"...We told her we think we are not like American children and you have told her many times that you want to fight Hell."

" - yes but at the time she did not seem to understand."

"I think maybe she understands what words will make us happy to hear them and does not understand or agree with what the words mean. And said the words because she wants us to be happy children."

" - I don't think so but I acknowledge that not having thought of that was very stupid of me."

"I think usually people do not start understanding you and agreeing with you very quickly and all at once. And if someone is telling you all the things that would make you happiest to hear, it is usually a trick?"

" - I think that most people do not think about if they should fight Hell and if they thought about it, they'd realize they absolutely should if they could win, and America is - rich like Azlant, rich enough to make those powers that are the enemies of humankind afraid. And so it makes sense that if you tell them they should, they'd - realize you were right. And I think Evelyn has been trying to be honorable the whole time, and starting to lie to us would be a change in her character in a way where changing her mind about whether I had a point wouldn't be."

"I am not sure Americans know what honor is any more than they know that some animals talk."

" - okay, that is fair. I think the doctor knew a little bit about honor, and I think Evelyn knows a little bit, but - not very much. The gods cannot pick paladins here, they would all fall at once. ...I still think Evelyn knows enough about honor to not lie about whether she thinks we should fight Hell and whether she thinks we are not like American children, which in any event you don't have to be all that smart to see."

"I think she is acting like a person who wants that we think she is our friend. Sometimes people who want that you think they are your friend want that because they are your friend, but sometimes not and I do not know Evelyn long enough to tell which she is."

"You think we should not explain anything? If she is a friend she would be a lot of help keeping it secret from everyone else."

"I do not know how much is a good idea to explain and - If we explain a thing to Evelyn we cannot unexplain it later."

"I do not mean to speak of it while you think it is unwise. Being wrong that it is safe would put you in great danger."

"...If you think it is wise to tell Evelyn some thing you should tell her that thing. It does not matter what I think is wise, if you have heard what I think and you think something else still."

"I think that is not always true? I think it is sometimes true, but I think there are some decisions that are big enough that one should not make it given dissent even if unpersuaded by the dissent. - for example, if I was very sure it was good for you to treat you as an American child, I still shouldn't, if you are not persuaded by my arguments."

"...maybe. But I did not say, 'No, do not tell Evelyn that' - I only said 'I do not know how much it is wise to explain yet, and we can not unexplain things, so I think it is wise to not explain yet'. I was not trying to say 'No, do not explain yet.' "

" - yes, I noticed the difference, and I thought that maybe it was because you were afraid to say 'no', even if you thought 'no', so I wanted to say - well firstly that I think your reasoning is probably good and I am probably convinced, and separately that I have been thinking of this as a decision I would be unlikely to make over your active opposition because it affects you so much, and so if you wanted to say 'no', it seemed to me a situation where you are entitled to."

"I am not afraid of you. If you are being very stupid I will say 'no, do not do that'."

"Thank you. I think that listening to you when you say 'no, do not do that' will get me more of what I want than not listening, so I mean to listen, even when I'm not persuaded, if it's important enough. - that is not a promise, that is saying what I intend, and I'm not promising about telling Evelyn about Taldor either. But I think you're probably right, and separately I think we ought to both agree before we say anything. So I won't say anything. About Taldor or about how animals definitely talk sometimes or about how sorcerers are not in fact pretend."

"It is hard to not say things by accident because - every time there is a new thing, that I think is normal and everywhere, but they do not have it in America or they are hiding it in America. Like there are 'bears' here but they never talk except in lying books, and there are wolves and moonwolves but maybe not barghests or cougars, There are elephants but they are all bald. Or maybe they are not all bald, but if I ask 'Are all the elephants here bald?' then it is suspicious if it is true that nobody has heard of a normal elephant."

"Yes. And I would never have guessed that the animals talking was not understood to be true, because it was in the books, or - Harry Potter was an illusion-play about some sorcerers at a very impressive ancient school of magic, and Evelyn and Jeremy explained that it was a pretend story but I thought that meant that the specific events of the story - where a powerful evil sorcerer tried to kill a baby but it didn't work - hadn't happened, not that sorcerers are believed to not exist."

"It is things like that that make me think - maybe America had sorcerers and talking animals, and then some evil presidents killed them all or drove them away, and the stories are still there but - people have never seen a sorcerer or a talking animal so they think they are all pretend and not just old."

"If all the sorcerers and talking animals are hiding they are probably wise to be hiding. - in Harry Potter that was what the play said happened, it said that all the sorcerers had decided to hide, and had built buildings right alongside normal buildings that only people who could see magic could see. I don't know if that's actually a thing you can do with magic. Probably."

"Oh! Maybe I should look for them. That is one of the spells in the book, seeing magic."

"Oh good! Then you should look for them. Things will make lots more sense if we find them."

"It would be strange and stupid if there were people who knew a lot of magic and hid themselves away with magic and then wrote illusion-plays about how they did it. But I guess sometimes people with lots of magic think they can do anything and nobody can stop them and do stupid things that get them found."