Enigma of Sin

As Kayn sat waiting, the door was once again knocked on and opened. Only this time several people entered the room, all dressed scantily aside from a single person, the associate.

Every barely clothed individual had a slave collar on, though it was designed in a way that it blended in well with the little clothing they were wearing.

Kayn stood from his seat and approached the associate as they began speaking. "Good evening dear Esteemed Guest. You may select up to three of our escorts to provide you with entertainment for the next three days.

If you would like more than three, it will cost extra depending on your selections. The ones on the right are all normal selections, in the center you will find unique and pure selections costing 10 extra gold coins per day, and on the left are our pure unique selections and these will cost 25 gold coins extra per day."

Kayn stared at all the men and women in front of him. The ones on the left seemed resigned to their fate, the middle ones seemed to either be fearful or trying to accentuate their assets, and the ones on the left were either crying or so afraid that they were shaking. There was only one female in the entire group on the left that had a cold look on her face, as if she was afraid of nothing.

By all means, both the men and women in this group were objectively beautiful, but Kayn wasn't going to sleep with any of them in the first place. He took pity on them and hoped that they could last until they were set free when this ended, but that wouldn't save them from the next three days if another VIP chose them.

He originally intended to just deny the service, but after a few moments he made up his mind and spent some extra gold on the stubborn looking girl and another that was pure who looked like she wouldn't be able to last long in this place.

Neither looked much older than 18, but to Kayn's surprise when he examined them with Mana Sense, the stubborn one had a stage 1 mana core! He couldn't help but think that the overseer here overlooked that somehow as she should be a merchandise item, not a VIP escort.

The associate left with the rest of the group, leaving Kayn alone with the two women, one who was staring daggers at him and the other who was shivering so hard it looked like she was about to pee herself…and she did.

Kayn sighed as he saw this. Usually, he would just wave his hand and clean up the mess before comforting the girl, but he couldn't do that here, not yet at least. He pointed to her instead and said, "You, go clean yourself up in the bath, otherwise you'll stink up the place."

A glazed look then appeared over her eyes as she made her way to the washroom with steady steps, as if her previous fear was a lie. This was obviously the slave collar's control taking hold of her actions.

He then looked to the other that would definitely try to kill him if she could, "Make the three of us some strong drinks and bring them over to the seats near the window."

At first, it didn't seem like the command worked, but within moments she was walking over to the bar area and pouring liquor into three glasses.

At this point, the young butler entered the room and gave two lists to Kayn. "The first list are the selections for dinner tonight. Once you choose what you want, hand it back to me and I will go alert the chefs. The second is the merchandise that will be auctioned off over the next three days."

Kayn took both lists before quickly filling out the one for food and handing it back to the young man. He then pointed to the liquid staining the nice marble floor, "Clean up the mess before you leave, otherwise it will make my experience here quite unpleasant."

"Of course, Sir." The butler said as he went to fetch a few towels and cleaning agents before tidying up the mess and leaving to alert the chefs in the kitchen about Kayn's choices.

Kayn received yet another shock as he watched this though, it appeared as though the butler didn't take commands from just anyone like the entertainers did. This meant that he was just genuinely trying to do a good job.

This actually made Kayn a bit relieved since this young man should easily be able to find work once he's released from his bonds and this place ends up in flames.

Kayn's attention then turned towards the stubborn young elf that was busy making drinks and mumbling something to herself. Curious as to what she was saying, he decided to listen in. "Damn vile people. If the protector dragon of the Great Forest was here, he would burn this whole place to ash, just like he did the beast tide."

"Hmm?" This caught Kayn's attention and he audibly hummed. "Did you say something Miss?" he asked to see what she would say when not under the effects of a command.

The young elf woman walked over and placed a drink in front of Kayn and two more on top of the table near him. "No Sir, but here are your drinks."

"I see. There is still at least an hour until the auction begins. Since that is the case, sit down on the chair next to me. Drink to ease your nerves as well, it'll help a little." Kayn stated.

"As you wish, Sir." She sat down and picked up one of the glasses she had prepared before taking a large gulp of the liquid inside.

Kayn chuckled a little when he noticed her reaction to the liquor, she must have made it quite strong to make that kind of a face. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Repha." She answered truthfully even though her face was scrunched up in displeasure due to being forced to reveal things about herself.

"Well, Repha, how did you end up in this predicament?" Kayn asked as he was genuinely curious how what he assumed was a pure-blooded elf from the Great Forest ended up as an escort slave for a black-market auction house.

Kayn could see that she was trying to resist, but it was futile to try and resist a slave collar's hold over you unless you knew how. He knew because he also had one on currently. "Be honest with your feelings, it's fine, I won't harm you."

"Says the slave owner," Repha scowled back at Kayn, but quickly covered her mouth as she didn't want to be punished for insulting who she was supposed to be entertaining.

She was informed beforehand that if she didn't do her duties properly, her little sister that was captured with her would join the selection next time. Just the thought alone brought her some resolution to do whatever it took to keep her sister out of harm's way.

"My apologies, Sir. My sister and I are shrine maidens in the eastern Great Forest, we were abducted and ended up here when we were returning to our shrine after the dragon protector culled the beast tide and it was deemed safe." Repha ended up telling him about her sister, even if she didn't mean or want to.

All she saw was a black emptiness when she tried to peer inside of his hood, and it made her feel unsettled. Between that and the controlling effects of the slave collar, things just came out even if she didn't want them to.

"Sister, you say? Older or younger? What happened to her?" Kayn asked.

Repha seemed hesitant to answer, so Kayn had to use a command on her, even if it made him uncomfortable. "She is younger by 5 years, Sir. And to my knowledge she is being held here in order to keep me in line. I haven't seen her since we got here." Repha replied, worry laced in her voice.

It was at this point that the other girl, a petite blond human girl walked out of the bathroom, looking refreshed, but still quite nervous. Kayn noticed her and told her the same thing he told Repha a few moments ago. "Come sit in the chair over here and have a drink to ease your nerves. Also, tell me your name."

"Sir, my name is Colleen." She said as she walked over, grabbing a glass of liquor before sitting down and sipping at it. It looked like she had absolutely zero resistance to the slave collar or its effects, unlike Repha. This was most likely due to them using a regular collar on a 1st stage individual.

"Colleen, how did you end up here?" Kayn asked a similar question once more.

"My mother and father run a bakery in the southern outer ring. There has been a string of robberies lately and the protection my parents pay for didn't do anything when they robbed from us. When the people who my parents have to pay monthly for protection wanted this month's payment, they couldn't afford it, so they took me. My father offered himself and so did my mother, but they told my parents that this would be a lesson to them to not slack off." Colleen stated as tears swelled in her eyes.

Kayn shook his head at these two girls' predicaments, he assumed the rest of the slaves had similar circumstances as well. It was all very infuriating to Kayn, but he was able to control his anger much better now days.

Time passed in silence and before Kayn knew it, the butler arrived inside of the room with several dishes of food that he placed out on a table in front of Kayn.

"Here is your food Sir, also the auction is about to begin."