“Hey! Watch where you’re walking!” shouted a man pulling a cart filled to the brim with dull grey ingots.

Vesper dropped his ‘book’ and dodged the cart, yanking Siora out of its trajectory. Princesses weren’t invincible to carts loaded to the brim with dull grey ingots. Vesper knew that much, in fact; most people knew that. What Vesper knew that most people didn’t was that running over a princess with a cart loaded to the brim with dull grey ingots was poor form. So much so that there would even be consequences if Siora was run over.

“Shields! Where I can buy the cheapest shields,” Vesper hollered. He figured that the sooner he could buy what he was looking for, the better.

Few people could hear Vesper over the constant banging of metal, and most of those select few who heard him didn’t deal in shields. Shields were for wealthy adventurers and spoiled noble brats who were too lazy to dodge. Shields didn’t stop some slimy thug from sticking a dagger through your back. And the shields the poor could afford were more like a comforting trinket than a practical way of blocking weapons.

“You want shields?” asked a shifty-looking guy in leather armor. His eyes seemed to wander as if he was being watched.

“Do you?” asked Vesper.

“I do. Paper shields, wooden shields, cloth shields, meat shields…”

“Meat Shields? Like made out of meat?” asked Siora.

“Well, sort of…”

“What do you mean, sort of?”

“It would probably be for the best if we stuck to something we intend to buy,” interrupted Vesper. Some things were better off left unknown. Vesper had learned that knowing some things, like knowing what Fartmor was doing, for example, could lead to bad outcomes.

“Well, I want to know-”

Vesper pinched Siora.

“Ow!” she said. She kicked Vesper’s heel, causing him to hop on one foot for a few seconds.

“What type of shields do you have that would be made of wood and are throwable?” Vesper asked.

“Hmm. I have an old Makeshift Kobald [Valkyrie] shield that might work. Do you mind if there is a hole in the center of the shield? I heard that a rival Lizardman punched the hole through it with his fist.”

“Umm, cool. That might work. Mind if we give it a test run?” Vesper asked.

“Of course, I mind. What if you test run the shield and damage it! No, I sell my shields sight unseen.”

“It already has a hole in it.”

“Exactly, that’s why I don’t want you putting another hole in it.”

Vesper was puzzled by this logic. Usually, the purpose of a shield was to block things, and here this shield dealer was saying it was easy to break. It wasn’t a good look for a shield dealer, Vesper supposed. He supposed that it would work for his purposes, though.

“How much for it?” Vesper asked.

“Well, it won’t be cheap. It is a [Valkyrie] owned shield.”

“It has a hole in the center of the shield. It’s useless for a shield.”

“How do you know that? How do you know it’s useless?” asked the dealer defensively, his hands moved to his hips.

“Can an archer shoot an arrow through that hole?” asked Vesper.

The dealer paused. “Well, I guess an archer could do that. But if an archer did that, it wouldn’t damage the shield.”

“True, but it would pierce the owner’s organs. I can offer you about ten copper for it. I doubt you’ve gotten many offers for that shield,” bargained Vesper.

“You’re right. I haven’t gotten many deals on this shield. Make it eleven, and I’ll give you the shield. Frankly, my bargain shield business hasn’t been the most profitable. Competition is fierce,” admitted the shield dealer. The dealer disappeared into a shop and ran out with a round shield.

Vesper handed the dealer eleven copper and took the shield from him. He examined it.

The wood was old, although still hard. The glaring problem with the shield was the large hole in the center. It was large enough for Vesper to fit his fist through it comfortably. The metal rim was smithed well, hinting that this shield was at one point a quality shield. Time had been cruel to the shield, though, adding many nicks and cracks from use.

Vesper went to go pick up his book. He heaved as he lifted it into his hands. The shield dealer winced as he watched Vesper drop the rock cosplaying as a book onto the shield. Vesper moved his book and picked up the shield. He flung to the other side of the alley.

“What are you doing, Vesper? You just bought that heap of junk. I understand tossing it away, but littering isn’t good. That’s how you get evil vengeance-seeking dryads to come after you,” admonished Siora.

“Why would vengeance-seeking dryads come after me? Last time I checked, dryads don’t live in cities, let alone human lands.”

“Well, that’s what one of my sisters, Susan, thought when she dumped some silver on the floor inside the Elven capital. Unfortunately, the coins rolled into the city’s sewers. An angry dryad jumped out of it and turned her feet into tree roots. The King’s mage was able to turn her roots back into feet but didn’t get the size right. She went from a size 7 to a size 11.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad. She got her feet back,” reckoned Vesper.

“She went from a size 7 to a size 11! She couldn’t even fit in her normal princess slippers! The gossip of big foot Susan was horrendous. The last rumors I’d heard was that she had to settle for a village head because no one wanted a princess with such large feet.”

“Why would anyone think that such large feet are a problem? Who even spends time thinking about feet? She can walk, right?” asked Vesper.

“Of course, she can walk, and it is a problem. You just wouldn’t understand. Princesses need to be meticulous and perfect.”

“Well, watch this,” said Vesper, changing the subject.

“[Shelve Book]”

The book screamed and hissed, vibrating with rage. It shook, levitating slightly off the ground.

Vesper and Siora backed away from the ‘book’.

“What is that thing doing?”

“I’m shelving it.”

“Are you sure demons do not possess it?”

“Not entirely, no. That’s probably unlikely.” Vesper did admit it looked like the book was, in fact, possessed by a demon, or at least what Vesper assumed something possessed by a demon might look like. He’d never seen something possessed by a demon.

BOOM. The binding of stone zipped across the ground, and before settling neatly on Vesper’s new shield.

“Hey! Stop messing about! This is a proper business district!” shouted a smith.

“Sorry!” Vesper shouted although he was anything but sorry. The shield had worked.

“So it works?” Siora asked as if she couldn’t believe what she’d seen. It wasn’t the flying book that surprised her; it was that Vesper had caused the book to fly that did it for her. He was a [Bookworm], and [Bookworms] weren’t meant to do something like this. It made Siora wonder how many other classes could be tweaked to serve another purpose. It made her think that she could possibly become more than an [Administrator]. Maybe she could even fulfill her crushed dream of becoming a [Plant Mage].

Siora squashed her wishful thinking. Wishful thinking always led to disappointment. This time would be no different.

“You think that’ll help us kill a Wyvern?” Siora asked Vesper.

“I guess we’ll find out.”