Chapter 3130: Mino Orefoot, Redfoot Royalty and Refugees

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Azorheim, Temporal Cave Valley Rest Stop, Aurzone Traven

“My name is Mino Orefoot…”

The moment the young Redfoot revealed his name, Henricks, whose head had been practically buried in his food, suddenly stopped eating.

His fork froze halfway to his mouth.

He slowly raised his head and stared at the young dwarf with an expression of utter disbelief. The sudden movement and intensity of his gaze startled Mino, who instinctively recoiled in his seat.

“Mino Orefoot?” Henricks repeated, his voice rising with shock. “As in the last of the Redfoot race’s royalty?”

Mino’s eyes immediately widened.

For a moment, alarm flashed across his face. But then he seemed to remember who he was sitting with. These two strangers weren’t behaving like ordinary outsiders. They had spoken to him in his native language, recognized his customs, and even knew enough about Redfoot culture to understand the meaning behind Henricks’s welcoming gestures.

His shoulders gradually relaxed. Instead of panicking, Mino lowered his gaze and silently blamed himself. He had been so hungry that he had forgotten one of the most basic rules of survival: never reveal your real identity to strangers. Especially when that identity belonged to a fallen royal family.

I glanced between Mino and Henricks, waiting for the latter to explain exactly what he knew. The young Redfoot looked toward Henricks as well, and after a moment of hesitation, gave a small nod. That was apparently all the confirmation Henricks needed.

“Your Highness,” he said solemnly, his expression suddenly becoming grave. “Forgive me. I have sinned.”

Before I could ask what he meant, Henricks pushed his chair back and stood. Then he knelt. I stared at him. That was not what I had expected.

“Get up,” I said. But Henricks remained kneeling, his head lowered as though he had just confessed to some unforgivable crime. I sighed and used my Celestial Power to gently lift him back onto his feet.

“Confess first,” I said calmly. “Then let me be the judge of whether you’ve sinned.”

Henricks looked at me for a moment before reluctantly nodding.

I knew him well enough to understand that he wouldn’t knowingly do anything that harmed my interests. His position made that almost impossible anyway. The Freedom Fighters were completely dependent on me now. Anything that directly threatened me would ultimately threaten the organization he had spent his life building.

Whatever Henricks had done without my knowledge was therefore unlikely to be something directed against me. More likely, it was something connected to his own past. And judging by the expression on his face, that past had just walked into our lunch wearing red clothes and the name Mino Orefoot.

Taking his seat again, Henricks folded his hands on the table and took a moment to gather himself before speaking.

“Your Highness, previously, I intentionally hid the fact that the Freedom Fighters used to trade with the Redfoot race from you. Only Ned and I knew about it.”

He paused, watching my expression carefully, clearly expecting some kind of reaction. I simply raised an eyebrow. “And?”

Henricks sighed before continuing, “After the RedAlps Realm fell to the demon invasion and its Redfoot population was reduced to little more than slaves forced to mine the resources of their own realm, I couldn’t stand by and watch our friends suffer. So I began using the ability of my Origin Card to slowly rescue them.”

“I could only take a few at a time. Too many would have attracted attention, and I couldn’t risk exposing myself or the Freedom Fighters. So I rescued them gradually and moved them to a secluded settlement in the Yellow Plains.” He lowered his voice as though even recounting it made him uncomfortable. Mino’s ears twitched, while Henricks continued, “The terrain was unfamiliar to them, and they had lost everything they knew, but it was still better than remaining in RedAlps as slaves. At least there, they could sleep without wondering whether a demon would drag them out of their homes the next morning.”

“Eventually, we rescued enough of them to establish an actual town. They began rebuilding their lives there. They planted crops, established workshops, raised families, and slowly recreated pieces of the community they had lost.” He paused, then gave a faint, almost nostalgic smile. But his fingers tightened slightly. “Then you moved the Freedom Fighters’ headquarters to the Yellow Plains. Once that happened, I handed our old base over to the Redfoot refugees. It was safer for them that way, and I could continue rescuing more Redfoot whenever I found an opportunity.”

So that was it. As I had suspected, Henricks had been secretly carrying out a rescue operation right under the noses of the demons. It was reckless, extremely reckless.

If the dark faction had discovered that someone was systematically removing their Redfoot slaves, the consequences wouldn’t have been limited to Henricks. The entire Freedom Fighters could have been dragged into it, and the settlement in the Yellow Plains could have become a target. As for Card World they would bother, as it was part of another Dark faction.

What surprised me more was that the Demon Merchants hadn’t noticed. How many Redfoot had Henricks managed to extract without raising suspicion? And how had he managed to conceal the disappearance of their labor force for so long?

I glanced toward Mino. The young Redfoot had gone completely still. His little body was trembling beneath his clothes. His hands had curled tightly around the edge of the table, and his eyes had begun to glisten as he listened to Henricks describe the existence of the Redfoot refugees.

A town full of Redfoot survivors. His people had not only escaped but were alive. He desperately wanted to believe it. But after losing his entire realm, belief alone probably wasn’t enough anymore.

Mino had likely heard countless promises during his escape. Promises of safety. Promises of freedom. Promises that things would eventually get better.

He couldn’t afford to trust another one without proof. His lips trembled as he lowered his head, desperately fighting to keep his tears from falling. He didn’t break down. Not yet. Instead, he looked toward Henricks with an expression that silently begged for confirmation. He needed to see them with his own eyes. Only then would he allow himself to believe that RedAlps had not taken every last member of his people with it.