Chapter 163. Doing the farming right (5)- What Carlos Would Promise

Mira read Cosmic’s message before Carlos answered it.

“Ask about the mill,” she said. “We have wanted one for a long time.”

“And the oil?”

“I will count it again. Let him speak first.”

Carlos sent Cosmic permission to hear the terms.

Then he showed Mira, Rowan, and Kaia the message from Arthur. Kaia read the monthly allowance carefully and asked whether the family would provide the materials for upgrading a barrack.

“They said one building,” Carlos replied. “I suppose a barrack counts if we meet the other requirements.”

“Then we should check it.”

“We should check the storage too,” Mira said.

Carlos looked between them and opened the Cold Storage record first. Its upgrade tab showed the next level without making him search through the territory interface.

—

Cold Storage

Level 2

Rare Grade

Food Capacity: 3,000 units

Freshness loss reduced by 98%.

Upgrade Requirements:

Wood x300

Stone x400

Iron x100

—

Mira leaned closer to read the resource list.

“If we upgrade this, I can keep the larger harvests in the same protected building. Grain can stay dry in the warehouse, but I do not want cucumbers and vegetables stacked beside the tools.”

Kaia nodded, though she was still looking toward the barracks.

“The Militia building has already been improved,” Carlos said. “And we are not using every troop building’s summons yet. Would another barrack upgrade help more today?”

“It would help our future strength,” she replied. “But we still need to feed that strength. I can continue training the troops we have.”

Carlos appreciated that she answered properly instead of agreeing because Mira had spoken first. Kaia wanted stronger defenders, just as he did. The difference was that she could see the food coming in now and knew they would eventually need room to keep it.

Rowan pointed toward the newest field.

“By tonight, another section becomes Rare. There will be more harvests. If she cannot store them, you will sell because you have no room rather than because the price is good.”

That made Carlos decide.

“Cold Storage for this month,” he said. “Next month, we look at the military buildings again. If something urgent happens before that, we can still upgrade with our own resources.”

He sent Arthur the current building panel and its requirements, keeping the rest of the territory interface out of the attachment. Arthur replied with a short acknowledgment and told him the supply office would process the request.

Carlos closed that panel just as Cosmic returned.

—

[Cosmic Merchant]- His name is Owen Mercer. He has the blueprint and can supply the construction resources with it. He wants Sunseed oil in regular batches. He also asked for grain estimates. I told him we are discussing a trial first.

[Carlos Goldwin]- What is he doing with the oil?

[Cosmic Merchant]- Supplying kitchens in other territories. He owns production buildings, but most of what he sells comes from other Lords. He buys batches, combines the orders, and delivers what those kitchens need.

—

Carlos showed Mira the reply. She asked whether the trader needed a specific quality and whether he wanted the oil now or later. Cosmic went back with both questions and returned with a proposed agreement.

Mercer wanted the first batch within two days. After that, he wanted a fixed delivery every three days, with Ironroot supplying him before selling the same product elsewhere.

Carlos read that last condition again.

“No,” he said. “We are not agreeing to that.”

Mira was still counting the containers on her board.

“The first batch might be possible,” she said. “The rest needs more people pressing, handling, and packing it. We have only used the new soil for a few harvests.”

“Then we offer the first batch alone.”

Carlos messaged Cosmic before the conversation could turn into guessing what they might produce next week.

—

[Carlos Goldwin]- No priority rights and no recurring quantity yet. Ask his price for the mill and its construction materials as one trade. Mira is checking what oil we can spare. We can discuss another trade after this one works.

—

He walked with Mira toward the kitchen while they waited. The protected seed stock had been replanted after the first harvest, and the next oil batch had already returned through the pressing service.

It had grown on the same soil, using the recorded spacing and ordinary water.

Mira showed him which containers belonged to the kitchen and which she could sell. She had marked the quantities herself, leaving enough for their normal cooking before setting anything aside.

“We can spare six litres,” she said. “Twelve half-litre jars. I want sealed jars so his people can check the amount without opening everything.”

“We have enough containers?”

“For these twelve. If he asks for more, add jars to the next trade. They do not grow beside Rowan’s tomatoes.”

Carlos sent the amount to Cosmic. He also made it clear that Marcus’s three thousand wheat was emergency and meal stock, not proof that Ironroot had become a grain supplier.

He would not sell the payment as if the next three thousand were waiting in his fields.

Cosmic sent a message while Mercer considered the counter.

—

[Cosmic Merchant]- Are you sure you want to buy a mill before an oil press? You have the crop now. The service will keep taking a share.

[Carlos Goldwin]- Mira asked for flour long before we got these seeds. We have three thousand wheat from the repair, and the pressing service works. We can look for a press after this.

[Cosmic Merchant]- Fair. I wanted you to think about both before spending the jars.

[Carlos Goldwin]- I am. And thank you for finding this one. You remembered the old request.

—

Cosmic’s reply took longer than the previous ones. Carlos waited with Mira beside the jars, checking the colour against the bowl from their first batch.

—

[Cosmic Merchant]- Of course I remembered. You kept asking for a mill when nobody had one worth buying. I am glad you have enough wheat to need it now.

—

Carlos smiled at that. Cosmic had been searching while Carlos fought, repaired land, and went to the family office.

The mill would belong to Ironroot, but Carlos would remember who had found it.

He asked Cosmic to include the pressing service’s next available time with the trade reply. If the buyer liked their oil, they would need a schedule before discussing another shipment. Mira wrote the request beside her jar count.

Cosmic answered this time.

—

[Cosmic Merchant]- Mercer will take twelve half-litre jars of this batch. Blueprint, Wood x80, Stone x60, Iron x10 in return. He says the blueprint has been sitting in his inventory, and he would rather begin with a small supplier than keep waiting for a buyer who wants only the mill.

[Carlos Goldwin]- Is that a fair price?

[Cosmic Merchant]- It is good for us. He wants a continuing source later, but the first trade has no future obligation if we refuse those terms. I will make sure that is written.

—

Carlos had Mira inspect the blueprint listing before agreeing. It was Common grade and required exactly the materials Mercer had offered.

The mill used an operated grinding mechanism. It would not turn sacks of wheat into flour while everyone slept, but it would keep the processing inside Ironroot.

“We need someone working there,” Mira said.

“Can the Hearthkeepers manage it?”

“One can learn the grinding, and the other can help me check the flour. I will not leave it running without someone watching. We might need more Hearthkeepers, Carlos.”

Carlos nodded. He could help carry grain, and the new mill would save them from finding another outside service every time they needed flour. That was already worth having.

They accepted the trade through Cosmic. The jars had not been filled yet, so delivery was set for the next morning. Mercer would transfer the blueprint and materials when the recorded oil quantity arrived.

—

[Recorded Trade Agreement]

[Seller: Carlos Goldwin]

[Buyer: Owen Mercer]

[Delivery: Sunseed Cooking Oil — 12 sealed jars, 500 millilitres each]

[Payment: Common Grain Mill Blueprint x1, Wood x80, Stone x60, Iron x10]

[Delivery deadline: Tomorrow morning]

[Agreement scope: Single trade]

—

Carlos accepted after Mira read it. Cosmic confirmed that Mercer had done the same, then told Carlos he would check on the delivery himself.

The rest of the afternoon went into preparing the jars and choosing a place for the mill.

They settled on ground near the warehouse, close enough that a worker would not carry every grain sack across the territory.

Mira wanted the flour kept away from the wet path, and Rowan marked where the drainage would pass.

At sunset, Worldroot refreshed again. Rowan converted another harvested section beside the previous plots, bringing the new Rare Farmland total to twelve hundred square meters.

Carlos inspected it, then helped Sela carry seed baskets to the edge for tomorrow’s planting.

When he returned to the Lord’s Hut, a new message was waiting.

—

[Arthur Goldwin]- Your Cold Storage allocation is approved. The supply Lord will contact you tomorrow. There is no repayment required for this monthly benefit.

—

Carlos looked toward the storage building and smiled. Tomorrow, they would have the resources for both the room holding their food and the mill preparing it.

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