Switch Mode

HTLCCBFT Chapter 139

Has The Lord’s Career Chart Been Filled Today? – Chapter 139

Before going to sleep, Oliver tried once more to carefully inquire about that deity.

But whether the Cat God was feigning ignorance or was genuinely clueless, all he got were highly subjective remarks like “already chased away,” “very fierce,” and “unreasonable,” without any additional useful information.

Lord Laina, unaware that the Cat God could draw not only memories but also knowledge from its initial Divinity, naturally leaned toward the conclusion that it was truly simple-minded.

Oh well.

He lay lazily on the bed like a salted fish, closing his eyes and relaxing his body, allowing the ever-affectionate humanoid cat to shower him with enthusiastic kisses.

His thoughts drifted aimlessly.

After countless meandering reflections, he suddenly had an epiphany.

After all, he was just a weak and insignificant human. Apart from doing his best with what was within his reach, he had no other options.

Worrying about troubles far beyond his capabilities—such as “whether a divine war might break out in the future”—was nothing but self-inflicted distress.

However, after this incident, he became even more resolute and certain about the development path he had set for his territory.

Gods were neither unique nor eternal.

Even the legendary God King, whose divine power was said to be vaster than the starry sea, could fall for no apparent reason… or simply vanish.

In comparison, his game system was clearly even less reliable than a true deity.

Oliver had initially thought he would be anxious for a while over the existence of other deities, especially ones that might be hostile.

Unexpectedly, after being tempered by numerous unexpected events, he only worried briefly before his attention was completely diverted.

—That was the compilation of the “Intermediate Textbook.”

Thanks to the relentless efforts of his black-hearted boss, who led by example and naturally made his subordinates work overtime alongside him, the “Intermediate Textbook” was finally completed on Spring 49, the day before the Spring Market ended.

After battling through the night, Arte, Farmur, and the others had dark circles under their eyes so pronounced they looked as if they had been drawn on with ink.

They walked unsteadily, reacted sluggishly, and their faces were pale and bloodless—only work-related matters could elicit a response from them.

Yet no one uttered a single word of complaint.

Not aloud, and not in their hearts either.

Over these days, everyone had witnessed clearly and been deeply shocked by the fact that the esteemed Duke Oliver had worked tirelessly at his desk for nine consecutive nights until he collapsed without warning.

Every time this scene unfolded before his eyes, the loyal butler Fosse endured a severe ordeal.

Even though the young lord had forewarned him and used a coaxing tone he simply couldn’t refuse…

From the first night he saw the young lord collapse onto the desk, his heart nearly stopped from sheer terror.

But before he could recover from the shock, the blond noble youth, as if prepared in advance, stepped forward and steadily caught the unconscious beautiful lord.

It was only then that everyone belatedly realized: Jin, who appeared tall and slender, possessed astonishing strength, despite lacking the obvious muscular build of a knight.Even with his slender build, Oliver was still a grown man—there was a limit to how light he could be.

Fosse had personally carried the young lord before—although it was effortless for him, he still needed to use both arms.

Yet Jin lifted the entire person with just his right arm.

As smoothly and naturally as Oliver usually held the large golden cat, in the blink of an eye, he had the blond Lord—forcibly plunged into a deep slumber by the system—cradled in his embrace.

With just his right arm, he steadily supported the full weight of the person, then gently wrapped his left arm around the elegantly curved back, allowing the Lord to comfortably nestle against his chest.

“I’ll take Oliver back first.”

After casting a calm glance at the stunned onlookers, he carried the Lord back to the bedroom with unshakable composure.

Once the others recovered from their shock, they continued their work with mixed emotions, redoubling their efforts.

Oliver’s original intention was not to sleep and rest while others worked through the night.

He had long since told Fosse that once he collapsed, the others should simply stay overnight in the castle’s bedrooms and resume their tasks the next morning.

But he had miscalculated one thing.

After witnessing their gentle, kind, and seemingly fragile Lord exhausting himself to the point of collapse every day—all to help them and those ignorant fools outside pass the trial of the gods—even with Butler Fosse’s order to leave the hall, they remained dazed for a long time.

How could they possibly sleep peacefully?

Everyone tacitly chose to secretly bring a small portion of their work back to their bedrooms and continue.

Of course, their actions couldn’t escape Fosse’s notice.

But after weighing the situation, the loyal butler did not stop their covert efforts.

He understood their feelings and motives perfectly well.

He also knew that their actions were undoubtedly beneficial to the young lord.

In his view, whether those people passed the trial, or even whether they had enough to eat and lived well, had nothing to do with his noble young lord.

Yet, the unbelievably kind young lord simply couldn’t bring himself to abandon them.

Since it was Lord Oliver’s wish—a wish he couldn’t prevent—then he could only let them fulfill it sooner.

In reality, after a full night’s rest, Oliver woke up refreshed and radiant, full of energy.

“Good morning, dear Cat God.”

Awakening just before the first bell, having slept dreamlessly through the night, the blond Lord was in high spirits.

He habitually reached out to his side and, unsurprisingly, touched an unexpectedly firm body.

Almost the moment his fingertips brushed against the cool skin, the deity—who needed no sleep—pulled him close and naturally kissed the corner of his lips.

Oliver had long grown (forcibly) accustomed to this cat-like affection.

Lazily lifting his eyelids, he smiled and said, “I’ll have to trouble you again today.”

The cat-eared deity nodded seriously. “Mm.”

Because his slumber was induced by fainting, his energy hadn’t fully recovered—the gauge on the right showed a pitiful 50%.

Oliver had actually wondered: Why hadn’t the Cat God, who likely spent plenty of time holding and playing with him while he slept, managed to restore his energy to full?But gazing into the purity within those golden eyes, he dismissed the thought of asking aloud.

Perhaps it was because he had lost consciousness, and the game system didn’t count it.

Snuggling comfortably into this divine body that truly lived up to its reputation of being warm in winter and cool in summer, Oliver allowed himself the luxury of letting his thoughts drift aimlessly, only occasionally glancing at the energy recovery progress bar beside him.

Just as expected.

Because he had been using the Cat God brand “power bank” more frequently lately, the recovery speed was getting slower.

Not only slower, but also somewhat unstable…

Though he didn’t feel tired, the rare moment of idleness brought on a slight drowsiness, and Oliver couldn’t help but let out a small yawn.

Almost the moment he yawned, the energy bar, which had been steadily and slowly rising, suddenly jumped up a notch.

What was the principle behind this?

Though curious, Oliver didn’t think the somewhat silly Cat God could answer him, so he simply didn’t ask.

After fully replenishing his energy bar through hugging, he took the Cat God to the washroom.

The two—actually just him—after freshening up, returned to the main hall, planning to discuss other matters during the time everyone was allowed to join him for breakfast.

The matters weren’t urgent, but Oliver thought it would be a good way to stimulate his mind and help his constantly tense nerves relax a little.

And precisely because his thoughts were preoccupied with other official matters, he missed the others’ weary expressions from severe lack of sleep.

“Farmur,” Oliver said, flipping through the planning booklet while following a checklist, “yesterday afternoon… was the final batch of soybean seedlings distributed?”

The road from Laina to Albury was finally completed ten days ago.

From Oliver’s modern perspective, the speed could be considered very slow, but he couldn’t fault it at all: whether for the generous wages or to repay the lord’s kindness, the former Albury commoners working as laborers on that road construction had given their utmost effort.

There weren’t many people, and the tools were quite outdated.

Coupled with the icy, snowy winter that slowed progress and frequent work stoppages due to harsh weather.

It wasn’t just road construction either—it included building two small stone bridges across streams, filling in rocky pits, and clearing overgrown weeds…

With so many unfavorable objective factors, Oliver was satisfied that it was completed before the Spring Market began.

With the proper road now built between the two cities, travel speed had undoubtedly improved dramatically—from the rough, troublesome three-day-and-night horseback journey to just three days and two nights even on foot.

On a fast horse, it could be reached in just one day.

The emergence of a formal, smooth road first benefited the transportation of seedlings produced in Laina’s “greenhouses.”

Laina’s land had accumulated over half a year’s worth of compost available, had residual fertilizer from previous crops as a foundation, and still had space occupied by crops sown during autumn planting that hadn’t finished growing…

Not many seedlings were needed, and direct seeding was also quite effective.

But Albury, which had just suffered a catastrophe, was different.

They had only recently completed important preliminary work like urban cultivation, rural land reclamation, simple irrigation canal systems, and spreading plant ash fertilizer.The five batches of well-developed seedlings from Laina, ready for transplanting at any moment, were undoubtedly the best assistance, sufficient to alleviate the urgent crisis of the delayed spring plowing.

Farmur quickly said, “Thank the great Cat God. The seedlings have been dispatched according to Your Highness’s instructions on schedule, respected Highness.”

“Very good.”Oliver satisfied made a checkmark next to ‘seedlings’ and moved on to the next question: “Lucy, how is the progress of the first batch of Laina chicks’ brooding?”

After a winter with ample food, Lucy, who had finally entered a delayed growth spurt and fully stretched in stature, had completely taken on the appearance of a beautiful young girl.

Unlike Farmur, who was somewhat dazed from severe sleep deprivation, she was clearly more energetic and well-prepared. She immediately produced a small note she carried with her and began her explanation meticulously: “Respected Highness, may the great Cat God bless you. Under the generous blessing of the Cat God, this batch of chicks…”

She spoke carefully, and Oliver listened attentively.

Although there was a passage connected to the castle’s furnace room to heat the brooding area, it was still not as advanced as modern technology.

Attempting incubation for the first time during the coldest winter, even though Lucy had put her heart and soul into it, the survival rate of the first batch of Laina Chicken was still not high, only 50%.

Lucy had been downhearted for quite some time because of this, feeling that she had failed the Lord’s trust and care for her and had wasted the precious wisdom bestowed upon her by the Cat God.

But she did not wallow in self-pity. Instead, she quickly pulled herself together, wiping her tears while earnestly summarizing her mistakes from this attempt.

This led to the lengthy work report—which thoroughly snapped Farmur and the others, who had initially been somewhat distracted, back to attention.

They unconsciously held their breath, looking in disbelief at this girl of slave origins who had completely transformed in less than a year.

Although she stumbled over some of the more difficult words, her overall fluency and rigor were undoubtedly enough to make most commoners who had received temple education feel ashamed.

“By the Cat God’s socks!”

Farmur clicked his tongue, completely unaware that he had spoken aloud: “Is this what it’s like to receive the wisdom granted by the Cat God? It’s truly incredible!” She was just a slave girl!

“No, Farmur.”

The Lord of Laina, who had been smiling gently and gazing at the girl with soft eyes for some time, suddenly spoke in an approving tone: “The great Cat God… has only evenly scattered sunlight and rain upon the lands of Laina.”

“But whether to sprout, to grow strong, to bloom and bear fruit—that depends entirely on one’s own efforts.”

Oh no.

Great Cat God…

Lucy bit her lower lip tightly, struggling hard to hold back the tears welling up in her eyes.

Even she didn’t know why, but hearing her always most admired Lord speak so gently and softly—even before she could fully grasp the meaning of his words—made her heart feel both sore and warm, stirring a long-suppressed urge to cry.

“You have done very well.”

Oliver gazed at her with a smile, his tone gentle yet firm as he affirmed before everyone what she had never dared to dream of: “You have never disappointed the great Cat God, and you have continuously brought me surprises—you are the most wonderful girl I have ever seen in Laina, Lucy.”


 

Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Options

not work with dark mode
Reset