Work Prophet
Chapter 121 - 37: A Suicide Mission

Chapter 121: Chapter 37: A Suicide Mission

In the days since they lost contact with the Dragon Seeking Team, Li Yu had not just been waiting idly; he had sent various lizard people into the swamp, but he had not found any trace of the Gold Snake Knights and the others.

It was not until three days ago that a lizard person, relying on their keen intuition for metal, dug a two-handed sword out of a pile of mud.

The location where he found the sword was quite far from the area where the Dragon Seeking Team had been active.

Li Yu had the sword sent back to Teacup Castle, where it was confirmed after identification to be the weapon of Squire Knight Juan.

Although the sword was not a masterwork, it was made by the hands of a Dwarf and was of high quality.

It was an inheritance from Juan’s father, but now the blade had more than a dozen big and small nicks on it.

Clearly, the sword had been through a fierce battle before it was separated from its owner.

Its appearance also turned the previous concerns of many people into reality— the well-equipped and luxurious Dragon Seeking Team likely had encountered misfortune.

And it was a total loss; no one escaped, which is why nobody knows what exactly happened to them.

Although Li Yu still wanted to try to negotiate with the clearly intelligent Dragon, he also made the worst-case plan, beginning to prepare for a possible conflict that might erupt between them in the future.

Because even if Li Yu or others from Green Field did not provoke the Dragon, it did not mean the Dragon would always stay quietly in the swamp.

According to the lizard people, the resources in the swamp were limited, and the Dragon’s appetite was increasing drastically.

Moreover, the lizard people had taken all the food they could collect with them when they evacuated.

Once the Dragon runs out of food, it will definitely come out searching.

After all, the lizard people were already on its list of prey.

So, when he learned that Fitzwilliam could build a giant crossbow, Li Yu immediately decided to allocate resources and manpower for its construction, even if it would delay some of the construction progress.

On the other side, Ireya’s face turned ashen when she received the news.

Although the lizard people had already described the monster in the swamp as terrifying, which was why over a thousand of them were forced to flee their homeland of a thousand years.

However, compared to the imperial people, the lizard people were far behind in terms of technical skills; the entire tribe could hardly find a few decent pieces of metalware, and the best weapon they actually had were hoes and sickles looted from ordinary households.

As for armor, the entire tribe could hardly gather a few sets.

Also, because they were humans, their individual strength was not comparable to that of Half-Beast Warriors; the reason they had been able to plunder the surrounding villages for so long was firstly because their opponents were even weaker—those farmers and militiamen were even less capable in combat than them.

Secondly, it was because they made quick raids and had the swamp to rely on; if the situation turned bad, they could dive into the swamp, and the armies could do little about them.

However, apart from two lizard people guides, the Dragon Seeking Team was made up of well-armed Half-Beasts, elite among elites, led by Nobles.

In Ireya’s initial reckoning, even if these twelve people were not a match for the Dragon, they could at least hold out for a stalemate.

Even if there was no stalemate, surely a few could have escaped to send back news, instead of the whole team vanishing without a trace into the swamp like this.

For this reason, Miss Rabbit again gathered important figures within the castle to discuss follow-up strategies.

Since the Dragon Seeking Team included Pablo’s Squire Knight, he also participated in this meeting. It was the first time since Alfred’s surprise attack and the loss of Teacup Castle that the two were under the same roof.

Friction was inevitable, and Pablo advocated sending more people to continue searching for the dragon and to seek revenge for those previously lost.

Alfred, on the other hand, disagreed with sending more people to their deaths.

Due to the unique environment of the swamp, a large army could not be effective there, a fact that had been proven by countless ancestors of the Arias family.

Even with the lizard people guiding them, troops entering the area could not deploy effectively and would instead reveal their positions prematurely.

Furthermore, considering the mobility previously displayed by the dragon, it was practically like delivering themselves to its doorstep.

Therefore, if people were to be sent, it could only be an elite squad.

However, the Arias family had limited resources, being a relatively obscure family on the imperial border, already weakened by a civil strife and a lizard people uprising.

Even though they later took in refugees from the Weiting family, taking political risks, it only alleviated their population deficiency. However, warriors, especially those professionally trained and with extensive combat experience, once lost, are hard to replace.

And even if Ireya could still push to send more forces, she had another issue to face, whether to send more people to their deaths.

After all, the fate of the first Dragon Seeking Team was right in front of everyone, and no one could guarantee that sending a second team would accomplish the mission.

In fact, everyone now realized that this matter was more dangerous than going to war.

"We can increase the reward!" Ireya’s uncle, Lucio, mopped his sweat as he spoke, "If you worry about further casualties among the family’s guards, we can find some mercenaries in Black Stone City."

"Then those mercenaries would just take their high pay and walk around the edges of the swamp," Fosto said.

"We can make a deal with them to pay upon finding the dragon," Ireya suggested.

"Those guys are too shrewd, they won’t sign such a flawed contract unless we can really prove there is a dragon in the swamp."

"I can lead the team!" Pablo revisited, "but I won’t work with a bunch of mercenaries. I can’t trust those money-grubbing fellows with my back; I need warriors, real warriors!"

"Even if you’re willing to die, the family doesn’t have enough warriors for you to take to their deaths," the Guardian Knight said calmly.

"You’re just a coward, Alfred. There’s even your nephew, Thor, among the dead," Pablo shouted angrily.

"He knew there was danger before he left, but driven by a desire for honor, he still chose to join that team. He was a brave young man, but I will not act on emotion and send more people to their deaths because of him."

"So you want to act as if nothing had happened, waiting for that dragon to grow so large that no one can handle it, and then let it burn us all with a single breath of Dragon Flame?"

"Besides the lizard people, no one has seen that dragon with their own eyes," Alfred stated calmly.

"Are you implying that the dragon doesn’t exist, Lord Alfred?" The steward, Yago, raised an eyebrow.

"No, I’m saying perhaps the dragon doesn’t like being disturbed and just wants to stay quietly in the swamp."

"Alright... let’s all stop arguing," Ireya interjected, breaking up the quarrel, "I will think more about sending someone. For now, let’s distribute the condolence money to the families of those lost. Uh, Yago, remember to give a little more, triple the standard amount."