The bandits holding swords and blades were all struck down by Alzack before they could even get close. Although it looked like an ordinary handgun, under his powerful Bullet Magic, it fired like a machine gun.
When the bandits tried to aim at him with bows or firearms, Alzack had already hidden behind the stone beetle.
Arrows bounced off the stone beetle, and ordinary firearms couldn't do much damage either. Before they could fire a second round, Bisca had already sniped the enemy gunners from a distance.
"Nice shot, Bisca!" Alzack complimented her, even though she couldn't hear him.
He then moved out, swiftly taking down any bandits attempting to approach for melee combat.
The stone beetle followed Alzack's commands precisely—moving when told to move and stopping when told to stop. It also kept an ear out for Rhodes' instructions: if Alzack got injured, it was to grab him and retreat underground.
"He's a mage!"
"There's a sniper on that hill!"
"That range—are you kidding me?"
"Too strong!"
"What kind of monster is that moving stone?!"
It was the first time the bandits had encountered such formidable opponents. The lookouts and gate guards didn't even know what hit them; they were taken down instantly.
Seeing the enemy, they initially thought they had the advantage of numbers, but within moments, a dozen of their comrades had fallen.
They tried to suppress the enemy with firepower, but the gunners were soon picked off by a hidden sniper.
Just as they thought they could rush forward and overwhelm the enemy, they found another dozen men down.
At least two powerful mages, plus that unidentified stone creature...
The bandits were already thinking of fleeing.
A burly man holding a staff emerged from the central wooden house, kicking down a bandit who was trying to retreat.
"Useless! It's just some mages, charge!" The bandit leader raised his staff. "I'll handle the monster. You all go and cut that guy down!"
"Boss, watch out! They have—"
Bang! The bandit leader fell to the ground, his staff clattering away.
The small bandit, stunned, completed his sentence, "...they have a sniper."
...
The bandits surrendered. Rhodes didn't manage to intercept a single one on the escape path behind the hideout.
By the time he entered the hideout, Alzack had his gun trained on the bandits, forcing them to tie up their comrades.
"Already done?" Rhodes' voice caused all the bandits to shudder. There was a third terrifying mage?!
Their movements became even quicker. Just a handful of mere bandits—what made them worthy of facing such powerful mages?
Plus, they were being attacked from both sides, with a sniper covering them.
"I'll confess! There's still a ten-man squad that went down the mountain to rob!"
"Yes, yes! They're ambushing at..."
"They've already been taken out," Alzack said. "Besides them, is there anyone else?"
The bandits slumped in despair, a mix of indignation and frustration—they even took us out one by one!
Did they think we were a proper army or something?!
After a while, Bisca arrived, finding the bandits all tied up.
Rhodes was checking each rope to make sure none of them were trying anything sneaky.
The bandits looked completely dejected—like we would dare to pull any tricks under these circumstances? Isn't that being too cautious?
Bisca glanced at the almost lifeless bandits, confused. "What happened to them?"
"Probably just completely lost the will to fight," Alzack said hesitantly. He then tried, "Um... your sniping earlier... was really impressive."
"Ah, t-thank you." Bisca, feeling shy from the praise, responded. She usually didn't get this flustered. "Your rapid reload and firing were also amazing."
Alzack quickly replied, "No... it was just... just a lot of practice."
The two, both shy, didn't know what to say or where to look after receiving each other's compliments.
Rhodes sighed inwardly—only someone who truly understands the craft can give such meaningful compliments.
When he saw such impressive shooting skills, all he could think to say was "awesome."
But that was okay—he knew how to praise transformation magic and hand-to-hand combat techniques.
Rhodes clapped his hands together. "Alright, since it's still early, let's get the ones who can walk down the mountain. Hopefully, we can make it back to town before nightfall."
During the fight, except for that one explosive shot at the gate, Alzack and Bisca mainly used non-lethal magic bullets.
Getting hit hurt a lot, but the effects were mostly paralysis or causing the target to collapse on the spot. None of the bandits were dead.
There were, however, a few unlucky ones—shots that weren't aimed at vital areas ended up dealing more serious injuries because of their movement.
Those who were too injured were left behind, to be picked up by the town's security team later.
Just to be safe, Rhodes had Alzack give each injured bandit another tranquilizer bullet.
The uninjured bandits were terrified, thinking they were about to be executed, and they begged for mercy, revealing various "secrets."
Not much valuable information was gained, but the most important thing they learned was that there were still some unspent loot and food in the hideout.
But none of them touched it.
Mages from official guilds typically had strict rules about such matters—taking money beyond their commission was not allowed.
The stolen goods in a bandit hideout were usually handed over to the client. Goods were returned to their rightful owners whenever possible, and any money or food would be used to compensate the villages that had been raided.
A similar rule applied to treasure-hunting missions.
Once the payment was determined, any treasure found had nothing to do with the mages who took on the task.
Unless explicitly stated in the contract that the treasure would be shared as part of the payment, no matter how valuable, it had nothing to do with the mages.
Fairy Tail mages had many bad habits, but when it came to these matters, they were more resolute than most.
On the way down the mountain, Rhodes dismantled all the random traps to avoid the town's security team getting caught and leaving a bad impression.
By the time they handed over the prisoners, the sun had already set. The security team decided to go up the mountain for the remaining bandits the next day.
But since the bandit leader was already in custody, the payment was settled in advance, and the mission was considered complete.
The three successfully received their reward, along with a bunch of thanks and praises, before bidding farewell to the client and heading back to the inn for some rest.
After a full day of work, Rhodes took a shower first. When he came out, Alzack was sitting on the edge of his bed, maintaining his gun.
"Your turn."
"Okay." Alzack put down the gun and said seriously, "Really, thanks for everything, Rhodes."
"Are you thanking me for completing the mission, or for inviting Bisca to join the team?"
At the mention of Bisca, Alzack blushed. "B-both."
"Oh~~~" Rhodes drew out the sound teasingly, watching Alzack try to flee the conversation. He laughed and said, "Hey, didn't you really want to stay in the same room as Bisca tonight?"
"D-don't say such things! This was just our first mission together—how could we... go that far!"
Alzack's brain almost short-circuited. It took all his effort to come up with a retort. "Did you stay in the same room with Mira when you went to the royal capital last time?"
Rhodes calmly replied, "Yeah, we stayed in the same room."
"What???" Alzack's face turned bright red as his imagination went wild. "You... you two already..."
"We stayed in a suite. Different rooms," Rhodes said mischievously. "What were you just thinking? Did you want to do the same with Bisca...?"
"Nothing at all!"