"You little punk! You think you can just bump into me and dirty my clothes and get away with it?"
A tall thug grabbed the boy by the collar, nearly spitting in his face.
But looking at his clothes, so filthy that their original color was indistinguishable, it was evident the stains had been accumulating for years, not the result of a single collision.
"I'm... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I can compensate... I'll help clean it for you." The boy's voice trembled as he tried to wipe it with his hand.
"Compensate? Can you afford it? This is high-quality material!" The tall thug swatted the boy's hand away, then looked down at the books in the boy's arms, reaching out to snatch them.
"These old books seem like they might be worth a few Copper Coins, hand them over to pay your debt!"
"No! I can't give them to you! These are loaned to me by Mr. Colt! I have to return them!" Suddenly, the boy burst out with strength, tightly hugging the books in his arms.
