CH 84

"Still no luck finding the escapee monster?"

"Sorry ......."

In the mansion of Marein Kondroy, the person in question's angry voice was heard.

A couple of rare monsters that were supposed to be worth a lot of money.

He had even made a special collar to catch them, but this was a huge loss.

Marein is sitting at his desk, very sullen.

He tapped the desk with his finger and shouted angrily again.

"Dwarf , what about the little dwarf girls?

"Well about that ..."

"Damn it , aren't these guys all useless ?"

At that time, a report came in from the butler who was being yelled at.

The butler's face broke into a smile and he looked relieved at the report.

He immediately reported it to Marein.

"Master Marein, it seems that the dwarf's girl and the one who captured the monster have come to the mansion".

"What?⁉ Is this true?"

There is no better news for him now.

He was in a good mood and his face broke into a smile as if he had just lost his anger.

The butler was also in a good mood.

"It seems that the Dwarf girl and the men who captured the demon have requested a meeting with Master Marein. How would you like it?"

"I understand. I don't have much time. I'll see them right away. Also, tell them to get ready."

After leaving the room, Marein immediately went to the place where the visitors were.

◊

We are now in what I would call the entrance hall of Marein's mansion.

The hall is large enough to have a dance party, and there is a staircase leading to the second floor at the back of the hall.

The hall can be seen from the second floor, which is a sign of the power of the man himself.

This mansion is more like an empire's mansion than Renalute's.

"..... will it go well?"

"Don't worry, I'll manage."

A girl with a ninja-like hood concealing her face asked me with a worried look on her face.

I encouraged her in a small, confident voice.

Then another woman, her face hidden by a hood, encouraged the girl, "

"Princess, please rest assured that I will protect you."

I am sure you are right. Tia and Asuna, everyone is here. I will do my best too. ...... ."

Yes, it is Asuna and Fara who are hiding their faces with hoods.

The best way to uncover and track down Malain's evil is to have his confession heard by the head of this country.　This is the result of their consideration.

However, there was a possibility that their faces would be known to the public.

So I bought a hood in town in advance and asked the two to hide their faces.

Ellen, who was watching them from the side, muttered in dismay.

, "I don't know how the people of the mansion let them through this far, even though they are ....... If it were me, I would have refused them at the gate if a suspicious group like this came in,......."

From their point of view, it's as if a duck came with a leek on its back.

Indeed, Ellen was right, we had become quite a suspicious group.

First, two of the women in hakama had their faces covered by hoods, and one of them was wearing a belt.

Then, in addition to an adult and a child dressed in empire maids' uniforms, there was a dwarf woman and a monster, both of whom were dressed in the same outfit, but with their faces covered by hoods.

They were now standing side by side, but the atmosphere was moderately bizarre.

Eren replied to Deanna's remark with a teasing grin and looked at the two demons.

"I wonder which one is the 'duck' and which one is the 'leek', me or the two monsters. ......"

'...... gugoo?"

The two demons also cooperated with us this time.

They were very smart and understood most of what we said.

Shadow cougar has a collar on and is the size of a small cat.

But of course, the collar comes off easily.

As for Slime, I am sorry to say that he is in a small cage.

Of course, we don't lock the cage so that the slime can get out.

They seemed to have their own opinions about Marein, and they have been following us ever since we told them that we were going to Marein's mansion.

We thought they might have understood most of what we said at that time.　

So we tried to talk to them and they understood us as we expected.

Well, quite some time passed, but Marein did not come yet.

At that time, Fara spoke to me in a worried tone.

"...... Is Chris okay?"

, "Don't worry about Chris. She is reliable. She's probably already handed those men over to the soldiers by now, and she's probably waiting for our signal."

We asked Chris, whom we bumped into in town, to hand over the men that Deanna and Asuna had beaten to the soldiers.

Of course, the men were tied up with ropes.

I told her that when the handover was complete, I wanted her to wait with the soldiers until I gave the signal outside Marein's mansion.

"At my words, Fara muttered quietly, "That's right, isn't that right"

At that moment, an elderly dark elf appeared from the back of the second floor.

When he saw us, he gave us a suspicious look and said, as if to make fun of us.

'What a curious company you've got here,......: a suspicious man with his ...... face hidden, an imperial maid, a little dwarf girl and a monster? I wonder if they're going to put on a freak show for us?"

"......I'm afraid that's a rather rude thing to say to someone you've never ...... met before, sir."

I couldn't help but say something back to him.

The others didn't have a good impression of him either.

, "...... Hmmm, you're so cheeky even for a child. Do you know who I am?　I am Marein Kondroy. If you understand, I'll ask you to leave the monsters and the little Dwarf girl and go home quickly."

"...... we can't do that. We are here to negotiate."

Marein looked at us from upstairs as if he was literally looking down on us.

And at the word "negotiation," he looked at me with a stern expression on his face.

"Negotiation?　Negotiation is something that is used between people who are close to each other. In your case, you are asking me for a favor. Use your words correctly."

"I see. Then I have a "favor" to ask. We will pay Ellen's debt to you. So we would like you to free her."

I replied with a smile, suppressing my annoyance at Marein's words.

But he sniffed and responded with an overbearing tone.

'Hmph. It is no longer a question of debt. The little Dwarf girl there already has a potential buyer.l, and he's got a lot of change to cover the debt. And the value of the dwarves is not as low as you think."

That's not what you told me in the beginning.

Eren bit at Marein's words as he should have.

He looked at Ellen and said in disgust.

You are a foolish girl. Do you think we would lend large sums of money to people from another country like you without meaning or intention?　Because lending money means getting more than that in return. You, little girl, have already a buyer via Barsto. As for your brother, he will put his technical skills to good use under me. You were good ducks.

..."... you are the worst ."

Elen, angered by his words, spat at him.

At that moment, Asuna, whose physiognomy was hidden by a hood, asked him a question in a dubious voice.

"...... did you just say 'via Barsto'?　In our nation, the sale of slaves to Barsto is banned, I believe. Are you saying that you are doing it in confidence?"

"I think I have slipped up. Are you related to this country?　Well, I needed money for a lot of things. Oh, don't worry. I have not touched any of the people in country. Only those from other countries. ......"

He replied to Asuna with a vile, malicious smile on his face, without a trace of remorse.

I don't recognize the expression on Asuna's face when she hears those words, but I have a feeling that she is very uncomfortable with him.

Fara, who was standing next to me, leaned in close and took my hand in hers with all her might.

I felt her hand trembling a little, and I returned her hand as hard as I could without saying anything.

He looked at me and continued to speak gleefully.

, "...... And when you say that the sale of slaves is forbidden in Barsto, you are talking about your own countrymen, aren't you?　It does not include anything about other races. According to law, the enslavement and sale of our people is forbidden. So it doesn't include other races."

"That is a technicality."

He replied to Asuna's disgusted shouts with a look of disgust.

"It's not a technicality. It's a difference of opinion. I haven't done anything against the law, have I?""

What the ...... Goddamn it, ...... !"

I stopped Asuna's excitement and said to her, trying to keep her calm.

"I see. If you say it is only lawful, shouldn't you also be obeying the law?　Ellen and her brother are still due for repayment. It doesn't make any sense to deny them repayment during that period, does it?"

"You are naive. You did not come here today and I have not heard anything about repayment. The Dwarf girl will be missing until the due date has passed. And then you'll have to return the monsters there, too. It is unquestionably the one I captured."

When Marein finished, he raised one hand to signal.

Then, from the back of the first and second floors, a group of thugs emerged one after another.

There were no dark elves among them .

They were probably all adventurers who had drifted in from other countries.

He said with a sly smile,

"I'm a little busy right now. As long as you leave the little dwarf girl and the monster here, I'm not going to touch you guys. Sorry to return the favor, but I'm afraid you've had a run of bad luck and will have to pull back, won't you?"

" busy because 'Norris' has been captured and your backing is gone?""

At my words, Marein's eyebrows twitched, then he said with a grim look on his face.

"I don't know how ...... you know anything, but I can't let you guys get away with it now, can I? I don't like brats with sharp instincts like yours. You guys, do fight."

Upon hearing Marein's words, the gathered ragtag group came toward us all at once, shouting angrily.

Ellen hid behind me and cried out at the sight of them.

"I thought you were going to keep it quiet."

"No, I don't think he can do it."

I lightly replied to Ellen's words.

Deanna nodded at my words, and then she got into a fighting pose and said,

"There are scum in every nation. Let's just let this be a time of rehabilitation."

Fara was still holding my hand as tightly and took a deep breath, then said firmly, .

"It is very regrettable that there is such a person among my countrymen of the Hua family. However, it must also mean something that I am here. Asuna, will you be my sword ...... ?"

"Princess,......, I understand. I will be the swords of the princess and I will defeat them."

The two swords in his belt were drawn in anger as he replied strongly to Fara's words.

The shadow cougar also took off its collar, enlarged its body, and roared ear to ear as it assumed a fighting stance.

"Guaaaaaaaaa !"

The sight and the roar frightened the gangsters, but soon after, Marein's warning flew.

"The monster and the women and children are no match for your numbers, so let's get them!"

Thus began the battle at the mansion of Marein Kondroy.

"Don't kill them, everyone!"

Everyone had a blank look on their faces when I said that.

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