Chapter 171. Hellfire Pepper seeds, will they grow?

Chapter 171: 171. Hellfire Pepper seeds, will they grow?

When Carlos finally felt like he had things normal in his territory, he made his way toward the district. All this time, Cedric had been messaging him about the state of the district and how it was.

When he entered, Cedric was near the seasonal seed store.

He had a basket tucked against his hip and was arguing with one of his Axemen about where a stack of cut wood should go.

The man moved it after Cedric pointed toward the dry side of the building. Then Cedric noticed Carlos and put the basket down.

"You finally remembered us," he joked.

"I know, man. There were a lot of things going on. It’s been getting serious since the beginner period is over." Carlos sighed, coming closer. "You went back to Earth too, right? How was it?"

Cedric rubbed his palms against his trousers before answering.

"Normal. My parents were there when I came back. We went home, ate together. They asked how I was doing."

"And?"

"They weren’t very happy with the answer."

Carlos looked at him. Cedric gave a small shrug, though his face had lost some of the happiness from seeing him.

"I survived. That was good enough for me when I was coming back. They wanted to know what I had earned, what my territory produced or fought with. I couldn’t give them much."

Carlos understood that. Returning alive had felt like a huge thing before he reached the Goldwin office. Then Arthur had started asking about numbers, troops and conquests.

"You told them about this place?"

"Yes. They asked how much of it belonged to me."

That was an uncomfortable question. Carlos looked past him at the workers walking between the store and the channel.

"Alright. Show me how things are here. I came to see your work."

Cedric picked up his basket again and walked beside him. Carlos left the conversation there. Cedric had answered what he asked, and he wasn’t going to keep asking until the man felt worse.

The repaired section of Auxiliary Channel Three was easy to recognise. The Glasswood lengths were still visible beside the reinforced support Lydia had tested. Water moved past them without spilling down the outer wall.

Carlos stopped to look. He remembered standing here with trolls breaking the ground and Leon acting as if destroying somebody else’s work was a negotiation.

Now an Axeman carried a full basket across the same path. Nobody had to jump over the broken edge.

"We check it before the work starts," Cedric said. "And again when we finish. Lydia told us to watch the joints, so we kept doing that."

"Any movement?"

"Nothing new. The temporary supports from before are put away. We kept the useful wood."

Carlos nodded and went toward the store. Cedric set his basket beside the entrance and opened the door, letting him see the raised stacks inside. The walking space had been cleared, and the damaged packing had been separated from the protected stock.

"We were moving things around whenever someone needed a packet," Cedric explained. "Rhea made us finish sorting it. Now the workers bring the empty containers back here instead of leaving them beside whichever bed they visited. I call that progress," he spoke with a chuckle.

Carlos smiled. It was the kind of work he usually only noticed when it had not been done. Mira could probably tell him exactly how much time a misplaced basket wasted.

"This is better."

Cedric looked pleased at that and showed him the outside path next.

They had cleared the old debris from the damaged bed, keeping it away from the water. The preserved beds remained under their usual work rotations. Beyond them were the portions they still could not properly use.

Carlos looked toward those farther rows. He wanted all of them producing something, but he had not come with Rowan or Lydia today. Walking across a broken route and asking Cedric to fix it would not make the work happen faster.

"Keep the present route working," he said. "If you find something new in those beds, leave it marked for Rowan. We will come back together."

"You are going somewhere again?"

"Sixth conquest. I am getting recovery support before we enter."

Cedric stopped beside him. "Hell again?"

"Yes. I am stuck with it."

The man shook his head, but Carlos could see he was interested.

"You must be getting something very good from them."

"I had four wagons sitting in the territory with nowhere useful to put them. So not everything becomes useful immediately."

Cedric glanced at him before smiling. Carlos pointed toward the store again.

"But we have room now. And the food is finally ahead of the people eating it. I want the fighters to get ahead too."

They finished the walk together. Carlos thanked the workers who had stopped to greet him, then returned through the portal while Cedric went back to the basket he had left by the door.

At Ironroot, Mira was putting the retained special meals into Cold Storage. Carlos watched a Hearthkeeper carry the empty ingredient container out and remembered something he had almost forgotten again.

"Mira, those peppers. When you cut them, what do you do with the seeds?"

She looked toward the kitchen.

"The centre comes out with them. I keep it away from the prepared seasoning. Why?"

"We have been growing cucumbers and tomatoes from their fruit. We never checked those to grow them."

Mira became quiet for a moment. Then she went inside and brought out one uncooked Hellfire Pepper from their own retained contribution.

Its dark skin had thin red lines beneath it. Carlos could feel warmth when she held it near his hand, even before the knife touched it.

"I haven’t kept the seeds from the earlier cooking separately," she said. "We can use this one."

"Get Rowan. I want to know before the next batch goes into the pan."

Rowan arrived with Sela while Mira opened the pepper on a clean board. She held the outer flesh aside and eased the pale inner section free. Small dark seeds clung to it.

Carlos opened Inspect as Rowan separated them. The record settled after the Dryad removed the damaged pieces.

--

[Hellfire Pepper Seeds x8 acquired]

[Seed condition: Viable]

--

"Eight," Carlos said. "Can we grow them here?"

Rowan read the cultivation information with him before looking toward the Rare fields.

"The soil can support them. We should try one first and watch how it develops. The pepper is carrying heat already; I want to see what the young plant needs."

"Then do one. Keep the other seven."

Mira took the cut flesh back toward the cooking stock after Rowan finished. They went to a clear planting space away from the cucumber frames, and Sela marked it before making the small hole.

Rowan placed the seed himself. Carlos stayed while ordinary water soaked into the soil around it, then inspected the spot once more.

--

[Hellfire Pepper]

[Rare Grade]

[Seeds planted: 1]

[Base Growth Duration: 60 days, including germination]

[Base Germination Duration: 20 days]

[Rare Farmland fertility: Growth Speed x10]

[Farmer’s Agricultural Expertise: Growth Speed +10%]

[Verdant Growth: Growth Speed +60%]

[Estimated germination: 1 day, 3 hours, 16 minutes, 22 seconds]

[Estimated time to first mature harvest: 3 days, 9 hours, 49 minutes, 5 seconds]

[Germination in progress]

--

There was no plant above the soil yet. Carlos looked at the remaining packet in Rowan’s hand and felt annoyed that he had not asked about this sooner.

"If it grows properly, we stop throwing those centres away," he said.

"Tell the kitchen before they cut them," Rowan replied. "I will show Sela how to separate the usable ones."

Carlos went back to Mira and told her exactly that. Then he opened Arthur’s message and confirmed that he could come to the office the next morning.

He had inspected the district, found another crop to try and finally made the appointment. Now he wanted someone who could help his people come back from a fight in better condition than they usually did.