Harem Tournament of Champions

"I asked for your help, my lord?" Mich did a double take on the question and sweat dropped at the unfortunate situation.

Hisha masked his shock with a raise of his brow and pulled on an empty chair. "While on my way here, I met up with some disturbances."

Mich leaned on the wall, thinking through what could be the cause.

"It would seem you had some issues you had been facing all on your own for some time now."

Mich's eyes doubled in size, finally coming to terms with what he meant. "You encountered 'it'?"

"It was fun." Hisha blurted out, chuckling at the experience.

Even though he had lost the body of the mastermind, it was fun to duel a Vandrik with no self-control and establish the fact that he was still superior.

"Fun," Mich repeated and gave a nervous chuckle.

Soon after, there was silence once again, they shifted glances everywhere apart from each other, none wanting to speak on the main issue–why there was a mixup in the information they both received.

"That's a beautiful painting," Hisha spoke up, nodding to the pearl paint.

Mich let out a cough and nodded his head, "it is the pride of our tribe for centuries."

'Definitely, so much so you could mate with just about any maiden and discard like sour food.' Hisha sneered in his thoughts but forced a faint smile and nod of understanding.

"How is Divei, my lord?"

Hisha shot a grin at Mich, suspicious of his sudden interest in her after the tournament.

Cowering in fear, Mich shook his hand and frantically tried to justify his claims. "I seek no ill will, my lord."

"Well your brother was curious about my harem, how do you think that turned out for him?" Hisha's mood darkened with a deadly glint.

Gulp!

Knowing he had made a mistake, Mich apologized for his slip, "I had just known her only just recently, seeing her duel in such a–"

He paused at the raise of Hisha's hand, "I don't care how you two met, or the relationship. She's in my harem and it would be in your best interest to perish that brooding thought of yours."

'How could I? When she's the only lead I have to fully recover from this curse placed on me and finally get that pearl.' Mich lowered his head, careful not to speak on what was on his mind.

He had mysteriously been given a task by the same scroll given from the unknown group on how he could get his hands on the mermaid.

"I didn't come here to speak on my harem," he laid much emphasis on the latter and held Mich's gaze. "Rather I came because there was an issue your people said I could help with."

Mich sweatdropped knowing who could have sought help on his behalf–Hik!

'That sly little–'

"Mich?!" Hisha cut short his line of thoughts and snapped his fingers.

Shaking off the thought, Mich let out a sigh, knowing full well what could happen if his next words weren't calculated.

"Tell me, what strange disaster befell your people–other than the mysterious voices and destruction outside your fortress." Hisha came on strong and left no room for changing the subject.

Mich gulped and pulled on his collar, contemplating how he could explain it without sounding like a lustful idiot.

Relishing in how uncomfortable he made Mich feel, he put on a stoic demeanor to hide his mischievous take on it, awaiting a response.

"My lord, my people have been plagued with a curse that runs deep in us, only the royal blue blood of my family can cure this."

'Lies, but I'd let it pass and watch you embarrass yourself even further.'

HTC had told him all about the merfolk and the stupid rules they had placed on all merfolks, one of the rules was to give the royal blue blood access to all mermaids during the mating season up until they found the right one who could produce the clear white pearl.

There was a riot that ensued afterward as this had deprived the majority of access to their potential mate and were only left with those who had been abandoned after mating with the Mership.

To enforce this rule, a curse was placed on the mermen which could kill both the one who flaunts the rule and the maiden who willingly gets laid.

Any consensual mating was abolished without going through with the royal blue blood. This made mermen willingly give up their mates to participate before they could have their turn or die while disregarding the rule.

[You are enjoying this, aren't you]

'Of course, I am.' Hisha nodded his head so Mich could continue with his masked story.

"We hold a mating season whenever there is a new Merchief–like I am, which lasts for an entirety of that season until we get what would signify that we are rightly disposed for the position and cure everyone," Mich muttered, unsure if his story was bought.

Hisha rubbed his chin, pretending to be following when he had zoned out a couple of seconds ago.

"So you're telling me, none of your generational Merchief have been able to find a cure for this?"

This question had caught Mich unawares and he coughed out before shalom his hands in front of him. "That isn't the whole truth, what I meant to say was that my father had found that cure, but he was too selfish to share it with the others..."

All Hisha could hear as he processed the information was that the late Merchief was too selfish to share the 'pearl' and its power with the rest of the merfolk.

"... It is indeed the magnificent pearl you see on display in the painting, without that, our tribe would be thrown into turmoil," Mich said in a heavily dramatic way.

This almost made Hisha cringe watching that with a straight face. "How does that explain what happened?"

Mich sweatdropped knowing how his words had little to no impact on the overlord.

"I was in a mating session with a mermaid and had almost gotten the pearl when she turned on me and could strangely see the pearl."

"You were attacked and overpowered by a mermaid?" Hisha questioned and wasn't intending to make it sound as though he was mocking.

Even though it was slightly different from what he had heard while sharing a connection with Melody, it was still a thing to describe the scene like he was a defenseless puppy.

'You had tried to choke her, you fucking liar!' Hisha barked in his thoughts, his ability to maintain his calmness dwindling at how well he could lie his way to favor.

He wondered what could have gone wrong with his judgment if he didn't have HTC to give him the concise information he needed and had access to.

"I–I umm... not overpowered but tired from the mating session and too blind to notice when she had ulterior plans and attacked me–making something go wrong with my..."

Unable to complete the sentence due to embarrassment, Mich scratched the back of his head and looked elsewhere.

Hisha hummed, actively pretending to be deep in thought.

"She attacked you, then killed your guards?" Hisha chipped in with a serious face.

Mich bopped his head, marveling at how he had managed to guess the situation right.

"Where is she now?" Hisha questioned, getting to his feet.

He needed to maintain the deceit of his lack of knowledge about the situation or having anything to do with it.

Mich took a step back from the impatient attitude of Hisha. "She disappeared."

"Disappeared?" Hisha repeated and tilted his head in confusion.

"Yes my lord, disappeared. I had gone to our local healer and a guard was sent back to evaluate and spoke on what had transpired later on."

Hisha shook his head and wiped down his face, internally wishing he could punch Mich in the face.

"Now that I think of it, you are the only one who could help me, my subordinates were right, my lord." Mich dropped to his knees, giving a low bow with his forehead touching the floor.

Hisha scrunched up his nose, utterly confused by the change in attitude.

"Please assist in bringing justice to me and those who had lost their lives serving my tribe, the mermaid who had caused us so much destruction and disappeared into thin air." He begged.

[Dun dun dunnnn!]

'What in the actual fuck?!' Hisha did a double take on the question and would be forever grateful for his expression not being noticed by Mich.

How could he fulfill such a request if she indeed actually disappeared into thin air?

*****

A/N

¶ Do you think Hisha would be able to get out of this one?

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