My Farming Domain Is Broken

Carlos waited for the panel to disappear, but it just stayed there for some reason.

Blue hovered near the water path while Two rested against Carlos’s boot. Rowan was still staring at the roots. He looked like he expected them to suddenly dry up again.

Then pale light appeared over the channel stones and Kaia moved in front of Carlos immediately. Something was materializing in front of their eyes.

The light rose and made the shape of a person in a long robe. There was no face under the hood. Only an old round mark where one should have been.

Rhea took a step back.

"What is that?"

Carlos did not answer. He was still trying to figure it out himself.

The thing did not look at them. It looked down at Channel Five.

--

[Aurelian Steward activated]

[Regional Administrator]

[Authority review in progress]

--

Carlos read it once, then again.

"So this is the administrator," he said.

Carlos had feared that some other Lord had gained a bigger authority in secret and would come to check, but he was happy that nothing like that had happened.

It was not some old monster living under the district either. It was part of Aurelian itself.

The Steward lifted one hand. Thin light ran through the cracked channel wall and followed the water around the roots. Nobody spoke while it happened.

Carlos did not like silent things judging him. At least people gave him a reason before they tried to take something.

The next panel appeared.

--

[Verification complete]

[Auxiliary Channel Five restored without permanent loss]

[Buried cultivation support organism stabilized]

[Acting Crop Keeper Carlos Goldwin has fulfilled the permanent recognition condition]

--

Rhea let out a breath and Cedric only watched, but they all knew one thing: Carlos was going to be a lot more influential now.

Then another panel came.

--

[Crop Keeper Authority confirmed]

[Authority scope: Ancient Cultivation District]

[Permission granted: supervised crop inspection, dormant-bed management, controlled labour access, registry application]

[Warning: this authority does not grant control over other Aurelian sectors or other Lords’ territories]

--

Carlos quickly looked over at Kaia and Rowan. They nodded. They had already seen what was written, so even if he did not understand some part of it, they would make him understand later.

But he could tell one thing after looking at the panel: the system had finally stopped calling him Acting Crop Keeper.

Cedric looked at him and smiled, "The district is really yours now?"

"Under my authority," Carlos said. "Not every place in the basin, not just yet. Do not mix those up."

Cedric nodded. He probably understood better than most how much trouble came from people claiming something they had not earned.

Rhea looked toward the dormant beds. "Then can we start working on those now?"

"I am not too sure yet, but we should be able to do that," Carlos said. "But not before Rowan checks them first. If he says wait, we wait."

Rowan gave a short nod. He was still focused on the channel, but Carlos knew he had heard every word.

Tomas looked at the old storehouse. "And the seeds inside?"

"Still not ours to waste," Carlos answered. "We only use what we can actually grow and protect."

The Steward finally turned toward Carlos.

He waited for it to say something but nothing happened.

But finally, a panel opened.

--

[Aurelian Steward notice]

[A permanent Crop Keeper must maintain a living cultivation anchor inside their own territory]

[Crop Registry access remains sealed until an anchor is registered]

[No external authority access has been granted to Ironroot]

--

Carlos’s shoulders eased at the last line.

"No access to my own territory, just how it should be," Carlos spoke out loud with a sigh.

Kaia lowered her hand from her sword. "That was the important part."

Carlos nodded. He did not care if an old system called him Crop Keeper or Lord of a field. Ironroot stayed his home. Nobody else was getting a path into it without his permission.

They had been taught in school that when other Lords started entering your territory, things could take a bad turn.

"What is an anchor?" Kaia asked.

Carlos looked at Rowan for answers, making the farmer sigh.

Rowan frowned at the panel. "A proper growing place, I think. A field that is alive and being cared for. It proves you are not taking ancient crops while leaving your own land empty."

"So I use a field."

"Probably. But wait until I check it properly. You click things very quickly, my lord."

"Geez, I have gotten better, Rowan. You don’t have to say that."

Rowan looked at him and Carlos sighed. Soon, the Steward started fading.

Carlos suddenly grew curious about this pocket world and he could not help but shout.

"Wait," Carlos said. "What happened to the people who used to live here?"

The shape kept disappearing but one last panel appeared.

--

[Historical evacuation records remain restricted]

[Current Crop Keeper authority is insufficient]

--

Then, just as fast as it had come, it disappeared too. Carlos had expected that it would not respond, but for it to respond and still not answer? That was annoying.

Rowan ignored the missing administrator and returned to the roots. He pressed two fingers into the damp soil, then nodded.

"It will live."

That was enough for Carlos right now.

He looked at the human Farmer standing beside Tarin. She had barely spoken since Kaia brought her here.

Rowan noticed too.

"You need a name," he said. "Sela. That is yours now. You work carefully, so stay that way."

The woman blinked and then bowed.

"Sela... I understand, Head Farmer."

Tarin looked at her and smiled, making his little canines show. It was not a horrifying smile, just a normal one. "Good name."

"Check the boards," Rowan told him.

Tarin walked off quickly. Carlos almost laughed, but he had work to do.

"Cedric, keep the watch the same. Rowan stays here. Nobody touches another channel unless Rowan checks it first."

"I will keep it safe, but Carlos, I wanted to say something," Cedric said, making Carlos inwardly sigh. Whenever this guy said something that started like this, it was a pain to deal with.

"Please take Blue with you, I don’t think this place is good for it."

Carlos was surprised and looked at Blue who was fully healthy, then his mind shifted and he looked at Cedric again.

"Did something happen while I was away?"

Cedric scratched the back of his head and spoke again. "Nothing happened... it is just the way new people who come to buy stuff here look at Blue. There is a lot of curiosity. You do not see such a creature out and about very often."

"You don’t have to heed my word but I have this feeling that you should take it back, it will be safer for it."

Carlos kept looking at Cedric and, for some reason, whether it was trust or paranoia from his side too, he believed him more than he had before.

"Alright, I will take him back."

Cedric looked surprised, but sighed with a smile and a nod.

Carlos spoke again, "Tarin and Sela come back with us. Ironroot has fields too."

Rowan gave both Farmers a look.

"Listen to Mira until I return. Do not touch a new crop because it looks interesting."

"Yes, Head Farmer," they said together.

Carlos, Kaia, Blue, Two, Tarin and Sela entered the Domain Portal.

Ironroot appeared a second later.

The Training Yard Blueprint, the Garrison Gatehouse Blueprint and the unopened Iron Fang Commander Chest were still waiting untouched on the table. Carlos wanted to check how it all worked, and he felt great that nobody had done anything with them.

Then another panel opened above them.

--

[Crop Keeper cultivation anchor available]

[Register one active field in Ironroot]

--

Carlos looked from the panel to the Commander Chest.

He had barely returned home, and there were already three more things waiting for him.