[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions]

[Tess’s Almanac: 7th day of Fall! 84 days until the Fall Festival. Another cold one today! By the way, while the farmers of the area are well-acquainted with them, we’re starting to get complaints from the village-dwellers about the Juun bug threat. Rest assured that we are seeking a solution. In the meantime, don’t do anything to make them angry, and you shouldn’t have any problems. It’s also suggested that if you have plants that you care about to take them inside]

Jason sighed and rolled out of bed. His breath emerged as a fog, and his body shivered. That said, he refused to start a fire in the fireplace. It wasn’t yet winter, and he wasn’t going to start wasting good firewood until it was necessary to do so. After all, he wasn’t pulling in enough of a harvest to justify it, anyway.

As he walked up to the window and gazed out across the frosty ground, his heart sank. The whole ground was nothing but bare soul, with the exception of a few scraggly blades of grass that grew up here and there. Juun bugs buzzed back and forth, nearly loud enough to rattle the windows. The sun had only just risen, and already they were on the hunt for more food. Jason sighed and shook his head, then slowly turned away. He dressed in frustration, then made his way downstairs and took his seat at the table. When nothing appeared, it took him several long moments to realize that he hadn’t actually ordered anything.

“Ahh… I dunno. Pancakes with some sort of new fruit.”

The cookbook flapped its pages, seemingly trying to remind him that it couldn’t experiment for him.

“Fine, then. Strawberry pancakes. I don’t have the strength to try something new.”

There was a flash, and the cookbook yielded to Jason’s wishes. He stabbed the fork into the spongy dish and started to eat. Hardly any of the flavors registered in his mind, and soon enough, he was done. He sighed and leaned back in his chair, then slowly forced himself to move again.

He had been so certain that it was a new season, that his troubles were over, that it nearly felt like a slap in the face to realize that the Juun bugs were still there. That they were still eating up everything that he put into the ground. More and more it was just feeling hopeless. He shrugged on his boots and slowly walked out into the yard, through the swarming Juun bugs toward the stable.

Lady nickered happily as he pulled open the door of the stable and led her out into the yard. Her tail flickered the Juun bugs away, and soon enough, he had her tied up to the post and poured a healthy serving of oats. Even as she munched away at the meal, Juun bugs began creeping over to start eating them as well, and Jason shooed a few of them away as carefully as he could manage. Finally, he just sighed and walked back to Lady’s stable to clean it out, only to find Juun bugs already munching away at the bed of straw. He scowled fiercely at the creatures, then sighed.

One of them came buzzing up and landed on his arm, and he slowly lifted his arm to look down at it. It stared back at him through multi-faceted eyes, and he frowned. There was an odd streak of red down the Juun bug’s back that he didn’t remember seeing during the summer months. A flash of inspiration struck him, and he quickly shook the thing off and went back inside his house. It took only a moment to grab another jar and lid, and a few minutes longer to catch one of the insects. It buzzed around the inside of the jar angrily, and he quickly slipped it into his pack and saddled up Lady. Not long after, he was riding for town, more than ready to get away from the disaster that was his farm.

Quite unfortunately, as he went along, he was given no solstice from the Juun bugs. They swarmed across the entirety of the prairie, munching away at nearly everything they saw. The softly-waving grasses, which by autumn were usually several feet tall and as full as they could be, now looked a good deal more sparse. In fact, the whole prairie looked downright sickly, as though it were suffering from some sort of nasty wasting disease that Jason needed to stay well enough away from. He shuddered, and made Lady trot along a bit faster as they moved into town.

When he came up into town, he found that the entire population seemed to be a bit bummed, or at least a bit down on the outs, from the Juun bugs as well. A few flowerboxes still sat outside a few of the windows, but they held only withered, unappetizing flowers in them. Children ran around through the streets, but many of them displayed red welts on their exposed skin, and always ran and hid as soon as a swarm of the bugs flew overhead. Constable Hank sat at the well, but even he wasn’t his ordinary, cheery self. Tess sat just next to him, and waved at Jason as he rode up.

“Looks like we need another festival to cheer everyone up.” Jason muttered as he came to a halt.

“To be completely honest, we’ve thought about it.” Tess answered back. “We’re just a little nervous that putting out food might draw in more of the bugs, and… That likely wouldn’t have the intended effect.”

“That’s a fair point.” Jason chuckled slightly, then shrugged. “What are you two up to today?”

Constable Hank answered first. “Oh, you know. Just the usual work of running the town. Reigning in all the hooligans, knocking heads together, that sort of thing.”

Tess snorted, then shrugged and rose. “I have a meeting with some Guild representatives later this afternoon, but until that happens, I’m free. I’d say I’m up for whatever you’re here for.”

“Nothing terribly exciting, I’m afraid.” Jason chuckled, then started riding over to Paulina’s store. “Just checking on something.” As he approached, he caught sight of Jeremiah’s horse, and flashed a grin. “Looks like I’ve got company.”

“You know, I sometimes wonder if he actually does anything to run his farm.” Tess remarked as Jason swung out of Lady’s saddle. “Seems like he’s always in here, every few days.”

“In fairness, I make the trip a decent amount, too.” Jason shrugged, then snorted. “Besides, since the trick with the cannon, I wouldn’t be surprised if Delilah kicked him out of the house.”

Tess chuckled. A few moments later, they’d made their way into the store, where Jeremiah was leaning against the counter speaking with Paulina.

“…just saying, it seems like an overreaction. I broke two jars, and now I have to sleep on the porch for a week!”

“Well, I do sell sleeping mats. Isle thirty-seven, two hundred shandys apiece.” Paulina answered.

“Two hundred shandys!” Jeremiah whistled. “And a hundred for each of the jars? You’re gouging my pockets here!”

“I could charge you for all the jars you broke when you fired the cannon in the town square.” Paulina raised an eyebrow.

“I’m getting, I’m getting.” Jeremiah chuckled softly, then glanced at Tess and Jason. “Howdy, neighbor, and neighbor-to-be. What brings you into town?”

“A bare field.” Jason muttered. He took the jar out of his inventory and set it on the counter. “I just noticed the odd marking this morning. Any light you can shed on it? Either of you, for that matter?”

Paulina nodded. “I actually can. A few of the other farmers brought in the same question a few days back. It’s a variant of the ordinary Juun bug. The Autumn Juun Bug. It can survive in lower temperatures, and eat a wider variety of foods.”

“Any chance that the thing to repel them happens to be a plant that’s still growing?” Jason asked, though he didn’t have a lot of hope that such would be the case.

“I wish there was.” Paulina sighed. “Unfortunately, no. It can only be repelled by the Autumn Lonesome Rose, which is apparently just as extinct as the Lonesome Rose. I still do hire search parties every now and again to go look for it, but they haven’t been able to find a thing yet.”

“I’ve been doing the same thing.” Tess answered. “I have a handful of warriors who double as herbologists. They’ve scoured the whole countryside, but haven’t found anything that might be the Lonesome Rose. They did identify a new species of prairie wildflower, though, so… That’s at least a little exciting.”

Jason sighed and shook his head. “I just don’t know what to do. We don’t know where these bugs came from, and as yet, we don’t know how to get rid of them. The spray stuff that Jeremiah made up seemed to work on the summer variety, but it already looks like it’s failing against this variety.”

“You might try tweaking the recipe.” Jeremiah called out from the isles, where he was actually picking out a sleeping mat. If Jason had to make a guess, Jeremiah hadn’t actually been kicked out of the house, but would likely take the opportunity to make a joke of it anyway. “If I had to wager a guess, at least based on the studies that I did while I was in Illumitir, different insect repellants work by countering the hormones they release to attract other insects to their position. You know, the stuff they squirt to make everything swarm?”

“Yeah.” Jason nodded slowly. “That makes sense, I guess.”

“Well, given that the Autumn Juun Bugs have a different rose to repel them, it probably means that their noses sniff things just a bit differently.”

“Do you have any suggestions?” Jason raised his eyebrow.

“Hmm.” Jeremiah stroked his chin. After a few moments, he shrugged. “Nope. Maybe some sort of really spicy pepper. Sure drives just about everything away from me when I’m eating them.”

Jason snorted, though after a moment, he shrugged. Crushed and dried peppers could keep ants out of houses, he had seen his mother use that remedy to keep insects out of his home in Illumitir more than a few times. In any case, it was worth a shot.

“You also might try burning it.” Jeremiah added after a moment. “Make it normally, they dry it down into a powder and toss it into a bonfire or something. Fire always works well against fall monsters.”

“Now that sounds useful.” Tess snorted. “You know, sometimes I wonder how you were able to build up such a reputable ranch with all… All of what you do.”

Jeremiah just smiled broadly as he walked back up to the counter. “It’s all about knowing when to goof around and when to be serious.”

“Or it’s because you’re currently covering up the fact that you’re stressed about the Juun bugs, too.” Paulina countered. “Not for yourself, certainly, but you have a lot of friends who are being eaten out of house and home, and you’re doing what you can to cheer them up.”

Jeremiah froze, and his mouth twitched. “Well, in any case, I’ve got to be getting back to the missus before she starts thinking I ran away. If you need anything else exploded, just let me know!”

He paid for the supplies and walked out into the town square, and Paulina winked at Jason.

“He’s wound so tight he’s about to bust.”

“He’s a good friend, that’s for sure.” Jason sighed, then shrugged. “Well, thanks for the advice. I guess I’ll take some peppers. Hottest you have.”

“Ahh… One moment.” Paulina turned and walked into the back of the store, emerging a few moments later with a small bag that held exactly three peppers. “The Phantom Pepper. Just use one, and the smoke from that fire will cause you to tear up. Hopefully it’ll make the Juun bugs think a second time too, but I’ll guess we’ll see.”

Jason quickly paid for the peppers and inclined his head. “Much appreciated.”

He turned, and he and Tess soon made their way out into the town square. Jeremiah hadn’t made it far, as he was now at the town well chatting with Constable Hank, and Jason glanced at Tess.

“I’ll see you around.”

They leaned in and kissed, and Tess flashed him a small smile.

“Come out to the town square in three days, if you’re able. I think you’ll like what I have.”

“I’ll be there.” Jason smiled back, then mounted up on Lady. A few moments later, he was riding down the road back toward his farm.

By the time he got there, Jeremiah still hadn’t left Summer Shandy, and Jason rolled his eyes. He stabled Lady and forged his way back to his house through the swarms of Juun bugs, relishing the relief when he made it into the kitchen. Out came the stew pot once again, and Jason again prepared to brew up another batch of the strange chemical. He followed the instructions like before, adding all of the ingredients at the requisite stages, only adding the pepper toward the end of the process. He wasn’t exactly sure how long it needed to cook, and he didn’t want to give it too little time to brew.

He became thankful for his caution within just a few minutes of adding the vegetable. The water bubbled and boiled, and the stench slowly grew as the different smells were mixed about. Suddenly, though, Jason became aware of the fact that a tear was trickling down his cheek. He also noticed that his nose was starting to burn, and that his stomach felt more than a little upset. He looked at the stove in more than a bit of horror, then quickly walked out to sit on his porch. The stench followed him even that far, and his eyes continued to water as he sat there in the cool air. Thankfully, the Juun bugs all began to buzz away, and he felt a momentary flash of victory.

When he judged that it had been enough time, about three hours since he had returned from Summer Shandy, he plugged his nose with a clothes pin and made his way back into the kitchen. By then, the smell was sweltering, far worse than it had been before. His eyes burned, and tears began to trickle freely down his face. His nose began to run as well, and he gasped for air. That only made his lungs burn fiercely, and he turned off the heat and grabbed the pot as quickly as he could.

Desperate for air, he rushed out onto the porch, where the smell was a bit more manageable. Being close to the pot still made his eyes tingle a bit, but it was far better than before. With the concoction outside, he began lugging it over toward his field to figure out how to dry it down.

That, of course, was when he realized that he didn’t really possess any good way to dehydrate things. He had seen dehydrators in Paulina’s store, but had never felt it necessary to buy one. Without any other option, he began eyeing the eternal torches that ran along the top of the fence.

A bit of an eyesore during other parts of the year, the eternal torches had been an addition from his very first year in Summer Shandy. Some of the fall monsters, specifically the smut, were deathly afraid of fire, and as they could ooze straight through ordinary fences, could only be kept away with the deadly flame. The torches weren’t large, and consisted of a black handle and a small nozzle from which proceeded the fire. Jason wasn’t exactly sure what powered it, but they had been burning for two years now, giving credence to the “eternal” portion of their name. He glanced around the farmstead, then quickly walked back into his house, grabbed a spoon that he didn’t care about, and quickly began walking around the perimeter of the field. A single spoonful was poured into the nozzle of each eternal torch, one by one, all the way around.

When he first poured in the liquid, the thick brown sludge would simply fill the nozzle and prevent the flame from getting out. A few moments would pass, the liquid would begin to boil, and then, finally, smoke would begin to emerge. Twenty or thirty seconds after the initial filling, the flame would re-emerge, this time with a thick plume of smoke rising up as well.

When Jason was satisfied that this would work, he started moving quickly around the field, and soon had every single torch filled. A heavy smoke poured up from the field, and he smiled. At least, he smiled until he inhaled a bit of the smoke. It burned just as badly as the vapor from the stove had burned, and he lost no time getting inside. As he barricaded himself within the safety of the farmhouse, he went up to his bedroom and gazed out at the farmstead. There, he was gratified to see large swarms of the Juun bugs flying away, though just as before, time would be the only indicator of whether or not the treatment actually worked.

With that, he slowly made his way back down to his living room. There wasn’t much else he could do for the remainder of the day, as it was already late. The next day, he would plow out the land that had reverted, and then he would try planting a new crop. There was no way of knowing whether or not it would work… But at the least, it was worth a shot, and it gave him more hope than he had felt since the day that the Juun bugs had returned.