HTLCCBFT Chapter 39

Has The Lord’s Career Chart Been Filled Today? – Chapter 39

“Oh, my dear Cat God.”

Since who-knows-when, Oliver had developed a habit of holding the Cat God before bed and talking to himself, treating it as a way to summarize the day’s affairs.

Tonight was no exception.

He held the golden fortune cat statue in his arms, letting it act as his sole audience, and then became engrossed in a conversation with himself: “Tomorrow is the first day of letting the chicks roam free. I hope everything goes smoothly. I’ll have Lucy and the others keep a close watch so the chicks don’t get injured in the unfamiliar environment. The free time in the afternoon can be used to inspect the progress of filling in the shit river and to check on the growth of the crops planted by the others. As for the business dinner in the evening, I’m a duke, after all; the merchants shouldn’t be too difficult to handle. Hmm… after I give them a day off tomorrow, I’ll have them do some more heavy manual labor before the weather gets completely hot.”

And in the incomparably distant, highest divine realm, a hazy golden shadow was slowly absorbing the purest power of faith, causing its illusory form to gradually solidify.

Although the day he would be truly formed was still a long, long way off, he still meticulously separated the most important sliver of his divine consciousness and attached it to that golden cat statue.

Nestled in that warm embrace, which was overflowing with an intoxicating scent of roses, and listening to his one and only beloved, beautiful believer speak in a pleasant voice about things He could not understand… it still caused the newborn deity to fall into an irresistible state of intoxication.

Having rambled on to this point, Oliver’s beautiful blue eyes suddenly lowered, and he stared at the two pointed little ears of the fortune cat statue for a while.

Feeling that focused gaze, the golden, illusory figure in the divine realm couldn’t help but freeze.

However, Oliver never suspected that the “Cat God” in his arms was the real “Cat God,” much less did he notice the minute increase in the statue’s weight each day.

He was simply drawn to the cat ears, which looked like they would feel good to the touch, and couldn’t resist reaching out to stroke them…

It indeed had the texture a gold statue should have, polished to an incredible smoothness.

But unlike the coldness Oliver had expected, the cat statue’s ears felt… warm to the touch?

Was it because the weather was too hot? Or had it absorbed his body heat?

Oliver didn’t think much of it.

His thoughts drifted off somewhere, and after a short while, he closed his eyes and, with a light chuckle, kissed the fortune statue’s forehead. “Strange, why do I keep feeling like you’re a little heavier today than you were yesterday?”

It was with the same gentleness one would show a real kitten.

And in his pleasant voice, without him even realizing it, was a hint of coquettish softness. “So, can the great Cat God bless me and let everything go smoothly?”

…

What the beautiful lord didn’t know was that after receiving the cherished kiss, the naive newborn deity earnestly gave him a response.

The settlement panel for the day held no surprises: ever since the [Farming] profession skill had caught up and shot up to level 5 in one go, the experience required for the next level had multiplied several times over.

Even though the corn and sunflowers in the fields were harvested as soon as they were ready, and the great morning chicken-petting enterprise was never neglected, even with all that hard work, the experience bar was still far from being filled. His experience points had only slowly climbed to 72% of level 5.

Based on the rate he was gaining experience, he calculated that to reach level 6, he would have to wait for the next batch of corn to ripen, which would be another seven days.

However, summer had only just begun, so Oliver wasn’t in a hurry. As long as he could rush his Farming skill to level 9 and craft the crucial seed-making machine before winter arrived—when all the crops produced by the game system would automatically wither—that would be good enough.

Fortunately, he had already figured out the rule that he could also gain Farming experience by petting his poultry.

Once winter truly set in, he could still pet his chickens every day, so he would be far from the point of having nothing to do but sit around idly with no experience points coming in.

The next morning, Oliver woke up on time and habitually walked to the window to check on his fields.

One look was all it took to make him feel uneasy.

He had clearly announced a day off for everyone… so why were the serfs, carrying hoes or water buckets, heading to the fields as usual at the sound of the first bell?

With a headache, Oliver summoned his butler, Fosse. “Fosse, what’s going on with them?”

“Your Grace,” Fosse said, performing a standard bow. While swiftly directing the servants with his eyes to set out breakfast, he replied respectfully, “Your boon has been fully conveyed. The serfs are going to the fields of their own volition.”

“Of their own volition?”

Oliver frowned slightly, not believing a word of it.

What wage slave in this world didn’t look forward to a day off? Especially a fully paid one that the boss had offered himself.

He feared the stewards had secretly pressured the serfs to make a good impression on him.

If this kind of behavior wasn’t stopped early, it would lead to endless trouble in the future. For the sake of a single day’s work from the serfs, his own good intentions would be completely buried, and it would even damage his and the Cat God’s authority.

“This is an oracle from the Cat God, a reward for the diligent. Would they dare be so bold as to refuse a gift from God?” Oliver’s expression turned slightly stern as he emphasized, “Aside from those working in the castle, no one is allowed to work for the domain, not even if they are truly willing. And any steward who forces or threatens them to give up their holiday to work must be rooted out by the guards and severely warned.”

Fosse agreed without hesitation. “I understand, my esteemed master.”

What Oliver didn’t know was that, for once, he had misunderstood the stewards. With the precedent of Andison’s severe punishment for whipping a serf, and having witnessed for themselves how benevolent and kind this Lord was to the serfs, the usually arrogant and domineering stewards had tactfully reined in their tempers.

Although their arrogance was bone-deep and it was impossible for them to ever truly feel goodwill toward the serfs… at least during the Duke’s rule, unless they wanted to lose their good jobs, they would never dare to abuse the serfs as they had before. Naturally, they wouldn’t feign compliance this time either.

The serfs’ insistence on going to the fields truly came from their own hearts and wishes.

In their eyes, they had already received the greatest and most wonderful gift from the great Cat God. Such was their kind and wonderful Lord.

The fish soup and firewood only provided temporary warmth and full bellies, and the bountiful harvest of corn in the fields only brought the hope that they might not have to starve this year.

But what the Angel Duke brought to this land of despair was a long-awaited… no, a beautiful hope that had never existed before.

Unfortunately, they had nothing. Filled with gratitude and reverence, they had nothing to give back to that angel.

In the spacious and bright new homes built with high-quality lumber, the only things that could be called beautiful were the fresh flowers the Cat God had bestowed upon them last night through the Lord.

Driven by the strong desire to “repay this best of Lords no matter what,” the slaves, who had slept particularly soundly that night, all appeared in the fields in unison the next morning.

—Only to be driven away by the grim-faced stewards.

“Stop trying to be clever, you idiots!”

The steward brandished his horsewhip, but it was only for show. The slaves had recently discovered that while the whips, swung with intimidating force, looked terrifying, they never once landed on them. It was nothing like before, when they were casually tormented and treated as less than livestock.

These silent changes were undoubtedly all brought about by the Lord.

The stewards, still unaware that their act had been seen through, barely suppressed their desire to whip this ungrateful bunch and bellowed, “This is an oracle from the great Cat God, and it is also the Lord’s command. The noble Lord has ordered you lucky lazybones to rest. Do you dare to disobey?!”

The slaves stared at each other, almost thinking they had misheard.

In all their years, they had only ever been scolded and beaten for working too little or not working well enough.

…Never in their wildest dreams did they imagine a day would come when they would be driven away and forced to rest for voluntarily going to work in the fields.

With blank expressions, the slaves were forced to retreat from the farmland, sitting dazedly on the wooden poles in front of their homes.

Unlike the commoners, they had never had free time that was truly their own, time they could use to do whatever they pleased.

Even a while ago, when the Lord had generously granted them lumber to build new houses and latrines, they at least had a goal and a direction.

Now, what were they supposed to do?

An unprecedented confusion and unease grew in the slaves’ hearts.

Just then, the Lord, having finished his breakfast, saw that it was still a while before it was suitable to let the chicks out to range. So, he appeared with the watering can from his game inventory.

He strolled leisurely to the specially dug irrigation ditch by the fields and filled the watering can.

Since his farming profession skill had reached level 5, the watering can, which could initially only hold enough water for 50 crops, could now water 85.

Moreover, its irrigation range had also expanded—with a short charge, he could water five plants at once.

His workload seemed immense, but it was actually manageable; after all, the weather hadn’t fully heated up yet, and the sun wasn’t too harsh.

This meant that the potatoes planted in the other half of the field didn’t need to be watered every day.

The corn he had planted, however, required daily irrigation; if he stopped for even a day, the harvest date would be pushed back by a day.

For 1,000 corn stalks and over 200 sunflowers, a dozen or so trips were all it took. For today, the task of watering alone was enough to completely drain his energy.

The reason Oliver usually never watered the plants himself was because the task was too time-consuming.

It was far less interesting than planting, fishing, or logging, and it didn’t provide any experience points.

There were so many slaves on the territory, with each responsible for a plot of land. It was countless times more efficient than him doing it all alone.

Today was an exception.

This was the first time Oliver had used the game system’s watering can in reality.

Just as he had expected, the watering can, filled with water, was just like the previous axe; it didn’t feel heavy at all when he lifted it, and its watering efficiency was also very high.

Listening to the gurgling sound of the water, watching the color of the earth instantly darken, and hearing the crisp “pat-pat” sound as the corn leaves were hit by the water… Oliver felt an inexplicable sense that a deep-seated desire had been quietly awakened.

And so, after trying it out for a bit, the lord unexpectedly entered a state of excitement for the work, enthusiastically continuing to water his way down the row.

As for the slaves, being forced to watch their lord—who had forbidden all of them from working—personally carry a watering can and arduously (not really) water each and every corn stalk was even more torturous than making them work for three days and three nights straight.

Oh, revered Cat God.

They prayed silently in their hearts, tears streaming down their faces.

We beg you… We beg you.

Do not let the beautiful Divine Messenger become so weary.

Hurry and let the oxen and horses pull the heavy iron plows they are meant to pull, and let the humble slaves do the arduous tasks.

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