“A message will be en route to the capital before the sun falls,” Elea said. “This is an emergency.”

Everybody looked at the yellowhusk and flower, both with black powder on them, only to see no changes. Even with no changes, though, the fact that there was a source of corruption in the region remained.

Now, if there was one thing that Tabitha got good at from tinkering with everything she could back on Earth, it was learning how to randomly try all sorts of things that may or may not make any sense just to see what would happen. The vast majority of the time, nothing at all happened. But when something did happen, it was a valuable learning experience.

“Runa, can ya get me another ear of yellowhusk?” Tabitha asked.

“Is—is it alright?” Runa asked. “I don’t want to waste the few good ones we have…”

Markus patted Runa on her shoulder and said, “This is more important. Go get one. It’s alright.”

“Oh, and another flower,” Tabitha added on.

Runa still looked hesitant, but only because she didn’t want to waste their valuable food. Even so, she left to grab what was requested.

Upon Runa’s second return, Tabitha thanked her and took the fresh ear of yellowhusk and put it underneath the jar on top of where the pinecone had buried itself. She then did the same with the flower, pulling it out from its home pot to bury its roots into the pot with the pinecone.

“What are you doing?” Elea asked her.

Tabitha sighed and said, “Here’s what I’m thinkin’. I ain’t sure what the powder is or what effects it might have on somethin’, but I do know that parasitic plants exist. Watched a whole buncha videos on them before when I went down a rabbit hole online and felt like binging when I should have been sleeping.”

Nobody else in the room had any idea what Tabitha was talking about.

“They usually work by stealin’ nutrients with their roots. Or somethin’ like that. Like uh… a parasitic plant will have its own little root-like things that dig into another plant’s roots and then steals its nutrients. So, what if this is doin’ that?”

Elea nodded and said, “I see. It is worth testing for at least. The more we learn about this, the better we will fare.”

“Might take a while,” Markus said. “For anything to happen, I mean. Nature tends to move slowly. Hanne, can we leave all this here for you to watch for a few days?”

“Of course,” Hanne said. “As for you,” she looked at Tabitha, “you and Runa will be staying here for the next week as both of you had exposure to it and potentially inhaled some of the powder. In case anything happens to either one of you, I want you here where I will know about it.”

Tabitha took a step back. “We—we can still go out during the day, right?”

Hanne looked like she wanted to say no but sighed and instead said, “Fine, so long as your expeditions are short.”

“Thanks. Chief,” Tabitha looked at Elea, “could ya let me know more about this corruption stuff ya mentioned?”

“I have a message to send first,” Elea answered. “Then I will answer any questions you may have about it. Considering you are a Summoned, it is something you would normally learn about as soon as you arrive anyways.”

It sounded connected to summoning somehow made Tabitha even more interested. “Thanks. I guess I’ll stay here with Runa for a bit to make sure we’re safe.”

“I will be back to talk with you later then. For the time being, I suggest we all get back to work.”

Markus raised his hand next. “Should we do anything about the pinecones? There might be hundreds of them buried next to the river.”

“Until we have more information, no. I know how tempting it is to go searching for them to dig them up and burn them right this instant, but we cannot afford to lose anybody to this.”

Tabitha noticed Joseph staring at her and asked him, “What? I got somethin’ on my face?”

“You’re a crafter,” Joseph said. “You want to perfect every crafting path there is, don’t you?”

Everybody looked at Tabitha as she answered, “Yeah?”

“Then use your brain. I already have a safe solution for dealing with those pinecones—at least, some of them. What’s yours?”

Now he was making her feel challenged, and Tabitha wasn’t going to back down from a challenge. “I thought of throwin’ nets into the river to catch any pinecones that might drift down the river, but I don’t want to disrupt the fish. Even though I remember hearin’ that no spawn have made it down the river yet this season, I don’t want to potentially get in their way if more come. That’d cause a disaster of its own.”

“Then think of another plan.”

With everybody watching her, waiting to see if she would live up to Joseph’s expectations or not, the pressure was intense.

It took her a minute of thinking of various different ideas for dealing with the pinecones before she thought of something that would require some manpower but could do the job. “Poles. With nets on them. Seein’ as how they float, it shouldn’t be too hard for a couple of volunteers to stand at the side of the river, one on each side, with long poles that have nets at the end of them. They can scoop up any pinecones they might see to prevent any others from comin’ down the river. How about that, old man?”

Joseph smiled and shrugged. “That's just a long fishing net, but it works, and I was going to suggest your first idea. Didn’t consider what it might do to the fish.”

Tabitha placed her hands on her hips while flashing a proud smile. "Then my idea wins, right?"

"Only because I failed to consider a better, obvious solution."

“Careful, Joseph,” Elea said. “She is making your age obvious.”

“I don’t want to hear that from you, you old hag,” Joseph replied.

“Oi.” Tabitha looked at Elea. “Ya want me to punch him for ya?”

Elea laughed and waved Tabitha off. “Do not worry about him. As rude as he may be, he is harmless.”

“We’ll see,” Joseph said before looking at Tabitha. “I’ll handle making the poles. You haven’t had a chance to use that new cauldron of yours yet, so I’m sure you’d rather do that.”

Everybody in the room but Tabitha looked surprised by Joseph’s consideration for Tabitha. Tabitha, however, just looked excited. “Sounds like a good day to me! Ya wanna help, Runa?”

“Sure!” Runa was quick to reply. “If—if I won’t be in the way.”

“Of course not. You’re my assistant!”

Even though Tabitha had resolved to stay within Hanne's sight for a while due to the powder she might have potentially inhaled, that idea was gone as soon as the idea of performing alchemy popped up.

It was time to get started on alchemy instead!