Chapter 118. More Land

Rowan finished counting the ordinary fields before the additional ten meals were ready.

He returned with dirt on his hands and two Farmers behind him. Mira came out of Cold Storage carrying her own record board.

Carlos met them beside the Common Farmland.

"How bad is it?" he asked.

"The crops are healthy," Rowan said. "But it’s true that we are not keeping up with demand with just this land."

Mira placed her board beside his.

"The kitchen has grain, vegetables and meat for today’s meals," she said. "After the two trades, less will remain for the reserve. The 100 Preserved Provisions stay untouched."

"What runs out first?"

"Cooking oil," Mira answered. "Then vegetables if we keep making nearly one hundred and ninety meals every day. Meat depends on hunting and whatever we obtain outside Ironroot."

Carlos looked at Rowan. "Can we grow oil?"

"Not with the seeds we currently have."

That removed the easiest answer.

"Then Cosmic searches for oil while we increase everything else."

Rowan nodded toward a stretch of open ground beyond the ordinary vegetable rows.

"That land is inside the agricultural district. It has not been cultivated yet."

The ground was covered in short grass and scattered stones. It was not large compared with the empty territory outside Ironroot’s walls, but it was close to the existing fields and water route.

Carlos opened the daily summon panel without meaning to. Nine available summons waited inside it. More Farmers would clear the land faster.

But then the number of permanent mouths to feed would increase when he was not ready.

Carlos closed the panel with a heavy heart. Something in his heart told him he needed to be fast with the summons to get ahead.

"We use the people we already have," he said.

Rowan showed no surprise. "That was my plan. Wait, were you thinking of getting more Farmers?" Rowan asked with a frown, and Carlos shook his head while feigning ignorance.

Rowan sighed. "I know you have too much on your plate, but the new Farmers you summoned yesterday still need to be trained. If you add more and more, it will become inefficient. Wait until I ask for more, my Lord. We have enough for now."

Carlos nodded. Rowan was the one who knew what they needed for farming. He needed to listen to him, but that feeling did not go away.

Rowan soon led Carlos to the edge of the open ground and pressed one hand against the soil.

Carlos used Inspect.

--

[Uncultivated Territory Land]

[Suitable for Common Farmland expansion]

[Requirements]

[Clear stones and obstructing growth]

[Establish ordinary water access]

[Assign at least one qualified Farmer]

[Provide compatible Common Seeds]

[Warning: Expansion provides no immediate harvest]

--

Carlos read the warning and looked at Rowan.

"I know crops need time."

"You still looked disappointed."

"Knowing something does not mean I have to like it."

Rowan called the two newest Farmers over.

Tarin and Sela remained beside the cucumber bed while the system evaluated the pollinated flower.

Boro remained near Hearthpod One, and Elias continued checking the established fields.

Carlos joined the group instead of summoning anyone.

The first stones were small enough to carry by hand. The larger ones needed two people and a wooden lever from the Tool Workshop. Carlos moved what he could without using his injured arm too heavily.

Rowan noticed after the second stone.

"Use the other arm or stop."

"I am using the other arm."

"Then stop helping here. Ask one of the Bearkins, please."

Carlos left the next stone to the two Farmers with a hmph. He did not like being bossed around too much, and he needed to show it.

Clearing the land took most of the remaining morning. Nobody gained a level and no reward appeared. But still, the open ground slowly became bare soil instead of grass and stone.

Rowan marked straight rows with cord and wooden pegs.

He kept space between the new plot and the cucumber bed so ordinary roots and watering would not interfere with it.

He also left a narrow empty strip between the expansion and the established farmland. When Carlos looked at it curiously, Rowan explained without being asked.

"People need somewhere to walk without stepping between crops. If one section has a pest or disease, the empty strip also gives us space before it reaches the next one."

Carlos looked at the path again. It appeared small, but so had the open paths between the cucumber rows before the vines started climbing.

"Makes sense," he said.

Rowan had already continued marking the next row when another problem arose.

The existing water route did not reach the far edge.

"Do we need another Irrigation Channel?" Carlos asked.

"Not for this much land. We can extend the ordinary branch on our own."

Under Rowan’s direction, two Farmers dug a shallow line from the existing channel. They reinforced its sides with spare stone so water would not wash soil into the nearest rows.

Blue guided clean water into the new branch but added no Mana Water.

The water reached the final row without flooding it.

--

[Ordinary water access established]

--

Rowan checked the seed stores next.

He selected wheat and beans for most of the expansion.

Smaller sections were marked for onions and cabbage.

The two newest Farmers received the new plot as their main responsibility. Rowan would inspect it with the other fields, but he did not move Tarin, Sela, Boro or Elias away from work they already understood.

Carlos let Rowan decide the spacing.

The Farmers planted while Mira returned to the kitchen. Carlos carried water, tools and seed containers where Rowan directed him.

By the time the final row was covered, the system recorded the change.

--

[Territory Land Record]

[Prepared land registered as Common Farmland]

--

A relieved sigh escaped him as he looked across the new rows.

Then a message panel opened, interrupting his brief peace.

--

[Cosmic Merchant] - The separate food trade is complete, bro.

[Cosmic Merchant] - Slime Cores x18 have been transferred.

[Cosmic Merchant] - I also found the first market listings for Mira. None were purchased.

--

Carlos checked his inventory and saw the cores.

The Slimes had food for another day, six cores could go toward their reserve, and the kitchen had completed every promised meal.

He sent Cosmic a short reply.

--

[Carlos Goldwin] - Send me the listings. I will show them to Mira.

--

Carlos stored the Slime Cores inside the barrack before doing anything else.

One problem had become smaller.

The new field was Ironroot’s answer to the next one.