Chapter 155. Rowan’s Level-up (2)

Chapter 155: 155. Rowan’s Level-up (2)

The panel faded away soon enough and it was time for work to get started.

Hester looked at the workers.

"You heard Rowan. Move the stone to the gate. Bring the clay from the lower shed. And send two people with shovels to mark the relief cut. Nobody steps past the stake."

The workers moved immediately.

Carlos watched them carry the first stones. They were not troops. They were not using a system skill. But they knew how to work together, and that was making the repair look possible already.

Rowan stopped one worker before he could place a stone directly against the gate.

"Not there. We need that space open until the old frame comes out. Put them behind the marker."

The worker changed direction without complaint.

Carlos helped carry smaller clay sacks with Hester’s crew. He was not needed for the heavy stones, but standing aside while Rowan worked made him feel useless.

After a while, Rowan looked at him.

"My lord, do not carry too many. I need you to watch the work and make sure the terms stay followed."

Carlos put down the sack he had picked up.

"You think they will try something?"

"No," Rowan said. "But you are their Lord’s guest, and this is your agreement. I am here for the soil. You are here for everything else."

Carlos understood that.

He moved back toward Marcus, who was speaking with another group of workers. The Lord did not look relaxed anymore. He was counting piles of stone and looking toward the fields every few minutes.

"How much time before the wheat is cooked?" Carlos asked.

Marcus looked at the southern rows and smiled awkwardly.

"You and this new generation, but it does sound good. Cooked," he stated, making Carlos feel like he might have spoken too casually.

"The field can wait today. Maybe tomorrow. After that, I do not know. The company has people who know the crop, but they are not Lords. They do not tell me everything in a way I understand."

Carlos looked at him.

"Then listen to Rowan now. He is a bet you can count on."

Marcus gave a short nod.

The gate was closed before noon. Without the water pressing against it, the workers pulled the cracked boards away.

Then they removed the shifted stone one piece at a time. The hole beneath it was worse than Carlos expected.

The hard soil was almost a full arm lower than the old footing. Above it was wet loose earth, mixed with roots and broken pieces of wood from the earlier repairs.

Rowan crouched at the edge, looking into it.

"We should be sure to keep check of our own water route, my lord. This can happen to us too," he spoke.

Carlos moved closer. "Yeah but ours can be upgraded with resources, this one cannot."

Rowan nodded and looked at the workers as if wanting to tell them something.

"This is why it moved," he said. "The old foundation was not deep enough for the water it is handling now."

Hester looked at Marcus.

"Was the channel widened before the company came?"

Marcus’s face changed.

"Yes. I had it widened after the lease. I wanted the southern fields to get water faster."

Nobody spoke for a moment. Rowan looked up at him.

"Then it was not only the old ground. You made the water stronger, but the gate was built for the old channel."

Marcus did not argue.

"Can it still hold after we fix it?"

"Yes," Rowan said. "But the new foundation has to match the channel you made."

Carlos watched Marcus look at the hole again. He seemed to understand that the field problem had not just appeared from nowhere.

The relief cut was finished by the time the first stone base was ready. It was not deep or wide. It curved from the low patch back into the lower channel, packed with clay along the sides so it would carry water without opening farther.

Rowan checked it twice. Then he tapped the packed clay with the end of the wooden rod.

"Open the gate slowly," he said.

The workers stepped away. Hester went to the lever this time and water came down again.

At first, Carlos could only hear it.

Then the upper channel filled and pressed toward the repaired gate. The new stone base held. Water slipped into the southern channel in a broad, steady line.

Some water still reached the old low patch. But now it entered the relief cut and returned to the lower channel instead of disappearing under the wall.

Rowan stood very still while he watched it. Carlos did not say anything. Neither did Marcus.

After several long minutes, Rowan let out a breath.

"It is holding. Do not make the release stronger than this today. Let the clay settle. Tomorrow, you can test it again."

Hester looked at the southern rows where water was finally reaching the first lines of wheat.

"It is reaching them," she said quietly.

Marcus closed his eyes for a second. Carlos looked at Rowan.

Nobody celebrated yet. The workers were still looking at the gate, waiting for it to fail after all the water it had already taken.

Carlos understood them. Three thousand wheat was a lot for Ironroot, but it was only a number until this channel stayed working tomorrow too.

Rowan lowered himself onto a flat stone beside the wall. His hands were shaking a little from the work, but he did not look unhappy.

"It needs checking again in the morning," Rowan said. "If the clay holds overnight, the field will be safe for this release."

Carlos nodded.

He wanted to say something to Rowan, but did not know what would not make it sound small. The Farmer had not asked for praise. He had only looked at the water, then told everyone what needed to be done. Carlos remembered why he had brought him into this other Lord’s territory in the first place.

The old Farmer had taken a difficult piece of land, understood what was wrong with it, and made it work again.

Carlos was only thinking about it but then a system message popped up before both Rowan and him.

[Farmer Rowan has leveled up]