HTLCCBFT Chapter 21

Has The Lord’s Career Chart Been Filled Today? – Chapter 21

After hearing the final verdict, Annie and the others were completely stunned.

Tied up securely, they sat dazedly on the ground. It wasn’t until the male servants of the castle forcefully dragged them out that they seemed to wake from a nightmare, screaming shrilly, “No, no, no—! I don’t believe it, I demand to see the Lord!”

What usually dissatisfied Annie the most was how this incredibly noble Duke was far too good to the slaves, while ignoring freemen like them who should have lived better than slaves. He was truly “too unlike a nobleman.”

Ironically, now that she had made a huge mistake, crying and desperately grasping for a lifeline, she knew in her heart that her only hope was the Duke’s “excessive kindness.”

“Shut up.”

Johan’s expression was icy as he kicked the fat on her body—flesh she had gained from frequently sneaking food, which made her stand out from everyone else in the domain.

He stared down at her, then sneered after a moment. “You think someone who has committed such a grave crime is worthy of seeing that noble Lord? Be prepared to pay a heavy price for your sins.”

At this moment, Annie was no longer the head cook who could command everyone in the castle. Moreover, long before the final verdict was announced, her vile deeds had already been publicized under Fosse’s instruction.

The other kitchen helpers, who were implicated by her and now stripped of their status as freemen and castle servants to become lowly slaves, along with their families, all hated her to the bone.

As for the slaves, who were used to being treated like dust underfoot, they were less concerned about “the soup they drank having been spat in by the head cook” or “the fish having been secretly eaten by the kitchen staff.” Instead, the fact that “Annie dared to spit in the pot used to cook soup for the Lord” was what sent them into a towering rage.

He was such a gentle and beautiful Lord. Even when they prayed for him in their hearts and uttered his name, they did so with caution and reverence.

Yet Annie, one of the people who could get closest to the Angel Duke, had acted like a demon who deserved to be sliced into a thousand pieces, viciously committing a despicable act to harm Duke Oliver behind his back!

In an instant, the eyes of everyone looking at the sinner Annie blazed with the fierce flames of hatred.

Whether it was the possibility that she might have succeeded in harming their wonderful Angel Lord, causing him to suffer the same misfortune as the previous eight lords, or the possibility that the Lord might become disheartened by her shameless and vicious actions and no longer be willing to bestow kindness upon his people… both outcomes were too dreadful to contemplate!

For this very reason, the moment Annie was wretchedly dragged out of the castle gates, not even the able-bodied male servants could hold back the incensed crowd.

“How dare you try to harm the Lord!”

With a great roar, they surged forward in a rage, punching and kicking Annie’s fleshy body, wishing they could beat her to death on the spot!

Only after watching coolly for a while did Johan step forward to stop them.

“Enough, all of you, stop. It is only because of the Lord’s mercy that she has the chance to atone for the rest of her life—she will do the filthiest, most tiring work and eat the worst, most meager food to slightly make up for the precious grain she wasted in the past.”

The Duke, as kind and good as an angel, had pardoned her from the death penalty out of his benevolence.

Johan, too, breathed a sigh of relief at this. Having lived through hardship himself, he of course knew that Annie’s days ahead would be a living hell.

“Pah! She got off easy!”

The righteously indignant crowd finally dispersed, but their hate-filled gazes still followed Annie, who was battered and bruised and no longer dared to dawdle.

She was followed until she was rudely thrown into a collapsed thatched hut that could hardly be called a ‘dwelling.’

The hut was located next to the former marketplace, which the crowd was currently clearing out amidst a foul stench. One moment, Annie was whimpering over her lost job and the pain in her body; the next, the suffocatingly strong odor knocked her unconscious.

Only now, as the intense pain truly fell upon her, did she feel genuine regret.

Oliver had no intention of paying any attention to the subsequent fate of the former cook who had made such a grave mistake.

With everything in the territory in a state of disrepair and needing to be rebuilt, even he, the Lord, was leading a busy and full life. Every black sheep had to be decisively removed.

As for a more merciful and humane form of punishment… that could wait until everyone had full bellies and had learned about etiquette and honor.

Oliver sighed softly.

Under his vigorous promotion, the foul-smelling old marketplace site was filled in, and the stench gradually faded.

One after another, identical-looking latrines sprang up like mushrooms after rain, forming a stark contrast to the dilapidated slave huts nearby.

Never mind the interiors of the latrines, whose structures were luxuriously built with lumber processed by the game system, strictly following the templates and methods provided by Ed.

Even the thatched huts placed over the latrine pits were built with exceptional care and beauty, thanks to the generous Lord granting everyone the right to gather dead branches from the forest for materials.

Furthermore, due to the hollow wooden pipes connected to the pre-installed ventilation outlets, and the strict practice of covering the waste with a thin layer of soil and dead leaves after each use… despite being a place for handling the filthiest and smelliest of excrement, it was miraculously free of any odor!

When the slaves discovered this with pleasant surprise, they suddenly realized, ‘The latrines are cleaner and more spacious than our own homes, and even more comfortable to live in!’

Thus, much to Oliver’s amusement, a phenomenon soon emerged where a large number of slaves chose to sleep in the newly built latrines rather than in their own homes with their long-collapsed roofs.

Perfect timing.

After his continuous logging over the past ten days, the total amount of materials he had acquired was more than enough for the vast majority of people to rebuild their houses.

Also signifying that all preparations were complete was the fact that Lucy, after persistent attempts, had finally mastered the yakisugi technique.

Using yakisugi-treated lumber for the exteriors, which needed to withstand wind and rain, was not only aesthetically pleasing but also provided protection against rot, moisture, and insects.

Without waiting for a grace period, Oliver seized the moment while the slaves were still immersed in the joy of their ‘new homes.’ He gathered everyone and announced that he would provide them with new lumber to build their own new houses.

The reason he gave was nonchalant: he had “received a new oracle.” It was that “the great Cat God deemed the houses too dilapidated and an eyesore, and thus granted the diligent and pious believers the right to build beautiful new homes.”

At this, the entire Laina City erupted, plunging into an absolute frenzy. They had seen it with their own eyes these past few days: so much high-quality lumber. It was not only a gift from the great Cat God, but also the result of the kind, generous Angel Duke—who possessed the most beautiful and gentle of hearts—toiling to chop it down!

And after this simple announcement, Oliver decisively returned to the castle.

Even with the main gate closed, he could still clearly hear through the door the voices of countless slaves, who were crying tears of joy and cheering and screaming wildly, chanting his and the Cat God’s names in praise.

…Even he felt a little embarrassed when directly facing the fanatical, worshipful gazes of so many people who regarded him as a true Divine Messenger.

Oliver sat on a chair, feigning composure. As he gradually grew accustomed to the shouts from outside, he suddenly noticed something was different from usual.

“Fosse,” Oliver said, blinking curiously. He looked at the butler, who had shown no intention of dissuading him from start to finish, and teased, “I thought you would try to talk me out of it.”

“Your Highness is always most wise,” Fosse blurted out, then added in a transparent attempt to cover up, “Besides, we have the wise Cat God.”

“…”

As someone who had been ‘tainted’ by certain modern ideas, Oliver couldn’t help but feel his lips twitch at the word ‘wise.’

He had a feeling that this butler, whose shrewd competence always exceeded his imagination, might have already keenly picked up on the hint that ‘the little master might be using the Cat God’s name to do what he wants.’

…

Another five days passed in the blink of an eye.

This was the day the new houses for the fastest-working group were completed. After receiving their allotted lumber, everyone had been so eager not to delay their farm work and the Summer Market that they even begrudged sleeping at night. Families took turns resting, racing desperately against time.

Only by finishing as soon as possible could they get back to the fields as soon as possible and repay their wonderfully generous Lord.

And this day was also the day the Summer Market was about to begin.

However, unlike previous years when the impoverished populace would look forward to it from early on, Laina City had been experiencing one divine miracle after another ever since the Angel Duke’s arrival.

Furthermore, under the guidance of that unbelievably kind Lord, all people and things were undergoing all sorts of transformations with astonishing speed.

The people living on this land had long felt overwhelmed, able to do nothing but dazedly accept the endless stream of pleasant surprises.

Most people had even forgotten about the Summer Market, having thrown themselves body and soul into building their own homes.

From Oliver’s perspective, those houses were still incredibly crude—they didn’t even have foundations, using only lumber for a simple internal support frame. Although the roofs were A-framed for better rain and snow drainage as he had suggested, they didn’t have a single decent tile. Most people used leftover wheat straw from the previous year and weeds found in the woods to thatch their roofs. The slightly more ‘luxurious’ ones used flat stones found by the river.

Oh well, he thought. It’s still better than those drafty, leaky, and rickety ‘thatched huts’ from before, which were far worse than even a modern pigsty. However, for the vast majority of people in Laina City, this was the first time they had ever come into contact with such high-quality lumber. It meant they no longer had to sacrifice their rest during periods of heavy labor to find time to repair their houses, and could now build such beautiful, sturdy, and solid homes.

Although the idea of intentionally charring the surface of such fine wood until it was pitch-black before setting it out was completely unheard of… as long as it was the Lord’s decision, no one would raise a single word of doubt, simply obeying as if it were the most natural thing to do.

Just as everyone was bustling about with great enthusiasm, merchants from other regions also arrived in Laina City in an endless stream.

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