Chapter Eleven: Slave Hunters
Before anything else, we needed to get the money for the wager. When it came to betting, the more money you could wager, the better. Also, if they figured out that I was the Shield Hero, the amount we could make would plummet. That said, I had to get the capital we would need to wager to win it all in one stroke . . .
I considered raising money by offering express transportation to Melromarc using my portal. That was one way to make money in an online game that I had played once. A one-way trip between Melromarc and Zeltoble took two weeks, so there were sure to be people who would jump on the chance to be able to make that same trip instantaneously.
The problem was pricing. Even if people were willing to spend more, you’d probably be lucky to charge somewhere between one and five gold pieces for the fare. Generating positive word of mouth would also be important for getting customers. Smuggling could end up being a problem, but that could be solved by working with whoever was responsible for inspections in Melromarc. Still, making money doing something like that would draw far too much attention. Another issue was only being able to send six people each hour. I wanted to avoid going that route, if possible.
We returned to the slave trader’s underground market. I shook my head slowly at a worried-looking Rishia.
“What’s up?”
“Fehh . . .”
“Relax, Rishia. I don’t plan on making you fight.”
“Hmm . . .”
I wasn’t sure if it was just poor air circulation or what, but Filo seemed to be less energetic than usual.
“Even if we tried making money by placing some of the stuff we got from Kizuna’s world on the black market, doing so in an efficient manner would take time.”
We would have to go through the trouble of demonstrating that the items were something worth getting excited about, like we had done with the spirit water. We had the Scroll of Return items, but there were only so many. Even if we talked up the fact that they allowed the user to teleport to the dragon hourglasses, and then set out to produce more, there were just too few to start with. There were the items that could check defeated monsters for drops, but those were still being analyzed. We would need to mass-produce them, and while we had figured out how to do that, it still wasn’t clear if they would function properly in this world.
“In that case, I will take care of entering you into the coliseum fights. Yes sir.”
“Alright. I don’t care if it’s dangerous or whatever—just make sure it’s the one we can make the most money off of.”
“I look forward to seeing what kind of performance a determined Shield Hero will give. Yes sir!”
“I’m in a bad mood right now. Get out of my sight before I decide to give you a piece of my mind.”
“The way your eyes suddenly fill with such sinister intent . . . It sends tingles of excitement down my spine!”
“I guess we should head back to the village for the time being.”
The situation had changed. Even if we had a plan now, we still needed to go back to the village first.
“Yes . . . I agree. We should probably explain the situation to Keel and the others.”
“That won’t be an easy talk . . .”
It wouldn’t be fun telling them that we needed to make a ridiculous amount of money to rescue their friends and there was no telling if we’d even be successful. Then again, only four of them were actually from Lurolona, and that was counting Keel. Regardless, the slaves’ eyes sparkled with pride for the hard work they were doing to rebuild their village.
“Either way, we need to go back. Later, slave trader.”
“I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. Yes sir.”
Truthfully, I’d rather not see him again, but this was for the village. I gave him the obligatory wave while registering the portal location and then we teleported back to the village.
We arrived back in the village, and I was left speechless.
“What . . . the hell?!” “What’s going on?!”
It wasn’t just me. Raphtalia, Filo, Rishia, and even Raph-chan were all at a loss for words. The first thing that jumped out at me was the sight of flames pouring out of a building as several soldiers, who had probably been on standby, shouted and ran out of the village with their weapons in hand.
“Hey! What’s going on?!”
“Oh! Shield Hero! It’s the slave hunters! They’re attacking the village!”
I could see a hint of relief in the soldiers’ faces when they saw me. Slave hunters?! Slave hunters had shown up at a time like this?! You’ve got to be shitting me! Like I told the slave trader, I was in a bad mood. And I was going to destroy these bastards.
“No way!”
“Raphtalia!”
Raphtalia gripped her katana and took off running toward the source of the commotion.
“Filo! You go with Raphtalia and annihilate the slave hunters! Rishia, you see to the wounded and protect anyone that can’t fight. You soldiers go report to Eclair in the neighboring town!”
“Okaaay!”
“Fehhh!”
“That’s already been taken care of!”
That was a relief. They were handling the situation better than I would have expected. I chased after Raphtalia, who had run off into the distance. That’s when I noticed that the village was completely surrounded by slave hunters. There were ten slaves in the village. A good number of soldiers were keeping guard over the village, too. There seemed to be quite a few slave hunters, but it was impossible to fully grasp the situation in the dark of the night. That didn’t matter . . . We would do what had to be done.
“Struggling is useless!” yelled one of the attackers.
“Hiya!” Raphtalia shouted as she cut down the attacking slave hunter in the blink of an eye.
“Arghhh!”
Blood erupted from the slave hunter’s body as he crumpled forward onto the ground with a thud. I was only guessing, but he probably hadn’t classed up yet. Or maybe going up against Raphtalia’s katana would have been an exercise in futility even if he had already classed up.
“Let’s protect the village! Come on!”
I could hear Keel’s voice. She was armed, and it looked like she was fighting off the slave hunters successfully, along with the other slaves from the village. I had been a little bit worried, but it seemed like the slaves were holding their own. Perhaps being raised as my slaves had paid off. They had gotten about as strong as Raphtalia had been before she classed up. I wanted to believe that they would have no problem standing up to the likes of slave hunters or bandits in terms of abilities.
“So you want to fight, eh?! Then I won’t hold back! Gahhh!”
The slave hunter pointed his sword at Keel and . . . suddenly a hole opened up in the ground below him and he fell in, leaving only his head exposed. Just as I was wondering what had happened, Imiya’s head popped up out of the dirt.
“Thanks, Imiya!”
Imiya gave Keel a thumbs-up. So that’s what it was . . . Imiya had dug a pit.
“Gweeeeeh!”
Filo Underling #1 was helping defend the slaves and gave the slave hunter a fierce kick. The other monsters seemed to be putting up a good fight, too.
“Now!”
Keel and Imiya had left themselves open to attack and the remaining slave hunters rushed at them.
“Air Strike Shield!”
I blocked their path with a shield.
“Shooting Star Shield!”
Then I cast a force field around us and stepped in between Keel and the slave hunters.
“Bubba!”
“Looks like you guys are putting up a pretty good fight.”
“You bet! This time we will protect the village!”
Keel’s eyes were filled with determination. That’s right. She was no longer a poor, helpless slave that had to rely on others to protect her. Now she had the strength to fight back and protect the others in the village against the injustice of the slave hunters.
“We can fight back now thanks to you, bubba!”
“That’s good to hear. I see you’re helping out, too, Imiya.”
“Oh . . . yeah . . .”
Imiya looked proud of himself.
“Hiyaaa!”
At that very moment, Raphtalia flew in like a bat out of hell and mowed down the attacking slave hunters. She was emanating an aura of bloodlust. The slave hunters weren’t dead, but their fighting days had come to an end.
“Rafuuu!”
Raph-chan’s fur was standing on end as she moved in sync with Raphtalia, assisting her in combat. She kept the enemy disoriented with her illusions while biting one here and batting another with her tail there.
“Alright! Everyone! Now that I’m here, you can all relax. Get out there and show these thieves that attacked your village what you’ve got!”
“Okay!”
Slaves and monsters alike all whooped together in response.
“Ugh . . . To think that the Shield Hero would show up now! Wasn’t he supposed to be gone?!”
One of the slave hunters mumbled to himself as he struggled against Raphtalia, their blades locked. He seemed to have some experience in combat —he used a combination of magic and swordsmanship and he was putting up a good fight. The guy was actually fairly strong.
“It sounds like you were waiting for me to be gone to make your move. Unfortunately for you, heroes have the ability to teleport.”
I guess they were foolish enough to think that I wouldn’t drop in to check on the village while I was away.
“Raphtalia!”
“What?”
“Can you produce a light bright enough to illuminate the whole village? I want to see how many slave hunters there are. It would also serve as a flare to signal the others in the neighboring town.”
“Leave it to me!”
Raphtalia thrust the slave hunter away from her and took several steps back to join me. She sheathed her katana and began to cast a spell.
“Filo!”
“Yup! I’ll protect everyone!”
While Raphtalia was casting her magic, Filo launched a flurry of kicks at the slave hunters. Keel and the other combat division slaves followed up, finishing off one slave hunter after another. Even so, it would take someone of Filo’s level to make such quick work of the more skilled slave hunters, so the slaves were slowly losing ground.
“Shooting Star Shield! Air Strike Shield! Second Shield! Attack Support!”
I stood in front of everyone and took the brunt of the slave hunters’ attacks while casting skills to protect Filo and the other slaves. I grabbed the arm of one of the slave hunters and threw him toward Filo.
“Gah!”
Naturally, Filo finished the slave hunter off with a swift kick.
“Rafu!”
Raph-chan’s tail puffed up as she assisted with Raphtalia’s incantation.
“As the source of your power, I command you! Let the true way be revealed once more! Flood the area with light!”
“Drifa Light!”
Raphtalia conjured up a ball of light and hurled it up into the sky. The magical light lit up the village like a flare. That was sure to signal the soldiers in the neighboring village, who would then come to our aid.
As the light made its way high up into the sky, I counted how many slave hunters were in the village. One, two, three . . . There sure were a lot of them. Just counting the ones that had been hidden in the darkness, there were a lot of them. I was thinking maybe thirty, but that wasn’t even close. There had to be at least fifty just in the area surrounding the village.
There were only five slaves here—including Raphtalia—that were originally from this village. Just how many people did they round up to come capture them? I couldn’t believe the lengths that people would go to. Then again, it was safe to assume you could get at least 30 gold pieces per slave if you captured them and sold them off in Zeltoble. I guess the allure of making a quick fortune would attract numbers.
“Hiya!”
Raphtalia leapt forward and slashed at the slave hunters immediately upon finishing her incantation. It was almost scary, the way she was fighting. I guess it was to be expected, seeing as how this place was precious to her—a place worth protecting.
“Brave Blade! Crossing Mists!”
With a katana in each hand, Raphtalia relentlessly cut down one slave hunter after another. She moved gracefully, as if she were dancing on the battlefield. It really was a thing of beauty. Surely I wasn’t the only one who thought so.
“Raphtalia . . . You’re amazing . . .”
“She looks like she’s dancing!”
The villagers were all entranced by the sight of Raphtalia fighting.
“Keep your eyes on the enemy!”
I snapped back to reality upon being reprimanded by Raphtalia and struck back at the attacking slave hunters.
“Ugh . . .”
“What are you fools doing!”
A man who seemed to be the slave hunters’ boss appeared. I could see his armor had lost its sheen.
“That’s—”
Raphtalia, Keel, and the rest of the slaves from the village were all at a loss for words. What was it? Did they know this guy?
“How long do you idiots plan on fooling around?! You’ve turned our plan into a failure! You there! How many have you caught?”
“Umm . . . well, we . . .”
The subordinate slave hunter’s voice trailed off and the boss let out a loud click of the tongue in angry disapproval. Then more slave hunters that looked like they knew how to handle themselves came pouring in from outside of the village in droves.
“Tsk! To think that the Shield Hero would show up now . . . That wasn’t in the plan! Still, he may be a hero, but he’s only the Shield Hero. Just wait for him to let his guard down and then snatch up one or two of those brats!”
So this guy was like one of those bosses that always makes ridiculous demands, I guess. But forget about that . . . I was more concerned with the way that Raphtalia and the others had reacted.
“This guy . . . This is the guy . . .”
Keel’s face was more distorted with anger now than it was just a moment ago. Raphtalia remained calm, but I could still tell that she was absolutely furious. The fact that her tail was puffed up more than it ever had been before made that clear.
“Raphtalia. Keel. You know this guy?”
I turned to face the slave hunter boss and readied my shield.
“Yes. The Melromarc soldier that came to our village to capture us and sell us into slavery . . . and that killed the village’s remaining adults . . . That’s this man!”
“Well now! I never would have thought that the little raccoon brat who got away back then would end up with the Shield Hero!”
The slave hunter boss—the former Melromarc soldier—remembering Raphtalia, casually readied his sword. He probably had a pretty good idea how to use that thing, too. Keel and the others wouldn’t likely stand much of a chance against him at their current level.
“Mr. Iwatani! Are you okay?!”
Just then, Eclair and the Melromarc soldiers came running up.
“You?!”
“Raphtalia says they’re Melromarc soldiers. You know anything about that, Eclair?”
“Yes. They’re the soldiers that came here hunting for demi-humans after the territory was destroyed by the wave. I heard that they fled from the powers that be at the time, once they’d found out that you had proven your innocence.”
“I see. So basically, they’re former soldiers that fled the country before they got their punishment.”
The former soldiers turned slave hunters apparently didn’t appreciate my wording, because they were all glaring at me now.
So what to do? We had to be careful about Keel and the others that hadn’t classed up yet. Thankfully, no one had been caught by the slave hunters yet. But the enemy had come to attack in droves. Even if I had nothing to worry about myself, I couldn’t be sure that the others would make it out unscathed. It was only physically possible for me to grab maybe three or four enemies at one time. By my estimates, there were easily fifty or more slave hunters there, so it would be difficult to protect Keel and the others. That said, it seemed like only a select few of them had classed up and knew what they were doing. Those were the ones right here in front of me, so . . . maybe I could manage, after all?
This was also the perfect chance for Raphtalia and Keel. The very villains that had ruined their lives had rolled right up onto their doorstep. Some of the slave hunters had realized they were at a disadvantage and tried to run, but Keel and Raphtalia were not about to let that happen.
“Tsk! You’ve forgotten your place, shield! They’ll be after us now since you had to show up!”
“Like I care? Besides, I can’t imagine there having been a single good reason for you lowlifes to run around capturing territory residents just because the governor died.”
“Oh, but there was! Or do you not know?”
Huh? He was being serious. Ohhh . . . I get it.
“Are you referring to the dogma of the Church of the Three Heroes cult? Sorry, buddy, but that propaganda won’t fly anymore.”
“You bastard!”
He sure could yell, but he hadn’t tried to attack yet. Maybe he realized that it would be pointless to attack me? No, his eyes gave him away. He was planning something.
“Take this!”
The slave hunters shot flaming arrows at various buildings around the village. What a pain . . .
“Put out those fires immediately!”
Shit! So this is what people meant when they said fighting against the odds. But it wasn’t like we were just going to stand by and watch.
“Raphtalia! Keel! Can you handle that guy?”
“Yes . . .”
“We’ll protect everyone!”
Raphtalia nodded calmly, and Keel cried out with determination.
“Good. Then you two make those dirt bags pay!”
I quietly uttered an incantation and cast support magic on Raphtalia and Keel.
“Zweite Aura!”
With all of their stats boosted, Raphtalia and Keel charged at the slave hunter boss.
“Filo! You give any slave hunters you find around the village a good kick. Same goes for your underling!”
“Okaaay!”
“Gweh!”
I sent Filo and her Underling Filolial #1 to take care of the slave hunters that were still lingering around the village.
“Mr. Iwatani!”
“Eclair, don’t even think about holding back just because you used to serve together. Put an end to these traitors!”
“I plan to!”
Eclair and her soldiers nodded and took a fighting stance.
“It seems like you lowlifes thought this was going to be easy, but today is not your lucky day. You probably expected to crush the villagers, but the only thing getting crushed tonight is you!”
I dashed forward to provide Raphtalia with backup.
“Tsk! Everyone! Pull out!”
The boss raised his sword and ordered his men to withdraw, but Raphtalia and Keel both brandished their weapons and leapt at him. The boss warded off the attacks with his sword and locked blades with Raphtalia. He attempted to deliver a swift kick to Keel while he was struggling with Raphtalia, but Keel saw through the attack and dodged it by half a step.
“Hiiiyaaaaa!”
“Ugh!”
The boss guarded against Raphtalia’s katana with his own sword. He was nearly thrown backward but steadied himself just as Keel’s sword grazed his armor.
“Damn you! Don’t get cocky, you demi-human scum!”
There was a loud explosion that came from right where their blades were locked together. Magic!? Now they were getting fancy on us! Looking more closely, I could see that there was someone in the rear providing support by casting magic.
“I’m not done yet!”
Unfazed by the explosion, Raphtalia spun around and sliced sideways with her katana.
“Whoa!”
The guy had a good eye, if nothing else. But he was forgetting something important.
“Unfortunately for you, you picked the wrong opponent. You just might have lived a long life if you hadn’t gone and done something as stupid as attacking the village under the protection of the Shield Hero.”
That’s right. He was forgetting that I was here. I grabbed the boss by the collar and pulled him to me.
“Argh . . . Let go!”
“Yeah right! There’s no running from this, you coward! This is the Shield Hero’s fight!”
I signaled to Raphtalia and Keel with my eyes.
“Here I go!”
Raphtalia sheathed her katana momentarily before drawing it once again, as if she were about to perform a finishing move.
“Instant Blade! Mist!”
“This is for everyone you hurt!”
Keel swung her sword and landed a direct hit immediately following Raphtalia’s skill.
“Arggghhhhh!”
Blood splattered all over me, but I couldn’t have cared less. The guy got what he deserved. The boss went limp and his armor was in shreds. I shoved him away and he fell to the ground.
“Ahhh!”
Having finally realized that they had picked a fight with the wrong person, the other slave hunters began screaming in fear. I may not have been using the Shield of Wrath, but I probably still looked like a monster to them.
“Come now, it’s time to confess your sins . . . and pay the price, you scumbags!”
The rest of the fight was completely one-sided, and we captured a ton of the slave hunters. The boss that Raphtalia had defeated was still alive, although just barely. I thought they had killed him, but apparently they stopped just short of it.
“You’re not going to finish him?”
“No . . .”
Raphtalia and the others apparently wanted to hand him over to the authorities and have him punished.
“Now then . . .”
I looked at the hordes of slave hunters tied up and scattered all across the village square. To think they had rounded up and brought so many . . . and the whole lot of them were lowlife trash.
“Damn! They’re monsters!” yelled one of the slave hunters.
“You told us we would be able to handle them regardless of their level advantage!”
The slave hunter subordinates were spouting off begrudging complaints at their leaders. That’s a lowlife for you—blaming it on his superiors when he fails.
“That’s just too bad for you, scumbags. You want the heroes to protect your world? Well, this is part of that.”
“Hmph . . .”
“We won . . . Everybody! We won!”
Keel and the rest of the slaves from the village let out a big hurrah in celebration of our victory. Imiya and some kid, who seemed to like monsters, looked like they were getting in on the celebration as well. It didn’t matter if they were originally from the village or not—they’d all experienced a similar kind of trauma. Their victory against the vile slave hunters would be good for them.
“Yes, we won. I think that this time, for sure . . . we took back the flag we lost that day,” whispered Raphtalia, while gripping her katana firmly and staring off into the distance.
“Flag, huh? You really want a flag that bad?”
“That’s not what I meant . . .”
“Raphtalia, this flag . . .”
Eclair interrupted before I could finish, speaking to Raphtalia with a remorseful look on her face.
“I’m sorry. This should have never happened while I was here . . .”
“Don’t worry about it, Eclair. But tell me, do you know if there was a flag flying in this village?”
“Huh? Umm, yes, it was a flag presented as a gift to the village by my father.”
Aha, so that’s the flag that Raphtalia had been talking about.
“Eclair, why don’t you fly that flag again as a reward for their victory?” I suggested.
“Mr. Naofumi?” Raphtalia exclaimed in surprise.
“All of the hard work that everyone has put in since coming back has finally paid off. Raphtalia, this is a new beginning for your village, is it not?”
Raphtalia closed her eyes for a moment as if she were reminiscing about the past, and then she opened them again and nodded.
“You’re right. I’d like that.”
Besides, Keel seemed to be oddly fixated on that flag, too. I’d made her that kid’s lunch with the flag on it on a whim once, and she had been completely ecstatic. She held on to the flag like it was a piece of treasure.
Now I could see that the flag had special meaning for them.
“Alright then.”
I put the conversation with Raphtalia and Eclair on hold and looked over at the slave hunters we’d gathered up.
“What should we do about these scumbags?”
“Ordinarily they would be taken to the castle, where they would then receive a fitting punishment.”
“Hmm . . . But with this many of them working together in a coordinated effort . . . ?”
“Of course, it is a grievous crime, in my opinion. Most likely they will have their levels reset and then be held in involuntary servitude.”
“Not executed?”
“Normally the principal offenders would be, but . . .”
Eclair looked long and hard at the faces of the former soldiers, who would likely be categorized as the principal offenders.
“These men come from some of Melromarc’s more respectable families. Even if they were sentenced to death, it would most likely be a very lengthy process.”
“Meaning that if the queen forced it, there would be backlash from the nobility, putting her position at stake?”
Eclair nodded in response. I guess even monarchies had to deal with annoyances like this. Maybe that was why the former soldiers seemed to be taking the whole thing rather lightly. Those scumbags . . . Did they not realize the situation they were in?
“A great deal of emphasis is placed on lineage. If worse comes to worst, the queen could be replaced with someone of the same bloodline favored by the nobility. It’s not unthinkable, considering that the country is currently in a weakened state due to the Spirit Tortoise incident.”
“Meaning . . . a distant relative?”
That was probably it. It’s not like the queen’s two daughters would be the only royal family. There would be the head family, and then there would be branches and all of that. The nobility could just pick one of the relatives that aligned with their purposes and have them lead a revolt, seizing the castle and replacing the queen.
“The nobility would probably come up with some kind of pretext like ‘our poor soldiers that went missing because the country was a mess finally show up only to be apprehended based on unfounded accusations!’”
“Yeah, they would, even though they’re as guilty as can be. What a pain. Should we just kill them off and say that they struggled?”
The mere fact that they were alive would be a hazard with trash like this. I had absolutely no doubt that it would come back to bite us later. In that case, it would make way more sense to just have them take their leave from this world.
“If you used your authority as a hero, that could probably work. However, I would personally prefer that you abide by the country’s rules.”
“Even if it means a long, drawn-out process that ends up getting them involuntary servitude instead of a death sentence?”
And for something that happened on Eclair’s father’s territory, their victims would be turning in their graves.
“I get what you’re saying. I agree that their actions are unforgivable, but even so . . .”
“You would think that the nobility in charge of the area where the crime happened would get to decide how it was dealt with.”
“They would . . . normally. We could indeed decide the punishment of their subordinates.”
“Execution, without question.”
There was no need to consult the queen.
“Why did so many slave hunters show up here in the first place? Death penalty or not, we need to make them talk—”
“About that . . . I needed to talk to the slaves, so this is the perfect chance. Everyone gather ’round!”
I went on to explain about how Lurolona slaves were being handled in Zeltoble.
“So in short . . . you’re saying that they were planning to capture the village slaves and sell them off in Zeltoble while the prices are high?!” Eclair was glaring at the slave hunters with an even more threatening look than before.
“No way . . . Does that mean that we can’t get everyone back?” Keel stared at me imploringly, with a look of worry in her eyes.
“Don’t worry. I’ll do whatever it takes to buy them back. The possibility of more of their kind showing up again is what we have to worry about.”
I guess problems like this came along with a sudden rise in prices. We had to figure out a way to put an end to the overvaluation of slaves from this village. I had a whole new set of annoyances to deal with now. In the meantime, I needed to prioritize toughening up the slaves. They still weren’t quite ready to class up.
“Bubba! If you’re going to compete in the coliseum, then let us compete, too!”
They must have been emboldened by their victory, because Keel and the other slaves who had shown a willingness to fight stepped forward.
“Hmm . . . We could have you compete, but it would be risky . . .”
That was a possibility. But taking them to Zeltoble and having someone figure out they were Lurolona slaves is what really worried me. If they ended up getting abducted in a crowded place like that, finding them would be difficult. Slaves could be tracked using the slave curse, but people weren’t stupid. They would probably overwrite the slave curses without hesitation.
I wanted to go all out—get the money and buy up all of the slaves in one fell swoop. This was a matter of urgency, and I had a feeling we were well past being able to raise the money by gradually working our way through the coliseum competitions. But we needed to gather enough money for a massive wager to make this plan work. There was no point if we couldn’t bet big.
Of course, it was a given that we wouldn’t lose, being a hero and his party. But too many wins would make the bet less lucrative. I had almost zero experience with horse racing or anything like that, but I knew that betting on a clear winner wouldn’t make you much money, because everyone else would be betting on it, too. That’s why you wanted to bet big and win big before the word spread.
We could sell something of value . . . If only we had a bunch of gold or something. As the thought crossed my mind, I looked at the slave hunters and suddenly it hit me.
“I just came up with a good idea.”
I had a big, mischievous grin on my face. Raphtalia must have noticed and had a good idea of what was coming, because she rolled her eyes.
“Mr. Naofumi, you’re going to try something crazy, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. I’m going to go fetch a certain someone. I’ll be back in about an hour, so wait here.”
I used my portal to teleport back to Zeltoble on my own. And then . . .
“Oh? Shield Hero, I thought you returned to the village? Yes sir.”
“I did, but something came up. I want you to come with me.”
Around an hour later, after the cool down expired on my portal skill, I returned to the village again with the slave trader and his flunky.
“Mr. Naofumi? Umm . . . where did you . . .”
Raphtalia was looking at the slave trader with her head cocked to the side in confusion. The other villagers were also watching, curious as to what was about to happen. Eclair and the soldiers were looking at the slave trader with their brows furrowed.
“Eclair. The responsibility for these scumbags technically hasn’t been given to the authorities yet, right?”
“That’s true, but . . . What are you planning to do, Mr. Iwatani?”
“Just be quiet and watch. I came up with the perfect way to take care of this.”
“Be careful, Eclair. This is where Mr. Naofumi usually says something completely outrageous.”
Hey, what happened to Raphtalia believing in me? Then again, I was well aware of the fact that I tended to do crazy things at times like these. She had winced when she heard about how I sold the spirit water. Kizuna had been really proud of the whole thing, though, so she’d just acted normal and didn’t say anything.
“You know what will happen to you if you even think about touching us, right?”
The slave hunter boss was trying to intimidate me. The scumbag probably thought he would get off easy, and he certainly didn’t think he was in danger of dying or anything. Surely we wouldn’t do anything that would endanger the queen’s position, right?
“Relax. I’m going to let you all live, just like you want.”
The underlings all showed visible signs of relief when they heard that. The boss, on the other hand, seemed perplexed. I guess he wasn’t as dumb as he looked.
“Slave trader, can you make these scumbags my slaves?”
“I can. Yes sir.”
“Surely you don’t intend on turning them into slaves and forcing them to help develop the territory or protect it from other slave hunters, do you?” Eclair suddenly chimed in.
Did Eclair really think I would do something so lax? Then again, it wasn’t a bad idea. I could use the slave curse to set harsh restrictions that would kill them if they disobeyed orders. But there was a fatal flaw in that plan.
“And just let them wait for a chance to have someone they know remove the curse? I’m not that dumb.”
Several of the slave hunters must have been thinking about doing exactly that, because they had been grinning slyly, but now they were looking confused.
“The reason I’m making them my slaves is to force them into my party and to make the next part of my plan easier.”
“Wh . . . what are you going to do?” Rishia asked, looking at me nervously.
Rishia was here? She had just kind of faded into the background for a while there.
“I’m going to take them to Zeltoble. And then I’m going to sell them. As slaves, of course.”
“Wha—”
Eclair was at a loss for words. Raphtalia sighed in dismay. That’s right. What we needed right now was a huge sum of money so that we could go all in and win big at the coliseum. Every little bit counted.
Of course, if we sold the slave hunters off as slaves, there would likely be some Melromarc nobility ready to rescue them by buying them back. There was even a risk of them getting away before that, if we weren’t careful.
The slave hunters probably knew that, because they still didn’t look too worried. They probably figured that they wouldn’t fetch a very good price anyway. But I wasn’t going to let them off that easy.
“Slave trader. Do you happen to have any relatives in Siltvelt?”
“Of course. Yes sir.”
“Good. In that case, I want to sell these scumbags to those relatives. Let’s see . . . Tell them that they’re being offered by the Shield Hero and that they’re the slave hunters that captured the demi-human slaves originally from the Seaetto territory.”
The slave hunters’ faces suddenly grew pale. The slave trader, on the other hand, was looking at me with the biggest smile on his face that I had seen so far. First there was the fact that they were being offered by the Shield Hero, which would raise their value, since the country worshipped the Shield Hero. Then there was the fact that they were notorious criminals that had slaughtered or enslaved countless demi-humans from the Seaetto territory, which was supposed to be a symbol of friendship between Melromarc and Siltvelt.
How would the Siltvelt demi-humans view such people? It would be infuriating. The living embodiment of evil to them, I’m sure. If such a person showed up on the slave market and was purchased . . . what would happen to them? It went without saying that they would be beaten and abused as a form of stress relief, just like Raphtalia and the other slaves from her village had been by the nobility in this country. This is what it meant to pay for something with your life.
“That . . . that’s not even funny! Selling us to Siltvelt?! That’s not something a hero would do!”
The slave hunter boss started raving.
“It’s not as bad as a country’s soldiers killing and selling off their own citizens. I’m sure you scumbags have a pretty good idea of the hell that these slaves have been through.”
“This is different! There’s no reason we should have to go through that!”
“So what . . . It’s okay to force it on them, but it’s not cool when it’s forced on you?”
I was at a loss for words. There’s always a chance that soldiers will die in war, yet the thought of being tortured and dying a painful death as a slave frightened these guys. Just how pathetic were they?
“Here’s a quote that I was relatively fond of back in my world, just for you scumbags: ‘Don’t shoot at people unless you’re ready to be shot.’”
It was something that some hard-boiled crime fiction detective had said. If you weren’t ready to suffer yourself, you had no place making anyone else suffer.
“Ridiculous! It only makes sense that demi-humans would suffer and die! You can’t compare civilized human beings like us to lowly demi-humans like—hrrmg!”
The guy was annoying me, so I gagged him to shut him up. The faces of these scumbags distorted with fear was a pretty glorious sight. It wasn’t quite as good as the time Trash and Bitch were forced to prostrate themselves before me, but still . . . These scumbags deserved at least this much. It was their fault that these demi-humans here ever became slaves in the first place. Now it was their turn to become slaves.
“Eclair, you’re a straight arrow, so you probably can’t condone this, but these scumbags need to be punished appropriately. And I’m going to use the money that I make from selling them to get the Lurolona villagers back.”
“Ugh . . .”
Eclair groaned ruefully but showed no signs of taking any further action. After all, she knew that if we turned them over to the authorities they might end up getting off easy.
“Another thing, Eclair. This will set an example. Slave hunters will know what to expect if they try to attack the village again.”
The attacks would never stop if there was no real punishment worth speaking of. There were likely those that would come even with the risk of execution. But what if it meant getting caught, enslaved, and being abused? If we showed them that there were punishments worse than death in this world, then any slave hunter still considering coming to the village were sure to give up. Not to mention, the village was being protected by the Shield Hero.
“Mr. Naofumi . . .” Raphtalia began.
“I’m doing this no matter how absurd you think it is, Raphtalia. I’m going to do whatever it takes to rescue your friends.”
Maybe she wouldn’t like living in a place that was built using dirty money. Sure, I wanted to save the day with honest money like the gallant hero of some novel, if possible, but I didn’t have the leeway to choose my means. The lives of the Lurolona slaves might very well have been in danger while we were here wasting time with this mess. Raphtalia believed in me and this was for her, too. Standing around waiting wasn’t an option, even if Raphtalia didn’t like the alternative.
“Bubba . . .”
Keel called out to me with uncertainty in her voice.
“Do you think less of me now? Either way, I’m the boss here. I appreciate your willingness to come forward and volunteer to fight in the coliseum, but right now you need to forget about that and focus on becoming stronger. Leave the dirty work to me.”
I turned my back to the slaves and took a step forward. That’s right. They didn’t need to get their hands dirty. They could leave that to me.
“This isn’t the time for you to be taking risks. You’re going to protect the village, right?”
“Yeah . . .”
In any case, I could probably make a good amount of money if I sold off this many slave hunters. It had been an unexpected hassle, but it worked out in our favor in the end.
I stood there, staring silently at the portal cool down time hovering in my field of vision.
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