The shifty-eyed man glanced around, slipped a hand into his coat, and pulled out a Magic Film stone.
"This is the one."
Scrawled across the stone's surface was a crooked line: The Mage Tower's Fall: Lust in the Studio.
Katelina's lips parted. She looked a little embarrassed, but she was clearly interested.
"If you want something spicier, we also have..."
Thinking she wasn't satisfied, the man opened his coat to reveal several more stones tucked into its inner pockets.
Their titles, from top to bottom, read: Jack and the Mother Ratfolk's Undying Love, The Male Ratfolk Who Broke into the Safe House, What Happened Between Jack and Carl in the Detention Room...
"Sister Lein..."
The female guard turned her head. "Yes, miss?"
Katelina parted her pink lips. "Pay him."
Delighted to have finally made a sale, the man asked, "Which one would you like?"
"All of them."
The female guard looked frantic. "Miss, what are you saying? Miss!"
Clatter, clatter, clatter—
Suddenly, a squad of guards charged out from the edge of the Square.
The man had been hawking his wares a moment ago. Now he dropped the stones and ran, but the guards who had been watching him tackled him to the ground.
Katelina spotted What Happened Between Jack and Carl in the Detention Room rolling to her feet. She swiftly crouched, picked up the stone, and hid her hand behind her back.
The female guard didn't notice what her lady had done. Her eyes were fixed on the man pinned to the ground.
"What right do you have to arrest me?"
"Save it. We've been watching you for days. If you hadn't gone into hiding when Free City took flight, we'd have sent you to Prison already. You're under arrest for the Illegal Goods Offense."
The Guard Captain