Valanda buys whatever book Bar recommends about morality and settles down to read for a while.

Bar can make some recommendations. He could also just borrow them. They won't go on his tab unless he destroys them or they leave the bar area.

Some time later, a woman in very... Adventurer-looking clothes (cape and hood, lots of leather belts and pads) comes down the stairs in the back, stretching. "Yo! Good morning, Bar. How about the best breakfast you can give me for twenty rupees!"

A pretty hearty breakfast appears. This other guy(?) is reading so Link just tucks in instead of saying hi.

"Excuse me, do tell me if it's rude of me to interrupt your meal, what sort of magic does your world have? I can make things indestructible."

"Uhh... Lots? That sounds super handy! Unbreakable shield would be glorious."

Valanda guesses a possible exchange rate based on the twenty-rupee meal but food might be much more or less expensive for this new person.

"Does the shield need to be able to deform or spring or change shape or anything unusual once it's indestructible? If not, you can have a glorious unbreakable shield for twenty rupees." Or ten, that's the price he'll be happy with. He'll take eight but only because he needs money to spend in Milliways so badly, less than that and taking the job is worse for him than not.

"Heck, that's cheap. It really should maintain all its properties, like, I need to be able to bend the leather part where your hand goes to actually use it? And the metal is a little bit springy and I would have to get used to it if it stopped? Can you do weapons too? Maybe don't do my Slate I'm not totally sure how it works but I need it to keep working right and it's already pretty tough."

"If it ending up totally rigid would be a problem and you want a leather strap done too then" (twenty, he's good at this, he could make flexible things indestructible in his sleep) "thirty. If your slate is the kind of slate I'm familiar with, a slab of dark rock you write on, that should work fine but chalk can't do its job if it can't be damaged. I've done knives before but never for stabbing live people, if you want it done even with that caveat then I'm pretty sure I can do blades. I could probably do a sling and rocks, too. Anything else and you get things enchanted at your own risk, no promises that it'll still work. I can also do clothing if you'll definitely never want to let out the hem or anything. I can even do people but that's much more expensive for a much less complete job."

"The Slate is Sheikah tech. Don't wanna risk breaking it. But if it's that cheap to indestructify things you must have a lot of unbreakable stuff lying around. Sounds nice." Nom, nom.

"Yeah, I have an indestructible quilt and shirt and shoes and a flame-resistant notebook. Building codes in Ehima, where I live, require that wood buildings be enchanted to resist fire, too. Not every defense mage knows how, some specialize differently, but up to a twelfth of the population could learn. Tell me about your Sheikah tech and the magic you have at home?"

"Sheikah tech is weird. And old and powerful. Almost nobody makes stuff like it anymore. And I kind of need the Slate to..." In Milliways, she has learned, if she says she's saving the world people tend to react weirdly. "Well, I need it. I don't know the details of the magic but I've got a bunch of magic weapons. I've got Sheikah mechanical parts which are, uh, mostly indestructible but I guess you don't need those... Magic arrows, elixirs and food that do buncha different things for you if you eat or drink them. Magic clothes. Oh, I do know elixirs, I can make you some if I have the right stuff but it takes Hyrulean ingredients probably. Oh, also monsters. Monsters are a thing. And, like Hylia and Ganon and the Sages?"

She takes her hood off and reveals a pair of long, pointed ears. Still otherwise looks human.

It's so weird meeting someone who doesn't personally do magic, like meeting someone who doesn't personally talk. He supposes it's like how agerah evolved to hunt even though a lot of them just buy food now. Never mind that, though, there are a lot of other things more important than that.

"Are you human?" He'd been assuming she was. He'd been hoping she was. Now she looks a little like a caralendar.

"I'm a Hylian. You with your round ears look like a Gerudo to me. Humans happen around here a lot and we Hylians seem mostly the same from what I figure. Spent some time here yesterday... Hey. You seem nervous. Milliways is safe, don't worry 'bout that."

Blink blink. "I feel safe, I've heard that there are rules against violence here, but thank you." Valanda still doesn't make eye contact. "So, are Hylians or Gerudo similar enough to humans that the same sorts of governments work for you? Does your country have morality?"

"Do we have morality?? I mean. Yes? Do you not have a code of morals?" The lack of eye-contact is a bit weird but okay.

"I don't, but it seems like my world is unusual that way. Of course I'd be willing to follow yours if you ever invite me to visit your home. I've been reading about morality but I don't really understand it yet, I just heard of it for the first time today. What's your morality like?"

"...Well that's a question. I think you kind of just have to be nice and make the best of things? Hmm. I swore a Knight's Oath once. 'To defend the innocent and help the helpless, to bring the wicked to justice and peace to the virtuous. To serve Hyrule to the utmost of my ability and skill, no matter what danger or threat appears. To stay calm and push on even in the face of disaster, and to be humble and noble in triumph'. Kind of failed on the 'triumph' part, unfortunately. Hopefully I can fix it."

"'Innocent' meaning those who haven't violated the law? Or haven't violated your Knight's Oath? What does 'virtuous' mean? And 'wicked' and 'noble' and... and by 'justice' do you mean punishment sufficient to deter further crime or do you mean something else?"

"Innocence isn't... It's not, like, breaking laws. It's seeing death and pain and evil and getting used to it and dealing with it. Sort of. Not being innocent isn't bad but the innocent ought to be protected. Virtuous is... Being a good person? I don't know. Wicked means evil. Justice is punishment. Noble is, like, having good ideals and wanting the best flourishing of everyone else and being calm and collected and thoughtful and prudent and forgiving. And deserving respect and, uh, it's kind of a heavy concept. I don't know. You really ought to talk to the Princess for lessons on statecraft or whatever."

Valanda buys a sheet of blank paper and pencil from Bar and starts taking notes: innocent = not understanding death and pain = moral to protect; virtuous = good?; wanting best flourishing of everyone else, calm, thoughtful, prudent, forgiving = noble = moral to do in triumph.

"Is the princess close enough to the door that I could hire her for a lesson while you're here? And can you tell me what 'evil' is? And what's good about being forgiving?"

(Bar wants 0.02 Kavased to cover both paper and pencil.)

"...Ah. No. Princess is. Not available. I don't mind explaining but it's kind of a heavy situation do you want the explanation."

"Of course. Maybe I can help." This seems like a situation that could probably be helped by unbreakable bones, from the impression Valanda's gotten of Hyrule and the kinds of dangers it has. Unless she's already dead or he's totally wrong that this adventurer's planning to rescue her.

"Okay so. We have divinity in our world. Some don't apparently. The goddess Hylia has a dark counterpart, the dark god Ganon. Hylia is great and powerful and loving and kind, but not all-powerful, so she has to rely on us Hylians to help her help us. Ganon is evil. Hatred and malice incarnate. He wants nothing more to destroy, kill, and hurt. We have a history of this. It's a thing. Ganon does terrible things, a hero helped by Hylia gathers power and eventaully defeats Ganon, and all is well again. To make a long story short... A hundred years ago... I was the hero. And Ganon killed me."

Deep breath. "Got a lot of friends, too. A lot of innocents. But the princess... They say she has the bloodline of the goddess. Something awoke in her. She- She bound Ganon and herself up in some sort of suspended, half-here bubble where time runs funny. They're locked into a magical stalemate. I was taken to the Shrine of Resurrection and placed there in the hope that Sheikah technology would revive me. It did, eventually. It took a hundred years. And Princess Zelda is still in her stalemate with Ganon. She needs me to get strong again, to find the Hero's Sword, and come seal Ganon away once again. Then we can have peace."

Oh. Oh, no. Oh, no. Valanda puts on his poker face and doesn't let himself panic.

"I'll enchant your shield for free. Is there any chance you're still growing? Do you need to be able to bleed for any reason? Are you likely to face extreme temperatures? Can Ganon use command magic? Are you ever likely to benefit from being able to be compelled?"

"Uh, thanks. I'm grown. Except, like, retaining muscle? I want to still do that? And other normal body things like maybe be able to have kids someday? I'm, uh, pretty tough already thanks to Hylia's blessings, the Heart Containers. I have magic clothes for extreme temperatures, covers everything up to literally being on fire. I dunno what command magic is but not being compelled sounds good."