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Marein Condroy
“Are those idiots still not back with the dwarf?!”
The angry roar of an aging dark elf echoed through a grand mansion. The man’s name was Marein Condroy. He was the head of the merchant guild association in Renalute and a minor noble.
At this very moment, Marein was panicking, desperate to flee the country as quickly as possible. The reason was simple: the man who had been his greatest supporter, Norris, had been taken to the Chamber of Shadows and Light.
Anyone taken to that chamber—no matter who they were—was fated to lose their life in the near future. This wasn’t just the end for Norris; it was a warning, a grim message to his supporters and faction members. Marein grasped this immediately.
Norris had held immense power among the many factions in Renalute because he was in a position to influence the king himself.
One day, when a blood relative of Norris became the queen, the balance of power among the factions shifted dramatically in his favor. Eventually, Norris even managed to secure the prince under his control. As a result, joining Norris’s faction was seen as politically advantageous—a guaranteed ticket to success.
Using his newfound political clout, Norris began backing certain individuals, amassing substantial financial resources. Through this combination of influence and wealth, he gradually cemented his place at the center of his faction. Marein Condroy was one of the many who had benefitted from Norris’s support.
However, everything Marein had built crumbled in a single day, thanks to one infuriating individual: Reed Baldia. Reed was the eldest son of Reiner Baldia, a margrave from an allied empire, and a suitor for Princess Farah Renalute’s hand in marriage.
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Despite being just a boy, Reed delivered speeches far beyond his years before the royal family and nobility. He also demonstrated extraordinary martial and magical prowess during a public trial. Even when Norris attempted to sabotage him to eliminate him as a marriage candidate, Reed overcame every obstacle. In the end, Norris was sent to the Chamber of Shadows and Light, sealing his fate. To Norris’s faction, Reed was nothing less than the silver-haired devil from the empire.
From Marein’s perspective, there was no denying that Norris had acted foolishly. He had become too fixated on marrying the princess into the imperial family. To Marein, Norris had seemed almost reckless in his pursuit. As a minor noble, Marein had only been using Norris to survive. He was not devoted to Norris’s ideals or faction. However, after gaining Norris’s support, Marein had resorted to morally dubious—if not outright illegal—methods to maintain his position, such as soliciting political donations through underhanded schemes. Of course, he had only been able to get away with such actions because of Norris’s protection.
Now that Norris was gone, Marein’s position was precarious. Though he had avoided harming his fellow dark elves, he had no qualms about exploiting others. Marein’s methods were particularly cruel. He would assess foreigners, identifying anything of value—be it their goods, talents, or even their race. If they were deemed valuable, he would initially act friendly, offering them loans. Later, he would use the guild to exert pressure, ensuring their business ventures failed. Eventually, he would seize their possessions as repayment for the debt, exploit their talents, or, depending on their race, sell them off to turn a profit. It was no surprise that Marein had made many enemies.
In particular, his actions during the Barst Incident a few years ago had been especially despised in Renalute. While some of his activities had skirted the line of legality, they were bound to be judged as outright crimes now that Norris was no longer around to shield him.
As Norris’s downfall became apparent, those aware of Marein’s misdeeds were quick to act. It had only been a day since Norris was taken to the Chamber of Shadows and Light, yet some of Marein’s business partners had already suspended their dealings with him. If things continued like this, it was only a matter of time before Marein was condemned for his many transgressions. His only option now was to gather his remaining wealth and flee the country. Just then, Marein’s butler rushed in, clearly flustered, to deliver a report.
“My apologies, sir. It seems they haven’t returned yet…”
“Damn it! We don’t have time for this! Useless fools!”
The “idiots” and “useless fools” Marein referred to were three men he had hired as henchmen. Because his actions were despised among the dark elves, Marein relied on other races to do his dirty work. The three men he had hired stood out due to their appearances, but they were capable enough to get the job done—usually.
“So why haven’t they brought the dwarf girl back yet?!”
Marein had planned to leave the country as soon as they retrieved the young dwarf girl, whom he considered highly profitable. That was why he was so agitated. As Marein struggled to contain his irritation, the butler hesitantly delivered more bad news.
“…Sir Marein, I must apologize again. It seems that the two ‘special goods’ we captured in the Magical Demon Forest have escaped. The men you hired are currently searching for them.”
“What?! Those goods already have buyers lined up! Get them back immediately, no matter what it takes!”
The butler bowed deeply and hurried out of the room. Marein scowled, furrowing his brow, and muttered bitterly.
“Damn it… this is shaping up to be the worst day ever…”
At that moment, no one realized that the tide of karma—retribution for all his misdeeds—was steadily and inexorably closing in on Marein, like the hand of fate itself.
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