Chapter 190. 1 million for buying Mira

Chapter 190: 190. 1 million for buying Mira

Carlos accepted the guest invitation after Kaia checked the work area he was leaving behind.

She wanted to come with him and he understood why, but the invitation was for him and Cosmic to attend a food test beside the receiving office. They had verified the Lord through his grandfather’s completed trades, and Carlos would be back before the evening work ended.

"If the visit changes, I will leave," he told her. "Keep the guards where you put them. And don’t worry, my grandfather works with him so he can’t pull anything shady. Not that anyone would when it comes to trade."

Kaia studied the invitation once more before stepping aside.

"She is like your personal bodyguard. I am surprised she doesn’t check food for poison too before you consume it," Cosmic joked, and Kaia chuckled proudly.

Cosmic carried the sample records while Carlos kept the sealed meals in his inventory. The authorized portal opened, and they went through together.

Warm air carried a metallic smell across the arrival yard.

Carlos could see a sloping road beyond the office, with loaded carts coming up it in pairs. Broad shelters covered the sorting ground. Workers moved between dark heaps of stone while armoured guards watched from raised positions.

At one glance, he could see just how good this territory was and had seen enough of the place in a few seconds to feel the difference from Ironroot. His own tower would have looked small beside the nearest watch position.

A man in a dust-marked coat came out of the office. His dark hair was tied back, and a pair of gloves had been tucked beneath his belt.

"Carlos Goldwin? I am Dorian Kessler. Your grandfather says you are making interesting food," he spoke with a grin.

Carlos shook his offered hand. "Thank you for seeing us, sir. This is Cosmic Merchant. He arranged the sample."

"I know. We have been arguing about delivery conditions since lunch. Come inside."

Cosmic followed without looking offended. Carlos suspected he had enjoyed the argument.

The office had a long clean table beside an open window. Dorian asked where they wanted to put the food, then called a worker to bring the tested troop in.

It ducked through the doorway a moment later.

Carlos looked at the broad body, the heavy forearms and the dark, close fur along its shoulders. Its hands ended in thick curved claws, though it carried an iron tool fitted for those same hands. Dust had settled across its long nose.

Dorian gave permission when Carlos asked to inspect it.

--

[Deepdelver]

[Epic Grade]

[Level: 6]

[Excavation specialist]

--

Carlos glanced toward Cosmic. His friend was already watching the troop’s tool rather than staring at the level.

"You use them in the mine?" Carlos asked.

"Some of them work the hard faces," Dorian replied. "The others clear and sort what they loosen. They can do work ordinary miners take much longer over. Keeping them properly fed costs accordingly, though. Thus the reason you are here."

Carlos placed the two meals on the table. Dorian opened the first condition record and compared it with his troop’s consumption requirements before allowing the lid to be removed.

"I buy advanced food already," he said. "The quality is usually right. The amount they can take comfortably before going back down is where I have trouble. Your concentration record interested me."

"That explains the two samples instead of a request for your entire daily supply," Cosmic spoke.

Carlos nodded, relieved to have an actual reason for the meeting beyond somebody hearing the word Goldwin. There had been many messages he had muted that had got a whiff of his connection with the real Goldwins.

The compatibility check accepted the stew. Dorian gave the first portion to the Deepdelver and watched it eat at a small side table.

"How long have you had your cook?" he asked Carlos.

"From the beginning. She has other Hearthkeepers working with her now."

"And she prepared this herself?"

"Yes, sir. The others keep the ordinary cooking moving while she handles these."

Dorian nodded and asked about consistency, preservation and the ingredients he would need to supply.

Cosmic laid out the contribution list Mira had checked before they left. It specified the Emberhorn Meat, peppers and binding seasoning required for the tested preparation; Carlos would provide the Crownroot, cucumber and the kitchen’s ordinary supporting ingredients.

The Deepdelver finished, then spoke quietly to its Lord. Carlos waited while Dorian checked the consumption result with it. The concentrated nourishment had been accepted, and the troop said it could move comfortably after eating.

"We will watch its next work period," Dorian said. "The first consumption result is good. I would like the other portion checked against a second worker."

Carlos agreed. Another Deepdelver arrived, and the second compatibility check passed before it began eating.

Dorian confirmed the sample purchase. Iron x150 and Copper Coins x300 arrived through the trade record.

Carlos felt his shoulders ease. The food had become money outside the arrangement they had been depending on for days.

"Would you consider selling your cook?" Dorian asked.

Carlos looked up from the payment record.

"Mira?"

"If that is her name, yes. One million Iron and two million Copper Coins for her."

Cosmic’s hand slipped off the edge of the contribution sheet. He caught it against the table, then looked at Dorian.

"One million Iron?" he asked.

"And two million Copper," Dorian confirmed.

Carlos looked at Cosmic, expecting him to say something. His friend was looking back at him with his mouth slightly open.

They had just been pleased about a payment of one hundred and fifty Iron. Carlos had never even seen a listing asking for the amount Dorian had offered now.

"You would pay that much for one Hearthkeeper, sir?"

"For a cook who can make this reliably, I would."

Carlos looked down at the empty sample containers. Mira would be waiting for him to bring those back and tell her how the food had done.

Right at that thought, his mind went numb and his face went serious. He shook his head.

"Thank you for the offer, sir, but I won’t sell Mira."

Dorian nodded without trying to raise the price but he smiled.

"Honestly, it would be dumb of you to sell her. You have barely started finding customers for what she can make." He drew the contribution sheet closer. "But it was worth a try. I would rather hear a refusal than find out somebody else bought her because I never asked."

Carlos still found it difficult to believe the man had offered that much so casually. Beside him, Cosmic finally put his own sheet down properly.

"Can you do twelve tomorrow?" Dorian asked.

"I can do six, sir," Carlos answered. "That is the amount my cook has cleared beside our present work. We can offer three days to begin with."

"You have a kitchen full already?"

"Yes, sir. Mira asked me to upgrade it and get another one before we left. Six is what she can make for you with the work she already has." Carlos spoke but then realized why he had revealed such information to him.

Even Cosmic looked at him with a poker face, but he knew he was going to be cussed at later for it.

Dorian looked at the two empty containers again.

"Then I will pay for the upgrade."