Beside the carriage were two men, one a merchant and the other a coachman and porter.
The merchant was still in shock. He had heard that there might be bandits nearby but was too stingy to hire a Mage for protection. This trip nearly cost him his life and almost all his savings.
The coachman was also in fear, having encountered a miserly employer was truly unfortunate, nearly getting slashed by bandits.
"Mr. Bania, should we leave?"
"Wait a moment, the Mage must have done that earlier, let's wait for him to come over."
Bania's hands were trembling a bit, but intelligence sparkled in his eyes. Wasn't this going to become protection soon?
The two waited for a while and suddenly saw a gray shadow quickly approaching from the forest. Then, a Werewolf abruptly landed in front of them.
Yellow-brown eyes stared at them, the sharp teeth seemingly glinting with a cold light.
Bania's legs almost gave way, ready to run first.
Fortunately, the Werewolf spoke: "Who are you people?"
Bania breathed a sigh of relief, as long as it could speak. This must be some Magic-turned Werewolf:
"Mr. Mage, we are just passing merchants heading to Onibus, we were almost captured by these bandits. Thank you for your help! Is there anything we can do to serve you?"
Where he was actually going didn't really concern him. Rhode nodded, "If it's convenient, could you please help tie these people up?"
The coachman was about to move but was stopped by Bania:
"I noticed you didn't seem to have a rope; I happen to have one here, 30 meters long, only 600J!"
"Mr. Bania!" The coachman's eyes almost popped open in disbelief. In this situation, he was actually looking to sell the rope? How greedy could this man be!
Rhode also looked at him in surprise, a talented individual, still thinking about making money at a time like this?
But from his perspective, it was a bit annoying.
"No need." Rhode maintained his Werewolf form, kicking away the bandits' weapons one by one before reverting to human form to start tying them up.
He used the bandits' belts as ropes.
"If you're fine, leave quickly and don't get in the way here."
Rhode's attitude wasn't very pleasant. Such slightly annoying people were the most troublesome.
If they encountered danger again, saving them would be unsatisfying, but letting them die would trouble his conscience.
It was best to hurry them away.
However, Bania didn't want to leave just like that, what if there were more bandits ahead?
"Mr. Mage, don't misunderstand; this rope can be given to you for free."
Bania said enthusiastically, "Since you've captured these bandits, you're going to take them to the city hall, right? I mean, you might as well travel with us. Not only can you use the rope, but you can also ride the carriage freely."
The free offer might be the most expensive one. Without much thought, Rhode guessed that this person wanted to free ride him as a guard.
Rhode declined, "I'm sorry, I have other matters to attend to, no need for you to trouble yourself."
Bania quickly said, "We can wait! And..."
This individual was really hard to deal with; reasoning didn't work, so it could only be about money.
As Rhode was tying the bandits' hands behind their backs, he said:
"Mr. Bania, short-distance guarding tasks usually cost 2,000 to 10,000 J. For someone like you carrying a large amount of goods on a dangerous route, the price needs to be adjusted accordingly.
And for Mages like me and my companions, who can resolve more than ten enemies in an instant, do you think they're that easy to hire?"
Precisely because they weren't easy to hire, he thought of hitching a free ride! Furthermore, he had companions!
Unfortunately, the price... Bania hesitated for a while, "I'm sorry, that was impolite of me, we'll be leaving now."
A batch of bandits had already been taken out, making it less likely to encounter a second batch. No guards, then no guards.
The coachman wanted to run away. He didn't quite understand the market, but conservatively estimated that the profit from this wagonload of goods was enough to hire ten or eight Mages...
This Mr. Bania really cared more about money than life, he'd have to find a more timid employer next time.
Rhode tied up ten people one by one, then selected the one who looked the most cowardly and brought him a little further away to splash him with water to wake him up.
"Who are you! Let me go, or else our boss..."
A Two-headed Wolf bared its teeth close to his face, scaring him into silence.
"Tell me how many of you there are in total, do you have any Mages, are there any paths, traps, or escape routes on the mountain?"
"How could I possibly tell you that!"
"If you don't talk, you'll be fed to the wolves; they haven't had lunch yet." Rhode gestured, and the Two-headed Wolf licked his cheeks on either side, starting to drool.
The bandit swallowed nervously, able to feel the hot breath from the Two-headed Wolf on his face, "I'll, I'll talk."
"I advise you not to lie; I'll wake the others later to confirm. If there's one lie, it'll cost you a hand."
Rhode didn't understand interrogation techniques, but he had heard somewhere about a prisoner's dilemma, though not certain if that's what it meant.
Regardless, upon hearing these words, the bandit completely fessed up, spilling everything about the mountain's situation.
Better to be fed to the person in front of him than to the wolves, better to go to prison.
After obtaining the intelligence, Rhode knocked the person out and woke another to ask the same questions.
After repeating this several times and getting essentially the same answers, he returned to find Alzack and Bisca.
These two were reliable, efficiently standing guard, rifles at the ready, one focused on Rhode's direction and the other watching the surroundings.
"How did it go?" Alzack saw Rhode's demeanor like he had been interrogating.
"The numbers are about what we understood, their boss can use a very destructive type of Magic, and there are several traps along the way..." Rhode's voice paused.
Bisca became alert, "What's wrong?"
"A Swift Crab fell into a pit, not a big issue." The vision hadn't disappeared, so Rhode knew it wasn't dead, "The bandits might have been alerted, prepare for a quick battle to prevent their escape."
"No problem." Alzack looked at Rhode, "Can your Magic Power hold up?"
After both assimilating and summoning, Alzack remembered that Rhode had used a lot of Magic today, and he was still maintaining several Summoned Beasts like Stone Beetle, Shadow Wolf, Beaked Bird, and Swift Crab.
Rhode said, "Within twenty minutes, it's not a big issue; I can retract a few as needed. If no action is needed, that would be best."
Alzack and Bisca exchanged a look, each saying:
"You've done plenty."
"Leave the rest to us."
Though that's what they said, Rhode was still planning to provide as much intel as possible before the battle.
Then he sent a Stone Beetle with Bisca to the sniper spot, while he took two Stone Beetles with Alzack, bypassing various traps to approach the bandits' stronghold.
The bandits' stronghold wasn't very large, with a wooden house in the center, surrounded by a few scattered thatched houses.
They had set up a row of wooden fences in an orderly manner outside, with two watchtowers at the gate.
With a few soft whooshes, the bandits dozing at the gate and the Sentinels on the watchtowers were shot down almost simultaneously; Bisca had taken action.
Rhode had already circled to the back, preparing to block the bandits' escape route.
Alzack loaded a high-explosive round, blasting open the door with a bang.
The stronghold immediately bustled with activity, the bandits' shouts echoing continuously:
"Enemy attack!"
"Damn it, who are they!"
"Boss! The army's come at us!"