HTLCCBFT Chapter 210

Has The Lord’s Career Chart Been Filled Today? – Chapter 210

Laina City.

Wispy trails of smoke rose from the chimney of a farmhouse boasting three spacious rooms, its framework constructed from fresh oak pillars. The main door stood wide open, both to allow the owners to casually chat with neighbors passing by and to let in some breeze on this rather sultry afternoon.

The most striking feature was undoubtedly the vigorous flames dancing in the clay-built stove inside. The lively firelight cast a reddish glow on the face of the woman cooking, her skin glistening with fine beads of sweat.

“Hah.”

As dusk began to fall, a sturdy man in a guard uniform hurried into the small front yard piled high with firewood. Removing his hat to fan his sweat-soaked face, he habitually called out in a booming voice, “Darling, I’m back!”

“Go take a bath first.”

Marianne didn’t look up, focused on adding dried meat scraps to the pot of oatmeal porridge. Though genuinely pleased inside, she deliberately complained, “Every time you return from the training camp, you and your clothes reek terribly!”

The honest, simple-minded man responded with a foolish grin, scratching his head before obediently picking up the wooden bucket in the corner and heading straight for the well.

Back when people had followed Mr. Farmur’s blueprints, they had dug fifty wells along the ridges across the 210 partitioned farmland plots.

The primary purpose was irrigation, but outside irrigation hours, the wells undoubtedly greatly facilitated the serfs’ daily lives. After the wells were dug and houses built near the fields, the serfs suddenly realized the immense convenience this brought: as long as usage times were scheduled in advance, every household could access cool, clean well water daily!

Before this, the cleanest water they could obtain was rainwater collected in all the idle jars and containers at home.

“Hey, wait!” Marianne realized which bucket he had taken and hurried out after him, calling to his retreating back, “That’s the one I use for cooking!”

Jack, realizing his mistake, quickened his pace even more.

“Honestly.”

Marianne muttered discontentedly but said nothing more, returning inside to continue cooking the porridge. “The porridge is almost ready, don’t take too long! Those three rascals aren’t back yet—remember to check at the divine temple!”

“Got it!”

Jack responded loudly.

He soon reached the well closest to home and deftly drew up two buckets of water.

Stripping off all his clothes, he began splashing water over himself while vigorously scrubbing his body.

Actually, during their stays at the training camp, they were required to bathe daily: those who were too perfunctory or didn’t wash properly would be singled out by the knight instructors for criticism and extra training.

After just half a month of intensive training, even the formerly most slovenly individuals had become exceptionally efficient at showering and washing clothes.

They had been somewhat unaccustomed at first—back when they were serfs, they couldn’t bathe daily; they’d be lucky to wash once a month!

But this was to maintain the neat appearance of the guard team… and it was only natural. How could guards and serfs be the same?

As this habit took root, Jack found himself increasingly unable to tolerate any dirt on his body.

He quickly finished his shower, scrubbed his clothes clean, and incidentally also washed the clothes belonging to his wife Marianne that he had fished out together.

“Jack, you’re back?”

His neighbor Ziken, who had also come to fetch water, smiled and greeted him upon seeing him.

Jack grinned: “Yeah, Marianne rushed me to take a bath.”

In Laina city, there were four people who received the reward of being promoted from slaves to freemen in the first year: Lucy, Jonathan, Ziken and Rebel.

Under their leadership, the breeding farm flourished, and every slave hoping to become a breeder studied hard on their own.

They soon realized that even if they couldn’t enter the breeding farm… that knowledge wouldn’t be wasted and could be used for themselves.

After all, this was Laina – where even slaves were allowed to keep two chickens!

Jack and Marianne were undoubtedly one of the luckier families among the slaves.

Although officially they were still slaves, Jack had successfully passed the training with his physical advantages and was selected as a reserve guard, having served for eight months.

Even without special achievements, he only needed to wait another 4 years and 4 months to become a freeman!

Then there was Jack’s wife Marianne.

Through her carefulness and eagerness to learn, Marianne became a breeder in the newly opened chicken farm in the summer of the second year. She was also busy every day and couldn’t take care of their three children at all – fortunately, the expansion of the divine temple and the arrival of the second batch of Priests accepted large numbers of children. They only needed to send their children and the day’s food to the divine temple each day, then they could work without worries.

After the day’s work ended, they would go to the divine temple to pick up their three children.

Families with two incomes were becoming increasingly wealthy, yet the divine temple refused to accept any form of offering…

Jack and Marianne felt uneasy about this for a long time.

They had received too much, far more than any slave family could ever dream of.

While they both worked hard and were always willing to offer their lives and loyalty to their generous and kind lord, what could their three children, who only knew how to eat and play, possibly do for the lord? How could they feel comfortable going to the divine temple?

Other ordinary slave families who also realized they were allowed to send their children to the divine temple to learn shared the same feelings.

After observing anxiously for a long time, they timidly came forward, scrubbed their seemingly foolish children clean, gave them countless instructions, and brought them to the divine temple.

“This is the blessing of the cat god and the grace of His Highness.”

Faced with slaves who insisted on doing something in return, the Priests didn’t know how to respond.

After failed attempts at persuasion, they had no choice but to seek instructions from the castle.

The sheriff knight Kane stationed in Laina, after sending a fast horse message to Gregor city, received new instructions.

“If you really want to do something, then discuss and take turns planting flowers and caring for them.”

Following the drawings provided by sir Farmur, the Priests had the guards demarcate areas nearby and said: “You can plant anything, but don’t go beyond these areas.”

In just three short months, that place had become a colorful sea of flowers.

The blooming flowers represented the grateful hearts of the slaves and had become the favorite spot for the Priests, who usually maintained a stern exterior.

After wringing out the washed clothes, Jack found the weather too hot and simply put them on while still damp.

Then, carrying a wooden bucket with Marianne’s clothes, he hummed a tune cheerfully as he headed toward the divine temple.

However, as soon as he caught sight of the temple’s spire, three familiar small figures came walking toward him.

They were his three little ones.

“Dad!”

Thrilled to see their father after half a month apart, the youngest immediately dropped his schoolbag and dashed over, throwing himself into Jack’s arms. The second son, a step behind, could only grab Jack’s free hand.

The eldest son pressed his lips together, glanced at his younger brothers, and decided not to join the commotion. Instead, he reached out and took the bucket from his father’s hand.

“Hey, you hold on too.”

Freeing up his right hand, Jack didn’t neglect his most sensible eldest son. With a happy, toothy grin, he let the youngest ride on his shoulders while using his right hand to grasp the eldest’s hand.

—Instantly, all three children were overjoyed.

After greeting many neighbors along the way, Jack soon arrived home.

They were welcomed by a large pot of fragrant, steaming hot food.

There was enough Black bread to fill everyone’s stomachs, but unlike the kind they were used to before—which resembled dirty, hard rocks that hurt their teeth—this was freshly baked, soft, and fluffy with the aroma of rye.

The porridge was lightly sprinkled with glistening minced meat, and beside it were three boiled eggs, carefully sliced into six equal portions with a knife, accompanied by a small piece of melted cheese.

It was a thoughtfully prepared, quite lavish meal.

The family enjoyed this dinner with immense happiness. Watching the three children eat carefreely while discussing the new knowledge their Priest teacher had taught them at the divine temple during the day, Marianne couldn’t help but smile.

“Sometimes I’m really afraid,” she whispered. “Do we truly deserve all this? Is this really a life slaves can live? It hasn’t even been two years! Before the lord came to Laina, many free people’s lives were far worse than ours now!”

How different it was now!

She had dreamed of the old days several times, feeling both fear and numbness.

Even after waking, she could hardly believe that such a wonderful life was real and not just her imagination.

The most incredible part was that this life could keep getting better and better…

In a few years, when Jack completed his service, he would be promoted to a free person. If she could be the top performer at the farm three times in a row, she could become a free person too—otherwise, she would need to complete seven years of work.

It was somewhat distant, but full of hope.

Not to mention their three children. If they studied hard and achieved something in the future…

“In a few more years, we won’t be slaves anymore.” Unaware of his wife’s delicate thoughts, Jack cheerfully patted his wooden bowl and said, “And as for why we can have all this—hey, don’t forget the bedtime prayers and gratitude! Praise the great cat god, praise the great lord! Ohh!”

“Silly.”

Marianne smiled and tapped him, shaking her head before giving up on saying anything more to her foolish husband.

“By the way, Jack.”

Just as they were finishing their meal, Marianne suddenly remembered something.

She hesitated for a moment but couldn’t resist asking her husband: “I’ve been hearing some strange rumors at the farm recently… Have you heard anything like that in your training camp?”

“Heard what?”

Jack asked casually, then tilted his head back and gulped down the last bit of porridge from his bowl in one go. He kept the mouthful contentedly for a moment before swallowing it.

Looking at her carefree husband, Marianne couldn’t help feeling somewhat helpless.

However, with her rather limited ability to express herself, it was difficult to articulate her vague concerns, so she spoke plainly: “I’m asking if you’ve heard people questioning the lord’s decisions?””

“How could there be!”

“What are you even talking about!” Jack was startled and said decisively: “Absolutely not!”

Being able to live in a spacious, bright new house, having enough to eat every day, wearing clean clothes, and having plenty of firewood in winter – this was practically the life every slave dreamed of.

How could they not be filled with awe and gratitude toward the divine messenger, ready to devote everything at any moment, when they had achieved such good fortune so quickly?

“Sigh.”

Seeing her husband’s confused expression, Marianne knew she wouldn’t get any answers from him.

She hesitated before saying vaguely: “You’ve completed nine months of service, haven’t you? Don’t you get to stay home for ten days of rest? During these ten days, please pay a bit more attention to what’s happening around us.”

“Of course.” Jack readily agreed: “I don’t have anything else to do during the break. I’ll go help old Edley [mfn]埃德力(Āi dé lì)[/mfn], pick up the kids from the divine temple at dusk, and I’ll handle the cooking too.”

Marianne felt a sweet warmth in her heart, her slight worries instantly dissipating as she nodded.

Early the next morning, she dressed neatly and, after eating the breakfast Jack had cooked for the family, headed toward the farm.

“Hey, little ones, get up quickly! Time for classes at the divine temple!”

Jack used his booming voice and calloused feet to wake up each child who was still lingering in bed.

Although his movements looked brisk and efficient, he didn’t use much force at all.

Three half-grown sons rolled around sleepily in bed before rubbing their drowsy eyes and getting up.

Although Jack rarely took over his wife Marianne’s chores, having undergone training camp drills on household management, he not only performed these tasks competently but also quickly and efficiently.

So when the three children sat down at the wooden table with their mouths full of food, they watched in astonishment as their father hummed a tune while deftly shaking out and pulling taut their three new quilts with a swift motion.

Then he picked up a small stick nearby, poked at them a few times, and folded them into neat little squares.

“Impressive, right?”

Jack turned around and looked proudly at his three awestruck sons, unsurprisingly receiving their admiring gazes the next moment.

After getting his three well-fed sons cleaned up and herding them like chicks to the divine temple, Jack changed into his most stain-resistant clothes and headed toward his former neighbor old Edley’s house.

As he walked along on the road, Jack couldn’t help but reflect: if it were a year and a half ago, no one would have imagined that the three neighboring families would experience such vastly different circumstances.

The most destitute and pitiful Lucy had suddenly soared to the top, frequently getting close to that wonderful lord and even receiving wisdom from the great cat god. His own family had fortunately seized the opportunity, with both husband and wife working diligently, and in a few years they would be able to shed their slave status. However, Edley’s household, with its solitary elderly resident, remained unchanged. Advanced in years, physically frail, and unable to grasp book learning, he could only manage lighter farm work in the fields each day.

Fortunately, Laina’s current lord was the generous and kind divine messenger.

Whether for himself or for Edley, Jack couldn’t help feeling grateful: under previous lords, both they and Lucy would certainly have remained in their original states, and the aged and feeble Edley likely wouldn’t have survived at all.

Unlike before, now with ample food supplies and the lord’s gentle generosity, no one in Laina went hungry: slaves who couldn’t complete their daily tasks, as long as they provided reasonable explanations acceptable to the steward, would receive enough rye to fill their stomachs.

But old Edley had strong pride and was unwilling to owe the lord, preferring to work day and night, even going to the fields at midnight to make up for unfinished daytime work. This had once exhausted him to the point of illness.

It was only after that illness, when he “caused more trouble for the lord,” that this stubborn old man finally recognized his limitations and accepted help from Jack’s family.

“Edley!”

Jack spotted the familiar gaunt figure from afar and couldn’t help waving.

Edley certainly heard him and waved back even before turning around.

“I’m troubling you with these again.”

Edley’s wrinkled face flushed with embarrassment as he said extremely apologetically: “I… sigh, I have nothing to repay you with. After I die, if you don’t mind my house, just dismantle it and take whatever usable materials you can.” This was all he had left.

“Alright, alright, alright.”

Though Jack would never actually do such a thing, to make Edley feel better, he readily agreed.

The steward clearly showed consideration for Edley’s age and weakness, assigning him light workloads without urgency.

If Edley consistently failed to complete his tasks, he wouldn’t be whipped as frequently as before. Instead, additional slaves would be assigned to help with his work to prevent overall delays.

Of course, the vice of “laziness” was universally despised in Laina and never tolerated.

If able-bodied slaves intentionally slacked off, their food rations would be reduced for the first offense. For the second offense, they would be sent to prison for a period of ‘compulsory labor for moral reform.’ If they remained disobedient, instead of whipping, they would be expelled from Duke Oliver’s territory.

Indeed, not only Laina, but Gregor and Albury city wouldn’t harbor such incorrigible lazybones either.

It’s said that before departure, they would kindly provide enough food to sustain the person until they reached Riche city or one of the three mining cities—though nobody wanted to reach that point.

Only under Lord Oliver’s rule could slaves live such good lives—doing some work and being free from worries about food and clothing… Who would ever want to leave?

In any case, old Edley’s tasks were far too easy for Jack, who was strong and had undergone a considerable period of guard training.

He worked with his head down, completely unaware of the sweat drenching his body.

It wasn’t until the sun began to set, and it was almost time to pick up the children, that he wiped the sweat off and cheerfully said to old Edley, “The remaining work will take about three more days. Leave it all to me—I’ll be back tomorrow to continue.”

old Edley nodded, feeling slightly embarrassed.

Jack had initially thought of heading straight to the divine temple but quickly realized how clean and sacred a place it was. He didn’t want to take advantage of that convenience.

So, he asked old Edley and borrowed his bucket, intending to wash off his stinking sweat at a nearby well. However, as he approached the well, his ears suddenly caught the sound of men speaking in hushed tones.

Most importantly, he faintly seemed to hear the name “Oliver.”

Jack froze instantly.

Normally, being a straightforward person, he would have boldly walked over and called out a greeting.

But now, he hesitated, frowning.

Perhaps it was Marianne’s words from last night, or perhaps it was the name “Oliver” itself—either way, they had set off alarm bells in his mind. He didn’t rush forward. Instead, he instinctively lightened his footsteps, hid in a nearby thicket, and held his breath, trying to make out their conversation clearly.

In the old Laina, the name “Oliver” wasn’t particularly uncommon, and the lord had never said anything about it.

But soon, parents who had named their children Oliver tacitly agreed to change their children’s names… Otherwise, shouting “Oliver” at their own snot-nosed brats would have been far too disrespectful to the esteemed lord!

Thus, within just a year and a half, it had become nearly impossible to find another “Oliver” in Laina.

Perhaps assuming that the slaves were still working and unaware of anyone eavesdropping nearby, the men continued their heated discussion—or rather, venting their pent-up frustrations.

Jack could only catch fragmented bits of the conversation, and he recognized one of the voices.

It was Trett[mfn]崔特(Cuī tè)[/mfn], the laziest of them all, who always found ways to slack off.

The reason Jack had always disliked Trett was because—this man, who loved shirking his duties and pushing his work onto others, had once, to curry favor with the steward who held the power of life and death over the slaves, ignored their protests and reported Lucy’s father for gathering firewood to keep warm!

Although Lucy’s father had indeed done something forbidden, as a father himself, Jack couldn’t help but understand the man’s desperation.

If Trett hadn’t gone out of his way to report him, Lucy’s father might not have died back then.

“……ptui……that idiot Jack?”

“……meddling again…… hypocrite……”

“Marianne…… disgusting……”

Hearing his and his wife’s names mentioned in a contemptuous tone, Jack’s brow furrowed even more tightly.

He carefully observed his surroundings and subtly moved closer to hear more clearly.

“It’s all because of that bitch Marianne! That foolish woman actually dared to register her own name!” Perhaps because Trett raised his voice, Jack could hear him clearly: “I’ll have to break her leg before she learns what fear is! You’re right—a filthy woman actually daring to compete with men for jobs! Their audacity grows by the day!”

“It’s all Duke Oliver’s fault, with his excessive kindness toward women,” another sullen male voice complained. “Women should honestly stay at home and work!” They only survive because we’re generous enough to share our beds and grant them health!”

For diligent slaves willing to fight for their rights, life was indeed improving.

In fact, amid Laina’s flourishing prosperity, even the most unmotivated slaves who only performed their basic assigned tasks lived much better than before: they could eat their fill through work, and when ill, were permitted rest with family care.

But for people like Trett who always sought shortcuts and slacked off whenever possible, the situation was quite grim.

What they found utterly intolerable was watching those formerly beneath them prosper while they remained stagnant—this bitterness surpassed even the pain of their own worsening circumstances.

Now even their women were demanding to work outside?

According to the new territory laws, the money women earned couldn’t be touched by their husbands and was entirely under their own control!

This meant that if they let their wives work, they’d gain nothing while losing someone they could freely beat, scold, and enslave. How could they ever agree!

Especially after listening to Insait[mfn]因赛特(Yīn sài tè) – ‘incite'[/mfn], they became increasingly convinced that all their misfortunes stemmed from that Duke who never considered poor men like them, showing nothing but favoritism toward women.

“In that case,” an unfamiliar voice suddenly interjected.

Though seemingly calm, to clear-minded Jack it carried distinct seduction and malice:

“Why don’t you do something to take petty revenge against the noble lord who caused your misery?”

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