“Yeah?”
“I’ve heard a rumor in Melromarc about the Shield Hero being involved in some disgraceful activities. It may be better for the Shield Hero to go to some other demi-human land, in my opinion.”
“Sure, you’re not wrong.”
“However, I don’t think Melromarc will let you out without a fight,” he continued.
I didn’t disagree with the mole. That’s what happened in the last two go-arounds after all.
“If you don’t mind, I have a proposal.”
The mole leader explained his idea. When the time came, the moles could take us from their village and out of the country without passing through the border fortress—by means of underground tunnels they had built.
I had no idea that those tunnels even existed. So it turns out that if we had befriended these moles previously, we could’ve had another way to secretly leave Melromarc. Well, from our experiences in the last go-around, it seemed like we had people working against us in Siltvelt anyway. So we probably would’ve been attacked either way, I guess.
“We built the tunnels so that demi-humans could escape from this country in a time of absolute need,” explained the mole. “Please use our tunnels so you can flee this land!”
Father scratched his head. “I really appreciate the offer, but we still have some things to take care of here in Melromarc,” he said.
“Is that so? I do apologize for going so far as to make a suggestion.”
“Don’t worry about it. More importantly, it seems like slave hunters know about this place, so make sure they never find out about the tunnels. Of course, we’ll do our best to stop other slave hunters from finding it, but it’s not like we’re going to stay here forever.”
“Certainly,” said the mole.
“Even worse, it sounds like people are going to be after you here in Melromarc,” Father said. Father glanced at me before turning back to the mole. “It sounds like you could easily get us into Siltvelt—why don’t you do that?”
The mole cleared his throat. “Unfortunately, that’s not possible. You see, we lumo had a low status in Siltvelt and Shieldfreeden, which is why we came to Melromarc in the first place, when Lord Seaetto invited us here.”
That’s true. While Siltvelt was sympathetic to demi-humans in general, they had a strict hierarchy system among the different races. Even if the moles went to Siltvelt, they might attract unwanted attention.
And Shieldfreeden was out of the question. Even though they claimed that discrimination was abolished there, it was really a hotbed for racism. The obvious result of being led by that contemptible Takt.
“Oh, okay. Still, I wonder if maybe you could have a place there, if I advocated on your behalf . . .” Father trailed off. “I guess, in a worst-case scenario, there would be others getting upset at you out of jealousy, if anything.” Father thought about it for a moment. “Regardless, until we clean up things here in Melromarc, I’d like for all of you to flee the country using the tunnels you built. Once things get better, of course, you can always come back.”
The mole leader nodded. “Understood. Now that Lord Seaetto is no longer with us, in order to escape the slave hunters, we shall follow your wisdom and escape this country as quickly as we can.”
“So sorry for mixing you guys up with our own problems,” Father added.
“Not at all! You have given us a path forward when we had lost our way! Do not worry about us.”
It sounded like they had built the tunnels without any of the Melromarc nobles finding out, so pretty much no one knew about them other than demi-humans. Which was obvious, because if they had told anyone in Melromarc, others were bound to find out.
So the moles were there waiting for other demi-humans that needed to flee. Who, tragically made into slaves, never managed to come themselves.
With that, we secretly brought the monster trainer to the moles’ den, and Father ordered him to sell the slave hunters as slaves. Then I forcibly added them to my party and I sent us all flying to Siltvelt with Portal Spear.
When the monster trainer heard what we were trying to do, I saw his face light up like I had never seen before. He gave us a letter of introduction to other monster trainers he knew in Siltvelt and told us where to find them. Since word had arrived in Siltvelt about people in Melromarc making demi-humans slaves, he told us that we could get a great deal in Siltvelt. But once we sold them, Father got into an unpleasant mood for a long while.
Well, it was only natural, as those slave hunters were scum filthy enough to make you vomit.
After we took care of all that, we went with the moles to the entrance of the hidden tunnel and waved goodbye.
“Shield Hero! Everybody! Thank you, thank you! We’ll never forget your kindness!”
“Stay safe out there, and be happy!” Father called. “Please wait just a little longer and you’ll be able to come back!”
Keel oinked excitedly and waved so hard I thought her arms were going to fly off her body.
“Moles,” whined Kou. Certainly, he was sad to see them go.
“Lord Shield Hero,” came a voice. It was the first mole whom we had met. He handed us a letter.
“Thank you so much for everything you’ve done,” he said. “This was all I could do to thank you, but I heard you were friends with a weapon shop owner in Melromarc castle town. If you give him this, you’ll be sure to get some favorable treatment.”
Father accepted it. “Thank you. We’ll use it carefully.”
The mole nodded. “I can never say it enough, but thank you again!”
With that, the mole went scurrying away into the entrance of the secret tunnel.