HTLCCBFT Chapter 148

Has The Lord’s Career Chart Been Filled Today? – Chapter 148

For those who had followed Lord Oliver from Laina City to Albury to assist in its reconstruction, most merchants attending this year’s considerably quieter Spring Market were familiar faces.

After all, this was an era where information traveled slowly.

Moreover, while most people had grown accustomed—even indifferent—to noble oppression of the lower classes, they avoided like the plague those who dared to resist it.

Ironically, in the eyes of “ordinary folk,” this was an undeniable truth: the events in Albury had thoroughly demonstrated that a self-indulgent, miserly, and cruel lord was far less terrifying than a successful rebel army.

Those capable of traveling between the two cities were either freemen with modest means who needn’t worry about livelihood, knight attendants in training, or mercenaries with some self-defense capability and the wealthy merchants who hired them.

Being freemen or of higher social status and capable of bringing benefits to locals, they were generally welcomed wherever they went, with costs always within manageable limits. Only when unlucky enough to encounter unreasonable rebels or other ruffians would they tragically lose their lives.

Although news that “Duke Oliver recaptured the castle in just a day or two and now rules Albury” had spread during Laina’s Spring Market, making nearby cities somewhat aware…

Most merchants preferred to cautiously observe a while longer rather than risk their hard-earned assets by acting too hastily.

The merchants daring to attend Albury’s post-devastation Spring Market were essentially the same ones who had participated in Laina’s Spring Market. After concluding their business in Laina, they headed north to sell goods in Gregor City and now came to Albury—also under the governance of that beautiful Angel Duke—with their remaining wares to try their luck.

Unexpectedly, while still en route, they occasionally encountered travelers whose pockets mostly bulged with cloth bags containing something that rustled when shaken.

“This is corn flakes, taught to us by the wise divine messenger!” Facing their curious inquiries, these Albury residents proudly stuffed a handful of the golden bits into their mouths, crunching loudly while explaining in muffled voices: “They last long and don’t require much firewood!”

Corn flakes?

Hearing this unfamiliar term, the merchants exchanged puzzled glances.

Some dismissed their words, while others burned with curiosity.

Logically, as well-traveled individuals, they shouldn’t crave ordinary travelers’ food… but the way these people chewed looked utterly delightful! It smelled fragrant too!

Most importantly, they had grown weary of the monotonous dried meat and hard bread over a decade ago.

After persistent coaxing (aided by the silver coins in their hands), some merchants reluctantly traded two silver coins for a small bag of “corn flakes.”

When they hesitantly imitated those people, sprinkling a small handful of precious sugar granules on top before popping it into their mouths…

“God!”

Someone couldn’t help but exclaim in awe: “This is incredibly fragrant!”

At this time, oil was considered a luxury in common households, and even some impoverished minor nobles couldn’t afford to use oil extravagantly for every meal.

This meant that most people would go their entire lives, until their eyes closed for the final time, without ever tasting deep-fried food, let alone experiencing that perfectly crispy texture.

They became mesmerized, crunching away with gusto, and quickly devoured the entire small bag they had purchased.

Just as they were craving more and wanted to buy another portion, the seller absolutely refused to part with the remaining corn flakes.

“We can purchase corn from other cities!” They quickly recognized the immense business opportunity hidden here: “If the method isn’t too difficult, we’d be willing to buy the production recipe! After all, who in this world besides nobles could resist these irresistibly crispy golden corn flakes?!”

However, what they never dreamed of was that the Angel Duke from Laina… no, originally from the royal capital, was unbelievably generous and selfless.

In their eyes, such sacred magnanimity truly lived up to the name of an angel—he was actually willing to send helpers from the castle to explain the detailed method to them step by step, without charging a single copper coin!

The method was truly simple, so simple that they couldn’t resist using the remaining corn from their goods that very night, borrowing the inn’s perpetually burning stove to give it a try.

Although being their first attempt, they placed it too close to the fire source, resulting in half being burnt black while the other half achieved perfect crispness…

It was enough to prove that the method taught by the Angel Duke was actually correct!

Feeling somewhat ashamed and filled with gratitude, these merchants who had received such a significant boon for free unexpectedly developed a conscience: as long as the goods sold in this gradually revitalizing city weren’t outrageously priced, they were willing to patronize them.

As for the goods they had brought this time… they were also willing to offer some discounts.

On one hand, they wanted to dispose of them quickly before the season changed; on the other hand, it served as repayment to this kind-hearted lord.

What they didn’t know was that Oliver had never intended to make money from selling the corn flake recipe from the very beginning.

He only remembered the simplest, lowest-cost method, and the taste was merely passable.

The reason he went through the trouble was purely incidental: he didn’t want to waste the large amount of firewood consumed while boiling wort for distillation, and he also wanted to provide the people in his territory with another medium-to-long-term grain storage method besides complete drying or grinding into flour.

Since the technical skill required wasn’t high and he wasn’t that short on money, there was really no need to guard the corn flake production method as some precious secret. So he openly taught them everything.

When the recipe wasn’t a secret and the ingredients were readily available, to succeed in this business, artisans would need to find ways to improve the recipe—focusing on enhancing flavor and reducing costs. This way, everyone would benefit.

Oliver found himself both amused and exasperated by the unexpected influence of corn flakes.

Compared to selling corn flakes… what he had truly invested considerable effort in, hoping to achieve remarkable results, were distilled spirits and fruit wines!

He wanted to establish Albury City as a renowned “City of Alcohol” and build a long-term liquor business, not turn Albury into some bizarre “Corn flake City.”

To ensure the distilled spirits could debut in time for the Spring Market, he had even delayed the market’s schedule considerably.

However, reality soon proved that Oliver’s worries were entirely unnecessary.

—Few men could resist the dual temptations of fine wine and strong liquor.

Compared to the universally appealing but simple-to-make corn flakes, the well-traveled merchants quickly became deeply enamored with the diverse array of alcoholic beverages in this city.

They had never imagined there could be so many types of alcohol beyond wine and pale ale!

Ordinary fruits, which would typically rot and become foul-smelling after a few days, were transformed through unheard-of brewing techniques into wines with their own magical flavors, creating vibrant and diverse seasonal specialties.

Some were sweet and delicious, others tangy and refreshing—all natural, rich, and exquisitely aromatic…

And God, there was that fiery liquor known as “Cat God’s Glory”!

They had never tasted anything so sharp, so potent, yet so utterly captivating!

The moment that crystal-clear amber liquid slid into their mouths, its overwhelming intensity assaulted their senses—eyes, mouth, and nose—leaving their minds nearly numb from the shock.

Once the deep, tear-inducing burn subsided, what remained was a uniquely memorable aftertaste worth savoring endlessly.

Moreover, they made an astonishing discovery—with so many varieties of fruit wines available, they soon realized that even “Cat God’s Glory” had subtle variations in its base notes!

Yes, although (with a touch of mischief) Oliver had lazily unified the distilled spirits under the name “Cat God’s Glory,” merely prefixing it with the added flavoring ingredients for differentiation… the merchants’ spice-numbed taste buds were not mistaken.

Each batch of liquor had slight differences in its distillation process.

There was the rose-infused spirit, where a handful of petals were sprinkled during distillation to add a special flavor; the white liquor with herbs like lemon peel or juniper berries added during the second distillation and aged without oak barrels; the vodka, praised as the purest liquor, with activated charcoal added during distillation and an alcohol content as high as 90%; the coffee liquor, made by adding ground coffee beans to the finished product after distillation; and, heavens, there were even bizarre-sounding but surprisingly addictive varieties like red onion liquor and honey-garlic liquor!

Thus, peculiar subcategories emerged, such as “Rose-flavored Cat God’s Glory,” “Honey-Garlic Cat God’s Glory,” and “Red Onion Cat God’s Glory.”

The more they tasted, the more they couldn’t help but go wild for this city overflowing with incredible imagination!They truly wished they could buy every variety of wine in a single day—according to the information they’d gathered, Albury would only sell wine by the “glass” to visitors from other cities during the grand market’s opening periods.

Otherwise, to preserve the wine’s flavor, the vintners preferred to keep them sealed in oak barrels, selling only by the full barrel.

This was both to maintain the wine’s quality to the greatest extent and part of the cunning blond lord’s so-called “hunger marketing” strategy.

Truth be told, they wouldn’t have minded drinking an entire barrel: compared to the ordinary wines imported from neighboring countries—which were not only troublesome to transport but mostly mediocre in quality—these unexpectedly diverse and abundant varieties were the delightful surprise they couldn’t get enough of!

What both delighted and frustrated them was that, aside from the always slightly sweet fruit wines, the other varieties were far too strong, exceeding what their bodies could handle.

Often after the first glass, most of them would already be flushed and dizzy; by the second glass, they’d start babbling nonsense and dancing wildly; after the third, only a handful could still sit properly or walk in a straight line; and by the fourth glass… well, even Wynn, who boasted the best alcohol tolerance and claimed he could drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, would inevitably collapse after the fourth!

Oh great Cat God, Your wines are simply too potent!

Despite waking up with splitting headaches the next day, they couldn’t help but discuss which wines to try that evening as soon as they felt slightly better in the afternoon.

It was as if they completely disregarded that the earnings they’d worked so hard to accumulate all spring would soon be entirely devoted to these irresistible yet equally expensive wines.

“O wise and brilliant Cat God!”

Unaware that the underage blond deity had been strictly forbidden from drinking by his beautiful devotee, a thoroughly drunk Wynn clung to his empty glass while shouting ecstatically: “You must not only be the great deity presiding over wealth, but also the master of revelry and brewing! Ooooh! Great God of Wine and Wealth, I have been utterly conquered by You and Your divine messenger!”

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