Chapter 3: Tough Guy Act

Elt opened the door to the room revealing it was a backroom to some kind of library. Upon exiting the backroom Joshua was surprised to be looking at a library bigger than some back in his world he had been to as a young child. The walls had shelves stacked to the ceiling between the first and second floor that were loaded with books and many scholars roamed around grabbing a book here or there on various topics well beyond his understanding. Some of the walls had large, beautiful stained glass windows letting in as much light as possible.

Wilmarina and Mimil chuckled as softly to each other as Joshua looked at everything with amazement. He must have never seen a library before let alone one so big. Joshua followed close behind the group with his hands held behind his back. The group got a few odd stares here and there due to the strangely clothed man following them. Once they neared the main desk the librarian looked up in surprise at Mimil. The female librarian adjusted her thick glasses before speaking.

"Oh my, it looks like your plan was a success, Ms. Miltie, who might this strangely dressed young man be?" The elderly librarian asked with a smile.

A smug grin spread across Mimil's face. It felt gratifying to be acknowledged for her efforts. Mersé and Sasha giggled softly at the librarian's question as Joshua had begun attracting a lot of attention. Some of the scholars looked down from the second floor with peaked interest.

"This is Joshua. He is the result of a successful summoning ritual….well success is kind of a stretch. We accidentally grabbed his table during the ritual and it smashed my crystal ball." Mimil proudly declared with a grin before growing slightly embarrassed. Joshua nervously scratched the back of his head and gave a slightly sympathetic smile and chuckle. The scholars began to murmur and mumble amongst themselves over this strange man in strange clothes.

"Why doesn't he give off a soul?" One of the scholars murmured.

"A rather peculiar one indeed…" another added.

The voices of the scholars made Joshua chuckle embarrassedly. He had never once in his life been the center of attention on such a scale, and he felt humbled by it. A male scholar approached him and began poking at his jacket and noted it wasn't a design he had ever seen. His jacket had four front pockets, and each pocket appeared to have something inside. His hat wasn't the kind you'd find in Lescatie lending to the idea it may be a custom design. Another scholar noted the slight bulge under his clothes on his right hip and a silver ring on his left ring finger.

"Oh boy…..what have I just wondered into?" Joshua thought nervously.

"Now, now….he is the success of my efforts! If you wish to question him you can do so after I've finished with him for the day." Mimil told them in a stern voice.

A male scholar who had been watching the whole time looked down at her from the second floor in disgust. Mimil was riding the coattails of her success. He decided he had enough of her attitude before speaking.

"You just want to keep him for yourself so you can take all the credit! True, he is an oddity, but I think you should give us proper scholars a chance with this one, Mimil! Besides…what's a child like you even going to do with this….thing you seem to be calling a human?" He sneered.

Mimil was a tad shocked by his words. She did her best to hold in tears, and both Elt and Joshua saw this. Elt gave the man a glare but everyone was shocked to watch Joshua approach him on his own.

"Look, pal…the kiddo summoned me first so it's first come, first serve. Now I want you to apologize to her and me right now as what you just said was completely uncalled for." Joshua told him sternly. This surprised everyone as Joshua had no idea who he was talking to but still stood up to him.

"What!? Who do you think you are to speak to me like that?! I am Julius Cooreman—one of the best minds in all of Lescatie and the Magitec institute! What business does a soulless…thing have here anyway?! Your existence is an abomination!" Julius shouted at him.

"Jesus Christ! What is this asshole's problem? How am I the bad guy all of a sudden?" Joshua thought angrily. It didn't matter what he said to Julius as it would only make things worse. That's when Joshua had a brilliant idea. He was going to call Julius out to see just how far he would go. A smirk spread across his face before he began to chuckle.

"Hehehe…Haha! Well, you certainly got some fire in you!" He replied amusedly. He spread his arms wide and stood there with an evil grin on his face. "Go on! Take your best shot at me! Be the hero here and vanquish the oh so evil monster!" He added.

Julius growled at him. Never once before had someone challenged him like this. Everyone around them was shocked by Joshua's words. Julius wouldn't simply let his arrogance slide, not after what Joshua said. Julius leaned over the railing slightly and chuckled as he pulled what looked like a wand from within his robes.

"You must have a serious death wish for you to challenge me! Save yourself the embarrassment of defeat and admit you're wrong! You probably don't even have any magic to speak of so just drop the 'tough guy' act!" He said, laughing maniacally.

Mimil was surprised Joshua was defending her like this. She didn't have many friends aside from Elt. She couldn't wrap her head around Joshua's antics. Mimil felt worried just watching him stand there without a care for his safety. She would feel guilty if he got hurt because of her. Joshua just kept smiling like nothing else mattered and it made Julius angrier by the second.

"Don't take him lightly! He's close to my level in terms of attack magic strength!" Mimil warned Joshua as concern crept into her voice.

Joshua only gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, kiddo. If I'm right then our red-haired friend and the woman with the green jacket are soldiers. If Julius does anything I'm sure they'd arrest him in a heartbeat. On top of that look at all these witnesses." He replied confidently.

Julius looked around him and realized Mersé and Elt as well as Wilmarina and Sasha were with Mimil and he begrudgingly returned his wand to his robes. He gave Joshua a disgusted scowl before walking away with a huff. Julius' retreat took them all by surprise since he wasn't one to turn away from a direct challenge like that. Sasha and Wilmarina breathed a sigh of relief as Joshua approached the five of them. He had his arms crossed and his confident smile turned into a tired frown. He took a deep breath as he scratched the back of his head.

"Man, the was scary… ah well at least I made him pick on someone his size," Joshua said with a nervous laugh. That made Mersé chuckle a tiny bit and Elt held back a laugh. Mimil playfully slugged Joshua's left arm with a smile on her face and chuckled. The other scholars began clapping which caught Joshua by surprise before the librarian silenced them with a glare.

"What were you thinking?" Sasha scolded sternly. "You could have been seriously injured if Julius had attacked you!"

"I know, I know…..It wasn't a smart move but I didn't like his tone of voice especially towards a child." Joshua replied apologetically.

Mersé smiled. Joshua was truly capable of recognizing the fault of his actions, even if they had good intentions. He was also able to identify that She and Elt were soldiers in such a short time. Joshua was beginning to prove himself to her if only slowly. All she needed now is to see him in actual combat and she might just put a word in with the king about being placed in her unit.

" So Mr. Gehrke…are you any good at fighting?" Mersé asked him.

Joshua was a bit confused by the question. Sure he could throw a decent punch and he had his PA-63, but if she meant with a sword then his answer would be no. He was strong but didn't like to fight unless necessary.

"If you mean with a sword or a spear then no, but if you were to put me in a tree with a 30-40 krag caliber bolt action rifle then I could hit my mark even at one hundred yards, or two hundred yards with specialized telescopic sights." He replied jokingly. Joshua could tell she was serious about her question, but the rifle he mentioned did perk their interest. Especially Mersé's.

"So you're a sharpshooter? Very few people have that kind of skill with a rifle let alone a musket. Though with the weapons from your books you probably sit higher on that skill tree." She asked him with a calm smile.

Once more Joshua was confused. He was good with a rifle but decided to keep his Sino-American war history a secret. He had a friend who had been in the U.S. Army but was currently dead. He didn't like the thought of going to war again unless he had to. Sasha didn't like how Mersé was pressuring Joshua so soon into something he didn't fully understand yet. She knew he wouldn't last a single day in battle.

"Don't you think it's too early to press him into the military, Mersé?" Sasha asked her. "He doesn't even know why we summoned him yet so don't you think you should give him some time?"

Sasha was right. Sending Joshua immediately into battle wouldn't end well and any knowledge he had would be lost all due to a hasty decision. Elt even had a concerned look in his eyes as well as Wilmarina. They didn't want him to rush off into battle so soon when they still had questions for him. Joshua grew worried. He didn't want to seem useless despite having some skills. An idea popped into his head that might act as a tie-breaker if the situation grew heated. He was good at hard labor so maybe that would suffice. He decided to keep his war history a secret as he began questioning how they would respond to the fact that even though the Chinese were the ones at fault, he still killed other human beings.

"If I may….I don't have a military background, but I did get into a few fights as a kid and gained a reputation for hitting pretty hard despite a skinny physique. I'm also good at hard labor if that helps?" Joshua stated, hoping his lie worked so he would be of some use elsewhere despite the lie also being technically true. Sasha smiled at this, she needed more dependable help on her end.

"I could use your help then because I operate an orphanage and Elt isn't always available to help. My name is Sasha by the way….Sasha Fullmoon." She replied with a warm smile. Elt let out a big smile at this. Sasha worked herself to the bone and beyond in the orphanage and it often left him feeling worried for her health and guilty for not being able to do more for her.

"That's right! Any help for Sasha would be greatly appreciated. Don't worry, you can trust her as I grew up with her and she's practically like a sister to me!" Elt added happily. Sasha blushed embarrassedly but had a slight smile on her face. Joshua nodded in agreement for it was something he could handle. It was better than rushing off to battle, that was for sure. It was at that moment Mimil's stomach growled causing her to look embarrassed. Joshua chuckled a little as he reached into his left pants pocket and pulled out a small silver coin.

"I didn't get to eat dinner yet, but whenever I get this hungry I just eat this quarter and I feel ten times better." He said with a smirk. "Now this quarter is perfectly solid. I can't pull it apart or bend it, but I guarantee you I can bite a piece off of it." He added, trying to pull it apart or bend it before biting down on the coin.

Everyone gave him a surprised stare as he showed them the perfect remaining half of the quarter and then spit the other half back out onto it making a perfect whole coin again. Mimil snickered in amusement as she could see what he was trying to do. All Joshua wanted was to lighten the mood to make up for Julius' actions and Mersé's questions. Joshua's stomach began to growl just like Mimil's causing him to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment.

"To be honest I could use something to eat. Is there a restaurant close by? I hate to do this to you all but seeing as it's midday…thanks to the windows. I'll answer any questions you have for me over lunch." He asked them politely.