Chapter 170. A Hearthkeeper’s evolution

Chapter 170: 170. A Hearthkeeper’s evolution

Kaia was standing near the wagons when Carlos found her.

One of the Marsh Trolls had helped Brann move a timber stack out of the gate approach.

The other waited beside it, holding the last length against its shoulder while a Militia cleared the ground. Carlos watched the creature put the wood down carefully. He remembered that same strength breaking a shield in the district, and he was pleased it belonged to him now.

"We got the tokens," he told Kaia.

She looked at his hand immediately. "Both?"

Carlos showed her the completed trade. "Yeah, the traded deal was successful. They don’t even need the mother plant, so we will keep harvesting for orders."

Kaia followed him toward the territory boundary. They brought Rowan over before selecting a direction, and the three stood outside the crowded storage strip while Carlos opened the expansion function.

He wanted the first addition beside the western building ground. Kaia wanted the gate approach kept wide enough for the larger troops to move together. Rowan asked for the second addition beside the cultivated rows, where a water path could reach it without crossing the buildings.

Carlos inspected both previews and agreed.

The first token disappeared after his confirmation. The boundary moved outward beside the storage ground, opening another three hundred square meters of ordinary land.

Carlos used the second beside the fields.

--

[Territory Expansion Token x2 consumed]

[Territory area increased: 600 square meters]

[Current territory area: 3,300 square meters]

--

He stepped onto the new ground before closing the panel. There was grass beneath his boots and a whole clear strip ahead of him. He could turn without stepping into a seed row or making somebody move their basket.

"Finally," Carlos said.

Rowan inspected the agricultural addition. It remained ordinary land, though it now belonged to Ironroot.

Worldroot’s next use was still on cooldown from the previous evening, and Carlos left the conversion for when it became available.

Kaia stayed beside the other addition, pointing out where the old wall ended and where the expanded ground needed coverage.

"Keep the occupied buildings behind the existing wall for now," she said. "We can move these wagons into the new storage strip. That frees the place you wanted for the trolls without putting their doorway outside the defense."

Carlos looked at the four wagons. They had been taking space since the fifth conquest, and he had done nothing with them except walk around their wheels.

"Move them. We mark this part as storage, and nobody leaves food or weapons here. We extend the wall before we use it for residences."

Brann and the two trolls helped shift the wagons while the Militia kept the path clear. They moved the empty vehicles by hand over the short distance, stopping whenever Kaia needed their angle changed. Carlos kept the road fragment and its blueprint in his inventory. Moving four empty wagons a few steps had not suddenly created the transport route those rewards required.

When the old strip was clear, he opened the Marsh Troll Barracks preview. The stored building needed a position, not another set of construction materials. Carlos had taken the completed barracks from Leon, and now he could finally put it somewhere useful.

Kaia checked the doorway’s direction before agreeing. Mira arrived while they were doing that, having finished the third special-food order and its payment transfer with Carlos earlier.

"You want another one today?" she asked, looking at the two trolls beside Brann.

"If the kitchen can take it. Read this."

Carlos showed her the building record rather than asking her to guess from the creature’s size.

--

Marsh Troll Barracks

Level 1

Uncommon Grade

Daily Summon: 1 Marsh Troll

Summoned Troop Ability:

Regeneration (Level 1)

Daily Food Consumption: 8 Basic Cooked Meals per Troll

--

Mira put the amount beside the new resident count. 13 people had been added over the three summon days: two Farmers, one Hearthkeeper, six Militia, three Archers and one Bearkin.

She checked their normal meals and the advanced cooking batches against the kitchen’s daily capacity before answering.

"One fits. We keep the present order at twelve meals a day, and I have already counted the twelve extra portions I can cook from our retained ingredients. Don’t double the buyer’s order and summon three trolls together afterward."

"One today," Carlos said. "I will show you the next batch before changing it."

She nodded and stepped back with Kaia while he deployed the barracks.

Dark supports rose across a low stone base. A broad roof settled above an entrance large enough for the creatures beside Brann to pass through without lowering their shoulders. The two trolls watched it form, then moved toward the doorway after Carlos allowed them.

He summoned the available third troll before they went inside. It emerged with long arms, thick skin and a heavy head turning toward the Lord who stood in front of it.

Carlos gave his instructions clearly. Brann would show it the territory, Kaia commanded the defense, and the marked crop enclosures were places it stayed out of. The troll listened before stepping toward Brann, who met its gaze without moving away.

Carlos had three of them now. He looked from the new creature to Kaia and saw that she was studying how to place it with the rest of the defenders already.

Mira caught his sleeve before he followed her toward the yard.

"There is another panel you should see."

Carlos thought she meant the food count, but she opened her own record instead.

--

[Hearthkeeper Mira has leveled up]

[Level: 4]

[Contribution recorded: Ultra-high-quality meal production, fulfilled supply commitments and kitchen-worker development]

[Profession promotion available at Level 5]

[Promotion requirement: Compatible Troop Promotion Token]

--

Carlos looked at her face. She had been happy when the tokens arrived, but now he understood why she had come out to find him herself.

"Congratulations, Mira," Carlos spoke and hugged her this time, making her reciprocate in happiness.

Carlos’s eyes turned determined and he spoke without breaking the hug, "You have done your part. Now it’s my turn to reward you for your efforts. I will get you that token no matter what." He spoke and broke the hug.

Mira looked at his eyes and nodded with a giggle. Looking at that cute smile in the morning made Carlos be in an even better mood.

"I need a simple token, not a specific one," she spoke.

Carlos checked instead of answering from memory. The old Goblin Commander Tokens were gone with the trade he had made, and Rowan’s promotion scroll had belonged to Farmers. He had no compatible Troop Promotion Token for Mira.

"Yeah, I will need to find yours and I am excited about it. We buy it before you reach five, so you don’t have to wait afterward."

He messaged Cosmic from beside her, giving the exact requirement. His friend replied that he would check the verified listings and send the item panel before accepting a price. He also congratulated her through Carlos, which got a nod and a smile from her.

Carlos stayed with Mira while she told him about the first three cooking days. She could now prepare twenty-four Ultra-high-quality portions in a working day when the inspected ingredients were available. Twelve belonged to the order and twelve could be kept, sold separately or used by suitable residents. She had prepared that retained batch today, and Brann had already asked about its smell.

"You can let him try it if the meal record says it is suitable," Carlos said. "He has earned better food than another bowl of plain grain. The others too. Keep some for when we fight again."

Mira agreed. The stored meals still needed proper protection, but their larger Cold Storage had room for that now.

The buyer asked to renew the twelve-meal arrangement while Carlos was still beside her.

He offered the same doubled ingredient contribution and payment, already prepared to send the next stock. Mira confirmed that the kitchen could continue it, and Carlos accepted another three deliveries through the recorded terms.

He liked customers who came back because they had received what they wanted.

Cosmic sent the listing while they walked back toward the kitchen.

--

[Troop Promotion Token]

[Listed price: Iron x80, Copper Coins x300]

--

Mira read it over Carlos’s shoulder. "That is quite a lot."

"Your three deliveries brought more than this," Carlos replied. "We buy it with your work."

Cosmic confirmed the inspected listing and trade terms. Carlos accepted the purchase, receiving the token after Iron x80 and Copper Coins x300 left his inventory. He held the small marked item toward Mira before putting it safely away again.

"Level five," he said. "When you reach it, this is ready."

She looked at the token for a moment longer than he expected.

"Then I will reach it."

Carlos believed her. He left her beside a kitchen that continued working when she stopped at the doorway, and went toward the Lord’s Hut with Kaia.

He wrote to Arthur before sitting down. He asked whether the family could introduce a recovery specialist or a healer appropriate for a young territory preparing another difficult conquest.

Arthur’s answer came while Kaia checked the next training schedule.

--

[Arthur Goldwin]- We can discuss the suitable contacts. Come to the office on Earth when you are available. Evelyn will arrange the meeting. Bring the party’s levels and the recovery support you need so we can choose a suitable introduction.

--

Carlos thanked him and closed the panel. Before leaving Ironroot, he would also visit the cultivation district and see Cedric’s work.

He had told them he would return after the final reset, and other matters had kept taking the day from him.

Kaia looked up when he put the board down.

"A healer?"

"A proper recovery arrangement first. Then we choose the party."

She understood which party he meant and straightened beside the table.

Carlos looked toward the Conquest Portal through the open doorway. There was a larger territory behind him now, more fighters training in it and special meals waiting in storage.

"We prepare for Level Six," he told her. "I want to see what comes after that annoying bridge."