Harem Tournament of Champions

Chapter 176 Prejudice

Aster looks at his overlord, "they have been busy with their problems, I'm not sure what they have been doing."

Hisha could almost feel as though if Grut was present it could go ballistic at the mention of the relatively peaceful condition of the goblins and the unfair stories about them.

Concluding before being asked, Aster states not having any ounce of grudge as they are nothing but mundane creatures. "I don't believe they will be a problem, my lord."

A thought on Lancaster's being the only source of stress that Aster could encounter, he nods his head in agreement.

"Well, I guess we should get to the point of why we're here," Hisha states, looking at them.

Mich looks around, feeling uneasy and frightened of him being the next to speak.

'What is going to happen if they find out I got a grudge against a mermaid that gave me a crippling blow at the time?'

[It seems the Merchief is having nightmares of that unfaithful day]

Hisha bit down on his bottom lip, holding back a laugh at his system's words.

It was indeed true that there were only a selected few who knew about the condition that had plagued him.

'He looks like he could explode anytime soon if he is forced to tell the truth by the contract.' Hisha converses with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Wae had also noticed the change in the mood of his friend and gently placed a finger on his shoulder.

Something felt a bit off and yet so familiar about the way Mich acted. They both felt under intense pressure, unlike the rest who were either calm like Draegul or carefree like Vanas.

'He must have been placed under the contract as I was.'

Ahem!

Mich reluctantly raises his head, feigning ignorance.

He was about to speak when he was interrupted by Hisha raising his hand.

"Mich, would you like to share what happened while I visited your land?"

Mich blinks several times before finally grasping what was asked.

'Is he trying to cover up for me?'

[Charm+20]

A grin spread across her lips as he could only think of the points he would have amassed after the day ran out.

Inhaling and exhaling, Mich could only be eternally grateful for the excuse that was provided.

"You all might have not known this but there was a time my people were plagued by a puppet master that made use of their bodies as its host."

Draegul was the first to scoff at the story, not bothering to question what was told.

Vanas raises a brow and looks around at the rest, wondering if he should speak or just stare in silence at the rest.

Hisha let out a laugh at the various reactions garnered from his tribal chiefs. "You all were introduced to goblins, surely a puppet master shouldn't be strange."

Feeling he needs to round off his words, Mich briefly gets to the point and channels his anger towards the person who had attacked while he had some 'pressing issues' that needed his attention.

'What a fucking embarrassing situation for me and being under the care of Kenna.'

They all switch gazes between him and Hisha, realizing their lord had single-handedly defeated the menace.

With a proud smirk, Hisha nods his head to the unprecedented praise he got from Mich.

The tribal chiefs all give a knowing stare at one another, wondering if their goal had changed for their lord.

With some wavering, it was difficult to know who was true to them at that moment.

Finalizing his desire to exact revenge, he subconsciously blurts out. "I will get what's mine, even at the cost of half my life!"

Vanas couldn't help but burst into laughter at that cringe line. "Says the shit face that lost that which was 'precious'."

Hisha had to put up a stoic face to counter the same attitude that Vanas displayed.

He could understand all that was said and knew he was referring to the pearl and Melody.

'Should I tell him?' Hisha teases his system.

[If you wish to cause some chaos, be my guest]

'Nah, I'd wait it out, see how foolish he can be.'

Mich's lips draw into a thin line as he awaits Hisha's verdict.

Getting the approval he could relax, he flashes a grin at the rest, pleased with himself for scaling through without revealing that embarrassing memory.

'Thank you, lord Hisha.' Mich thinks with a smile broad on his lips.

[Charm+10]

'Finally, we're onto the main two that need screening.

"Now, what about the rest of you?" Hisha asks, looking at the others.

Elkhazel and Nezrugg are silent, their eyes fixated on the floor.

"I will not ask you to speak, I just want you to know that I have tried to help you in my way."

"I understand, thank you, my lord," Elkhazel says, his voice low.

Nezrugg is the last to speak, his voice a bit hoarse whilst clearing his throat.

Hisha nods, his eyes glued on Nezrugg.

As an Ogre, his heavily grayish-pale skin was covered in scars along his body. His arms were heavily scarred, showing signs of the gruesome battles he had fought.

He looked like a monster straight out of hell with his right eye green and the right light brown.

The fact that he spoke in such a soft tone was something else altogether. It seemed unnatural considering the appearance of the beast sitting beside him.

His hair was blacker than night itself, giving a sense of gloominess whenever someone saw those locks. Those strands hung loosely atop his shoulders, making his entire look seem rather unkempt.

That wasn't enough to make anyone underestimate him, however; instead, it added more weight to the aura radiating from his presence.

'Character status.' Hisha orders while having his eyes glued to the screen that pops up.

[Name: Nezrugg Bronzeforge]

[Height: 191cm]

[Position: Chief of the Ogre tribe]

'What an interesting last name.' Hisha smirks at the information he had gotten, he also wondered if this was Nezrugg's true form as opposed to a majority of his tribal chiefs and their tribe.

Nezrugg shook his head, picking at his words to voice out his concerns but to no avail as they were more of grunts and mumbled sounds that were mixed with the little coherent words he could muster.

'HTC, can I get a way of translation? This will be a nuisance if it's the same with the hobgoblins.' Hisha voices his concerns.

[Translation... loading...]

'At last, this won't be some sort of foolish talk and blabber here.' Hisha breathes a sigh of relief.

Ding!

[This can only work for those who are subjected to you]

'Which means that if they aren't like the hobgoblins, then I'm still going to be clueless until I have them accept my rule.'

[What a smart host!]

After a few grunts and mutters mixed up, Hisha was slowly hearing the words clear up and make a whole lot of sense.

After hearing every word uttered, Hisha understood most of them thanks to his natural affinity with the language bestowed by his system.

The tribal chiefs all gawk at the capability of their lord to quickly pick on what Nezrugg said.

This didn't escape the Ogre's attention as he paused in his speech, shocked by the revelation. "You can understand all I say, my lord?"

Hisha nods his head in understanding and smiles at the fact he had gotten a bit of what he had wanted from Nezrugg voicing out his concerns.

[Charm+5]

Nezrugg's smile at the promising turn of events had him speak at a more rapid pace since he knew Hisha could understand and would definitely follow it up.

To his amusement, Hisha realized the majority had treated the Ogres unfairly due to their appearance and daunting height.

'Shallow-minded idiots, but then they are very discriminative in Straton anyways.' Hisha thinks while he rolls his eyes at the sad reality that supersedes every timeline or zone.

[The racial prejudice is no joke in Straton and it's still innate reasoning among the rest]

Looking over to Wae, Hisha wasted no time in reminding him of his declaration. "How can they treat you worse off than the Lycan tribe?"

Wae's body stiffened at the reminder, biting down on his bottom lips to suck up the hurt of his pride as the rest all looked at him with questioning brows.