Carlos waited beside the kitchen table while the light above Mira’s pan slowly faded.
Nobody spoke, as if they thought a spoken word would disturb Mira’s focus.
The two Hearthkeepers were standing behind Mira with their hands folded together.
Even the normal meal pots had been moved farther from the fire. The kitchen smelled like hot pepper and roasted meat, but there was something else inside it too. Something sharp enough to make Carlos’s chest feel warm whenever he breathed in.
Then the system panel changed.
--
[Advanced cooking attempt complete]
[Emberhorn Pepper Meat x1]
[High-quality Meal]
[Ingredient compatibility: partial]
[Target quality: insufficient]
--
Mira stared at the result for a long time.
Carlos looked into the small pan. The meat was dark at the edges, with a thin red glow running through it. It looked better than anything he had ever eaten in Ironroot, but the panel had already made the important part clear.
It was not enough.
"High-quality," Mira said quietly. "Not Ultra-high-quality."
Carlos waited for her to get angry or disappointed. Instead, she picked up the spoon and looked at the small amount left in the pan.
"The meat held the heat," she said. "But the pepper only stayed on the outside. I need something that carries it through the food without burning everything."
Carlos blinked. "You know that from one try?"
"I know what went wrong from one try. Knowing how to fix it is different."
"I won’t lie, that sounded like Rowan right now," Carlos spoke with a smile.
Mira sighed. "Do not compare me to Rowan. I do not need that pressure."
Carlos looked at Kaia through the open kitchen doorway. She was standing near the Training Yard and had definitely not heard them.
Mira covered the small pan. "We do not send this to the Lord. He asked for Ultra-high-quality food. I am not sending him something weaker and hoping he does not notice."
"Agreed."
Carlos opened the message panel.
--
[Carlos Goldwin] - The first attempt reached High-quality, not Ultra-high-quality. We learned something, but it is not ready for your troops.
--
The Unknown Lord answered after a minute.
--
[Unknown Lord] - That’s unfortunate but I am glad you are trustworthy. You can keep the meal for your people.
[Unknown Lord] - Find what your cook needs. I can provide more ingredients when I obtain them. I can be fast too.
--
Carlos closed the panel and looked at Mira.
"He is not angry."
"I see."
She took the covered pan to a shelf away from the normal meal pots. The High-quality food would not be wasted. But it was no longer the important part of her day.
Carlos walked outside and opened the Garrison Gatehouse Blueprint.
--
[Uncommon Garrison Gatehouse Blueprint]
[Construction requirements]
[Wood x200]
[Stone x300]
[Iron x150]
[Iron Fang Gate Fittings x1]
[Clear ground at an existing entrance]
--
The requirements were not impossible anymore.
But Carlos still needed more wood.
He sent Cosmic a message.
--
[Carlos Goldwin] - We have three cooked meals left. I need wood first, then stone. Can you find a real offer?
[Cosmic Merchant] - I already have one. I was waiting to see if I could get a better offer, but this guy will not budge.
[Carlos Goldwin] - Send it.
--
The offer appeared almost immediately.
--
[Trade Offer]
[Cooked Meals x3]
[For Wood x150]
[For Stone x80]
--
Carlos read it twice. The trade did not look as good as the first one, but the food had been made from Ironroot’s safe surplus and Cosmic had already inspected the other Lord’s resources.
--
[Carlos Goldwin] - Take it.
[Cosmic Merchant] - Done. And bro, tell Mira the meals that reached the earlier people have driven them crazy. People are actually fighting over the listings.
--
The wood and stone appeared inside Carlos’s inventory.
He smiled at the message. Food being valuable was a good thing.
Carlos went to Kaia this time. She was near the western entrance with the new Shield Militia. The old gate was still there, but it was only wood and iron braces. Good enough for now, but not forever.
"The Gatehouse is ready," Carlos said.
Kaia looked toward the gate. "Here?"
"You choose."
She walked the short distance to the entrance, checked the open ground beside it and looked over the wall twice. Carlos waited while she thought.
"Here," Kaia said. "This side has the clearer approach. If someone comes from outside, we see them before they reach the gate. The Militia can hold this while the Archer covers them from the tower."
Carlos nodded and spoke out loud with the blueprint in hand. "Build."
The blueprint opened in front of the western entrance.
Wood, stone and iron disappeared from his inventory. The Iron Fang Gate Fittings rose from the ground with a metallic sound and struck the old gate first. Then a heavy stone base formed around it. Two raised wooden platforms appeared on either side, connected by a covered section above the entrance.
The old gate changed last, and thick dark braces wrapped around the wood. New hinges formed along both sides and a heavy iron latch settled into place with a sound that made the two Shield Militia look up.
--
[Uncommon Garrison Gatehouse constructed]
[Iron Fang Gate Fittings applied]
[Gate durability increased]
[Prepared gate response available]
[Iron Fang Signal Horn compatible]
--
Kaia walked through the new gate slowly. Her hand moved over the dark brace before she looked up at the covered platform.
"The Archer takes the upper watch during an alarm," she said. "Two Militia hold the entrance. The horn calls everyone else to the gate instead of making them run around asking what happened."
Carlos handed her the Signal Horn.
"Then keep it here. I don’t trust myself with it. I will definitely blow it near the kitchen again to bother Mira."
Kaia looked at him for a second. "I will make sure of that." She seemed a little too serious at that comment.
Behind them, the new Bearkin carried a stack of training shields toward the Gatehouse without being asked. The new Archer climbed the western platform and tested the view. The Shield Militia stood under the gate and looked less uncertain than they had that morning.
Carlos stepped back and looked at Ironroot.
The training yard was full. The cucumber bed had its own guard. Mira had started working toward something bigger than ordinary meals. And now the western entrance looked like a place that could actually hold when the territory needed time.
Carlos felt like his place had taken another big step in becoming safer.
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