I Have a Task Log

The words had barely faded when a Kobold shrieked, and all of them turned and fled.

The creatures scrambled on all fours like true lizards, their speed astonishing.

Their flight wasn’t a chaotic rout. Instead, it possessed a strange order, looking less like the panicked scattering of a defeated force and more like an organized retreat.

Gripping his Giant Sword, Colin looked back at the wagon circle.

The area around the wagons was littered with Kobold corpses. Ale must have unleashed all her Range Magic on the poor bastards.

Behind the wagons, a few exhausted drivers and Guards were sitting scattered about.

After climbing over a wagon, Colin gave them a quick glance.

He could distinguish most of them by their attire alone; the drivers were mostly human, while the weapon-wielding Guards were mostly Half-Elves.

Ale and Orelia were standing behind one of the wagons. A Half-Elf in a green Cloak stood before them, saying something.

Colin noticed Ale cowering behind Orelia, looking too afraid to speak, while Orelia shot him a pleading glance.

’Could it be another person wary of her being a Tiefling?’

Frowning, Colin approached, mentally preparing himself for trouble.

’Dealing with this prejudice was always a pain, even if he understood their reasons.’

But to his surprise, as soon as he drew near, the Half-Elf turned, smiled, and said loudly, "Sir, you must be friends from Silver Star Court! Thank you for the reinforcements. Thank you so much."

The man’s warmth caught Colin by surprise.

The Half-Elf’s tone reminded him of Bob’s.

Colin said, "We’re just doing our job. That said, what happened here? It looks like you would have been in real danger if we’d arrived ten minutes later."

"We noticed some suspicious characters tailing us a few hours ago," the Half-Elf said. "We only fired the Signal Flare once they started their assault. It’s a good thing you got here so quickly."

Colin asked, "So, are these Kobolds connected to the Dragon Worship Cult?"

"Not necessarily," the Half-Elf said. "The Kobolds have been acting crazy lately. Many have crawled out of their holes to loot and pillage, offering what they steal to the Dragon Worship Cult just for a chance to join."

"So these guys might not actually be part of the Dragon Worship Cult? Hmm. I’ll be back in a moment."

With that, Colin turned and walked toward the humans who had been killed by the [Lightning Bolt].

As he left, Ale quickly followed him.

Colin approached the corpses, which were charred black from the electricity. He glanced at them cursorily. Faint, grayish-white, lightning-like patterns snaked across their skin, and all their hair was singed and curled.

He began to check the bodies for anything that could identify them, salvaging their Leather Armor and weapons as he went.

’The lightning damaged a lot of it, but it should still be sellable after Ale uses her [Repair Technique]. All this stuff should fetch a few dozen Gold Coins once it’s gathered up.’

After searching the bodies for some time, Colin still hadn’t found anything of value.

As he pulled open the collar of the last body, he suddenly noticed a strange tattoo on its chest. It looked like some kind of text.

Seeing this, Colin went back and checked the other bodies more carefully.

He found that every one of the bodies had the same tattoo. It was more than a little suspicious.

Just as Colin was about to copy the text into his notebook, Ale, who was standing nearby, spoke up. "That’s Draconic. It’s a prayer asking for the protection of the Mother of Evil Dragons. Some followers of the Dragon Worship Cult believe it ensures their soul will be protected after death."

With her head covered by her Cloak, her voice sounded muffled, which struck Colin as a little odd.

He asked, "So it’s meaningless, then?"

Ale said, "Not exactly. If a member of the Dragon Worship Cult has a tattoo like this, it means they believe they’re on a very dangerous mission.

In fact, they’ve pulled this kind of stunt before. They send some Low Tier cultists into Kobold caves to incite them into becoming bandits, then use them to steal a caravan’s wealth piece by piece."

"Their faith is pretty fanatical, then," Colin said, glancing at the Kobold corpses on the ground.

He stood up and used a [Climbing Rope] to bundle the salvaged Leather Armor and weapons.

After a moment, Colin asked, "We’re not far from Silver Star Court. How do they smuggle the wealth out?"

"By air and underground."

Ale went on, "Thanks to the protection of Evil Dragons, the Dragon Worship Cult has many airships. They can use them to fly deep into our territory.

At the same time, the Dragon Worship Cult has made a deal with the Gray Dwarves from the Underground. They’ve agreed to let the Cult use their tunnels as transport routes."

"That makes them impossible to defend against..." Colin said.

"Both Gray Dwarves and Kobolds are masters of tunneling. The former excel at building and maintaining vast underground highways, while the latter are the best creatures in the world at digging hidden passages." Ale’s tone was glum. "There’s no way we can completely seal off the Underground path, Colin."

Colin nodded, his mind turning to what he had read in books.

He knew that deep Underground, not far from Silver Star Court, lay Spider Nest City. Many Drow came to the Surface at night to attack the Elf city. With the Dragon Worship Cult’s scheming on top of that, Silver Star Court was in a truly precarious position.

"When can we leave?"

Just as the two were talking, Dorn’s voice came from ahead.

Colin looked up and saw the Gray Dwarf strolling nonchalantly toward them.

He shouted to him, "Where have you been?"

"Took care of a few minor annoyances," Dorn said. "The rock-throwing Kobolds in the rear, and a spellcasting half-dragon. The guy could only toss a few Cantrips, though. Nothing serious."

"Did he have any letters or anything like that on him?"

"Nothing like that," Dorn said. "He didn’t have anything valuable on him, either. Poor as a Cultist—which, of course, he was."

Colin said, "That’s not a very funny joke."

"It’s funny enough for me," Dorn retorted.

As they were talking, a few leaves drifted down from above. They looked up to see Wood Elves on pegasi, guiding their mounts in for a landing.

Colin rolled his shoulders. At last, he could go back and see what the house they would be staying in for the next couple of days looked like.