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!”