"Kiyeeeh!"
An eagle cry was heard when Eren was subjected to Rehaal's pressure. Although Eren wasn't threatened or bothered by it, the fact that a third person tried to bully his master irked the demon beast.
Following Eren's return to the White Raven city, Argo was let loose in the city. He was inside the beast space for most of the time when Eren was inside the Oni dungeon. So he preferred stretching his wings now that Eren was outside.
Eren had told his people what Argo liked or disliked about his food choices. The demon beast was well fed by the city's citizens after learning his identity. He treated the city as his territory and would use its skies to keep an eye on things.
Argo shrunk his size midflight before entering Agatha's office through the window. He landed on Eren's right shoulder in his eagle form. He leaned towards Rehaal with his neck outstretched and an eagle claw pointing at him.
The demon beast spoke up in a beastly voice and stunned his audience.
"Who… this little bitch?"
Rehaal was too stunned by the demon beast's way of addressing him to maintain a stable aura. This was the first time in his life that he was called a bitch.
"What… what… what the fuck did he say?"
Rehaal looked at Eren with confused and angry expressions. He had even forgotten to register the fact that a D-rank demon beast could speak.
Eren chuckled in his head as he heard Argo's words. He then criticized the bird for using the wrong words. There was no need to call Rehaal 'little'.
Outwardly, the butcher shrugged his shoulders before answering.
"Don't take him seriously. He has a limited vocabulary and is still learning to speak. He addresses everyone with words like these."
What Eren said was partially true. However, Argo's foul mouth was due to Eren's deep thoughts that were being read by him. One could say that Eren's subconscious had a hand to play in Argo's limited vocabulary. The demon beast only picked up on the most used words by his master first and foremost.
Only now did Rehaal realize that it was Eren's demon beast speaking in human language. But before he could say anything to Eren anymore, the latter continued.
"Look, Rehaal. I don't want to get involved in royal affairs. Here's my offer. I'll let you talk with the guy. If you could sort things out between you, great. And if you can't, then you'd have to come to a different arrangement."
Rehaal opened his mouth to say something to Eren. But he stopped midway when he found the offer to be somewhat reasonable. Plus, he wanted to see Rodrick anyway. Thus, he nodded at Eren, prompting the latter to contact Rodrick right away.
The guy that was being hunted by the royal scions showed up in the room after some time with a smile on his face. Eren was the first man he saw.
"Haha! Eren, my friend, I'm glad I got to see you again. Let's go out for a few drinks…"
Rodrick was planning to speak with Eren freely, thinking the guy had called him to catch up with him. Eren hadn't told him anything about Rehaal. However, soon after entering the room, Rodrick stopped speaking midway and looked at the person who was sitting in front of Eren. Rodrick identified Rehaal right away.
'You bastard, you could have given me a heads-up.'
Rodrick looked angrily at Eren before speaking to him through voice communication. The latter just shrugged his shoulders before gesturing him to approach the desk.
Rodrick tried to maintain royal decorum when he saw that there was no way out of the situation without facing Rehaal. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as he approached the desk, standing beside Eren who was still sitting on the armrest of Agatha's chair.
"Rehaal."
Rodrick greeted Rehaal with one word. He didn't use any honorifics or say anything else, indicating that he had no interest in respecting him or talking with him. The latter was getting madder by the second because of the treatment he was receiving ever since he had stepped foot in White Raven city.
Rehaal narrowed his eyes on Rodrick and demanded in a commanding tone.
"Hand them over."
Rodrick tried to act puzzled before speaking up.
"Hand what over?"
Rehaal lost his patience when he saw Rodrick's poor acting skills. After breaking his chair with his mana fluctuations, he yelled at him.
"Don't fucking play with me, Rodrick. The pieces of the artifact the king of Edinburgh had given to all of us. By cheating, you have acquired 20 out of 50 pieces of the artifact.
Hand them over. Or be prepared to face the consequences."
Rehaal spoke, sounding and looking livid. Rodrick started laughing after he heard Rehaal say what he had to say.
"Hahahaha! By cheating my way, you say? Was there any rule about there being no cheating involved when it came to the royal competition? There was not. It meant that we were free to obtain the pieces however we wanted.
Plus, many other guys have used trickery to obtain the pieces for themselves. Why don't you reach out and ask them and see if they don't laugh in your face the same way I'm doing right now?"
Rodrick looked at Rehaal confidently as he said what he had to say. Even though he had lost his royal retainer and royal rights at the time, Rodrick had not lost touch with the fact that showing weakness in the royal competition was a sin. He would be devoured whole if he ever showed that he could be run over.
Rehaal looked at Rodrick angrily. He could see why the guy could get along so well with Eren. They were headstrong in their belief and would be able to go to any lengths to achieve their goals.
This was the first time Rehaal had met up with Eren. But he had read everything about him before coming here. Thus, he could draw parallels between him and Rodrick.
'Birds of the same feather…'
