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!”