"Uncle Sorrel." The Farmers and I are riding back to their place in one of the baron's carriages. And, Willow has apparently decided that I deserve an upgraded title. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm trying to make a book for Amelia." The translation is more of a headache than any of the songs were though. But, I think that's mainly just the flowery prose, and the walls of text. "I promised her that I would work on it today, but getting it all right is making my head hurt."

"Mhm." She nods sagely. "Writing is hard. Daddy tried to show me how to write my name but I always mix up the letters."

"It can take a bit of practice, but learning to read and write is very much worth it." I set aside Frankenstein and make a copy of 'The Cat in the Hat' for her. "I used to read this to my sister when she was little."

Holding the book so she and Myra can see, I read the title and then open it to the first page. The brother and sister staring out the window of their bright red house as the rain pours down.

"The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So, we sat in the house all that cold, cold, wet day." I read aloud in a sing-song voice. "...Should we tell her about it? Now, what should we do? Well... What would you do if your mother asked you?"

The carriage had long since stopped outside the farm, but no one interrupted the reading. I even got the feeling that the driver was listening closely.

"Did they tell her?" Little Myra is the first one to speak.

"What do you think?" I hand the closed book over to their mother since the girls still have arms full of plush.

"I don't think they did." Willow shakes her head.

"Yeah, they did." Myra counters.

"No need to fight." Their mom smiles at the girls. "But if some funny looking cat messes up our house, I expect you both to tell me."

I open the carriage door then and am greeted by Pepi's smiling face. "Hello Baron, I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"And, I wasn't expecting to hear the tail end of such an interesting story. And, I told you to call me Erick." He laughs. "I'd like to talk with you more about that later, but right now I have a few surprises of my own."

He steps back and gestures to the farm. The burned fields have been re-grown, the livestock replaced, and he even got someone to install the chimney for the house, and tile the roof. And, all that is just what I can see from the outside.

"Normally most of the reparations would have gone towards rebuilding the home, but since a kind stranger already took care of that." He winks at me. "We were able to stretch the funds just a bit further. The magistrate was also very upset that such a cute little girl got hurt, and gave me great leeway to reward her healer."

He hands over a very heavy pouch of gold, along with a rolled-up sheet of parchment. I don't actually care about the gold, but I'm not ungrateful or stupid enough to not accept it.

"Well..." I draw out the word after unfurling the parchment. "I hope I'll get along with my new neighbors." Turning to William and Sophia, I wave at them with a smirk. "Hello, neighbors."

"Mister Sean and his wife were happy to sell, especially when I offered them a bonus to move out on short notice." Erick explains for the Farmer's benefit. "The land is free for you to do whatever you wish with."

"Thank you... Erick." I catch myself just in time.

"No. Thank you." He gives me a full bow. "For Myra, and for Anne. She may not be blood, but she is family."

"You already heard?"

"Hah." He barks out a laugh. "That she wouldn't come out of her room after accidentally flashing you, yes. I asked Elise to send me word after you healed her, and she saw fit to include mention of that."

"I hope she gets over it soon, I still need to fix up her inner ear a bit." I shrug trying to hide my embarrassment. "She lost a bit of hearing range from exposure to loud sounds over the years."

"Oh, she'll be fine." He nods reassuringly. "But, she's probably going to need a new job. Her boss is a bit of a yeller. Now, why don't you tell me about that story you were reading?"

"Oh, it's a very famous children's book back home." I take a moment to make another copy for him to give to his grand-daughter. "Mom used to read it to me when I was young, and I read it to my sister. So, it was easy to translate a copy." I happen to have quite a few children's books saved, but even if I didn't. I probably could have re-created this one from scratch.

"What are these kite things?" He traces the picture of Thing One and Thing Two running down the hallway. "They don't look like any falcons I've ever seen."

"They just share a name." I stick my finger in my mouth and check the wind. "Hmm, there's not much breeze. But, I might be able to get a delta kite off the ground." I make the ribs as thin and lightweight as I can, and coat them with an equally fine fabric. "Hopefully there's more wind higher up."

The bright white kite catches everyone's attention when it lifts off the ground with a tug. I have to run for a bit to get it high enough, but luckily there is more wind higher up. The girls marvel at the kite and quickly run over begging to play with it.

"Let me make another one real quick, that way you don't have to fight over it." They're already jockeying for position to get it first. "Erick, could you hold this for a moment?" I hand the spool off to an amused looking baron.

"Can I run with it please?" Willow breaks out the puppy-dog eyes.

"There's not much wind." I warn. "It's going to be hard to get it high enough."

"Please." I can't fight the cuteness.

"Okay." I sigh out. "But, only if you turn those eyes on the baron and get him to hand the other one over to your sister."

"Hahahah." Erick chuckles. "Sorry, I got a bit caught up playing. Now, hold on with both hands Myra." I made a simple one-handed reel, but it's more than big enough for both of hers.

Her sister is already running about with the second kite. "Willow, you need to let more string out so it can catch the wind." She tries, but starts slowing down. The kite almost falling before I scoop her up in my arms. "Alright, I'll run, you just focus on the string."

She just nods and sticks her tongue through her teeth. It takes her a bit longer to get it to stay up than it did me, and we're halfway to the next farm, my farm before I can stop running.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"Now that it's up there, we can walk back." I set her down. "Just make sure the string doesn't get too loose."

By the time we get back, Myra has played her kite out to the full hundred-meter length. She's also in her dad's arms while he helps her hold onto the reel. "Be careful Willow, the wind gets a lot stronger near the end of the string."

"Yes, Daddy." She walks over to stand by her mom, but her whole attention is on the kite.

"Alright, Sorrel." Erick walks up next to me. "I would stay and fly kites all day, but I have baronly things to do. But, if you ever need anything, just ask. And, don't be a stranger, you're welcome at the manor anytime you want. I still need to get those clothes from you after all. I'll try to keep the girls from knocking your door down for theirs, at least until you have a door, that is." He laughs.

"No worries there." I smile and clap him on the shoulder. "I already know what I want to build, and should have it up in no time. And, once it is, you and the family are welcome anytime. I'm sure Rebecca will want to stop by and play with her new friends."

"And, to see whatever new toys you've created." He chuckles. "Well, good luck with the new house, I can't wait to see it."

"Thanks." I nod at the man, and then turn to William. "I'll be right next door if you need anything." Calling Blackthorne to my hand from the top of the wagon, I walk over to what will soon be my new home.

The first thing I do is walk through the field, maturing and harvesting all the crops. All the old plants and the old farmhouse then get decomposed and replaced by a meadow of clover.

The potted fruit and nut trees get set along the road, but I don't bother planting and maturing them just yet. Berry bushes do get planted here and there between the trees. But, everything is pretty spaced out, with plenty of room for later additions.

A small grove of lumber trees sprouts near the river side of the property. I have to go slow at first, but the more they grow, the more mana I can draw through them. Most of the building will be made from modified oak wood, so that makes up the majority of the grove. But, there's plenty of cedar, cherry, walnut, and maple, all of which I know I want to use. Along with those, I've also included one of every type of tree I've collected so far.

The Deepwoods, as they're called, are very weird... botanically speaking. It's like someone took plants from all the temperate regions in the world -my old world that is- and smushed them all together into one forest. VeeGee definitely picked the best spot to drop a botanist cum Plantkin.

"Sorrel!" Apricot's shout pulls me out of my tree induced contemplation.

"Apricot! Amelia! When did you two get here?" I pull them both into a tight hug. "Wow, it's already after noon, where did the time go?"

"We just got here, silly." Apricot squeezes me back. "But, you were lost in the mana again, and didn't hear us call out to you."

"I'm glad you're here, I missed you." They each get a kiss. "But, how did you slip away from your mom? I was sure she wasn't going to let you out of her sight."

"She hasn't." Turner says with a laugh. "But, word started to spread about a crazy nature mage growing a forest outside the north gate, so we decided to take a long lunch to come see."

"Heh." I put on a rueful smile. "I needed some lumber for the house, but I think I may have overdone it a bit." The trees are all around twice as tall as I was aiming for.

"You do tend to get caught up when growing things." Amelia smiles, remembering the cotton trees.

"Well, you came for lunch, and I could eat." My stomach rumbles just then. "Just give me a few minutes and I'll fix something up for us. I haven't gone shopping yet, but I should have enough for a quick meal."

"No need." Amelia stops me before I can bring out my mobile kitchen. "We grabbed some stuff on the way, all you need to do is provide a table and some chairs."

"That I can do." The baron's firewood falls out of storage and morphs itself into seating for six. "Is Roddy not with you?" I reach out with my magic, but don't sense him.

"He stayed behind to look after the warehouse." Amelia starts loading the table up with a variety of dishes. "So, I'm surprised you got a place already. I thought it would take a couple days at the minimum just for them to move out."

"Oh, you can thank the Baron and Magistrate Brovkin for that." I answer. "This is my remuneration for healing Myra."

"I'm glad they stuck it to that alchemist." Kaitlyn speaks up for the first time since they got here. "Thankfully you were able to heal the little girl, but just imagine if that slime climbed out of the sewer in the middle of town." She shudders at the thought of it.

"The guard is going to be keeping a closer eye on the sewers to make sure that doesn't happen." Turner comforts her. "But, Myra isn't the only one you're healing. Amelia said you were going to restore the hearing of Pepi's niece this morning. Did it go well?" It's a pretty blatant change of subject, but it seems to work on his wife.

"Well... You could say that." A little heat creeps onto my cheeks when I think about what happened. "I was able to cure her deafness..."

"But?" Amelia says somewhat flatly.

"But... Her robe fell open when she was about to join me for breakfast." I say and Apricot busts up laughing. "She was wearing a slip... for all the good it did."

"Thin?" The pixie salivates.

"Damn near see-through." I shake my head and can't help but laugh along with her. "She ran back into her room, and likely still hasn't come out."

"She didn't do it on purpose, did she?" Amelia asks, suspiciously.

"No." I reply "It was a complete accident, her mom and Elise were standing right there."

"Nnh, whatever." Amelia sighs. "Just try not to be alone with her, or that Catrina." Her voice has a bit more heat to it when she mentions Erick's daughter.

"I'd be happy to keep you around as a chaperone."

"So, what kind of house are you going to build?" Turner changes the subject again.

"Oh, it's just going to be a cute little cottage." Mom always wanted one, so I'm going to rebuild the one she made in The Sims but I may change the floor plan a bit.

Grabbing the extra chair, I mold it into a rough model. "We used to live in an apartment building, but my mom always wanted something like this. I was going to buy, or build her one when I got out of school, but..."

"Oh, Sorrel." Amelia pulls me into a hug, Apricot right behind her.

"Hey, now." I stroke Amelia's hair. "There's no need for you to cry. Mom and Lily are tough, they're going to be fine without me. This is just my way of remembering them a little better."

"Shh, it'll be alright." Apricot tries to console her. "Come on, you're going to make me cry. You don't want to see me cry, I'm hideous when I cry."

"Snerk." A laugh snorts out of Amelia's nose along with a bubble of snot. "Oh, gods." She wipes it away and quickly casts her bath spell.

"Why don't you stay here and help Sorrel build his house?" Kaitlyn speaks up once her daughter calms down. "We need to get back to the warehouse, and I think you're in good hands here. Just remember to stop by occasionally, okay?"

"Mom?" Amelia shares a dumbfounded look with her father, neither of them were expecting anything like this.

"Oh, don't look at me like that." She swats her husband on the arm. "She's a grown woman, I can't keep her at home forever."

"Yes, dear." Turner has to bite back a laugh at her sudden reversal.

"Thank you, Mommy!" Amelia is crying a different kind of tears as she tackle-hugs her mother. "I promise to stop by all the time. Sorrel is going to need our help selling his chocolate, after all."

"She's right." I agree. "I had zero mercantile skills before, and that's when I knew what the currency was worth." I pull a gold out of storage. "This is what, twenty grams?"

"Just over nineteen and a quarter." Amelia answers. "All base coins weigh the same as a cubic centimeter of their respective metal."

"Okay..." I think gold was around fifty bucks a gram, so I round it up to a thousand dollars per coin to simplify things. "Back home this could buy you twenty pairs of nice jeans like these, or one fine suit. Rent for a month or two, depending on where you live. Anywhere between ten meals at a high-class restaurant, or food for a year. It could buy a couple of decent bicycles or one-twentieth of a brand new magical carriage. The job I was aiming for would have gotten me fifty or sixty of these a year. Going to university cost me twenty per year, though once you add in the interest for the loans, it turns out to be quite a bit more."

"Yeah, but how much chocolate would it buy?" Apricot asks the important question.

"Hahah." I chortle at the intense looks everyone gives me. "At this is quality? ...maybe fifty kilos." Doesn't everyone know the cost of a kilo of chocolate off the top of their head?

""You will be charging more than that."" Amelia and her mom say the exact same thing at the exact same time.

"Yes, Ma'ams." I smile at their twin expressions. "You can probably set whatever price you want. Granville knows how to make it now, but he's still grinding the beans from the one batch. I feel kinda bad for his assistant, the poor guy looked like his arm was going to fall off this morning."

"Mhm." Kaitlyn makes a noncommittal noise. "Amelia, try to teach him the value of a gold." She doesn't look too hopeful for my prospects though.

"Probably best that I leave this with you, then." I hand Amelia the fat pouch that Erick gave me earlier. Her mom's eyes go wide for a moment before she just shakes her head and starts walking for their carriage.

"Good luck." I get the feeling that Turner is talking to me as much as his daughter.

"So, who wants to help me dehydrate some trees?" I say after the Rialtas drive off.

***