Work Prophet
Chapter 87 - 3 The Spy Hidden in the Castle

Chapter 87: Chapter 3 The Spy Hidden in the Castle

Jude unexpectedly acquired over a thousand followers and also received a piece of land from Ireya, which immediately saturated his workload.

The land near the swamp, after the lizard people’s previous rampage of burning and plundering, had almost become a ruin, ready to be rebuilt from scratch.

Before leaving, Li Yu instructed the lizard people to spend the next two days cleaning up the area, demolishing the damaged buildings, and collecting the bodies on the ground, which would then be handed over to people sent by Miss Rabbit.

The land Ireya gave to Li Yu was formed by combining the fiefs of the Trinidad Knight and the Purple Bird Flower Knight, which originally housed approximately one to two hundred farming households.

Most of these people had died at the hands of the lizard people, and a small group of survivors, those who had managed to live, certainly did not want to live alongside the terrifying killers who had murdered their families and neighbors, and so they had all fled with their belongings.

However, the vacated houses were still not sufficient for so many lizard people to live in, and some homes were destroyed in the war, so Li Yu had to entrust Yago, the new steward of Teacup Castle, to purchase a hundred tents and five hundred blankets, which amounted to a total cost of one hundred and twelve gold coins.

This temporarily solved the housing crisis for the lizard people, and as for food, what they had plundered and brought out of the swamp should last them a while, so Li Yu did not intervene.

Before starting the reconstruction of the territory, he had another matter to resolve: to help Ireya find the infiltrator lurking in the castle.

Li Yu had promised the last time he left that he would deal with this matter within three days.

Considering the two days after his departure, it effectively meant that Li Yu had to find the person today.

This news quickly spread throughout the castle, tightening the atmosphere inside.

Many people consciously avoided Li Yu when they saw him, from nobles to servants, all fearing any association with the insider.

First thing in the morning, Li Yu went to visit the former steward of Teacup Castle, now advisor to Ireya, Fosto.

The two spoke for about an hour in Fosto’s bedroom.

Aside from Ireya herself, it was Fosto who frequented the room where Ireya handled her official duties the most.

On the day of the incident, Fosto was also the first to be suspected and placed under house arrest, as it would have been very easy for him to drop a note unnoticed while Ireya was not paying attention.

Just when everyone thought that the former steward of Teacup Castle was doomed, Li Yu emerged from Fosto’s room, with Fosto seeing him to the door, both appearing calm.

After that, Li Yu went to see Miss Rabbit’s great-grandmother, Ona, the most senior member of the Arias family.

However, Ona was different from Fosto, who, no matter how important or powerful in the castle, ultimately served the Arias family.

Ona was a family member herself and an elder to everyone, one of the castle’s masters, and even Ireya, the current head of the Arias family, had to show respect when facing her own great-grandmother.

Many thought that Li Yu was likely to run into a snag this time; with the old lady’s temperament, he might very well be shown the door.

Contrary to everyone’s expectations, Ona readily met with Li Yu, and they talked for about half an hour before Li Yu said his farewells and left.

Subsequently, he went to meet Alisa... Li Yu spent the morning visiting and talking to people all over.

But similar inquiries had already taken place many times after the incident. Except for Ona, nearly everyone in the castle had been interrogated, and still, the insider had not been found.

As a result, some began to wonder if this Foreigner in black was truly capable of fulfilling his own promise.

When it was time for lunch, Li Yu gave Jude a secretive glance.

The latter, understanding the situation perfectly, quietly entered Li Yu’s room after dinner having avoided the attention of others.

"What do you want with me?"

Without bothering to ask if the host minded, Jude plopped down on Li Yu’s bed, reached out to grab the feather mattress below, and clicked his tongue, "Nobles do have the finer things, much more comfortable than the sheepskin rug in my place. I’ll buy a set for myself to enjoy once I’m back."

After a pause, he looked at Li Yu, "Let’s get this straight, we may be familiar, but rules are rules, you’re going to have to pay for my services."

Li Yu nodded, "I’ve found an inside man, and I need your help to capture him."

"With so many people available in the castle, why come specifically to me?" Jude didn’t agree immediately but instead questioned him.

"Because that person’s identity is somewhat unique."

"Unique? How unique?"

"The inside man is Sir Alfred’s squire, Thomas," Li Yu didn’t hide the fact.

Jude was startled, "How... how is that possible? He was with Sir Alfred when they took Teacup Castle. If he was an inside man back then, he only needed to open the castle gates while Alfred was resting, and now the one sitting in this castle would be that stingy Miss Rabbit’s stepmother."

"It is indeed hard to believe, but it’s the truth."

"How did you find out? Was it your god, that what’s-it-called Saturday that told you?" Jude asked curiously.

Li Yu did not respond to that question, simply saying, "If I were to capture Thomas through normal channels, Alfred would definitely obstruct me. So I plan to take him down first, find out why he’s become a traitor; that way, even if Alfred finds out afterward, he’ll have no grounds for objection. That’s why I’ve sought you out."

Jude’s eyes rolled around as if he were weighing the pros and cons of the situation, and after a long moment, he spoke again.

"Thomas may seem unremarkable, but his martial arts are actually quite good. Alfred was his mentor and laid a very solid foundation for his swordsmanship."

"That’s why I came to you."

"Moreover, Alfred is currently in charge of the daily security of the castle, and he commands all the guards inside. If I make a move on Thomas and am discovered by Alfred, he’ll probably mobilize the whole castle’s forces against me."

"Are you scared?"

"No, what I mean is you need to pay more." Jude said with a smirk.

"How much do you want?"

"Hmm, considering the risk involved in this operation, fifteen gold coins isn’t too much to ask."

"I’ll give you twenty gold coins, half of which you can have now, and you must bring me the man by sunset at the latest. I’ll then give you the rest."

"Deal!" Jude gave a thumbs-up, "I like doing business with straightforward people the most. You pay the cash, I’ll do the heavy lifting; you can count on being satisfied."

Li Yu took out the bag containing the gold coins and counted out ten for Jude, who took the money and immediately beamed with joy, especially at the delightful sound of those shiny little things falling into his pouch, his ugly face breaking into an even wider grin.

When he looked up at Li Yu again, he saw that the latter had already sat down at the desk, fiddling with a strange little item.

Li Yu waved his hand at Jude, motioning for him to leave the room.