called out to her boss, pleading to let Kritz go due to the status he possessed and his calm demeanor.

"Mr. Bart, please let this slide, we could use the c–"

Quickly shutting her up before she could blow their cover, Bart created a bubble that engulfed her and muffled her protest.

If she were to speak on the coin they had gotten from the stranger, it would only complicate the issue only further.

Pulling on the whip and making it grip tightly to Kritz's neck, "if you leave, I would pretend none of this ever happens and wouldn't demand compensation for the loss I incurred today."

Kritz burst out in a peal of manic laughter.

The laugh that continued for a few more seconds sounded disturbing to Bart and he had unintentionally begun doubting his capability to contain the situation.

When Kritz was done laughing, his mood instantly went cold and his face grim. "Who told you, you would live to see the compensation except I let you off the hook?"

With those words, Kritz grabbed a hold of the whip on his neck while channeling his Sux into his palms, taking three steps forward, contradicting the pull on his neck.

Snap!

Bart was left to fly backward and into the shelf with lots of bottles he used in mixing his cocktails.

Crash!

Blink!

Clank!

An array of bottles dropped to the floor but all missed their target with Bart's subconscious ability setting in and making use of the liquid as a shield from the broken shards of glass.

Jumping onto the table, Kritz reached out and picked Bart up by the back of his collar. "In case you might have not noticed, we never tolerate those who help out the enemy!"

'Who are you?!' Bart's eyes widened in horror at the person holding him above the ground.

"It's a shame, you did have a wonderful business place." Kritz clicked his tongue and shook his head in disappointment.

With how Kritz spoke about him in the past tense, Bart cowered in fear and shivered at the threat, accepting his unfortunate end.

"Would you stop that? Let the poor man down!"

Kritz gasped and immediately let go of Bart at the familiar voice ordering him.

Grimacing and turning around to get sight of who had ordered him, he was taken aback to see the green glow in those eyes.

'Lord Hisha?!'

Without thinking too much of it, he jumped off the table and went on one knee while bowing in respect.

The sudden display of loyalty disturbed Hisha as he cursed himself for butting in.

[Real smooth, host]

HTC chastised, not pleased with how things turned out even after giving Hisha some advice.

[03:18:02]

"My L–"

"Don't you dare refer to me in that way, and most especially not in here!" Hisha cut in immediately before Kritz could refer to him using Lord Hisha.

He had chosen to disguise himself in hopes of blending in; if Kritz would speak to him with his title, it would ruin all he had worked for in trying to escape.

The only thing that he could do is nullify the situation before it escalated.

At first, he had been unwilling to help when he heard all the commotion going on the other side–his breaking point would be the bartender risking his life for someone he barely knew.

"Come along, the room is still open for you to come in," Hisha said and pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head.

Easing his posture, Kritz looked over his shoulder. "Count yourself fortunate to have been favored by the celestials."

*****

A/N

¶ How do you think they'd end up once they face each other?

Discord link > https://discord.gg/U3tRN2ymzs

My heartfelt appreciation to those who bought my privilege chapters on Webnovel, vote with powerstones on my book constantly or happened to devote them currently.