Big G, Coffee Machine and Goblin

Chapter 35 The Invisible Thief
With the experience gained on the way here, Ma Li was more familiar with the road conditions and could drive faster.

They encountered a group of bandits along the way. Before they could decide whether to rob them, Ma Li had already driven past them, leaving them only a trail of exhaust fumes and stunned faces.

They returned to Baimu Village before sunset.

Since Ma Li and Shire's trip to Eagle's Beak City took less than two days, many villagers thought they had encountered some trouble on the way and had to turn back halfway.

Many people were still bewildered when they saw Solo and the others getting out of the car.

Renee was the last to get off the bus. Her face was ashen, and her legs gave way when she landed. If Horton hadn't caught her in time, she would have collapsed to the ground.

Then she shook off the kobold's arm and hurriedly ran towards the cherry tree, but before she got there, she vomited.

"What's wrong with her? Is she suffering from a backlash of magic?" Charles asked with concern.

"No, it looks like it's just motion sickness. Some people get like that when they travel by car."

Ma Li poured some purified water and handed it to Renee to rinse her mouth.

Shiraki Village is almost unchanged since they left; the men are still working in the fields, while the women are busy cooking.

At the village entrance, only a group of children were chasing and playing.

The half-elf girl first went to see Chief Diamond and told him what had happened in Eaglehorn. Afterwards, she brought back the three sheep that Whitewood Village had promised to Mali.

She picked out the three fattest ones, two females and one male, and tied them to the wooden stakes behind the house. Then she went inside, only to find that the atmosphere inside was a bit strange.

"Uh, did I miss something? Why are you all like this?"

“Someone has lost something,” Solo said.

"Who?"

"Master Horsepower".

“Oh!” Charles was startled. “I really only ate one can of braised pork and one pack of biscuits, nothing more!”

“It’s not the stuff from the truck,” Ma Li said. “It’s the supplies we left here before we left that are missing.”

"It's not me, wait, what did you just say? The two big boxes of canned food and biscuits you left here are all gone?!" The half-elf girl exclaimed in surprise.

"Ah."

"It must have been stolen by a thief." Melissa, the younger of the brother and sister adventurers, looked around. "Anyone could easily get into a house like this without a professional stalker."

"But Baimu Village is located in a very remote area, and there are hardly any outsiders coming here."

"Then it must have been stolen by the villagers."

“There are no thieves in Whitewood Village!” Charles shouted. “And no one would do such a thing while Master Mali is helping the village!”

"That's hard to say. Can you guarantee that none of these people will have bad intentions? Even if the adults know what's important, what about the children in the village? Didn't we see them fighting when we entered the village?"

"No! I told you everyone wouldn't!!!"

The half-elf girl blushed. "What do you outsiders know? I've lived with them for so long! Everyone, everyone isn't like that at all!"

Will, the older brother wearing half a suit of plate armor, secretly tugged at his sister's clothes. She opened her mouth, but swallowed her words and only muttered something under her breath.

"Don't even mention the villagers, these days you can't even trust your blood relatives."

Solo walked up to Mali and said, "How about it? Want to hire us to investigate this? Horton has a very keen sense of smell. No matter who took those things, he can track them down as long as they leave a scent. I'll take... ten silver shields from you."

"what did you just say?"

"Ok?"

Solo realized that Mali wasn't talking to him, but was looking at Melissa.

The latter paused for a moment, then repeated, "I said even blood relatives aren't necessarily reliable?" "No, it's the sentence before that."

"Those adults know what's important, but what about the children? Didn't we see them fighting when we entered the village?"

“I want to see those children,” Mali said to Charles after a moment’s thought. “Could you bring them with you?”

"But I don't think they are thieves."

“I don’t think they are either,” Ma Li said. “But I have some questions for them.”

"Alright." The half-elf girl went out and soon brought over the children, who were covered in mud and had bruises all over their bodies, and had them line up in a row.

Ma Li recognized most of them; he had previously peeked at them from behind a haystack.

Seeing that some people's eyes were swollen, he took a bottle of Yunnan Baiyao spray from the car and used it to reduce the swelling. Then he asked, "Why were you fighting?"

The children looked at each other.

The last boy, who looked the oldest and was the strongest, but also had the most injuries, said, "They...they said I kept all the black candies for myself."

“Black candy, what’s that?” Charles asked.

The children felt a little guilty upon hearing this and glanced at Ma Li out of the corner of their eyes.

"I gave them the chocolates. Are you their leader?" Marie looked at the child who had spoken earlier. "Did you keep the chocolates for yourself?"

"No," the boy shook his head. "After we got that black... chocolate that day, we each had a bite. It was delicious, but to avoid us eating it all at once and then not having any left, I suggested we put the rest away."

"But who knew that when we came to the place where the chocolate was hidden, there was nothing there," the boy said dejectedly.

"Only you knew where the chocolate was hidden, so you must have kept it all for yourself!" another child shouted. "You ate all the chocolate, give me back my chocolate!"

“Exactly, I just licked it yesterday,” another child chimed in.

But some people defended him, saying, "Garcia isn't that kind of person. He always takes good care of us and has never bullied the weak."

"But there's no more chocolate, so nobody gets any."

“I have some more here.” Ma Li took two more bars of chocolate from the trunk and handed them to the boy in the lead, saying, “Share these, everyone eat them now, finish them all, don’t leave any.”

The children cheered and gathered around, sharing the two bars of chocolate.

After that, Mali let them go home, but while the other children left, Garcia, who was leading the group, did not move.

"Do you have anything else to do?"

"You, you must be an alchemist," the boy looked up, his face full of anticipation. "My father always says that alchemists are all very capable people with all sorts of magical abilities. Can you help me find my lost chocolate?"

"You haven't eaten enough?"

"No, I just want to prove my innocence."

Although Mario made up for the lost chocolates, Garcia was not cleared of suspicion. Children value reputation highly, and he was worried that he would be ostracized and alienated by others in the future.

“I’m not entirely sure yet,” Ma Li said, “but that’s fine, Garcia, right? If you’d like, you can cooperate with me on a few experiments.”

“Just tell me what you need me to do, and I’ll do it no matter how difficult it is!” Garcia said excitedly. “I’m very strong.”

"Oh, don't be so nervous. What I need you to do is very simple. I'll give you four more bars of chocolate in a little while. Just find a place to hide them separately."

A look of confusion crossed Garcia's face, but he quickly realized something and exclaimed, "I know! You're trying to lure the thief out this way!"

"more or less."

(End of this chapter)