Chapter 25 – Acceptance

A large tent lay on a side of Fang Street in Two Fang city.

Within a spacious hall with a stage, of the tent, 9 people were currently standing in complete silence.

Three girls were atop the stage. One was scantily dressed and looked to be in her twenties. Beside her were two white short robe dressed fragile looking girls in wooden sandals.

Halfway up the two-step high stage. On the first step were two figures. A young boy and a girl standing half a step behind him.

Finally at the bottom of the stage stood a man and another scantily dressed women holding a tray of refreshments for the man.

Adam who was currently standing in the middle of everyone present spoke up.

"Ungad I'm sure you have an explanation for this." His voice was stern this time. He could feel the guilt that was oozing out of the man below the stage as if he had committed some unspeakable sin.

"Master Adam please forgive me. As you have already seen this cursed girl is a child of the fiends. I did not want to deceive you or the madam but the sister fit all the criteria given so I was tempted. Please forgive me." He had already fallen to his knees with his head touching the floor.

'cursed…child of the fiends.' Adam turned around and looked at Elaine's sister. He was still getting that feeling of connection. He could tell that she did not have a bad character so why was she being badmouthed.

He could also tell that Ungad was being sincere when he spoke. So who was wrong, his senses or Ungad?

He wasn't about to make a rash judgement on the matter so he started scanning this 'cursed' girl in front of him.

Glossy and straight hair just like her sister's. the only difference was in the length and colour of it.

Her hair was a pure white with the stripes in it being black. The fur on the inner part of her still and calm ears was black.

Her face was the exact replica of Elaine's. The only way to differentiate them would be the colour of their eyes.

This girl had greyish white eyes with tinges of a light blue colour. Her eyes were really pretty but unlike the stubborn and ferocious eyes of her sister, there was a shyness and lack of confidence in hers.

Adam was once again left speechless.

Most of the girls in the lodge were very pretty. Just taking Fen for example. She would easily have been able to become a model in his previous world, even without any makeup.

These girls in front of him were a notch above even Fen. They already rivalled Fen currently. What would happen when they grew up to her age?

Snapping himself out of these distracting thoughts. He started collecting himself.

While he was doing so the two sisters on the stage had already gotten into a heated debate.

"Elaine! why would you get them to bring me out? Now they won't even take you. We are twins so they always think the bad luck is transmitted to you as well!" the pretty white-haired girl whispered to her sister.

"Foolish. How can you even think that I would abandon you? Would you have abandoned me? There's no need to talk about this anymore. We already know the answer." Elaine cut deep with her words.

They had lived in exile on their own and taken care of each other all the while. Their bond had solidified to the extremes. Knowing each other's thoughts was a simple matter.

"B…but… This is still so stupid! Did you not feel it too? When you looked in his eyes… that feeling of warmth. Was I the only one? How could you risk this?" She was growing frantic and her voice grew into a louder whisper.

"Keep your voice down. Hmph" She let out a huff. "Of course I felt it too. But don't you ever let him hear it! That annoying boy." She was still in a bit of a bad mood from being ignored earlier.

It seemed both the girls had the same sensation as Adam did. They were a race of the feline clan who were known for being sensitive and agile. Only it seemed that Adam was much more sensitive than them. His feeling was a lot more defined than theirs.

"Oh! He made you angry. You never get angry at anyone sister. Its usually you annoying others." The surprise was evident in her voice.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing! Nothing!" She giggled a bit. "Sister you felt that feeling too so why would you do this? We did not get this feeling even from the only person who protected us. Even he was guarded around us. How could you so foolishly risk this chance?"

"It is precisely this feeling that gave me the hope that he would understand. You are not cursed and you are not a child of the fiends. You have been falsely accused and the adults are irrationally mean to us." Her eyes turned more stubborn than usual. It was evident that she was recalling some bitter memories.

"I see. It is already done. We can only place our hopes on him and see how he responds." She trusted her sister's judgement. However, this was something they had never experienced before. All they could do was wait and watch, hoping for the best.

"Hmph, he's just an annoying brat." Elaine's words were harsh but the expression on her face deceived her. A look of expectation played on her face.

"Who are you trying to fool with your rough words. It's written all over your face." The white-haired girl started giggling at her sister.

"Cough. Cough" Adam coughed a bit to get the attention of the sisters. They were too absorbed in their conversation to notice anyone around them.

'They are just two ordinary playful girls.' This thought crossed his mind when he saw the interaction between the two. He had long since cleared his mind and was waiting for the two to be done.

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to hear the conversation between the two whispering girls. He also wouldn't go out of his way to pry into their private conversation.

The two girls blushed a bit when they saw the attention on them.

"Umm, I shall reintroduce myself. My name is Adam and yours is?" He looked toward the white-haired girl.

"Me?" she looked around then pointed to herself. She was not expecting to be spoken to.

They had been kept here in this tent for a day or so and had heard a few 'transactions' take place. The customers would never speak to the slave. The only interaction that would take place was between the buyer and the seller.

"He is a weird one. He spoke to me as well. Just answer him." Elaine nudged her from the side with her elbow.

"Ah! okay. Umm, My name is Luna. I... it is nice to meet you." She stuttered a bit in her excitement.

'Her personality is so much more mellow than the fiery personality of Elaine.' Adam thought to himself.

"Nice to meet you too." He replied with a smile.

"Master Adam. There is no need to humour me by interacting with the girl. It is understandable if you don't want to continue with the deal. I will reimburse the Madam and be sure to find another suitable product." Ungad interrupted the conversation.

"It was my fault on this account. I shall even compensate you if you do not spread the word of my slight mishap." He was trying his best to hush the whole situation. It was his best case scenario to not lose a customer and also not have the word spread about the incident today.

He knew this would be hard so the desperation in his voice had become apparent.

"I will hold you to your words later but for now I would still like to know the whole situation. I will first speak to them and understand their story. Only then shall I make my decision. Is that fine with you?"

"I have no problems with this master Adam. Feel free to speak." He thought that it was just a whim of the boy who was intrigued by the girls to learn more. He did not mind indulging him to gain favour in the negotiations later on.

"I would appreciate some privacy while I speak with the two. I hope you don't mind." Adam did not want him to realize that he was utterly clueless as to the whole matter.

"It is no problem. You two let's go." He led the two scantily dressed girls into the curtain behind the stage. He was in an obviously bad mood.

He would usually not allow a customer to be alone with one of his 'products' without completing a deal but his team had already made a mistake in bringing Luna.

Usually, they would have just 'discarded' the 'defective' product before bringing Elaine back. This mess up of theirs had rendered even Elaine unsellable so what was the use of watching over her.

…..

Seeing the three people disappear behind the curtain, Adam waited for a while to make sure they had gone.

Only after being positive that they had the room to themselves did he speak.

"So why did he say you were cursed?"

"Huh, you don't know?" Elaine was stunned. Her eyes were on the verge of popping out.

"Ahh, young master I think I might have a clue." Fen was finally feeling a bit energetic again after Ungad left the room.

"You do? Why didn't you tell me this before then big sis?" He was puzzled.

"I just figured it out but I'm not sure if it's right. Young master, remember how we read about the light and darkness elements? How only special constitutions can exhibit these elements…"

"I think I get what you are saying, big sis. Elaine and Luna, do tiger tribesmen have different hair colours?"

"No." they responded together.

"They all have light orange hair with black stripes, there are cases where some are born without stripes but that is the only variation that occurs," Elaine said.

"I see. I'm guessing Luna has the element of darkness then. Am I right?"

"That's what the elders in our clan said when they exiled us."

The element of darkness was a bad omen for the people of this land. The greatest calamity of this continent was wrought by Fiends who are born from the element of darkness.

It could be seen how the people would disdain anyone or anything that had anything to do with it.

"What they said?" He asked back. He sensed something peculiar in the way she worded her sentence.

"Yes, they only had the tools to test for the light attribute. Since she did not resonate with it she was deemed to harbour the element of darkness." She said with a hint of resentment.

"It is fine, Elaine. It was not completely wrong for them to come to this conclusion. If I don't have the light element but still have a special constitution body it is only logical that I have the darkness element." Luna seemed to be resigned to her fate.

"Don't say that!" Elaine yelled at her.

"Hmm, it's only the darkness element. Why make such a big deal about it." Adam let his thoughts out verbally by mistake.

"Huh?!" All three girls in the room were shocked. They had always been taught that the darkness element was bad and vile. How could the boy say those words so lightly? The worst part was that he truly did not seem to care regardless.

Seeing how the eyes of the three girls began to pierce into his soul, looking for an explanation to his words. He took in a cold breath of air.

"What I meant was…ugh, why should it matter even if she had the dark element? She is still Luna. I think she is a great person from what I have seen." He quickly blurted out a response hoping to remedy the situation.

"You really mean that?" Luna's eyes dilated a bit as she asked. Her hands were clutched tightly together in front of her chest.

She had been ostracized for who she was since she was born. Never had she heard words that were even remotely similar to these before.

Something about what he said made her heart skip a beat and then thump wildly.

"Our parents abandoned us when we were born. An elder hid us away and raised us for three years but he passed away on a trip outside and the village discovered us. We were exiled and roamed the plains for 2 years till we were eventually caught by the slavers."

"Everyone we have ever known has wanted to get rid of us. Even I have faced scorn because my hair is more vibrant than other members of the tribe and they say that I have been affected by my sister. After knowing all of this can you still say the same?" Even Elaine had lost her composure and started to become emotional as she recounted their tale.

Adam may have said it at the moment but his words were true. They were his actual thoughts on the matter. He would not speak random words on a whim.

After hearing what was said, he became serious. He understood how much this meant to the two girls.

He was going to treat the two girls with the sincerity they deserved but were deprived of.

He began pondering on what to say next. This was a very sensitive topic and it would be best if he did not wantonly wade through it.

He straightened his back and looked into the eyes of the two girls.

"My offer still stands. I shall extend it to Luna as well." He said resolutely.

"I shall say the same words I said to your sister. I require an adventurer to accompany me through life and death. Dangers will be at every turn on our journey. If you understand this and are still willing to accompany me, I shall be glad."

"No need to worry even if you decline. You will be hired by my mother's lodge. Regardless of your choice, after today you will have the freedom to do as you please." His words were straightforward and to the point. He did not beat around the bush.