After misting one of the test pots, making sure to soak the roots thoroughly. I then give it a week's worth of a full-spectrum growth spell, and we watch as the blight shrinks before our eyes.

"And, it works on the damned roots too." I can't help but crow.

"You, you did it?" He's wearing the dopiest smile right now.

"I still need to isolate the bacteria and make sure they're not harmful to people." I don't want to promise too much, just in case it doesn't work out on a larger scale. "And, then there's the matter of getting enough of the oils to treat everyone's fields. May need to talk to that Baxter fellow so I don't suck the soil dry growing everything."

"Do you even need the oils?" Apricot asks. She, Sophia and the girls all crowded around to watch.

"This is the weirdest blight I've ever seen, so I'm not willing to take any chances." I answer honestly. "I want to hit it, and hit it hard, so it doesn't even have a chance to get back up. I may even throw in some of that baking soda alternative, if it's not too hard to make, that is." I think Maxim 37 is a good rule to follow when fighting something that threatens an entire city's food supply.

"Now, that sounds like a plan." William has a wide grin on his face at the thought of fighting back against this blight. "I can't thank you enough for all that you've done for us."

"You're welcome, but think of this as just me saving myself some work in the future." I chuckle. "I'm the strongest nature mage around after all, so if the crops fail I would be the one called on to help feed everyone."

"If you say so." He says with a smirk.

"I do." I grumble back. "Alright, I should get back to work; I've got enough oils for your field, so once I'm sure the bacteria is safe, I'll make some large sprayers for you."

"Thank you again." He nods, but that smirk is still painted on his face.

"Mhm." I nod in return and head back to the lab, leaving Apricot to play with the girls.

"Did it work?" Melanie asks excitedly.

"Yup, pretty well too." I repeat the test so she can watch, and so I can collect scrapings to help isolate the bacteria. "I just need to isolate the right strains and make sure they're not harmful to people. Even then, I probably should make everyone wear a cloth mask while spraying just to be safe."

"You're going to distribute those sprayers of yours?" She nods to the plant mister I set down on the work table.

"After scaling it up, yeah." I nod my assent. "I'll just need to make some rubber tubing to make it easier to use. Figure it'll be a good advertisement for what this stuff can do."

"That is a good idea." She bobs her head in agreement. "But, we're going to need more sulfur."

"I'm sure the Baron will be more than willing to provide what we need." I sit down and start up the mixer for her again. "It looks like we should be done in about an hour or so, we can head up to the manor house then."

She gets back to work, and I focus in on the bacteria that are eating the fungus. Once again, this damned blight presents as four separate infections, with different areas being affected by different strains of bacteria.

I isolate each one as best I can without a microscope; luckily I got a good deal of practice doing so when I was making the vinegar. By the time I'm done, I've got over a dozen bowls filled with a tea made from dead fungus, each hosting a different colony of bacteria.

Melanie is working on the last batch of rubber right now, so I take one of the unused sheets of raw latex and use magic to warm it up and mix in a little sulfur. After that, it gets extruded into a meter long pipe mold lined with braided cotton for strength.

I get a handful of rubber hoses just from this one batch. These all get attached to large tanks, whose pump handles can lock in place to double as a carry handle. I then add a long nozzle with a simple squeeze trigger at the end of the hose to finish up the sprayers. Aside from the fact that they're made from wood, these things are identical to the ones I used back home.

I look up from finishing the last sprayer to find Melanie examining the hose of the first. "These are remarkable, but I'm not sure how we'll be able to produce them without your magic."

"Eh, that's just a mechanical problem." I shrug, not at all concerned. "We'll figure it out, or hire someone to figure it out for us. Until then, there are still plenty of other products that we can make with simple molds."

"True." She nods. "And, speaking of mechanical problems, I think of these sprayers might be perfect for making more lamp black. It'd be a lot faster than just burning a pan of oils at least."

"Yeah, I'll have to talk to Ed and Rozelle about that since we used up almost everything you bought." I agree. "For now, let me go round up the girls and see if they want to get an early lunch. I need to make a carriage too, but that shouldn't take long."

"Hahaha, I love how you can say stuff like that." She shakes her head and starts to clean up the lab. We'll test the different rubbers later this afternoon to see how they hold up, but that's no reason to leave a messy work area.

It looks like Myra and Willow are done chasing Apricot around and are now making her read them the book I made for them. I send her a smile and a wave and make a note to recreate some more children's books for them.

Amelia is still reading upstairs in bed when I find her. "Hey, Baby. You up for an early lunch? I have some things to do in town and thought we all could stop at a restaurant."

"Mhm, just gimme a few, I'm almost done with this letter." Frankenstein was written as a series of correspondence rather than traditional chapters.

"That's fine, I'll be out front making us a carriage." I lean over and kiss her on the forehead before slipping back outside.

Once there, I wander over to Flickers pen and start putting together a lightweight, open-top carriage. Only to stop after just a second and dash over to the workshop to make some rubber tires for it.

"Hmm, batch five looks like it should be good enough." I muse after a quick check of the rubbers we just made. "And, it looks like we have just enough stuff to make four tires." I grab what I need and head back outside, and amused Melanie following in my wake.

Back outside, I start mixing the rubber while shaping the carriage out of wood. The whole process only takes me about ten minutes, and most of that was spent just adding decorations while waiting for the tires to cure.

I come out of my short builder's fugue to find Apricot and the girls investigating the carriage. The girls are tracing their hands over the vines I carved onto it, and arguing about which of the flowers is prettiest.

"Well." Amelia says from behind me with a laugh. "I might just have to thank Roddy for stealing our wagon. That is one nice looking carriage."

"Mhm." I half nod, half-shrug. "I still need to add a canopy, but I want one that folds back and didn't want to mess around with the folding mechanism right now. I've made too many machines as it is today."

"Have you been busy while I was lazing around with a book?" She laughs again.

"Let's see." I start counting things off on my fingers. "A roller mill to mix the rubber, a bicycle pedal attachment to run it, and an enchanted roller to warm the mixture up. An air pump that I used to make a plant sprayer-"

"And a water shooter." Apricot interjects while brandishing hers.

"And a squirt gun." I add. "Oh, and I found an effective treatment for the grain blight. There also may have been something about my modified water spell changing the face of alchemy, but I did that yesterday, so it doesn't really count."

"So, a pretty boring morning for both of us then?" She says with a smirk. "I take it you want to inform the baron."

"Yeah, I'll need some supplies if I'm to make enough for everybody." I answer. "Probably need your help to distill all the oils they'll need too. I could probably manage, but you're better at water magic and will be able to do it much quicker."

"More powerful maybe, but I wouldn't say I'm better." She counters. "I wouldn't have been able to modify that spell of yours."

"That's only because you lack the education." I counter her counter. "I've got all the knowledge of my nature magic to draw on."

"True, but not everyone can find a teacher like yours." She counters my counter-counter with a laugh.

"Maybe, but I'd say Apricot is a damned fine teacher." I can't help but add one more counter.

"For casting itself, yes." She rebuts. "What I really need is a grounding in the theoreticals and the formulas behind the casting."

"Then we'll get you that foundation." I state with finality. "I'll use chocolate and starweave to bribe the best tutors into teaching you whatever you need."

"Not going to find many of them this near the Deadlands." Melanie interrupts. "Now, as cute as your little argument is to listen to; I would like to get into the guild sometime today."

"Good point." I duck my head, embarrassed. "But, is that true? About the tutors?"

"Mhm." Amelia grunts in the affirmative. "You probably haven't realized it yet, but you've already met with most of the strongest mages in town. I could probably ask for some pointers from Adriana Struhl, the head of the fire brigade, but I hear she got most of her strength delving dungeons, and isn't all that skilled."

"Nnh." I grumble while thinking it over. "Okay, give me a couple weeks to get everything up and running, and then we can go to the Capital or wherever to find you a proper teacher."

"I can't ask that of you." She waves her hands in negation. "Just the trip alone would take weeks, the Capital is just over a thousand kilometers from here."

"I'll build a bicycle-based carriage and get us there in half a week, maybe less." I say flatly. "Now, help me hitch Flicker before Melanie yells at us again." I tease.

"Nnh. You..." Amelia grumbles, but does as I ask.

"Are we going on another road trip?" Apricot asks with a lilt to her voice.

"Yes!" - "No!" Amelia and I talk over each other.

""Hahahah."" The little girls start giggling at our antics.

"Just think about it, okay?" I offer softly. "I don't need your bond to tell that this means a lot to you."

"..." She purses her lips, but nods after a moment.

***