A woman's plea slipped beneath the workshop hammer, so faint that Hajin caught one word while reaching toward Juna's unfinished gauntlet.
"Please help me before the shopkeeper returns to this shelf."
His hand stopped above the counter as hot leather filled his nose, while two customers kept studying cheap knives near the front door.
Juna noticed his face before her ears turned toward the rear shelves, then one claw tapped the wood while she waited for him to explain.
"Someone asked for help," Hajin told her as the next hammer blow shook dust from a ceiling beam. "The voice came from somewhere behind those warped rear shelves."
Her ears sorted the shop noise while the dwarf crossed his workshop, but no recognition entered her golden eyes after the pipe clicked overhead.
"I hear his tools plus a bad water line," she replied as her fingers closed around Hajin's sleeve. "No woman is hiding behind those shelves or under the workshop floor."
