Has The Lord’s Career Chart Been Filled Today? – Chapter 176
“Thank you, but no need.”
Oliver helplessly pushed away the deity who clearly hadn’t understood what was just said, yawning lazily: “Time to sleep.”
But when he actually lay down in bed and glimpsed the moon outside the window still far from reaching its midpoint in the sky, he felt reluctant to enter the system’s sleep state.
Instead, he wrapped an arm around the restless, squirming cat-eared deity and let his thoughts continue to wander aimlessly.
In the plan he had devised for Gregor city, this year’s conscription would recruit three batches: the first batch of 1,000 people, the second batch of 500, and the third batch halved again. In Albury and Laina, where the slave population was smaller than Gregor city’s, these recruitment numbers would be even lower.
According to the population census completed by the steward a few days ago, compared to Laina city’s stark ratio of 1 tax-paying freeman to 10 serfs, Gregor city maintained a remarkably healthy ratio of 1:3—second only to the most prosperous capital’s 1:1 and Riche city’s 1:2.5.
This clearly demonstrated the wealth of Gregor city, hailed as “the Southern Kingdom’s Most Dazzling Pearl.”
Of course, this was closely related to the original Gregor city lord’s stinginess and cruelty—at the end of each spring and autumn, right after the land reclamation when labor was most needed ended, he would have merchants sell off old, weak, sick, and young slaves at bargain prices, just to save on provisions needed for summer and winter.
Years of such selective elimination meant only the most useful young laborers remained among the slaves each year, with the total population kept at just enough to maintain cultivation.
This early summer was an exception: because the entire spring had been secretly spent preparing for war against Albury, Gregor city faced an unprecedented labor shortage. McKenna hadn’t had time to sell off the “surplus” slaves before leading his troops to battle.
And Oliver, now ruling Gregor city, certainly wouldn’t follow his predecessor’s approach.
Based on his experience governing Laina, maintaining summer farmland required less than 10,000 laborers.
Yet Gregor city alone had 10,000 tax-paying freemen and 30,000 slaves.
What should be done with the remaining labor force?
Previously, his main task for these people had been improving and widening the roads to Albury and Laina.
Half a month passed in a flash, and now both roads were completed.
The extra manpower in Laina and Albury was currently busy constructing new city walls.
But Gregor city’s urban scale…
Oliver frowned.
The urban planning for the densely populated, largest city in the south couldn’t possibly be as simple and casual as sparsely populated Laina and Albury.
The latter two could be completely rebuilt, but attempting the same with the former would be a massive project requiring at least two to three years—and it would be such a waste to completely overturn the solid foundation the McKenna family had built over so many years.
Expanding upon the existing layout, removing unreasonable sections, improving overall circulation, adding civil infrastructure… this was undoubtedly more demanding on designers’ brains than his own.
The most troublesome part was that currently, Arte was the only talent he could rely on for design work.
Even if Arte was willing to accept the task of redesigning the city layout, his outstanding qualities were merely aesthetic sense and creativity, with no concept whatsoever of convenience for residents, livability, or disaster prevention.
For the people living in the town, practicality was absolutely paramount.
“As expected, I’m just creating more work for myself.”
Oliver muttered to himself, rubbing his brow in slight vexation.
But if he couldn’t even overcome such a minor difficulty, he shouldn’t dream of rewriting laws in the future.
However, to truly understand people’s daily lives, relying solely on those cold, written reports from subordinates was clearly far from sufficient…
At this thought, Oliver’s mind stirred slightly.
He glanced thoughtfully at the golden-haired deity beside him.
The tall, handsome god sported a pair of fluffy, adorable cat ears on his head, which now twitched and rotated occasionally in sync with his cheerful mood.
His fluffy long tail relaxed comfortably across Oliver’s waist, subtly pretending to be a belt.
The gradient golden layers bathed in silver moonlight, their blurred edges shimmering like light rippling on a tranquil lake, utterly captivating.
As for the deity himself…
He was staring unblinkingly at the golden, slightly curly hair spread across the soft bedding, having secretly wrapped a strand around his finger at some unknown time.
A striking circle of gold adorned his slender, pale finger, like an exquisite ring.
Under normal circumstances, Oliver would have taken the opportunity to stroke those cute ears before the god grew bolder, then gently coaxed him into releasing his hair.
But now, not only did Oliver decide to turn a blind eye to this minor fascination, he also revealed a beautifully radiant smile. In a soft, coaxing tone, he whispered a long-unspoken wish: “My dear Cat God, please hear my request…”
The next morning.
After breakfast as usual, Oliver didn’t immediately head to inspect the cornfields as was his habit. Instead, he solemnly told Fosse, who stood by attentively: “I received a new oracle in last night’s dream, but I need to seek further instructions from the great Cat God regarding specific actions. Therefore, I will remain in the prayer chamber all day today and require no meals. Fosse, please select the most dutiful guards to stand watch at the entrance and allow no one to disturb me.”
Fosse’s eyes widened in surprise before he quickly bowed his head, responding with utmost gravity: “Understood. Please rest assured, Your Highness.”
Oliver had long discovered: ever since his loyal butler had personally witnessed the power of the “Cat God,” invoking the “oracle” excuse had become remarkably effective.
Though it pained his conscience to deceive an important subordinate, Oliver didn’t hesitate to ask the deity to fulfill last night’s wish after bringing the Cat God to the prayer chamber.
A small cluster of golden mist, invisible to humans, silently gathered in the prayer room before quickly dissipating.
The moment the golden mist vanished, the spacious room that had just held two golden-haired nobles became strangely empty.
Meanwhile, in the busiest and most bustling area of Gregor’s town district, on Havest Main Street, two tall figures quietly emerged from an unnoticed dead-end corner of a back wall.
Before stepping out of this blind spot, Oliver had the Cat God conjure a temporary water mirror to carefully inspect both himself and the Cat God from head to toe.
The strikingly conspicuous golden hair was gone, replaced by the most common light brown color.
At the Cat God’s insistence, their facial features remained completely unchanged, only covered by a thin “veil” of golden mist condensed from divine power: others wouldn’t be able to see the golden mist itself, but due to the divine power’s effect, they would subconsciously overlook the exceptional quality of their appearances.
The God of Wealth performed this task with practiced ease: to avoid unnecessary attention, He had always deliberately toned down His divine presence while accompanying Oliver during activities.
Their attire was no longer the understated luxurious silk robes that only nobles had the privilege and wealth to wear, but rather the long shirts, tight trousers, and hooded cloaks favored by traveling merchants.
They wore clean tanned leather short boots, with robe lengths considerably shorter than those of nobles, yet not as extremely shortened as farmers who worked the land to prevent dirt stains. The cuffs featured decorative fur trims, and while the fabric itself was comfortable enough, the dull colors and visible stitching indicated material costs far less expensive than what nobles used – affordable for merchants of moderate means.
They presented the standard image of “merchants with some money, specifically coming to Gregor for business,” perfectly blending into this lively street.
After confirming both their conditions, Oliver felt completely at ease, then broke into a happy smile due to rising excitement.
In his previous outings, he had always been under Fosse’s strict protection without exception, followed by at least one knight or guard.
This was his first time being able to observe the lives of the people he governed on his land in the most direct, least conspicuous way, without any accompanying guards.
Turning to the deity who provided the most crucial assistance, Oliver beamed brightly, not sparing any gratitude: “Dear Cat God, I sincerely thank you for your help, granting me—”
“Don’t.”
The deity, who had been quietly watching His beloved little follower’s joyful appearance until now, suddenly spoke up, decisively cutting him off.
“I don’t want Oliver’s thanks.”
When He acted on His own initiative, He always ended up doing it poorly, making Oliver show that helpless expression.
Like that time when He used divine power to infiltrate the castle and knocked out Spire.
He could actually tell: Oliver wasn’t really happy, yet pretended to be pleased.
He didn’t want to do anything that would make Oliver slightly embarrassed again.
Yet the times when Oliver actively made wishes to Him were exceedingly rare… He rarely got opportunities to fulfill Oliver’s wishes.
He would definitely handle it with utmost seriousness and cherish such chances.
Thinking this, He stared unblinkingly at the slightly stunned Oliver, His lips unconsciously pressing into a straight line: “Oliver, you’re not allowed to thank me.”
Though unable to pinpoint the reason, He always felt that whenever Oliver expressed gratitude in that manner, it was as if he became like those devotees kneeling in prayer at the Divine Temple… instantly creating distance between them.
“Cat God?”
Oliver called softly, his azure blue eyes filled with gentleness.
His tone was light, as if afraid of disturbing Him, yet his attitude remained utterly sincere: “I’m sorry, this time I was wrong. From now on, I won’t say words of thanks to you anymore. Could the magnanimous Cat God please forgive me?”
Though still somewhat wounded, the cat-eared deity gazed at him seriously for a moment before nodding earnestly.
He replied: “Alright.”
The next instant, the Lord’s beautiful face bloomed with a smile once more as he took His hand.
“My dear, generous deity,” Oliver said cheerfully: “Since you’re no longer angry, please allow me to extend this intimate invitation – accompany me on a stroll through our city.”
