"Brat, use your needles." While Delvin was wondering, how would he be able to defend himself now, Goldy's voice travelled from behind his back, which made him remember about the steel needles that he kept on his waist. As his shield was dropped two steps back of him, going back and picking it up was clearly not an option now because in meantime his enemy would just swing his axe and kill him off in single strike.
Although Delvin was a great researcher in his previous life and could solve various mysteries, he literally had no combat training against humans. He only had some combat experiences against wild animals and some low key brawls with humans.
Hence it was no wonder that even with such a strong shield he is struggling to defend for his life. The Golden duck's timely reminder greatly helped Delvin to recover his composure.
