Chapter 177. We will be neighbors now, Cosmic

Chapter 177: 177. We will be neighbors now, Cosmic

Carlos looked at Cosmic for a while, waiting for him to say something else.

Mira had gone back inside the kitchen. The Hearthkeeper beside the doorway was carrying empty bowls, and neither of them seemed to have heard what Cosmic said.

Carlos was glad about that. He wanted no intervention during this conversation.

"You want to become my subordinate lord?"

"Yes."

Carlos took his arm and led him toward the Lord’s Hut. He shut the door after they entered, then realised he had left his own spear against the outside wall.

Cosmic sat on the chair near the small table while Carlos remained standing.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "You trade with me a lot, but a merchant shouldn’t let one customer direct his whole life. What if you want to do something and I don’t agree?"

"Then I will argue with you. I already do that."

"I am being serious."

"So am I, bro. Sit down first. You keep looking like you are about to drag me back through the portal."

Carlos sat opposite him, though he still had no idea why this had come up today.

"Is something wrong at your territory?"

"Nothing that makes me need rescuing. I have six Lizardmen now. There is food for them, the barrack is working, and I have a wall. I can keep doing what I am doing."

Cosmic rubbed his hands together before continuing.

"But I don’t like how I am doing it anymore. I spend the morning sorting trades. Then I need to check their equipment, look for their food and decide whether I can afford another troop. In the afternoon I am checking your trades, my trades, and the people asking why something has not been delivered."

"You should have told me."

"I am telling you now. Don’t make that face. You would have sent me food, and tomorrow I would have been doing the same thing again."

Carlos stopped himself from offering exactly that. It annoyed him a little that Cosmic knew.

His friend looked toward the window. From here, they could see a Hearthkeeper carrying the new Guardian’s meal across the path.

"I like finding something somebody needs," Cosmic said. "I like getting it for less than they were going to pay. I even like the people who argue about every last coin. But when I think about taking my Lizardmen through another conquest, most of what I feel is that I should be doing something else."

"You wanted a good military start."

"Before I knew what I would enjoy doing every day. You wanted one too but now, look at your fields, man."

Carlos looked out as well. He had wanted strength and he still did, but he could no longer imagine Ironroot without Rowan, Mira or the people going through the wheat rows.

It was almost as if maintaining a farm made him fight harder, like there was something to do this all for.

"You could keep your territory and trade," he said.

"I could. That is what I have been doing. But older Lords have people doing each part. I am trying to do all of it with six fighters who can hardly help me compare a grain listing."

Cosmic leaned forward.

"You are building something I want to be part of. Every time I find a useful thing, you put it to work. A barrack becomes troops. A seed becomes something your kitchen needs. Then those meals pay for the next building. I have been watching it happen for weeks."

Carlos listened without interrupting this time.

"If I join you, I can spend more time on the part I am actually good at. There will still be other customers. Probably more of them. I am choosing where I want to build, Carlos."

The words made more sense than the first request had. Carlos still felt a weight in his stomach, but he could see why Cosmic had kept looking around outside.

"What about your parents?"

"They know I want to work with you. After I told my mother how dangerously you were living each day here in the start, my mother asked whether you were still hurting yourself every other day. I told her it had become less frequent."

Carlos looked at his sore shoulder and decided to leave that alone.

"They said I should understand what I am signing. I have looked at the request, but the full territory options need both Lords to review them."

"You already checked it?"

"Of course I checked it. I wasn’t going to walk here and hope the System let me take it back afterward."

Carlos remembered Cedric standing beside the damaged channel and asking for the same thing. He had not accepted then.

The panel had warned him about hungry people, transferred buildings and the threats he would inherit.

This was Cosmic. That made the decision easier in one way and much harder in another. Carlos knew him well enough to accept his people, but he also knew how much a permanent choice could cost.

"You will still want to tell me when I am making a stupid decision?"

"Especially then."

Carlos smiled at last. Cosmic’s shoulders lowered a little when he saw it.

"We did say we would help each other before we came here," Carlos said.

"We have been. I want to keep doing it properly."

Carlos reached over and gave Cosmic a firm handshake. He held it tightly for a moment before letting go.

"Then show me everything I need to know. If there is a threat waiting at your gate, I want to hear about it now."

Cosmic opened his current territory record. Its area was nine hundred square meters. The six Lizardmen were registered, along with his Lord building, barrack, spear workstation, basic kitchen, warehouse and residence. There were no active hostile claims or unfinished military contracts listed.

Two outgoing material trades still needed delivery. Cosmic showed Carlos the stock held for them before showing him the food count.

"I kept their supplies aside. I am not bringing you an unpaid promise."

"I know you, don’t worry about it."

But Cosmic was persistent, so Carlos looked at it.

The record showed no unbound residents requiring a separate decision. Cosmic’s troops were waiting at his territory while he spoke here, and he would tell them before any move.

Carlos placed his hand beside Cosmic’s on the request.

--

[Voluntary Lord Subordination]

[Requesting Lord: Cosmic Merchant]

[Receiving Lord: Carlos Goldwin]

[Warning: Subordination is permanent]

[Territory integration options available]

[Full Assimilation]

[Territory land and registered belongings transfer to Carlos Goldwin]

[Preserved Extension]

[Territory enters Ironroot’s territory space intact]

[Connection bridge established between main land and extension]

[Cosmic Merchant retains asset ownership and subordinate Lord functions]

[Final territorial authority: Carlos Goldwin]

--

Carlos opened the second option. A small view of Ironroot appeared with another plot beside it. The buildings on Cosmic’s land remained where they were.

He moved the view closer with his fingers. There was a bridge between them.

"We can keep your whole territory," he said. "You would still have what you built."

Cosmic read the lower portion before answering. Carlos followed his gaze.

--

[Attachment occupies one outward expansion frontage]

[Ironroot cannot extend outward through the occupied side]

[Other expansion locations remain available]

--

Carlos turned the view until he could see the other sides of Ironroot. Then he looked at his friend again.

"Congratulations, bro, we are going to be neighbours."