The gnome's head reached two feet, and a long, bell-tipped hood brought him up to Dastardly's waist. Beer bottle bases were strapped to his eyes for spectacles.
'Waory also left some cash if you can use it.'
The gnome jumped to grab the pouch. The freelancer dropped to his knees and followed Nuff-Sed behind a compost bin that hid the entrance to his basement. Dastardly wished he had the courage to tell Nuff that the Regent and Waory were watching him but suspected that he already knew, and was probably watching back.
Under the low ceiling were ten inch tables with sheets draped over various contorted shapes. On the farthest side of the room, where Dastardly would not fit, Nuff-Sed unveiled a set of brass legs.
'For this price, I would offer them very little. But for Dastardly, my friend, I will allow the use of these human-sized Mercurial Boots.'
In the alley space Dastardly could stand up and try on Nuff-Sed's contraption.
'They generate torque from air pressure and body heat so you can continue to accelerate.'
'I can run fast?' clarified Dastardly.
'And far.' said the gnome. 'If you take the road north you can keep going for hours without fatigue setting in. Just try to slow down in the woods so you don't splat on a tree.'
'I don't know what I can do to repay you, Nuff.' Dastardly jogged on the spot, each step lifting him higher than usual.
'Don't mention it. Business is slow, what with it being illegal...' Nuff paused. 'Aha, that's it! I knew there was something else.' He went back inside for a second. The gnome reappeared with a sheath, containing a sword that was small for the freelancer and almost too heavy for Nuff.
'Watch and learn.' He removed the sword and balanced the blade on his shoulder. Pressing a button on the cross-guard produced a sort of aiming stock as the other side popped out into a miniature crossbow.
'The actual mechanism contains three bolts, as much as I could fit in.' Nuff gnomehandled it back into its scabbard before holding the same button to hide the additional weapon.
'Doesn't that seem a little wind-up?' Dastardly intoned.
'If you are referring to clockwork, Dastardly, I must say I find nothing wrong with such a technology. Yes, the sword contains springs, but that is it. There are no gears, no ratchets, no motors.'
'Alright.' But it wasn't alright.
'That's it, customer. Don't hesitate next time someone gives you money to grease my palms, either, every little bit helps.'
The discussion was finished. Nuff returned under his house and Dastardly returned to a barren apartment up the road to pack for the country. There was not much else to do then but try out the Mercurial Boots, so he wandered to the edge of town. Not like the cities of the real countries around them, the buildings on the plains became fewer between with mathematical reliability, so the edge was where the freelancer decided to start running.
He was going stunningly, passing over land at speeds faster than any horse, until he tripped over a campsite.
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