HTLCCBFT Chapter 83

Has The Lord’s Career Chart Been Filled Today? – Chapter 83

Oliver pondered for a while but couldn’t come up with a more reasonable explanation other than attributing it to a “system bug.”

However, this was only half a stamina bar after all.

Ever since Oliver discovered that most properly flavored dishes could provide decent recovery for both physical strength and energy, he had stopped being so meticulous about managing his energy usage.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Although he had more leeway now, he still harbored the strange notion that “if I don’t use up the initial full bar, the day doesn’t feel complete.”

After having breakfast and petting the chickens, as he led the butler and his entourage toward the mine, he casually asked, “Fosse, how do other nobles typically spend their days?”

Being constantly busy with harvesting crops, petting chickens, fishing, mining, and reclaiming land, he was probably the busiest lord around.

Yet he didn’t dislike that lifestyle at all.

Every day felt incredibly fulfilling. He could see visible changes occurring on his estate because of his efforts, and people’s lives were gradually improving.

In contrast, yesterday, when unexpected events forced him to halt his work, leaving him with a large amount of free time… he found it utterly boring.

How did other nobles, who would never work in the fields, pass their long days?

“Hosting banquets, dancing, enjoying performances by bards, and going hunting… is there anything else?” Oliver searched his memory as he spoke. “Ah, right, there’s also reading.”

The lives of nobles were privileged, deeply envied by all commoners and slaves.

But in Oliver’s eyes, such a lifestyle was both dull and extravagant.

Hosting banquets went without saying—just the sheer number of candles burned to illuminate the vast halls as bright as day represented a staggering expense.

Then there were the dishes cooked with expensive ingredients, the robes worn to the banquet, and the musicians and dancers hired for entertainment.

The frugal duke, who had already exhausted the meager inheritance left by previous lords and had no intention of selling off his own assets, had even simplified the important banquet for merchants into a modest business dinner.

He certainly wouldn’t splurge on hosting a banquet just for his own amusement.

Moreover, he had no interest in the activities nobles were so fond of, like dancing with beautiful women.

As for hunting, which some nobles adored, it was far from the simple stroll through the woods with a few attendants, bow and arrows, while casually (logging) wandering (fishing) that Oliver engaged in.

The costs were astonishingly high—even the free-spending banquets paled in comparison to the expenses required for hunting.

After merging with his body’s memories, Oliver recalled many scenes of accompanying the old king to hunting grounds.

The old king alone owned a pack of over fifty purebred hunting dogs!

The nobles in his entourage, of course, couldn’t match the king in the number of hunting dogs, but each would bring at least ten.

Outside of hunting seasons, the cost of feeding the dogs and paying the dog trainers was a mind-boggling astronomical sum.

Beyond the jaw-droppingly expensive hunting dogs, there was the even more costly practice of falconry—the king, who owned at least fifty eagles or falcons, had to employ around forty falconers.

Just providing them with food and wages would cost at least 200 gold coins per year—undoubtedly a terrifying expense far exceeding the cost of raising hunting dogs.

Oliver truly couldn’t understand what fun there was in such hunts.

Compared to testing a hunter’s archery skills and observational abilities, the situation on the hunting grounds was always chaotic and noisy every time.

If he had to describe it, it would be… eagles screeching and dogs barking together, bird feathers and dog fur flying side by side.

Nobles who valued their lives rarely ventured into the woods themselves, risking encounters with dangerous wild boars to seek out delicate and agile deer and foxes.

They usually sat on safe, elevated platforms alongside beautiful noblewomen dressed in flashy but impractical silk hunting attire, watching with restraint as their knights and hounds chased and killed in the field. They waited for them to bring back either large trophies they could boast about or beautiful pelts that could be made into new hoods.

Yet, such misnamed hunting activities were always fondly remembered by the pampered, thrill-seeking nobles of the royal capital.

No matter how enormous the expense, they insisted on holding several such events each year.

In comparison, hiring bards to perform songs and dances or staying home to read books could be considered “frugal.”

Of course, in this era without printing technology, where only ink and paper existed, books were exclusively handwritten copies.

Being able to purchase a large number of clearly written, high-quality hand-copied books… was also an expensive hobby worthy of nobles boasting about.

Fosse remained silent for a moment before replying respectfully, “Your Highness, aside from what you mentioned, some are also fond of playing chess, watching knights engage in jousting tournaments, or enjoying plays prepared by the temple.”

Oliver let out an “Oh,” lost in thought.

Chess could be dismissed, but the formats of “jousting” and “plays” were worth referencing.

The entertainment options available to the people of Laina were far too limited.

Previously, they lived in constant fear of hunger, worried about where their next meal would come from, so of course, they had no mood to seek relaxation or entertainment.

The busiest period in the fields had passed, the land reclamation was being handled by prisoners, and he had the knights conducting physical training for the people below…

In another month.

They could organize a small-scale military-style competition to test the results of their training during this period, using tangible rewards to encourage those who had made the most progress and those who had taught the best, while also boosting the enthusiasm of others to participate in training.

After the competition, the top performers could logically be selected to join the Laina Guards.

Oliver had already decided earlier to transfer the best trainees into the guard unit, serving for six years before being released.

If a slave was selected, they would be promoted to commoner status after their service; if a commoner was selected, they would be assigned a better job in the city after their service.

The most outstanding among them during their service would be allowed to choose whether to remain in the unit and advance further in their positions.

As for “plays,” that would be entertainment for the ordinary people.

If he had time, he could actually write them himself… but it would be better for Fosse to find suitable individuals to compose some educational yet entertaining scripts and perform them in an engaging way.

To save money, actors would be sourced from slaves or commoners whenever possible.

Only for absolutely irreplaceable roles where no suitable candidates could be found locally would they consider hiring from outside—and that would likely have to wait until the Autumn Market arrived, when his second payment for selling pickled corn or other crops would come through.

The more Oliver thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

As for the venue, they already had one ready: the square he had built for the Summer Market had been sitting empty since the market ended. With minimal adjustments, it could easily accommodate over two hundred spectators.

Of course, it was crude—enough to make any noble frown in displeasure and leave immediately with their servants.

But the entire—or at least the vast majority—of Laina’s potential audience consisted of people who had never been qualified to enter a temple, let alone watch an opera, so they wouldn’t be too picky.

Oliver didn’t plan to make the play accessible to everyone either: to motivate the lethargic adults to learn, he intended to use it as a reward.

Those with inadequate physical fitness would have to study diligently if they wanted to stand out!

Once the six captives finished transcribing the books, the top performers in the first month of the new universal education program would receive this reward.

The specific assessment methods and number of recipients would be decided later.

With a faintly affectionate gaze, Oliver looked at the people of Laina who were now running in a line along the ridges, panting heavily, driven like chicks by stern guards resembling birds of prey.

Though they couldn’t understand why the Lord was making them do this, their innate obedience, admiration, and worship of the Lord kept them from ever questioning it—they simply complied silently.

Since it was the Lord’s command, it must have a sacred purpose.

Little did they know that in the near future… so many trials and rewards awaited them.

Even Fosse couldn’t have guessed that his young master, after just a brief moment of thought, had drawn inspiration from his words and settled on several plans.

Although the mine at the southwestern edge of the territory was quite a distance from the castle, the group arrived quickly since they were all on horseback.

This time, Oliver didn’t have his attendants wait outside the pit but allowed them to follow him.

His only requirement was that they maintain a distance of at least five steps from him—a safe spot where they could rush to his aid in case of an emergency, yet remain out of range of the indiscriminate attacks of [Cat God’s Sword].

After arranging for the others, Oliver eagerly took out his pickaxe.

Facing the entrance to the cavern, he began digging in earnest, widening it laterally.

Actually, there was a more efficient method than chipping away one by one with a pickaxe—that was to craft [Pathetically Weak Bombs] according to the recipe and use them to blast the mine tunnels.

He hadn’t been able to make them before because, although he had coal, he lacked the basic resource of copper ore.

Even though the cat god statue provided him with various metal ingots, he couldn’t revert the ingots back into their original ore form.

As for now……………Oliver glanced at the game backpack, where the bright number “143” was displayed in the lower right corner of the “copper ore” icon.

Obviously, he couldn’t bear to use it.

Coal was fine, as trees could be regenerated quickly by sowing the tree seeds he had.

But ores couldn’t.

Why waste precious, non-renewable resources to blast rocks that could be broken with a pickaxe—a process that only took more time but cost him no effort otherwise?

It was too extravagant, too wasteful, completely intolerable!

Just imagining such a scenario made Oliver’s heart ache.

If one day he could save up a full stack—that is, 999 copper ores… no, to be safe, let’s make it 2 stacks.

That would be a different story.

While the stingy blond lord was making calculations in his mind, his hands never stopped moving, decisively swinging the pickaxe once more.

Sparks flew.

Otherwise… no one could make him use this hard-earned, precious resource unless it was absolutely necessary or an emergency!

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