HTLCCBFT Chapter 34

Has The Lord’s Career Chart Been Filled Today? – Chapter 34

Chickens… So many hens, all bestowed upon her?

Lucy was stunned.

Oliver set down the particularly docile speckled hen in his hands, surveyed the surroundings once more, then turned to instruct the slaves waiting outside for orders: “Tomorrow, spread a half-finger’s thickness of sand on the ground and set up about twenty perches. Once the chicks we bought this time grow up, they can also be housed in this shed.”

No problem.

Chickens.

During the warmer seasons of summer and autumn, fully grown chickens only need a simple shelter for shade, rain protection, egg-laying, and sleeping, with no need to worry about insulation.

To prevent water accumulation in the coop, the interior floor must be higher than the outside ground, and there should be no pits or holes.

The ideal scenario, of course, would be a concrete floor rather than sand… but conditions did not permit it.

The size of the coop, however, left Oliver quite satisfied: it measured nearly 12 square meters, enough to house over 200 laying hens.

Lucy stared blankly, her gaze following the Lord, who had already naturally moved on to the next topic. Her mind buzzed, still reeling from the shock of the earlier reward.

“L-Lord,” she unconsciously clenched her fingers and asked softly, “Is it really alright?”

Those were a full five large hens in their prime laying period!

The income from selling their eggs alone would be enough to make her the most popular person among the slaves… Not to mention that some of the eggs could hatch into more chicks! It was like an endless stream of wealth!

Clearly, many had thought of this.

Her question instantly drew the envious, burning gazes of the slaves.

“Of course,” Oliver said naturally. “The great Cat God—His promises to His followers are never broken.”

He had deliberately said this in front of the slaves.

“The benevolent and wise Cat God has always wished for His devout followers to live better lives,” Oliver stepped out of the coop and meaningfully scanned the eager faces of the slaves before continuing slowly, “Besides me, He has also bestowed precious wisdom upon some people in the city of Laina… If they can courageously step forward and use the wisdom granted by the great Cat God to help everyone live better, they will receive the same—no, even more generous rewards.”

Oliver had no intention of handling everything on the estate himself—even if he was doing a lot of work now, it was only for the sake of experience and due to circumstances, and it couldn’t last long.

Aside from the knowledge he brought from the modern world, the wisdom of the locals was not to be underestimated; it had merely been overlooked by those in power. What he needed to do was encourage everyone, like Lucy, to use their minds and help him, the hardworking and burdened Lord, solve problems.

Mere verbal praise and the encouragement of fish soup might not be enough to melt the defensive barriers built in the slaves’ hearts by years of cruel suffering.

But when they saw with their own eyes how Lucy, who was also a slave and had once lived worse than most of them, relying on the kindness of neighbors, could now live so well thanks to the wisdom bestowed by the Cat God, the impact on their hearts would be incomparable. Oliver was in no hurry to change Lucy’s status from serf to free citizen, partly for the following reasons.

Firstly, Lucy currently resided in the castle and, barring unforeseen circumstances, would work in the chicken coop under his close supervision for a long time. Coupled with the fact that Steward Fosse, who managed the estate’s internal affairs, was well aware of his regard for her, it was clear that whether her status changed or not would have little impact on her life.

Secondly, as long as she remained a serf, she would still be seen as “one of their own” by the other serfs. They would constantly compare their lives to hers, which would inspire them to strive for improvement.

Only through comparison can there be competition; only with hope can there be motivation.

If Lucy were abruptly elevated from the serf class to become a “maid in the castle,” the serfs would subconsciously exclude her from their circle and numbly accept the growing disparity in treatment between them.

For now, Oliver still needed Lucy to serve as an important symbol, encouraging other serfs to step forward and demonstrate their abilities.

In fact, Oliver’s words had indeed stirred up a storm in the hearts of many serfs.

They were like people who had lived in endless darkness since birth, accustomed to stumbling along by the faint light of the stars.

And now, a ray of light had suddenly appeared before them.

Not everyone had the courage to take a desperate gamble. Even if they vaguely sensed that “this lord is truly wonderful,” they still hesitated, too timid to take that step.

Yet, the prospect of regularly enjoying such delicious, piping-hot fish soup in large bowls and tasting the tender, snow-white fish meat filled them with gratitude and energy as they worked each day.

Even though they deeply believed that the miraculously abundant harvest from the cornfields, which matured as if by divine miracles, had nothing to do with them… merely seeing the plentiful grain gave them an indescribable sense of security.

But Lucy’s existence shattered all of this with force.

The dramatic changes in her life recently rang as loudly in their ears as the morning bell tower.

If a frail little girl like Lucy could be of help to that noble and beautiful lord, why couldn’t they?

The only one blessed with the divine favor of the great Cat God had just spoken these words himself: the benevolent and wonderful Cat God, to help His followers live better lives, had even generously bestowed wisdom upon “some” among them!

Jonathan’s heart raced wildly.

Like the other serfs, he watched with reverent admiration as the lord and his attendants left the chicken coop and returned to the castle.

But instead of dispersing with the crowd, chatting with friends about what had just been said and heading home, he sought out Lucy.

Lucy still felt as if she were dreaming: even when she had been in the kitchen earlier, teaching others how to burn wood under the lord’s orders, they had not been as warm and friendly to her as they were now.

She instinctively sensed that this warmth was not just for her five chickens and eggs but was directed at the beautiful lord.

So she kept her lips tightly sealed, speaking only about what she deemed appropriate regarding herself and revealing nothing about the lord. After those people quickly realized they couldn’t pry any information and dispersed resentfully, Marianne finally approached, genuinely happy for her: “This is truly wonderful, Lucy! I never dreamed you would receive the grace of the great Cat God and even gain His Lordship’s favor!”

Speaking of this, Marianne couldn’t help but feel somewhat sorrowful: “If your father could know about this, he would surely be immensely comforted…”

“Aunt Marianne!”

Lucy’s eyes sparkled brightly.

Having just broken down crying twice before the Lord, she seemed to have transformed into a true adult almost instantly, her gaze firm and mature enough to startle Marianne.

“I only need to keep one egg per day for myself,” Lucy declared without hesitation. “All the other eggs should go to your family.”

“That simply won’t do! That’s such tremendous wealth!” Marianne blurted out. “Although you’re now working at the castle for His Lordship, you’re still a slave after all. You must save more—”

“Aunt Marianne, please listen to me,” Lucy said firmly. “If not for you and Uncle Jack back then, I might have followed my father’s path and died during the winter.”

“This is all I can offer in return for your kindness.” Lucy smiled slightly bashfully, yet her eyes burned with fervent, devout flames. “Everything else I have… will be dedicated to His Lordship from now on.”

She never dared hope for more.

Even with nothing, as long as she didn’t starve to death, having once been so close to that beautiful angel, she only wished to remain where the warm, brilliant light could perpetually shine upon her.

And to ensure the angelic Lord could continue shining from his lofty position, she would gladly pay with her life, departing this world with a joyful smile.

Unbeknownst to Oliver, aside from Fosse and Noel, he had gained another little devotee in his territory whose loyalty belonged solely to him.

Having petting so many chickens that day, Oliver bathed with particular care: by the time he finally emerged from the tub after several water changes, his body still steamed with heat, and the originally faint rose scent became noticeably richer, slowly permeating the room.

Oliver initially thought the fragrance came from noble-commonly used incense or his clothing.

But after careful investigation, he was astonished to discover it was actually his body’s natural scent.

Oh well.

At least it wasn’t unpleasant body odor.

Oliver could only console himself with this thought—though as a recently matured male, having an innate floral scent left him somewhat speechless.

Through Fosse, he knew many nobles naturally had overactive sweat glands, forcing them to douse themselves with half-bottles of perfume before court banquets to mask the overpowering stench.

That combination of penetrating fragrance and body odor was equally torturous.

While waiting for his hair to dry, Oliver held the God of Wealth statue he’d just retrieved from his game backpack, habitually beginning his daily summary through murmured self-reflection.

But before starting, he couldn’t resist hefting the deity statue in his hands.

Was it just his imagination? Oliver felt that the statue was slightly heavier than yesterday, though not as substantial as before.

The difference was too subtle. After staring at the motionless cat god statue with puzzlement for a while, Oliver eventually dismissed this minor doubt.

“My dear Cat God,”

His tone was solemn.

But his actual “prayer” involved intimately embracing the entire cat god statue in his arms, as if holding an obedient cat, his eyes smiling as he said: “Today I caught a ring in your name. Could it be that the generous and gentle Cat God wanted to protect your faithful follower, and deliberately had the fish bring this reward?”

……

Wrapped in the warm embrace faintly scented with roses, the deity who was slowly recovering depleted divine power clearly heard this clear, melodious voice.

……

…Yes.

Though consciousness remained hazy, it silently gave an affirmative response.

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