'Haha. What goes around comes around.'
A subtle smile appeared on Eren's face as he found some humor in his situation. He kept on curling Agatha's white hair with his fingers as he asked Rehaal without looking at him.
"Who told you that Rodrick is here?"
Rehaal replied promptly to Eren's question.
"Hmph! Don't try to weasel your way out of this by saying he is not."
Eren shook his head before correcting him.
"I am not saying Rodrick is or isn't here. I'm asking who told you about him being here. Surely, a royal like you doesn't have anything to fear divulging the name of the person who gave you this information."
Rehaal looked at Eren with narrowed eyes when he heard Eren. The way in which Eren had asked him that question was forcing him to answer it honestly.
"Hmph! I would have told you even if I wasn't a royal.
It was the Escalon guild who told me about Rodrick's whereabouts."
'I fucking knew it.'
Eren smirked to himself when he heard the name Escalon. Since they couldn't mess with him or his guild personally, they had decided to involve a royal in the equation. So that he would do their job for them.
Eren also knew there was no way he could say Rodrick wasn't here if Rehaal was being tipped by the Escalon guild. He knew how the guild worked firsthand. They wouldn't mess with royal affairs unless they were completely sure of this thing.
Eren concluded that the Escalon guild would be performing regular stakeouts on White Raven city as a whole ever since its inception. They would be keeping a close watch on all the prominent figures of the city. This was the guild's standard protocol after all.
Know thy enemy.
This was Reva Rain's philosophy when it came to handling her opponents. She tried to know more about her targets so that she knew what would be more painful for them. She would then use that knowledge against them.
One could say that Reva Rain played a huge part in shaping how Eren had turned out to be. This change was specially apparant after he was given the second chance at life. All his torture techniques as well as the prudence he had developed came from knowing about her and how she operated.
Eren could guess that this was totally Reva's move. Getting your opponents into a brawl with bigger opponents and watching the show from afar.
'Heh! I'll have to tear a page from her books soon. Beat that bitch in her own game. After all, a teacher fails if they have not been surpassesd by their students.'
Eren let go of all his swirling thoughts before asking Agatha about it.
'Miss manager, did we start using the resources Rodrick had to offer to us?'
Agatha sighed before answering Eren honestly.
'Yes, we have. What was I supposed to do? Our guild members need potent spells and ranking techniques the most. That's the only way they could have an edge over their enemies that are not really monsters.
Rodrick's curated resources have helped us a lot.'
'I see.'
Eren replied to Agatha before turning his attention back to Rehaaal. He shrugged his shoulders before responding.
"We indeed have Rodrick with us."
Agatha looked stunned when Eren admitted that they were sheltering a rights-less royal against a legitimate royal's wishes. She thoughts that Eren's lies would prevail here as well. But it seemed like he was keen on selling Rodrick out.
Rehaal smirked when he heard Eren admit to Escalon guild's findings. He would have shown him the proofs that he had received from the guild if the guy was adamant about telling lies.
"It's helpful that you understand how things work. I expect you guys to kick Rodrick out of this city by evening. Honestly, I would have already taken action inside the city if I didn't care about the two big houses that are backing you."
Rehaal said with a casual smile on his face. It was only after hearing what he wanted to hear did he take the seat in front of Agatha.
Eren pursed his lips and scratched his chin before bursting into the royal's bubble.
"You got it wrong, Adapt Rehaal. I didn't admit the fact that Rodrick was staying here to kick him out under your orders. I admitted to it because I want you to know we would provide shelter to him even after knowing it is against your wishes.
As backstabbing as I can get at times, I don't want to ruin my guild's reputation by being labeled as one. I know how the rumors spread and the way they affect the morals of people working under the guild's name.
Plus, I don't like to renege on my end of the deals. It's not in my nature to make unnecessary promises. But I try to keep the ones I do end up making."
Eren said while smiling at Rehaal. It looked like both Agatha and Rehaal were shocked by Eren's words. Agatha more so than Rehaal. She had thought that Eren wouldn't think twice before cutting ties with Rodrick when the royal threat was in front of him.
Apparently, Eren was changing a bit ever since he had stepped into Adept rank. Or he was becoming more of who he really wanted to be. His words were akin to saying 'fuck you' in Rehaal's face.
"Do you know what you are saying, Adept Eren?"
Rehaal said in a serious tone coated in suppressed anger. This was basically his first time receiving a 'no' from a commoner. As a result, he tried to put pressure on Eren and Agatha by manifesting his aura.
Rehaal was just a step away from entering the Expert rank. He was superior to Eren when it came to ranking status alone. As a result, Agatha felt suffocated as soon as the royal tried to dominate the duo.
Eren protected Agatha right away with his mana sense. But before he could respond to Rehaal's action in kind, the butcher frowned when he felt a known presence approaching them.
"Kiyeeeh!"
An eagle cry was heard when Eren was subjected to Rehaal's pressure.
