I ended up adding backpack straps to William's tank and wheels to Lori's. Even with those conveniences, the two of them together only covered a bit more than fifteen percent of the field. Apricot on her own did well over half, with me and the little girls taking up the rest. Though they were more enthusiastic than helpful, and it wasn't long before they begged me to turn their 'squirters', as they started calling them, back to normal, so they could play.

"We're going to need a lot more sprayers." A tired-looking Lori flops down onto the ground after we finish up. "Even if we call in the fire brigade, I'd wager that only chief Struhl has the power and control needed to match what Apricot just did."

"Oh, I can make as many as needed, though I will need a bit more sulfur." I reply. "I'm sure Amelia will help too. She's just, you know, not feeling so good right now and decided to take the day off to sit in bed and read."

"Ah." She nods with a knowing look. "Is there nothing your healing can do for her?"

"I've been helping with the cramps, but it's a natural process and just needs to run its course." I say with a shrug. "Maybe once I understand the whole process better, but for now, I'd rather not take the risk."

"Understandable, but you should talk to Elise. I'm sure every female healer must have looked into this subject at some point." She adds with a laugh. "Alright, I'm going to head back to the house and take a long bath before dinner. Haven't been this sweaty since the night before my husband left for Ciranna." She trills.

"Let me give you a ride." I offer and then snort at the unintended double entendre when Temmie *Dings* out a laugh. "It will only take a few minutes with the rickshaw."

"That's the odd bicycle you've been around town in?" She looks interested. "Maybe just up to the wall, I can borrow one of the guards' horses from there."

"If you're sure." I help her up to her feet. "Oh, and here are copies of the records I've made so far." I made several copies of each and decided to keep the originals in storage to keep them safe.

She immediately takes one and tries it out on her player. "It works, oh that is remarkable. Thank you so much for this."

"I'll try to get around to working on a recording version next time I have... well, time." I chuckle before turning to the side and calling over to the pixie who went back to playing with the girls. "I'll be back in a minute Apricot, I'm just taking Lori up to the wall."

...

"Thank you for the lift, and again for the music." Lori dips into a curtsy for me. "I'll see you at dinner." She heads over to the guard and I turn around to head back to the farm.

Apricot was still having fun with the girls while their parents looked on, so I just rode back to the lab to see how Melanie was doing.

"How'd it go?" She asks without looking up from her work

"Good." I reply and lean against a counter to watch her work. "Took us around an hour to spray the whole field, but that was mostly thanks to Apricot. And, most importantly, no one had an adverse reaction to the bacteria."

"That is good." She finally looks up after finishing the latest test. "I know you don't like praise, but thank you for that, for this, for everything." She chuckles at the look on my face. "Alright, back to business. I've nearly finished testing the stretchiness and tensile strength under various temperatures, but I'm not sure how to test compressive strength without a lot more weights or some special equipment."

"Nng." I grumble while wishing I could just order a pressure gauge online. "I'll look into building or enchanting some sort of pressure gauge, but it may just come down to the weights."

"Let's hope not." She laughs.

"Mhm." I nod. "Building an abrasion tester should be easier since I already have the turntable to work off of, but I'm going to be somewhat busy for the next couple days. So, what do you want to do?"

"Um, can you narrow it down a bit?"

"Well, you can try different additives with the rubber and catalog the reactions." I start with the most tedious and, at the same time, the most useful project. "We're running up against the limits of my rubber knowledge, but I think alkaline compounds containing sulfur or nitrogen should work as accelerants. But you may be able to find an alchemical shortcut because my people didn't really work with magic."

"Your lands must be so strange." She shakes her head.

"You don't know the half of it." I agree. "But, that is likely to be more of a long term project. So, since Lori made me think of it again, you can try working on the reagent for the... let's call it tree silk for now, the other names don't really make sense in Varecian. For that, you just need the right copper compound, Ammonia, and Lye."

"I know a few copper compounds." She sounds as tired of the language barrier as I am.

"Yeah." I let out a sigh. "It's a light blue powder made by mixing lye and another copper compound. That one has really pretty blue crystals."

"Bluestone! And, that must mean..." She snaps her finger. "Yes. Okay, I know what you're talking about now. It's used as a pigment, and I know just the alchemist to talk with to get us some."

"Awesome." A wide grin grows on both of our faces. "You can work on that tomorrow then. I don't remember the exact recipe, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out. Right now, I think I'm going to make some shoes."

I'm about to start mixing up the rubber I'll need, but have to pause for a moment because the record I'm recording is about to run out of space on the A-side.

"Apricot, Sweetie." I send through the speaker since I left the record player over at Williams. "Could you flip the record over for me?"

"Alright, but I want some dance music after this." She replies with her ventriloquism. And, even though I made sure to speak out loud to prepare her, Melanie is still startled by the voice from nowhere.

"That must be useful" The alchemist says after shaking herself. "I always wanted to learn that spell as a kid, so my friends and I could talk to each other after going home for the night."

"Hmm?" I pause as a thought comes to me. "I already have a speaker and will have a microphone soon. I might be able to make some sort of communication enchantment. But, that's a project for another time." I'm not sure how I'd make a walky-talky, let alone a cell phone, but some sort of landline might be doable.

"I know there are some air rune based enchantments, but they aren't very reliable." Melanie comments. "Let me know if you figure it out though, I sure wouldn't mind having one."

"Oh, I've got too much on my plate as it is right now." I beg off. "But, if I do ever get around to it, I'll make sure you get one."

We lapse into a comfortable silence, each working on our own projects for the next twenty minutes. Then Apricot comes in and demands her dance music. So, now I'm making Wellies and hip waders to disco beats.

"At least I was able to make some sneakers in peace." I mumble under my breath, but still get Apricot sticking her tongue out at me.

Over the next couple albums I end up making erasers, bouncy balls, rubber bands, inner tubes, tires, hair ties, balloons, gloves, hoses, belts, gaskets, o-rings, valves, and anything, and everything else I could think of that is made from rubber.

"Mhm, I want to experiment with some hard rubbers, but it's going to get dark soon, so we should probably head up to the Baron's."

"I'll go get Amelia." Apricot sneaks in a kiss before dancing away. "Thanks for all the music."

"You weren't kidding about there being a lot of uses for rubber." Melanie says while I pick up everything and put it into storage.

"This is what I could think of off the top of my head, stuff that I thought would be useful or have a good chance of selling." I lead the way outside and start getting Flicker hitched while waiting for the girls to get back. "I'm sure I missed a lot of stuff."

After getting the carriage ready, I send my magical senses over to William's farm. I've become familiar with the feeling of the fungus after working with it all day, so I'm easily able to sense it even from here. And, what I'm sensing makes me smile.

"You look happy." Amelia glides up and kisses me on the lips.

"I am." I pull her back in for a second round. "The treatment is already working, it's wiping out the fungus as we speak. And, I've got something to make you happy too."

"Happier than being able to sit in bed and read all day?" She smirks and lifts an eyebrow.

"Hopefully." I return her smile and bring out the dress, still draped on its dress form. "It's not perfect, but I couldn't very well go making clothes for other women before making you your dress"

"Oh, Baby." Amelia runs her hand over the soft fabric before pulling me into a tight hug and plastering me with a dozen more kisses. "You're wrong. It is perfect. Thank you."

"You're welcome." I smile down at the cute blonde in my arms. "Tonight is just a business dinner, but I'm sure there will be some sort of celebration fit for your dress once it's clear the treatment works." If I sound less than thrilled while saying that, it's because I am. I never intended to make so large of an entrance upon reaching the city.

"Are you being bashful?" Amelia smiles. "That's so sweet. But, I think it's a bit late for that. You've already majorly influenced the top two guilds in town, even if you disregard chocolate, starweave, and your healing. Either one of those would be enough to make people pay attention."

"I wasn't exactly expecting to stay low-profile, but there's a difference between that and stopping a potential famine before it gets off the ground." I grumble and climb up into the driver's seat.

"You're so cute." She climbs up behind me and gives me a kiss on the cheek.

"Not half as cute as you'll be in that dress." I counter. "It will almost be worth all the hassle that I'm sure is coming just to see you in it."

"Heheheh. Now who's the bashful one?" Apricot laughs when Amelia blushes and ducks her head away from the heat in my eyes.

"Uhm, I hate to interrupt your flirting." Melanie does just that. "But, I'm going to need some more coin to pick up that copper pigment you wanted to experiment with."

"We should talk about your salary too, I'll leave that to Amelia though." I add when the blonde perks up at the talk of coin. "But, if you could pick up some more of that pickle crisp while you're at it, that would be great. It's useful for a lot of stuff but, in this case, it keeps the rubber from sticking to itself before it gets vulcanized."

"Vulcanized?" Melanie tilts her head to one side. "Ah, because it uses heat and sulfur like a volcano. That's clever."

"Yeah." I nod, not wanting to get into the Roman god of fire. "And, speaking of sulfur, Melanie said she has a lead for a bulk purchase, but we're going to need to secure regular shipments. I'm hoping that you and your family can help with that." I send the blonde a winsome smile.