When Zavier came close to Valerie, she had already woken the downed man, whether it was through magical means or through physical means, he had no means to find out.
But the scene that he saw left him dumbfounded to say the least. The person that they had been so threatened by turned out to be nothing but cannon fodder.
He was currently on his knees begging Valerie to let him go. He had absolutely no conviction and dedication to his mission. Zavier knew because he had already encountered a professional earlier and had lost his life to him, twice.
Zavier saw the man waving his hand in fear and awe of the strength that Valerie had shown him.
Therefore, he asked Valerie to take a step back because it was the best way to acquire more information.
Valerie didn't say anything but nodded and gestured him to be cautious. The only reason that she had agreed to do so was because she had already determined that the downed man was just a common man and had no magic or other skills whatsoever. Therefore, there was no harm in letting Zavier take over.
Zavier gave the man a solemn look before continuing with the investigation.
"What are you doing here?"
The man showed a grateful expression on his face. He really had been afraid that the girl would kill him.
"I was hired by someone to steal a box from you. That's all I was hired to do. We don't have any personal grudges. Please, I am begging you…Please don't…don't kill me."
The man had already started sobbing midway and was stumbling between words.
If he was acting, then he was quite a good actor because to Zavier at least, the crying and the story seemed genuine enough.
But he didn't want to leave any hidden dangers behind so he wanted to be sure of everything that he did and every decision that he made.
"Who hired you?"
"I don't know. I was hired by means of an anonymous letter."
"How did you know where to find us?"
"I didn't. the letter that I received contained the route that you were going to follow and the time. There was nothing else. I tracked you on my own. I swear that it is the truth. Please believe me."
Zavier showed a disbelieving expression and the thief grew frightened instantly and continued to explain.
"Please…please…you have to believe me. I had to do it. The letter contained information about the box and an advance payment. There was no address on it and no information about the sender. It was waiting for me at my door when I came home a week back. I would have gotten the rest of the payment on completion of the job. I am sorry but I needed that money and I couldn't just say no."
"And you don't even mind dying because of that?"
As soon as the fear took over the man and his pupils dilated because of his intense fear, Zavier cast "Tell the truth" on the man. In case of the illusion type skills, the skill completion was quite dependent on the mental state of the target which was the very reason that Zavier had agitated the target like that.
Valerie looked on and appreciated his strategy inwardly, though no signs of that showed on her face.
The man started stuttering and his eyes showed resistance at first but soon he was put under.
Zavier once again repeated all his previous questions and reconfirmed that all the answers he had received earlier were the complete truth.
Only then was he satisfied and he let go of the man. The man came back to his mind and didn't even remember what had happened when he was under the illusion.
He thought that his answers had reassured his assailants and they had decided to trust him out of the goodness of their hearts.
Valerie took over the situation once again after the truth had been confirmed and Zavier willingly stepped back.
"We cannot afford to hand over this thief to the police authority. We don't have that kind of time so we need to take care of him ourselves lest he go back and report the details to his employer."
Valerie looked at the thief with a piercing gaze that made him think of the cold breeze of hell.
The thief grew frightened out of his wits and kept looking at Zavier hoping that he would save him but Zavier didn't intend to intervene at all. He only nodded to Valerie and stayed to the side.
Zavier wanted to see what Valerie would do in such a situation. He wanted to see if she really was as heartless as she pretended to be or there was something soft hidden underneath that tough exterior.
"Please let me go…I won't tell them anything. I am just an ordinary man."
"You should know that we can not do that. We have to be sure and that's why you can't leave here. I won't be sorry because I have to be responsible for the safety of my students."
Valerie had given him a death sentence with her words.
The man grew so terrified that he tried to get up but kept falling back on to the ground due to his trembling legs. Consequently, he started dragging his body away while crawling away from Valerie.
He was caught before he could move a few yards away from them. Valerie bound him with her magic to the nearest tree. Zavier made sure that the man was properly restrained before turning to Valerie with a look of appreciation in his eyes.
"WHAT? You thought I was going to kill him? For real?"
Valerie acted hurt on the outside but Zavier could tell that if the situation had called for it, Valerie might really have killed him. She had the mental resilience to carry out such a task. During the whole situation, she had been as calm as a stone. It was obvious she had been through worse situations during her previous missions.
Zavier gave her a smile and joked it off as if he hadn't seen the seriousness behind her eyes.
Both of them were tired and walked back to their respective tents together.
"You can rest at ease and sleep peacefully. I am here."
Zavier nodded with a smile and headed back to his own tent to doze off again. When he went back inside, he found that the old man James was still sitting in the same position cuddling the box in the same manner.
Zavier had to admit that the old man was the single most obsessed individual that he had ever come across. He ignored the eccentric behavior of his roommate and laid down in his own sleeping bag.
The sleep wasn't far away after that and he nodded off while staring at the ceiling of the tent.