HTLCCBFT Chapter 26

Has The Lord’s Career Chart Been Filled Today? – Chapter 26

While Oliver was immersed in the inexplicable joy of hand-snapping corn, Piggs also decided to take a look at the so-called pastureland.

Though called pastureland, with the Lord having single-handedly cultivated most of the spring ploughing fields, the serfs—left with little to do—had still turned over the enclosed pasture under the supervisors’ guidance.

When the deep soil was overturned, it exposed incompletely removed grass roots and hatching insect eggs, which naturally became delicacies for the few remaining livestock and poultry in Laina City.

Piggs had more often witnessed situations where, to increase crop yields, slaves were ordered to plant crops even in the crevices of rocks.

Yet this was the first time he had seen such extravagance—a Lord leaving a full third of the land unused, specifically for grazing livestock.

He stood on a small slope atop his horse, taking advantage of the higher ground to look down, and took in the entire orderly excavated area.

“What exactly is this Duke of Laina City trying to do?”

Piggs stroked his mustache, lost in thought.

Just as he attempted to infer the character of this yet-unmet Lord by imagining the typical noble mindset, a glint of brilliant gold caught the corner of his eye.

He instinctively turned his head to the right.

Peering through the dense, tall, deep green corn stalks, after a careful look, he could indeed make out what seemed to be a person hidden within.

A few strands of golden hair flowing out from under a plain, unadorned straw hat reflected a dazzling brilliance under the sunlight.

Oh! Such beautiful golden hair!

Piggs couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.

Among merchants, he was certainly well-traveled—he was quite sure that such a pure and beautiful shade of gold, like that of the person in the field, was rare even among pure-blooded nobles, let alone in the farmlands of such a remote city.

Could it be a slave hiding to slack off?

After a few more glances, Piggs quickly corrected his assumption: No, that person wasn’t hiding but openly harvesting the abundant corn cobs scattered across the ground.

Piggs couldn’t help but grow a bit curious: Indeed, even he, who never engaged in farming, could see that this vast cornfield had received a divine gift of harvest and was clearly ready for picking.

Why then were the slaves ignoring this, instead engaging in odd carpentry work under the supervisors’ direction?

In that incredibly dense cornfield, even squinting and staring intently, he could only make out a faint, indistinct silhouette.

His attention fixed on the person with the beautiful golden hair, Piggs watched for a long time before noticing something strange.

The person moved through the field at an unhurried pace, as if taking a leisurely stroll, with a demeanor that could even be described as graceful and composed.

Along the way, the corn leaves brushed by the hem of their clothes swayed gently, producing a rain-like rustling sound…

For some reason, watching the corn leaves ripple outward like waves, Piggs was reminded of proud honor guards awaiting the king’s inspection, each stepping forward with firm resolve. Even he couldn’t quite explain why the simple sight of a lone figure moving through a cornfield could captivate him so completely that he couldn’t look away.

Of course, Oliver had no idea that in Laina City—where everyone was unbelievably busy—there existed one truly idle person staring right at him.

Harvesting crops was effortless work for him: it only required repeating the simple cycle of ‘approach’-‘snap off’-‘store in game backpack’-‘move to next’, allowing him to watch the number of [Corn] in his game backpack visibly increase.

The crisp “snap” when corn cobs were cleanly broken from their stalks was utterly addictive—not to mention the experience points it represented.

Harvesting crops didn’t even consume energy!

Oliver leisurely immersed himself in the joy of harvest, moving along the ridges with astonishing efficiency, sweeping through the cornfields like a force of nature and leaving them completely cleared.

When Fosse, who had been staring blankly from afar, finally realized that wherever this golden-haired beauty—whose looks would make even nobles green with envy—passed, the corn seemed to vanish into thin air…

Having finished harvesting the entire field, Oliver finally felt the midday sun becoming uncomfortably warm. He lifted his hat brim high, letting the warm breeze flow through his slightly damp hair.

It was this very action that exposed that exquisitely crafted profile—so perfect it would leave the most skilled painter helpless, so indescribably refined it seemed gently kissed by God—directly to Fosse’s view.

After enjoying the breeze for a moment, Oliver naturally turned his burning gaze toward the next cornfield awaiting harvest.

According to the game system’s settings, corn could be harvested every 7 days until the season ended.

But before the first ear of corn was picked, the second wouldn’t begin growing.

This meant that to maximize the benefits of the recurring harvest feature, the harvesting process truly couldn’t be delayed even a single day.

During his brief rest, Oliver looked at the lush green cornfield, then glanced at the potato field—which despite being fertilized with diluted urine days ago, now only showed sparse sprouts emerging from the soil…

He blinked several times before barely suppressing the impulse to “dig up all the potatoes and plant corn instead.”

The reason was simple.

No matter how miraculously useful the game system was or how tempting its rewards, Oliver’s rationality wouldn’t allow him to stake everything on an external system that might fail.

Otherwise, if the game system ever stopped working—causing those miraculous crops to vanish overnight—the impact on him as lord would at most be lightly dismissed as “divine favor” disappearing.

But many of the common people below would likely starve to death.

“Oh heavens! Lord Fosse!”

Oliver’s somewhat heavy thoughts were interrupted by several simultaneous exclamations.

Surprised, he followed the sounds to see several people in the distance hastily dismounting their horses, rushing urgently toward the same spot.

Had someone fallen and gotten injured?

Oliver paused momentarily, then looked toward where Fosse was. The ever-loyal butler immediately understood the cue and hurried over with a nimbleness that defied his age, eagerly asking, “Your Highness! Are you retiring for the day?”

Oliver shook his head in amusement, gesturing with his chin toward the site of the minor commotion. “Go see what exactly happened over there.”

“Shut up, you fools!” Piggs gritted his teeth as he cursed.

His face flushed crimson with humiliation, wishing he could drive away the foolish attendants whose exaggerated shouts had drawn a crowd of curious slaves. It was utterly mortifying!

Face down on the ground, Piggs felt so ashamed he wished for death. By God, he had never suffered such a severe embarrassment in his entire life! Just last night, he had mocked Nisse for being provincial while boasting endlessly about “the Duke’s majestic presence.” Never in his wildest dreams did he expect to encounter that face—more beautiful than anyone could imagine, that most divinely favored creation—in such a remote place.

He couldn’t even comprehend what had just happened. It was likely like a sailor in the ocean bewitched by a siren’s intoxicating song, unconsciously leaning further and further forward. Subconsciously, he only wanted to get closer to the other, ever closer… until he completely lost his balance and tumbled off his horse—then embarrassedly fell into the manure-covered soil he had previously disdained to step on, fearing it would dirty his boot soles.

Whether by luck or misfortune, the muddy ground, mixed with pig, horse, and cattle dung, was much softer than the gravel path, serving as a complete buffer. Though he ached all over terribly now, he had at most broken one or two bones. Had he landed squarely on the gravel, he might have died on the spot.

But Piggs had no mind to feel grateful. His nostrils were filled with a horrific stench that made him want to faint on the spot, and the excruciating pain wracked his body with constant groans. Yet neither of these torments compared to the deeper shame and worry. That undignified scene of him, the esteemed Piggs, falling into pastoral manure… could it have been witnessed by that angelic beauty?

Piggs couldn’t help but shudder.

“It’s been clarified, Your Highness,” Fosse replied respectfully as Oliver, having finished the day’s harvest work and gathered the first batch of corn faster than expected, was peacefully enjoying his dinner. “A pig dealer named Piggs fell from his horse and has been sent to the doctor.”

Though he hadn’t been here long, in the eyes of the Lainans, the astute butler Fosse—who seemed almost omniscient—rarely encountered something beyond his understanding. Had he known that the reason for Piggs’ distraction and fall was because he had been sneaking glances at his beloved young master…

Then Piggs wouldn’t be lying in a quack’s clinic now but would have “accidentally fallen” into the not-yet-filled sewage river east of the city.

“A pig dealer?” Oliver, concerned about the potential impact on his anticipated sweet and sour pork, braised pork, and twice-cooked pork—essentially, the pigs—asked a few more questions with care. “How did he get injured? Is it serious?”

“Your Highness, he merely broke two bones due to sheer carelessness,” Fosse replied, his lips pressed tightly together. As a former knight captain with superb equestrian skills, he naturally held the utmost contempt for someone who could foolishly and inexplicably fall off a horse while riding perfectly fine on flat ground: “Even if he truly lost his life because of this, it would only be due to his own stupidity… Unfortunately, with just a month of rest, his injuries should fully heal.”

Faced with the steward’s rare display of emotion and scathing evaluation, Oliver couldn’t help but chuckle, generously choosing to follow the steward’s lead: “He’s merely a pig dealer—how could he possibly compare to my capable and loyal steward? It’s just that if anything unexpected were to happen to him, it might reinforce the ‘curse’ theory about Laina City in the eyes of foolish outsiders. If that were to affect our carefully prepared Summer Market, it would be quite unfortunate.”

Hearing his young master’s sincere praise, even someone as steady as Fosse couldn’t help but secretly curve the corners of his lips.

For now, since the other party only suffered minor injuries for strange reasons and could recover with a month of recuperation… this was actually good news for Oliver.

“Has the wine merchant arrived?” Oliver asked with sparkling eyes full of anticipation. “Let’s summon them first. It’s time to sell off that stockpile of beer and convert it into cash for buying pigs.”

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