"Compost tea?" Seymour blinks. "I think I remember my grandfather using that once, but I was just a boy and I'd completely forgotten."

"I've used it before, and it still almost slipped my mind." I shrug my shoulders in a 'what can you do?' kind of gesture. "But, between that and the oils, I've got a pretty effective treatment, at least in my tests. I still want to add the... I don't know what to call it... baking ash? Maybe baking pearl? It didn't have a common name where I'm from, at least not one I'm aware of."

"Baking pearl sounds better." Melanie interjects. "And, it's certainly better than whatever old Lemmy will end up calling it. I'm still amazed you were able to figure it out so easily."

"Oh, it's all in the name. potassium bicarbonate." I explain. "I know potash has potassium carbonate, so it had to be getting the extra carbon from somewhere. And, carbon dioxide was pretty much the only thing it could be getting it from."

"So, then baking soda would be..."

"Sodium bicarbonate." I answer. "And, the Hartshorn one would be ammonia bicarbonate. Though, that one is probably a mix because ammonia is fairly unstable. Remember that pickle crisp I asking about the other day? That's calcium chloride, whereas table salt would be sodium chloride."

"Your people have a naming scheme based on the basic elements and how they're put together?" Melanie stares at me like my reputation with her just went up. "That is remarkable. You have to explain how it all works, please."

"I already promised I'd write it all down for you." I laugh nervously. "When I have a free minute that is. Man, what happened to my plan to just sell some clothes and chocolate and take it easy?"

"I'm not sure you know how to, Babe." Amelia chuckles. "Even when we were on the road, you always had one project or another you were working on."

"I guess so." I shrug. Now that I think about it, I guess I've been trying to keep myself distracted. "Well, remind me to slow down and take it easy when I can, please."

"What are your plans for the next few days?" She asks, not even bothering to hide her smile.

"..." I give her the stink eye.

"How about just today?"

"After we leave here, I want to talk to Ro about the record player and some enchantments for the lab." I give in with a sigh and lay out my plans. "When we get back home I need to test the different rubber batches and build sample products of everything I think will sell. And, then come back here and make some clothes."

"Meanwhile I will be sitting back and reading my book." She grins.

"Not tomorrow you won't be." I counter. "Tomorrow I need you to help me distill all the oils we'll need for the treatment. And, speaking of..." I turn to Erick and Elise. "I need to test the 'tea' on people to make sure it's safe. I also need a good deal of compost to grow all those plants, and while I could make the pearl ash myself. It would save a lot of time and effort to just buy it."

"I will make sure you have whatever you need." Erick states like it's already a done thing. "Do you know how much you will need?"

"I'll have a better idea after I spray William’s farm later. And, yes I know I forgot to add that to the list." I shake my head at the grinning blonde. "But, it should only be a few kilograms per hectare." He nods at that and it looks like he's doing the math in his head.

"If you're coming back tonight." Elise speaks up. "I'll have some volunteers ready for you. And, thank you for not just going ahead and spraying this without testing. Like you, I understand that just because it should be safe, doesn't always mean it will be."

"No, thank you." I bow to the healer. "I don't exactly make the best test subject, or I would have just used myself. Amelia offered, but I don't know how diverse the farming population is."

"I had some questions about your biology." She says with a shy smile. "But, you're a busy man, so they can wait for later."

"If you want to drop me off at the lab." Melanie says. "Then, I can get started on the testing while you go talk enchanting."

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"Yes, please." Amelia says with a smile. "That way I can get back to my book." Her smile turns smug.

"Don't worry Sorrel, I'll stick with you." Apricot pats me on the arm. "I want to get my music player after all." Her smile matches Amelia's

"Music player?" Lori, Erick's eldest daughter perks up.

"Mhm, yes." I set the prototype on the table. "It's based on an old design from back home. Right now only Apricot and I have the control needed to use it because I just don't know enough about enchanting."

Her eyes widen when I set the needle to the beginning of the song and start the disc spinning.

"How?" That's all she says before rushing over to get a closer look.

"Same principle as my speaker box." I explain. "The needle transmits the little bumps in these grooves up to the cone which amplifies them into sound. I have some upgrades in mind that will improve the sound quality, but as I said, I need to talk to Ro."

"Can I come with you, please?" She begs. "I have to have one. You can record other songs, yes?"

"Hahahah." I crack up laughing. "Yes, this song was mostly just a goof. And yes, you can come along, there's enough room in the carriage for one more."

We quickly finish the rest of the meal and get on our way. I pretend not to notice the jealous looks that Catrina shot her older sister, even though Apricot kept nudging me.

Amelia and Melanie get dropped off at the farm a few minutes later. Apricot, Lori, and I then ride up to Rozelle's shop, with Lori asking questions about music the whole time.

"Welcome to Rozelle's, how can I help you?" Her son, Jared is still manning the front counter.

"Hi, Jared." I give the disinterested kid a nod. "I was hoping your mom was in."

"Sorrel?" Ro's voice rings out from the back. "Is that you? Oh, it is." She breathes out a sigh of relief after seeing that it is in fact me. "Thank goodness, the rest of the guild has been driving me nuts asking about your maths and the mana node."

"Oh, that reminds me, can I get one of those collector rings?" I pull out the node I grew. "I haven't been able to grow this one much more because it's starting to feel unstable when I use storage on it."

"Yes, of course." She bobs her head up and down. "You might as well take this one. Everyone has already seen it, and I kinda need my workbench back."

"Thank you." We follow her into the back room. "I'm sorry, but the math will have to wait for a couple days at least. I'm busy working on a solution to the grain blight. But, I need some enchanted locks for my alchemy lab, and I was hoping you could help me with a little project."

"Of course, of course." He head bobs even faster. "I doubt they'll be happy, but I think an impending famine takes priority. But, what is this project? Does it have to do with the blight?"

"No." I duck my head, somewhat embarrassed and materialize the prototype. "It's just a music player. I started it this morning before I got into the blight and I promised Apricot I would get a fully functioning one working. And, then Lori found out about it and wants one of her own."

"Oh, Missus Ghosh." Rozelle sketches out a quick curtsy. "I'm sorry I didn't recognize you."

"Please, you know we don't really care for any of that formality." The baron's daughter smiles at the enchanter. "Just tell me that you can help Sorrel with his music player."

"This is your spinning disc?" She sends some mana into it, and while she's better at controlling it than Amelia, she's nowhere near good enough to keep it perfectly steady. "You need mana storage and a regulator." Ro instantly pegs the problem. "I'm guessing you haven't gotten that far in the primers yet."

"Not yet, no." I shake my head. "I also want to add another enchantment that can read the motion of the needle, and then amplify it after sending the signal to something like my speaker box here." The speaker joins the turntable on her workbench. "That would let me shrink everything and fit more than one short song per record"

"That... might be a little more difficult." She hedges. "But, if you're willing to do the math, I'm willing to give it a shot."

The next few minutes are a whirlwind of headache-inducing math. Rozelle knows her stuff though. So, between her enchanting know-how and my knowledge of physics and math formulas, we were able to complete the beta version in short order.

"It's a bit loud" I comment after testing the player. "But, once I reduce the grooves in the record it should be fine. I should add a volume control too, but my head hurts enough as it is right now. So, that will just have to be a future project."

"That was amazing." Ro says while staring at the new player. "A project like that would have taken me days to work out. And, even then I'm not sure I would have managed without those formulas of yours."

"I promise I'll write down as much of my math knowledge for you as I can, as soon as I can." I say while thinking that I really need to quit stretching myself so thin.

"If you can make the parts for a third one of these, I'll call it even. And, some of those discs, of course." She chuckles. "I've just got to show this off."

"Gladly." I smile. "It will take a while to create each record, but once I have one I should be able to copy it fairly quickly. I'm sure Apricot and Lori will have me making records all afternoon... and in every free minute I have from now on." I laugh. "So, if it's alright with her, maybe you could join us at the baron's tonight."

"The head of the enchanter's guild is always welcome." Lori smiles at the enchanter.

"Give me a minute to enchant your player." She starts doing just that. "Though, as his master, I should be the one giving Sorrel work, not the other way around."

"Heh, sorry." I duck my head again. "I had planned to work on it today, but then I got caught up with the grain blight. And, well. This is important to Apricot, she never asks for anything... aside from sweets and sex, but those don't count."

"Shut up." The pixie blushes and elbows me in the ribs.

***