Henry and Miss Philaxter exchanged notes for a few more minutes before the young Fairy excused himself as well, a big smile on his face. From what Alex had overheard, Miss Philaxter had been impressed by the findings he had written down, even adding a few of them to her own notebook. She carefully tucked her own notebook into an inner jacket pocket, deeming it the most secure place for the secret information.

  When she saw Alex was still sitting at the long table in her private quarters, she looked surprised. "Is there anything else I can do for you, Mister Vansteen?"

  "You, uh, you reposted the book re-shelving job on the Notice Board," Alex said, hoping that would be enough to clue her in that he took it again. It was not.

  "That I did. I checked the area you restocked, and while you did fine work, the job was not nearly done, and thus you didn't earn the reward," the librarian retorted, assuming this was about not receiving payment yesterday.

  "Oh, I didn't expect the reward. Like you said, I didn't finish the job. I'm bringing it up because I took it again," Alex said, embarrassed and hoping that was alright.

  "You did?" Miss Philaxter sounded surprised anyone would willingly come back to work for her again. Alex, however, had seen no reason to why everyone was so afraid of her. "Well, you did do decent work yesterday, so I see no reason you can't finish what you started. However, as to not anger Mrs. Fillibaxter, you will have to do it without the use of a Catalogue Stone. If you do encounter any books you don't immediately find the correct placement for, feel free to bring them to me."

  "Oh, that is more than fine. I really only needed it for that one book yesterday, and that was because it didn't seem to belong in the section I was standing in. The organizational system you use is actually pretty similar to the one most libraries back home used."

  "Hmm, fascinating, and yes, I still don't know what that book was doing there," Miss Philaxter said, almost grabbing for the notebook in her pocket to note down the information before deciding against it. "Either way, I'll show you the cart you can start with. Follow me, please."

  The librarian guided Alex to a small section of the library, and he got to work. Now that he understood the library's organization, he could immediately start locating the correct spot for books instead of figuring it out first. Which resulted in him finishing the cart in under half an hour, with no books left on the cart. He proudly showed the empty cart to the librarian, who simply showed him the next cart he could get started on.

  He continued to work in the library for the next two hours. Time seemed to fly by. There was something relaxing about putting things in the right place, and at one point he found he was quietly humming to himself. When had he last felt comfortable enough to do that? And why was the Field of Silence letting that sound through? He tried humming louder to see if the field would smother the sound, and it did. The louder he tried to get, the more smothered the sound became. It seemed that if you were deliberately making noise, the field would dampen it, but sounds you made without realizing seemed to get at least somewhat through the field.

  He was even getting used to the pressure the Field of Silence was creating inside his ears. Last time he was in the library, he hadn't figured out why the Field of Silence felt so uncomfortable to him, but that was it. There was a slight pressure inside his ears. He started to barely notice it after spending a few hours inside of it.

  On the few carts that were close by the large reading tables, Alex struck up short conversations with Henry. Like yesterday, the dark-haired Fairy was studying inside the library, and he seemed to enjoy the short breaks he got from his Advanced Warding textbook. They talked mostly about Earth. It felt good to talk about home with someone, even if they didn't fully get what he was talking about. And with nobody being able to hear them talk, now was the perfect time to do so.

  After bringing the fifth empty cart to Miss Philaxter, she deemed it enough for today. There was still one cart left, but she had been working on it and said she would be fine finishing it. She pulled out a small bag, and Alex wondered what it was for. When she pulled five Merit Credits out of it, he looked confused. The bag looked barely big enough for a single credit.

  The librarian must have seen the look on his face and explained that the bag was an extra-dimensional storage space. She further explained that the space on the inside was ten times as big as the one on the outside, and thus the larger the bag, the more expensive they got. One as small as this was about the only thing a regular citizen could afford.

  Alex stared at the five credits in his hand for a moment. It was the first time he got paid for his work in this world. He was the one who earned these. They hadn't been given to him; he was the one responsible for them being in his hand. For some reason it felt better than receiving his paycheck back home. He safely put them away in the small pouch he had received from Aro with his initial funds.

  The Merit Credits made a satisfying cling as they joined the ones he already had. With paying for dinner last night, and breakfast this morning, his funds had been down to a measly eleven. Now, they were back up to sixteen. And he still had one job from the Notice Board left for today. If he completed that one as well, he would be back up to his starting funds of twenty Merit Credits. With a determined look, he pulled the piece of paper with his next job on out of his pocket.

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  Henry had left the library quite some time ago, so he wouldn't be able to help him if he didn't know where a delivery was supposed to go. At least the upperclassman had told him who Mister Klynth was. Alex just hoped the merchant would be patient enough to give him proper directions on where to bring the deliveries.

  All the determination he had just a minute ago was already fading. He did not know the layout of the campus. How was he supposed to know where to bring the deliveries? No! That was exactly the reason he had picked this job. To explore the campus with a purpose. Of course, the merchant would need to offer him some advice, but the campus surely wasn't so massive that he'd get completely lost. The determination temporarily back again, Alex made his way over to the small supply store.

  That small boost in confidence stayed with him as he easily found the small store again. Henry had only shown its location once to Alex, and it wasn't that far from the library, but still he had found it without a hitch. Like the library, the entrance to the supply store seemed ordinary, if not for the large window showing off some of the wares the shop was selling. Okay, that window had also definitely helped Alex in locating the store, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. He had found the store, and he would find the delivery locations as well.

  A small bell jingled as Alex pushed open the door to the supply store, causing a few of the students browsing its wares to look up. Seeing he was just another student, they quickly dismissed it again and continued browsing. The inside of the small store reminded Alex of the few mom-and-pop local stores he had come across during his morning runs on Earth. On the days he wasn't hungover, he had liked to get in a quick run before work. They always helped him wake up and stay active despite his desk job. He had a feeling they wouldn't be necessary in this world, but he might pick them back up, just to feel like home.

  He walked past all the shelves containing familiar office supplies like stacks of paper, small notebooks, pencils, and even paperclips. Of course, there were a few items Alex didn't immediately recognize, but that wasn't why he was here today. He ignored the unfamiliar items and walked over to the counter, where he assumed Mister Klynth would be. As he approached, however, the counter appeared to be empty. There was a small bell on the counter with a small note attached to it.

  Please ring if you need my help. - signed Petrus Klynth

  The handwriting on the note was meticulous, and to Alex it looked like the work of a professional calligrapher. Was that even a thing in this world? It didn't matter. He was here for a reason, and that reason depended on Mister Klynth, so he rang the small bell. The sound it produced echoed throughout the entire shop, and a few of the students inside looked at him again. Alex apologized to them with a weak smile, hoping Mister Klynth would arrive soon.

  "Ah, a new face! Love new faces!" a chipper voice came from a short man as he exited from an unassuming door behind the counter. His arms were filled with rolls of parchment, and there was a broad smile on his face. What immediately drew Alex's attention however, was the man's hair. It was neon green. He doubted there would be hair dye as readily available in this world as there was back on Earth, so he immediately assumed the man wasn't human. While the man was short, he was still way taller than Professor Ghestalt or Tildia had been, so Alex doubted he was a Hearthkin like they were. And aside from the hair color and the somewhat short stature, he looked human. "How can I help you? Need paper? Ink? Even got a small collection of Mana Batteries if you want."

  "I'm good, thank you. Are you Mister Klynth?" Alex asked to be sure.

  "The one and only. And who may you be, Mister New Face?" Mister Klynth answered, dropping the rolls of parchment on the counter and extending his hand towards Alex.

  "Uhm, Alex," Alex said, shaking the shopkeeper's hand. He hadn't expected the man to be so... jovial. When he and Henry had visited the shop yesterday, it had been quite busy, and Alex had decided to head outside as Henry paid for the supplies.

  "Nice to meet you, Alex. So tell me, what can I do for you today? You don't seem to be holding anything you need to pay, so I'm guessing you're here for something else?" Alex couldn't help it; his gaze kept getting drawn to the man's hair. Especially after noticing the small stubble beard on the man's face. Contrary to the extravagant color of his hair, the man's beard was a simple brown color.

  "Ah, you noticed it, did you?" Mister Klynth said, scratching the back of his head. "Whenever I'm looking for new things to put in the store, I tend to try them out first. I might have overdone it with this dye though. So let's just try to ignore it, shall we? And let's focus on how I can help you. So, what brings you here?"

  Following his request to try to ignore it, Alex pulled the note he grabbed from the Notice Board out of his pocket and handed it over to the shopkeeper.

  "Ah, you're here for the courier job. Perfect. I'm sure they'll be glad to receive their packages this early in the day. Usually, students reserve the courier jobs for after their classes." Mister Klynth started rambling as he waved for Alex to follow him through the door he had just walked out of. "Do you have classes already? I always forget when a new year of students starts. I think that may be because the other years don't really stop getting classes. They just keep going, you know?"

  The shopkeeper suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, causing Alex to bump into him as he was looking around the storage room the man had led him into. In front of them stood a single, massive box with a few scrolls bound with a wax seal on top of it. "Alright, that's the job. Do you need help with the big one, or do you think you can handle it on your own?"