Chapter 120. All Hands

The meeting did not end with everyone going back to their usual work.

The moment Carlos used the Expansion Token, Ironroot became busy.

Rowan took a long piece of rope from the Tool Workshop and tied one end around a wooden peg. He walked across the new southern land slowly, stopping every few steps to press his fingers into the dirt.

Behind him, Brann was already holding his hammer with both hands.

"Can Brann hit now?"

"Not until I mark where," Rowan answered without looking back.

Brann looked like he had been told food had been cancelled again.

Carlos almost laughed but held it in.

Rowan finally stopped near the middle of the new ground. He marked a square with four pegs, then made another smaller mark near the edge.

"The first one will be the field," he said. "The smaller one is for water to enter. We do not make the water path after planting. We make it first."

Carlos nodded.

"Everyone heard him. We clear this side first. Do not touch anything outside the pegs until Rowan says so."

This time Brann did not move right away. He pointed at a boulder resting near the far end of the marked land.

"That one?"

Rowan looked at it.

"That one."

Brann’s face changed immediately.

"HAHA!"

He ran toward it with his hammer raised.

"Not into pieces!" Rowan shouted.

Brann stopped just before the boulder and looked back.

"How Brann move big stone then?"

Kaia walked past Carlos with two Shield Militia behind her.

"You break the part underneath it. The Militia will push it. If you smash it into the field, you will be digging stones out for the whole day."

Brann nodded quickly.

"Brann understands."

Carlos watched the Bearkin crouch beside the boulder. For once, he actually used his hammer carefully. He struck the soil around the stone instead of the stone itself. The ground shook with every hit, but the boulder slowly loosened.

The two Shield Militia placed their shoulders against it. Garr and the other Bearkins joined them, and together they pushed the stone away from the marked field.

Carlos looked at Kaia.

"He listened."

"Do not sound so surprised, my lord."

"I am surprised."

Kaia did not answer, but Carlos could see the small smile she tried to hide.

The work spread across the southern ground after that.

The Bearkins dealt with the big stones. The Militia and Hearthkeepers carried smaller rocks into piles near the wall where they could be used later. Nessa and the two Archers stayed on watch while still helping bring empty baskets and tools when nothing moved outside the territory.

Mira refused to let either Hearthkeeper stay outside for long.

"You two are cooking workers first," she said. "Help when the kitchen does not need you. If everyone gets hungry, then this field is useless."

Carlos heard that and nodded.

It was simple, but he needed to hear it.

Even if everyone wanted more food, somebody still had to make the food they already had.

The two new Farmers worked beside Rowan. He made them pull out the grass roots instead of only cutting the tops. Carlos saw one of them try to rush through a patch, and Rowan made him go back and do it again.

"Why? It is only grass," Carlos asked.

Rowan looked at the roots in the Farmer’s hand.

"It will come back under the crops. Then it steals water and makes the rows harder to work in. We are doing this once."

Carlos looked at the patch again.

"Do it once properly," he repeated.

The new Farmer nodded and went back to the roots without saying anything.

By noon, everyone was covered in dust.

Carlos had tried to carry one of the larger stone baskets before Rowan took it from him.

"Your shoulder is still bad."

"It is not that bad."

"Then use it when you need to defend the territory. Not to move rocks that Brann can move with one hand."

Carlos looked toward Brann.

The Bearkin was carrying a stone that Carlos would have needed three people to lift.

"Fine," Carlos muttered.

Rowan handed him a bundle of pegs instead.

"Mark the rows."

"That is not really helping."

"It is helping if you make them straight."

Carlos looked at the pegs, then at the neat lines Rowan had already marked.

"You know I can fight better than I can do this."

"Then this is good practice."

Carlos wanted to argue, but Mira walked by at that moment and heard the last part.

"Rowan is right," she said. "You cannot make us all work hard and then run away from the boring jobs."

Carlos stared at both of them.

"Why are you two teaming up on me?"

"Because you are easy to team up on," Mira said before walking back toward the kitchen.

Brann laughed loudly from the other side of the field.

Carlos ignored all of them and started placing the pegs.

It took him longer than he expected.

The rows had to be far enough apart for people to walk through. Rowan also left an empty strip between the new field and the existing farmland.

"For pests?" Carlos asked.

"For pests, sickness, people carrying tools, water overflowing, many things," Rowan answered. "Fields need space around them."

Carlos looked across the land again.

At the start of the morning, it had looked empty. Now it was beginning to look organized.

By the time the sun started going down, only the water route remained.

Blue floated over from the existing channel with both hands raised.

"Blue can bring water."

"Ordinary water only," Rowan said.

Blue puffed her cheeks out.

"Blue knows."

Two moved beside the small channel and fired short Water Shots where the dirt was too dry to shape properly. The water softened the ground without flooding it. The Farmers widened the shallow line behind him while the Militia carried flat stones to reinforce its sides.

The water reached the first marked row just before sunset.

Nobody cheered, at least not yet. Everyone just watched it move through the small channel and soak into the dark earth.

Rowan crouched beside the final row. He pressed his hand into the soil, then stood up.

"It is ready."

The system panel appeared after he spoke.

--

[Territory Land Record]

[Prepared land registered as Common Farmland]

--

Carlos stared at the field. He was tired, and there was dirt in his clothes and hair. But the land was ready.

Brann rested his hammer on one shoulder.

"Food tomorrow?"

Carlos looked at him.

"Seeds tomorrow. Food after that."

Brann gave a serious nod.

"Brann protects seeds too."

Carlos smiled.

"Good. I like hearing that."

The field was only dirt for now.

Tomorrow, Ironroot would decide what it became.