HTLCCBFT Chapter 91

Has The Lord’s Career Chart Been Filled Today? – Chapter 91

Anyone who had to ride for nine days and eight nights through intermittent rainy weather would find their mood as gloomy as the sky at this moment.

These attendants were certainly no exception.

Especially when another downpour seemed imminent—having been almost constantly drenched these past few days—they couldn’t help but curse this wretched weather inwardly.

What a disgusting rainy season!

Yet no matter how displeased they felt, they dared not show the slightest hint of it on their faces.

After all, if their current mood resembled the gloomy clouds overhead, then the baron riding at the forefront was likely a boiling surge of magma.

The closer they got to Laina’s territory, the worse Baron Arte’s temper became.

Rationally, he knew that Laina City—known as The Cursed Land—would be even worse than Gregor City.

But after personally experiencing Gregor City’s living conditions, which were far inferior to the royal capital, even he—who wasn’t particularly picky among nobles—felt deeply dissatisfied.

How could his pure, beautiful, noble, and enchanting muse live in such a filthy, remote countryside!

Arte thought with immense distress.

He had originally been eagerly anticipating seeing the Angel Duke again, but after enduring the hardships of this journey, he grew increasingly afraid to maintain those expectations.

He had always believed that even the most precious deep-sea pearl must rest upon soft dark blue velvet to emit its delicate, beautiful radiance.

When the most exquisite rose in one’s heart falls into the mud, would it destroy the beautiful memories preserved in his mind?

Arte’s chest tightened.

Driven by this intensely conflicted mindset, the closer they got to Laina City, the more fiercely he urged his subordinates to hurry—even faster than before.

In his convoy, there were three additional (unwilling) companions.

They drove several draft horses pulling a flatbed cart, covered with waterproof tarpaulins over iron cages containing kittens they had been ordered to purchase.

Whether by luck or misfortune, they had just arrived in Gregor City when they encountered this baron who claimed to be a follower of the duke.

To these lowly servants, Arte wasted no words, directly demanding to travel with them.

Even having had the privilege of serving the unbelievably good-tempered duke, these three servants still trembled with fear and anxiety in Baron Arte’s presence.

Nobles undoubtedly held absolute power over slaves, but even as free commoners, if they accidentally offended this seemingly capricious young noble, the law could easily find dozens of rules to punish them.

Rationally, they knew the baron wouldn’t harm them out of respect for the duke… but they couldn’t suppress their innate fear and tension.

Seeing their timid, subservient demeanor, Arte couldn’t help but frown.

If the previous king were still here, servants of such poor quality wouldn’t even be qualified to approach the carriage driver of Duke Oliver—the old king’s most beloved—let alone serve the duke directly.

He could only hope that noble lord hadn’t suffered too much hardship.

With complex emotions swirling within him, even when Arte glimpsed the castle’s outline through the rain curtain in the distance, he felt no joy of “finally arriving.”

Noticing the raindrops hitting his cloak growing heavier and the rumble of thunder drawing closer, his expression turned stern as he issued a low command: “Pick up the pace, into the city.”

Though Oliver had no means to construct walls or a moat for the time being, having been attacked by bandits, he had still reinforced the defenses of Laina City’s western gate. Particularly after discovering the mining area and obtaining a large new supply of stone, he had once again extravagantly built over a hundred stone fences to block the entrance not severed by the river.

Unlike the prison specifically used to detain captives for labor, this time he left a gate that could be opened and assigned four guards to take turns standing watch.

Arte scrutinized these tall, sturdy-looking stone fences with a critical eye, then shifted his gaze to the castle, whose outline was now clearly visible.

How crude.

He frowned deeply.

Could this even be considered a castle?

“Baron Studio, welcome to Laina.”

After inspecting his pass, the guard barely suppressed his surprise and bowed deeply to him: “Please enter.”

The surprise, of course, wasn’t solely due to Arte’s status as a baron.

While sending someone back to the castle to report this matter, they opened the gate to let the party in, still inwardly astonished.

In such terrible weather, their kind, angelic Lord couldn’t bear to make the slaves work in the rain and had given them the day off to rest at home. As the “indispensable protectors of the territory” (as the Lord himself had called them), the guards still had to remain at the city gate, but they had a small wooden shelter to rest in safely, protected from the wind and rain. Moreover, they received double rations as a ‘subsidy.’

Such generous conditions instantly made this duty a coveted position that everyone scrambled to obtain. Had they not performed excellently, they wouldn’t have been assigned here.

Yet this baron before them had chosen to visit their Lord in such a thunderstorm?

And in such a sorry state—aside from the baron at the front, who wore a specially treated, rain-resistant animal hide cloak, all his attendants were thoroughly covered in mud.

“Ah, it’s you?”

When they saw familiar faces at the rear of the party, they couldn’t help but ask: “Have you already bought the items Mr. Fosse requested?”

“Of course,” replied the three, who had been on edge the entire journey back to Laina, terrified of offending this cold baron. Finally relaxing, they even felt like discussing with the guards: “Do you think we should go back to wash up and change clothes first, or report directly to His Lordship at the castle?”

“If you don’t want to anger Mr. Fosse, the sooner you return, the better.”

After giving his assessment, Garth, the guard most familiar with them, couldn’t contain his curiosity. He lifted a corner of the canvas and, upon seeing the weak kittens huddled together for warmth and meowing nervously, was momentarily speechless: “This… why didn’t you buy bigger ones?”

Though it was unclear why the formidable and stern butler had suddenly sent them to Gregor City to buy cats, in the straightforward mindset of the Laina people, whether for eating or other uses, bigger was always better.

“We couldn’t find any larger ones.” The three who had been on the business trip also felt helpless: “Time was tight, we only managed to find these.

Fortunately, we brought waterproof tarps, otherwise these kittens might not have survived these consecutive rainy days.”

“Servants.”

Baron Arte, who had been listening to their conversation without showing any expression, suddenly spoke coldly: “Take me to the best inn in town.”

He certainly couldn’t meet the long-awaited duke in such a disrespectful state.

No matter how shabby the inn conditions might be, he needed to bathe first and change into more formal attire.

“Yes, Your Lordship.”

Everyone immediately fell silent.

After some thought, they didn’t dare delay any longer. They wanted to report to the castle immediately, and these precious kittens… also needed to be properly accommodated.

After exchanging glances, the three quickly decided that the bravest and most clever among them would take the baron and his party to the inn, while the other two would bring the cats to the castle for the butler’s inspection.

Even though he had mentally prepared himself beforehand, and his heart and mind were solely focused on meeting the duke, Arte’s eyelid still twitched when he saw the town’s houses uniformly built with charred wood for exteriors.

What kind of godforsaken place is this!

Meanwhile, Duke Oliver, whom Baron Arte deeply pitied, was receiving the fortunate pig merchant Piggs in the hall.

Piggs had three main requests for his audience with the duke.

His first request was that he absolutely insisted on offering all eighteen pigs he brought to Laina to the divine messenger this time.

Oliver had no intention of accepting them.

In just over a month and a half, the Autumn Market would be held.

By that time, with the final payment from Kondiment’s pickled corn, Laina would have sufficient funds to purchase a batch of pigs.

No matter how much he wanted them, there was no need to rush things over a month in advance.

Moreover, after experiencing the cost-effectiveness of raising chickens, his desire for pigs had significantly diminished.

Rather than scattering his efforts, it would be better to fully develop the chicken farm first before considering large-scale breeding of other livestock.

“Respected divine messenger!”

After being politely refused by Oliver, Piggs instead felt despair.

He knelt on the ground, repeatedly begging: “Please have mercy and accept this humble token of gratitude! If not for your generosity and kindness, the great Cat God wouldn’t even know the name Piggs, how could He possibly bestow the divine power that restored my health? Having personally endured such painful suffering and witnessed such divine miracles, even if I were to die on the spot and offer everything, I must completely become a believer of the omniscient and omnipotent Cat God!”

Piggs wasn’t being entirely truthful.

After narrowly escaping death, his attitude toward the Cat God, who frequently displayed divine miracles, had indeed shifted from pure utilitarianism to genuine worship and gratitude.

However, the reason he felt he “must give these gifts,” even under the terrifying gaze of that frightening butler nearby, and continued to beg this angelically kind divine messenger to accept them, was ultimately fear.

In the past, whether he truly believed in that deity or not, he would maintain respect and willingly offer certain gifts.

But this time was different!

He had already received the boon of divine power and regained his health!

As a merchant, Piggs knew that the better something was, the more expensive its price would naturally be.

Of course, this excluded some fools who couldn’t recognize value—but how could a mere human possibly deceive an omnipotent and powerful deity!

His life was certainly more precious than all his possessions.

Since he had received such a blessing first, unless he was bold enough to risk divine punishment and curses by continuing to “take advantage of the deity,” he had to offer tributes as quickly and abundantly as possible.

Otherwise, no matter how kind and friendly a deity might be, their wrath would be something he couldn’t possibly withstand!

Oliver, of course, had no idea about Piggs’ complicated thoughts.

Even though the effects of the Healing Potion were miraculous, to him, it was just a game item made from four poisonous mushrooms that even slaves wouldn’t dare eat.

Piggs’ illness happened to worsen after he unlocked the Healing Potion recipe, which could be considered Piggs’ own luck.

Trading four poisonous mushrooms for eighteen pigs…

Even though Piggs genuinely believed this was completely worth it, Oliver didn’t want this merchant—who had traveled all the way to Laina just to earn a little more money—to pay such a high price.

“The merciful and generous Cat God always helps those he deems worthy of assistance, those with good qualities, even if they aren’t believers.”

Oliver smiled and said, “You can—”

Before he could finish saying “rest assured,” Piggs, unable to contain his anxiety and fear, broke down in tears!

“Your Highness, Your Highness! Please, I beg you to accept it!” The chubby merchant cried with snot and tears streaming down his face—this wasn’t an act but a completely genuine expression. “That is my humble attempt to show respect to the great Cat God, and it’s the consultation fee for buying back my own life!”

What if the Cat God became angry at his stinginess and decided to take his life back!

Oliver fell silent.

Was the charm of the fluffy faith really this powerful?

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TL Note: Happy bulk update Monday!~