Michael didn’t know why he approached them out of the blue. At first, he was just planning to observe from the shadows and let things progress without his intervention.
But somehow, hearing those rage-baiting words from the green-haired man made him want to go over there and introduce himself.
What am I thinking? Surely this wouldn’t end peacefully.
As if proving his thoughts, the group of humans turned to look at him, hearing his seemingly haughty approach.
"Huh? Who are you? Begone if you don’t want to see the wrath of my fists. I’m not in a good mood."
Michael shot back a question. "Who are you?"
The ill-tempered man scoffed, before introducing himself with self-indulgent pride. "I am named Frick of the famous Faux-Stil company!"
Silence echoed in the lake instead of the applause Frick seemed to be waiting for.
"I’ve never heard of you," Michael said, and kept on walking towards the Mermen, who were currently conflicted with his approach.
They were told by their two princesses to keep their mouths shut about sir ’Keo’ and their cooperation at all costs. They didn’t want the Faux-Stil company making trouble with the Reborn company after knowing that they were the one who replaced them.
In truth, Princess Octavia already sent a letter to Frick, the founder of the Faux-Stil company informing them of the change in plans. Octavia even sent a generous mound of Sand Dollars towards them as a sign of her apology.
But unexpectedly, Frick immediately went running over to the lake demanding to overturn her decision. He wasn’t just indignant, he was furious, which was quite unexpected as he displayed himself as a gallant figure when they first met. But now, it seemed as if she committed a crime equivalent to spitting on the graves of his whole family lineage.
Of course, Octavia was no push-over and remained adamant in her decision. She waved them out of the lake. Literally. She sent a giant tidal wave that sent their bubbles up to the surface and prevented them from entering the lake now and in the future.
And after seeing that unseemly attitude, Octavia rightfully instructed all of her adjutants to never mention Keo or the Reborn company at all, afraid that Frick and the Faux-Stil company would redirect all of their anger onto them.
But now, it was Keo himself who was approaching them.
"Hahaha...," Frick laughed coldly, slightly amused and pissed off at Michael’s cavalier attitude. "Wow... you really said that. We’ll see, we’ll see hahaha..."
Seeing the growing tension between the two, the Mermen immediately interrupted.
"I’m sorry, human. But the lake is currently unavailable to visit..."
One of the Mermens tried to signal Michael with his eyes.
Michael didn’t seem to understand it.
"I’m ready to install the filters."
"I’m sorry?" the Mermen asked, his eyes widening.
"The filters. You paid me for it."
As if a switch had finally clicked, Frick and the rest of his cohorts raised their eyebrows.
"It’s him? You replaced us?"
The Mermen immediately surfaced out of the water, moving in between them to try and smoothen out the situation. And if things go from bad to worse, then they had all the permission to protect Keo at all costs, even if it meant spilling blood.
Of course, they didn’t want it to escalate at that point. No one did.
"No, no," Michael said, shaking his head. "I didn’t replace you. I’m the upgrade."
All the colors on the Mermen’s everchanging skin paled once they heard that.
What was sir Keo doing?! It’s as if he was asking for a fight!
Meanwhile, Frick was on the verge of exploding. The vein on his forehead was bulging, nails digging on his palms.
But in the end, he took a big breath and gave Michael a shallow smile.
"Is that so? Well, congratulations."
And with a shrug, Frick led his cohorts away from the lake, stomping on the wooden docks as they did so. With a final insidious glance at Michael, they disappeared into trees without a new peep.
Surprisingly, things ended up pretty peacefully for such a direct confrontation. The Mermen were sure that a few hands would be thrown today.
They heaved a sigh of relief. "We apologize for that, sir Keo. Trust that we will deal with this at the soonest instance possible. Princess Octavia will not tolerate this kind of behavior."
"We shall speak with the proper authorities and warn them of this behavior. For now, it would be best if you take shelter into the lake so that we can protect you. It may be possible that they will seek out a physical fight without issuing a formal duel."
Frick could have thrown a handkerchief at Michael’s feet, challenging him to a Sanctum Duel if he was really that aggrieved about being replaced.
But he didn’t. One would think that Frick wanted to back down and bury the hatchet, but that was extremely unlikely, especially after glaring daggers at Michael before he left.
It was very well possible that he would seek justice through scrupulous and less-than-formal ways.
So, it would be safest for Michael to stay in the lake for the meantime before things were solved.
"Please step inside," said the Mermen, who had already created the water bubble.
But Michael shook his head. "I just have something else to do," he said, glancing back.
There was nothing in the field of trees surrounding the lake. But with his Drone Vision, he saw multiple blobs of orange light hiding up on tall branches, hidden away from the leafy foliage.
There were about twenty of them, all using Aubility Powers to escape from the Mermen’s eyes.
And also, to hide the bloodlust aimed at him.
There were just six of them here, including Frick.
This meant that 14 of them had been hiding there from the start.
It was clear from this secrecy alone that they were aiming for something nefarious even before he got there and agitated them.
In fact, he was willing to bet that they were specifically waiting for him, or at least, the person who caused them to be spurned by the octopus princess, and ambush them from the get go.