Has The Lord’s Career Chart Been Filled Today? – Chapter 173
“This is Gregor city.”
The sunlight was rather glaring. Loyel, who had been murmuring to himself, narrowed his eyes slightly and lifted his chin, casting a critical gaze toward the majestic, towering castle.
After a moment of scrutiny, he turned his head and swiftly exchanged a glance with the knights behind him.
—Barely satisfactory.
In the eyes of this former Deputy Knight Commander of the Duke’s Knight Order, the luxurious castle that the McKenna family had operated and taken pride in for centuries was merely adequate as a temporary residence for His Grace the Duke.
The guards, having inspected their credentials and quickly verified the knights’ identities, were more or less intimidated by their extraordinary presence.
“Your Lordships, please.”
Unlike their usual strictly businesslike demeanor, they instinctively stepped back, personally opened the city gates, and respectfully bowed, clearing the widest path for the group: “His Grace the Duke and Mr. Fosse are awaiting you in the castle.”
The knights, led by Loyel, remained unmoved by their deference, but a flicker of delight crossed their eyes upon hearing that His Grace Oliver was waiting for them.
“Thank you for the information.”
With a dignified nod toward the guards, the knights spurred their horses and entered the city in an orderly fashion.
Mounted on majestic, powerful steeds, uniformly clad in exquisitely crafted, identical armor, and extravagantly bearing two swords at their waists, the knights instantly captured everyone’s attention.
Trained to perfection and selected for the Duke’s Knight Order, they were undoubtedly the elite among elites.
Even atop gently trotting horses, they maintained an elegant posture with heads held high and backs straight.
The outlines of their armor-clad spines remained sharply defined, as if carved with a ruler—slender limbs, graceful lines, well-proportioned and upright figures. Their faces were concealed by gleaming steel helmets, revealing only the stern lines of their chins.
Of course, their formidable aura, forged in past battlefields and honed through countless bloody fights for honor, was enough to make ordinary people avert their eyes in awe after a furtive glance.
Only when the knights had ridden farther away did onlookers dare to cautiously gaze upon them again.
After watching them file into the castle, everyone realized they had been holding their breath and collectively exhaled slowly.
“Truly intimidating,” they murmured from the heart.
As Loyel led the knights across the moat into the castle’s vicinity, he merely raised his right hand slightly without looking back, giving a simple gesture that the knights instantly understood.
Amid a chorus of metallic clinks that sent shivers down the spines of distant observers, the knights dismounted in near-unison and, without hesitation, removed their helmets and relinquished their swords.
One by one, the blades—usually cherished and polished meticulously by their owners, rarely leaving their sides except during sleep—were laid unceremoniously on the ground.
This was the ultimate display of harmlessness, submission, and loyalty that knights offered when approaching the master to whom they had sworn their lives and honor.
When Oliver descended with the Cat God, Fosse, and others to greet them, they witnessed this scene of weapons being cast aside under the Deputy Knight Commander’s silent command.
“Loyel.” Almost the instant Oliver spoke, Loyel instinctively cast a sharp glance toward him.
“You’ve arrived.”
Golden sunlight streamed brilliantly through the windows, some panes transparent and others colorful stained glass, illuminating the interior so that this castle had ample daylight—nothing like the gloom that once characterized Laina Castle.
But if one were to describe the entire castle as an exquisite jewelry box, then the most dazzling, flawless existence within it…
Was undoubtedly the Angel Duke, whose elegance completely overshadowed those ornate decorations, making even the most beautiful diamonds appear dull by comparison, effortlessly capturing everyone’s attention.
“Honorable Prince Oliver, may the divine light forever favor you, my beloved master.”
Loyel murmured.
Intense emotion and a sense of belonging mingled together, relentlessly striking his chest.
Even after enduring hardships and trials, his young prince remained unchanged—no, his radiance had grown even more brilliant, more sacred and noble.
Without the vice-knight commander needing to give an order, all the knights who had once again laid eyes on their steadfastly devoted master simultaneously and involuntarily made the same movement.
One by one, these broad-shouldered, valiant warriors—recognized as the finest knights of their time—thudded heavily to one knee, kneeling sincerely before the prince whose appearance seemed delicate and fragile. In solemn voices, they declared: “I wish to offer unparalleled reverence to God, for He has deigned to pity this anxious servant day and night, protecting you in times of peril, sheltering you, giving my worries a true place to rest.”
“All this is the blessing of the great Cat God.”
Oliver gracefully helped Loyel to his feet and gestured for all the knights behind him to rise as well, smiling as he said: “I too sincerely thank the Cat God, grateful that He was willing to hear my prayers and generously allowed me to welcome back the world’s most unparalleled, bravest exemplars of knighthood.”
“Your Highness.”
The gentle words from his young prince made it impossible for Loyel, who had been straining to maintain a stern expression in front of the other knights, to conceal his emotions any longer.
He quickly lowered his head, knowing it was impolite but not daring to let his reddened eyes meet those gentle, beautiful blue ones, his voice hoarse as he said:
“I…”
He wanted to force himself to speak calmly, but under the intense emotional turmoil, he choked up several times, unable to form a complete sentence.
He had imagined this scene for far too long.
Now that it had truly come to pass, this renowned and awe-inspiring vice-knight commander felt an unprecedented fear—that all of this was merely his delusion, a dream that would shatter the moment he opened his eyes.
“You’ve all been through too much on this journey.”
Even though the knights still carried an imposing aura, Oliver could see at a glance that they were undoubtedly at the end of their strength.
“My first command to you now is to rest immediately. Save any other words for the banquet tonight.”
Through the cold armguard, Oliver gently patted his hand, feeling both moved and somewhat peculiar.
It didn’t feel like his usual attempts to coax the Cat God.
It was more like… comforting a large bear who, after finally reuniting with its long-lost master, was so overwhelmed with excitement that it could only manage low whimpers—except this bear was just too enormous.
From Oliver’s visual estimation, Loyel’s height definitely exceeded two meters with ease—it hadn’t been as obvious earlier when they were farther apart and the other was in a kneeling position.
Now standing straight as an iron tower before him, Oliver had to tilt his chin up at an uncomfortable angle just to see the other’s face clearly.
He could only make out Loyel’s entire face because the latter kept his head bowed.
This also made Oliver’s initial intention to pat the other’s shoulder or back seem awkward and unnatural no matter how he considered it.
In this era of nutritional scarcity, Oliver’s seemingly quite slender physique was actually far above average height.
But he still fell short of Fosse and Noel, let alone the Cat God (who he suspected had deliberately made himself taller).
He thought the Cat God, who had clearly cheated, was already tall enough to evoke a slight envy in him.
He never expected an even taller Loyel to appear suddenly, and the other members of the Ducal Knight Order were all exceptionally tall and straight-backed as well, appearing only slightly shorter than the Cat God.
In his eyes, his own knight order, judging purely by physical appearance, more closely resembled a group of stern-faced male models.
After reluctantly accepting the sad fact that he was “somewhat short,” the blond lord pondered for a moment, then glanced sideways at the Cat God.
The blond deity appeared obedient and calm, his eyes clear and bright, showing no trace of jealousy whatsoever.
— Safe
Therefore, Oliver naturally spread his arms and generously embraced the deputy knight commander, who trembled abruptly at the gesture, smiling as he said, “Welcome… No, I am genuinely happy, overjoyed that my important knights have finally returned to my side safely and soundly.”
Compared to other lords who indulged in nightly revelries and extravagantly served fine wine like water to their guests, Oliver—who had deeply experienced Laina’s poverty—could be considered downright stingy.
Apart from necessary banquets (such as the ‘investment reception’ during Laina’s Summer Market), he completely avoided the two favorite and most expensive noble pastimes: hunting and hosting feasts.
Of course, Oliver would never force others to endure along with him: this stinginess only applied to entertainment options for himself, not achieved by exploiting his subordinates.
Though truth be told, he had no interest in hunting or hosting banquets to begin with.
The same went for fine wine.
He would brew potent liquors that people couldn’t put down, yet he himself had no interest in them.
In Fosse’s eyes, the more his young lord deprived himself, the more he indulged others.
Even lowly slaves were allowed to eat their fill every day, while the young lord always endured kindly, never even mentioning his favorite foods.
For Oliver, hiding things from the overly sharp and deeply caring Fosse was indeed quite a challenge.
This forced him not only to restrain himself but to do so silently, perfectly concealing his preferences: just like before Laina’s chicken farm became properly established, no matter how much he craved roasted chicken legs or corn chicken soup, he never showed it, worried that Fosse might notice.
And he had indeed succeeded.
It wasn’t until all of Laina’s freemen had achieved “egg freedom” that those around him, including Fosse, were astonished to discover…
The Lord, who always praised the deliciousness of fish soup, the freshness of corn, and the tastiness of wild rabbit, actually preferred chicken above all else!
For Oliver, this approach also led to a minor subsequent trouble—the discovery clearly vexed Fosse, who not only brooded over it for some time but also became more meticulous in observing his preferences.
After receiving Oliver’s instruction to “handle everything with the highest standards,” Fosse was forced to temporarily leave his young master’s side.
“My dear Cat God, you’re being quite considerate today.”
Once the hall grew quiet again, Oliver couldn’t resist reaching out to the golden-haired deity beside him, only to have his hand grasped in return and naturally “cling” to himself.
Oliver paused, about to continue praising Him for unusually not being jealous this time, when he suddenly noticed something amiss.
He stared intently at the Cat God, frowning, relaxing, then frowning again…
After repeating this several times under the Cat God’s feigned composure, he finally drew upon his understanding of the deity beside him and declared with certainty: “You adjusted your height, didn’t you!”
Previously, though much taller than him, the Cat God should have been slightly shorter than the exceptionally tall Loyel—yet He had secretly made Himself “grow” a bit taller!
Cat God: “……”
His partner was far too clever!
