Zoella

Part 49

The grey clouds filled the sky as the air became humid. Hayes and Zoella still walked through the forest with their robes on.

It was already midday but they still hadn't arrived yet. Little by little the rain started to pour down. The two of them didn't stop and chose to cover their bodies with mana.

The rain poured heavily when they arrived at the village. Luckily, they found an inn as soon as they got there.

There was no customer in the inn. Only a young man who was sitting at the reception desk greeted them.

"Welcome. The weather is really bad outside, huh?"

"It is. We're lucky that we found this place."

Thunder could be heard clearly even though they were inside the inn. Hayes and Zoella took off their wet robes and hung them.

Before they entered the inn, they purposely drenched themselves so as to not make the man suspicious.

"Can we get a warm drink?"

"For sure."

Hayes and Zoella sat on the chair beside the bar while they wait for their drinks. Maybe because they had been walking for hours but Zoella felt really tired.

With the humid air, the sound of the rain, and the smell of grass and soil hit by the raindrop, this atmosphere was perfect to sleep in a soft bed and wrapped her body with a warm blanket.

"We only have tea at the moment, is that alright?"

"As long as it's warm, yes."

The young man nodded his head and he put down two mugs of hot tea in front of them. Zoella still couldn't get used to this mercenary version of Hayes.

Seeing him act like a nice person like this made her want to tear him off. Zoella gently touched the hot mug to make her stay awake.

"By any chance, are you two mercenaries?"

The man asked as he sat on his chair. Hayes sipped his hot tea slowly taking his time to answer the question.

"Yes. How did you know?"

"We've been expecting you. It's such a relief you can come this fast to our village."

Hayes sipped his tea again before he asked the man to explain the situation in the village.

According to him, it happened for about three weeks now. In the beginning, the villagers didn't aware of the thief. None of the villagers' precious things were stolen.

The one that disappeared was some of their chickens, eggs, and some vegetables.

They didn't realize it until the number of stolen things increased. The villagers started to take turns going on patrol at night.

However, they couldn't catch a glimpse of the thief. There was also a problem that they didn't know when the thief would steal again. They couldn't predict it at all.

It was already three days since the thief last did his action. No one could tell when he would do it again.

Hayes glanced at Zoella whose head was on the table with her eyes closed. She didn't even drink her tea because she was too tired. Hayes slowly took the mug from her hand.

"Can you give us two rooms?"

Hayes asked in a whisper so he didn't disturb Zoella. The man nodded and handed him two keys. Hayes paid for the rooms and tea before he carried Zoella to her room.

After putting Zoella on her bed, Hayes went to his room and spread his mana around the village. Three days ago, it was before he went to the mercenary guild.

That day was supposed to be the day Hayes and Zoella depart but he canceled it because of the rain. 

Hayes sat on his bed with his eyes closed as he poured all of his attention into his mana. His eyes wide opened when he felt something coming from the woods.

A smirk was carved on his face. It was only his speculation but to think that it was true made him excited. Hayes decided to take care of this one himself since Zoella looked really tired.

He put on his robe and went out of the inn. He even ignored the man who was calling him.

'This thief is smart.'

Using the rain to cover his action so naturally, no one would know about this. And of course, there would be no way they could catch the thief because, before the rain stopped the thief would get away from there.

Hayes climbed the inn's roof while focusing on the movement in his mana. Besides a small house, Hayes could see a person in a robe grabbing some vegetables in a hurry.

'Got you.'

Hayes gathered his mana to conceal his presence as he approached the thief slowly. This thief was indeed smart to use the rain. However, what if there was someone who also used it to capture them?

BUKK!

They were caught in a second without even putting up a fight. Hayes knocked the thief off strong enough to make them out for about an hour.

Hayes threw the body onto his shoulder before he went back to the inn.

The young man who didn't move an inch from the reception desk saw Hayes carrying a limp body to his inn. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened. But he couldn't say anything to Hayes.

"Ah, I saw him fainted when I went out earlier. I'll take care of him until he wakes up."

Hayes said with an innocent smile. The man nodded as his eyes followed Hayes until he was out of his eyesight.

BRUKK!

Hayes dropped the thief's body to his floor while looking for some rope to tie him. He sat the thief's body before he tied him up.

The rain started to stop and the sunlight could be felt again. Neither Zoella nor the thief awoke from their slumber sleep. While Hayes was lying on his bed feeling annoyed because of this mission.

He thought this mission would take at least two days to solve but no. He caught the thief not even half a day after he arrived in this village.

But Hayes also understood why the villagers couldn't catch the thief for three weeks. It was simply because the thief would only steal when it started to rain. And of course, nobody realized this pattern.

Knock knock~

Hayes sprung up from his bed when the person he was waiting for finally awoke.

"Come in, Zoe."

The door opened revealing Zoella with her bed hair and sleepy face. Zoella entered his bedroom without realizing another person.

"Teacher, when-"

Zoella's eyes widened when she finally saw the fainted person beside her.

"Who the fuck is this?"

"Zoe."

"What? I'm old enough to use that word now. I always hold it in, you know?"

Zoella kneeled to the person's level and looked at them closely. Zoella could guess from the physique, that it was a young guy. She moved her hand to remove the hood. She was startled when she saw what lies beneath the hood.

"Teacher, he..."

Hayes stood up as soon as he saw the pointed ear of that person.

"An elf."