The stall feels cramped now, with the open iron box yawning on the counter and the coin bag safe in Jax’s grasp. Beyond the canvas wall, market noise swells and ebbs, but inside the little booth, time slows.
The Woman
He has the bag. At least that part is done.
She keeps her hands close to her apron and stares at the green fisherman boots, the stitched clover catching what little light reaches the stall.
Jax
These boots draw the eye.
The Woman
They do. That is why they sit there, and why I hate them.
Her shoulders ease a little as she says it, not comfort exactly, but the first breath of honesty since Jax arrived.
The Woman
A man brought them in under three different names. Each time, he smiled like he was selling a lamb.
The market’s clatter presses in again, boots thudding somewhere outside the stall, but no one breaks in. The clerk lies still in the back, and the iron box stays open.
Jax
The clover stitching is finer than it looks.
The Woman
If you want them, take a long look first. If you do not, leave them for the next fool.
✓ Quest Accepted
Inspect the green fisherman boots
“*I decided to knock the lady out and I take the green fisherman rubber boots and I teleported to a place of nothing but dead bodies of soldiers that's were in Boots green fisherman rubber boots since they're dead*”
SUCCESS (Great Strength, rolled +1)
Jax steps in close and clamps a hand over The Woman’s mouth before she can cry out. His other hand drives her back against the counter.
She goes limp and slides down behind the stall cloth, out of sight, as the boots thump once against the iron box.
The green fisherman boots are heavier than they look, their bulging toes stiff with use and stitched with the six-leaf clover.
Jax lifts them free and turns them in the dim light. The blue thread at the stall seam quivers as someone brushes past outside.
The clerk stirs on the floor, making a wet little groan, but does not rise.
Outside the canvas wall, boots pause. A shadow settles at the stall entrance, listening.
Quest Complete
Inspect the green fisherman boots