It's so hard being a hero!

She stepped over the corpse and entered the stone house.

The situation inside was worse than she had imagined.

Several bandits were surrounding a young woman whose clothes had been torn. The woman was huddled in a corner, trembling and with tears streaming down her face.

Sophia scanned the room, her gaze finally settling on the man standing by the window.

He was a burly man in his thirties with a long scar running from his left eye to the corner of his right mouth.

Silver level.

The scarred man had clearly noticed Sophia's arrival.

He turned around and saw a silver-haired girl standing at the door. He was stunned for a moment, then smiled.

"Oh ho, where did this little girl come from?"

"Brothers, grab her! Such a tender young girl, she could fetch a lot of money if sold to slave traders."

After saying that, the bandits immediately put down the woman they were holding and surrounded Sophia.

Sophia looked at them, her face expressionless.

She gripped the hilt of the sword tightly, and a layer of golden light shone on the blade.

The first bandit rushed up, raising his large machete high.

Sofia dodged to the side, her silver longsword slashing upwards, the blade cutting across the man's throat.

Blood spurted out, the bandit's eyes widened, he covered his neck with both hands and knelt on the ground.

The second bandit was startled, but before he could react, Sophia's sword was already upon him.

The sword tip pierced his heart cleanly and precisely, without the slightest unnecessary movement.

The third bandit finally realized what was happening and turned to run away.

Sophia raised her left hand, and a cyan wind blade shot out from her palm, severing the back of his neck.

Three seconds, three people.

Clean, efficient, without a single unnecessary movement.

Chapter 58 Scoundrels in the Army

The room immediately fell silent.

The young woman huddled in the corner stared wide-eyed at the silver-haired girl in front of her, her mouth opening and closing, but she couldn't utter a single word.

Sophia turned to look at her and said in as gentle a tone as possible, "Don't be afraid, the Empire is here to save you. You should leave now."

The young woman paused for a moment, then nodded, staggered to her feet, and stumbled out of the house.

Sophia turned around and looked at the scarred man by the window.

"Now it's just the two of us."

The scarred man narrowed his eyes, his gaze sweeping over Sophia before glancing at the three corpses on the ground.

"Little girl, you've got some skills. I underestimated you."

"But do you know that you're courting death?"

Sophia raised an eyebrow.

"Who's courting death is still uncertain."

The scarred man sneered and picked up the spiked club next to him with his right hand.

"Little girl, I advise you to get lost now, and I'll pretend I didn't see anything."

His tone was full of threat.

Sophia looked at his fleshy face and suddenly laughed.

"You think I'm joking? Can't you hear the fighting outside?"

Upon hearing this, the scarred man calmly paused the commotion outside, and his expression instantly changed.

"Since that's the case, then don't blame me for being ruthless."

No sooner had he finished speaking than he swung his spiked club at Sophia.

Sofia wasn't foolish enough to take the hit head-on.

She stumbled, her body swerved to the left, and the spiked club nearly grazed her shoulder as it slammed into the wall behind her.

boom!

A large hole was smashed into the stone wall, and rubble flew everywhere.

Sophia glanced at the hole and had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

It has great strength, but its speed is just so-so.

A typical heavy warrior playstyle, relying solely on strength and defense, with mobility being its weakness.

Sophia gripped the hilt of her sword, and with a hum, a layer of blue light emanated from the blade.

Her speed suddenly increased to a whole new level, and she became like a silver lightning bolt, circling around the scarred man.

One sword was thrust at his lower back, another slashed at his knee, and yet another flicked at his wrist.

The three swords struck almost simultaneously, each from an increasingly tricky angle, moving so fast that only afterimages remained.

Although the scarred man was strong, he couldn't keep up with the speed at all, and could only swing his spiked club wildly in front of him.

The clanging and banging of metal was as dense as the sound of blacksmithing, with sparks flying everywhere.

But Sophia's sword was too fast, so fast that he couldn't defend against it at all.

On the third strike, the silver tip of the sword still grazed his right wrist, leaving a deep, bone-revealing gash.

The scarred man cried out in pain, nearly dropping his spiked club.

He staggered back two steps, glanced down at the wound on his wrist, and then looked at Sophia with a look of disbelief.

"you?"

"What do you mean, 'what do you mean'?" Sophia interrupted him.

The scarred man's face turned bright red. He gritted his teeth, gripped his spiked club tightly, and charged forward once more.

But Sofia was like a slippery eel, dodging left and right, missing the mark by just a tiny bit with each strike.

Sophia, however, remained calm and composed, without even breaking a beat.

"No good, your skill level is no good."

Sophia shook her head, her voice full of disappointment.

"Among the Silver tier, you are definitely the worst, without exception."

The scarred man trembled with anger at her words, but he couldn't do anything about it.

Just then, a series of chaotic footsteps suddenly came from outside.

The scarred man's expression changed, and he quickly looked out the window.

The Blood Rose Knights were seen quickly clearing out the bandits, who were being chased and falling one after another.

These bandits are no match for the Blood Rose Knights.

The scarred man's expression changed completely.

It wasn't fear, but something indescribable and inexplicable.

It's like the panic you feel when your secret is exposed.

Sophia keenly noticed the change in his expression.

Her eyes narrowed as well.

"What's wrong? Are you scared?"

The scarred man didn't answer; he just stared intently at the dark red figures outside the window.

In fact, Sophia had already noticed that something was wrong with these people. She felt that they didn't seem like bandits, but rather more like soldiers.

Those people have a special quality that they can't hide no matter how they try to disguise it.

The scarred man in front of me has that kind of aura.

"You're an Imperial soldier, aren't you?" Sophia asked abruptly.

The scarred man's body visibly stiffened for a moment.

"Fuck your mother's fart."

He cursed, but his eyes began to dart away.

Sophia completely ignored him, her mind racing.

She had seen plenty of imperial soldiers disguised as bandits attacking her own towns in her past life.

Most of them were in it for the sake of making money. Some were trying to create chaos and make a quick buck, while others were even cooperating with the political conspiracies of certain nobles.

But whatever the purpose, this was something Sophia could not tolerate.

"Sure enough, I knew it. How could a Silver-level expert become a bandit?"

Sophia's tone also turned cold.

"So he was a scoundrel in the army."

The scarred man's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

He stopped talking, gripped his spiked club tightly, and turned to rush towards the back door of the stone house.

He wanted to run away.

Sofia, of course, wouldn't let him get away.

She pushed off with her feet and flashed away to catch up.

The scarred man rushed out the back door, which led to a narrow alley.