I Have a Task Log

Chapter 320: Chapter 319: An Unexpected Smile

He saw a thumb-sized black cockroach on the floor. The creature was flattened against the ground, as if praying that the two enormous intruders hadn’t noticed it.

Colin took a closer look but found nothing else.

"Are you scared of that bug?" he asked, looking up.

Ale remained expressionless. She climbed higher, her two slender arms grabbing onto a wooden beam as she scrambled desperately toward the center...

The sight was too much for Colin, and he couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter.

The moment he laughed, he felt a little awkward. He definitely wouldn’t have laughed if Kase or Orelia had done the same thing.

CLANG!

Just then, something struck his Helmet. Startled, Colin looked down and saw a small wooden cask that had rolled off from above.

"Hahahaha."

A laugh like silver bells came from overhead. Colin looked up to find Ale had flipped herself over and was now sitting on the beam, smiling down at him.

He couldn’t quite describe her smile, only that he inexplicably wanted to look at it a moment longer. But the smile was fleeting. It quickly vanished, replaced by her usual expressionless mask, as if it had been covered by a layer of ice.

"You’re mean, Mr. Colin."

Ale glanced around. "This place seems to have once belonged to an Elf," she added.

Colin whispered a Spell, using Flaming Arrow to conjure a few wisps of flame at his fingertips. He used the light to look around.

The basement did indeed have a very Elven style.

Though it was cluttered with decaying junk, he could see that the stone-brick walls were carved with many floral patterns, and he could faintly make out some symbols representative of Elves.

"Can you tell how old this place is?"

"I can’t tell. These patterns are still in style today," said Ale.

True enough. For Elves, a trend lasting several hundred years probably wasn’t out of the ordinary.

"Do you think there might be a secret room with antiques hidden here? Why don’t you come down and help me look?"

Ale spotted a few more cockroaches crawling in the shadows. "No," she said immediately.

"Not even if there might be money?"

"No."

Seeing how resolute she was, Colin just looked around by himself, but he found no sign of a secret room whatsoever.

After he finished searching, he looked up at Ale, who was still perched on the beam. "All right, let’s head over to Old Black Heart’s next."

Ale nodded and climbed out through the hole in the ceiling.

Colin shook his head and returned to the ground floor.

The two of them searched the other corners of the mansion, but aside from the Noisy Spirit, they found nothing else of note.

Back in the main hall, Colin said, "Alright, let’s head back to the Black Heart Tavern and find Old Black Heart."

Ale nodded silently.

Colin led her outside the mansion.

Stepping into the sunlight, he took a deep breath and suddenly felt a bit weak.

A small hand offered him a Healing Potion from the side. Ale’s voice reached his ear, "This is the last one I have. You don’t have to pay me for it."

"No, it’s fine."

Ale insisted, "You’re hurt. I’m serious, you don’t have to pay. Don’t worry about social etiquette."

"It’s not that," Colin said candidly. "A trip to the Divine Hall will fix me up for ten Gold Coins. There’s no need to use such an expensive Potion."

"Oh." Ale silently put the Potion away.

Colin steadied himself, then pulled out the Spellbook hanging from his waist.

Ale asked, a little confused, "What’s wrong?"

"I’m checking the book," Colin said. "Some books say that when a Ghost is destroyed, it can leave a Curse on paper infused with Magic Power. A Spellbook fits that description perfectly."

Colin took out his Spellbook and carefully flipped toward the back.

Sure enough, several lines of sentences written in blood in the Elf Language had appeared on the last four pages of the Spellbook. They looked just like a threatening letter from a horror movie.

Unlike some fake prop, just looking at these pages was enough to feel an ominous aura.

"Take a look for me. I remember the effects of the ’Ghost Paper’ left behind by Ghosts and Noisy Spirits are a little different." Colin tore the four pages from his Spellbook and handed them to her.

After carefully examining the pages, Ale picked one out. "This one seems to be from the innkeeper," she said. "I think it must be from the Noisy Spirit."

"All right. We’ll see if Donkexes and the others want the other three pages. This one from the Noisy Spirit could be useful to us." Colin sighed in relief. "For now, let’s head to Old Black Heart’s."

The Half-Elf nodded and started walking in the direction of the Black Heart Tavern.

Colin followed behind her, and together they made their way into a small alley in the Dock District.

The sea breeze blew fitfully, and the waves crashed one after another.

Looking at the bustling docks in the distance, Colin grumbled to himself, ’Just looking at a scene like this, who would ever think that mansion was hiding a bunch of Ghosts?’

Just as he was thinking this, Ale’s voice drifted back to him on the sea breeze.

"Did I look awful just now?"

"Are you referring to you climbing onto the beams, or your expression afterward?" Colin noticed her small hands were clasped tightly behind her back.

"Both, I guess."

They reached the main road, and Colin quickened his pace to walk beside her. "It was fine. I could tell your Elf friends must have taught you how to climb trees. Your movements are quite agile. As for your expression, don’t you know that to humans, all Elves are considered rather striking?"

"I was just curious about my expression. How should I put it... I haven’t really interacted with people in a long time. My mother arranged my Magic studies and everything else."

Ale’s tone lightened a little. "As long as it wasn’t weird, that’s fine. If I do anything strange in the future, you have to tell me, Mr. Colin."

"If ’strange’ is the standard we’re using, then someone like me who came from the slums probably qualifies as strange, too. Let’s just let these pointless worries wash away with the tide."

Colin asked curiously, "By the way, why are you so afraid of cockroaches?"

"Because when I was little, I saw one while playing with a friend in his family’s warehouse. I was very small back then, so the thing looked huge. It was ugly and disgusting," Ale said, wrinkling her brow.

As they chatted, Colin stole a glance at her expression.

The Half-Elf’s lips were indeed curved up slightly, holding the hint of a smile.

Talking and laughing, the two soon arrived at the entrance of the Black Heart Tavern.

They pushed open the small door and walked into the tavern.

Bob was standing at the counter chatting with Old Black Heart. He held a mug of beer, his face flushed red from drinking.

The tavern wasn’t very crowded. The same few bodyguards from the Hundred Eyes Gang were still standing in the corner of the room.