My Farming Domain Is Broken

The five Lords disappeared down the eastern road. Carlos turned around.

Water ran from the split support, carrying black oil across the mud. The seed store and its preserved seeds had survived.

Carlos stopped beside Cedric at the channel wall.

"Can you stand?"

Cedric had one hand pressed against his side. He looked at the wall before looking at Carlos.

"Yes. But I should not be lifting stone."

"Then do not lift stone. Tell the others what has to be moved."

Cedric nodded immediately.

The Clayborn Mason with the damaged shoulder stood nearby. Its companion studied the split Glasswood support.

"Can they stop the leak?" Carlos asked.

Cedric crouched carefully and looked at the broken point without touching it.

"Not repair it properly today," he said. "But they can hold the support while we put a temporary brace around it. If the pressure stays low, the channel will not collapse before we bring proper material."

Carlos did not pretend to understand the wall better than Cedric did.

"Do it. Keep the water moving. Do not close the channel unless you have no other choice."

"Understood."

Cedric called Rhea, Tomas, Milan, Evan, and the workers over. Nobody argued. They picked up loose Glasswood, stone braces, and rope without waiting for a second order.

Kaia’s shoulder was bleeding through the cloth. Cedric’s side was worse than he admitted. The injured hyena could barely stand, while the wolf rider and its mount were both bleeding.

Carlos looked at the trolls for a moment.

They waited with their heads lowered, watching him for the next order.

"Brann," Carlos said. "Stay with the trolls. If they move toward anyone without permission, stop them."

Brann nodded and planted its hammer in the mud beside them.

Carlos pointed at the wolf rider and the three hyenas.

"You too. Stay here. Nobody is hurting you, but nobody is walking away either."

The rider did not answer. It only pulled its wolf closer and stood still. Carlos called Evan over.

"Get bandages and clean water. Treat Kaia and Cedric first. The rest can be assessed after we return to Ironroot."

Evan looked toward the monsters.

"What about them?"

The injured hyena was breathing too fast. Blood had dried along its front leg. The wolf’s flank was still leaking slowly. The trolls had wounds, but their bodies were already trying to close them again.

"Bandages and water for the hyena and the wolf. The rider can wait unless its hand gets worse. The trolls recover on their own."

Evan hesitated, then nodded.

The Clayborn Masons held the support while Tomas and Milan dragged Glasswood into place. Rhea directed the workers carrying stone. Carlos helped until Kaia stopped him.

"Sit down," Kaia said. "You are bleeding through your sleeve."

Carlos looked at the channel, then at the people still working.

He sat near the seed store and let Evan wrap his shoulder again.

Cedric gave instructions while Tomas handled the rope and Rhea kept the workers moving. Nobody had been forced to remain. They stayed because the channel was theirs too.

By the time they finished, the leak had become a narrow drip instead of a stream.

Cedric stepped away from the wall, exhausted and pale.

"It will hold until tomorrow," he said. "We need to bring better Glasswood and seal the split from both sides."

"Tomorrow, then," Carlos said. "Nobody touches it alone tonight."

Carlos opened his Lord message panel.

--

[Carlos Goldwin]- Five Lords attacked the district. Your Clayborn Masons helped hold Channel Three, but one is damaged. We made a temporary brace. Come to Ironroot when you can. We need you to inspect both the Mason and the repair before anyone touches the channel again.

--

Lydia’s answer came quickly.

--

[Lydia Veyra]- They fought in an attack without me there?

[Lydia Veyra]- Keep them away from the damaged support. I am coming. Do not let anyone make a permanent repair before I inspect it. It will be average without my expertise, and I am not saying this to brag.

--

Cedric gave him a tired smile.

"You are really going to take everyone to Ironroot?"

"I said I would."

The injured crossed the Domain Portal first with those helping them. Brann brought the Marsh Trolls through one at a time. The wolf rider stayed beside its mount, and the hyenas stayed together.

When Carlos finally stepped into Ironroot, the first thing he saw was Rowan waiting near the portal field.

Rowan still had dirt on both hands. His eyes moved from Carlos’s shoulder to the creatures behind Brann.

"You went to repair a channel," Rowan finally said. "Where did ones this strong come from?"

Carlos looked back at the two wounded Marsh Trolls.

"Long story."

"It seems like it, but it involves the crops, so I want to know what happened."

"I will. Don’t worry, just wait a bit."

Mira came with both Hearthkeepers and stopped at the sight of the hyenas and wounded people.

"How many are badly hurt?"

"Kaia and Cedric need rest. Others need bandages. Nobody on our side died," Carlos said.

Mira let out a breath, but her attention went straight to the new troops.

"And those?"

"They are ours now."

Carlos pointed toward Cedric’s group and the district workers behind them.

"I invited everyone for a feast. One proper meal. Nothing from the preserved provisions."

Mira looked from the visitors to the new troops.

"You brought home seven new mouths and invited a crowd for a feast on the same day?"

"I did not exactly pick them up because I wanted more work."

Mira looked toward Cedric’s group and the exhausted workers behind them.

"One meal," she said. "One meal is alright. We can do that, but it should only be one meal. We cannot make it a full feast."

Carlos nodded.

"That is enough."

Kaia stepped beside him, quieter now that they were home.

"Where will the new troops sleep or even work?"

Carlos looked across Ironroot. The barracks were already full enough. The normal animal pens would not hold two trolls even if he wanted them to. The empty space near the western wall was open, but it had no shelter and was close to the gate.

He had taken four barracks today. He had taken creatures that needed homes. He had also taken responsibility for every consequence of that decision.

Before he could answer, his Lord message panel flashed.

--

[Cosmic Merchant]- I locked all four Common troop barracks. I have the exact prices and transfer conditions. But Carlos... even the cheapest ones will take space, and you now have four more barracks in your inventory too. What exactly are you planning to do with all of them?

--

Carlos read the message once.

He looked at the wounded trolls, the hyenas curled close together near the portal, the wolf rider guarding its mount, and the people who had trusted him enough to step inside Ironroot.

Then he opened his inventory. Four unfamiliar barracks waited beside the other buildings. They were completed troop buildings, not blueprints. The system had folded them into his inventory until he chose where to deploy them.

For the first time, Carlos did not see them as rewards he had stolen from defeated enemies.

He saw them as the beginning of something much bigger that no one else had realized yet.

It was about time he started the troop leasing business alongside food.