Anyone from earth would struggle to figure out the root of their problems. Further questioning suggested that the children weren’t just developing horrid coughs, but stomach issues too. The little ones had the weakest immune systems and were quick to succumb to pathogens. Meanwhile, the older folk likely had stronger constitutions and likely adapted quicker than them.

“Tom’s right,” I said while bathing in the stream. “The water seems clean, but I wouldn’t drink it in this state.”

“What’s he right about?” Hruk asked, spitting out a mouthful of the stream water.

“It’s the gnomes. Think about it. They’ve got an operation involving hundreds of pigs squeezed into pens so small they can barely move around. Such an operation—we call it battery farming in my world—produces a lot of waste. Even if they don’t dump it directly in the stream, runoff from rain will carry some of it into the water.”

“You mean we’re bathing in shit water?” Hruk’s eyes widened, and he hurried towards the stream’s edge.

“It’s fine for bathing in,” I laughed. “Look at the water. It’s clear, isn’t it? The gravel and vegetation likely filter it all out. However, animals raised in such poor conditions will get sick and their dung might carry parasites. If it gets in the water, the first to succumb will be the children.”

“What’s the solution, then? I can’t very well create refilling flasks to fulfil all the village’s needs. The runescripts are easy enough to reproduce. However, the ice elemental that cleans with water is the challenge.” His eyes shifted to the bauble maker sitting on the stream’s bank. “She demands a fair deal of mana to produce more children. The last fight got her enough for two more, but that won’t be enough.”

“They could boil their water,” I said.

“You mean every time they drink it?” Hruk raised an eyebrow at me. “That’s time consuming and expensive. Look around. The woodland doesn’t look the best for firewood. They likely have to trade for it, and you’d be dumping an enormous expense on them. A hamlet of this size can’t afford such—"

“Do you know what happens to metal when electricity—lightning flows through it?”

“It gets hot, doesn’t it?” Hruk asked.

I nodded. “Back home, we had these super-efficient stoves called induction hobs. My restaurant used them almost only to avoid burning gas. They feature a copper coil with electricity running through it. When you have an alternating current—” I paused, trying to find the current wording. Info-dumping physics wouldn’t help Hruk. “Lightning is a single pulse, isn’t it?”

Hruk nodded.

“Well. The energy we used was like lightning, but sustained. It either flowed directly or alternated. When the alternating version flows through the coil, it creates an aura. We call it a magnetic field. When the energy flow alternated, the field did as well. Then when we used an iron pan—”

“It heated the pan without damaging the materials,” Hruk mumbled. “I’ve felt this… magnetic field while experimenting with my magic. It made iron attract iron, but when I played with the flow, the material heated up instead.” He thoughtfully stared at the flowing water and traced his hand through it, making a wavelike pattern. My lips spread into a smile as I realised Hruk’s understanding of basic physics was much greater than I previously assumed. “That’s ingenious. It’s simple enough to control how lightning flows using a simple runescript. Your people were brilliant, Perry. We should discuss more of these ideas. I have the scribing and artificing knowledge to assemble them, and then we can make a killing!”

“And split the profits equally.”

“Of course.”

“It’s not a bad idea, Hruk,” I said. “You can make large stationary stoves or little portable ones. Combine the latter with a flask and you’ve got a traveller’s kit for fireless camping.”

All the tiredness appeared to disappear from Hruk’s eyes. “Does this mean we’re going to go into business together?” Hruk asked.

“Well, I have the gold to invest, and you possess the knowhow. My Charisma should assist with the selling afterwards as well. I reckon we can mint money together.”

“Don’t get me too excited, Perry.” Hruk chuckled. “Otherwise, I’ll stay up mocking up sample designs instead of sleeping.”

“Well, material is going to be an issue, so I wouldn’t get too ahead of myself. Copper wasn’t a cheap metal where I’m from. I imagine it’s the same here.”

“I’m not sure about prices, but we have aetherite here, and with my rune knowledge, we could work around the material limitations, I reckon,” Hruk said, his brows furrowing. He watched the flowing water thoughtfully, and I could see the cogs turning in his head. So, I splashed him. Fortunately, the system didn’t consider the act a violation of the Coward’s Brand. “What was that for?”

“Sleep first. Artificing later.” I waded out of the stream towards the hut. Tom’s wife had left two steaming bowls of stew and bread for us. “You’ve been a nightmare these last couple of days. Let’s get some proper rest, then we can figure out the best way to solve these people’s problems.”

Even though it was around midday when we ate and went to bed, neither of us awakened before dawn the following morning. Tom didn’t disturb us during all that time, and we found a large-covered basket outside our door. It contained bread, fruit, a tub of butter, a bottle of milk, and a jar of bright red preserve. Neither Hruk nor I said a word as we hungrily tucked into the meal sitting outside of the hut.

After sleeping, the colours appeared brighter, and everything tasted crisper. The previous day, I had paid little attention to food because of my fatigue. Food only served to nourish us before we gave into exhaustion. Now, as we took our time with the meal, Hruk and I agreed on the produce tasting much better than anything in Grog’s Table.

An explosion of flavour accompanied every bite of plum. The juices ran down the side of our mouths and dripped off our chins. We wiped it up with butter bread and then tasted the sourdough bread with the preserve too. I didn’t recall tasting such produce in the UK either. Then again, I spent most of my life in major cities. London prided itself on getting the best produce from around the world, but the food of Dil’s Nook had a fresh-off-the-tree freshness only country folk could boast.

After our meal, we washed and freshened up in the stream before seeking Tom. While circling the hillock-house, we found off to a side, replacing the wheel on his cart. He stood up and beamed at us when we approached.

“Slept well, lads?” He asked, wiping the sweat from his brow.

“We did,” I said, glancing at Hruk. He nodded. Our decision hadn’t changed after the extra-long sleep. “And as a thank you for a hospitality, we wanted to take a shot at solving your problems.”

Tom’s eyes lit up. He rushed over to Hruk and took the hobgoblin’s normal hand in both of his before shaking them. “Thank you, so much. I don’t know how we can thank you.”

“Easy there, Tom.” I laughed. “We’re working off a theory here. Neither of us is sure whether we’ve located your problem yet. If we’re right, things might work out, but we’ll need materials first.”

“What do you need?” Tom asked, smiling ear to ear. “I’ll find you whatever I can. Everyone has a sick child or two at home and I’m sure they’ll step up too.”

“Does the hamlet have a blacksmith?” I asked.

Tom nodded. “He just hit the journeyman ranks.”

“Brilliant. Gather any copper you can find and have him turn it into wire. If he has any process, that’ll keep them from oxidising, that’s even better.”

“I’ll need all the aetherite and blank aether crystals the hamlet can spare, too,” Hruk said.

“The stream washes down plenty of aetherite from the mountains, so it shouldn’t be an issue,” Tom replied. “However, the crystals might be an issue. They’re much too expensive and rare for people to handover without knowing what you’re making and whether they’ll get it back.” He paused, brows furrowing. “We might have lots of damaged bits, though. I know its not much, but could use those?”

“It’ll do, mate,” I said. “Hruk can use just about anything.”

Tom didn’t wait for anymore instructions. He sprinted off towards the village at speeds one wouldn’t expect of someone with such short legs.

“Alright, then. Where do we start, Perry?”

“Let me draw out diagrams of how induction hobs work and the theory behind them,” I answered. “I’m not an expert, but I worked with them for years and have a rough understanding. It’s going to be up to your artificing know-how to reproduce it here.”

Hruk appeared as excited as Tom as we got to work. With it being just the two of us, it didn’t make sense to attack the gnomes. They were likely magically, and economically superior to us. Hopefully, my idea would give the hill folk the help they needed.