My Farming Domain Is Broken

The road to Aurelian Settlement had never looked alive before.

Gold light ran through the old stone like water. It crossed the empty plain beyond the cultivation district, passed broken farms and disappeared toward the sealed western gates.

Carlos reached the road with Kaia, Brann, Nessa, Cosmic, Lydia and the two Lizardmen.

Nobody spoke much during the first hour. Carlos kept looking back toward the cultivation district.

Cedric was standing by the repaired third channel when they left while Rowan was beside him. One sat near the regulator and Blue floated above the water.

It was not enough protection against every possible problem. But it was all Carlos could leave without stripping Ironroot and the district empty. He needed to show the upcoming party his strength too.

Cosmic noticed where he was looking.

"You already checked the map five times, bro."

"Six, actually"

"That is worse."

Carlos just chuckled.

The road narrowed after the first broken bridge. Lords had gathered there in groups, all moving toward the western gates. Some brought one troop. Others brought two. A few had no troops at all and stayed close to larger groups.

Though every group looked at Carlos’s party.

They saw Brann first. Then Kaia’s armour. Then Nessa’s bow and Cosmic’s two armed Lizardmen. Lydia’s stone hammer made less sense among them, but her green coat marked her as someone from Glasswood.

Carlos heard someone whisper his name but he did not turn around.

Being first in the rankings had made people notice him before they knew whether he was worth fearing.

Carlos did not call anyone out for staring. He simply let them see who stood behind him. In a crowd like this, a warning did not need to be spoken twice.

At the second bridge, Mara was waiting with six Cooperative Lords and twelve troops. She had brought a mix of Woodcutters, Stone Dwarves and two archers. Her group looked ready to work, not start a war.

Carlos slowed when he saw her.

When Mara saw him, she did not try to greet him warmly.

"Derek Holt was not part of my Cooperative," she said. "I checked every agreement and every person who left camp yesterday."

Carlos gave a small nod. "I appreciate you checking."

It did not answer every question in his mind. Derek could have acted alone, or someone could have spoken to him without leaving Mara’s camp. Carlos kept those thoughts to himself. Mara had brought him useful information, and there was no reason to turn that into an argument.

He also depended on that fact that when Derek reached the mastermind if there were any, he would tell them how he cut his hand off and regrew it. And threatened to kill the next one.

"I sent word to my people that nobody approaches your district without permission. If someone ignores that, I will remove them from the Cooperative."

Cosmic watched her carefully.

"That is a big promise."

"It is an easy promise. I don’t need people making trouble from my side for no reason."

Carlos stored the promise away without treating it as proof. Trust was built by what people did when nobody was watching, not by the first reasonable words they said.

They continued toward the settlement without walking together. Mara’s group stayed behind Carlos’s party, leaving enough distance that nobody could call it an alliance.

The gates appeared near noon. They were taller than Ironroot’s walls and made from white stone that had not cracked unlike every other paths that had detoriated with time. The settlement beyond them was hidden by a thick silver mist.

Hundreds of Lords had already gathered outside.

Some Lords had spread cloth on the ground and placed their best resources on top, as if the gates might accept payment. Others were trying to trade information about the routes they had restored. A woman with a flock of small woolly beasts had tied them near a broken wall while arguing with two men about Red Prairie water rights.

Nobody knew what the Settlement Authority wanted. That made every person here suspicious of everyone else.

Carlos saw hungry troops sharing dry rations near one side of the road. On the other, a group with clean armour and full packs kept their distance from everyone. The Pocket Dimension had given all of them a chance to grow. It had not made them equal.

It also made things clear that not everyone was an equal leader, some lords were starving their troops like it was normal, he could see it in their faces which irked him.

One group from Red Prairie was arguing about animal shelters. Another demanded to know why only partial owners received the summons. A Lord with three armored boar riders stood near the front and shouted that his group had earned entry first.

Nobody listened to him. Carlos spotted the difference quickly.

The strongest people had not reached the gates first. The people with working structures had.

Mara’s Cooperative had a Distribution Station. Carlos had the cultivation district. Somewhere inside the crowd, other Lords had repaired enough of Red Prairie or the settlement route to make the system recognize them.

That was why they were all here. The gates made a deep sound soon and every conversation stopped.

A narrow gap opened between the white stone doors. Silver mist poured out, but no one could see inside it.

Then the system panel appeared above the gates.

--

[Aurelian Settlement Authority]

[Verified Partial Owners and recognized operators detected]

[Central Authority claim remains incomplete]

[Unauthorized entry prohibited]

[Regional restoration conference will begin after attendance is recorded]

--

The crowd became louder immediately.

"Conference?"

"We came all this way for talking?"

"Who gets recorded first?"

Carlos read the panel again. It did not say the gates were open and said attendance would be recorded.

He stepped forward before the Lord with boar riders could push through the crowd.

Kaia followed at once and Brann did not need an order.

The Lord stared at them, then moved aside.

Carlos placed one hand against the white gate.

It was cold to touch.

--

[Attendance recorded]

[Carlos Goldwin]

[Partial Owner: Ancient Cultivation District]

[Acting Crop Keeper]

[Restoration authority: Verified]

--

The last line appeared in gold. Murmurs spread through the crowd.

Carlos did not like that either. The system had announced his district role to every Lord at the gates, even if it had not revealed anything private about Ironroot.

Mara’s expression changed when she read it. Before he could ask what she was thinking, another name appeared under his.

--

[Notice: An unidentified claimant has already entered the Inner Settlement.]

[Current claimant access: Active]

--

The gates opened wider for the arriving operators.

Carlos looked through the widening gap. Someone had reached the inner part of Aurelian Settlement before any of them. Whatever they were doing inside, Carlos was already behind.

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