Oz said to the Tin Woodman: "You and the Scarecrow, come see me tomorrow. A good heart always takes time to carve."
The Tin Woodman happily withdrew.
Next to step forward was the Lion.
Upon seeing such a robust Lion approaching him, Oz's eyes visibly widened a little, but his expression immediately returned to calm.
The Lion said, "I am a cowardly Lion, afraid of many things, even startled by creatures much smaller than myself. I have come to you, hoping you will grant me courage, so I can become a true King of Beasts, just like you, who rules over this beautiful land!"
Oz pondered for a moment, then also told the Lion to come back to him tomorrow.
Finally, Pinocchio stepped forward:
"Great Oz, as you can see, I am a puppet. The Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow only want a part of a human, but I want to become a real boy! That way, I will have not only a human brain but also a human heart."
Oz said:
"Your wish is more troublesome. Turning you into a real boy is certainly much more difficult than giving you a brain or a heart. I'm not sure if I can help you. However, you can come back to me tomorrow, and I will give you an answer then."
Lastly, Aurora had merely followed her companions to see Oz and had no wish of her own.
So, everyone withdrew together.
Leaving the magnificent room with the Emerald Throne, the group walked down the corridor, discussing what had just transpired.
"I never thought the great and fearsome Oz would be like this! He looks completely like a kind and benevolent old man," Dorothy said in surprise.
Before visiting Oz, she had thought Oz was either as fearsome and majestic as everyone said, or, as Maglido had said, a cunning and deceitful swindler.
But just now, the short old man had left her with a very good impression.
"He is also a genuine, true-to-life magician," said the Lion.
He recalled the scene of Oz using magic, which was truly wondrous.
"He is no trickster using magic," the Tin Woodman also said, "His magic must be more powerful than the Eastern Witch who cursed me."
The Scarecrow concluded, "Only such a king can allow the people of Emerald City to live in happiness and tranquility."
...
After everyone had left, Oz sat back on the Emerald Throne.
The little pigeon that had been hiding in the corner of the room flew over and, in a cloud of white mist, transformed into the silver-haired youth.
"It seems you left them with a very good impression. They all like you and genuinely believe you are a great yet kind magician," said Rhine.
Oz nodded with considerable satisfaction:
"This is all thanks to you, my teacher. If it weren't for you, I would surely have acted mysterious, scared them with a terrifying magical image, and fobbed them off."
He then asked:
"Teacher, how should I fulfill the wishes of the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow, the Woodman, and the Lion?"
—Oz had dared to agree to their requests earlier because Rhine had told Oz he would cover for him.
By the way, Oz referred to Pinocchio as the Woodman; in his opinion, this puppet belonged to the same category as the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow.
Rhine smiled.
He recalled Oz's eventual solutions in the original story, but it seemed the current Oz had not yet thought of them.
"Am I supposed to tell the current Oz the ideas that the future Oz will come up with?" Rhine found this somewhat amusing.
"Oz, you should have realized, shouldn't you? The Scarecrow doesn't truly lack a brain, and the Tin Woodman doesn't truly lack a heart—if he truly had no heart, how could he travel half the country to Emerald City because he loved someone?"
Oz seemed to understand.
At this moment, Aurora also returned, pushing the door open:
"Teacher, what you said is true. All along the way, I've felt that, apart from Pinocchio's and Dorothy's wishes which genuinely require magic to fulfill, the remaining three companions simply lack confidence."
Rhine then told Oz:
"Tomorrow, I will go with you to fulfill their wishes. You just need to do this...
"Before that, I will first fulfill Dorothy's wish to go home..."
...
A Soldier led Dorothy to a room door:
"The teacher of the Great Oz, the great magician Rhine, is inside." After saying this, the Soldier departed.
Dorothy politely knocked, and saw the door open by itself.
"Hello, great magician Rhine!" Dorothy sincerely requested, "Are you Aurora's and Oz's teacher? Can you send me back to my hometown?"
"Hello, Dorothy, I have heard of your deeds." Rhine smiled.
He took out a pair of silver shoes:
"Aurora has already seen me before and gave me the shoe she was carrying, so now both shoes are complete. These shoes have great magic and can go anywhere in the world within three steps. I can use the shoes' magic to take you home."
After speaking, Rhine took off his slippers, slipped his bare feet into the silver shoes, placed one hand on Dorothy's shoulder, then clicked the heels of the shoes together, and said:
"Please take us back to Dorothy's hometown."
A silver wind swirled around Rhine and Dorothy.
Dorothy only felt the world spinning and heard the sound of the strong wind whistling in her ears.
After Rhine had taken three steps, the two landed steadily on the ground.
"Oh my goodness!"
Dorothy saw that she was standing on a large prairie, directly in front of the new house her uncle had built after the old one was blown away by the storm.
"I'm home!"
Her uncle was milking a cow in front of the barn, still unaware that Dorothy had returned home.
The little dog Toto jumped out of Dorothy's arms, barking happily.
Just then, Aunt Em came out of the house, about to wash cabbage, and looked up to see Dorothy and Toto running towards her.
"My dear child!" Aunt Em exclaimed in surprise, "Where did you run back from?"
Dorothy hugged her aunt:
"I just came back from Oz Country, and so did Toto. It's so good to be home!"
"What is that place?" Aunt Em asked, "And how did you get back?"
"The kind magician Rhine used his magic to send me back!" Dorothy replied joyfully, turning her head and pointing behind her:
"Look, magician Rhine is right there... Uh, where did he go?"
The prairie behind them was empty; the silver-haired youth was long gone.
"As a great magician, Rhine probably left already. He has those silver shoes that can take him anywhere in the world within three steps."
Dorothy said with some sadness; she had hoped her uncle and aunt could meet the amazing magician.
"Rhine?" Aunt Em pondered the familiar name, then suddenly jolted, "The Sage of Rose Kingdom and White Kingdom?"
"Auntie, you know him?" Dorothy looked up curiously.
She didn't know much about these matters, only that Rhine was Aurora's and Oz's teacher.
"Of course, the magician's story is very famous," Aunt Em said.
"Can you tell it to me?" Dorothy's curiosity was instantly piqued, and she said excitedly.
"That would probably take several hours to tell." Aunt Em hugged Dorothy tightly, stroking the girl's head, "First, tell me about your experiences in that place called Oz Country."
Dorothy then began to recount her adventures in Oz Country, mentioning the Scarecrow who wanted a brain and the Tin Woodman who wanted a heart, mentioning the Woodman whose nose grew long when he lied, mentioning the cowardly Lion, mentioning the kind and lovely Aurora with her strange strength, mentioning the benevolent and kind magician Oz, and the shared teacher of Oz and Aurora—magician Rhine...
"Okay, Auntie, I've finished my story. Now it's time for you to tell me about magician Rhine's past."
"In the North, there is a Rose Kingdom. One day, a magician came to the kingdom's forest..."
...
Feeling Dorothy's surging wish power, Rhine returned to Oz Country.
"Dorothy has gone home too..."
Rhine looked up at the azure sky above.
Will I be able to go home soon too?
"I need to find a way to quickly catch Maleficent, and before killing her, I must find a way to contact the founder of the Witch Society from her!"