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The Beginning of Karma
“Have they not found that escaped monster yet?!”
“My apologies…”
At the Marein-Condroy mansion in the town below Renalute Castle, Marein himself was roaring in anger. The cause was that the “rare married couple of monsters” who were supposed to fetch a large sum had actually escaped. Despite having made special collars to capture them, this would now result in a huge loss. Marein was sitting at his desk, his disgruntled expression immediately apparent.
Marein pressed his left hand to his temple, forcefully striking the desk with the fingers of his right hand as he roared again in rage.
“The dwarf girl! What about that dwarf brat? Haven’t those fools returned yet?”
“…Indeed, it would seem not.”
“Damn it! They’re all completely useless!”
At that moment, the butler being yelled at received a report.
“What?! Is that true?!”
The butler’s face brightened with apparent relief before immediately reporting to Marein.
“Sir Marein, it seems the ones who captured the dwarf girl and the monsters have arrived at the mansion!”
“What did you say?! Really?!”
For him right now, there could be no better news. His earlier anger melting away like a lie, his expression blossomed into cheerfulness. Seeing this, the butler let out a sigh of relief and smiled as well.
“The ones who captured the dwarf girl and monsters wish to meet with you, Sir Marein. What shall we do?”
“Understood. There’s no time to waste. I’ll meet them right away. And…tell them to prepare as well.”
Leaving the room, Marein immediately headed to where the visitors were.
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We were now in what could be called the entrance hall of Marein’s mansion. Unnecessarily large, it was big enough for a dance party, with stairs leading up to the second floor at the far end. The design allowing one to overlook this hall from the second floor seemed intended to flaunt his power. And this mansion was built closer to the Empire’s style rather than Renalute’s. As I observed the mansion’s architecture and atmosphere, a young girl in a ninja-like headscarf concealing her face worriedly whispered to me.
“…Do you think this will go well?”
“It’ll be okay, we’ll manage somehow,” I replied in a confident whisper with a smile.
Then another woman with her face hidden by a headscarf encouraged the girl.
“Princess, please rest assured that I will protect you.”
“You’re right. With Tia, Asna and everyone here, I’ll do my best too…!!”
Hearing our words, the headscarf-wearing girl clenched her fists in determination. That’s right, the ones hiding their faces with headscarves were Asna and Farah. To expose Marein’s misdeeds and corner him, we decided the best way was to have the country’s top leader hear his own confession.
However, since Farah and the others’ faces might be known, we bought headscarves in town beforehand to conceal their identities. Watching their disguised appearance, Ellen muttered with a slightly puzzled look.
“But I’m surprised the mansion staff even let a shady group like us in this far. If it were me, I’d have turned away such a suspicious bunch at the gate…”
“That’s just how desperate Marein is, with chaos spreading within the mansion. Besides, to them the duck has come bearing the very leek they desired – Ellen and the two monsters.”
Diana responded in a composed voice to Ellen’s remark. She was right, we did appear to be quite the suspicious group.
First, there were two women in hakama pants concealing their faces with headscarves, one even carrying a sword. Then there was an adult and child in Imperial maid outfits, plus a dwarf woman and monsters. As we lined up, the atmosphere was quite bizarre.
In response to Diana’s explanation, Ellen jokingly looked between me and the two monsters.
“Which of us is the ‘duck’ and which the ‘leek’, I wonder…”
“…Gugu?”
The two monsters just tilted their heads at her gaze. However, their combat prowess was not to be trifled with, and they were quite intelligent. So this time when I asked for their cooperation, though they did not understand our words, they seemed to grasp our intentions and nodded affirmatively. It appeared they understood roughly what we were trying to do, which is how we ended up here.
By the way, we had put a collar on the Shadowcougar monster, allowing it to become the size of a small cat. Of course, the collar was adjusted to come off easily. As for the slime, apologies, but we had it enter a small cage, also left unlocked for it to get out.
Originally they too seemed to have a bone to pick with Marein, so they had been following us ever since we brought up going to his mansion. At that time, I wondered if they understood our words, but while I couldn’t tell if they grasped the words themselves, our intentions did seem to get across as expected.
However, quite some time passed and Marein still did not appear. At that point, Farah worriedly spoke up.
“…Will Chris be okay?”
“Chris will be fine. She’s reliable, you know. By now she’s probably already handed those men over to the soldiers, so she may actually be waiting for our signal.”
I smiled reassuringly at her concern. We had asked Chris, who we happened to encounter in town, to hand over the men Diana and Asna defeated to the soldiers –
of course, after tying them up securely. We also told Chris that once the handover was complete, she should wait with the soldiers outside Marein’s mansion until our signal.
Hearing my words, Farah mumbled happily, “Ah…I see…” At that moment, an elderly dark elf nonchalantly revealed himself from the far end of the second floor. Spotting our group, he gave a perplexed look and remarked derisively,
“Well, what an odd bunch we have here. Shady figures with concealed faces, Imperial maids, a dwarf girl, and monsters? Did a circus troupe come calling?”
“…Still, such impudent words toward those you meet for the first time are rather uncalled for, I should think.”
Taken aback by his rude remark, I couldn’t help but retort. The others seemed quite put off as well, each wearing unpleasant expressions.
“Hmph, such a rude child. Do you even know who I am? I am Marein-Condroy. Now that you understand, how about leaving the dwarf girl and monsters behind and scurrying back from whence you came?”
“That is not possible. We have come to negotiate.”
From his elevated position on the second floor, Marein looked down on us with disdain. My mention of negotiation seemed to rub him the wrong way, his face twisting into an openly contemptuous sneer as he scoffed,
“Negotiate, you say…Negotiations are between those of equal standing. In your case, you are in a position to make requests of me. Use your words properly.”
“…I see. Then let me make a request. We will pay off Ellen’s debt here and now. So we ask that you release her.”
Forcing a smile, I responded while suppressing my irritation at his words. However, he just snorted derisively and replied in a high-handed tone,
“Hmph. This is no longer a matter of debt. As for that dwarf girl there, I already have a buyer lined up – one offering enough to erase her debt many times over. A dwarf’s value is not as cheap as you seem to think.”
“Wha…But that’s not what you told us initially!”
Outraged by Marein’s statement, Ellen couldn’t help but object. But he just gave her a look of disdain.
“You foolish girl. Did you really think I’d lend large sums to outsiders from other lands without any meaning or intent behind it? Lending only happens when there is an even greater return expected. Girl, as for you, a buyer has already been decided through Barst. As for your brother, I have plans to make full use of his technical skills under my employ. Heh, you lot made for quite the ‘ducks.'”
“…You vile, wretched bastard!!”
Hearing his response, Ellen spat out the words enraged. At that, the person whose features were hidden by a headscarf, Asna, questioned him in a tone of disbelief,
“Did you just say ‘through Barst’? Slave trafficking to Barst is prohibited in our country. Are you saying you have been doing so in secret?”
“Hmm…It would seem I misspoke somewhat there. So you are affiliated with our country. Well, I’ve had need of funds by various means. Ah, but don’t worry. I’ve never once laid a hand on our own kin – only the foolish outsiders who come here…”
Without a shred of conscience, Marein answered Asna with a lowly, malicious smile. I couldn’t see Asna’s expression from my position, but I got the sense she felt utter revulsion toward him. Next to me, Farah pressed herself against my side and gripped my hand tightly, her hand slightly trembling. Without a word, I squeezed her hand back firmly. Seeing our reactions, Marein continued with apparent delight,
“Besides…Even if slave trafficking to Barst is prohibited, that only applies to our own people, does it not? There are no stipulations regarding other races in our nation’s laws. What is prohibited is ‘the enslavement and sale of our citizens’ – so those from foreign lands are not included, you see?”
“That’s just sophistry!”
Hearing Asna’s indignant outcry laced with disgust, he just sighed in exasperation.
“Not sophistry, a difference of interpretation. I have violated no law whatsoever.”
“You cannot be serious…!!”
While calming the visibly agitated Asna, I glared coldly at Marein.
“I see. If you claim to act within the law, then should you not abide by it yourself? Ellen and the others still have time remaining on their repayment period. To refuse their repayment during that window is unreasonable.”
“How naive. You lot did not come here today, and I have heard nothing about repayment. The dwarf girl will become a missing person until her deadline passes. And I’ll be taking those monsters over there as well – they are undoubtedly my rightful captures.”
As Marein finished speaking and raised a hand to signal, thuggish sorts began filing out from the back of the first and second floors. However, from what I could see there did not seem to be any dark elves among the thugs – likely just outlaw adventurers from other lands. Marein gave a lowly smile.
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