HTLCCBFT Chapter 202

Has The Lord’s Career Chart Been Filled Today? – Chapter 202

“Damn it all.”

Rayper wiped the mud he’d accidentally gotten between his fingers with a damp handkerchief, his face full of disgust. As he walked toward the residence, he cursed at his dejected follower: “Worthless fool, how could you not even outrun that scrawny female slave who’s thin as a stick?”

They weren’t female slaves—though in many people’s eyes, the women doing that “business” in the slums weren’t even worth as much as male slaves.

Fuyero[mfn]弗耶罗(Fú yé luó)- unknown if this name is supposed to sound like anything else.[/mfn] thought this to himself, while maintaining an obsequious smile on his face.

His nose, freshly bruised from the cane strike, kept dripping blood, yet he dared not wipe it or offer any excuse for his mistake.

Having stayed by Rayper’s side for so long, he knew his temper well enough: once Rayper’s anger was triggered, he would lose all reason, regardless of how obedient his follower usually was, and would relentlessly beat their bodies with that solid wooden cane.

The worst time, he had even witnessed Rayper break one of his companions’ legs outright.

Though Rayper immediately sent the injured man to a clinic for treatment, the leg was permanently left in an ugly, limping state.

After receiving generous compensation from Gad—who always cleaned up after his beloved son—the man, now incapable of continuing as one of Rayper’s vicious dogs and filled with fear toward him, soon moved his entire family away from Gregor city.

Who knows where he is now.

Listening to Rayper’s furious curses, Fuyero found his mind wandering.

He had once felt smug about the other’s “lack of wit,” thinking how foolish it was to make such a mistake and anger Rayper.

Now, however, he began to think that the other man might have been lucky.

Ever since Gad lost his high position as sheriff, not only did the visitors to their residence sharply decrease, but those who used to flock around Rayper also gradually found excuses to leave.

Only Fuyero couldn’t leave.

He had done too many dirty and heavy tasks for Rayper, earning the hatred of countless people.

Especially since the new lord seemed to place particular importance on those ants in the slums, if he completely left Rayper’s protection, he would surely face retaliation from many.

He didn’t dare take that risk.

But staying by Rayper’s side also seemed like a difficult path: he had to endure the spoiled, arrogant man’s terrible temper and outright violence, all while being forced to do more dirty work that would push him further into the abyss.

Anyone could see that Gad’s fall from power had hit Rayper hard—this once highly self-important son of the former sheriff clearly lacked his father’s deep cunning and couldn’t handle the immense psychological gap.

His temper grew worse, his outings to vent his frustrations increased, and he frequently beat and insulted Fuyero, the only one still following him.

“You look like a rat that just crawled out of the gutter, filthy and stinking.” Before stepping into the house, Rayper snapped back to attention, disgusted by the sight of the lower half of Fuyero’s face covered in grimy blood. He frowned impatiently and snapped, “Clean that up immediately.”

“Yes, Mr. Rayper.”

He humbly responded, using the sleeve that had been dirtied earlier in the alley to wipe away the increasingly flowing blood, finally making himself look less disheveled.

“You—” Rayper was still unsatisfied and was about to scold him further when the back door, which his right hand had been lightly resting against, suddenly opened from the inside.

Behind the open door stood a tall, gaunt man with a face that made Fuyero’s heart tremble and his breath catch—a face exuding gloom and menace.

It was the former sheriff, Gad.

“Father.” Rayper was startled, his eyes shifting uncomfortably as he forced a smile. “Good evening. Why are you here?”

“Good evening, Lord Gad.”

Fuyero bowed respectfully.

“That is the question I should be asking you.”

Gad replied coldly, neither reprimanding Rayper as Fuyero had hoped nor paying any attention to his son’s little follower. He didn’t even seem inclined to let Rayper enter. “If you enjoy running around outside so much, then you can spend the night at an inn.”

Rayper froze.

He awkwardly twisted his lips into an ingratiating smile. “Respected father, have I done something wrong to anger you?”

But Gad offered no explanation, his expression blank as he reiterated, “Spend the night at an inn. If you didn’t bring money, give the innkeeper your surname.”

“……yes, father”

The usually domineering Rayper was meek and submissive in front of his father, as if he were a completely different person.

Not daring to ask anything more, he obediently turned and stepped back out into the street.

“Alright, then—”

Now standing once again on the sparsely populated street, Rayper took a deep breath and, without warning, suddenly turned and struck Fuyero hard with his cane.

“Ugh!”

Caught completely off guard, Fuyero staggered from the blow, groaning in pain.

Fortunately, he was slightly taller than Rayper, so the strike landed on his more resilient right arm rather than his vulnerable face.

He cursed himself inwardly for his carelessness.

Of course—Rayper had just lost face in front of Lord Gad, and Fuyero had witnessed it firsthand.

“Hopeless fool.”

Rayper sneered contemptuously, ruthlessly swinging his cane again, venting the humiliation he had suffered before his father onto this timid, incompetent follower. “Who gave you permission to speak to my father on your own?! If it weren’t for your stupidity, why would my father treat me like that!”

The wooden cane, wielded by that maliciously thin arm, rained down like a storm upon the boy, who dared not evade the blows.

At first, Fuyero stood straight, but soon he could no longer keep his footing. Pitifully shielding his head, he crouched down, allowing the strikes to land on the tougher, fleshier parts of his body.

Just as he was about to be beaten black and blue, a passerby—who hadn’t witnessed the cause of the incident but had seen the brutality—hurried off to fetch the patrolling guards.

Gregor city was large, and there were five patrols out at the same time.

The guard the passerby happened to call upon was the very one who had just responded to Ticher’s plea for help, rescued the girl who had been knocked unconscious and abandoned, and was now delayed on his return route because of the incident.

After being reprimanded by Miss Lucy, they felt deeply ashamed and resolved to bring the suspect Rayper, identified by Ticher, back according to the new public security law no matter what.

They never expected to find him so quickly.

“Mr. Rayper.”

The captain of this temporary guard team stepped forward with a stern face, stopping Rayper who was still assaulting Fuyero: “A woman has accused you of injuring her companion. Please come with us now for investigation and interrogation by the sheriff.”

“Huh?”

Rayper acted as if he had heard the most absurd thing. Though he stopped beating Fuyero, he widened his eyes and sneered at the proposing captain: “What are you? sheriff? Do you know who my father is, the master of this residence?!”

The team captain said expressionlessly: “Mr. Rayper, are you refusing to cooperate with our work?”

“What are you, just changing into clean clothes and thinking you can order me around? A mere filthy slave!” Rayper said contemptuously: “Don’t forget the muddy, dirty blood flowing beneath your skin. How dare you speak like this to a noble heir! If you kneel down now and lick my boots, begging for my forgiveness, I might pardon your capital offense—”

The captain simply waved his hand: “Take him away.”

The guards, who had long been unable to endure it, suddenly stepped forward, covering the mouth of the disbelieving, cursing Rayper and restraining him on the spot.

“Sir,” the captain came before Fuyero who was trying to escape, speaking in an official, cold tone: “As the victim in this case, whether you choose to press charges or not, you need to come with us. Especially since there’s another assault on a lady that urgently requires investigation, you might provide some details.”

Hearing this, Fuyero’s breathing grew more rapid.

He stared intently at the silent former sheriff’s residence behind him for a moment, then looked at Rayper who now appeared furious and struggling in vain, sighing as if completely giving up: “I understand.”

“I’ll cooperate with you and tell everything.”

Covering his most painful bruise, he promised irritably.

“It seems rather noisy outside, Lord Gad.”

A deliberately drawn-out, somewhat affected and greasy voice sounded near Gad, who seemed to be lost in thought.

This fully reminded him that he was still in an informal secret meeting.

This was also why he had driven away his beloved son Rayper who returned early—under the watchful eyes of that divine messenger who might truly be blessed by god, they didn’t want to easily leak information while plotting minor matters.

“Pay it no mind, Mr. Pharmaci,[mfn]法玛西(Fǎ mǎ xī)- ‘Pharmacy'[/mfn] ” Gad said casually: “This is the west end of Havest Street. Occasionally some hungry stray dogs come searching for food. When they tear at prey with their sharp-toothed mouths, they do make some unusual noises.”

“Your attention still needs more focus,” said Gipi [mfn]吉皮(Jí pí)- unknown if this name is supposed to sound like anything else.[/mfn], the once-renowned physician of Gregor city, with a false smile: “Caring for those homeless, lowly strays is probably the favorite pastime of that naive, kind-hearted divine messenger. You should concentrate on what we should be discussing.”

“Let’s get down to business then.”

“Alright. Perhaps I’m overthinking it.”

Pharmaci shrugged with feigned nonchalance and continued discussions with these pompous old men.

Though they all bitterly hated the new lord, regrettably few were willing to secretly join their cause.

Most lower-ranking nobles and wealthy merchants—those with greater capability and influence than them—maintained an ambiguous wait-and-see attitude.

Damn it.

Pharmaci cursed inwardly. Had that lord with his bizarre ideas and extreme capriciousness not completely undermined his interests—no, practically annihilated both his interests and reputation—he wouldn’t have wanted to wade into this muddy water either.

Yes, just the thought of that disgusting ‘Public Hospital’ was enough to make him nauseous, along with the humiliation of applying for a position to curry favor, only to fail the examination and be directly eliminated.

Could they really find doctors capable of healing people with those utterly nonsensical questions?

Pharmaci’s lips curled in disgust.

Though not a devout believer and always convinced there was something suspicious about the city walls being shattered that day, he had to admit the lord possessed many unusual qualities.

Do deities truly exist in this world?

If they did, how could the former Count McKenna—who had offered so many sacrifices to the Harvest Goddess before the expedition—end up miserably killed by that very lord’s hand?

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