The Accidental Summoning of a Nerd

Part 2

"Hey! Are you listening to me?!"

An angry voice called out, causing me to wave my hand in frustration.

"Shh! This is a magical library. Respect the books."

The muscular warrior frowned, one hand resting on the pommel of his sword. "Are you crazy? You don't have time for books! The prince has summoned you!" He disdainfully glanced around the Royal Library, causing my opinion of him to fall further. Who looked at books like that?!

I turned a page quietly looking back down to the words and diagrams with a sigh. "I am not the one with the listening problem. YOU are the one who is ignoring me! I told you, I'm studying magic. The Prince promised me protected study time. Come back later."

"You've been in here for twelve hours!" He sputtered with rage, his face red.

"Really?" I looked around the room, shocked. "I hadn't noticed!" I chanted a brief spell, tracing a few geometric shapes with a finger, causing my water bottle to float in the air and land in my hand. I took a large swig of water, smacking my lips in satisfaction. "Thanks for reminding me to stay hydrated!"

"..."

Staring at me in disbelief for a few moments, the knight reached forward, lifting me up by the collar of my robe.

"HEY!" I dangled ungracefully for a few moments before getting my feet under me. Straightening out my clothes, I glared at the knight. "That was uncalled for!"

He just sighed, pointing out the door.

"Can't I just finish the chapter?"

"..." He pointed again, his face stony.

"Spoilsport." I muttered, walking towards the door.

"Um... where are you going?"

I paused, confused. "The royal council room, you said the Prince had summoned me, right?"

"Don't you want to... change?"

I looked down at myself. I was wearing my "studying" clothes, which were the clothes I had been summoned in. Not many people could pull off a ratty lime green bathrobe and hot pink bunny slippers... and I was definitely not one of the few who could.

But hey, they were comfy.

"Nope!" I smirked. "If the Prince wants to interrupt my studying so badly he will get me in my studying clothes."

"Can you even call those clothes..."

"Objection overruled, come on Muscles, let's go." I started walking again, ignoring his muttered complaint.

"My name is Jeremy, not Muscles."

"Oh good, you're here!" Prince Titus, a handsome young man with a bright smile, waved his hand, summoning me over. "Maybe you can help us with this."

"I wouldn't count on it." An elderly man beside him snorted. "As your Minister of War I wouldn't advice relying on this... this..." He pointed at me and trailed off, obviously unsure of what to call me.

"Nerd that haunts the library?" Muscles guessed.

"Eccentric wizard?" The prince joined in.

"Eldritch horror?!" I chimed in hopefully.

"This WOMAN with secrets of the state!" He pointed at me with a frown, an expression that only worsened as I clutched my chest, pretending to be in pain.

"OH NO! The scary old man doesn't like me or want me to be here!" I dramatically leaned against the wall, pretending to feel faint. "I just can't take the pressure! Well... back to the library I guess." I snapped my fingers, keeping regretful expression in place. "Shucks. Sorry this didn't work out!" I ran towards the door, only to be stopped by Muscles who grabbed the collar of my robe again.

"You're not escaping that easily." The prince laughed, motioning me forward. I was dragged closer by the Knight, who kept a firm grip on my bathrobe.

"Hey, Muscles! Don't stretch out the robe! You'll ruin my favorite piece of clothing!"

"Really?" He looked me over with a confused expression. "How could you tell if it was ruined?"

"... Shut up."

"Focus guys." The prince tapped the map on the table before him. "Here's the current situation at the front lines. You can see that the enemy camp here..." He pointed at a red marker. "Is about twice the size of our camp here. We can't spare any extra soldiers without weakening our border in another place, so my thought was to weaken the enemy army."

The war minister frowned. "I tell you again. We will win this war with numbers. Just conscript the common folk and we will have plenty of cannon fodder."

"Wow, I don't like you." I glared at the older man, but he didn't seem to notice or care.

Meanwhile, the knight had actually been studying the map with a thoughtful expression. "What about the river?"

The prince grinned "Finally some ideas! What about it?"

"We could redirect it somehow to here..." He pointed at the map. "It would make their cavalry and their supplies worthless. The only problem is manpower." HE shrugged. "It would take too many men to dig a new pathway for the river. By the time we were done the war would already be over."

"That sounds rough." I patted him on the shoulder. "Sorry."

The prince sighed. "What about magic? My magical advisor... can you reroute the river?"

I thought it over. "Let me see..." I whipped out a compass and started measuring distances on the map, muttering to myself about possible different formulas and the composition of river water. Once I reached a conclusion, I stood up tall, grinning. "Yes, it can be done!"

"..."

"..."

"... How?!" The war minister blurted out.

I raised an eyebrow. "Do you really want me to write out the chants and diagrams for you?"

"And die of boredom?" He shuddered. "No thanks."

I shrugged. "To each their own. I personally LOVE this equation."

"Great, when can you start?!" The prince's eyes were shining with anticipation.

"That depends." I smiled. "I want to be able to rent out one book at a time from the library."

The prince was frowning. "You mean, take it out of the library?!!"

"I'd bring it back!"

"I don't know..." He stared at me, defensive. "I guess we can try this out. "

"YAY!"

"But only one!" He held up a finger.

"Of course!" I turned towards the door.

"Wait where are you going?"

I paused. "Umm, to get a book, like we talked about?"

"What about the river?"

"What do you think I'm going to do on the ride over?" I grinned. "Read a book!"

The war minister groaned. "THIS is our summoned hero?!"

"I'm more of an accidental guest... one who's interested magic than anything else."

He rolled his eyes. "You don't say?"

"I do say!" With an excited shout I ran from the council room, ready to grab my first borrowed text to read on the way over.

Books, magic...and a war to win.

What more could a girl ask for?