HTLCCBFT Extra 7

Has The Lord’s Career Chart Been Filled Today? – Extra 7

For countless former Neighboryn people who chose to remain and become the uncertain-future “New Musta People,” the first major examination half a year later undoubtedly marked the first great turning point in their destinies.

The three-day examination, personally presided over by King Loyel I of Musta, presented a peculiar spectacle: the rarest sight in the examination hall were the nobles dressed in splendid attire with arrogant expressions; the largest proportion consisted of commoners in neat but generally plain clothing; while the most scarce were those slaves in tattered clothes with nervous expressions.

Ten days later, the announcement location was packed with crowds. The proud nobles naturally refused to squeeze through the masses—even though they had lost substantial power (which they insisted was merely “temporary”)—the vast wealth accumulated by their ancestors was sufficient for them to spend a couple of silver coins to hire someone to check the results for them.

However, the outcome disappointed most of them: among the fifteen young nobles gathered in this upscale restaurant, nearly all had failed, with only two passing the test.

After an awkward silence, someone soon spoke up: “My luck was truly terrible.” Seemingly forgetting his earlier embarrassment of boasting about certain success before the results were released, he complained loudly: “What rotten luck! Who would have imagined three filthy paupers sitting right in the third row behind me? God, the stench coming from them made it impossible for me to concentrate, let alone answer questions properly!”

This instantly resonated strongly among the young nobles.

These perpetually arrogant youths absolutely refused to accept the humiliating fact of their failure. Yet since the names on the list couldn’t be changed, they could only indignantly blame the dirty slaves and commoners.

“Exactly! There were actually slaves taking the exam in my room! They stank like they’d just crawled out of a cesspit. Just sitting nearby made me feel like I was going to faint from the smell!”

“Damn those disgusting, filthy beasts! Why must they defile the examination hall? They merely held those pitiful books with their dirty hands, pretending to study for half a year, yet they dare dream of passing such a difficult exam!”

“Hah! And so many women too! Can you imagine? His Majesty has gone mad enough to actually appoint women as officials! Their clumsy, thick fingers can’t even play instruments or embroider properly!”

“Hmph, aren’t there already several women in the Parliament? What’s most unbelievable is that in the most noble Upper House, there’s even a white-haired, red-eyed devil with the foul blood of a bastard flowing through her veins…”

Earl[mfn]俄尔(É ěr)[/mfn], the youngest Count from former Neighboryn, listened to his “companions'” discussion with an amused curl of his lips.

Being one of only two who passed the examination, they eventually sought his agreement after much discussion: “Earl, we believe this examination is unfair—we must protest to His Majesty!”

“Hmm?”

Earl lazily yawned before mercilessly dousing their enthusiasm: “Are you all daydreaming?”

Everyone stared at him in disbelief. After a long pause, someone finally stepped forward and angrily declared, “Hey Earl, you can’t do this! Just because you passed, you’re letting those lowly serfs step over our family crest to advance, bringing shame to our great house—”

Earl sneered and bluntly retorted, “Is that so? But the fact that you couldn’t pass such a simple exam is the real reason your family is disgraced, isn’t it?”

“As nobles, we enjoy the most privileged resources,” he drawled. “Yet… hmm? Even a slave who only studied for half a year—oh, and under the guidance of those poverty-stricken teachers you look down upon—can easily trample over the ‘knowledge’ accumulated over all these years. My companions, what you possess is a level of stupidity that even the blessings of the God of Wisdom, Wisdom, couldn’t salvage. If I were you, instead of standing here resentfully cursing, I’d run home crying to your powerless fathers to complain about His Majesty’s ‘absurdity,’ then beg your mothers—who might still have some salvageable brains—to start studying. That way, in six months, those delicate women might achieve scores far surpassing what you managed today.”

After thoroughly mocking them with his notoriously sharp tongue, Earl left the group—who were left gaping and trembling with rage—strolling away leisurely.

“Your Lordship,” his valet insisted on addressing him as such, despite the title of Count being largely nominal now, “it seems you’ve thoroughly angered them.”

“Ha, who cares about those good-for-nothings? I have no intention of associating with them anymore. When they’ve squandered their estates, they’ll finally understand whether they’re truly ‘superior’ to those commoners and slaves.” Earl dismissed them indifferently. “I originally thought some of them might have learned something amidst all those hunts and balls that purely waste money and energy—enough to pass this test and become my future companions… But it seems hoping those empty-headed scarecrows could become my colleagues was futile. I should’ve joined the commoners’ literary societies long ago.”

Earl was an uncompromising pragmatist, fiercely loyal to his family’s honor and unwilling to watch it decline bit by bit.

At the very least, they needed to reclaim a position of influence.

After realizing the new King valued practical achievements and despised flattery, he quickly adjusted his approach—after all, the essence of so-called ‘nobility’ was ultimately about currying favor and aligning with the ruler’s preferences.

Once they lost the ruler’s favor, the nobility would fall.

Though he had little interest in ‘invention and creation,’ after carefully studying the projects most heavily supported by the Musta Kingdom in recent years, he recognized that infrastructure and innovation-related fields required more personnel and offered higher admission rates. Thus, he resolutely chose to apply for relevant positions.

Unlike those fools whose heads were filled with arrogance but devoid of even a speck of knowledge—who, to satisfy their ridiculous vanity, opted for the most selective and, in their eyes, most prestigious and well-compensated ‘candidate for parliament’ roles.

“Those idiots.”

At this thought, Earl couldn’t help but sneer.

He had thoroughly researched it – to become a ‘candidate for councilor,’ it was fundamentally impossible without either a track record exceeding three years or outstanding contributions.

Frankly speaking, so-called councilors were nothing more than ‘new nobility’ in his eyes… Only god knew whether there were forces manipulating those votes behind the scenes.

After passing the exam and receiving admission, Earl, like other jubilant successful candidates, enjoyed three days of paid leave at home.

Then, carrying the issued uniform and documentation, he headed to the institution that had recruited him, ready to begin his first day of work.

Earl was assigned to the ‘Research Department.’

Fortunately, when he arrived at the Research Department, the department head was personally leading several members, deeply engrossed in studying something.

Earl felt a surge of energy and was just thinking about how to approach them when one of them noticed him.

“You’re the new guy, Earl, right?” A young man with disheveled hair glanced at him and called out his name. Before Earl could react, the man shoved something into his hands: “Here, I’ll show you what to do.”

Earl was taken aback. Looking down, he found himself holding… an egg.

The others continued their earnest discussion, paying him no mind, so he followed the instructions in a daze: he made a small hole at each end of the fresh eggs, inserted a long needle, and began stirring.

Once the egg contents were thoroughly mixed, he was told to carefully blow into the smaller hole, allowing the liquid to flow out… After this incredibly tedious process, he finally held several nearly intact empty eggshells in his hands.

“Excellent!”

The empty eggshells were quickly taken away.

What happened next left the initially dismissive Earl utterly dazzled and amazed from the bottom of his heart: one eggshell obediently followed an ordinary comb that had just been used on hair, sticking to it no matter where it went, like the most loyal hunting dog; another eggshell had its larger hole sealed, was half-filled with water, and placed on a small wheeled frame with a candle. Shortly after the candle was lit, the egg, acting as a carriage, began pushing the entire contraption forward!

“God!”

Earl, who usually looked down on his self-important noble peers, felt ashamed of his own meager intelligence for the first time.

Why did the eggshell follow the comb? Why did the egg-carriage move in the opposite direction?

He watched the experiments intently, desperately trying to understand the reasons behind them. But he couldn’t even join the discussions of those conducting the experiments; he couldn’t even grasp what they were so passionately debating!

Unbeknownst to them, while they were heatedly discussing, not far above them, two deities lounging lazily on a fluffy white cloud were observing them with great interest through divine sense.

“Asking ‘why’ is the beginning of progress,” said the god-king, whose beauty outshone the morning light, allowing his cat-eared lover to secretly play with his curls as he smiled. “In a while, we’ll have Wisdom, who governs wisdom, bestow his blessing upon them. That might even speed up their progress a bit.”

The lives of mortals were fleeting yet brilliant, and they were the most creative race—once they developed more interesting forms of entertainment, the godly race with endless lifespans might also be drawn in, no longer clinging to Him all day long.

He could hardly wait.

“For now…”

The God-King had just sat up when his expression paused slightly: “Hm?”

The Cat-eared God reluctantly released the smooth, golden-bright strand of hair and softly called out: “Ollie… what are you going to do?”

Oliver chuckled lightly: “A new deity has been born.”

Interesting.

A faint glimmer swirled in the God-King’s azure eyes as he smiled: “The deity’s name is Revolution, presiding over change. Shall we go receive Him?”

The Cat-eared God blinked and replied without hesitation: “No.”

Having experienced being cared for by the beautiful and gentle Ollie, He was unwilling to let the new god have the same opportunity!

Just the gods who might visit Ollie from other worlds at any time, and those watching eagerly, always vying for the closest spot to Ollie, were enough to trouble and dishearten Him.

To His surprise, Ollie, who was clearly quite interested in the newly born deity, actually chose to heed His opinion and amiably said: “Well, then let’s leave it to Sunn.”

“Ollie!”

Overjoyed, the Divine Empress pounced forward, dark golden eyes sparkling like a galaxy of stars.

In an intimate posture that would surely enrage the other gods, He wantonly and boldly kissed the God-King’s beautifully sculpted lips.

“Then… for now,” the God-King allowed the kisses before finally laughing and continuing the earlier topic: “Will you accompany me on a trip to other worlds?”

The Cat God nodded.

And so, while the gods were busy, the future Divine Servant racked his brains to overcome trials, and the new god was still ignorant and confused…

The great God-King openly took His beloved Divine Empress to other worlds, embarking on a honeymoon meant only for the two of them.

End of Text

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TL Note: That’s it! Thank you for joining me on this journey. I learned a lot about translation and editing from this experience, hopefully i’ll do better on my next project.

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