Chapter 146. Not just a farmer, you have an army.

Chapter 146: 146. Not just a farmer, you have an army.

Elena did not answer right away. But one could see it on her face that she was beyond surprised.

Carlos still had both hands around hers.

"Are you sure?" she asked after a while.

"I am a 100 percent sure, mom."

Elena took a deep breath and looked out the window for a moment. Cars were moving past the house like usual.

Her eyes came back to Carlos with hesitation.

"Carlos," she said slowly, "You have been there for thirty days. I know what it feels like having a territory so I don’t know if you will like me managing your territory..." She spoke.

Carlos leaned back into his chair and smiled. "Well, for now, let’s just travel to Ironroot, which is the name of my territory. We can think about the management part later on, Mom."

Elena listened.

"I needed your help because a troop can help you only so much and you know me and my rash decisions. I need someone who will look at the whole place and tell me when I am being stupid," Carlos continued. "Someone who understands how a territory works. I am good at fighting but am I good at managing?"

Elena gave him a small look.

"No one is born perfect, my son. You will learn along the way. You don’t need to make a rash decision like this."

"I am not making any rash decisions. You had a territory before, Mom. You helped Grandpa with his even after you lost yours. You understand more than you think."

Her eyes went down to their hands.

"Understanding something and being able to handle it are different things."

"Then you will learn it again. With me this time."

Elena stayed quiet.

Carlos knew he was asking a lot. It was not like inviting her to eat somewhere or meet Cosmic. Ironroot was dangerous. Even if he did not let her near a Conquest Portal or a fight, danger had reached the territory before.

She knew that too but she only smiled. Her expression softened a bit.

"You always say something simple when you have already thought about it for days."

Carlos could not argue with that.

Elena looked at him for a long time. Then her face softened.

"If my baby boy wants me to come to his territory this much, I will," she said.

Carlos did not say anything. He only stood up and hugged her again.

Elena held him tightly this time.

"Thank you, Mom."

"You do not need to thank me for this, silly boy."

Carlos pulled back after a few seconds. There was still too much to do. Ironroot had been without him since he returned to Earth, and the Goldwin inspection could happen at any time.

"We need to go as soon as possible," he said. "Get what you need, then we will leave for the big portal."

Elena blinked at him. Then she smiled.

"Silly boy, you can access your territory from anywhere now."

Carlos stopped.

"What?"

"After the Beginner Period ends, a Lord does not need to go back to the return plaza every time. You just have to think about your territory and say the command out loud."

Carlos frowned.

"What command?"

"Enter."

Carlos stared at her.

"That is it?"

"That is it. You have been too busy fighting to read the basic return notice properly, haven’t you?"

Carlos could not deny it.

He stood beside the dining table and thought about Ironroot. The western gate. The fields. The walls. The kitchen. The people he had left behind. Then he spoke in haste.

"Enter."

Nothing happened for half a second.

Then pale blue light appeared in the empty space beside the table.

Carlos took one step back immediately.

The opening widened without touching anything around it. It did not knock over the chairs. It did not pull at the old pictures on the wall or the glass bowls on the counter. The air moved around it, but nothing inside the house was disturbed.

Carlos looked toward the kitchen first, then at the doorway.

"It did not break anything."

Elena looked at him strangely.

"What did not break anything?"

Carlos turned back toward the light.

The portal was right there. A clean blue opening in the middle of their home. Through it, he could see the grass near Ironroot’s inner wall and the dim evening sky beyond it.

But Elena was not looking at it.

"You cannot see it?" he asked.

"I cannot see it until you make me one of the guests, try thinking about it."

He understood then.

The portal belonged to him. Until he decided otherwise, it was only visible to him.

Carlos opened the small access panel beside the light and looked at his mother’s name.

--

[Territory Guest Authorization]

[Visitor: Elena Goldwin]

[Destination: Ironroot Territory]

[Grant visibility and entry permission?]

--

Carlos selected yes.

The panel disappeared and Elena’s eyes widened. Then a big smile appeared.

"Oh."

Carlos smiled a little.

"Now you see it."

Elena stared through the blue light. She could see Ironroot now too.

"Oh my lord, is this a territory of 30 days? I can see big walls from here." She spoke. "Good job, son."

"We have things to do quickly, Mom, so let’s leave already." He spoke and asked for her hand.

She gracefully took it and stated, "Fun fact number 2, when you return back to Earth. You will come back to our home again. This is your entry point now." She spoke.

Carlos nodded in understanding.

"I see"

Elena looked around the familiar house once, then back at the portal.

There was hesitation, but Carlos could understand. She was going to make a big decision right now.

But hearing it made something inside him settle.

And all of a sudden, something clicked in his mind. After all this time, he was finally in a situation where he could come back to his original home whenever he wanted to.

Even thinking of it made Carlos feel a relief in his mind that almost felt illegal.

Carlos held out his hand.

"Come on, Mom."

Elena looked at it, then at Ironroot waiting beyond the light.

She took his hand.

"Let’s see what you have built in just 30 days."

Carlos stepped through first.

Elena came through behind him, still holding his hand.

She looked around without speaking.

The fields were full. Farmers moved between the rows with tools in their hands, while the troop buildings stood across the clear ground.

"I... have never seen so many fields in a territory before..."

"Heh, get used to it. I am an agricultural lord."

Elena was dumbfounded while looking everywhere. She was overstimulated. "You really built all this in thirty days?" she asked again.

"Yes, but not alone as you know," Carlos said.

Kaia noticed him first. She came from the western side with two Shield Militia behind her. Her eyes moved to Elena, then back to Carlos.

"My lord."

"Kaia, this is my mother. Mom, this is Kaia. She is the one who is in control of military when I am not around."

Elena looked at the shield on Kaia’s arm.

"You are the one who keeps him from doing stupid things?" she asked, making Carlos wanna smack his forehead.

Kaia looked at Carlos once before putting her fist against her chest.

"I try, ma’am."

Elena nodded and held Kaia’s hand for a second.

"Thank you for keeping him alive."

Kaia did not seem to know what to say to that.

"It is not me who kept him alive but his own will power. I have seen the man burn to crisp befo-"

"OK, OK, let’s move forward." Carlos quickly shut up Kaia from giving such details and tried moving forward, yet Elena already caught on to things.

But she was mature enough to not bring it up when Carlos didn’t want to for now.

Brann came from the training yard with Garr and the other Bearkin behind him. The Dire Hyenas rested near their Den, while the wolf rider sat near its mount and the two Marsh Trolls carried stone under one of the Bearkin’s watch.

Elena looked at all of them.

"They are all yours?"

"Yes," Carlos said. "There is no other Lord’s troop here. At least not right now, as they have all gone back to Earth."

Mira came from the kitchen. Carlos introduced her next.

"So you are the one feeding this whole place," Elena said.

Mira gave a tired smile.

"Trying to. I am glad to see you, ma’am." She spoke.

"Such a sweet girl." Elena spoke, making Kaia frown for a second for some reason.

Mira gave her a knowing smile which made her click her tongue.

They walked farther into the fields until Carlos saw Rowan near the wheat. The old Farmer was crouched beside one row, rubbing soil between his fingers while two younger Farmers waited for his answer.

Elena stopped before Carlos even introduced him.

"He is an older troop..." she said.

Carlos looked at her.

"How do you know? Well, you will know because he looks as old as grandpa but still..."

"Carlos, you have hit a goldmine it seems. Older troops always have something the new ones do not," Elena said quietly. "Not only strength. Knowledge. Skills in the work they were made for. An old soldier knows a battlefield. An old builder knows when a wall will fail. And an old Farmer knows his land."

Carlos looked at Rowan again.

That made everything make sense. Rowan had always been ahead of him. He saw problems in the soil, the water, and the crops before anyone else even understood there was a problem.

Rowan finally looked up.

"This is your mother?" he asked Carlos.

Carlos nodded.

Rowan gave Elena a respectful nod.

"Your son is a reckless one but I assure you, ma’am, he is one of the toughest I have seen." He spoke, making Carlos surprised. He never appreciated him this much before.

Elena looked at Carlos with a small smile.

There were still people working at the Agricultural District. Cedric’s group, the district Slimes, and the workers were not inside Ironroot today.

But most of Carlos’s own people were here, moving through the place they had helped build.

Elena looked across the fields and the walls again.

"I understand now," she said.

"What?" Carlos asked.

"Why you wanted to develop so fast, and it’s safe to say that you are not just a farming domain, Carlos. You have a whole army with you."