Riley casually put away the Obsidian Heavy Sword and turned his head to look at the shocked faces of the merchants.
'Alright, the hiccup on the road is over, we can continue on our way.'
However, not a single person answered him.
All the members of the merchant team, including the chief of the guards, were staring dead on at the group of bandits on the ground that had been cut over, with shock and horror written all over their faces.
'This ... this is the end?'
'Aren't the Black Wind bandits ... the kingdom's regular army unable to take them?'
'But ... he alone, casually cut them all down?'
The guard captain's face was complicated, forcibly swallowed his saliva, stepped forward, and tried to ask in a smooth tone, 'Lord Brave, are you ... really just an ordinary adventurer?'
Riley froze for a moment when he heard this, and then laughed: 'Of course, I'm just an ordinary player ... er, ordinary adventurer.'
Escort Leader: '...'
You call this an ordinary adventurer? Then what are we, the escorts trained by the Knights, rookies?
But no one dared to question Riley's words. The image of him single-handedly cutting down all the bandits just now was already deeply embedded in their minds.
'Alright, since this group of robbers has been taken care of, let's hurry up and get on the road.' Riley turned around and prepared to return to the carriage.
But right at this moment, the chief of the guards suddenly summoned up the courage to say, 'Brave Lord ... please wait!'
'Eh?' Riley turned back and raised an eyebrow.
The escort leader took a deep breath, pointed to the corpse of the bandit leader lying on the ground, and said in a low voice, 'The Black Wind Bandits have been committing evil in this area, not only do they ransack the merchant caravans, but they also attack the villages, and even the nobles don't dare to mess with them at will ... The heads of these bandits can be exchanged for a not-so-low bounty in the King City! '
'Oh?'
Riley was instantly interested.
'Bounty quests?'
He was no stranger to this kind of thing, in all holographic games, bounty quests usually meant - experience points, equipment, and a lot of money!
Seeing Riley reveal an interested look, the guard captain hurriedly continued, 'The Black Wind Bandits have a stronghold nearby, where they, the robbers, hide their loot every time they finish robbing a merchant caravan. If we can find that hiding spot, not only will we be able to get more loot, but we can also bring the heads of these bandits back to the King's City in exchange for bounty.'
Riley stroked his chin, and the more he heard, the more interesting he found it.
'So, you mean, we're going to take care of their stronghold by the way?'
The guard captain was originally still a little apprehensive, but after seeing the glint in Riley's eyes, he immediately nodded firmly, 'That's right! But ... with our strength, there may be no way to confront them head on ...'
'No need for you guys to come, I'll do it alone.' Riley said casually.
The merchant team crowd:'...'
The corners of the escort captain's mouth twitched, thinking: you should be more modest!
But thinking about the battle just now, they really felt that Riley was enough on his own.
'Alright, lead the way then.' Riley shrugged his shoulders, rushing all the way was quite boring anyway, might as well do a side quest along the way.
---
The Escort Leader led the caravan around the main road, following a winding path into the depths of the dense forest.
After walking for about half an hour, a hidden valley came into view.
Riley stood behind a boulder and looked down - there were a dozen or so dilapidated wooden huts in the valley, bonfires burning, a few bandits roasting meat and drinking wine, and a few others counting the goods they had just looted, piled up next to one of the huts.
'It looks like there are only fifty or sixty people, the level should not be high ...' Riley swept a glance, his heart roughly had a number.
'Brave Lord, what should we do now?' The escort leader lowered his voice and asked.
'What else can we do?' Riley smiled, pressing the hilt of his sword with one hand and gently drawing the Obsidian Heavy Sword.
'Of course it's - cut straight through!'
Escort Leader: '...'
Can you not say it so easily?
However, Riley didn't even wait for them to react, and with a stamp of his foot, his entire body rushed out like an arrow off a string!
Boom!
Sword Qi swept across, a huge sword light directly chopped through the gate of the bandit camp, and a deafening explosion instantly exploded!
'Enemy attack! Enemy attack!'
All the bandits in the camp were awakened and hastily drew their weapons, looking in horror at the man who was walking slowly with a heavy sword.
The corner of Riley's mouth curled into a smile, casually pointing the tip of his sword towards them, leisurely saying-
'Will you surrender yourselves, or will you wait for me to cut them one by one?'
Bandits:'...'
'Kill him!' A burly bandit roared angrily as he swung his sword and rushed up.
'Fine, I'll do it myself then.' Riley smiled faintly, and in the next second, the light of his sword skyrocketed!
'Storm Sword Dance!'
Boom-
The sword lights and shadows crisscrossed, the bandits didn't even have a chance to react, **in the blink of an eye, the entire valley was already littered with corpses!
The battle ... ended in less than thirty seconds.
'It's over?' The escort leader walked into the valley with the members of the merchant team, looking at the corpses of the bandits that had fallen on the ground, he already didn't know what expression to use. 'What a fast fighting speed, too strong.'
'That's why I said you guys don't need help.' Riley said indifferently while putting away his sword.
The merchant team crowd: '...'
Good lord, not only do you not need help, you didn't even leave time for the enemy to catch their breath!
The escort leader took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down, then led the people to count the supplies of the bandit nest.
Soon, the merchant team found a large amount of gold coins, jewellery, noble family emblems, and even a few magical weapons, which were obviously the wealth that the bandits had accumulated from years of looting.
'Wealthy!' The merchants were thrilled, they couldn't make this much money in a year of business!
Riley stood aside, listening to the prompts that kept popping up from the system panel.
[Killed Black Wind Bandit, gained gold +3000 coins]
[Found loot, additional reward of gold coins +5000]
[Obtained loot: Magic Wristguard (+5 Defence), Royal Badge x 3]
'This wave is not a loss.' Riley nodded in satisfaction.
The guard captain took a deep breath and tentatively asked, 'Lord Brave, what are you going to do with these bounties ...?'
Riley casually waved his hand, 'You guys split it, I just need a little bit of travelling expenses.'
The guard captain and the others were instantly grateful and quickly bent down to salute, 'Lord Brave, you are truly a great benefactor to our merchant team!'
Next, the merchant caravan took the bandit's head and evidence with them and continued to rush to the royal city.
Riley leaned against the carriage, the corners of his mouth rising slightly.
'This game's quest rewards are pretty good, I'm looking forward to the more interesting plot later on.'