Has The Lord’s Career Chart Been Filled Today? – Chapter 142
In just one short month, Albury City had undergone a tremendous transformation, as if reborn.
Even Oliver, who had orchestrated it all and had only been away for a little over half a month, couldn’t help but take an interested look at the changes around him—let alone the group of slaves behind him, who had been separated from their homeland for so long.
They stared wide-eyed, dumbfounded, at the newly dug irrigation channels outside the city walls, the orderly high ridges, and the seemingly inconspicuous but already climbing bean crops nestled among the wild grass. They began to doubt their own memories.
Outside the city walls, there should have been nothing but endless, wildly overgrown weeds.
How could crops have been planted there?
And how could crops possibly thrive amidst such dense thickets of weeds?
” —It must be the divine messenger using divine power,” someone declared with conviction.
As soon as this idea was voiced, it quickly gained unanimous acceptance.
Planting weeds and crops together, with the latter looking so vibrant and flourishing?
This was utterly contrary to common knowledge!
Oliver didn’t miss the disbelief on their faces but had no intention of explaining the details.
For one, the specifics had already been compiled into the Intermediate Textbook, so there was no need to repeat them; for another, Albury City’s spring planting had been rushed but successfully completed with the help of seedlings arriving from Laina, perfectly catching the optimal cultivation period without delaying the harvest for the coming summer and autumn.
As for now…
They should enter the city first.
The Duke’s return was met with immense relief by Knight Captain Noel, who had been overwhelmed by tasks he wasn’t skilled at handling.
The tall, imposing, and robust knight captain was nearly moved to tears of joy.
Upon hearing the news of Oliver’s return, he immediately dropped what he was doing and rushed over like a gust of wind.
Before Oliver could even react, the usually reserved knight had “slid” to his knees in a smooth, swift motion, cleanly kneeling on one knee.
His face seemed to radiate the excitement of “finally being saved” as he repeatedly kissed the hem of Oliver’s robe, performing the most impeccable knight’s oath of fealty: “Great Cat God bless you, noble Duke! Thank you for your return!”
Oliver blinked.
Suppressing a laugh, he helped the knight to his feet and said kindly, “My loyal Knight Captain, over these past weeks, you have worked diligently and lived up to my expectations in every way.”
Before the praised Noel could even show a look of honor, Oliver added with a smile, “It seems I can confidently entrust the city’s ongoing management to you as well.”
Noel: “……”
Seeing the knight captain’s thunderstruck expression, Oliver finally couldn’t hold back his laughter and clarified, “Just a joke. Alright, go and rest now. Fosse will take over from here.”
Fosse nodded expressionlessly at Noel.
After Noel left, visibly relieved, Oliver turned slightly to face Fosse. “My dear butler, let’s proceed with the plan we discussed on our way here.”
Many newly built houses stood empty in the urban district, and the city had indeed welcomed the return of many of its original inhabitants.
Unfortunately, they had chosen to seek help in Gregor City back then, and that Count McKenna was not a generous, selfless, or kind man.
As a result, they were no longer free citizens but had been reduced to slaves.
This disrupted Oliver’s initial resettlement plan.
No matter how sympathetic the reasons for their enslavement might be, the change in their social status was an undeniable fact.
As a lord, even if Oliver was willing to care for the people in his territory, he could not break the rules to the extent of directly restoring them to their former status.
Doing so would be grossly unfair to the people of Laina, who had been forced into slavery in recent years due to frequent famines and heavy taxes.
However, Oliver could not be so wasteful as to use them as ordinary slaves.
Like the group of Albury refugees who had fled to Laina City, most of those who had survived to this point were adult males who had previously worked in skilled professions such as blacksmithing, carpentry, tailoring, pig farming, baking, barbering, and spice trading.
And the recovering Albury City was in dire need of these key roles to help restore its daily operations and revive its vitality.
Thus, Oliver decided that, on the surface, they would retain their slave status, allowed to keep only a minimal portion of their earnings, and not permitted to live in the better houses in the town area—instead, they would have to build simpler dwellings in the slave quarters outside the town…
But in terms of their specific duties, they would be assigned exactly as they had been before their exile.
The town area had been completely revitalized: potholed roads were paved, dust was meticulously swept away by slaves every day, and the shops that had been smashed and destroyed were all repaired.
Though simply designed, the interiors were clean and tidy, neatly stocked with some of the few surviving finished goods confiscated from the castle, along with a small amount of raw materials transported from Laina City.
To the left of each shop hung eye-catching signs, either written or painted to indicate the business: a wine barrel for the tavern, large dried bones hanging from hooks for the butcher shop, and several bronze candlesticks strung together for the small general store selling miscellaneous items.
“Work hard!”
The steward in charge of settling Bard and his group called out names from the roster, directing each sorrowful-faced person into their respective shops, while chattering on: “His esteemed Highness has said that if you had gone to Laina back then, he would not have forcibly conscripted you as slaves… But since you are already slaves, given these special circumstances, he is willing to change the rules for you lot and exceptionally lower the threshold for regaining your free status. However, at the very least, you must save up twice the amount it cost to purchase you originally, as compensation for His Highness!”
He spoke quickly and lightly, but his words struck the nostalgic faces like a thunderbolt.
Butcher Bucher[mfn]布切尔(bù qiē ěr)[/mfn], unable to hold back, was the first to widen his eyes and ask, “W-what? Regain free status?!”
“That’s right, haven’t you heard clearly?” the steward emphasized impatiently. “You must save up twice the amount it cost to purchase you originally! That is—”Each person must save up eight silver coins! Since His Highness has treated you so well, if you wish to atone for the foolish decisions you made back then, you ought to give His Highness some compensation!
Eight silver coins truly isn’t excessive—it’s the standard price for purchasing a slave.
But for a slave to save up that amount isn’t so easy.
Relying solely on one person, under heavy taxation, even working day and night, it would take two to three years to accumulate that sum.
If following the pace of a normal life, it would take five years or more.
—This was also the standard timeframe Oliver had set for Laina’s slaves for either the “service-promotion to freeman” or “passing the examination-assignment of duties-promotion to freeman” paths, ensuring a degree of fairness.
After the steward finished speaking, the slaves fell into dead silence.
They exchanged glances, as if utterly unable to comprehend his words.
Finally, someone—no one knew who—was the first to tear up, shamelessly weeping with joy in public.
To live well, to have hope, to be given a chance to return…
These were things they hadn’t even dared to dream of!
“Great Cat God, noble Lord,” they praised sincerely, “Your radiance spreads across the land, Your glorious light endures forever!”
Meanwhile, the Lord, who was being fervently thanked, was instructing the former alcohol merchants specifically selected from among the slaves by his subordinates about their new duties.
Although information traveled slowly in this era, the news that “Albury City has been conquered by Lord Laina” had still spread to neighboring cities through the mouths of astute merchants.
At the very least, the three mining cities most concerned with Albury’s movements and reliant on it for supplies had mostly heard this joyful news.
Oliver thought that if he wasn’t mistaken… before the end of spring, the boldest merchants would surely be unable to resist coming to Albury City themselves to confirm whether the city had returned to peace.
He wanted both to have these people witness and spread the fact that Albury had been revitalized and to quickly establish Albury’s foundational image as a “city of alcohol,” solidifying the development path he had set for it.
For either purpose, preparations had to be made for the merchants who might arrive—they couldn’t be allowed to return empty-handed.
And the most suitable commodity at the moment was—
Alcohol brewing.
Spring abounded with wild fruits, and the temperature was neither too hot nor too cold, making it undoubtedly the best season for alcohol fermentation in the absence of refrigeration or temperature control tools.
Through thousands of years of experimentation by alcohol enthusiasts, white alcohol brewed from glutinous sorghum had been proven to be the finest. In the brewing process, factors such as the quality of raw materials, specific brewing steps, climate and temperature, water quality, and even containers would all influence the final product’s quality and flavor to varying degrees.
Unlike modern practices that often rely on a single “saccharifying bacterium” cultivated in laboratories, the fermentation starters used in brewing at this time were each crafted by artisans according to their unique recipes, differing in form and characteristics.
Even though they had been reduced to slavery and become the Lord’s property, Oliver had no intention of forcing them to divulge their secret recipes.
A single bloom cannot compare to a hundred flowers flourishing: allowing them to use different types of yeast to brew products with distinct flavors would also help promote the reputation of Albury City as the “City of Wine.”
Of course, relying solely on those poorly flavored pale ales would definitely not suffice.
As for the wines that nobles flock to, the raw material grapes all come from meticulously tended vineyards cared for by servants—neither the timing nor the cultivation process could be expedited in time.
What Oliver had his eyes on were various types of infused wines, which require the shortest preparation and brewing time yet possess a uniquely bright flavor guaranteed to leave a deep impression.
So-called infused wines, also known as steeping wines, are alcoholic beverages where additional ingredients like various wild fruits are added under the “guidance” of a base liquor with higher alcohol concentration to alter the flavor.
Among the base liquors with short brewing times that Oliver knew how to make were sweet fermented rice wine, light rice wine, millet wine, glutinous rice wine, and wheat wine.
As for steeping ingredients, besides cherries and wild berries commonly found in the woods, there were also dried red dates he had people bring from Laina last year.
Both cherry wine and red date wine require only seven days to brew, perfectly timed for the Spring Market’s opening—if luck wasn’t on their side and they couldn’t make it in time, Oliver would have to make do with his stock of corn liquor obtained through the game system last year.
After all, they couldn’t let the Spring Market stands sit empty with nothing to sell.
Thus, to the astonishment of the anxious former wine merchants, this generous and beautiful lord not only allowed them to keep their secrets but also taught each of them a unique brewing technique!
Overflowing with gratitude and joy, they strictly followed Oliver’s instructions and successfully completed the brewing of both base liquors and infused wines just ten days later.
Unlike the deep red cherry wine, the red date wine infused with glutinous rice wine was remarkably clear, appearing almost transparent with a light amber hue.
Although Oliver didn’t particularly enjoy drinking alcohol, it was necessary for him to personally taste the first batch of homemade brews.
So when the first batch was completed, he summoned Fosse, the knights who had been following him (except for Kane), and several recently promoted stewards to the castle.
Before each person were placed four silver cups containing brews of varying colors and rich aromas.
“Try them all,” Oliver said with a cheerful smile to the somewhat flattered yet reserved crowd. “I’m waiting to hear your honest impressions.”
At this point, he suddenly remembered the deity by his side and naturally turned to ask in a low voice, “My dear Cat God, if you don’t like it—”
His words cut off abruptly.
He stared fixedly at the composed golden-haired deity and the four empty wine cups before Him—which had somehow become vacant at some unknown time—falling into a speechless state.
After a long moment, completely unaware that he had just allowed a genuine “underage” deity to consume alcohol, Oliver raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise and remarked with considerable amusement, “I truly didn’t expect… you to enjoy wine this much.”
Hearing his words, the golden-haired deity unusually offered no response.
He simply continued staring unblinkingly at Oliver, just as He always had.
The golden eyes were clear and pure, clearly reflecting the figure of the golden-haired lord within them.
— Nothing seemed amiss.
—— Except for a conspicuous patch of pink rapidly spreading across that slender, pale neck.
