Chapter 152. A visit to another territory (1)- Consulting for extra grain

Chapter 152: 152. A visit to another territory (1)- Consulting for extra grain

Carlos opened a Lord message panel as soon as he read the message.

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[Cosmic Merchant]- You saw it?

[Carlos Goldwin]- I did but start the explanation from the beginning.

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He stood outside the Lord’s Hut where work had already started. A Hearthkeeper crossed the path with a pot. One of the Farmers was carrying a bundle of bean vines toward the storage side.

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[Cosmic Merchant]- The Lord has a grain harvest coming, but he didn’t specify the grain yet. His territory is doing well. He has enough troops to protect it, and he is not asking us to fight anything.

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[Carlos Goldwin]- Is he a Farmer too?

[Cosmic Merchant]- No. He leased part of his territory to a company that runs the grain fields. They pay him one fifth of each harvest as rent, but his contract makes the water route his responsibility. If he fails to repair it, they can withhold his share. He is offering us half of his share for the repair.

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[Carlos Goldwin]- Half of his own share? Why is he so desperate? What is wrong with his water route?

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[Cosmic Merchant]- His workers narrated the whole situation. I will forward the message to you. "The main upper channel is damaged. Part of the gate shifted after the last water release, and the water is going into an old low patch instead of feeding the southern fields. We have tried to close it with dirt and wood twice. It keeps breaking when the water comes back."

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[Carlos Goldwin]- Okay but why did you recommend us? We are already very busy bro.

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[Cosmic Merchant]- Because I told him about Rowan. Not every detail but enough to make things work. Only that you have an older Farmer who knows crop rotation, soil, and water better than most people. He needs somebody who can look at the ground and tell him what is actually wrong before he wastes more of his harvest.

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Rowan had taught them how to read soil and water. But another Lord’s fields were not somewhere they could make mistakes. Carlos could not promise Rowan’s work would be enough before they saw the route themselves.

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[Carlos Goldwin]- What is he paying?

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[Cosmic Merchant]- He is offering half of the share he receives from the company. That is a tenth of the full southern-field harvest if the route is repaired before the next release.

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[Carlos Goldwin]- Did he say how much that is?

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[Cosmic Merchant]- Not exactly. He sent estimates. I forwarded them to your panel.

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Carlos opened the attachment.

The map showed long grain fields on one side of the territory. A blue line ran down from the upper side before it split into smaller channels. One dark mark sat where the route bent toward the southern fields.

Beside it was a number showing the expected harvest.

Carlos did not know whether the number was high for an older Lord. He only knew what it meant for Ironroot.

It was enough grain to take pressure off Mira for weeks if the Lord was telling the truth.

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[Carlos Goldwin]- I will speak to Rowan. Do not promise him anything yet.

[Cosmic Merchant]- I already told him that. He agreed to let you inspect the route before making a System contract.

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Carlos closed the message panel and went toward the fields.

Rowan was near the normal wheat rows with Tarin and Sela. A shallow tray of soil sat at his feet. He was showing them how to press their fingers into it before adding water.

When Carlos came closer, Rowan looked up.

"What happened, my lord?"

Carlos showed him the attached map.

Rowan did not speak for a while. He crouched and held the panel closer to his face.

"This is not enough to tell me what failed," he said. "The water can be breaking the gate. It can be going under it. The old low patch could have opened because the ground below it is soft. It could be all three or something else."

Carlos crouched beside him so both of them were looking at the same map.

"What do you need to see first?"

Rowan tapped the dark mark with one finger.

"The water when it is moving. Not after it has gone. I need to see whether the gate is taking the force, or whether the water is finding a path beneath it. Then I need to walk the lower channel. If the ground has fallen in there, closing the top will only push the water somewhere else," he said in his complicated ways again.

Tarin leaned closer from behind Rowan.

"Could they just put more wood against the gate?"

Rowan shook his head.

"Wood holds if it is braced against something that does not move. If the soil under it is wet and loose, the water will take the wood with it. That is probably why their first repairs failed."

Sela looked at the map too.

"Then they need stone?"

"Maybe," Rowan said. "Maybe clay packed the right way. Maybe they need to move the channel mouth a little. I will not guess from a picture."

"If the problem is bigger than one gate, will you still be able to help?" he asked.

"I can tell him what needs to be done," Rowan replied. "Whether he has the people, material, and time to do it is another thing. We should not offer our labor for a repair that belongs to his territory. We can guide it. We can help with the difficult parts if the payment is worth it. But his workers need to carry the soil and cut the wood."

Carlos nodded once.

"Then these are the terms before we even talk about a contract," Carlos said. "First, we inspect. Second, Rowan decides whether the repair is possible. Third, the Lord provides his own labor and whatever material the route needs."

Rowan looked at him.

"And the grain?"

"His one-fifth share needs to be recorded before we start repairing anything. We get half of that share. I do not want him changing the payment after the harvest."

Tarin and Sela exchanged a look.

Rowan’s face eased a little.

"That is fair."

Carlos messaged Cosmic about it and in no time, a reply came back.

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[Cosmic Merchant]- He agrees to the inspection. He says he has workers, wood, clay, and stone. He will show you the harvest record before you agree to any repair. He also says the next water release is tomorrow morning.

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"We go early tomorrow," Carlos said.

Rowan stood, still holding the map.

"I need a measuring cord, the soil probe, and two empty jars. I want to take water from above and below the break. If the water is carrying too much loose soil, that will tell us something."

Carlos had never heard Rowan ask for jars with that much seriousness.

"Take what you need."

Rowan nodded once and looked toward Tarin and Sela.

"You two finish this row, then mark the next one before dinner. Do not wait for me."

"Yes, Rowan," both Farmers said.

"Can you fix it?"

Rowan looked up at Carlos.

"Maybe. I need to see the water, the soil, and what they used before. We need to inspect properly before I promise a repair, my lord."

Carlos nodded.

"He has already agreed about that. If we restore it, he gives us half of his crop-share. A tenth of the southern-field harvest."

Rowan looked at the map again and the number written by the side of it.

"That is quite a lot, even if the grain is of low quality, the quantity can make up for it."

"Yes."

Mira found them before Rowan could answer. She had a basket of cut roots in both hands, but she set it down when Carlos explained the offer.

"A tenth of a full harvest? What is happening?" she asked.

Carlos gave her the chat to read and she soon understood.

Mira looked from Carlos to Rowan.

"If it is normal grain, we can still use it. We can keep some whole, grind some, and trade some later. But it’s difficult when we don’t know what the grain is."

"I will ask him about that, don’t worry," Carlos said.

Rowan stood and dusted his hands against his trousers.

"I will go. If the route can be repaired without taking too much from Ironroot, it is worth seeing. But I want Tarin and Sela to stay here. They have their own work."

Carlos had not expected Rowan to agree so quickly.

"You do not need to go if you think it is too much."

Rowan gave him a strange look.

"My lord, you have been trying to make Ironroot feed more people since the day I arrived. If somebody has grain and needs help with land, why would I stay here and pretend it is not our problem?"

Carlos smiled and shook Rowan’s wrinkly hands.

He made all the arrangements with Cosmic and soon, a panel popped up in front of them.

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[Guest Access Request]

[A territory owner has invited Carlos Goldwin and Rowan to inspect the water route.]

[Accept access?]

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Carlos looked at the request, then at Rowan.

"Let’s stick to the plan, if the deal is too hard, we will leave," Carlos spoke.

Rowan nodded but he was thinking about something.

"That is how it should be but I am thinking of that level up you were talking about." He spoke while looking in the distance.

"My days are numbered with this body, if I can level up to 5 before time ends, I will be of more help to you."

When Carlos heard that, his mouth opened but he didn’t say anything.

Rowan was old enough to be at the end, and with old age, there was no telling when what will happen.

Carlos only nodded to that and accepted the request. Rowan needed hard situations to level up and he wanted to give him that.

When he accepted, another portal formed by the Earth one and both the farmer and the lord went toward it.

There was grain to work for.