72 Unravel 1 - An Unbelievable Truth or A Very Convincing Lie (1/2)

”Well, why is the attendant speaking in behalf of the mistress? Isn't she the one sitting beside you or is she lazy? I mean your name isn't Emily Aurum, it's Lara Aurum.”

?!?!?!?!!!?

With Stigma sudden announcement, all the surrounding people were stunned from disbelief as each one had different thoughts going through their respective minds.

But as the silence continued to the room, other than Felix, they all had the same question in their mind: ”Who is this boy?”

The woman who Stigma identified as 'Lara' stared at him with great shock, but she stopped to stare at the guard who brought them in, Roger.

Roger had stood behind Felix and Stigma so they could not read his expression, but from his position he also made a dumbfound expression then faced his mistress, motioning his eyes that he said nothing.

The young girl, who was identified as 'Emily', had tilted her head to the side like a cat as she stared at Stigma. For whatsoever meaning was behind the stare could only be known to the person they belonged to.

Veil, Han and the Leader could not follow them all the way and were staying outside as the number of guards were the issue.

From their position, they used a techniques called lip reading and used their heighten senses, and when they Stigma's last words they all had similar reactions and kept their distance. As their mission was related to the market, important figure had been investigated such as the Top, such they were aware who was the real 'Emily'.

'Stigma, what are you...'

Before he could finish the thought, Felix started to recall that Stigma claimed to have an ability relating to his Cultivation. Felix immediately believed Stigma, as he himself had gained abilities in the same manner.

With the guidance of his seniors, Felix was able to obtain the skills and abilities of a Heavenly Beast of the Mountain Boar, a behemoth of size and momentum. His presence techniques was an example of how far his training had lead.

As his Cultivation grew, Felix slowly realized that once mastered, one can continue to grow and may reach the pinnacle of their abilities or go beyond their limits and gain the possibility to be a Heavenly Being at their peak of their Cultivation technique.

Felix was also informed that any Cultivation technique, that enables the practitioners to gain special abilities, must have belonged to powerful cultivators that had reached the peak of their strength and recorded and left behind their finding before ascending to the Heavenly Realm like the legends say.

Some were handed down to whom they trusted such as close kin or hidden in secret to dangerous areas to test worthy successors.

Royal families were prime examples of successors from a Cultivators bloodlines, so many try to either usurp the line of the degrading power or steal their secrets for personal gain.

What was right before Felix's eyes, may be one of the living proof of those supposed rumors of their late predecessor's Heaven Defying Cultivation Technique - the ability to see the truth through the mind, which was still believed it to be a legend.

'....It looks like Stigma is unaware of the danger he possess in the future if great powers know of him, I have to inform him later on for his own safety...'

Stigma was not aware of what was going on everyone's mind as he did not care. Beside him and Felix, Stigma found that everyone in this room was emitting a Zen aura so he remained vigilant.

When Stigma activated his skill 'Essence Reader from the start', he found that one of them was Cultivator within the First Tier but kept quiet about the matter, he only wanted to detect any lies during the conversation and warn Felix if they were trying to fool him and didn't expect to fin another Cultivator.

So far, none of the information they have given were false, but that does not mean Stigma's method was absolute.

As the wealthiest merchant in the area, Stigma had to be wary of their methods of persuasion as they could only speak the truth by hiding important details similar to the Demon Imp method. With such negotiation tactic, they while also gain their hidden goal and they lower their chances of heavy loss if such risk were willing to be taken.

In his previous life, Stigma had been repeatedly been swindled by this method, so he had to be careful to who he meet in this life time.

As for Stigma's reason for speaking the truth without much thought was very simple - he did want to be fooled for no good reason and wanted to see their reaction in cooping.

It annoyed him that they gave such vague terms and shrouded their intentions, so Stigma gave out their identities and surveyed how they would react when the conversation was heading towards a different direction than they expected.

Within the next few minutes, the first one to responded was the woman who Stigma identified as Lara. With a stern expression, Lara gave one long look to Stigma before giving her response.

”....Sir Stigma, let me remind you that Sir Felix has given much importance to you to be called his little brother. So it would be in the best of interest to give him face, there is a limit to courtesy when addressing to someone to whom you have never met before. Just this once, your offense will be forgiven, so cease further unnecessary remarks. Understood....”

The woman named 'Lara' had responded with a low voice at the last line, not only that she also exhibited her anger by releasing a Zen aura with a trace of fury in her eyes.

Stigma could tell that 'Lara' had taken the matter seriously and was offended from his remark.

If any man looked at her right now, they would cower in fear from the glare alone, but Stigma was not intimidated in the slightest as killing a Heavenly Beast with his bare hands was far more daunting to handle than a woman just glaring at him.

Stigma did not turn his head but was also far more concerned about the little girl's reaction towards his remark, as she was had been quiet the entire exchange and was identified as the real 'Emily Aurum'.

”...And, in what way have I made an offensive comment?” Stigma was not tense and removed his footwear then crossed his legs on the sofa, which by itself was a sign of a disrespectful behavior as it was not his residence.

”.....Then you are obviously not aware of giving face to the Aurum family by not expressing regrets by bowing your head to the floor. Unless a proper explanation is given, Sir Stigma will receive severe consequences for such actions.”

Felix was aware what was going on from the start of the conversation and was about to step in, but Stigma motioned him to let him handle it and gave an explanation that had some interested, but left the the rest confused.

”Then how should I interpret my reason as...an unbelievable truth or a very convincing lie?” Stigma squinted his eyes then gave a confident smile.

From where the confidence originated, only Felix knew, but all were curious as to how Stigma will 'explain' a blatant lie to convince all of them.

Was Stigma capable enough to stand his own ground or giving a false bravado, Felix along with everyone in the room wanted to know.

While Felix was expecting that his little brother wanted to proved his worth to not be looked down upon, Stigma only followed his intuition that he was allowed to follow was due to him being investigated.

Stigma had not been very 'careful' or 'subtle' when he arrived in the market, and it was obvious that the recent incidents he caused will be looked into due to violent behavior.

Yet it had only been two days at most and nothing had happened, which greatly confused him from the delay.

There hasn't been any attempt to remove him when it was obvious that he had been living inside the grand tent even with the arrest of the four followers when the three assassin.

The employees may have kept his a secret to hide their mistake in offending him, but Stigma could only guess from their reason.

There was also the time Stigma left to find Kirin and found the guard by the gate recording every resident who had left and returned.

It wasn't hard for Stigma to realize that he was bound to be arrested for his actions if that had already been sent to their employer's hand anytime soon as the four guards were found hanged by the tree.

And yet again, nothing had happened.

With the recent event of him inspecting the product, it was obvious Stigma should have been the center of the Top's attention and could not be ignored.

Adding all those events, Stigma made the verdict that he was still a suspect and was being observed from a distance to avoid drawing danger to what organization he supposedly belonged to.

Before he arrived, the time it took to conclude the event was faster than Stigma expected, which means the person he was about meet is extremely proficient and wanted to meet him in private, proving his theory of he was the main target.

By that logic, Stigma assumed that they knew by now that he was a cultivator with special abilities. And what was happening right know was not different to Stigma walking into a spider's trap, while Felix's status was just an excuse to bring him here.

”...What do you mean by unbelievable truth or a convincing lie. Let this be clear, an explanation is needed or punishment is unavoidable for offending the...”

”That is why I'm giving my reason and giving a choice to believe the unbelievable truth or a very convincing lie? So decide which to believe, the truth or the lie, alright.”

With nothing else to say, Lara gave silence as the reply, Stigma gave a small smiled then cracked his neck. Stigma began by raising his right arm and each time he spoke one finger was lifted.

”Now then, when I came here the objective was to meet Senior Felix, is that correct?”

”....Of course, he is part of a respected clan, many would have the honor of hosting such an opportunity.”

”Then why am I here then?”

”Because you were recognized as an important acquaintance to Sir Felix, was that not obvious. Welcoming an acquaintance of Sir Felix was to give face, Sir Stigma was to be treated with respect and under the assumption that you would not make a fool of yourself towards your venerable Senior.”

”True, but I was not needed here if convincing Felix alone was the whole point. If this concerns about his groups, does it not sound redundant for me to enter and listen. I mean, how much influence could I have in changing his suggestion or have any relation in the clan when it was only two days at most when we met. So I hold no importance, ergo should not be listening to such ”

”...”

Though she did not show it, 'Lara' was shocked to find out that such a loophole had been found so easily.

It was true that Stigma had been investigated, but there was no information about his interactions with the Boar's clan men until now and only heard that Stigma was saved by Felix, as such she had expected both of them to be close for a long time.

'...What a blunder'

At the same time, Felix nodded his head when he heard Stigma's verdict. Felix also tried to hold his laughter when he realized that his little brother Stigma, was still unaware of his importance to him and his clan.

”....”

”I'll take the silent as confirmation then, next would the extra guest...” Without a second though, everyone understood what Stigma meant and turned towards the young girl who had been silently watching the entire time.

”...In what way does her presence make a different? As I have already informed you, she is a relative, a talented one who came here as a means of first hand experience.” From 'Lara's reply, Stigma did not answer yet and only showed his hand to her.

”Remember we exchanged greetings by shaking hand.”

”....It's customary to show respect to any visitor or high standing, if not or your unique position, Sir Stigma should have been the one to bow or kiss the back of her hand. Is the handshake of any importance?”

”Oh, but it does, as it tells me who and how one lived until now. For example, the hand of someone who had exercised for years should have shown rough hands, I noticed that the fingers were slightly deformed, stipulating that ink and paper had been repeatedly used for a long time. Am I correct?”

”....Of course, she is part of the distinguish family of merchants, the Four Lotus company which dates back even before you were born. Because of her talents was recognized, she has studied advance subjects such as mathematics and had been trained in at a very young age of four, it was not long ago she had just finished her training until you arrived.”

”Then why stay here when a meeting of an important guest was at way and gain risk during the conversation. I believe the age ten or fifteen below is still to early to start working don't you...”

'Lara' glared at Stigma with animosity but only for a moment as her previously distorted face had returned to an emotionless poker face.

”Sir Stigma....let me remind you that she belongs from a different type of heritage, so please refrain from comparing yourself to her. Is that to be understood...”

”Of course, but that was not my point.” Stigma crossed his arms as he started at the girl across him, who sat with her hands on her legs.

”Well how about this, same as my position, is their really any relevance in bring her here? It was already stated that I was an important acquaintance but already pointed out that I hold no importance, so in what way can another have any significance in a meeting if the goal was for observation only. I find it hard to believe that using a meeting with an important member of a distinguish clan is enough of an excuse for 'observational training' when one has finished training. From what I know, starting from less important deals should be an appropriate start than to have a meeting with a high value client, is that not correct...”

'He found another one...' Though she was silent, 'Lara' was clenching both of her fist, it hasn't been that long and the truth had been revealed.

Not only that, everyone was shocked from hearing Stigma's insight, stump from hearing another loophole and slowly realized that the girl before them was the real 'Emily'.

Although it was true, 'Lara' was prepared to give out any reason such as the young girl 'Emily' being present as a pretense of training, as she assumed that Stigma and Felix had no knowledge on the profession.

She had not expected the boy in front of her to have knowledge on how to train employees.

Even Felix was starting to believe that Stigma was not from a normal background, and questioned whether his memory lost was but a lie.