Chapter 184. I know someone

Chapter 184: 184. I know someone

His grandfather held the binding out again. "You know someone selling these?"

"He had leather straps and fittings in his warehouse yesterday. I don’t know whether they are the same size or of your use, but I will ask him."

The woman at the packing table brought Carlos a sound binding from the accepted batch. She laid it flat and showed him where the buckle caught, then opened the item record so he could send the dimensions properly.

Carlos was glad she had done that. He would have sent a message saying they needed good straps and expected Cosmic to understand somehow.

--

[Carlos Goldwin]- Bro, I am at my grandfather’s territory. Do you have bindings matching this record? They need twenty-four complete sets. The buckles have to match too.

[Cosmic Merchant]- Let me check. Are these for carrying, or holding something shut?

[Carlos Goldwin]- He says it’s for securing furniture inside packing frames. I will send the accepted sample record.

--

His grandfather read the messages when Carlos turned the panel toward him.

"You trade with this young man often?"

"Since the beginning. He gave me my first proper spear. Most things I have bought came through him."

"Then he has been keeping busy."

"You have no idea," Carlos said. "I only saw his warehouse properly yesterday. He even keeps goods under his bed."

Elena looked amused, but his grandfather asked about the quantities Cosmic usually handled. Carlos began answering and quickly discovered he did not know. He could describe the shelves and the outgoing orders. The actual daily number belonged to Cosmic.

"I can introduce you," he said instead.

"Do that. If his goods are right, I will buy them."

The reply arrived while the worker was laying the rejected bindings into a separate box.

--

[Cosmic Merchant]- My straps fit. My buckles don’t. I found the matching buckles from a seller I have bought fittings from before. Twenty-four complete sets, 240 Copper Coins. I can have them checked and sent this evening.

[Carlos Goldwin]- Send the listing. The packing worker here will check it too.

--

Carlos showed her the listing. She enlarged the fastening end, compared it to the sample and asked about the holes. Cosmic sent the strap record separately. That settled it, and his grandfather opened the trade with him directly.

The older man’s acceptance appeared after Cosmic attached the promised goods and delivery time. Carlos stepped away from the table once they had exchanged the verified contact.

It felt strange having nothing else to do for the trade. Usually he was waiting for a price or deciding whether Mira could spare the food. Here, the people who understood both sides were talking without him.

His grandfather noticed him looking.

"You can stop standing over it now. Show me what has been happening at your place. Your mother told me you had a lot of land planted."

Carlos pulled a chair closer. He described the ordinary fields first, then the Rare ground Rowan had created from land they already owned. When he reached the Spirit Farmland, his grandfather raised one hand.

"Separate from the Rare fields?"

"Yes. We use parts of it to grow seed stock. Rowan handles where everything goes. I would plant too much in the wrong place if I did it myself."

"At least you have realized that. The worst thing a lord can do is think they know more than a troop that has a specialization in what you are trying to do."

Carlos looked at Elena. "Everyone says something like that when I explain my territory."

"Because you explain how you nearly did the wrong thing first," she replied.

He thought about arguing, but he had just been about to tell them about the exploding tomato.

That story made his grandfather sit forward. Carlos explained the impact trait carefully, using his hands to show how the fruit was supported when they cut it.

Elena already knew enough about Ironroot to ask whether the workers were still picking it near the ordinary crop baskets.

"There is a separate enclosure and separate padding for it," he assured her. "Kaia checks all the handling, so I don’t worry much. She is reliable."

"And your friend knows about these?" his grandfather asked.

"He knows I have been testing unusual crops. We haven’t put the tomatoes on the market. I want my own people comfortable with them first."

His grandfather nodded, then turned as the woman came back to the table.

The goods had arrived. She placed one finished binding in front of him and tightened it around the sample wooden frame. The strap drew flat, the buckle held, and she pulled hard enough that Carlos expected the small frame to move.

"These will do."

She called two workers over and began distributing the sets. Carlos watched them close the first packing frame. The padded cupboard inside stayed firm when they lifted one end to test it.

"Confirm the condition," his grandfather said. "Then the payment."

The trade completed for two hundred and forty Copper Coins. Cosmic sent a short confirmation to Carlos afterward.

--

[Cosmic Merchant]- Done. Your grandfather asked if I could keep the measurements for the next order. I said yes. Tell him thank you for the business.

--

Carlos grinned at the message and repeated it aloud.

"Tell him to keep sending sound goods," his grandfather replied. "I will keep needing them."

The workers returned to the cupboard frames. The packing floor began clearing as each completed piece went toward the finished shelter. Their buyer’s collection could go ahead after the last inspection, and the woman who had checked the bindings finally put her list down.

Carlos liked seeing the result happen. He had asked Cosmic one question and now people could finish their work. There was nothing especially rare about a strap, but those ordinary goods had done something useful in front of him.

Elena touched his grandfather’s shoulder.

"Enough sitting here. It’s time for dinner."

The older man looked toward the last frame, then accepted his stick. Carlos helped him up. This time his grandfather leaned on him for a little longer before straightening.

"You can come back tomorrow," Carlos said quietly.

"I know. I wanted to see that order leave the floor."

They walked toward the residence at the centre of the working buildings. Lights were being lit along the path, and a worker came from another shelter to ask Elena where she had put a copied order sheet.

She told him, then sighed when he left.

"I came to help for a couple of days. They already think I remember where everything is."

"You do remember," the older man said, before turning to Carlos. "What are you using for your own goods? Food containers, seeds, those dangerous tomatoes. Have you got anyone making proper boxes for them?"

Carlos looked back at the packing shelter.

He had come to see his grandfather and found a place that made several things he had been putting off asking Cosmic to find.

"Can I show you what we need?"