Chapter 117. A Separate Deal

Carlos opened Cosmic’s message.

Three messages appeared together.

--

[Cosmic Merchant] - First, I worded my last message badly.

[Cosmic Merchant] - The Lord with Slime Cores is not one of the four Lords in the daily agreement.

[Cosmic Merchant] - I found another territory owner while asking around the market. The four existing buyers still want their normal deal.

--

Carlos read the messages twice.

--

[Carlos Goldwin] - Then why did you say one buyer would replace his stone payment?

--

Cosmic answered immediately.

--

[Cosmic Merchant] - Because I was handling six conversations and sent the message too quickly.

[Cosmic Merchant] - Do you want the offer or an apology?

[Carlos Goldwin] - Both.

[Cosmic Merchant] - Sorry. Here is the offer.

[Carlos Goldwin] - Hehe.

--

A trade panel opened.

--

[Proposed One-day Food Trade]

[Carlos Goldwin will provide Basic Cooked Meals x30]

[Buyer will provide Slime Cores x18]

[Agreement Duration: 1 day]

[No automatic renewal]

--

Cosmic attached the resource listing beneath it.

--

[Slime Cores x18]

[Basic Grade]

[Suitable for Blue Water Slime upkeep and crafting]

[Current owner verified]

[Trade transfer available]

--

Carlos checked every line. The cores were real, already owned by the other Lord and available for immediate transfer once the meals were delivered.

--

[Carlos Goldwin] - Eighteen is an okay amount for me. Try to get the number of meals down.

[Cosmic Merchant] - He says those are all the Slime Cores he has. He got them during his first conquest and has kept them since then. I will try to get the price down.

[Cosmic Merchant] - He agreed to twenty-five meals. He will not go lower.

[Carlos Goldwin] - What troops does he have to feed?

[Cosmic Merchant] - He did not give me his full roster. He said twenty-five meals will cover what his territory is missing for today.

--

The offer changed.

--

[One-day Food Trade]

[Carlos Goldwin will provide Basic Cooked Meals x25]

[Buyer will provide Slime Cores x18]

[Agreement Duration: 1 day]

[No automatic renewal]

--

Carlos did not know the other territory owner and had no reason to trust a private explanation by itself. In a situation like this, only the trade panel mattered.

The system would not complete the exchange unless both sides delivered what they promised.

Carlos looked at the eighteen Slime Cores in writing.

The six Slimes consumed twelve every day. The trade would feed them for one full day and leave six cores for the reserve.

It would also add twenty-five more meals to the kitchen’s work.

He left the offer open and walked back toward the kitchen.

Mira had returned before him. One Hearthkeeper was carrying baskets from Cold Storage while the other checked the meals prepared for the existing agreement.

Carlos showed her the offer.

"It is not replacing any of the four agreements," he said. "This is another territory owner."

Mira counted on the charcoal board.

"90 for Ironroot. Nine for Cedric’s group. 80 for the usual agreement. Another 25 for this trade."

"204..."

Mira opened the Territory Kitchen panel.

--

[Territory Kitchen]

[Level 2]

[Daily Meal Capacity: 250]

[Workers: 3/4]

--

"The kitchen can make them," she said. "But that does not mean we should make them, Carlos."

Carlos nodded. "Yeah, I know. Ingredients are the main issue."

"And time. The other 80 are already promised. Ironroot eats first. Cedric’s group has its agreement too. If we accept this, the 25 meals come after those."

"Can you finish them before the reset?"

Mira looked at the baskets, then called one Hearthkeeper over and asked how much grain had already been prepared. The answer came quickly.

"Today, yes," Mira said. "But those 25 meals will not go into our reserve."

Carlos looked at the Slime Cores again.

"The Slimes cannot eat the reserve we are building. I have to make another reserve for them."

"I know."

Carlos looked at the baskets waiting beside the Hearthkeepers. The kitchen could make twenty-five more meals, but every one of them would use food that could have gone toward Ironroot’s reserve.

"No," he said.

Mira looked at him. "No trade?"

"Not for twenty-five meals."

He messaged Cosmic.

--

[Carlos Goldwin] - Decline it.

[Cosmic Merchant] - You want me to decline eighteen Slime Cores?

[Carlos Goldwin] - I want you to decline giving away 25 meals for them. Food is getting more important every day.

[Cosmic Merchant] - Alright. Declining it now.

--

The proposed trade disappeared.

Less than a minute later, Cosmic sent another message.

--

[Cosmic Merchant] - He dropped it to 15 meals.

[Cosmic Merchant] - He really needs food.

[Carlos Goldwin] - Decline that too.

[Cosmic Merchant] - Are you sure?

[Carlos Goldwin] - Yes.

--

Carlos did not change his answer. Eighteen cores were useful, but they would not solve the Slimes’ food problem for long. Ironroot’s meals fed its residents, paid Cedric’s group and brought in the wood and stone the territory used every day.

Cosmic’s next reply took longer.

--

[Cosmic Merchant] - Bro, he came down to ten meals.

[Cosmic Merchant] - I did not even make another offer. He lowered it himself.

[Cosmic Merchant] - Even I did not expect that.

--

A new trade panel appeared.

--

[One-day Food Trade]

[Carlos Goldwin will provide Basic Cooked Meals x10]

[Buyer will provide Slime Cores x18]

[Agreement Duration: 1 day]

[No automatic renewal]

--

Carlos showed it to Mira.

"Ten," he said.

Mira checked the prepared grain again. "10 will still slow the reserve, but not by 25. We can make them today."

Carlos accepted the trade right away before the Lord could think it through. Slime Cores were important to him and other Slime Barrack owners, but they were worthless to those without Slimes.

--

[One-day Food Trade accepted]

[Basic Cooked Meals x10 must be delivered before the next daily reset]

--

He returned to the four pending renewals and nothing about their terms had changed.

--

[Daily Food Agreement]

[Carlos Goldwin will provide Basic Cooked Meals x80]

[Buyers will provide Wood x120 and Stone x120]

[Agreement Duration: 1 day]

[Renewal requires approval from all parties]

--

Carlos accepted the normal agreement for all four Lords.

Mira watched both panels close.

"189 meals today," she said.

"And 18 cores coming back."

"I have seen that you can be smart sometimes too, Carlos."

"What does that mean?"

"Hehe~ Nothing."

Carlos knew what she meant and only smiled.

Mira divided the work between the two Hearthkeepers. One continued preparing the usual trade baskets. The other started a small grain batch for the separate owner.

"No rare ingredients," Mira told them. "Normal cooked meals only. Keep the reserve provisions inside Cold Storage."

Both Hearthkeepers nodded and began working.

The new order was marked with a different strip of cloth so it could not be mixed with the four existing deliveries. Mira placed it at the end of the cooking queue.

"If anything slows us down, Ironroot eats first," she said. "Then Cedric’s group, then the agreement we already renewed. The separate trade comes last because we accepted it last."

Carlos agreed. Wanting the Slime Cores did not make the newest promise more important than every promise before it.

Carlos sent Cosmic another message.

--

[Carlos Goldwin] - Both agreements accepted. Ten meals for the cores.

[Carlos Goldwin] - Make sure the new owner understands this is one day only.

[Cosmic Merchant] - He knows. This cannot become a daily deal because he has no more cores after these 18.

--

Carlos closed the panel.

The explanation was simple enough. The other Lord had kept a reward he could not use until he found something his territory needed more.

Ironroot was in the same position.

It had fields, a strong kitchen and one hundred emergency provisions. It still needed Slime Cores, more ingredients and enough food to keep growing.

Carlos looked through the kitchen doorway toward Rowan and the Farmers.

The trade would feed the Slimes for another day, but Carlos still needed to solve their long-term food supply.