I Have a Task Log

Chapter 289: Chapter 288: Tricky Investigation

A glimmer of light had appeared on the horizon, and a few merchant caravans planning an early start were mustering at the tavern entrance.

The Priest, hungover from a night of drinking, staggered out of the tavern. He led his horse from the stable, hitched it to a carriage, and slowly started toward the Monastery.

After putting on their disguises with the [Disguise Technique], the two hurried out to follow.

The merchant road wasn’t particularly crowded in the morning. They saw an opening and slipped into the woods.

Colin casually snapped off a tree branch and began using the [Object Positioning Skill] to track the coin he had given the serving girl yesterday.

Since he had marked the coin in advance, the Magic could pinpoint that specific piece. The tavern owner was a local, so Colin figured he might contribute to the Monastery. Therefore, there was a good chance the coin he’d paid with would end up in the Priest’s possession.

Of course, this was just a little experiment.

If he couldn’t track the coin, Colin could still follow them by tracking the bundle of wool he had seen. Later, he could find another way to get a marked coin inside the Monastery.

Using the information from the Magic and the map in his hand, Colin led Battier as they cautiously tracked the Priest through the forest.

Since the [Object Positioning Skill] only lasted for ten minutes, Colin used the Magic sparingly.

He only used it again when they nearly lost their target.

The journey was uneventful, and the two soon trailed him all the way to the Monastery.

"So, what now?" Battier asked. "That wool will obviously be put in the Monastery’s storehouse. Did we go to all this trouble just to figure that out?"

"You call one night of surveillance ’going to all this trouble’? And you’re the one who thinks being assigned to the Church is a waste of his talents?"

"You..." The retort left Battier speechless.

He glared resentfully at Colin, looking for any excuse to find fault.

Colin found a moss-covered black fir and used a [Climbing Rope] to scale it, hiding himself among the upper branches and needles.

The Priest’s carriage did indeed head straight for the storehouse within the Monastery grounds.

Perhaps it would have been simpler to come here and investigate directly, but doing so would have made it impossible to confirm whether the Monastery stored all its goods in this one warehouse or split them up among other locations.

A rash investigation could have led to wrongly accusing innocent people.

After the Priest’s carriage drove into the storehouse, Colin took out an [Eagle Eye Technique] Scroll and the simple map Orelia had drawn.

According to the map, the Monastery did indeed have only one large storehouse.

Colin then tore open the Magic Scroll.

To put it simply, this Magic allowed the Caster to create an invisible camera or listening device within a 1.5-kilometer radius. The target location had to be a place the Caster had previously seen or could currently see.

If the opponent had no means of seeing through invisibility, the Magic was extremely useful.

Colin began to recite the Common Language Spell on the Scroll.

With the Scroll’s help, he could feel the surrounding Magic Net begin to ripple with his recitation; it felt just like the Casting of an Ordinary Magic.

’Observe... and position...’

Colin designated the position in his mind. The next moment, the Casting was complete.

The scenery in his left eye began to shift rapidly, as if it had been snatched away by a fast-flying eagle. His right eye’s vision, however, remained unchanged.

The sensation made Colin’s head spin, and he nearly fell right out of the tree.

He quickly closed his right eye, focusing all of his attention on his left.

In a moment, his left eye’s vision projected to the storehouse window.

The storehouse had typical clerestory windows, and through the [Eagle Eye Technique], Colin had a perfect view of the interior.

Inside, more than half of the storehouse was completely empty.

’Could the supplies from several manors not even fill this warehouse? I certainly don’t believe that.’

The Monastery was using the winter disaster in the north as an excuse to collect supplies, yet Rommon had received very little aid. At the same time, the Church hadn’t issued any large-scale orders to mobilize resources...

’So where did everything go?’

Colin didn’t have to think hard to figure out what was happening.

’The trade road is right here. They could easily find a tight-lipped Black Heart merchant to sell the goods to. It’s not like the Monastery would leave a perfectly good warehouse empty to store supplies out in the wilderness, right?’

The Priest stored the goods, then walked out of the warehouse and entered another building.

Colin climbed down from the tree.

"So, what did you learn?" Battier asked, his tone sharp.

"The White Dove Monastery has already shipped out all the supplies. There’s not much left in their storehouse," Colin said. "We still need to confirm where the coins went. If there really are Demons behind the Monastery, then Gold is the true reason they’re collecting ’supplies.’ The money is most likely being kept inside their main base."

Battier hesitated for a moment before giving a silent nod.

A few more minutes passed.

During that time, no one left the Monastery, and it wasn’t enough time for an invisible Imp to have flown very far.

Colin looked at the branch on the ground and recited the Spell.

A faint golden Magic Silk Thread slowly coiled around the branch, but it disintegrated an instant later.

"What happened?" Battier asked with a frown.

"I can’t track the coins anymore..." Colin murmured, stroking his chin.

’Could the money have been moved that quickly?’

Colin’s mind raced.

A Low-Tier Prophetic Magic like the [Object Positioning Skill] has one fatal weakness: it’s blocked by lead. If the coins were placed in a Lead Box or wrapped in lead, the Magic would be unable to track them.

’A Lead Box would make sense.’

’After all, it’s a cheap and effective means of Defense.’

’If I can’t locate the coins, why not just locate the Lead Box itself?’

The only problem was, Colin couldn’t use the [Object Positioning Skill] again right now. He’d have to try that later.

"I’m out of energy for Casting. We’re done for today," Colin said.

Battier asked, "Since we know that Priest and the White Dove Monastery are connected, why don’t we just scout the Monastery, then charge in and slaughter everyone?"

"No. Assuming the Demons have another base outside the Monastery, taking care of the ones inside would be pointless. Besides, the Demons here have been entrenching themselves for months."

"What if they’ve set up a Summoning Array at another location? When we attack, they might get desperate and summon a High-Tier Demon. We’d be in serious danger then. Who knows how many offerings they’ve collected?"

Finally, Colin repeated a lesson Yuri had taught them, his voice grim. "When dealing with Demons and Cultists hiding among humans, you must finish it in a single strike."