From the MC's Perspective:
The guards were petrified. They realized they had encountered someone more dangerous than the previous culprit.
Their lives were hanging by a thread, while the locals went about their business, seemingly unaware of the tension in the air.
It was as if an invisible spell had benumbed them, preventing them from looking in the guards' direction.
An old man ignored the guards, walked past them, and entered the stall. He swept his gaze across the shelves, recalling that he had given two silver boxes to Sam for safekeeping.
One of those boxes contained a precious sample he urgently needed for his experiment. He had a method for protecting his important samples; he usually entrusted them to people he could rely on.
Even if his lab were to be discovered, he could restart his experiment using those samples. This risk was why he had come here.
