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At Illeore's playfulness, you decide to switch gears a bit. You don't like keeping the stoic professionalism if you don't need to.

You lean back on your chair, the front leg lifting slightly off the ground as the heel of your foot rocks with the movement, your voice raised to be clearer over the sound of loud thumping music, "Sales pitch? It better be something good up your sleeve."

Illeore gestures with her hand, "We pride ourselves on quality, thoroughness. Efficiency. We can handle a multitude of scenarios: from, of course, object requisition and retrieval, to interpersonal troubleshooting, to aggressive consultation, to protective services- and beyond." She grins. "We've got an eye for a little bit of everything."

You translate her words in your mind. Theft. Assassination. Blackmail. Bodyguarding. Seems like you have some all-rounder mercenaries in your company. And you do believe her there. "And what exactly brings you knocking on my door specifically? Have y'all been asking every person around here about this box?"

There's a pause. The crowd below cheers as another brutal hit lands.

Illeore hums, her stare calculating, "Not quite. We originally tracked it down to this little shop downtown. Nothing about any interested parties. Funny thing, though- the item was missing, and there was a dead body in the back. You wouldn't happen to know about that, would you?"

Ah, right. That sad, sad, guy. A dead snitch is better than one that can talk.

Your tone is a shrug, "Does it matter? You aren't bounty hunters, are you?"

She shrugs, "Eh, not today." Then she smiles and laughs, high and sharp, "I mean, if we were out for your head, we wouldn't be talking right now."

"No, we wouldn't." You chuckle too.

There's the thumping of feet stomping along to the heavy drums, muffled background noise, the air hot from constant bodily movement. You both stare at each other for a long, long, second. 2 against 1 is never good odds, but you've dealt with worse. You fight dirty, brutal, indiscriminate with what you use and how you use it. Your survival is always more important than someone's perceptions or a cool reputation. Even if they overpower you; hold you down, tear your limbs apart before you can blink, it won't be an easy affair. There's other pain points to target. Professionals like this don't like to be embarrassed by their targets, so you'd press on that. Scream, cry, beg on the floor in faux tears that draw looks of pity. There are no limits to how far you'll go if it comes down to it.

They must sense it too.

A respectful nod of acknowledgement is exchanged.



Illeore gestures, "Ahem, welllll, in exchange for the music box, we can provide you with a selection of currency, items, information, or a combination of any. Of equivalent value that is. We do not exchange services."

You consider the pitch, "You aren't going to rob me, right?"

She shrugs. "Don't see why we would need to."

That's not a no. You snort, "I wouldn't bother trying. My items are bound by my magic. It's gonna' be a lot more expensive trying to find someone that could crack it open," you gesture dismissively. "If you don't believe me, that's fine, I could have the card destroy itself and any item in it too."

It's a lie, of course. Once the inventory card is out of your hands, you wont be able to do anything to it. What isn't a lie, is its difficulty to unbind. Your inventory magic, the kind that substantiates as long as you want, with selective capabilities of who you want to access it, has different tiers of warded encryption you've learned to apply for better security. You have limits to what you can do to your cards to make them more useful of course, like weight limits and how many you can manifest, but security can be improved and the way you tinker your keys.

It'll only get better with time anyway. Magic is stronger the better you can imagine it before it manifests, and once it's manifested, you can only build up on that. Another thing smarter people can explain better than you. Something about how magic doesn't have a singular logic to itself, it instead adheres to the caster's internal logic.

Even then, there's a low percentage of people that can break the kind of magic you have, and you studied under a BREAKER to make sure it would be hell for them to crack again. BREAKERS are a real specialized breed, with the largest percentage of that even rarer percent plying their hands in Cursebreaking. Why's a field like that so rare? Casters get real complacent with access to cancellation spells. Once it stops working or looking like how it should, you gotta call an expert and have a fat stack of cash.

If she believes you, she doesn't show it, simply nodding. "Noted. Here's what we have to offer!"





Ah, the temptation of just cashing out completely. You'd be all set for the next three, maybe four jumps, with that much money at your disposal. Though it's not a bad selection, information can be more useful than you expect, especially if there's a certain someone aiding the guy you're trying to kill. The other items have their uses in different.. creative ways... The novelty T-shirt also gives you pause, it's gotta be something she wants to get rid of. Could also be very handy for your current mission...

Hold the fucking presses though... A travel watch? Difficult merch to come by, especially from people willing to sell them. Not that you have much of a use for it. It's range is too limited for your needs. Could be a good sell for later? Although... maybe Eiko could make use of it.. If you're feeling that generous?



Since they have their own resources, they're more interested in your magical wares. You can also provide them information, but you don't know what would be valuable to them.

A) Start Exchange (Pick Items)
B) Ask About Items/Info
C) Haggle Prices (Provide Argument)
D) Examine Surroundings
E) ____

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