My Farming Domain Is Broken

Carlos stared at Cosmic’s last message until the words began to annoy him.

Of course he needed to prioritize. He was not a child who needed somebody to explain that two urgent problems could not both be solved at the same time. But that was exactly what made it annoying.

The Training Yard Blueprint sat on the kitchen table beside the unopened Commander Chest. The Gatehouse Blueprint was still in his inventory. The barrack frame could change one of his barracks completely if he made the right choice.

On the other hand, there was Channel Five. If Rowan was calling it a living root system instead of a crop, Carlos knew it was not something he could ignore for a few hours just because he wanted to see what was inside a chest.

He stood from the bench slowly. His shoulder immediately reminded him that standing was a bad idea.

Mira looked at him from across the kitchen. "Sit down or please drink a potion, Carlos."

"I am trying not to rely on it this time. The injury isn’t that bad."

Mira looked at his expression while he walked, and she sighed. He was a persistent one.

Kaia closed the Training Yard Blueprint and stood as well. Her arm had been cleaned, though the cut still showed through the bandage.

"You are going to the cultivation district?" she said.

"Yeah."

"Then I am coming."

Brann was sitting against the wall with fresh cloth wrapped around his side. He pushed himself up as well.

"Brann too."

"No," Carlos said. "You are bleeding through the bandage already."

Brann looked down at the red spot as though he was offended by what Carlos said.

"Small blood."

"You fought a Level Six commander with a hammer while getting cut open. Rest for one night, man. That is an order."

Brann’s mouth tightened, and a low grunt came out of it. He did not like it, but he slowly sat back down. The militia men looked at that, and their favorability toward Carlos increased all of a sudden.

Nessa was near the doorway with her bow resting against the wall. The Recovery Potion had done its work, but she still looked pale.

"I should go instead," she said. "I can watch the channel from a distance."

"You are resting too. I am not sending everybody back out right after we came home."

Nessa nodded, though Carlos could tell she was unhappy about being left behind. Two made a weak bounce beside Brann’s boot.

Carlos looked at the smaller Water Slime. "You can come if you want, Two. But you do not need to fight anything."

Two bounced once more, a little higher this time.

"Fine. Me, Kaia and Two will go and look at what Rowan found, then come back to get the new things ready."

Mira placed both hands on her hips. "Good luck out there. Don’t do anything dangerous."

"Well, that is hard to promise, isn’t it?" Carlos chuckled. Danger was everywhere. How could he run away from it?

He took a deep breath and gave a last announcement and command.

"The rewards will wait for now. Nobody touches the chest, the gatehouse blueprint, or the barrack frame until I return. They will stay right here on the table. Kaia will help me decide about the Training Yard after we see how the district is doing."

Kaia gave a short nod.

"Mira, keep the new Farmers and Hearthkeeper with you. Do not make them work all day. Show them around peacefully for today. They just came to our home."

Mira’s eyes widened after what Carlos said and a smile bloomed on her face.

"Yes! I will take care of everything in our home."

"Good. Garr and the Guards keep the usual watch. If anything happens inside Ironroot, you tell each other first instead of trying to handle it alone."

Mira’s expression softened a little when she saw he was trying to cover every problem before leaving.

"Carlos," she said quietly. "The territory will not fall apart because you leave for a few hours."

He looked at the table one last time.

That was what he needed to learn. Ironroot was not the small empty land where one mistake meant nobody ate. It had people now. People who could do their work without him standing above them every second.

But that still didn’t mean he trusted the outside world enough to make them stay alone for long. That wouldn’t work.

Carlos opened the private message panel.

--

[Carlos Goldwin]- I am coming now. Tell Rowan not to touch anything until I get there.

--

Cosmic answered almost immediately.

--

[Cosmic Merchant]- He was not going to touch it anyway, bro. He has been staring at it like the land has taken something from him, man. I am being for real.

--

Carlos let out a breath through his nose.

--

[Carlos Goldwin]- Alright.

--

The Domain Portal stood near the northern side of Ironroot. Its surface was still water-like even when nobody moved through it. Carlos had seen it enough times that it should have looked normal by now. But it did not.

Kaia walked beside him with her sword at her waist. She had not brought the rusted shield from the conquest. Carlos had kept his weapons inside the inventory to be ready for anything.

Carlos paused before stepping through.

"If anything feels wrong, we find out what it is. This district is ours now. We do not leave it behind because something tries to scare us."

Kaia gave him a look. "That is a sensible decision, my lord. But we knew that already."

"Still, I want things clear."

The portal pulled at his body for a second and Ironroot disappeared.

The cultivation district greeted them with broken stone, old soil beds and a silence that felt different from Ironroot’s quiet. Ironroot was alive even when nobody spoke. People moved, equipment clinked and somebody was always doing something.

Cedric noticed them first. He stood near the repaired channel with a cloth tied around his head, giving instructions to one of the new Shield Militia.

"Carlos," he called. "You came fast."

"Rowan said there was something under Channel Five. Where is he?"

Cedric pointed toward the far side of the district.

"He has been there for a long time now. He would not let anyone near it."

Carlos looked across the old beds. Blue was floating near a shallow water basin while Rowan worked beside the cracked channel wall. The six new combat summons were spread along the broken boundary, exactly where Carlos had told them to stay.

He felt relief in his heart. There was no problem but development for now.

And Cedric seemed to have a big role in it. Carlos did not praise him immediately as Cedric did not need praise for doing work Carlos had given him.

"Good. Keep the outer watch the same," Carlos said. "Nobody comes near the channel until Rowan says they can."

"Okay."

Carlos walked toward Channel Five with Kaia and Two behind him.

Rowan was kneeling beside a section of ground that looked no different from the rest at first. Old clay had cracked along the channel wall. Broken stones lay nearby in a careful pile. Nobody had dug into the soil.

Rowan looked up when Carlos reached him.

His face was serious in a way Carlos had only seen when a field was about to be wasted.

"You finally came."

"Cosmic said you found something alive."

Rowan nodded and pointed at a thin line between the clay cracks.

Carlos bent down to look at what Rowan was showing with curiosity. At first, nothing happened. There was only darkness inside the crack.

But for a moment, Carlos saw something move inside it as if it was alive. At first, he thought there was a living creature there that he needed to destroy, but the movement happened again.

And this time, it was clear. Carlos saw a root moving unnaturally.

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