HTLCCBFT Chapter 10

Has The Lord’s Career Chart Been Filled Today? – Chapter 10

Oliver never imagined that he would one day have to “compete for experience” with the serfs.

After he shouted his command, the serfs who had been gathered around the enormous rock—so large that even his pickaxe required five strikes to break it—obediently stepped back, but did not disperse.

Clearly, after receiving numerous boons they wouldn’t even dare dream of, they were filled with heartfelt gratitude toward this beautiful and kind-hearted new lord. Even without the supervisor’s threats and whips, they genuinely wished to work harder.

Thus, when Oliver demanded they stay away from his “work area,” they complied but didn’t hurry off. Instead, they spontaneously moved to other fields to continue laboring.

Even after the final bell signaling the end of the workday, they lingered for a long time. The reason was simple—their angelically beautiful and benevolent lord was still toiling in the fields for them! How could they rest easy and lie down to sleep?

Oliver remained completely unaware of their outward compliance and inner defiance.

It wasn’t until he finished working on that field and prepared to head to another stony ground he had previously scouted, intending to exhaust his remaining 1/6 energy…

That he was shocked to discover those tasks had already been completed by the overly diligent serfs.

Fosse had noticed the serfs’ desire to repay the lord’s kindness early on and chose to remain silent without hesitation.

After witnessing the young lord show repeated kindness to the serfs—ensuring those lowly individuals were well-fed—he realized one thing: if anyone could deter the merciful and benevolent lord, it would likely have to be the serfs who received his favors themselves.

Amid a group of serfs much larger than herself, Lucy toiled with exceptional diligence.

Unless born into nobility with guaranteed food and clothing, children of commoners or serfs were considered adults early on. From age twelve, they were expected to take on responsibilities. By twenty, they were seen as being in their prime.

Even before turning twelve, their lives were far from carefree: their families perpetually lacked adequate food and clothing. If the adults who worked the fields daily went hungry, the children suffered even more.

To ease their hunger, they had to find ways to earn food.

They dared not venture into the lord’s woods or rivers. So, they either started fieldwork early, handling lighter tasks, or served as guide children, scraping rewards from passing merchants.

For Lucy, being female, her options were narrower and more tragic: most serf girls were considered the lord’s property. Often at birth, they were betrothed to sons of other serfs. They married at twelve, began bearing children after fourteen, and if they wished to marry outside, their fathers had to pay a hefty fine to the lord as compensation for “depriving the lord of new serfs.”

It was common to see women barely past twenty followed by four or five half-grown children. In the harsh societal view, women aged much earlier than men. Even if they survived frequent childbirth, by their early thirties, they were deemed worthless and labeled “winter fodder.” Lucy was once fortunate: despite countless well-meaning or indifferent attempts to persuade him, her loving father never arranged an early marriage for her. To care for her better, he never remarried but devoted himself wholeheartedly to her upbringing.

Yet she was also unfortunate—her great, sole protector, in her tear-blurred vision, was brutally whipped to death by the detestable overseer Andison.

Concealing a deep-seated hatred for Andison, Lucy miraculously recovered from a high fever and survived that despairing winter.

She no longer had anyone to shield her vulnerability.

And now…

Lucy often found herself thinking, if only her father had ignored her well-being and held on until this lord arrived, everything might have been different.

Whether to avenge her father against Andison or to ensure her own survival, she was determined to do something for this angelic lord and strive to get closer to him.

“Fosse, you must have done that on purpose.”

Seeing that the deed was done, Oliver had no choice but to reluctantly store the pickaxe and hoe back into his game backpack.

As for the stack of 999 corn seeds, only 51 remained—a number that would torment any perfectionist.

Fosse bowed respectfully and admitted frankly, “As expected of Your Highness.”

“Never mind.” Oliver shook his head in amusement. “We’ll deal with it tomorrow.”

Although his stamina bar hadn’t been pushed to the brink of exhaustion as planned, the day had been fulfilling enough.

Moreover, he had confirmed his earlier theory: fish obtained through fishing, as long as not left to the cook’s disastrous culinary experiments, provided a substantial energy recovery.

If only to soothe the butler, who had suffered a great fright yesterday, it was better to take fewer risks.

Obligingly, Oliver bathed and changed into his silk pajamas.

As the moon crept to its zenith, he lay in bed and slowly closed his eyes.

Almost the instant his eyelids shut, a crisp “ding” sounded in his ears, and a familiar game daily settlement panel popped up.

【Farming】Level 0, EXP to next level: 0%

【Combat】Level 0, EXP to next level: 0%

【Fishing】Level 1, EXP to next level: 30%, Reward Item: “Crudely Made Fishing Rod”

【Foraging】Level 1, EXP to next level: 80%, Guaranteed to drop 1-3 tree seeds when cutting trees.

【Mining】Level 1, EXP to next level: 10%, Unlocked Craftable Item: “Pitifully Weak Explosive Egg”

Since he hadn’t harvested any crops yet, Oliver wasn’t surprised that his most prioritized “Farmer” level remained pitifully at 0, with the experience bar unmoved.

As for the others…

Oliver checked his game backpack. The novice fishing rod, previously described as “just a shabby bamboo pole with a line,” had been automatically replaced with the “Crudely Made Fishing Rod.”

For someone with decent fishing skills like him, this reward wasn’t particularly enticing—it merely saved him some effort for future fishing.

What intrigued him the most were the guaranteed tree seed drops from reaching Level 1 in “Foraging” and the recipe for the “Pitifully Weak Explosive Egg” unlocked at Miner Level 1.The reason he had previously preferred the tedious method of gathering wild berries over directly felling trees in the forest was his concern that reality might differ from the rapid tree regeneration speed in the game.

Forest resources were extremely limited, especially when distributed among so many residents of the territory, making Oliver hesitant to act recklessly.

However, the guaranteed drop of tree seeds undoubtedly eliminated his worries about leveling up his skills through tree cutting.

With a cheerful and expectant mood, Oliver checked the recipe description for the “pitifully weak explosive egg”—

“Although its power is pitifully weak, if it explodes directly at your feet, it can still kill you. “Known among players as the ‘ore-blasting artifact,’ even the weakest basic version of the ‘explosive egg’ was undoubtedly highly valuable.”

But upon seeing the material requirements in the recipe, Oliver quickly calmed down.

One copper ore and one coal.

Coal was manageable, but he had no idea where to find “copper ore” that met the game’s requirements—after all, Laina City wasn’t a game map and didn’t conveniently come with a universal “mine” location.

He had smashed nearly a hundred large stones tonight, only to harvest ordinary gravel, with no sign of copper ore, silver ore, or gold ore.

Well, take it step by step.

Though he tried to persuade himself this way, Oliver opened his eyes the next moment, his mind too excited from planning the next steps to fall asleep quickly.

Anyway, it wasn’t midnight yet, the time for forced fainting…

Inspired by the “copper ore” requirement, Oliver suddenly remembered an item he had forgotten in a corner of his game backpack for a long time, never taken out.

It was the second “perfect statue of wealth” his soul had exchanged from an NPC in the game just before crossing over.

This statue, which hadn’t yet been placed in his game farm, had been lying quietly in his game backpack, even less noticeable than that pack of corn seeds.

Oliver finally took out the cushion-sized statue from his game backpack, held it solemnly with both hands, and examined it carefully.

“The Perfect Statue of Wealth” was one of the most precious and rare items in the game: in appearance, it was just a standard golden lucky cat figure, which is why players jokingly called it the “rich cat god.” [mfn][/mfn]

“But its effect was so good that every novice player severely lacking resources coveted it immensely, and even veteran players didn’t mind having a few more at home for good measure—it randomly produced a precious gem or a gold/silver/copper ingot every day.”

Oliver didn’t care about the intrinsic value of gold and silver: as the once most favored Angel Duke by the old king, even though he had only brought a small part of his vast wealth when hastily heading to his territory, he was far from short on gold, silver, or treasures.

If the coins that could fill several large chests could be converted into ‘gold ingots’ or ‘gold ore’ in the game, he would be more than willing—unfortunately, the game system didn’t allow such conversions.

“It seems I can only pin my hopes on you.” Thinking of the ores he desperately desired yet had no clear way to obtain, Oliver couldn’t help but hold the cat god statue, stroking its incredibly smooth right paw—a result of its pure gold material—while murmuring to himself: “…You must prove yourself worthy, my dear God of Wealth.”

At this point, Oliver thought of old butler Fosse, whom he had fooled using the name “God of Wealth,” and a faint smile involuntarily appeared on his handsome face.

“I sincerely pray to you, please grant me copper ore, my dear Cat God.”

After uttering these words, Oliver inexplicably pressed a light kiss to the right paw of the God of Wealth statue, then immediately couldn’t help laughing at his own absurdity.

How foolish.

Why would he do something so childish?

Without any expectations, Oliver placed the God of Wealth statue by his bedside, finally ceasing his restless antics. He properly tucked himself under the covers and fell asleep with a smile.

Unnoticed by him, the faint warmth left by that light kiss on the solemn-faced Cat God’s right paw… lingered for a surprisingly long time without fading.

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