The bandits wielding swords and knives were taken down by Alzack's various Magic Bullets before they could get close.
Even though it seemed like just a handgun, under his formidable Gun Bullet Magic, it fired like a machine gun.
By the time the bandits using bows or firearms aimed at him, Alzack had already taken cover behind the Stone Beetle.
Arrows shot at the Stone Beetle simply ricocheted off, and ordinary firearms couldn't inflict much effective damage either.
Before they could fire a second round, Bisca had already picked off their gunners from afar.
"Amazing, Bisca!" Although the others couldn't hear him, Alzack still exclaimed in praise.
Then, he dashed out, taking down the melee bandits approaching in the chaos.
The Stone Beetle obeyed Alzack's commands, moving when told and stopping when ordered.
It also had to constantly keep Rhode's basic instructions in mind—if Alzack got injured, it should drag him underground to escape.
"It's a Mage!"
"There's a sniper on the mountain across!"
"From such a long distance, you must be joking?"
"Too powerful!"
"What kind of monster is that moving rock?"
The bandits had never encountered such formidable enemies; the sentinels and guards didn't even know how they were taken out;
Seeing the enemy, they thought they had the advantage in numbers, only for over ten of them to fall at the first encounter;
Just as they thought they had established firepower suppression, their gunners were taken down by an unseen sniper;
Thinking they could seize the opportunity to rush in and fight, another ten or so fell at the second encounter.
At least two powerful Mages, plus that unknown stone monster...
The bandits were already thinking of fleeing.
A burly man with a Magic Staff emerged from the central wooden hut, kicking down a bandit trying to retreat.
"Useless! It's just a Mage, get them!" the bandit leader raised his Magic Staff, "Leave the monster to me, you go chop down that guy!"
"Boss, be careful! They have..."
Bam! The bandit leader fell to the ground, his Magic Staff clattering and rolling away.
A young bandit stammered through the rest of his sentence: "...a sniper."
...
The bandits knelt, and Rhode, following the escape path at the back of the hideout, caught not a single one.
Upon entering the hideout, Alzack was standing there, watching the bandits tie up their own companions.
"Solved it that quickly?"
Rhode's voice made the bandits tremble; there was actually a third terrifying Mage!
They worked even faster, thinking, we're just a small band of bandits, what have we done to deserve being hunted by such formidable Mages?
And with a pincer attack and a sniper in position.
"I'll confess! We sent a ten-man squad down the mountain to rob!"
"Yes, yes, the ambush is just at..."
Alzack said, "We've already taken care of them. Are there any others besides them?"
The bandits hung their heads in defeat, feeling somewhat indignant—taking us down one by one!
Do they see us as a regular army?!
After a while, Bisca also arrived, and the bandits were already tied up.
Rhode was inspecting each rope, checking for any tricks.
The bandits were ashen-faced; how could we dare pull any tricks in this situation? Aren't you being too cautious?
Bisca looked at the almost colorless bandits, confused, "What happened to them?"
"I guess they've completely lost the will to fight?" Alzack hesitated, making an effort to say, "Well... the sniping just now... was brilliant."
"Ah, th-thank you." Bisca was embarrassed by Alzack's compliment, usually not being like this, "Your rapid reload and continuous fire was what's brilliant."
Flustered, Alzack said, "No... just, just practiced a lot."
Two rather shy people, after being praised by each other, were suddenly at a loss for words and didn't know where to look.
Rhode sighed inwardly; it's indeed those in the know who can give really high-level praise.
After watching such an impressive display of marksmanship, all he could say was 'damn good.'
But that's okay, he knew how to compliment Transformation Magic and combat technique teaching skills.
Rhode clapped his hands, "Alright, while it's still early, let's take everyone we can walk down the mountain. Hopefully we can return to town before nightfall."
During the recent battle, aside from the initial breach of the gate, Alzack and Bisca mainly used Magic Bullets with minimal lethality.
Getting hit was indeed painful, but the effects were mostly paralysis and fainting on the spot, so none of the bandits died.
Some were unlucky, aiming not for vital parts but still getting seriously injured due to their erratic movements.
There were quite a few such injured, so they had to be left there for the town's safety team to come later and pick them up.
To be safe, Rhode had Alzack give each one a tranquilizer shot.
The bandits who hadn't been hit were terrified, thinking they were about to be executed on the spot, pleading and confessing to any 'secrets' in a hurry.
There was little valuable information, the most important being that the hideout still had some unspent loot and provisions.
But no one among Rhode and his team touched it.
Mages from a legitimate Guild typically had certain rules to adhere to, not mingling with money beyond their pay.
Loot in a bandit den usually had to be handled by the client, goods returned to the original owners, and provisions and money used to compensate the looted villages.
The situation was similar with treasure hunts.
After confirming their pay, any treasure found had nothing to do with the Mage who accepted the task.
Unless a share of the treasure was specified in the mission commission beforehand, regardless of its immense value, it had nothing to do with the Mage.
Mages from Fairy Tail, though notorious for their bad habits, insisted on such matters more than regular Mages.
On their way down, Rhode dismantled the haphazard traps to avoid a poor review when the safety team came up.
By the time the prisoners were handed over, the sun had set, and the safety team decided to retrieve the remaining on the mountain the next day.
However, since the bandit leader was already captured, their pay could be settled early, and the mission was directly confirmed as completed.
The three of them successfully received their pay and a bunch of grateful and complimentary words, bidding farewell to the client and returning to the inn to rest.
After a long day, Rhode took a bath first, coming out to find Alzack sitting on the bed tending to his handgun.
"Your turn."
"Alright." Alzack put down the gun, speaking earnestly, "Really, thank you for this, Rhode."
"Do you mean helping complete the mission together or inviting Bisca to team up?"
Mentioning Bisca made Alzack shy, "B-both."
"Oh~~~" Rhode drew out the expression, seeing Alzack's urge to escape, chuckling, "Hey, don't you want to stay in the same room as Bisca tonight?"
"D-don't talk nonsense! This is our first team-up, how could we possibly already be at that level!"
Alzack almost went blank, managing to think of a retort, "Last time you and Mira went to the Royal Capital, did you stay in the same room?"
Rhode nonchalantly said, "We stayed in the same suite, in different rooms."
"What???!!!" Alzack, not knowing what he imagined, turned beet red, "You... you've already, already..."
"Last time, we stayed in a suite, in different rooms," Rhode teased, "What were you just thinking? Planning to..."
"Nothing at all!"