Chapter 2: A Mechanic in a Fantasy World

It's been about a month since Daniel was released from the castle to try to learn the language as quickly as possible and learn about the populace of the world he's in, since such knowledge can't be magically implanted into him due to his unique nature in this world.

His uniqueness, of course, is more of a curse. He can hold extremely basic conversations with people now, thanks mostly to children being eager to teach a rather dumb adult basic words, even if it's so they can laugh at him. He doesn't care. Children are children, and he's learning the language. 

However, what he also learned is that his maintenance and repair knowledge -a practiced skill after over a decade in the field in his old world- granted him skills in troubleshooting that carry over well even to magical equipment in the new world. Magic water heaters are basically a big basin that people fill with well water and wait for magic crystals to heat the water. Like contact level sensors, the crystals can become dirty and seem to be broken, but with a little elbow grease, the function will be restored. Additionally, descaling chemicals are unknown, but Daniel is able to make some basic ones out of some ingredients he's able to find; namely what he's pretty sure is this worlds equivalent to citric acid, though he has no idea of its full chemical structure. Regardless, the acid he's able to extract from fruit and reduce down by boiling rather easily removes scale from the casing of the crystals, which appear to be unscathed by even the longest acid baths. As such, the businesses that can afford to have the magic water heaters have been hiring him to clean their systems as his name spreads for repairing them for much cheaper than replacing the crystals or the units themselves.

There are wind-magic powered devices that circulate air through buildings, which also get dirty and reduce the blowing effect. He's able to set up some extremely basic filters with a couple layers of old fabric, which he cleans with homemade soap. The ingredients for both; scrap fabric and fats and oils, are generally waste products from what he's seen, so a basic request gets him the repulsive materials he needs to make his simple soap and fabric filters.

As such, he doesn't really feel the need to trek back to the castle, since he's been able to establish a footing and still had money left over by the time he became capable of working on equipment. Like his old life, the people using the devices generally have no idea how to explain what's wrong, beyond what the machine or device isn't doing that it's supposed to do, and Daniel has been able to troubleshoot.

Ecstatic, most of the customers have paid him what they want, and it's been surprisingly generous amounts, considering how simple some of the fixes were, which allows him to buy any ingredients that aren't waste for making cleaning chemicals and other useful maintenance substances.

He notices as he's walking through a store that books are somewhat of a commodity in this world, like ancient times of Earth, but the pages are clumsily bound by running a few loops of twine through holes meticulously made in each page. Thus, the pages don't line up very well, they tear out easily, and if the book is dropped or nearly-fumbled, many pages tend to rip out, no matter what efforts are made to prevent it.

Daniel speaks to the store owner about a book on display. It's a semi-expensive grimoire on basic magic spells, from what the title reads, which Daniel can make out about half of.

"Excuse me. That book there. How much is it?"

The store owner, a cat-faced man named Yargaen, has been one of the friendlier faces Daniel has become familiar with. He replies, "Got it listed for two hundred valden. Can't go much lower than that, so please don't ask."

Daniel nods thoughtfully. "If I bought it, could I resell it here?"

Surprised, Yargaen cocks his head. "You think I have it too cheap?"

Daniel has to repeat the phrases in his head, making sure it makes sense. He replies, "No, no. Certainly not if I'm about to buy."

They both laugh, and he explains, "In my home, we had better of binding tomes. We called 'books'."

A little confused, Yargaen asks, "What do you mean?"

"Better bind. Uh… Keep pages… from fall."

This surprises the shopkeep. He replies, "More holes and twine, right?"

Daniel shakes his head. "It's a few steps. If I to start…  doing, I like profit."

Yargaen is a little confused, mainly by Daniel's poor language skills still needing work, but he laughs. "Ahhh! Yes, I see, I see. You want to do it yourself. Very well. Regardless, you can buy the book here, and if you want to resell it, I'll take 15%."

Daniel focuses on the words, translating them in his head. He'll need to get past that, but for now, it takes him a while. He nods as he makes his decision. "Then, I'll take it. Please to sell."

They shake hands and exchange the amount for the book. It mostly cleans out Daniel's wallet, but he could potentially make that money back.

He buys the ingredients he needs to make a simple binding glue, which pretty much just needs flour and water. He has to splurge a little with his remaining money on the purest flour he can find, but he's able to find a suitable material.

He spends the rest of the night making glue in batches, drilling the pages with tools he's been able to make with simple materials, including a stone drill bit, which serves well enough on the paper.

He re-binds the pages from the side instead of the top with more holes aligned much better, and he glues the spine with the spine pieces he makes to attach to the hard cover that sits on top and bottom normally.

Satisfied with the end product; a proper hardcover book, Daniel cleans up and goes to sleep as the glue sets. The next day, he presents the book to Yargaen.

"Oooohhh… Interesting. A cover for the… Wait, you put the spine on wrong."

Daniel shakes his head, demonstrating. "Actually, binding it like this allows a singular user to hold the book like so;" Daniel holds the book by the spine, paging through pages while supporting the front and back cover with his fingers, and he can easily read the pages from left or right.

Yargaen watches with surprise. Normal tomes in this world are closer to flip books, where each page is flipped to the back, requiring an assistant to hold both halves, lest the bindings tear out. Because the pages share the load when glued together, Daniel's binding has a lot more resilience, as well as resistance to over-extending, which could pull the glue apart. It's not invincible, but he shows how much more durable the pages are with gentle tugs, which visibly cause Yargaen to wince.

Daniel also took the time to clean up the edges so that none of the pages hang out past the cover. Thankfully, this world has flimsy, cheap paper-like material for pages, and so they do leave large margins -mainly because it's expected that the edges will become worn, wrinkled, and tattered fighting with the awkward tomes.

Yargaen allows Daniel to post the book for sale, demonstrating the new technique, and they list it for 300 valden, which will make a profit for both of them.

"Oh, by the way, Daniel; Marthie came by this morning asking for you."

"Marthie… Oh! She runs adventurer guild pub, right?"

"That's right."

The adventurer's guild is, for all intents and purposes, a mercenary 'company' of loosely organized civilians that can take on odd jobs and even dangerous retrieval or monster slaying quests. They also provide fighters for militias during times of invasion, similar to a national guard or army reserves. While nowhere near as formal as the military of the Kingdom, the adventurers are generally well-respected if they belong to the guild, thanks to the guild's review processes and promotion requirements.

The pub, in this case, is exactly what it sounds like; a place sharing space with the guild's front desk and where the adventurers can gather, celebrate successes, plan future missions, and recruit for quests. As such, it's a fairly busy place with a lot of people coming and going from all walks of life.

Daniel asks politely, "Did she speak what she need? Might save me walk if I bring tools proper."

Yargaen chuckles, indicating Daniel still has a long way to go for conversation. "Sorry. Something about her oven, but no specifics. She asked if I'd seen the magic artificer in town, and I told her you'd be coming back today."

Daniel nods affirmatively. "Hahaha no Artificer. No. Repair. I'll walk right away. Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Oh, and mine's lower priority, but if you get a chance today, I heard you can repair door locks. Is that true?"

With a nod, Daniel replies, "Depends on what's wrong, but won't charge if can't fix."

"Then, please come back as soon as you can. I'll show you which lock."

Daniel nods politely once more. "Thank you. I'm going. Good day."

Yargaen waves as he leaves, and Daniel makes his way to the adventurer's guild. He's seen both kinds of ovens in this world; regular fire-powered ovens and magic ovens that use magic crystals to generate heat, and often have control functions associated with the temperature. Daniel's still learning how they work, but it seems to share principles with potentiometers back home, which are simplistic and often used for electric heaters. The other kind of oven is a basic flame oven, which there's generally not much to be done beyond cleaning out the exhaust and replacing bricks or doors, depending on the issue.

However, given that she's asking for a 'magic artificer', it's likely a magic-based oven. Because the principles of magic share traits with troubleshooting electricity and electrical components, Daniel is able to often figure his way through some problems, and for those he can't, he's not afraid to admit when he can't help. Because he doesn't charge if he can't fix it, many of the citizens are ecstatic to ask him to take a look, since just a couple successful jobs pay his rent for the month, which he squared up three months as soon as he had the money, meaning he only needs money for food to survive.

Compared to his world, there are ways that it's amazing, and ways that it's primitive. And, Daniel's relatively average talents, strength, and knowledge from his world actually serve him quite well in this world.

Daniel meets with Marthie, and she brightens, "Oh! Are you the magic artificer Yargaen mentioned?"

Daniel clears his throat, replying politely, "Yargaen send. No magic artificer. Repair man. My name is Daniel. Please to meet you."

She processes his speech for a moment, realizing that Yargaen mentioned he's still learning the language. She smiles, "Ah, but, you can work on magic devices, correct? I have a crystal stove in the back that's not cooking on one side."

Daniel gives her a civil nod. "I take a look. Please forgive bad speaking. Learning."

She nods warmly, "Of course! I'd be happy to help you learn, as well. But, if you would, the lunch rush will be coming in soon."

Daniel confirms, "Please lead."

She leads him into the kitchen, and he begins inspecting the components of the oven. Were it an oven in his world, it would simply be an electric oven. There's no plug to disconnect, though, and the magic crystals are generally good for 5 years or so, though that's just the magic charge they're sold with. Daniel suspects they can be recharged with magic, but the sellers keep that to themselves.

Daniel asks, "Miss Marthie, crystals old?"

"Noo. I was told they were good for five years. Had them about… mm… two now? Maybe a little more."

"Thank you. Helpful information."

She nods in understanding, showing him the oven in question. He asks, "Can I use?"

"Please do. We'll make prep work on the other stations for now. I'll let you know when I need the working side."

He translates her words in his head, nodding. "Yes. Thank you."

She nods happily, watching as he begins performing some basic checks. He turns all four stations -two to a side- on to midway, giving them a moment to heat up. He uses the back of his hand to check the temperatures. Sure enough, the two stations on the right side are heating up nicely, definitely warm enough to burn him if he touches the surface. The left side, however, remains cold, and he's even able to touch and then lay his hand on it. It's not warm at all.

Daniel inspects the shell of the oven. It's fairly simplistic, with a lower heating chamber like a typical oven and range. He opens the chamber, and it's cool, so he peeks his head in to look up at any angle he can without tearing anything apart. He's able to find a simple panel he can open with slide locks, and he checks inside. He can see the various crystals; two primary crystals to a side, some connections that look like metal tubing, and four orange heat crystals; one under each of the distribution plates.

He ponders for a moment. He carefully reaches inside, and the radiant heat on the right side is obvious. However, it also feels hot on the left side. Thinking about it, it's reasonably possible the crystals on the left side have detached from their distribution plates, but it's also possible the radiant heat is entirely from the right side. Either way, he'll have to turn it off for the moment. He waits, inspecting the distribution plates from the top. They're chunks of metal, and they're wider than the holes they sit in, which is pretty smart. Modern ovens use a single piece of glass to transmit the heat, but without any seams for crumbs and liquids to work down into. These ones have drip trays that serve the same purpose. And, he is able to take the plate off with a careful turn. He inspects the bottom of the first one, finding a discolored spot on the bottom of the plate with a slight warp to it. Daniel hums ponderously, and he pulls the second plate off. Similarly, there's a discolored teardrop shape on the bottom. He uses his knife to poke the crystal gently, and he can feel the spring-action of the arms connecting them to the bigger crystal below them. He didn't see an actual spring underneath, but it's clearly using tension to try to press the crystals to the plates, which is pretty reasonable. To verify, Daniel touches his knife's blade, finding heat simply from poking the crystals. He nods somewhat triumphantly, and Marthie asks from nearby, "Did you figure it out?"

"I think so. Need oven?"

"Not yet. Though…"

"Though?"

She reluctantly admits, "If we could start prepping stew…"

Daniel gestures at the right side. "I work out of way. Try to."

She smiles happily, "Are you sure!?"

He nods agreeably. "Chef careful of mess." 

"I understand. Thank you so much! This will be a big help alone!" She begins speaking to her chef, and Daniel reaches in through the holes. He burns his forearm on one of the crystals, which are still cooling down, but he's used to it. It's not scalding anymore, and he recoiled quickly and carefully. With more diligence, he's able to follow the components until he can find the spring joint.

The chef begins setting two large pots next to him on the right side, and he turns them on, asking cautiously, "You sure?"

Daniel nods as he replies, "Yes. I'm alright. If chamber need, please use." He gestures at the bottom.

"Ahhh! Yes, yes! Thank you! Will do!" The chef hurries to another meal he's prepping, and Daniel carefully disassembles the snap pieces and recoil spring that he can feel.

Marthie peeks over his arm as he's re-tensioning the spring, asking, "That's what broke?"

"Sort of. Did oven need turn high when working?"

She ponders his words for a moment. Her face turns to surprise. "Yes! We almost always had to run that side at maximum! How did you know that?"

He shows her the spring. "One part. Will try to improve." She nods eagerly.

Once he gets the tension of the spring set a little better, he pieces it back into place. The crystals are already noticeably higher, at least for him, who was looking for it. He then gets into his tool-bag, opening his jar of contact paste. It's a heat transfer paste he was able to make, and though it wouldn't be good enough for a computer processor, it's serviceable for heating components, ensuring good heat transfer. He slathers some on, and Marthie asks, "What's that?"

"Hot transfer slime. It helps."

She nods a little reluctantly. They both have to shift out of the way as the chef steps in to stir and add some seasoning to one of the stews. He also slides a roast into the lower part of the oven. He turns the chamber on, and then retreats out of the way. Daniel finishes coating and positioning the crystals with as smooth of a contact surface as possible with the plate. He has to push down on the plates this time, which is a good sign, and he snaps them into place. He turns the left side on, and Marthie watches nervously.

Daniel waves his hand over the left side, and it doesn't take long for heat to start rising from the plates. He smiles, gesturing for Marthie to check. She steps up, mimicking his hand gesture. Surprised, she quickly touches it, and she recoils instantly, waving her hand. "It's working! It's working great! I can't believe it!" She waves the chef over, having him check it, too. Surprised as well, the chef exclaims, "It feels hotter than ever!"

Daniel tries to explain, "Not hotter… Better transfer." He wishes he knew the word for 'efficient'. He tries to fumble through some words to explain what he means.

"[Efficient?]" asks the chef.

Daniel asks, "Less cost? Less… difficult?"

The chef nods in a non-committal 'you could say that' way. He waves a finger, having an idea. He fills a small pot with water, and he puts it on the left side's front plate, saying, "Used to take ten minutes. We'll see."

Within a minute, the pot is roiling and he quickly shifts it to the counter in surprise. He remarks, "Even the right side isn't that fast…" He turns the left down, and the heat noticeably lowers, but is still very much producing heat.

He pats Daniel's shoulders with a smile. "You're amazing! I would never have figured that out! Thank you!"

Daniel smiles, "You flatter me. Thank you. I'm glad it worked."

Marthie hugs him, "Thank you so much, Daniel! You've saved us!" She orders the chef, "Get ready for the full rush! I'll open the rest of the tables!"

The chef nods confidently, but just as he's about to leave, she asks, "Daniel?"

"Yes?"

"Would what you did help the right side, too?"

He rubs his chin, admitting, "It could. I'm still learning. But, if crystals aren't touching plates, heat lost."

With a nod of understanding, Marthie asks. "Would you mind checking while I have you here?"

Daniel and Marthie look at the chef, who overheard the discussion. The chef nods and replies, "I'll switch to the left." He swaps the big stew pots over, and he cautiously turns the heat up on the left side, turning off the right. Daniel allows the right side to cool before removing the plates. He carefully reaches inside, now that he knows where the spring is, and he extracts it to stretch and tension it like the first while the chef uses the left side and the chamber to prepare for the lunch rush. Diners have already filled the open tables, and the orders pour steadily in, requiring Marthie to help the chef and his assistant. Daniel performs the same for the right side, and he puts it back together, allowing the chef to test it. Sure enough, the crystals were put in rather casually, ignoring whether or not they were contacting very well with the plates. He hangs around out of the way to make sure that both sides are working well, and they make it through the lunch rush much easier thanks to the more efficient burners on all four positions.

Marthie hugs Daniel again, and she asks gratefully, "How much do I owe you?"

Daniel chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck. "Uh… I'm still working that out. How much would you normally have paid?"

She grimaces, and he waves her off, "No! Forget I ask. Can you pay… Three valden? That cover more my costs."

The three employees' jaws drop, and he asks nervously, "Still too much?"

"NOT ENOUGH!" shouts Marthie. She points at the chef, shouting, "Urlie! Don't let him leave! I'll be right back!" She jogs to the guild front desk, speaking with the receptionist there. After a moment, she trots towards a back room, returning after a few moments. She has a small tray with a modest pile of coins on it; a quick glance estimating around 50 valden worth. She says quickly, "I can do 50 valden right now, but…"

Daniel cuts her off, "Plenty. Thank you. Are you sure?"

She stares up at him. "Are you serious!? A normal artificer would charge a thousand! And that's if he didn't replace any of the crystals!"

Daniel chuckles nervously. "I told you, no artificer. Repair man."

She shoves the tray into his chest gently, but sternly. "I'll get more."

"No. Please. Plenty." He grins, "I'm cheap."

She cocks her head in disbelief, glancing at her dumbfounded chef and assistant. She sighs. "You'll accept this, and you'll also eat for free here from now on. However long you're here."

He chuckles, "Are you sure?"

She frowns at him, and he holds his hands up to disarm her. He smiles, "Very well. Thank you, Miss Marthie." He accepts the coins and puts them into his coin pouch. She smiles tenderly, admitting softly, "We'd have to take out a loan if it wasn't you… Thank you so much, Daniel."

He nods cheerfully. "Glad I could help. Can't fix all."

She hugs him again. "Me too." She sniffles, and then looks up at Daniel. "Daniel?"

"Yes?"

"Are you married?"

The chef and assistant both scoff and return to cleaning.

"Uh… No."

She smiles, wiping her eyes. "Perfect. I'd like to…"

"Please wait. Still speak bad. Need improve."

She frowns, retorting, "That's not a problem."

"Is for me. Please understand. Also, please excuse. Yargaen need."

She sighs. She smiles, though, and adds, "Fine. But, I won't let you escape so easily next time, Daniel."

He chuckles, "I'm flattered. But, busy now."

"Yes, yes. Thank you again. Come by from now on for every meal. We'll fill you up."

"Will do. Thank you."

Daniel escapes before she can ask the chef what Daniel ate while he was there. He doesn't like taking advantage of other people's kindness. He appreciates the gratitude, but he lives simply and cheaply, and would rather just have the kindness.

His days are quite satisfying, living like this, and he doesn't need much more than to survive. Especially since he doesn't have much he can do for the kingdom unless he can learn magic equipment to supplement his lack of innate magic.

He's making good progress, and he's feeling accomplished as he works.

**************

Wenlianna, the Royal Court's Magic Artisan, checks the harness holding a baby benki, a cat-like creature with an elongated body and hunts large insects. The kit mewls in frustration, unhappy with the harness, but it's necessary. She caught a stray kit wandering around the castle's garden, hoping to test her hypothesis. No one's ever had a reason to test this hypothesis, but her mind is obsessed now.

Benki kits are about the size of her two fists together, so it's a small creature, but she has to keep it in place for a moment. She lowers the small creature using her make-shift hoist, positioning the kit over the small sensor orb of the magic analysis relic. She trimmed the kits claws so it won't scratch the crystal, but she does wait until it's relatively tired before lowering it onto the crystal itself. 

As soon as the kit touches the crystal, the crystal begins to glow.

Wenlianna sighs. This is the tenth animal she's tried since the otherworlders were summoned, including three insects. So far, every creature she's had touch the crystal produces the preliminary glow. One of the hunting birds she tried out -borrowed from a knight who owed her a favor- even produced an affinity, though it had no innate divine skills. Still, if it could be taught, it could learn water magic.

And yet, Daniel, one of the two summons, produces no reaction. Inanimate objects are the only things she can find that don't produce a reaction.

She perks up. "Plants! I should try plants next. They're considered living." She looks around, finding her sickly-looking friendship flower that a wishful suitor presented to her a couple weeks ago. She can't outright refuse certain gifts, so she had to accept it, but she has no interest in sacrificing her research for becoming a wife. Noble wives are mere baby factories. They don't even take care of the children or the household. They're set-pieces for their husband's image. Wenlianna would rather marry a peasant if it meant she could have an actual family connection and continue her research in her free time.

Regardless, she has a living plant in her lab, which surrounds the analysis relic. She touches the leaf to the orb, and it immediately begins to glow. She shouts, "WHAT IS THIS!?" Frustrated, but exercising her full knowledge of science, she removes the benki kit from the harness and rigs the plant to her hoist, ensuring there is no possible way the crystal is reading her own magic through the objects. Though, she admittedly knows the reaction would show her specific affinities for magic each time, and she has strong affinity for fire and wind magic, and weak affinities for water, ground, light, and dark, making her a rare mage capable of any magic -if at reduced capacity. To find someone effectively her opposite in the world fascinates her.

And, sure enough, even using the hoist, the sickly, half-dead plant that SHOULD be a beautiful flowering shrub of a plant, produces a glow in the preliminary sensor orb. She groans.

"Fine! Perhaps this plant has absorbed magic from my lab. Time to go out and get some weeds and grass."

She puts the plant back in its obscure corner and heads up to the ground level so she can head out into the castle's courtyard. As she's walking, she spots one of the apprentice mages speaking to a young woman.

"GUNTHER!"

The apprentice jumps, dropping the book he was carrying, which she didn't see. Or rather, the box that serves to keep the pages together. They've ripped out of their binding so many times, the pages are almost in tatters.

Gunther quickly whirls, "L-Lady Wenlianna!..."

"Where have you been!? I've been waiting over an hour for that book!"

"I'm sorry, my Lady! I…" He glances nervously at the young lady that giggles and makes her way off on her own business.

Wenlianna growls, "Let me guess, you couldn't find the book?"

He looks down, and she sighs in disgust. "Flirt on your own time, Gunther. Which, is now. I'll clean this up." She crouches down to collect the scattered pages of her well-used tome regarding all of the accepted published theories of the magic present in the world. 

"M-My Lady, I'll…"

"Just go, Gunther. I'm going to take this into town to ask a friend to re-bind it."

"Shall I…"

"I just told you. It's your personal time now. I'm done with you for the day."

He hesitates, and she scowls at him, causing him to retreat a couple of steps. He awkwardly fidgets. As an apprentice mage aiming for the Royal Court, he has a wide array of approval signatures he has to attain to graduate the apprenticeship program, and one portion of the apprenticeship program requires experience under the active Court Magic Artisan, which for the time being, is Wenlianna. She's notorious for being one of the most difficult to satisfy, since she's unforgiving on magical theory, eccentric, and temperamental at times. She knows rumors make her out to be feral, which in-part comes from her refusal to accept any marriage proposals. However, if she IS feral, it's more because she's constantly PESTERED for marriage proposals. According to those she tries to shoot down, she's beautiful, and her rare omni-affinity is highly sought after in a given family's bloodline. Unlike most women, though, anyone able to use light magic AND dark magic doesn't have to worry about the biological time limit on their bodies. She'll have children and a family when she's good and ready; a luxury she knows she has and doesn't take for granted.

That said, women with light and dark magic affinities are almost as rare as omni-affinity, so either way, she'd be pestered to her wits' ends.

In the present, Gunther hesitantly retreats, realizing that Wenlianna is neither joking nor taking back what she said. To press the issue is to risk her outright refusal, dooming a mage to never seeing Court status until she retires.

Wenlianna collects her pages, walking into town as she does her best to organize the pages in the box. It's a hopeless mess, though, and the twine for the binding is tangled all over. Fortunately, it's not the first time she's re-bound this particular book, so she had the foresight to number the pages last time.

She takes it to the town's paltry library for two reasons. With the commoners serving the town library, she doesn't have a reputation, so there's no one trying to circumvent her apprenticeship expectations for nieces, nephews, sons, or daughters. And, because she's a noble, they are much more careful and respectful with the repairs of her books, since her business is more valuable if they do good work, and she'll pay accordingly.

As she's walking the streets, a guard greets her as he's passing, "Lady Artisan."

She returns the greeting with a polite nod and reply, "Guardsman."

She notices a small crowd gathered near this neighborhood's well, which is peculiar, but she has to drop off her book first. It's relatively heavy, especially carrying it longer than she has to.

She backs her way through the door into the library, calling out, "Heeyy, Hardy! You here?"

An older gentleman comes out from between one of the shelves containing books, simple book supplies, and other things in the small store. "Lady Wenlianna? Ahhh, a pleasure as always." She sets her book's box on the desk, saying as he heads towards the desk, "I need a re-binding again."

"Alright, let me have a look…"

She nods, looking around as she remarks, "I've been testing a strange phenomenon with one of our relics, and I can't…" Her eyes lock onto something.

She approaches, inspecting the display with disbelieving eyes.

It's a tome spread open on little more than a hand's-width of a stand, and yet, the binding doesn't separate. In fact, the pages bend with a gentle curve, and… they're bound sideways.

She looks at it in disbelief, and Hardy remarks, "Ahhhh, I see you noticed it, too. Fascinating, right?"

Wenlianna whirls, demanding sharply, "DO THIS FOR MINE!" She clears her throat when he recoils a little, requesting more gently, "I'd like you to bind my tome in this manner. Cost is no issue."

"Apologies, my Lady. I am not the one who did this."

"What? Then, who did?"

"I haven't met him. I saw this strange tome in Yargaen's general store not a week ago. I have an appointment to bring a few tomes to be bound."

Wenlianna slaps her hands on the desk to lean as far towards him as she can, requesting sternly, "WHERE!?"

****************