In the name of the true god

October 8, 448 (Monday) in the Divine Calendar.

The Kingdom of Florence, with its capital Montorus.

Jude was in high spirits after officially finalizing the cooperation with Edmund, and got up early to go to work at the capital's heavy prison.

On his way from Hearthstone Street to the prison, he no longer felt like he was being watched.

After entering prison, no one spoke to him.

It seems the mysterious stalker hasn't been caught yet, otherwise my brother would definitely have told me...

Jude felt reassured and continued to act as if nothing was wrong while on duty in the ordinary second prison ward.

Since it was only his fourth day on the job, Captain Foster still kept him by his side when they were paired up, explaining various precautions to him from time to time.

Once he reached the top of the watchtower again, free from the worry of being noticed, Jude casually inquired with Captain Foster about the other eleven first-class and second-class wardens besides his brother Connor: "Captain, what are the backgrounds of our prison's first-class and second-class wardens?"

"Why don't you ask your brother?" Captain Foster said, gazing into the distance with a homemade cigarette dangling from his lips.

"He's too busy; we rarely have a chance to have a meal together."

"To get that position, you either need to be very senior or have a strong background," Captain Foster succinctly summarized.

Ok……

It's like saying nothing at all...

Jude pressed on, "Are there any among them whose qualifications and background are relatively less reliable?"

Captain Foster turned and glanced at Jude, saying bluntly, "You want to take his place?"

"No, I'm just afraid they'll think that way and then try to sabotage me behind my back." Jude had a perfectly legitimate excuse as a cover. "After all, almost no one would believe that I just want to be an ordinary prison guard."

"There's no need to worry so much. If others doubt you, no matter how you explain, it won't help. You might as well work diligently and use your actions to eliminate their hostility towards you." Captain Foster thought Jude was being too sensitive.

Jude had no choice but to stop there, lest he appear too unusual and be misinterpreted: "You're right..."

Sure enough, communicating with the serious-minded captain was a bit too much of a hassle...

The eldest brother, Killian, was also a man of few words.

The poet Anders could barely speak clearly...

Let's talk to Colin, the "pretty boy," and Alan, the "fat guy," instead...

In the afternoon, Jude volunteered to be paired with "Fat Man" Allen and patrolled the wall of the exercise area together.

The temperature seems to be lower than usual today.

"Fatty" Allen turned up the collar of his prison guard uniform and shrank his neck: "Jude, you've been acting a little strange these past few days?"

"Where?" Jude felt he had disguised himself quite well.

"I can't quite put my finger on it." 'Fatty' Allen shook his head. "It seems like you're hiding something. Would you mind telling me?"

Your eyesight is pretty good...

Jude sighed and steered the conversation toward the first and second-level wardens: "Sigh, I'm just a little scared."

"Afraid? Afraid of what?"

"Isn't my brother a first-class warden? Although you don't dare to talk to me about it, I know you all know about my brother's relationship with Deputy Warden Steele." Jude took the initiative to bring up the most taboo thing in the prison, "So from the moment I entered the prison, everyone thought that I would definitely be like my brother, rising to the management level through various overt and covert operations."

"Didn't you say you had no plans to do that?"

"Of course I have no intention of doing that, but how many people would believe me? Especially those first and second-level wardens, they're definitely hostile towards me, afraid I'll oust them from their positions..." Jude looked worried. "Do you know anything about those wardens?"

"I know a little bit. What do you want to do?" asked "Fatty" Allen.

"I just want to get to know them better so I can interact with them more often in the future. Once I've built a good relationship with them, I won't have to worry about them causing trouble for me."

"I see..." 'Fatty' Allen said thoughtfully, "Didn't you ask your brother for advice?"

Jude shrugged. "It's not good to talk to him about this. Why don't you tell me about those wardens? They're just sitting around doing nothing anyway."

"Okay. What impressed me most was Chief Warden Ryan Carlson, who was in charge of the general ward 1..."

"Fatty" Allen was very open and honest, telling everyone he knew about the three first-level wardens and eight second-level wardens.

Jude listened while secretly screening the information.

However, after listening to "Fatty" Allen, he didn't find anyone who fit the criteria.

Of these eleven people, the last to be promoted had already been in their respective positions for two years, while his brother Connor had only served as a first-class warden for eight months, making him the least experienced.

In terms of ability, background, and qualifications, all eleven people are quite capable.

In other words, it is precisely because they meet all the requirements that they are able to take up the position of warden.

So how do I compare to them?

He is not a priest.

He has a very low level of education.

No reliable work experience.

He's never even fired a gun, let alone has any personal skills...

The only thing worth mentioning is that his older brother is a first-class guard and his brother and sister-in-law are deputy prison directors.

So, even his own brother became a priest, which gave him the qualifications to be promoted so quickly.

With my utterly unskilled abilities, I don't seem like the type to rise to a higher position.

Especially since Connor hadn't even warmed his seat yet, no matter how much influence Steele, his "brother and sister-in-law," had, it was impossible for her to support him under such immense pressure.

Logically speaking, my ceiling is at least the captain's position for the next three years.

and so……

The inference that the mysterious stalker came from among the eleven first- and second-level wardens is wrong.

The threat posed by themselves is far less than they imagined, and it won't arouse any vigilance from these management personnel.

Even if there were indeed "heretics" among them who were wary of me, they wouldn't have sent someone to follow me from my very first day at the company.

With such a lack of self-discipline, he probably won't be able to climb to the management level.

Who could it be...?

The stalker was identified as a "heretic," but his motives became elusive once again.

Jude was bewildered again.

"What's wrong with you?" "Fatty" Allen saw Jude standing there in a daze and waved his hand in front of his eyes.

"It's nothing, I'm just a little tired..." Exhausted, Jude simply made up an excuse.

"I feel like prison work isn't really suitable for you. You've only been here a few days and you already have to worry about so many things..." 'Fatty' Allen tried to understand Jude's feelings. "Why don't you change jobs? Anyway, with the connections of Deputy Warden Steel, it shouldn't be hard to find a job that's easy and pays well."

Jude could no longer be entirely certain that the tracker came from the capital's heavy prison, so he didn't think leaving the prison would make him any safer: "It's not good to leave so soon after arriving. I need to get used to things a bit more."

"Fatty" Allen patted Jude on the shoulder: "If anything happens, remember to tell me. I may not be able to help you, but it will make you feel better to talk about it."

"Okay, thanks..." Jude perked up. "Let's continue patrolling."

……

Time flies, and it's already October 13th, this Friday.

Jude will be rotating to the Heretics Ward tomorrow, and his brother Connor, whom he hasn't seen for several days, takes the initiative to accompany him home after work.

"I've switched to the day shift now, so I'll escort you back from now on." Connor and Jude walked together on the way.

"Still no clues?" Jude had been afraid of arousing suspicion, so he hadn't asked about the progress of the investigation into Rodney's death.

"No. The two priests the church specifically assigned to secretly protect you also didn't find any trace of the follower," Connor said. "Given the current tense situation, they're unlikely to expose themselves easily again."

He's disappeared again...

At first, he knew he had been discovered being followed, yet he persisted in doing so. Now, he seems to completely disregard his own identity.

What exactly is the other party after?

Over the past five days, Jude has used the law of contact to interrogate all eleven first- and second-class wardens, but unfortunately, there have been no results.

After completely ruling out the warden as a suspect, the investigation reached a dead end.

"Brother, do you think the fact that I'm being followed is related to Priest Rodney's death?"

Want to hear the truth?

"Yes."

"I think it's related," Connor offered his analysis. "If Rodney had encountered some other accident while secretly protecting you, then after the church covered it up, the people following you should have continued to follow you. But the result is that after Rodney died, the people following you also disappeared. Such a coincidence happening twice in a row can't be considered a coincidence."

Makes sense.

Rodney's death was known to very few people in the prison. If the person who was following him wasn't a "heretic," how could he have just disappeared without a trace?

He then asked, "What does the church think?"

"The church doesn't see you, an ordinary person, as worth being targeted by heretics. They tend to believe it's an organized act of revenge by heretics against the clergy."

"Don't they find it strange that the trackers disappeared after Priest Rodney's death?"

"I don't think so, because there's another possibility—Rodney caught the person who was following you before he died. After verifying the person's identity, he planned to tell us the next day, but then he suddenly encountered heretics... If that's the case, the follower would know he'd been exposed and naturally wouldn't dare to follow you anymore. That's why the Church withdrew all the priests who were protecting you."

For the Holy Church to spend so much time sending high-ranking priests to protect itself is undoubtedly a huge waste.

But his brother wasn't reassured enough, so he specially arranged to work daytime shifts, commuting with him to and from get off work, to continue providing him with protection under a legitimate guise...

While moved, Jude also breathed a sigh of relief at the Holy Church's alternative approach to investigation.

At least I'm no longer being monitored by outsiders, and I can be more free and bold in my words and actions.

"Brother, I want to go to the newspaper office." It wasn't dark yet, and Jude wanted to quickly compile a list of major events that had occurred over the past twenty-nine years.

"The newspaper?"

"I always feel like I don't know anything, and I can't even join in conversations with my colleagues," Jude said, reciting the words he had prepared on the way. "If I could go to the newspaper office and buy a special edition that summarizes major events over the years, it would broaden my horizons a lot."