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.