"Sir?"

"We've had chances to speak already, and I've now heard it straight from the bird's beak. Go home, take a copy of our scripture with you, and report to me with any further refinements of it you might make. You should agree I've been more welcoming than a foreign preacher might have a right to expect, by not having you killed out of hand."

Kotta paled. "You have been, sir."

"I believe we're done here, for now. You've given me some things to consider. Maybe, in time, my country might be more to your liking."

Vonn and the rest got ushered back to the airships, where a scared-looking Birb and the Kobold apprentice were keeping the vessels inflated and ready for a quick escape. Soldiers were obviously keeping an eye on them and a few looked like researchers, getting as close as the crew would tolerate and peering at the machinery with a spyglass and some magical tools.

As Vonn weighed anchor and began to rise, he spoke to the fort commander who'd come to see him off. "As strange as it is, sir, there's a piece of the puzzle that even most of our countrymen don't know. That other world we're so passionate about? In truth, we were born there."

The officer's stunned expression was priceless.

#

His team flew back to friendly territory. Along the way they rested in a village where the locals had no active problems of diplomacy and religion. These people just wanted to see and touch the airships and get the chance to ride one up and down. Vonn smiled to see the innocent curiosity overcoming fear.

Ralator had been slowly getting used to flight, too, but was obviously happier on the ground. He said, "I have more incentive, now, to see an anti-gravity ship."

"For military reasons?" asked Selen.

"For my poor stomach. You people are too used to how these rickety baskets rock back and forth!"

#

In Shieldpoint it was time for the Fools' Day celebration. Vonn went to the temple and listened to people follow the tradition of talking about stupid things they'd done lately. As people closer and closer to where he was sitting talked about their work accidents and social blunders, Vonn thought about what he'd say.

When it was his turn, he stood. "I could tell you about dropping things on my feet or nearly falling into the river again -- nearly, this time! -- but that's not the main thing on my mind. Not long ago, during the Boulder Fair, I encountered two traveling con men with a Kobold boy. Anyone remember their show?" That got some nods. "I thought I should do something. The way I saw it, there was a kid being mistreated, I was there, so I should separate them and do... well, I wasn't sure. The boy seemed not to be in any physical danger, and he was happy and fed, so I kind of looked stupid for complaining. Also I seriously considered pushing the orphan off of an airship."

His friends and neighbors still listened. Other people had gotten away with confessing a single little blunder, but he felt his own needed more explanation. "I think my biggest overall problem is the assumption that I can fix everything, save everyone, remake the whole world. My reach exceeds my grasp."

Kotta had already spoken, mentioning that he'd been to the Scaled Nation. The Bard had obviously struggled not to boast, because it really was an achievement to go there and come back safely while being a troublemaker. But in light of the religion he was making up as he went along, he confessed that he might've given some Draconists a reason to believe themselves even more superior. He was trying to fix that, he explained.

Vonn nodded toward him, and said, "But I've also seen that I can't completely focus on the work either. The things I've been sharing are going to have a bigger impact over time, and I messed up by not putting more effort into that. Into trying to make sure the ideas I've been given, end up being used for good. My first step toward that is the engineering book I wrote, because it's about more than how to jam metal bits together. You're entitled to slap me if I tell you I just do machines and so you shouldn't bother me about other things."

"But I am going to build up the machines, too, partly because I've so enjoyed seeing people get to use them and do things that weren't possible before. So that's my foolishness for the year: trying to fix things without knowing how. I'll try to learn more than machine ideas. Hopefully the dumbest thing I'll do this year will be ruining a shirt or something."

He sat back down, feeling like most of the townsfolk didn't understand his mistakes. That was all right; he had a few friends who did.

#

It was the first week of summer, his third in this world. Vonn had been a little late for his trend, but he did have something to offer: an enchanted pipe. A conduit carrying Mana in a specific way, hinted at by Tazo but without a clear explanation. She made him figure out the main trick to building it, so that he could earn a fourth Mage level. As with so many other things it was part of a larger project, and built atop other discoveries, mainly her work with metal rails. So this one was one of three segments he'd manufactured this week with the goal of rapidly shifting the aspect of the Mana it carried. Tazo had also made him train to use the most basic spell of all eight elements, and force, healing, and even necromancy. Learning a bit of everything had helped him see more of the theory behind it all.