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!”