Feeling that urge to ask but at the same time refraining from doing so, Adam finally began to understand the bookshelves a bit better. It was as if a series of "eurekas" exploded in his head, and a brilliant idea arose in his young mind: "The bookshelves aren't strict; they're capricious"
But the pain in his hands snapped Adam out of his trance. Carrying that heavy suitcase caused the young man's hands to burn, and several blisters formed on his palms. Luckily, Adam knew about the healing water magic from the cave of the eyeless old man and was eager to try it to extinguish the pain in his hands. To make matters worse, the drunk bear refused to use his glue to relieve the young man's pain, so Adam had no other option but to try and endure it.
While Adam was reflecting, the bear had already run to one of the corners of the hexagon to talk to his contacts. After a while, he returned to Adam and said:
—You have to do the transaction with the bank bookshelf and the little books. Come, follow me!
To Adam's dismay, the little books chose the farthest corner from the hexagon's door as the negotiation spot, so he had no other option but to drag the suitcase there.
The young man walked clumsily and cursed the little books in his heart for not taking a book closer to the door to make things easier.
Upon arrival, he found five little books: they all appeared to be white sheep, except for one that was smaller than the rest and black. Before Adam could introduce himself to the sheep, the bear said hurriedly:
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—Let's make the transaction: you five will help a bookshelf during the ascent war on the 4th floor middle in exchange for the contents of the suitcase.
Adam looked at the five sheep with all the love in the world. If these little books were to reject his proposal after everything he had been through, the young hero felt like he would lose his mind completely and become one of the lunatics wandering these floors.
The black sheep spoke for the group; her voice was quite tender, bringing happiness just from hearing her talk:
—Are there really ten in the suitcase?
—Yes, surprisingly... don't ask any more unnecessary questions— replied the bear in his gruff voice —Two for each of you, do you want them or not?
—Yeeeeees!— the four white sheep exclaimed in a very endearing way.
Adam felt a bit happier; after all that had happened today, at least seeing the cute little books talk was a relief for his suffering heart.
—Stop it, fools. First, we need to check the contents of the suitcase— said the black sheep seriously, silencing the other four's excitement —What are you waiting for? Open it, boy.
Adam didn't know what was inside. The bear didn't let him open it on the way, so he was very curious to find out what he had been carrying for so long. But it seemed like these five little books were desperate to get what was inside, so it must have been important to them.
Adam put his hands on the suitcase's locks:
*Click, click* The suitcase opened, and a horrible smell filled the air. At a glance, Adam noticed blood staining the entire lining of the suitcase. Inside the suitcase, ten mini-humans could be seen, stuck side by side.
Immediately, the black sheep exclaimed:
—Deal, ten intact ones! We hit the jackpot, girls!
—A pleasure...— the bear said with much happiness, winning ten mushrooms.
Adam had a grin from ear to ear; he had finally gotten not one but five little books.
The boy didn't quite understand why these mini creatures were worth so much. To him, they were a bit disgusting and smelled rotten, but he was glad that these creatures were so valuable to the little books.