HTLCCBFT Chapter 198

Has The Lord’s Career Chart Been Filled Today? – Chapter 198

Before going to bed, Oliver first lay down beside the cat god, then opened the occupation index panel that had shown anomalies last night but which he had forgotten to check all day.

The level of [farming] was displayed as 10, and the title effect indicated it was activated.

Only the previously flashing full progress bar had now completely disappeared.

Oliver showed a hesitant expression.

Although his memories related to the game had become blurry, he roughly remembered… progress bars wouldn’t disappear—they would just remain at full capacity without further growth.

Was this another variation effect caused by the transmigration?

While pondering this, Oliver glanced at the experience bars of other occupations that were also progressing at a snail’s pace.

The memory of starving people everywhere in Laina had left a deep shadow on him. Since then, wherever he went, he had developed the habit of casually farming.

Coupled with the continuous production of agricultural byproducts, [farming] naturally became the first skill to reach max level.

The second closest to max level, currently stuck at 96% experience points, was [foraging] .

The reason it was stuck…

Oliver casually glanced at the wooden chest at the foot of the bed, filled with large quantities of lumber he had tirelessly chopped day and night in the forest while preparing war resources.

After accumulating massive materials, he—had indeed become lazy.

He admitted this readily.

Since opening river resources to all territory residents, the castle no longer required the hard work of the lord to go fishing.

Every day, free people would pay taxes with fish, delivering the biggest and best catches to the castle, so Oliver’s [fishing] skill had remained at level 8.

Unless he missed the taste of certain specific fish that could only be obtained through the game system, he had no interest in returning to the mosquito-infested riverside.

[Mining] was stuck at level 8 due to the lack of stable ore resources, after he exhausted the small, meager mine in Albury.

The [combat] skill, only at level 6, seemed even more distant, but that definitely couldn’t be blamed on him: for a lord without the terrifying interest of “chopping living people,” the only way to level up was through the strange method of “using the cat god’s sword to slash flies and mosquitoes.”

Even this pitiful-looking level 6 was achieved before the expedition to Gregor city, when he specifically went to the compost area to chop gathered insects and flies as a precaution.

It was accumulated bit by bit through nearly unbearable hard work.

The corner of Oliver’s mouth twitched.

…He didn’t want to recall either the visual scenes or the smells from that time.

“Anyway, you’ll be playing sleeping beauty for several more days.”

Gazing at the oblivious cat god, Oliver’s lips unconsciously curved upward as he said affectionately, “With you absent, I have no mood for other activities anyway. I might as well max out [foraging].”

It had been delayed long enough.

Speaking of “delayed for a long time,” he suddenly remembered that nearly a month had passed since the knights were ordered to protect the merchant convoy that day.

Due to surging demands from all sides and tax reduction policies, merchants were almost fainting with joy as their goods were snapped up immediately upon being shelved.

The unprecedentedly grand Summer Market had concluded perfectly ten days prior.

Merchants who still felt unsatisfied eagerly set off back to their respective cities, preparing to stock more goods for the autumn market that would be held in a month and a half.

“They should be back by the time you wake up.”

Unable to check through the cat god’s Divine mirror… he also wondered if things were going smoothly for Loyel and the others.

Though fully aware that the cat god couldn’t hear him, Oliver habitually chatted with the deity for a moment before closing his eyes, allowing the game system to plunge him into deep sleep.

To his surprise, when he regained consciousness again, it wasn’t to Gregor’s morning light but rather to that mysterious place resembling a divine realm.

—He had returned to that pure white divine temple.

Could there be a deity inside summoning him as well?

After his previous experience meeting the cat god in what was called a “dream,” Oliver naturally wouldn’t dismiss this as mere coincidence or pure imagination.

Since he couldn’t leave this place before “waking up,” and if the deity inside truly intended to play some mischievous tricks like Deyth had before, he as an ordinary human would have no ability to resist.

Even the cat god, his only possible protector, was currently deep in slumber restoring divine power.

If he couldn’t avoid potential danger, he might as well go in and see.

After raising his eyes once more to study the temple that seemed to quietly emanate a gentle, sacred aura, Oliver’s mind stirred slightly, and he quickly reached a decision.

He tentatively took a step forward.

Sure enough, he encountered no obstruction.

Unlike his experience with the cat god, this time he didn’t hear any voice—whether human or divine—calling out to him.

Oliver maintained a calm expression but remained highly vigilant internally.

“Huh?”

When he easily reached the tightly shut temple doors, he noticed that among the layer of pure white “thick snow” he’d observed before, more green was visible, and a pale pink rosebud had cautiously emerged.

He blinked, then instinctively glanced around other parts of the courtyard.

The originally thick white snow seemed to have thinned somewhat, with vaguely revealed branches and leaves that all appeared to belong to roses.

Were it not for the “snow” covering them, Oliver could easily imagine how beautiful this courtyard would be when all the roses bloomed together, dyed in vibrant, gorgeous colors.

It seemed the master of this temple truly loved roses.

Realizing this, Oliver’s mood inexplicably calmed somewhat, and the renewed hesitation about “whether to enter or not” was gently suppressed.

Though the reason for his presence here remained completely unclear, he strangely felt no aversion toward this temple’s mysterious owner.

However, the temple’s main doors were tightly closed.

Adopting a “just try it” mindset, Oliver raised his right hand, preparing to press it against the door.

But before he could make contact—

The doors swung inward with silent yet unmistakable eagerness, opening smoothly.

Oliver: “……”

His right hand froze in mid-air.

Because he was absolutely certain that before his fingertips could even touch the door—which appeared to be constructed from flawless jade—it swung open on its own.

Was it a welcome, or a trap?

Oliver pondered briefly before letting out a soft chuckle.

—Since I’ve come this far, I might as well go in.

Compared to the divine temples of the cat god and the God of Death he had visited before, this snow-white temple was undoubtedly larger than both of them combined.

From the moment he stepped inside, Oliver’s mind grew miraculously calmer.

He even felt a sense of delight.

Every structure was clean and precise, without unnecessary embellishments.

Everything was just right, perfectly suited to his taste.

His curiosity about the identity of this temple’s master grew even stronger.

What kind of deity… or rather, what kind of god presiding over which domain would possess such a magnificent and beautiful temple, one that could evoke such profound peace and happiness from the depths of one’s heart?

Oliver didn’t spend much time exploring the side halls, instead heading directly toward the depths of the temple.

In mortal temples, the innermost sanctum housed the shrine.

But in a divine realm’s temple, Oliver knew it would undoubtedly be the throne of the temple’s master.

Just as he was about to reach the innermost chamber, however, a sharp, sudden pain shot through his head.

The pain was so intense that he had no time to react before he completely lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.

“Deyth! Did you feel that?”

The Rose Goddess, who had been gleefully teasing the unfortunate, decapitated God of Death, suddenly froze.

Her pupils dilated abruptly, her mind went blank as she received the information transmitted by the strands of divine sense she had deliberately scattered earlier.

“It must be His Majesty!”

She shouted.

Without hesitation, she dropped Deyth’s head—which she had been holding just moments before—lifted the hem of her skirt, and, completely disregarding her appearance, began running frantically toward the place she remembered as the most beautiful of all!

“What?!”

Too weak to release any divine sense or move on his own, Deyth stared in stunned disbelief for a moment before widening his eyes in frustration, yelling furiously in the direction where she had disappeared: “Don’t leave me behind! Damn it, come back!”

How could it be His Majesty—no, it must be His Majesty!

It definitely must be His Majesty!

Only if Rose had sensed His Majesty’s presence would she have cried out so recklessly and run off in that insane, ungraceful manner!

If he had even a shred of divine power left, Deyth would have rolled his head all the way there!

“That wretched Rose! Ahhh!!! How hateful! It’s all because of that damn cat!!”

Thinking of how he had waited all these years, only to be beaten to the punch by that detestable Rose, the God of Death was nearly driven mad by his own misfortune.

The Rose Goddess paid him no mind.

Holding up her cumbersome long skirt as she sprinted, her deep crimson eyes sparkled brightly.

“It’s His Majesty, it must be His Majesty!”

She cried out joyfully, feeling as though her divinity might burst from excitement!

The strand of divine sense she had released was ecstatically telling her—the aura of the God-King had appeared!

Though she had slumbered for a long time, the fanatical devotees who loved roses in the mortal realm had continuously supplied her with the power of faith, unlike Deyth, who had been reduced to just a head.

Deyth was now brimming with divine power.

Therefore, her divine sense could absolutely not be mistaken!

She repeated these words in her heart, desperately trying to convince herself as she frantically chased after that faint glimmer of hope.

The god-king could not have fallen, it was impossible—He was going to return!

Her delicate pale feet moved swiftly, alternating rapidly as she ran faster than ever before—even the soft clouds that sought to aid this beautiful goddess were left behind by her whirlwind speed.

Deyth’s divine temple wasn’t far from where the god-king’s temple once stood.

After sprinting while burning her divine power, she soon arrived at the place most familiar and beloved to her.

—Empty.

The ecstatic smile still lingered on her face, but her tender cheeks, tinged with a faint pink, instantly turned deathly pale.

“Impossible.”

She slowly knelt, leaning forward with her hands clumsily braced against the ground, her chest still heaving violently.

The agony of shattered hope threw her mind into chaos, especially since she…

She…

The Rose Goddess pressed her right hand against the snowy expanse where the god-king’s temple once stood, sensing the lingering trace of immense divine power.

Though powerful, the divine power merely enveloped her hand gently, neither repelling nor harming this “intruder.”

That was because she was a God recognized by its master.

This was also why all the gods who admired the god-king refused to believe He had fallen—if He had truly vanished completely, His divine power couldn’t have persisted this long.

It was with that conviction that she willingly fell into slumber, making the wait feel less long and painful.

If His Majesty wasn’t back yet, why had she suddenly awakened?

The Rose Goddess sobbed, covering her damp face with her left hand in anguish.

She was never clever to begin with.

Why hadn’t the god-king awakened!

She couldn’t comprehend it no matter how hard she tried.

Why was it so difficult!

All she wanted was to live as before—on each ordinary, mundane day, quarreling with the detestable Sun God Sunn[mfn]桑(Sāng)[/mfn], kicking the obstructive Deyth who blocked her path, and carefully cradling the most beautiful bouquet of roses she had nurtured with her divine power…

To offer it to that peerlessly beautiful Majesty, who would gently smile and praise her as “my lovely little rose.”

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