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Chapter 2: An Opportunity

Unsurprisingly, it took Jules some time to get used to his new surroundings. Differences in hygiene and clothing were stark, but not as primitive as Jules had been expecting. He was still able to bathe regularly, stay clean shaven, brush his teeth, and make sure his body odor was kept in check. The greater transition had to do with how he made his living. Moving from white collar America to the service industry in a fantasy world was a great transition and even though Jules had much to learn, the job as a footman was more menial than anything.

But Jules was an inquisitive person at heart, so he paid attention carefully to his surroundings and was quickly taken up in culture shock. There were three main ways that this culture shock manifested in varying amounts to Jules' discomfort. Andalusians favored the ability to maintain incredibly strong eye contact even to strangers. They also had little conception of personal space, easily brushing against Jules as they walked by without so much as a word of pardon. Another thing that Jules was keen to notice, being a bachelor in his early twenties, was that there were significantly different standards of modesty for clothing. The men dressed normally enough—at least as normal as Jules could surmise for a place that reeked of Early Modern Europe. It was women's fashion that was eye-catching. Cleavage was often displayed with gusto and clothing was fitted and styled in such a way to emphasize the wearer's most desirable attribute, but that her bust, waist, hips, posterior, thighs, or any combination thereof. Begrudgingly, Jules had to admit to himself that this was the facet of his culture shock that he adjusted to the fastest.

In the short time that he had spent in her employment, the Countess Wilhelmina proved to be a person of quality. Her white hair, wrinkled face, and gentle smile gave the woman a grandmotherly air to her. But when Jules did his job as a footman serving her table, he couldn't help but get the sense of great intelligence when he looked in her green eyes. There was also an internal resolve hidden within her actions. Despite her age, she refused any assistance walking, opting instead to use a cane to support herself and taking as much time as she needed to climb any number of stairs. Even though personally tending to her would typically be seen to by one of the women on the house staff, Jules found himself being sought out often to escort the countess up and down staircases because it was decided that he would have the best chance of being able to catch her if she lost her footing and began to fall.

Between the countess, her handmaid, and Jules they worked out a system that following evening dinner, the handmaid would go on ahead to prepare whatever room or activity the countess would do for the rest of the evening while Jules would escort her there. The first time it happened, Wilhelmina quickly picked up that her new footman was more than meets the eye. From that instance on, the Countess began prodding the young man with questions seeking to discover the breadth of his knowledge. These questions varied from topics such as history and geography up to math and even some science. She rapidly formed a hypothesis that her new footman was more foreign than he was letting on.

Despite the fact that Jules wasn't the greatest with people, he could tell that his employer was growing increasingly suspicious of him. And he found himself growing stressed in her presence under her prodding. He tried his very hardest to not answer in ways that would rat him out as being from a whole other world, but being probed about a world he hardly knew was still difficult. But on the other hand, he was extremely glad to have intelligent conversation with someone who knew what they were talking about.

One night, he finally asked a question that had been dwelling on his mind. Despite being an aristocrat, he couldn't find out what service the countess does for the Sumo Principe, or High Prince of Andalus. He asked, "Please pardon me if I'm being rude for prying, but what service do you render for the Sumo Principe of Andalus that's worthy of being a countess?"

The old woman smiled with tragic nostalgia. She explained, "My late husband, Count Enrique Monte, used to be the Royal Messenger and Postmaster for Andalus' previous Sumo Principe. However, when our current Sumo Principe was a very young child, my dear Enrique was sent overseas to seek out the best teacher he could find so that the prince could be tutored into a man of understanding and knowledge. I was found and brought to Andalus where I was elevated to aristocracy and then for years I tutored the young prince. When he grew up, I taught his children. But when they were grown, I requested retirement and was given it. Because my late husband had passed away by that point, there was no need to remain in the capital city, Pradera de Oro, so I moved here to Villa Hermosa."

"I see," he replied. "You're the former royal tutor. That's what makes you a countess. It also explains why you're so keen on probing my own knowledge."

"That is correct," she concluded. "And I've learned some things about you too, Jules Langley."

Jules gulped away a lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. He regretted having asked his question in the first place. He steeled himself to his fate and expected the worst.

Wilhelmina continued, "You're a very strange man. Clearly you are educated and have a talent with the harder subjects like math and science. However, you're ignorant in softer topics such as language, geography, and history. I don't know where you may have learned all these things, but certainly not here in Andalus. There is more to you than you've let on."

This was very bad. Jules was found out; caught in his own lies. He noted the dramatic sinking feeling inside himself and his face must have shown it, for the countess pressured him by stating with a stern tone, "If I'm mistaken, now is the time for you to say so."

Looking down at his feet like a child who got caught with their hand in the cookie jar, Jules sighed and confessed, "You're not mistaken. I've been less than honest so far."

There was silence for a few moments while the Countess went up the next stair step. She stopped and leaned over the banister and looked around to ensure that she was alone with her newest footman. After confirming that they were alone, she turned to regard the man and held him still with the force of her gaze. Speaking softly, she scolded him, "That was a very wrong thing to do."

"Yes, Ma'am. It was. I'm sorry. I'll accept whatever punishment you feel is justified."

She nodded her head slowly. Choosing her words carefully, she rendered her judgment. "Typically, I would be firing you from my employment. If I can't trust you to be honest about something as big as this, then I hesitate to trust you for smaller tasks. However, if I were to have Santiago throw you out of my home, I feel like it would be a waste. Your talents would be wasted on whatever other job you might find, except for maybe academia."

Jules felt the sinking feeling recede and his gaze rose from the ground to meet Wilhelmina's. He actually felt his eyes grow teary with relief but he still said nothing.

The countess continued, "Although I admit that your talents will probably go to waste here too. But you have made me very curious. Additionally, I've been alive long enough to recognize someone in need of help. I will help you by not firing you. Your job with me is safe. But I expect to hear the truth from you. Consider your punishment as giving me a full explanation of where you've come from and how you've arrived here to my home."

Caught between a rock and a hard place, Jules internally sighed and answered, "It's a story that I don't think you'd believe easily. Is it possible for us to discuss this somewhere more private?"

In this request, Wilhelmina was more than willing to humor her manservant. With as much haste as her frail body would allow, Wilhelmina brought Jules first to their original destination. She told the handmaid there to follow her and Jules to her library. They arrived in short order and after lighting a candle on a table in the middle of the room, the hand maid was told to see to some other duty for the next hour.

Jules spared a glance around the room full of books for a few moments. He hadn't known that the countess had a library, much less a well-stocked one. For a fantasy world in which books are presumably a rare and valuable commodity, the countess was notable for having a collection of what must be several thousand tomes. Despite his situation, Jules felt at home. He might not have loved school, but he loved learning, and books were the ideal method for doing just that.

"Sit down at the table with me," ordered Wilhelmina as she approached the table.

"Here. Let me," offered the man with a quick burst of speed to pull out a seat for the old woman.

"Thank you," she said as she sat down.

He crossed to the other side of the table and sat down in his own chair. Wilhelmina looked at him expectantly but he didn't immediately begin speaking. He was allowed a few moments to gather his thoughts and organize them. He began by requesting, "I can imagine that a lot of what I'm about to tell you will sound far fetched. But please let me explain all the way to the end. And you must promise me that you will keep this conversation a secret."

She considered these terms for a few moments before promising, "I will do that."

Jules began to explain the truth of where he had come from. He began with the claim that he was not from her world. The first part of his explanation that he undertook was a basic overview of the European Age of Exploration and the discovery of the New World. He gave a brief explanation of the founding and maturation of the United States of America along with other notable nations of the Earth according to his knowledge. He explained his birthplace in the state of Arizona, his family and his education. He also took time to explain some of the technology of Earth. She was entranced by the ideas of electricity, modern medicine, and the internal combustion engine. Finally, Jules came to the technology that he was most familiar with: Airplanes. He had only given a very brief explanation of the efforts to attain heavier-than-air flight when she reached to the side and grabbed a piece of paper, a bottle of ink, and a dip pen.

She required, "Draw me an airplane. I want to see what one looks like."

He obliged her and carefully drew a very basic airplane. It took a few strokes to get the hang of a dip pen, but he drew a very rough sketch of a monoplane tube with straight wings, tail surfaces, and a propeller at the front of it. He turned the finished sketch to her and excused himself with, "I'm no artist, but I think this will do well enough."

She leaned forward and while inspecting the drawing, she asked, "How does an airplane work?"

Now that he was in his element, he easily started to explain. "There are two basic obstacles that have to be overcome before an airplane can fly. The first is the weight of the airplane which pulls it downwards." He drew an arrow downwards on the paper then continued, "The second is something that's called 'drag.' Drag is the force that the air exerts on anything that's moving through it. For example, if the airplane is moving this way," he drew an arrow in the machine's direction of travel, "then the drag is creating a force that is in the opposite direction." He drew an arrow out the tail of the drawing pointing backwards. "So, weight makes it so that it doesn't want to get off the ground while drag makes it so that it doesn't want to move. Now, there are two forces to overcome these. But first, I need to explain something else."

"The secret of flight is all in the wings," he declared while tapping the wings on his drawing. He quickly drew a crude shape of an airfoil with a flat bottom and an exaggerated curve over the top. He turned the page back to Wilhelmina and corrected himself. "Or more specifically, the secret of flight is all in the shape of the wings. The shape I just drew is an example of what one of these wings would look like if you're looking down its length at the side. We call this shape an airfoil. Now, there are several schools of thought on how airfoils work exactly, but I'll share two of them with you. The first school of thought says that as the air travels a greater distance going over the top of the wing, it's going faster than the air beneath it and thus creates a suction force lifting the airfoil up. The other school of thought is that as the air is directed downwards as it comes off the back of the airfoil, it creates a force pushing it upwards. Either way, we call the upwards force, 'lift.'" He drew an arrow pointed upwards on the drawing.

He gave the woman a few moments to let this knowledge sink in. She asked, "I understand how lift can overcome the airplane's weight. But what about drag?"

Prepared for this exact question, he next pointed to the front of the plane towards the propeller. "This right here is called a propeller. It's also in the shape of an airfoil like the wings are, and by spinning it quickly using an engine like I explained earlier, it's possible to make air go backwards, thus creating a force that can overcome drag. This is called 'thrust.'" He spared her an explanation of jet engines because he felt like it might take too long to fully explain how they work. But regardless of that, he tapped on the arrow he already drew that was pointed in the airplane's direction of travel. He concluded, "So, using lift to overcome its weight and thrust to overcome its drag, we can make a machine that flies."

The countess took a few seconds to process this new and radical information. Finally, she leaned backwards in her chair and was making an amazed expression. "Gods above," she proclaimed quietly, "You really are from another world."

"Airplanes are what I studied in the final years of my education. I always wanted to be what's called 'an engineer.' An engineer is someone who uses ingenuity to solve problems. There are many different kinds of engineers, but I wanted to design and fly airplanes. I had recently completed my education and got my first job in the field and I was doing that for about a year when there was an accident involving me and five other men. I think I died, but I have no idea how I got to this world. In any case, I woke up in a clearing in the forest not far from Villa Hermosa. I met a man who introduced me to Santiago who got me a job here. And that's how I arrived at your manor house."

"Incredible," was all she could say for a few moments. Then she shook her head and remarked, "There is magic in this world that we do not understand. Maybe some magic spell brought you here. Regardless, now I know that it would be a terrible waste for you to go get a job anywhere or even remain at your present post. Do you still want to make and fly these airplanes? And what of those five other men involved in the accident with you?"

"I want to make and fly airplanes more than anything else," he asserted sincerely. "In my world, there are no monsters, demon lords or magic. Just humans and our ingenuity. This world is strange to me but I'm still me. And I want to fly. But there's a part of American culture that I want to tell you about."

"And what is that?" she beckoned to continue.

"Americans don't leave our own behind. At least not when we have the means to recover them. I'm confident that one man of those five is now dead, having not survived the accident. But I have to find the other four, wherever they are, and expend every effort to get those men home. I'll need to travel far and fast to find them, and I believe that the airplane is how I'll do it."

"Wouldn't you like to go home too?" sensibly asked the countess. Her tone was laced with sympathy and her gaze was soft.

Jules sighed and confessed, "I would like to if at all possible. But I don't see any reason why I can't introduce a few new things to this world while I'm here. There are many devices from my home that can greatly improve people's quality of life here. But, what I know best is airplanes, so I'll be focusing on those."

"I believe that anything you could teach us would be a blessing. If airplanes are your offering, then we of Erde, this world, would be foolish to not accept it. Now, do you even think it's even possible to gather all the materials you would need to build an airplane? The science clearly works out. But we don't have fancy technology like internal combustion engines and I don't know what these machines are made out of."

Now it was his turn to lean backwards. He crossed his arms and performed a classical engineering technique, called the "sanity check." A sanity check is a mental exercise that can be used to determine if an idea or result makes sense given an engineer's knowledge and intuition. He considered what he'd need to build a basic airplane. He'd need wood and fabric. Given that he woke up in a forest and all the people he's met so far are clothed, albeit sometimes scantily so, he can source those things. He'd need metal. From Carlos' navaja and the tools around Wilhelmina's home, there's metal. He'd have at least iron. Steel might take some doing and he felt it safe to assume he could get copper without too much trouble. It's aluminum and other metals that would be tougher to source. Not to mention magnets. What was harder was fuel. He asked, "Do you know of any black liquid that has been found bubbling up from the ground or found in mines?"

"Black liquid?" she asked for confirmation.

"Yeah. It's black and can burn when lit on fire. We call it 'crude oil' or 'petroleum' in my world."

"Yes there is some. We call it "petroleum" too. It floods mines on occasion and ruins the ore extraction. It isn't very common, but then again, very few people are actively looking for it. Some people refine small batches of it and use it for lanterns, but the smell it makes turns many away and it's difficult to transport because it's a liquid."

Starting to get excited, Jules asked, "Do you know of any places to get petroleum, either refined or crude, around here?"

"Not that I know of," she said, dampening his mood.

He thought a bit more on the subject of fuel for an airplane and pondered options. Esoteric metals and fuel would be hard to source. Are there any alternate sources to these things that he can think of? The sanity check resumed and he sat up quickly making the old woman smile at his energy. He asked, "Do you know what coal is?"

"Yes I do. It's commonly used by people to cook their food and warm their homes during the winter when wood is difficult to gather. Smiths and other metal workers also use it for their forges and furnaces. Furthermore, Andalus is famous for how rich in coal it is."

"There's a chemical method that can turn coal into a liquid fuel. Is it hard to get coal around Villa Hermosa?"

"Not difficult at all."

Jules found a potential solution to his other problems of esoteric materials. If he was in a fantasy world, then why not take advantage of that? He answered, "Perfect. But I have one other question. Centuries before I was born, there were people who attempted to learn alchemy. But because there is no magic where I came from, they didn't succeed. However, many of the lessons learned at that time would evolve into chemistry. Does alchemy exist in Erde?"

Wilhelmina smiled widely and said, "Yes. Alchemy does exist. It melds magic with science, so I don't teach it. But I do know of one alchemist here in Villa Hermosa. If you know the process of turning coal into fuel, then he can help you."

Jules could barely contain his excitement. The dream was still alive. His wings were not clipped and with time and resources, he could take to the skies once again.

"Now Jules," levelly spoke the countess, demanding his attention. "You have a unique gift that can impact this world for the better. I believe that it would be wise for you to pursue this. As such, I'm prepared to make you an offer. If you accept, you will no longer be my footman. But you will remain on the house staff as you work and I will fund the construction of one airplane on good faith. If you can demonstrate to me that it works as you say it will, I will then give you a loan to begin your own business of building and using these airplanes. As it is a loan, I will expect full repayment. If you fail, then you will continue on as my footman. Do you agree to this offer?"

Faith can be a funny thing. Faith has to deal with the belief of things which are not seen. This offer showed the countess' faith in Jules' pitch. But this was not something unseen. This was science. And the facts were there. Jules had the knowledge and even though he was no machinist, he had the willingness to experiment and learn. He knew he could make an airplane. And now he had the opportunity. He couldn't help but find parallels between his situation and the story of Geoffry de Havilland, an aviation pioneer and fellow engineer. In 1920, de Havilland took an advance on his inheritance from his grandmother to help fund the creation of the company that would bear his name. The rest was history. For Jules, history laid ahead.

Jules considered this offer carefully. The possibilities scared him somewhat because this was a big life decision. But what scared him more was the idea of possibly remaining a manservant for the rest of his days.

He said, "With time, I will revolutionize the way people live their lives. I accept your offer."

"Good," answered Wilhelmina. "You have work to do."

XXXXXXXX

"I must say that you remind me of one of my younger brothers," Santiago began, interrupting the silence between them as the two men walked along a dirt road leaving the town.

Rather than immediately discount the older man, Jules asked, "What makes you say that?"

"My brother always talked about wanting to find what he called his 'calling' in life. This search took him many places to try many things before finally settling down."

Jules felt the need to tread carefully with his next words. "I suppose you're saying that because I've had three jobs in as many weeks?"

"Yes. But know this. I love my brother. And I've always tried to see things through his eyes so that I could understand him. I suspect that you're like him—a man in motion. Always with somewhere to go chasing after something."

Under normal circumstances, Santiago couldn't have been more wrong about Jules. Jules was the kind of person that preferred to chill on his days off, spending his time reading or on the internet. Jules' greatest bliss was peace of mind and he did not revel in discomfort. Pursuing long term goals was one thing, but as the saying goes, "slow and steady wins the race." He didn't make it a habit of sticking his neck out when he could get away with keeping his head down.

But those days were gone. Whether he liked it or not, Jules had goals that required discomfort. He had to find the other men that went down in the KC-46 with him. And he had to find a way home. And he knew that the airplane would be his salvation in both. This new world, Erde, was a big place, Wilhelmina had said to him. He needed to travel far and quickly. And besides, if he loved airplanes so much and knew the engineering behind building them, what reason did he have to not take a shot at building them? Maybe if he played his cards right, Jules could make a somewhat comfortable life for himself as he searched.

"I definitely understand the need to look for something. So, I guess I am a man in motion like your brother," admitted Jules. "But in my defense, I hadn't intended to leave my position as a footman this quickly. However, only a fool would refuse an offer as generous as the Countess gave me."

Santiago's tone turned a bit gruff and he stated, "I am somewhat upset to have already lost such a promising hire and even more upset to have you possibly waste the countess' fortune for whatever this venture is. You're very fortunate, Mister Langley. The Countess trusts your words, but rest assured that I will be paying very close attention to your activities at our destination."

"Your concern is completely understandable. Truth be told, I'm shocked the Countess decided to finance this idea of mine. And somehow, I will repay the money she loans for this endeavor."

"Good," stated Santiago.

The duo carried on walking along the dirt road leading out of Villa Hermosa. Jules enjoyed the nature and the sound of the wind rustling the trees along with the scent of the air around him. The addition of the morning sun warming things without making it stiflingly hot was an added bonus. This was one thing that Villa Hermosa had over where Jules lived in Southern California. The area around Villa Hermosa was so green and beautiful and not nearly as oppressively hot.

"Where are we going?" finally asked Jules. All he had been told was that a suitable place for him to work had been found.

"There is a sawmill that was recently abandoned a half-hour's walk outside of the town. Most of its tools have been taken out, but the water wheel that powered it still turns."

"I see," said Jules. "That'll do nicely. Are there open spaces nearby?"

"Yes. It's in a large meadow on the banks of the Rio Gila."

Jules smiled widely out of unexpected recognition. The Arizona native was very aware of the Gila River that flowed through that state. Having another Gila River in Andalus on a whole other planet certainly was a cosmic coincidence.

"Perfect," stated Jules.

"I'm glad to hear that. Giving you the best chance to succeed means a greater chance of the Countess' funds not being wasted." It was very practical thinking befitting of a butler, who had the duties of estate management in addition to more direct service. Santiago continued but with a changed subject, "However, I should make you aware that the Countess has instructed me to maintain the order for a navaja with the town's blacksmith and to search for an instructor." He then looped this information back into his original statement. "This is another part of why I say that you're a man in motion. From what I gather, you appear intent on setting out into the world and the Countess wishes to prepare you for that."

Jules admitted, "Even after the debt is repaid, I feel that I'll still owe her so much for her kindness."

Santiago chuckled unexpectedly. "I feel the same way. Somehow I feel that she serves me more than I serve her. And I'm her head butler!"

The duo continued in idle chatter until they left the road among the trees to enter into a massive clearing. Even though Santiago had called it large, he hadn't done its size justice. If Jules were to estimate, he'd say that the wonderfully flat meadow was several miles across from where he stood before the treeline began. However, it wasn't quite as wide. The clearing was roughly rectangular, with trees bordering three of the sides, the two shorter ones and one of the longer sides. The final long side was on the banks of the Rio Gila and was devoid of trees.

At that moment, Jules seemed to have a vision fueled by his imagination. He heard the rumbling of piston-engined airplanes taxiing to and taking off from a runway following the length of the meadow. He saw hangers and a terminal with workers and passengers going to and fro. It was an almost quasi-spiritual moment for him and he knew deep within himself that this was the perfect place for him to start.

"Does this place have a name?" Jules asked.

"It doesn't. Everyone in the town just associates it with the abandoned saw mill."

"I'd like to call this place, 'Kitty Hawk,'" said Jules.

"That's a bizarre name. Why call it that?"

"It's distinct. And I like the sound of it."

"Very well. I will call this meadow 'Kitty Hawk' from now on."

Kitty Hawk. It would be the birthplace of heavier-than-air aviation in Erde just as much as it had been on Earth.

Part of the way along the banks of the river was a large wooden structure. If Jules were to hazard a guess, it was two or maybe three stories tall and it was perhaps fifty yards long. It had been carefully painted white and stood as the sole testament that people had ever been to this place.

Santiago and Jules approached and Santiago said, "The countess had me go down to the town's magistrate and she purchased a land grant of this place for your venture."

Jules looked at the butler, positively stunned and with his mouth agape in amazement. Even without building the airplane itself, this loan was quickly ballooning out of control.

Santiago saw this alarm and started to speak to comfort Jules. "Fear not. Because this place is abandoned and it's too far from the town, nobody wants it. The land and the sawmill were surprisingly cheap. For what it is, this place was a bargain."

"I suppose that helps a bit," strained out Jules.

"Think of it this way. It shows how much faith the Countess is putting in you. That said, it is in all our best interests for you to not fail."

"You don't have to tell me twice," said Jules.

They approached one end of the building that had massive sliding doors that was easily fifty feet wide and were nearly as tall as the building. But there was also a much smaller doorway that Santiago homed in on. He produced a key from his pocket and put it into a lock on the smaller door and twisted it before pulling it open. He gestured for Jules to enter into the building first.

Most of the building was a single big empty space. On the side of the building facing the river, the end of the waterwheel turned away with a massive gear that seemed to plead for a job to do. Jules stepped in further, casting his eyes from one end of the mill to the other. It still smelled of freshly cut wood even after all the time it had been abandoned. And true to Santiago's word, the internal space was devoid of tools. Whenever it was abandoned, whoever it used to belong to took all the more expensive machinery with them, leaving an empty husk. There was a stairwell nearby the door that the duo entered into that led to an enclosed loft.

Jules inspected the stairs looking for any termite damage. He saw none and began up the stairs. As he ascended, he looked out over the empty floor and was again carried away in a vision of his own imagination. He saw two half-assembled airplanes and their mechanics milling about and machining parts for the wondrous vehicles. It was far from the multi-mile assembly lines of airplane manufacturers on Earth, but it was a start that filled him with excitement.

At the top of the stairs, Jules opened a door into what was once clearly an office. Again, it was devoid of any evidence of having been previously inhabited. Here, Jules imagined cadres of engineers pouring over drawings and discussing solutions to problems in their latest designs. He imagined himself among them, leaning over a table and inspecting his work. That version of himself that Jules imagined was happy with the knowledge that he was doing as he said he would and was revolutionizing the way people lived their lives.

Jules turned to Santiago who remained in the doorway while Jules stood in the center of the office. With a massive smile on his face and glee in his voice, Jules proclaimed, "This will do perfectly."

XXXXXXXX

Even though he now had a place to work, Jules still had his duties as a footman pending the actual start of construction of his first airplane. Nevertheless, that did little to dampen his spirits and his giddiness shone on his face. A few hours after returning from Kitty Hawk, Jules was assigned to join Roman, a fellow servant, on a trip to the town square of Villa Hermosa to shop for food to be used in the Countess's kitchen. However, Roman was also to point out four specific businesses that Jules would be working with to build his first airplane. These would be the carpenter, the weaver, the blacksmith, and the alchemist.

"What's up with you?" Roman prodded Jules as they stood side-by-side pulling the handcart they would be using to move all the groceries that the two would be buying.

"Huh?" Jules asked dumbly, having been shaken from his thoughts. He looked towards his coworker. By appearances, Roman seemed to be several years Jules' junior, and like many Andalusian men that he'd seen so far, he had a tan complexion with dark hair and brown eyes. And similar to the men he'd met so far, Roman was also about a head shorter than Jules was.

"You've had this dumb grin on your face ever since I saw you an hour ago," said Roman to explain himself. But in the short time Roman and Jules had known each other, they'd been able to foster a friendship. With this in mind, Roman didn't hesitate to rib Jules by adding on, "If you're really just that happy to see me, I'm sorry to say that I don't swing that way."

Jules deliberately made a disgusted sound and replied, "I don't swing that way either. But now I'm a bit worried that you're getting funny ideas."

"I see what you're doing here. You're trying to deflect this on me. But it isn't going to work. Besides, you don't have to worry at all. There's way too many pretty señoritas in the world to consider any other way. At least that's how I see things."

"Fair enough," said Jules.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Now's the part when you tell me what's got you smiling so much," informed Roman.

Only a few seconds of silence passed before Jules shrugged his shoulders and decided to tell Roman what's got him smiling so much. After all, he doubted he would be able to construct an airplane in secret. "I convinced Countess Wilhelmina to let me try something really crazy."

"Yeah I heard that you got some one-on-one time with her last night."

"Yeah, I did. And I convinced her to finance me building a flying machine."

Roman stopped walking and the sudden stopping of the handcart forced the hip-high bar that Jules was pushing on to bump into him. Their eyes met again and Jules could see Roman's skepticism.

"A what?" said Roman.

"A flying machine. I've already decided that I'm going to call it an, 'Airplane.'"

Roman's skepticism persisted and it occurred to Jules that while heavier-than-air aviation was a reality to him, that wouldn't be the case for people in this new world.

"You're crazy. That's impossible," judged Roman.

"Come on man," said Jules to defend himself. "You haven't even heard me describe how it'll work."

"You have this all planned out then?"

"I sure do," said Jules confidently. "It'll have wings like a bird, a tail like one, and it'll use something I'll be inventing in order to make it move forward so that it can fly. I also have ideas for how I can control what direction it flies while in the air."

"I still don't know if I believe you," admitted Roman.

"Look. I know that I'm doing a really bad job of describing it to you right now, but I promise that as it starts to get put together, it'll make a lot more sense. And when it gets off the ground, I know that airplanes have the potential to change the world as we know it."

Roman hummed for a few seconds, torn between the logic that he'd grown up with and the fanciful idea that maybe Jules was right. He looked up to the sky and witnessed its blue expanses inhabited only by puffy white clouds. "I'm a seeing-is-believing kind of guy. And right now, I don't see anything. But, what the hell? If you're some kind of tinkerer, knock yourself out."

"Thanks Roman. I'm sure that as something starts coming together, you'll start seeing things my way. Oh, and I'm not a tinkerer. I'm an engineer."

"And the difference is?"

"A tinkerer just messes around with stuff trying to fix it. An engineer actually solves problems using ingenuity and knowledge."

"Eeeeeeh…" drawled Roman, not really seeing the difference.

"Don't worry about it. Just please don't call me a tinkerer."

The duo resumed their journey towards the town square and before long, Roman finally responded with, "Well, if you say so."

"Again, thank you," said Jules plainly.

Immediately after that, Roman resumed asking questions. "What's the airplane going to look like?"

That was a good question. Jules had already decided that any airplane that would be the first would have to be really simple, so had made the decision to go with a small biplane that would take after many of the fighters from World War 1. Jules opened his mouth and tried to give words to his vision. "The person flying the airplane, the pilot, is going to be sitting inside a long body that will be only a little bit wider than his shoulders. The body will be deep enough so that as he's sitting, his head and shoulders will still be sticking out so he can see where he's going. In front of the pilot on the body, there will be two pairs of wings. One pair will be below, and the other on top. These wings will be kind of boxy shaped instead of that kind of sweep that we see on birds. At the back of the body will be a smaller pair of wings and a fin sticking upwards that will help with controlling the airplane. At the very front of the plane, a final pair of wings will be spinning really fast that will pull the airplane forward and through the air. It'll mostly be made of wood and fabric but with some metal in there too. There's a lot of science that I'm skipping over, but this is the basic idea."

"You know, hearing you make it sound like you have a good idea really helps me give you the benefit of a doubt."

"Once again, thank you."

"That explains why you're going to the weaver, the blacksmith, and the carpenter. But why do you need an alchemist?"

"You know how you need food or you'll start getting hungry and get tired with lots of work?"

"Yeah?"

"An airplane will be the same way. It'll need something to fuel it so that the spinning pair of wings at the front can keep pulling it through the air. I need to talk to the alchemist so that I can get him to make the fuel I need."

"Ahhhh. Okay. I think I see what you're talking about," said Roman. But then he continued saying, "But you're still crazy. What if it doesn't work? Aren't you scared of falling?"

Jules happened to already know what it was like to fall from the sky in an airplane. It wasn't what one would call a "good time" but the engineer was undaunted. He sat not just on a world changing invention but also a golden goose. He stood to make a lot of money if a business flying airplanes got off the ground. And plus, by traveling around the world to speak with different wizards, magicians, sorcerers, and scholars, Jules had the greatest chance of learning not only of the magic that he supposed had brought him to this world, but also if there may be a magic that could send him back home. Add onto that the fact that Jules had some man hunting to do for his pilot, copilot, boom operator, and test conductor. Jules said, "There definitely is a risk involved. But I'll be honest with you. I'm even more scared of things staying the way that they are. You might be content staying a servant your whole life, but I'm not. And now that the Countess has given me the mother of all chances, only a fool would turn that down."

That seemed to strike a chord with Roman who became silent. Jules could tell that he was asking himself if he really was content staying a servant for the rest of his life. Finally he said, "If you do get your airplane to work, could you show me how to be a pilot?"

That was a very loaded request but Jules wasn't automatically against the idea. Besides, if he wanted to make a business out of flying airplanes, he'd have to hire extra people at some point. Why not start now? "I have a couple questions first," he said. "How good are you at following directions and rules?"

"I'm a servant, Jules. You don't stick around as long as I have without following them."

"Fair enough. But I had to ask. Can you read?"

"Yeah. The Countess teaches everyone who works for her how to read if they don't know already."

"Wow. Gotta say that I have an even better opinion of her now."

Roman affirmed, "The Countess is probably the nicest lady I've ever met that isn't my own mother."

Jules looked ahead and saw that the clock tower in the square was pretty far off, but one of the clock faces was in prime location to read the time. "One last question. Can you read what time it is from here? It's important for a pilot to be able to see clearly."

Roman looked ahead and with a smile on his face and zero hesitation he said, "It's 1:45 in the afternoon. So, does this mean you can teach me how to be a pilot?"

"Yes Roman, it does. But be aware that it will take some time. First I have to build the first airplane. Then I have to build another one that can actually carry stuff so that it can make money. But after that, you're on. I'll show you how to be a pilot."

Still smiling, Roman lightly punched Jules' shoulder and declared, "I knew you were a real one Jules. From the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew it."

Jules didn't even have time to respond when Roman suddenly picked up the pace to get to the square. "Come on! We gotta get you going and time is wasting away!"

It seemed that Roman wasn't very hard line on the idea that seeing is believing. But Jules didn't call attention to that. Instead, he dutifully picked up the pace.

XXXXXXXX

The town square of Villa Hermosa was dominated by three things. The first was the clock tower that towered above the other structures along with the attached building. The building itself was the repository of the town records along with a meeting chamber for the town council and the magistrate's office. It was creatively named "Clock Tower Hall," or at least that's what Roman called it. The second most imposing structure in the square was an extremely ornate brick and stone church. On the facade of the church were intricate carvings of pillars and a scene of a woman that appeared to descend from heaven with outstretched hands. These carvings were flanked by two bell towers that were decorated with equally fine workmanship.

"Well that sure isn't Jesus," mumbled Jules to himself after his view returned to the depiction of the woman descending from heaven. But then he pondered his own knowledge of Earth's history. The Catholic Church was one of the greatest forces in Europe for almost 2,000 years. And when national borders and languages divide, it was possible for faith to unite from time to time. Taking this in mind, plus the knowledge that it was this "Order" that opposed the Demon Lord, did that mean that the Order was a church? Jules was confident enough that it was that he asked Roman, "Just to make sure, that's The Order church here in Villa Hermosa, right?"

"Sure is," answered Roman mindlessly. He was busy trying to navigate the third thing that dominated the square. And that was the crowd. There were a lot of people seemingly everywhere. Stalls lined the outer perimeter with many shoppers at each one. People milled about with baskets full of their purchased goods and several gaggles of children ran around. One group all around the age of ten was kicking a ball around. A trio of younger children were having the time of their life chasing and trying to catch pigeons before they would take off and fly away.

Spurred on by Roman's excitement, Jules didn't get to take in much more of the sights despite how much he wanted to. Quickly, the handcart was filled with all the various groceries that all the people living in Wilhelmina's manor home would need for the next few days. Roman made absolutely certain to point out all the shops that Jules was looking to do business with in order to get his airplane off the ground.

When the shopping was done, Roman gladly took the cart and left the square to return to Wilhelmina's manor. For the first time in several weeks, Jules found himself alone. Or at least as alone as being surrounded by people minding their own business would allow him to be. Jules looked around and decided he would visit the weaver first.

The weaver was unaccustomed to having bulk orders like Jules was trying to place. Fortunately for him, enough canvas to fully rig a small sailing ship was something that the weaver was willing to barter a price for. Perhaps this is what the weaver had supposed Jules wanted to do because the lady didn't question what he was going to do with all the fabric he wanted. They bartered back and forth a few times before coming upon an agreed price. But before the deal was sealed, the weaver sent out an employee to fetch a notary from Clock Tower Hall to serve as a witness for this large transaction. Quickly, the notary arrived and witnessed the deal while writing down its details. Jules was to pay half the sum now and the other half upon completion of the order. Jules took from a satchel a sack of coins and carefully counted out the agreed upon price. The deal was completed, they thanked the notary who then left, and the weaver told Jules to come back in several weeks to pick up the order.

Next up was the carpenter. As it turned out, the carpenter was much more accustomed to orders of raw lumber. Not wanting to cheap out on a building material that he would literally be trusting his life with, Jules placed an order for what he supposed would be enough high quality planks and beams of wood. Furthermore, he placed an order for a large drawing board. Because using a computer aided design software like SolidWorks or CATIA was out of the question given the circumstances, it looked like Jules was to do engineering the way God intended, that is with paper and pencil. This time without a notary present, the transaction was completed and the carpenter only needed to know where to drop off the supplies and if Jules wanted to hire any labor to assist with his project. Jules tentatively turned down the offer of labor and told the carpenter of the old sawmill along the river just outside of the town. Even though the carpenter gave him an incredulous look, he relented and told Jules he would meet him at the sawmill in a few days.

The blacksmith was perfectly willing to part with already smelted iron and copper for a bartered price. And then getting woodworking and metalworking tools was easy enough. In the fastest transaction so far, the blacksmith agreed to take the materials to the sawmill where Jules would be working. But as Jules was leaving the sweltering place, the smith stopped him with a question.

"You work for the Countess Wilhelmina don't you?"

A little perplexed, Jules replied, "Yeah. I do."

"Wait here a second, would you please?"

"Sure thing."

The blacksmith disappeared into the depths of his workshop but he returned in only a few seconds with an object that Jules recognized easily.

The blacksmith explained, "A few weeks ago, Santiago Justo put in an order for a new navaja. If you're already headed back to the Wilhelmina Manor, then could you please deliver this to him for me?"

"You're very trusting," remarked Jules. He already knew that this order was for him but the blacksmith's trust of a total stranger struck him as odd.

The blacksmith shrugged and said, "Well, you're wearing the uniform sash of the countess and you already paid me a lot of money for another job, so I don't think you're running off anywhere. I'll just ask Santiago if he ever got it the next time I see him."

"Makes sense to me. Sure, I'll make sure and get the navaja to him."

Jules was trying his hardest to not betray how awed he was to be getting his very own navaja. A juvenile part of him found the large knife to be very cool.

When the blacksmith held out the blade to Jules, he said, "Feel free to inspect it. I pride myself on how well I can forge a blade for any self respecting gentleman."

Jules took it in his hand and accepted the invitation to inspect it. The first thing that Jules noted was just how big it was. It was easily a foot long and quite weighty in his hands. He saw that it had dark brown wooden scales on its handle. The handle itself was thin, but it bulged towards the top and curved forward towards the bottom. There were sizable bolsters of polished silvery metal on the top and the bottom of the handle, both to add support to the rivets holding the blade together and to help protect the wooden scales. Keeping the blade folded still, Jules inspected how the blade rested in the handle. It was dead straight, not having a single point along all of the blade's length where it rubbed against the metallic liner underneath the scales and bolsters. At the top of the blade on the back, there was a free-floating lever that would disengage the navaja's ratcheting locking mechanism. Jules pressed down on the back of the blade itself and wiggled it a bit in different directions. There was no give whatsoever to the solidly built weapon.

Finally, Jules unfolded the navaja. The mechanism that would lock the blade open ratcheted loudly before the blade settled at its full length. Again, he was taken aback at how massive the blade was. It was made of metal that gleamed with equal splendor to the bolsters and it had a saber grind for its edge bevel and a mild clip point. Again, he tried to wiggle the blade and found it to be solid as a rock. Finally, Jules held the navaja with the blade pointing upwards and he looked down its length and found its edge to be just as straight as the rest of the blade. Carefully, Jules pushed the free-floating lever and disengaged the ratcheting lock and closed the knife.

Finally looking back to the blacksmith, who was smiling smugly, Jules said, "From what I can tell, you have every right to pride yourself on your workmanship."

"I should hope so!" softly exclaimed the blacksmith. "I've spent years perfecting my craft and Mr. Justo paid for a quality product. And so, I deliver quality products. If the blade is oiled regularly and kept sharp, its steel will last a lifetime. Oh, and here. I throw in a sharpening stone with every purchase of a new navaja." That blacksmith took out a flat circular stone from a pocket on his leather apron and held it out to Jules.

Jules took the sharpening stone and said, "Thank you. Well, I suppose that closes our business for the day?"

"Yes it does. Please look forward to your order of iron and copper. I'll get it to you in three days."

"Thank you," said Jules as he left for his last stop of the day, the alchemist's shop.