Rebirth of the Phoenix God
Chapter 133: Lover

At first, Fen simply froze with his hand already on the handle of the doors. 

There was no mistaking it. The moans that he heard were clearly of Arla's making. As for who was the one that accompanied her in this duet of voices, Fen had no idea.

'Fuck it…'

In the end, the young man knew that standing right outside the doors like that wouldn't change anything. Either way, he was supposed to wait for the mercenary in this house so he couldn't be shaken by the fact that all Arla's words about how loyal she would be to him turned out to be worth less than horseshit. 

Screeeetch…

The sound of the doors opening seemed to be even louder than always. At the same time, it served as the additional instrument in the orchestra of the voices that announced the end of the concert.

"Fen! I didn't expect you to come back so soon… Eh, what am I even trying to do…"

Jumping out of the doors, Arla initially wanted to feign innocence, only to drop the act the very next moment and lower her head.

"You can't blame me. You went away just like that, I was soo worried… And in the end, Bartel can provide me with much, much more than you ever could!"

Suddenly turning her weak voice into a shout of anger, Arla turned around and slammed the doors open, revealing a half-dressed body of a man around my age who was currently trying to pull his pants up.

"This house is not even yours, and we can barely make by! With my beauty, I do think that I both deserve and can achieve way more! I'm no longer the same poor girl that was scared that my bloodline would be discovered, forcing myself to live in a damned brothel!'

Moving towards the middle of the living room as if ignoring the ongoing tirade of the girl, Fen simply sat down on the chair before leaning forward and hiding his face within his palms.

"So this is the one… Man, look. While I understand that it pains you now, I think that ultimately it will be better for everyone. Someone like you, who just barely managed to pass the first quest…"

Slowly and calmly raising his head, Fen simply looked at the face of the intruder. 

'Who could've known that despite being in a place that ultimately I'm renting he would still be able to act so high and mighty…'

Just a single stare of the young arcanist was enough to shut the man apparently called Bartel up. The fires that sparked for a moment in his eyes served as a threat big enough for the intruder's face to suddenly turn white. It seemed that at least a single person in this room could recognise how huge the gap of power and capabilities was between the two sides.

"Either way, I'm willing to pay twice the rent of this house, so you should already start packing your stuff…"

With his voice slightly wavering, the young man stepped forward as if he wanted to shield the girl from the potential threat of Fen. Yet, instead of acting up in anger or fury, Fen simply took a deep sigh before raising his head properly and placing his hands on his knees.

"Get out. Both of you."

There was absolutely no point in any further discussion. In reality, Fen didn't really mind Arla sleeping with someone else. Just like he had some good time with Orsha, he could easily understand that a girl of Arla's beauty would have her own needs. From the moment the tip of his penis sank into Orsha's vagina, he lost all the rights to complain about his partner sleeping around. 

What was the focal point of the current problem, wasn't the fact of sleeping with someone else. It was the reality that Arla not only slept with that Bartel guy for the sake of pleasure, but she clearly intended to make use of her former relationship with Fen to get a better start into her newly crafted future!

And this kind of betrayal, Fen just couldn't stomach.

"What did you say? Do you really think you have any right to command me? While you might be physically stronger than me, you are powerless against the backing that my family could provide… Fuck, I'm sorry."

Suddenly regaining his composure, Bartel shook his head for a moment before proceeding to slap his own face a few times. Only once his eyes regained their clarity did he raise his sight back at the young arcanist sitting calmly in the chair.

"Forget what I said. I do not have any right to use that tone in a place that still officially is rented by you. In fact, even if we were outside I shouldn't use that kind of words or tone either. Forgive me for that, please."

This was the first development that managed to spark any interest in Fen's eyes. Arla's betrayal painfully reminded him about all the events that the betrayal of his oldest friend set in motion. Who knew, maybe this was yet another opportunity for his will to be refined in the flames of psychical torture that Fen felt right now? 

"But still, given how Arla likes this place, I would love to rent it out. I'm willing to pay you the amount you were supposed to pay for it, along with the rent that I will take over. Do you think that offer is satisfactory?"

At this moment, Arla's face was filled with terror. It seemed that her initial plan didn't work out with the sudden change of attitude of her new man, and given how cleverly she had to set everything for such a switch to happen just in the two days that Fen was away, it was clear that this entire scheme wasn't just an effect of some unfortunate accidents.

"I said it already. Get out."

Not even bothering to raise his voice, Fen leaned to the back. Rubbing his palms against his face, the young man had to be extremely careful as to not let his feelings, raging in a storm below the surface of his calm expression, take over. Short sentences like the one he just used were the best, as they required the least amount of effort for him to say.

"I'm sorry, brother, but this is not a matter that I can compromise on. If I won't be able to make a deal with you, I will just go to the owner of this place and offer the entire sum to him. What do you think are the chances that he will keep renting this place you for half the usual price?"

Fen's face turned to the side. A slight noise from the outside that was similar to what he heard whenever Arla would go back to the house while he was busy inside alerted his sense, making him change his expression for the very first time ever since he entered the room. Yet, instead of acting up on the opportunity, Fen simply waited for a few moments more while the other guy clearly couldn't accept the fact that he was simply ignored.

The next moment, the doors finally screeched as someone pushed them open. Moving his sight to check who were the visitors, Bartel initially had no idea who was the pair of a burly middle-aged man with a relatively young woman. A slight nudge from Arla and a few words whispered to his ear later the intruder's face blossomed with a smile as he turned himself towards the owner of the house.

"Sir, it's a great pleasure to see you. If I could just take the slightest moment of your time… Oh! Is that an Hiberian tattoo? I would never expect to see someone from that legendary formation up close!"

As the Bartel continued to sign the praises towards Fen's landlord, the mercenary simply ignored him. Moving past the doorway where Arla with her lover stood, he simply pointed at one of the chairs that stood in the living room. Without even a second of hesitation, the young female that accompanied him took the seat, before shyly lowering her head.

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Turning his face to Fen, the mercenary was about to say something that was hard for him to utter judging from how his face twisted in an uneasy grimace. Yet, as if in spite of his efforts, the intruder actually moved forward, placing his hand on the mercenary's shoulder.

"Sir, I came here to offer you double the rent that this runt somehow forced you to accept as the payment for the house. I took a fancy to this place, so I hope…"

Initially feigning interest, most likely because he assumed that this strange man was Fen's guest, as soon as the first insult came the young man's way, the mercenary's face lost all the interest in what that man was attempting to say.

"Before we start, I need to ask you for a small favour."

Completely ignoring the silly attempts of Arla's new lower to enter the discussion, Fen spoke up properly for the very first time since he entered the house.

"A favour? So we are getting down to the business already… I hoped that I could have my daughter speak with you first though…"

Rather than being dissatisfied, the mercenary appeared to be simply disappointed. Yet, there was no sense of loss on his face that would indicate that his plans were foiled, only a genuine uneasiness, speaking wonders about the reason why he wanted his daughter to speak to the person that allowed her life to be spared from the sharp claws of her innate constitution.

"Nah, not a part of the business. Not yet, at least. You see, I asked those two to leave the house twice, yet they refused to listen."

Finally refocusing his eyes once again, Fen raised his arm and pointed at Bartel before moving his finger in the direction of the former partner of his.

"Given how they failed to listen to my orders, I can only ask you to throw them out. After all, we wouldn't want this house to burn as the aftereffect of my actions."

Despite how Fen never had any positive opinion about this man's intellect, as he learned more and more about his actions and reasons, he realised that it was just a mask that he had to put on himself to easier achieve what he wanted. Given that his daughter was sitting right beside the two of them with a healthy look on her face, the burly mercenary had no longer any reason to hide the true power of his mind.

Just a single look at the two of them seemed to be enough. The mercenary's hand landed on the hilt of the sword strapped to his side as he looked at Bartel, completely disregarding the presence of Arla.

"Do I need to repeat this respectable arcanist's words, or will you make yourself scarce on your own?"

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