Chapter 24 – Not one, two!

Woosh!

The black cloth veiling the figure flew off with the pull of the scantily dressed girl. In a practised and almost performance like manner the flying cloth was folded in the air itself and landed in the hands of the girl.

Unfortunately for her their patron this time did not seem to notice her masterful display.

Adam was preoccupied at the moment, looking at the figure in front of him.

When the veil was pulled off, bright and long orange hair fluttered in the air dazzling all the onlookers.

Standing there on the stage was a girl who looked to be the same age as Adam. She was dressed in a spotless white silken short robe with wooden sandals.

Her bright orange hair came cascading down all over her face after its initial flight.

"ugh," A dissatisfied grunt came from the orange haired girl. She was obviously not too happy with the showy display.

Two dainty hands with thin fingers that looked beyond fragile were sent forth to bring her hair back into place. After a second of parting and patting her hair, her face was revealed.

This was when Adam truly became speechless.

Her bright orange hair was straight and glossy. It went down to her shoulder and curled a bit inward at the ends.

There were black tiger stripes on her hair and similarly two feline ears were twitching atop her head with similar colours. The fur on the inner part of the ear was pure white.

She had a pale skin tone as if she hadn't seen the light of the sun in a while.

She looked around the room clearly dazed. Then looked straight at Adam who was standing just a few feet ahead of her. Their gazes met.

His clear green gem-like eyes met her light golden eyes. She had eyes like a tiger that would stare you down and completely mesmerize the onlooker. There was a sharpness to the shape of her eyes and brows that was alluring.

A thin and small nose lay in between her eyes, beneath which were her thin lips that were pink beyond compare. Her lightly rounded chin only further accentuated her features.

She was already such a pretty girl. Her allure would only grow with time.

This was however not what captivated Adam.

When their eyes met he felt a weird… connection.

He was a man raised in the modern world. Strangers were to be strictly evaluated before you would even talk to them. This was his mentality and yet he had this feeling for this girl. It wasn't a romantic feeling but more like a nostalgic feeling.

He had only once felt this feeling before where his subconscious wanted to trust another person.

That time he had found out one of his online friends was the same age, had the same birthday, same likes and dislikes and most importantly played the same games as him.

Though that time he had spoken to the other person for months before he felt like he had met a long lost brother.

'Why am I getting this feeling?' He was stumped by his own emotions.

"Hey! What are you staring at shorty?!" A sweet voice erupted with anger from the orange haired girl.

Just like that Adam's thoughts about the girl were shattered.

"Who are you calling 'short'? You are just standing higher…" If this were an anime, a red cross would have long since appeared on his forehead.

"You! I'm sorry master Adam. We just received her so she has not been disciplined. Madam Yuki forbade us from interacting with her till you got here so she might be a little unruly. Since she has already purchased her we could only comply." Ungad quickly began explaining the situation from his perspective.

"Watch your mouth girl! Don't make me come up there. This is going to be your new master so you have to treat him with respect." A violent look of savagery flashed across his face for a moment. It was a complete contrast to the look he had on all this time. He began to take a step toward the stage.

"Stop. Since she has already been taken in by my mother I will handle the rest." Adam put his arm in front of Ungad and blocked his path.

"As you wish master Adam." He was a true professional. Not a hint of dissatisfaction or his previous violence could be seen. He changed faces like a chameleon changed colours.

Seeing him assent, Adam walked up the stage and arrived before the girl.

"Hi. My name is Adam. Yours is?"

"Why should I tell you?" The girl was completely unfazed by the violent outburst from earlier.

"Cause if you don't, our conversation won't progress and you will have to stay here longer and maybe forever." Adam was starting to get annoyed at this stubborn tomboy.

It was known that he is cool-headed and never got angry at anyone easily but this girl had a way of getting on his nerves. It wasn't that he was infuriated but more like he was annoyed.

First, she had shattered that nice feeling he had toward her and now she was being unreasonable.

"Hmph, fine. My name is Elaine. Why do you ask?" The girl was still looking at him like he was some dangerous stranger that she should be wary of.

'This is going nowhere anytime soon. This back and forth will continue forever.' He did not want to stay in this place for too long but this girl was not helping in any way.

"Ungad. Can you please tell me about her background?" It was his turn to annoy her. He completely ignored her and asked Ungad straight away.

"Yes, master Adam. This girl is 5 years old and originates from the tiger tribe. Tiger tribesmen are known for being fierce warriors. She is an exiled member of her tribe."

"An exiled member? Why was she exiled?" Adam asked. His curiosity had been stimulated.

"That I do not know." He said and then bowed a little in a humble apology.

"You! You ignored me didn't you!" The girl's agitated voice rang in the background. Adam and Ungad pretended not to hear anything.

"Is there anything else I should know?" Adam asked.

"There is not much else that is of any importance currently," Ungad replied.

"Okay. Thank you." Adam turned back to the now red-faced girl.

"Is there anything that you would like to add to that?" He asked her with a straight face as if nothing had happened.

"Hmph! Hmph! See if I will ever talk to you again." She had a belly full of rage. If that scary man wasn't standing behind this boy she would have long since given him a few bite marks.

"Okay, I'm sorry I ignored you. If you promise to talk to me properly I won't do it again." He did feel bad. He had acted childishly just to get back at this girl. He felt a little ashamed.

It was just that this girl got on his nerves so easily. He could not figure out why.

"Fine. I promise." She mumbled softly while pouting.

"And…"

"I'm sorry too. I won't say anything more!" She apologized meekly but yelled the latter sentence as if that was her final concession.

"Haha, Alright. That should suffice." This girl with a fiery temper was weirdly likeable. "I will get straight to the point Elaine. I need a member to join my party. Someone who will become an adventurer and adventure alongside me."

"It will be a tough road with many dangers. Many times we might even face the risk of death."

"After knowing all of this I ask you… Elaine, will you be willing to join me?"

"I will not force you. The choice is up to you. If you decline I'm sure that my mother will hire you at the lodge. So no need to worry about that." After saying his piece he kept quiet and waited for her response.

"I really don't care about danger. My every day was filled with danger since I was exiled. But…" She replied quite quickly. Contrary to Adams expectations.

"But?" He asked. She was clearly worried about something. It was as if she was contemplating whether she should say her next sentence.

"You are nice. I don't get the same feeling of danger I get from other people when I look at you. So I don't mind following you. I don't mind even becoming an adventurer and risking my life but…." She paused again.

"I have one condition." She said with a stubborn look in her eyes.

"Who are you to give conditions to master Adam!" Ungad had remained silent for most of the conversation because he was asked to.

However, when he heard the girl putting up conditions for a customer of his he could not take it anymore. This would affect the reputation of his business. If his products started asking prices of their own, what was his job then? Also if Adam was dissatisfied and spread the word of what happened, that would be worse.

"Let her speak please." Adam interrupted and then gestured the girl to continue.

She let out a sigh of relief. She may be young but she could understand her situation. Him letting her speak was already being extremely generous and almost no one else would have let her do so.

"Umm," She became very meek at this point. "I will go wherever you go as long as my sister can accompany us." Her voice grew softer and softer as she spoke.

"Sister? Does she have a sister?" Adam looked toward the man behind him.

"Ugh..." An ugly expression overcame Ungad's face.

"What's wrong?" This man had never lost character but now he had done so. Adam was truly curious as to why.

"Master Adam, I was not trying to deceive you. This girl really does have a sister but the two are completely different products. The other one is a bit… defective. That does not mean that this one is too. That is why I was selling her separately." The man grew frantic trying to explain himself.

'Defective? Sold separately? What is going on?' Adam was truly baffled by this turn of events.

"What could possibly be wrong with her sister?" Adam's mind was coming up with countless theories like the other girl missing a limb or so on.

'Those should not be such a big deal right? So why is he acting so frantic?'

"It's truly nothing master Adam." The man was trying his best to avoid the topic.

"Then it shouldn't be too much trouble to bring her out. Yes? I will have to trouble you to bring her out." Adam said very calmly.

Ungad was lost. He was truly defeated at this time. He had tried so hard to conceal this matter but it was still going to surface. He gave one last fierce look at Elaine who was looking at her feet since she made her request.

"Go bring out the other one." He commanded the scantily dressed girl beside Elaine.

Just like before the girl disappeared behind the curtains without a word.

In a few seconds, another black veiled figure was being brought out under the guidance of the girl.

Woosh!

With the same practised manner she pulled the cloth off grandly but this time there wasn't such a big show as the girl only had hair till the length of her chin.

Adam was left stunned. He got the same feeling again. Was it this easy to find people who resonated with you? It was an emotion that came from the soul.

Adam's soul was not ordinary. It was a tempered soul that was a lot more powerful and sensitive. It should be a lot harder for this to happen.

"Twins!" He blurted out. Luckily his voice wasn't too loud.

"Young master. Things are getting very interesting, hehe." Fen who had stayed quiet this whole time because she truly detested this place, could not hold back when she saw Adam stunned for the second time. She bent forward and whispered to him.

"Truly…Truly!" Adam said shaking his head.

"Big sis, let's see how things go. Something is weird here." He could feel the atmosphere around Ungad was solemn.

"I'll leave it all to you young master. I truly don't feel well being here." She straightened her bent back and became quiet again.

"okay." Their conversation had been in whispers to each other so the others could not tell what was spoken.

Ungad's face only grew uglier seeing them secretly converse.