Chapter 449 - 448: Mission Debriefing
The group returned to the Surface and went their separate ways, the two squads splitting up.
Colin and Kase stuffed all the loot into the [Dimension Bag] and then left it in Colin’s room.
Afterward, Colin lay down on his bed and napped for a while.
He didn’t stir until dawn.
After getting out of bed and washing up, Colin slung the [Dimension Bag] over his shoulder and planned to find Edwin to report on the mission.
Colin felt drained today.
’The Mind Flayer’s Spiritual Energy must have done some damage to my mind. I had nightmares all night, and my sleep was fitful. I already don’t get enough sleep, so this is just miserable.’
Just as he opened his door, Ale happened to open hers too.
She said, "We overslept. The free breakfast cart is already gone for the day."
"Huh?" Colin glanced outside and, sure enough, the small food cart was gone. The news piled on top of his already aching head. "That’s really bad news."
"Let’s go get breakfast. I feel like we haven’t gone out for breakfast in a long time," Ale said, a hint of anticipation in her voice.
Colin said, "I’m not really in the mood for meat rolls today. How about we get something else?"
"I bet you want to get coffee."
"How did you know? Never mind. Let’s just get some coffee today, and maybe a sandwich—the kind with bacon or ham. All the Mages around the Black Tower like to eat them."
The two chatted as they went to buy breakfast near the Black Tower. After a leisurely meal, they arrived at the door to Edwin’s office.
Pushing the wooden door open, he saw that there were people sitting behind several of the desks.
’There must have been a lot of chaos before and after the City Lord election.’ It was the first time Colin had ever seen everyone present in the office.
Colin walked over to Edwin and said, "Hey, Edwin. I’m here to report on the Karen Stone Heart case."
"Karen Stone Heart? Oh, right. Any particular findings?" Edwin asked, his head still bowed over the documents in his hands.
The Paladin’s chin was covered in stubble; he looked like he’d been run ragged.
"We found some Mind Flayers in the sewers. Karen Stone Heart was being controlled by an Intellect Devourer. His wandering around the slums before was probably to gather intelligence."
As he spoke, Colin took out the items related to the Mind Flayers from the [Dimension Bag] and placed them on Edwin’s desk.
"Mm, so it was Mind Flayers? I was just saying..."
Edwin stopped mid-sentence and snapped his head up. "Mind Flayers?"
"Yes. Two Mind Flayers and a bunch of Intellect Devourers in total, but we’ve already dealt with them all," Colin said. "But there might be a Mind Flayer colony or something deep Underground. That’s the real cause for concern."
"Oh, great. Besides all the two-faced idiots and stinking Demons, now we have some self-proclaimed smart octopuses Underground too," Morel, who had walked over at some point, remarked. "It’s like some kind of bizarre party."
"Go deal with your documents first, Morel," Edwin said, pointing to the other man’s desk.
Morel complained from the side, "I have to take a breather, Edwin. I swear, I feel like I’m about to suffocate."
Edwin ignored him.
He leaned back in his chair and pressed a hand to his forehead. "In that case, Karen Stone Heart’s squad most likely encountered the Mind Flayers in the Undercity. I just never expected Mind Flayers to actually show up in the sewers."
"Don’t worry. I remember there was a reclusive Legendary Mage who lived Underground. The guy raised an entire Mind Flayer colony and even cast a spell to swap his soul with that of the elder brain, turning himself into a super-brain bigger than a carriage."
Morel continued, "I don’t know if that Legendary Mage ended up killing himself, but it goes to show that Mind Flayers aren’t that big of a deal."
’That Legendary Mage was a real freak,’ Colin cursed inwardly, ’a freak in every sense of the word.’
"This is why everyone thinks Mages are weirdos. Oh, sorry, that wasn’t directed at you, Colin."
As he spoke, Edwin took out two gold bars from his drawer, then used a scale and a pair of shears to cut off two-fifths of one of them.
After he was done, he handed the gold to Colin. "Four hundred Gold Coins should be a fair price. Is that alright?"
"What about Karen Stone Heart’s personal effects?" Colin asked.
Edwin sighed. "You can handle those too. Karen Stone Heart was a Mercenary from Rommon. So far, we don’t know if he has any family."
"Alright, then." After saying that, Colin suddenly remembered his run-in with Albert and added, "Albert said he’ll need my help with something in about a month, so I might not be able to take on any commissions then."
"That’s fine. Let me think..."
Edwin closed his eyes, pressing his forehead, and fell silent for a moment before speaking again. "In that case, just take this month to rest. I’m sorry. I originally assigned you this task to give you a break. I didn’t expect you to run into this kind of trouble."
"It’s fine. If that’s all, I’ll be heading back now," Colin said with a nod.
Colin left the office and walked out of Horn Castle.
"What should we do next?" Ale asked, walking beside him.
Colin thought for a moment and said, "Let’s go deal with the loot. I can also tell Donkexes what my budget is."
After speaking, he took a glance at his Task Log.
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[Commission: Investigator]
[Rating: 8 (Local Hero)]
[Reward: 200 Skill Level points, Tier Three Magic "Intelligent Barrier"]
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Two hundred Skill Level points and a Tier Three spell.
The moment Colin looked at the spell, his consciousness was once again pulled into a vision where he began to learn it.
This spell didn’t require any Casting Materials and, like [Haste], was a buff for himself and his allies.
To be specific, it protected against mind-interfering magic like [Suggestion].
For Colin, this spell made up for one of his shortcomings.
Since he didn’t normally use the Perception Attribute, Colin had a hard time against Enchantment Magic. Whenever an opponent used such a spell, he was completely vulnerable.
After learning this spell, Colin finally had a bit of a defense for himself.
[Intelligent Barrier], Tier Three Magic. You can reduce any Mind Damage taken by one creature within ten meters by five points and increase its magic resistance against any mind-interfering spells by 4 points. Lasts for up to one hour.
After learning the spell, Colin unhesitatingly spent all his Skill Level points on Swordsmanship.
His Swordsmanship Skill Level now reached: Silent Sword Skill (Reliable) 1892/2000.
’Looks like one more difficult commission and I’ll get the next Specialty for Swordsmanship,’ Colin thought. ’I wonder what effect the next Specialty will have.’
By the time he had finished reading the contents of his Task Log, he and Ale had just walked out of Horn Castle and onto the main street of Thousand Masts City.