They still talked as they retreated to the surface. Brightstep was interested in the magic behind securing the dungeon and asked Tazo to come discuss it soon. They were discussing the proper use of force spells when they approached the manor and the Baron spotted them, just back from travel himself.

He was more casually dressed than that terrible night out west, back to his broad-brimmed hat and a long drape and saddlebags. "You two look a mess," he said.

Vonn bowed. "My lord, I came to explain and apologize." He went over the situation with Urika again.

Bogstep frowned and swished his tail. "Good that you came to me about this. Urika's a good sort, and the Duke's been known to elevate a commoner who can pretend to know what he's doing." He thumped his chest. "So I'm gonna send a letter right away recommending that he let your Smith take over, before he picks someone worse. Think he's been waiting to see how it plays out. But now you've got a problem, don't you?"

Vonn was relieved to be spared his lord's anger, but the last part was true. "I was counting on having a great Smith working with me. Ashfall might become one but she hasn't got the official levels or the practical experience Urika does. Though to be fair I'm pretty new at what I do, too."

Bogstep nodded, and shooed them away to get cleaned up and divide their loot from the dungeon. Neither part took long. Vonn's share was a single magicite piece since he could always use more.

Inside the manor, the Baron drank beer with his son and Vonn. "I don't know if the magic rail thing makes sense, but it seems to be working. I want iron flowing again."

"It'll probably resume as soon as the smelters do their work."

"So then, you're back in business at the Company. I've seen you produce all sorts of gadgets, but you're not focusing."

"I know, sir. Many, many ideas as usual."

"That's great. But I want you as a fifth-level Engineer supervising a group, not producing a toy here and a cart there. Where is your 'engine' work?"

Brightstep put in, "I suggested it could be used to pump water."

"Then there you go, Vonn. Build an engine, for a water pump. Then build ten more like it. I don't want to see another music box until you can repeat the main practical gadget. If you've managed to get Urika promoted out of the picture that's great for him, but it does mean I need to pay closer attention."

Vonn took a long drink after that.

#

Back home, Tazo was flattered by Brightstep's invitation, but paced in the workshop as she thought about the latest orders. "He's basically right."

Ashfall was there, with Birb playing with scrap metal under her supervision. Ashfall said, "Does that mean no profit from the toys and bikes?"

Tazo nodded. "We can return to doing those, but for now our main money source has spoken. Besides, the goal is not just to stay in business but to expand and become important."

Birb said, "I'm hoping we can do another airplane soon!"

Tazo grinned at her. "You've mentioned it a few times. What's so important about that anyway, for an Aves of all people?"

The bird's neck feathers fluffed up and she scuffed one foot on the floor. "There's only so high I can go. After hearing about flying for hours at a time, I want to see what that's like! Can you imagine, crossing an ocean in a day? Or flying right to the capital like it's nothing?"

Ashfall said, "Sounded like you need a whole sky-port to make that kind of thing happen. The roads alone must cost a fortune."

"We'll do it a little at a time, like we've been doing. A better drill here, a more powerful engine there, and soon we have the most amazing workshop anywhere."

Vonn had been keeping busy in a corner while they talked, but then the three all turned toward him to say, "What's next?"

He stood up straighter and said, "A better engine."

They'd been speculating about it off and on. The one used in their airplane had been, by necessity, built by people who barely knew what they were doing. This time they all had practical experience at working with the materials and with the notion of blueprints. The shop also had their crude new milling machine, which Vonn was determined to upgrade. But that'd happen one part at a time, using the machine itself.

Their use case this time was a water mover. (He knew that pumping water out of coal mines was the first practical use that Earth, specifically England, had made of steam engines. But that was because the original kind ran on coal.) The pump section was under Ashfall's supervision, and she came up with a version of known designs that'd plug into the engine's back-and-forth motion. "Strange to think that you can swap out muscle for machinery."

Vonn told her, "That's the point. It's applied laziness: we get something else to do some of the heavy lifting. I once..." He shook his head. "We'll likely need fuel for some bigger projects."

He'd been thinking of some school activity where the class dug a ditch for some charity project, then watched as a backhoe tore out dirt as quickly as the whole group of shovelers put together. That was the difference between this world's present and possible future!

The engine work required him to cut metal parts using the rotary blade of the milling machine. He was getting a feel for the thing's limitations. It could at least work with a "blank" metal part from the anvil and grind out the details to a standard of... well, more precise measurement than the blows of a hammer. The parts sent by Zahar definitely helped.

Ashfall, Tazo and Birb were all interested in the process in their own ways. He made sure to give them a turn with the machine and to join in with his cursing and diagnosis when the thing inevitably broke.

Tazo frowned at the snapped drive belt. "Increase the order for that sturdy fabric." There'd been a cloth vendor selling something like sturdy canvas earlier this year.

"Yeah, I'll make a note. Birb, want to replace this?"

She got out a spare belt, leather with pegs through it to act as teeth. Vonn winced at her struggle to force it onto the widely spaced wheels of the machine, where it was meant to loop around and transmit power from the foot treadle to the cutting parts. "No, don't stretch it! It'll wear out fast. When these things don't fit, look for another way. Remember what I showed you about the rollers?"

The bird-girl thought, then loosened one of the wheels so that the belt would go on without being stretched and torn. Vonn praised her and she feather-smiled. She'd barely been willing to talk at all when they first met.

He said, "Bend the machine where it can bend, so you don't break anything important."