Chapter 183. Visiting an old man’s territory

Chapter 183: 183. Visiting an old man’s territory

Carlos smiled. "How could I forget him? I have just been a little busy, that’s all."

"Tell him that yourself," Elena replied. "We came back a little while ago. Have you eaten?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Come over. He will be happy."

Carlos looked toward the empty kitchen. He had expected to arrange another day, perhaps hear that his grandfather was resting already. Instead, his mother began telling him to bring a clean shirt if he intended to stay for dinner.

He went after washing his face and putting the phone away. There were no food containers to take with him this time. For a moment he considered buying something on the way, then realised his grandfather would probably ask why he was carrying groceries to visit him.

Elena opened the door before he finished knocking at his grandpa’s door.

"Come here."

She pulled him into a hug and kept him there while he bent awkwardly over her shoulder. Carlos held her too. He had seen her more recently than his grandfather, but being away from her still felt longer inside Ironroot.

"You look better," she said, examining his face.

"I have been eating properly. Mira pulled something crazy, I will tell you about it."

"With her there, I have had my mind at ease, so I know."

His grandfather sat near the window with a cushion behind his lower back. A walking stick rested against the chair, though he pushed it farther away when Carlos looked at it.

"Come closer, you brat. Your mother is blocking the whole entrance."

Carlos went to him with a grin. "How are you, Grandpa?"

The older man caught his hand, then pulled him down into a brief hug. His grip remained strong. Carlos was relieved by that for no particular sensible reason; his mother had said a bad back, and his imagination had made it worse on the way here.

"Better now that I can see you. Move further for a moment."

"What?"

"Let me look at you."

Carlos obeyed. His grandfather watched him move, then glanced at Elena before pointing toward the other chair.

"Sit. You have been making your mother worry."

"She worries even when I do nothing."

"It’s because you can’t fool me. I know how reckless you are," Elena said, going toward the kitchen.

Carlos sat while his grandfather asked about his people. The questions were surprisingly difficult to answer briefly.

Explaining Rowan meant explaining the old Farmer first, then the evolution, and once Carlos began describing Brann he found himself using both hands to show the size of the Colossus.

His grandfather listened through it, occasionally asking which person Carlos meant when he said another Guardian.

"And the one who cooks?"

"Mira. Mother met her. She is the reason I can keep summoning anyone now."

"Elena has told me about her several times."

Carlos looked toward the kitchen. His mother was smiling down at the cups.

It pleased him more than it should have. He liked that they knew the names, that Rowan and Mira could become people his family asked about instead of entries in a troop record.

After a while his grandfather shifted in the chair and reached for the stick.

"There is something I need to check before we eat. Come see the territory. Your mother says you have been curious."

"You can do it tomorrow," Elena said.

"I can sit in a different chair just as well."

She gave him a look, but brought his coat instead of arguing further. Carlos helped him stand when he offered his arm. His grandfather accepted the help without commenting on it.

The portal opened in a clear space beside the wall. Carlos left his phone behind and waited while his grandfather authorised him as a guest. Then Elena took the older man’s other arm, and they went through together.

The smell of cut wood reached Carlos first.

A broad yard stretched ahead, its edges crowded with long roofed workshops. Timber lay raised above the ground beneath one shelter. Finished crates occupied another, stacked in rows taller than Carlos. Beyond them he could see roofs continuing farther than Ironroot’s whole familiar working area.

His grandfather’s territory had room for things Carlos was still trying to fit between his buildings.

A wooden trolley rolled past with two workers guiding it. Their load consisted of cupboard doors, each separated by a strip of cloth.

One worker greeted his grandfather, then asked whether the tall guest needed to be shown away from the cutting floor.

"He is with me," the older man answered. "How far along is the western order?"

"The last frames are together. Packing is waiting on the fittings."

"I will come look."

The trolley continued while Carlos looked after it. There were people making furniture here, other people sorting the pieces and somebody else apparently deciding how it should all be packed. He had only been inside for a minute.

"I never knew you made all this, Grandpa."

"Woodcraft Domain," his grandfather said. "Most of what leaves here is less interesting than those cupboards. Handles, boxes, fitted shelves. Things people break or discover they need another fifty of."

"But don’t upgrades help with getting these types of things in a building?" Carlos asked in curiosity and his grandpa smirked.

"I see you are still wet behind your ears. I assume you haven’t reached the bottleneck yet?" he asked.

"I have only just started, Grandpa. I can’t be reaching bottlenecks just yet," he spoke.

"Excuses! When I was your age, I reached my bottleneck in mere months!" the old man shouted, making Elena sigh and Carlos just chuckle.

"Listen closely. A bottleneck is when you have upgraded all your buildings to the point that the resource requirements get too absurd and tough to please. When that happens, Lords start playing smart and start building their own buildings as they need wherever cranny they can fit in. With good quality products like I sell, the system can recognize the building as what you want to make when you finish constructing it. Got it?" he asked, and Carlos made a small nod.

The old man sighed. "I ain’t that great at explaining stuff, so just figure it out on your own or ask your mother later."

Carlos nodded. "Thanks, Grandpa."

The old man moved his face away but Carlos could see a small smile on his face.

They soon followed a hard path between the shelters. Sawdust collected beside the workbenches, swept into separate baskets. Near one open door, a broad-shouldered woman held a square against a frame while a younger worker adjusted its corner. She made him try again before allowing him to fix it in place.

Carlos slowed to watch.

The woman noticed, but continued explaining the adjustment to her worker. His grandfather stopped beside Carlos, apparently content to wait.

"How long has she been with you?" Carlos asked quietly.

"Long enough to make me trust her work with my life," he spoke, and Carlos looked at him for a moment. That was a bold statement, but he could understand.

He understood that feeling to some extent too. Rowan had started correcting him almost immediately, but it was probably similar from the other side.

At the packing shelter, Elena pulled a chair out for his grandfather. He sat with a small sound of relief that made Carlos glance at her. She nodded once. He had needed the chair.

The cupboards were packed into sturdy outer frames. Some were already closed, while several others had their protective boards still lying beside them.

A worker brought over a leather binding with a metal buckle.

"These are what arrived," she said. "The sample was right, but half the delivered batch has a narrower tongue. They slip when we tighten them."

His grandfather tested one with his fingers, then handed it back.

"Keep the rejected ones together. What did the seller say?"

"Replacement tomorrow. The buyer can wait, but we will have these taking up the floor until then."

Carlos looked at the strap again. A leather pouch, rope, spare handles and fittings. He remembered walking past Cosmic’s shelves, surprised that someone could remember buyers for all those small things.

"Grandpa," he said. "Can I show that to someone? I think my friend might have what you need."