My Farming Domain Is Broken

Carlos did not open the Aurelian Crop Ledger inside the hall. There were too many eyes around him now.

Every Lord who had entered the settlement had seen the system call him a Crop Keeper. If the book contained information about crops, seeds or old farming methods, he was not going to stand in the middle of a crowd and let everyone watch him read it.

He placed the ledger inside his inventory. Nora noticed that but did not complain.

"That is your reward," she said. "I would have done the same thing."

Carlos looked at her. "What did the road marker give you?"

"A route map." Nora tapped the old table. "It shows the main roads between several locations, but most of them are still blocked or broken. I can see where a road existed. But I don’t know if I can use them."

Carlos still felt a little weird that he was not telling most people what he knew, but others didn’t hold back with information. That was weird.

Cosmic leaned closer before Carlos could ask another question.

"Can it show trade routes?"

Nora looked at him for a second. "I don’t know yet, but if they were there and then were restored, maybe it is possible."

"But if we could restore something like that, then while the trade system handles small deals, it cannot move workers, carts or something too big to register in the inventory."

Cosmic went quiet in the way he did whenever he found something valuable.

Carlos almost laughed. A dangerous old settlement had appeared, an unknown claimant had reached it first, and Cosmic was still thinking about future carts carrying goods. That was why Carlos kept him close.

The panel above the table flashed once more.

--

[Recognized operators may register a Limited Restoration Contract]

[This agreement does not transfer territory ownership]

[This agreement does not create military command authority]

[Registered operators may access shared regional restoration tasks]

[Abandoning an active task may reduce regional function stability]

--

The hall became quieter after everyone read the final line.

One of the Lords near the door pushed forward at that. He had come with a single Woodcutter and had spent most of the walk through the settlement complaining that the stronger groups were blocking the road.

"Then all of us should be able to register," he said. "Why are only three of you getting access?"

Carlos was just going to make Brann get closer to the guy to make him scared, but Nora pointed toward the role list without looking impressed.

"Because the system does not recognize you as an operator of anything here. You can restore a structure and earn a role, then you can read the terms too."

The Lord opened his mouth, then closed it. His eyes went to Carlos, and he moved back.

Carlos understood the anger even if he did not agree with it. The settlement had appeared in front of hundreds of people, but only a few had already risked resources to restore something connected to it.

Everyone wanted a share before they knew what work had created the chance.

Mara looked toward the crowd. "If my Distribution Station verifies the Storehouse role, my Cooperative still does not own every storehouse in the Basin. That is what the panel says."

"Exactly," Nora said. "The contract can help everyone get access to work. If they are willing to do it, there is no way they won’t be a part of this."

Carlos could tell Nora was good at speaking to a crowd. While he tried to scare the masses with his strength, she used her words to make people realize they could do something too.

Nora pointed toward the bottom of the panel. "There is a full condition list. You can read it before agreeing. Nobody is being forced."

Carlos opened it.

The conditions were long but simple enough after he read them twice. Every operator kept their own territory and troops. Nobody could order another Lord into a fight. Regional rewards would be divided by contribution, not equally. If someone caused damage to a restored structure, the system would record a debt.

Carlos liked that last part. His territory was the most prone to damage if even a single lord decided to do something to it.

It was not because he wanted another Derek situation. It was because nobody would be able to break something and then act careless about it.

But one condition made him stop.

--

[Crop Keeper obligation]

[One dormant regional crop must be identified and restored through verified cultivation]

[Qualified Farmer presence required]

[Completion period: 3 days]

--

Carlos let out a breath.

"I cannot complete this here," he said.

Nora frowned. "You are the Crop Keeper."

"I have an Agriculture Domain. That does not make me a farmer." Carlos looked at the ledger inside his inventory. "My farmer is at the cultivation district. He needs to see the crops and the soil before he touches anything. And I have my own territory to progress too."

Nora did not say anything to that, but she smiled.

"Then take the record to him," she said. "The system gave you three days."

Mara stepped closer, but not close enough that Kaia had to move.

"Glasswood can keep the road between the camp and your district watched," she offered. "Not inside your district. Only the public road."

Carlos thought about it. She was not demanding trust. She was offering something that benefited her Cooperative too.

A safe road meant food, Glasswood, and workers could move between locations.

"You can watch the road," Carlos said. "No one crosses into the cultivation district unless I approve it."

Mara frowned. "You know, I have been trying to fix this broken trust for a while now. Do whatever you want now. I don’t care." She spoke with a sigh, as if fed up with him.

Carlos looked at her but did not reply. He wanted to be fully sure she had nothing to do with anything that happened to his district. It was like these were two countries that had lost trust and needed some alone time for a while.

Nora opened the contract panel again.

"If you register, the system will show you which public structures are connected to your role. You do not have to repair them today."

"And if I do not register?" Carlos asked.

"Then you keep the temporary authority and wait for the region to decay more," Nora said. "That is all the record says."

Carlos hated being pushed by a clock. But doing nothing because a system warning was annoying had never helped him either.

He read the contract one final time. He waited only one minute before making the decision.

Carlos placed his hand against the panel.

--

[Limited Restoration Compact registered]

[Operator: Carlos Goldwin]

[Role: Crop Keeper]

[Operator: Nora Ashwell]

[Role: Road Keeper]

[Operator: Mara Kells]

[Role: Pending Storehouse Verification]

[Shared regional task access unlocked]

--

Carlos expected some grand reward after that but nothing happened for several seconds.

Then the regional map opened in front of every registered operator.

New lines appeared through Aurelian Basin. Some connected to Glasswood. Some reached the cultivation district. A few went to locations Carlos had never seen.

One small gold mark blinked beside his district.

--

[Crop Keeper task available]

[A dormant crop sample has been detected beneath Auxiliary Channel Five]

[Warning: Improper removal may permanently destroy the sample]

--

Carlos looked toward the gold mark for a long time. The cultivation district had eight damaged channels left.

And now he had finally found out something good was hiding inside it.

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