They don't want me to try anymore.

In fact, at the very beginning, he killed as much as he wanted, but he didn't really hate the bandits. In the long run, the illegal armed groups within the empire were, to him, enemies of enemies, or even half friends.

Forget about bandits, just tell me if you're going to attack the Empire or not? Attack? Then I'll definitely support you!

Richard wouldn't have bothered to make a move if he hadn't been provoked on the way here.

After meeting David, his understanding of bandits deepened.

It's necessary to analyze each case individually. The composition of bandits is complex. Some are wicked and deserve no mercy, but others do have a sense of justice.

The latter was born out of deep-seated contradictions. Although their activities were explosive, they received support from the local mountain people in the Abarania region, and there was even a sense of integration between them.

Given this, why should Richard, as a Connaught, resort to violence as long as the other side doesn't threaten him?

Moreover, considering David's unique experiences, he even felt a touch of sympathy...

So he replied, "I made a promise to you, so why would I harm you?"

David breathed a sigh of relief: "I believe you..."

"But as a result of this transaction, you also owe me a favor, which I will require you to repay in the future. I promise I won't go against your principles, how about it?"

David looked directly into Richard's eyes and finally nodded: "Thank you for your kindness... Your Highness."

A consensus has been reached.

Richard didn't delay any longer and went back into the house to wake up the girls—although Katyusha and Zoe looked a little distressed as they rubbed their eyes in a daze, just like David wanted his brothers to go first, Richard was also worried about leaving the girls behind.

Unexpectedly, Luna had already woken up and seemed to have heard everything that had just been said. Her eyes looked rather strange, but time was of the essence, so Richard didn't ask any further questions.

He summoned a wagon with a steel frame and chains on the open ground, along with his old friend Big Black.

Oh right, "Big Black" refers to the Purple-Eyed Black Dragon.

The black dragon originally had a dragon language name, but Richard's dragon language skills were rudimentary; he neither understood it well nor could he handle the difficult pronunciation. For convenience, he adopted a human language abbreviation.

He felt that the black dragon was satisfied with the name—after all, the black dragon kept roaring back then, and it looked very excited!

Back to the present.

The majestic and imposing dragon's appearance startled the villagers once again, and the most impulsive young man fell to the ground.

But the black dragon itself looked helpless, sighed in a human-like manner, and stretched out its claws to grip the carriage in the manner of a corporate slave carrying a briefcase on the subway in the early morning.

Richard picked up the sick child and ushered everyone inside...

That's right, he used the dragon as a transport plane!

If St. Goethe's classmates were still here, they would be very surprised and envious. In their minds, given Black Dragon's temper, it would be difficult enough for him to help fight, let alone help transport people.

How dare you let a dragon do such a thing!

Richard scoffed at this claim: "Big Black has a bad temper? I haven't noticed it at all. He's quite easy to get along with. Don't slander the Long family."

In short, thanks to Longlong's late-night overtime work, Richard and his group traversed numerous mountain paths in a very short time, finally catching sight of Nyon's city walls, and then...

It ran headlong into an almost solid magical barrier, nearly giving Dahei cervical spondylosis at such a young age.

Luna, who had been silent the whole time, spoke in a long sentence again:

"Although Nyon is small, it has suffered a severe magical disaster, and there is a defensive magic circle left by a legendary mage nearby, which cannot be flown in."

Miss Luna, you know this? That's quite impressive.

It's a pity, it can't fall from the sky in such a grand manner...

Richard smirked and ordered everyone to switch to horses and ride over. Luckily, because they had been startled by the dragon earlier, Bishop Benjamin and a group of soldiers were already guarding the city gate.

"Oh, it's you guys. I thought there had been an invasion by a wyvern species... Mr. Richard, you're so young to be able to summon a black dragon, you're truly remarkable..."

Benjamin said this to Richard with a mixture of shock and admiration, then wiped the sweat from his brow and looked at the child in Richard's arms.

He reached out and placed his hand on the child's forehead, and a few specks of white light shone down, slowing the child's breathing.

"Since the root cause of the problem hasn't been addressed, it's best to go to the hospital for a checkup..."

Richard, who admitted he was no match for the pastor when it came to nursing people, immediately agreed: "Take us there, and I'll cover all the expenses."

“You are such a kind person, come with me.”

Following Benjamin, Richard and his party arrived at St. Follett's Hospital in the city, which was built with funding from Baron Follett's grandfather and happened to be located opposite the church.

In this era, medical development has begun to shed ignorance and embark on a promising path. The church forces, which originally monopolized this field, initially resisted, but later generally accepted and even joined forces with it—after all, there really is a God behind it, and things cannot be too outrageous.

Therefore, this combination of hospitals located next to churches was common throughout the empire.

With Benjamin leading the way, they were greeted as soon as they entered. A doctor who had been a mage apprentice examined the child's body, determined that there was a problem with the appendix, and then prepared a potion and fed it to the child.

Although the doctors didn't yet know how to perform an appendectomy, with the help of magic, they were still able to cure patients of this severity.

The boy finally calmed down.

"Mr. Richard... thank you."

Seeing that the child had taken the initiative to talk to him, Richard stood by the bed and said softly, "You're welcome. Just focus on recovering. Also, don't call him 'Master' like the adults do. Call him 'Big Brother' instead."

“Well… Brother Richard, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have thrown the stone at you before.”

"Pfft, I'd completely forgotten about that."

"And... David and the others are really good people..."

In the end, due to the side effects of the medicine, the little boy fell into a deep sleep.

"Ok, I know."

Richard left the ward with a sigh of relief, feeling a sense of joy at having done something good, regardless of the cause and effect.

Turning around, I saw Benjamin leading the girls on a tour of the hospital.

"This is our latest mercury steam therapy. We put the person in a large tub and bathe their lower body in mercury steam. It's a cheap way to cure syphilis without using expensive potions..."

"This doctor has recently been researching blood transfusion therapy. He believes that depleted life force can be replenished by transfusing people with the blood of magical beasts, thus saving on healing potions and holy water..."

hiss……

Richard decided to retract his previous positive impression of the hospital.

Half-baked medicine is just as terrible as fully-fledged medicine!

While I understand your good intentions in saving costs, I guess I'll stick to magic from now on!

But speaking of mercury...

Richard Leon has two tasks: one is to eliminate the germ beasts, and the other is to advance to the Silver rank. He can now complete the first task. After taking care of David's affairs, he will mainly deal with the second task.

The advancement ritual happens to require a large amount of mercury.

Richard had originally planned to buy it on his first day in Nyon.

But he made a mistake, forgetting that Nion was not Idaril. The magic shops in this small mountain town were not well-stocked and did not have enough mercury, so they had to be shipped from elsewhere, which would take several days.

Now it seems like we could buy it from the hospital too...

"I'm sorry, sir, I cannot agree to that."

As soon as he brought it up, both the doctor and the syphilis patient he was treating said that they didn't even have enough mercury for themselves and would never sell it to others!

The patient also said that he felt the mercury eliminating toxins in his body and that he was unwilling to leave the steam chamber even if it meant death!

Richard wondered: Is it possible that the mercury is not only eliminating the toxins, but also eliminating you?

That's just how times are.

Richard wasn't a doctor and didn't believe he had the ability to persuade others. Even if he managed to convince them, the patient might resent him if other problems arose afterward.

He could only offer a few words of advice, and seeing that no one believed him, he rolled his eyes and left.

They spent the night in a hotel near the hospital, and the next morning, seeing that the child had basically recovered, they said goodbye to Benjamin and set off to return home.

Shortly after leaving the hospital, Richard noticed two people ahead of him.

They were two thin, middle-aged men with a dirty, dark complexion, wearing durable canvas clothes. One of them was limping, and the other was helping him.

Upon closer inspection, the limping man was clearly seriously injured and should not have been discharged from the hospital...

But after a moment's thought, Richard understood.

They can't afford medical treatment anymore...

They weren't Richard; they couldn't produce gold coins, and Benjamin wouldn't guide them. Hospitals and churches alike were closed to them.

Richard sighed, hesitating whether he needed to do anything...

But just then, the two men suddenly started shouting at the street corner.

“Mr. Daniel, we’ve finally found you! My brother was injured in your mine, you can’t just abandon him…”

"Sir, please, for the sake of us who have been working in the mines for ten years, give us some money for medical treatment, otherwise we really won't be able to survive!"

"Oh, I see."

Daniel, dressed in crocodile skin, stepped down from a passing carriage, glanced at the two men, and then…

boom!

He kicked the healthy man away, then stomped on the lame man's foot with his heel.

"what!"