Work Prophet
Chapter 123 - 39 Holy Artifact

Chapter 123: Chapter 39 Holy Artifact

"This really is a fair trade," Jude said, "You know me, I wouldn’t refuse a deal as fair as this one."

"Good." Ireya nodded, revealing the terms of the deal, "I need you to help me find a dragon."

"Find what?" Jude was startled, suspecting something wrong with his ears.

"A dragon... the one in the swamp; I need you to locate it for me."

"Just like that, I find the dragon, and then you let me go?" Jude asked.

"I won’t let you go because of your identity, I must chop off your head." Miss Rabbit said seriously.

"Ha... So what’s the point of me going through all this trouble, just to see a dragon before I die?" Jude scoffed, "You might as well chop my head off right now."

"I will have you executed, and that won’t change, but do you really resign yourself to be killed by me?"

"What do you mean?" Jude was confused.

"It means, won’t you run?"

"Look, if I could have run, I would have... wait," Jude stroked his chin, gradually figuring something out.

It seemed that this stingy Rabbit was implying that if he could find the dragon, she would facilitate an "accident" before the execution to let him escape.

This made the remnants of the Enríquez family quite tempted.

As long as he could regain his freedom, there was no difference to him whether he was released or "escaped" on his own.

Jude looked up again at Ireya, "I need an assurance!"

"Have you been locked up for too long that your brain has gone soft? How could I possibly assure you of such a thing? Believe it if you want, or don’t if you don’t." Ireya said impatiently.

Jude quickly weighed the credibility of the girl’s words in his mind.

Based on his previous dealings with her, although the Rabbit was miserly, she was quite credible and not as shameless as other nobles typically were.

Thus Jude asked, "It’s just finding a dragon, why don’t you send your own people?"

Upon hearing this, Ireya fell into silence, and after a moment said, "How do you know I didn’t send anyone?"

"They didn’t find it?"

"They didn’t come back. A squad of twelve, led by a knight, with a Squire Knight and the family’s elite warriors, each equipped with the finest armor and weapons. The whole squad was wiped out."

"No wonder this task eventually fell to me," Jude said, then glanced at the three lizard people beside him, "and it looks like you even found guides for me."

"You can make any other requests now, as long as they are related to finding the dragon and are not too excessive, I can satisfy them."

"I need more manpower," Jude said unreservedly.

"Err... In terms of warriors, I can only reluctantly pick out three or four whose skills are still decent."

Jude interrupted Miss Rabbit’s words, "I don’t want warriors from the Arias family, I can’t command those big shots, mercenaries, just find me some mercenaries."

"Are you sure?" Ireya frowned. "You said you can’t command the warriors of the Arias family, so will those mercenaries who only care about money listen to your orders?"

"Moreover, most mercenaries’ equipment and capabilities are inferior to those of the Arias family’s warriors, and the really capable ones often demand outrageously high prices. Although I promised to help you find people, we need to consider the cost."

"No need to look for those powerful guys, just help me find some ordinary mercenaries to make do with. As for command, I never expected them to listen to me."

This time, it was Miss Rabbit’s turn to be puzzled. "Then what use are those mercenaries to you?"

Jude grinned, "If we really run into danger, I’m counting on those guys to save their own lives. I can’t outrun that dragon, but surely I can outrun them? As for companions, Black Beauty is all I need."

"........."

"I have another question," Jude paused and then continued, "How am I supposed to prove that I found that dragon? Surely you won’t just take my word for it."

Li Yu, who had been silent beside them, then spoke, "I can lend you a Holy Artifact."

"A Holy Artifact?"

"Yes, if you do as I say, it will faithfully record whatever your eyes see. So, if you really find that dragon, the Holy Artifact will testify for you."

"There are such miraculous objects in this world!"

If it were someone else saying this, the remnants of the Enríquez family would probably scoff, but with Li Yu saying it, Jude couldn’t help but believe.

After all, on the journey back to Green Field with Ireya, Jude had witnessed the various miracles of Saturday, and previously in Rock Snow City, it seemed Li Yu had employed a similar method to record sounds.

Now being able to record images was not strange; indeed, the exposure of his role as an insider seemed to have something to do with Li Yu’s method of recording images.

"But I am not a follower of Saturday, can I still use the Holy Artifact?" Jude then asked.

"You can," Li Yu said, "I will unlock the seal of the Holy Object when the time comes, and anyone can use it, but the available time will be very limited. Without Divine Power imbued, the Holy Object will quickly lose its effect, so you should not activate the Holy Artifact carelessly before you encounter that dragon."

"Understood," Jude nodded and then looked at Miss Rabbit beside him, "I have no other questions."

"Then I will also gather the personnel as soon as possible. If it’s fast, three to five days; at most, it would take ten days, then you can head to the swamp," Miss Rabbit replied.

"Don’t tell those guys we are going to find a dragon, just say there is a monster in the swamp. This way we can further lower the reward, and also don’t mention the encounter of that previous squad," Jude reminded.

The girl was shocked; every time she thought she had seen the worst of this man, he would reset her expectations.

"It’s not just about the money," Jude explained. "If they knew from the start that the target was a dragon, I’m afraid everyone would scatter at the sight of it, and I wouldn’t be able to record much. You probably want to confront that dragon, right? We need to gather as much intelligence as possible before that."

Ireya, struck by what he said, pondered for a moment and then spoke, "What if I recruit some mercenaries with bad records and misdeeds..."

"No problem, they are just bait anyway, I don’t care whether they are good or bad," Jude laughed.

"Don’t you have even a bit of a moral sense?"

"Moral sense? From the moment I was born, whether bad people or so-called good people, they all wanted my head, so to me, they all look the same. Maybe in the world of ordinary people there’s black and white, but for me, there’s only one color in this world, and that is the color of blood."

Jude scoffed, "I don’t need any damn morals; they’re just a burden and only lead to one’s demise. All I need are my axe and Black Beauty."