Has The Lord’s Career Chart Been Filled Today? – Chapter 124
Before the people in the castle could detect the arrival of Laina’s army, all exits had been surrounded by well-equipped guards.
Hearing the commotion, the rebels gradually awoke from their dreams, scarcely able to believe their eyes.
“An army! An army is here!”
“Hey, wake up, everyone!”
“Damn it, we’re finished!”
These men, who had encountered no real resistance since the day they launched their rebellion with a resolve to die and had miraculously enjoyed smooth sailing all along, instantly fell into unprecedented panic.
The fear of authority was, in fact, deeply ingrained in the bones of slaves.
After a chaotic uproar, they crowded around the windows, jostling to peer down below.
Though they couldn’t clearly see the face of the one leading the army, they could distinctly sense that this was a noble of far more exalted bearing than the former Baron Butor.
Realizing this, the group seemed to shed their brazen exteriors at once, reverting to their cowering, timid slave selves.
Discovering that the main gate couldn’t be pushed open from the inside, many nearly broke down in desperation.
“The gate is barred from the outside!”
“It won’t budge!” “Should we try to break it down?!”
“There are soldiers everywhere outside! What do they want?!”
“We’re finished! That must be the royal capital’s forces sent to suppress us!”
“Are they planning to trap us inside and starve us to death?!”
“If only we had left a few days ago!”
“What should we do now?”
Terrified and bewildered, many of the rebels thought of their leader at that moment.
“Go ask Lieder! Lieder might have a plan!”
So the group surged in a rush toward Lieder’s bedroom on the highest floor.
“I already know.”
When they burst through the door, Lieder stood with his arms crossed, his expression grave as he conferred with his most trusted deputies by the window, seemingly discussing something.
Seeing their panicked state, he frowned deeply and forced himself to patiently reassure them, “Calm down! Look carefully—the enemy hasn’t brought any siege equipment; they can’t breach the walls’ defenses! They’ve only surrounded the castle gates. Why are you so afraid?”
Hearing Lieder’s words, the frantic crowd indeed felt slightly better.
That’s right… they hadn’t seen any of those terrifying siege engines!
Even a knight of immense strength couldn’t break through the walls’ protection without such equipment!
“Moreover, though the food left in the storerooms isn’t much, it’s enough to last us over ten more days.” Lieder said with a stern face, “Given the current situation, no more extravagance or waste like before is allowed. We must conserve as much as possible. And those women… not a single one is to be spared.”
Faced with that final cruel decision, everyone wore expressions of utter acceptance.
This was no time for revelry; keeping those women alive would mean they’d have to keep feeding them!
No matter how little they ate, it was still food.
And now, even they themselves didn’t have enough to eat!
Besides, after a whole winter of unrestrained abuse, they had grown tired of those constantly weeping, increasingly frail women.
Even if Lieder hadn’t spoken, they had never intended to leave the women alive when departing today: they were too troublesome and impossible to take along anyway.
And let’s be serious—if those women were rescued, wouldn’t they go everywhere denouncing their crimes and resenting their actions?
Rather than letting their bodies continue benefiting others while their mouths spread rumors, it was simpler to just cut them down with a blade!
A few individuals felt slightly reluctant and quietly suggested, “Could we postpone killing them until tomorrow? We promise not to feed them! Surely that’s fine, right?”
“Hey, idiot! Who knows if you’ll share your bread with her just because she pleased you!”
“It’s your own food anyway. As long as you don’t take extra, I don’t care.”
Lieder finally lost patience and growled, “If you’re so keen on keeping them, you can stay with them forever!”
Seeing his anger, everyone fell silent.
Watching Lieder calm the panicked crowd with just a few words, his friend and deputy leader Deputi[mfn]德普提 (Dépǔtí) – meant to sound like ‘Deputy'[/mfn] couldn’t help but admire, “You’re truly remarkable as always.”
“Only capable of fooling those idiots.”
After the bedroom door closed again, Lieder’s expression immediately turned grim. He gritted his teeth and muttered, “I told them long ago to leave with me quickly…”
If it weren’t for these shortsighted fools clinging to comfort and pleasure, unwilling to leave Albury until food was nearly exhausted, he wouldn’t have been dragged down to become a rat trapped in its nest today!
But everything had already happened. No matter how furious he was now, it was useless.
Lieder quickly adjusted his mindset and asked instead, “How many weapons are left in the castle?”
“Enough for a thousand people.” Deputi smiled bitterly. “But you know those guys… They’ve only ever held hoes. Hardly any can wield swords.”
During the past winter, those people ignored all warnings, indulging in pleasure-seeking. Now they probably can’t even swing hoes properly anymore.
They have weapons but don’t know how to use them!
Their will to fight has been eroded, and they’ve lost their original determination to battle to the death.
With these two major disadvantages, even with equal numbers, they absolutely couldn’t be a match for that clearly well-trained army.
Lieder certainly knew Deputi was speaking the truth.
He couldn’t help but curse violently.
Frowning tightly, he irritably looked out the window, but his confusion only grew heavier.
Finally setting aside thoughts of escape plans, he asked Deputi beside him, “Quick, look—what are they actually trying to do?”
This enemy force that frightened everyone in the castle had surrounded all exits but showed no intention of further attack.
Under the knights’ leadership, the soldiers methodically used local materials to build strange-looking but effective simple shelters that could block arrows and hot oil, without approaching the walls further.
The other followers who looked more like farmers than soldiers completely baffled Lieder with their actions: they actually took out farming tools and started clearing weeds from the fields!
“What’s going on?” Deputi widened his eyes and murmured, “This must be a disguise to make us let our guard down!”
Lieder remained silent.
In his heart, he didn’t agree with Deputi’s words.
Let their guard down?
The ones besieging them in the castle were elite soldiers wearing longswords and battle axes at their waists, carrying heavy shields with intricate noble crests—clearly coming from wealthy families.
Anyone who witnessed this scene firsthand would never easily let their guard down.
Yet all of this was truly incomprehensible.
If it were Lieder, he would never fail to send someone to address the panicked enemy, forcing them to surrender or provoking them to leave the castle, after gaining the upper hand.
Instead, they were focusing on those damned farmlands?
Absolutely insane!
“So arrogant.”
Lieder gritted his teeth and said, “They completely regard us as easy prey!”
Because they were far away, when he saw that golden figure, radiant like spring sunlight, also descend to the ground and personally start tilling the land, his sense of humiliation only grew stronger.
This was definitely a provocation!
In his rage, Lieder barely noticed the other’s astonishingly fast digging speed and overlooked the fact that once they started, they didn’t stop until the entire vast wasteland was fully cultivated.
“We can’t keep stalling like this with them.”
Lieder quickly made up his mind, a cruel smile curling at the corner of his mouth: “When night falls, we’ll abandon those fools who refuse to obey orders—no, we’ll use them and those useless women as bait to cover our escape.”
Deputi also laughed: “Exactly, we should have done this long ago, my brother! After all, those idiots have been trailing behind us, enjoying days they never deserved. It’s time they paid it back.”
Unaware of the rebel leader’s cold-blooded scheme, Oliver remained deeply immersed in the joy and sense of accomplishment of tilling such barren land after so long… his momentum was unstoppable, like a surging tide.
Especially now that his farmer level had reached level 9, the range of his hoe, the speed of his swings, and his utilization of energy had all received significant professional ability bonuses.
If he had been tasked with cultivating such a large piece of wasteland back when he first arrived in Laina, it would have taken at least three full stamina bars and kept him busy for two days.
Now, he could accomplish it in just over half a day with only two stamina bars.
While the noble duke lord was addicted to hoeing the land and the hidden deity naturally accompanied him, the slaves of Albury, still reeling from shock and confusion, encountered something even more unbelievable.
“Th-These,” Naef stammered, his face blank, “are they really for us?!”
Having witnessed many situations alongside the Lord, Xavier, the cook fortunate enough to accompany them this time, no longer reacted with the same astonishment as the first time.
Holding a wooden ladle, he calmly tapped it against the steaming large pot emitting fragrant white mist and declared loudly, “Remember, all of this is thanks to the great Cat God and our most sacred Lord—His Highness Oliver. Only under their glorious blessings could even slaves receive such gifts! And all you need to offer is loyalty and labor! How fortunate!”
“Stop standing there dumbfounded.” His assistant also urged: “As per the Lord’s instructions, each of you is allowed one bowl of bean soup, children get one piece and adults two pieces of black bread! Go back and get your bowls!”
Even with this confirmation, and even with the instruction to “go home and bring bowls,” the slaves still exchanged uncertain glances, shrinking back in fear.
They were slaves of Albury after all.
Moreover, throughout the entire morning, they had just stood by foolishly watching, without contributing anything!
That beautiful, noble Lord had even personally worked the fields, doing such strenuous farm labor… and had done it more skillfully than any of them.
Witnessing all this plunged them into deep self-doubt.
As the lowliest beings, their only purpose was farming.
Now that they couldn’t even farm properly, would they truly be accepted by their new master?
“Great Cat God, and sacred Lord Oliver?”
Naef murmured quietly.
He couldn’t help but glance at the two blond nobles still working in the fields, then at the large pot emitting incredibly enticing food aromas, and the small mountains of black bread. He uncontrollably swallowed hard.
His hunger had long passed the point of stomach growling – he couldn’t even feel the pain anymore, only numbness.
But seeing proper, decent food for the first time in so long, he…
“Great Cat God, sacred Lord.”
Thinking of his family at home – his wife breathing weakly from hunger – he mustered courage, suppressed his intense fear, and cautiously stepped forward: “Really… could you grant me bread and soup?”
“Hmm.” The distributing worker glanced at him calmly and proactively asked: “Just you alone? No bowl?”
“N-no,” Naef stammered under the gazes of all the slaves filled with longing and admiration, “I have a wife and three children. We still have two bowls.”
“That’s not enough. Well, you’re lucky.”
The worker frowned slightly, then quickly fetched three roughly made but – in Naef’s eyes – very large bowls from nearby: “Just lending these to you, remember to return them!”
As he spoke, he ladled three bowls of soup so full they nearly overflowed from the large pot.
When the thick broth slowly dripped from the ladle, everyone instinctively took a step forward.
“Three children, two adults…”
Not finished yet, the worker muttered while deftly grabbing seven pieces of bread, then told Naef: “You can’t carry all this alone – go back and get your wife to help!”
Without waiting for Naef’s response, she turned to the next dazed slave and urged: “Your turn, hurry up!”
Though his tone was somewhat sharp, to all the starving slaves, such impatience seemed incredibly gentle.
Like all slaves of Albury, Naef only fully believed this when he returned home, told his wife the news, and they went back together to collect the food.
The entire process, from receiving the items to returning home… felt as if he were in a dream.
“Great Cat God, and the sacred lord!”
The words spoken by the laborers kept echoing in his mind.
Though it was black bread, it was finely ground, soft, and delicate—unlike the dry, hard bread they were used to, which had to be soaked thoroughly to be chewable and wouldn’t scratch their throats.
And it was fragrant, with an intoxicating aroma of fresh wheat.
Then there was the bean soup, served at just the right temperature—drinking it warmed the body and brought an indescribable comfort…
No one ate ravenously.
Everyone’s bodies were already weak, their teeth incomplete, requiring effort to chew.
And in a situation where they didn’t know if there would be another meal after this one, the people, with faces full of happiness, ate slowly and cherished the long-awaited food.
Naef, without realizing it, was already in tears.
“Get better soon,” he murmured.
He slowly finished his two pieces of bread, drank only half of his bean soup, and gave the other half to the children.
Then, gently embracing his wife, whose eyes were also brimming with tears, he whispered, “We must repay that generous and kind lord.”
Perhaps everything would truly get better.
