They don't want me to try anymore.

"Brother Richard!?"

"Shh~"

After calming the little girl down, he quickly led his men to hide at the edge of the wall, while simultaneously summoning earth elementals and treants to continue causing chaos in the center of the area.

After unleashing the lightning chain, the wind elemental flew into the air and switched to a lightning strike mode—this was both an attack and a signal to Zoe, Katyusha, and Evan on the mountainside!

Having done all this, Richard slowly approached the gate, intending to wait for reinforcements to arrive before rushing out.

But, honestly…

Seeing the bandits in such a chaotic state, he had a feeling that if he put in a little more effort, he could crush his opponents... If it weren't for the fact that there were so many of them left, and that he had a child with him who was older than him, he would have really given it his all.

In fact, the group of masked bandits who had just said they would release Melissa had already slipped out through the side door, cursing and swearing. Their retreat was swift, efficient, and quite orderly, which made Richard, curious, look at them with newfound respect.

But that scarred guy was different.

Boom!

He pulled out two pistols from his waist and fired two shots. Then he raised his hand and aimed at the earth element. The snake tattoo on his forearm came to life, turned into a black shadow, and shattered the earth element!

It turns out this guy is also a bronze-level player, but he's a self-taught half-warrior, half-mage, and Richard can't figure out his class.

He shouted, "Calm down, everyone! It's that mage who's come up here. There's only one of them. We can beat him!"

Following his shout, the bandits' gazes finally focused on Richard.

"Damn it, you dare to come all by yourself! Are you underestimating us?"

"How dare a mage who can't fight in close combat barge into the village?"

"I'm going to use your skull as a bowl!"

Seeing that Richard was alone, the bandits immediately stopped their confusion, perked up, and surrounded him with sinister smiles.

Richard raised an eyebrow, then clapped his hands...

New earth and fire elements appeared before us!

"Why so many!"

"Don't be afraid!"

Scarface roared, "He's only bronze! Everyone, charge at him side by side, he'll run out of magic in no time!"

Oh, so that's your plan.

Richard stroked his chin, opened his backpack, looked at the three bottles of magic potions inside, and revealed a smile of being a kept man—an internship is not a duel or an exam, and he is not short of money now; he bought everything he needed when he came.

Moreover, his magical power far surpasses that of ordinary bronze...

Want to use it up? Sure!

Ten seconds later.

The bandits lost a few men, fought off the earth and fire elementals, and then looked up...

Four more water elementals are standing in front of me!

Oh no, how come there are more and more of them the more you fight!

"Is this mage a monster...?"

Scarface also showed a hint of fear at this moment.

He couldn't understand why the opposing team, who were also bronze-level players, hadn't shown any signs of decline yet!

He even had a vague feeling that his band of bandits was about to be surrounded by that sorcerer alone!

But seeing his men on the verge of collapse, he gritted his teeth and shouted, "Hold on! Don't hold back your ammunition, bring that thing out!"

Upon hearing this, the bandits' morale suddenly soared, and behind a house in the distance, a group of people began pushing a dark green object about half the size of a person.

Richard squinted and looked, and it was round and plump...

Good heavens, what's this little homemade cannon?

No, isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?

Have the bandits within the empire become this wealthy?

Imperials, how do you suppress bandits? You're not some transport brigade, are you?!

To be fair, as a Connaught, Richard wasn't really keen on going to great lengths to help the Empire reduce its crime rate; he just wanted to rescue the people and leave.

But things changed when the threat level of the opponent increased dramatically.

Seeing that the bandits were about to fire, Richard quickly drank a mana potion, summoned two earth elementals to block their path, and aimed his staff, intending to personally send the gunners into the air with a fireball!

At this moment...

Zheng!

A crisp, sharp blast pierced the night sky, and the next second, the cannon on the wall split in two before everyone's eyes!

"How can it be……"

"The bronze cannon has been cut in half!"

Richard immediately looked towards the entrance of the village and saw the culprit.

It was a strange person who was tall and slender, dressed as a nun in a long robe and hood, with iron chains wrapped around her waist and shoulders, and finally covered most of her face with a white mask.

She held a simple, standard-issue one-handed sword in her hand, flicked it, and pointed it at the two stunned bandits beside her.

In the blink of an eye, a flash of white light appeared!

"what!"

The two men had both legs severed, blood gushing out, and they howled on the ground.

Richard blinked.

This skill... belongs to a high-level Bronze-rank swordsman!

Where did you come from? I don't recognize you...

Meanwhile, the bandits on the other side panicked completely. Finally, Scarface roared and led a few skilled men to attack, and then…

There's no after that.

Although both are bronze-level, the masked nun's technique is clearly more refined, far surpassing the bandit leader's amateurish approach. The difference between the two is as vast as the gap between my Three-Body Problem and Artistic Three-Body Problem!

She only used three sword strikes.

The first sword strike slew the tattooed flying snakes released by the leader; the second sword strike knocked away the leader's weapon; and the third sword strike slit his throat cleanly and swiftly.

Then she quickly grabbed the leader's corpse by the back of his collar and used it as a shield, catching all the incoming bullets.

"Boss!"

The remaining bandits, upon discovering their leader was dead and that they themselves had likely helped whip his corpse, suffered a complete morale collapse and fled towards the back of the stronghold.

In the blink of an eye, only Richard, Melissa, and the masked nun remained in the open space.

The latter remained silent, looking at Richard with an indescribable expression.

Richard gripped his staff tightly, not daring to be careless.

Although both of them were killing bandits, he couldn't be sure that the other was a friend; the masked appearance was quite eerie.

Looking at the blood and severed limbs scattered on the ground, he was quite certain that the other party must be a ruthless person.

He cautiously said, "Thank you for your help. May I ask..."

Gulu.

Huh?

Gurgling.

After confirming again, Richard's eyes glanced at the female swordsman's slender waist and abdomen. Although her face was covered by a mask, she couldn't help but turn her head slightly.

"Sir...would you like to come to our camp for something to eat?"

"……Um."

At this moment, Zoe and the others arrived at the village gate. However, seeing that the situation had been settled and that Richard had an extra person by his side, the atmosphere was somewhat strange, and they couldn't help but look at each other in bewilderment.

In the end, Melissa broke the deadlock by throwing herself into her brother's arms.

It was almost dawn.

The group returned to the camp and had the cook prepare another pot of cabbage and beef stew, which they ate around the fire.

“My name is Luna, I come from the North, and I am an ascetic.”

After swallowing a large mouthful of stewed meat, the mysterious nun briefly introduced herself.

The caravan owner clapped his hands: "I see. I've heard of people like you before, who abandon a comfortable life to temper themselves both physically and mentally, and firmly uphold their beliefs. You are truly admirable..."

Putting aside the boss's flattery, Zoe didn't like the new woman she met. She pouted and muttered to herself:

"If it's ascetic practice, is it necessary to wear a mask? And shouldn't there be restrictions on food or thorns on your back? Why are you carrying iron chains? It looks like you're about to arrest someone..."

Luna didn't react to this, she just silently ate her rice, judging from the amount she ate...

...Well, there are definitely no restrictions on diet.