Felix crossed his arms and glared at them. "Okay! Do you want another lie? This is a lie! I don't think Sensei's creations are weird or cause any problems at all!"

This, it seems, was a much bigger lie than the tap dancing needed. Felix's whole body suddenly moved. His arms spread wide, and one leg kicked up behind him as he started what could only be called a Broadway-style musical number with jazz hands, pirouettes, and a lot of hip thrusting.

"Oh no!" Felix screamed as his body did a perfect grand jeté. "THIS IS WORSE!!! THIS IS SO MUCH WORSE!!!"

Elwen said, "I didn't know Felix was so flexible," as he watched Felix do a perfect spin with wide eyes.

"Me neither!" Felix yelled, and it sounded like the start of a very energetic musical. "THIS ISN'T EVEN MY OWN DOING!"

The Brotherhood was horrified but fascinated as Felix's body continued to perform, moving through dance moves that should have taken years of practice. Greg was pretty sure that Felix had never done a backflip before, but at one point he did one.

"Should we end this?" Seraphine asked, still writing down what she heard.

"Okay, Felix, you can stop goofing around now." Greg said.

"Be honest!" Marina shouted, wiping her eyes.

"I'M TRYING!" Felix's body did a series of fouettés that would have impressed a professional ballerina. "Sensei's Creations... pirouette... are completely... leap... insane and cause... jazz hands... nothing but problems!"

Felix almost fell over when the dancing stopped so suddenly. He stood there, breathing hard like he had just run a marathon. His face was red, and his hair was sticking up all over the place.

"I'll never lie again," he said, panting. "Ever. About anything. I will be the most honest person in the world."

"Are you really going to organize the scrap metal?" Greg asked.

"Yes! Now! Right away! Without any complaints at all!"

"Do you want to take off your boots first?"

Felix bent down to take off the boots, but his hands wouldn't work. He pulled and tugged, but the boots wouldn't move, as if they were stuck to his feet.

"They're not coming off," he said, his voice rising in panic.

Greg reminded him, "The system said they can't be taken out until you tell the truth. You have to say what you really need to say."

Felix looked like he didn't understand. "But I already said I didn't put the scrap metal together!"

"That's not the whole story, is it?" Donetta said in a soft voice. "You're not saying everything."

Felix's face went through many different looks before settling on one of defeat. "Okay. Okay! I didn't just forget to sort the scrap metal."

"I've been skipping a lot of my assigned tasks because I've been staying up late gambling with the village boys."

"I'm terrible at it, and I've lost almost all my money, so I'm too embarrassed to ask for help!" The boots came off right away, and Felix was able to pull them off with a sigh of relief.

"There," Donetta said with a smile. "Don't you feel better now?"

Felix said, "No. I feel poor and ashamed."

"But at least you're being honest," Marina said.

"How the hell did you lose gambling if you have that Infinite Luck system?" Greg looked confused.

"I don't know!" He answered with a sad face and then slowly walked over to the pile of scrap metal and began to organize it with the determination of someone who never wanted to wear magical shoes again.

The workshop got back to its normal routine, but Felix would sometimes grumble about jazz hands and how comfortable shoes had betrayed him. Greg was just getting back to his fence post drawings when someone knocked on the door.

Bork opened the door to find the village chief, a kind older man named Bernard who had always been there for Greg, even when his work was a little crazy. "Boss! Bernard is here!"

"Greg!" Bernard said as he walked in. "I really need your help right now, especially if you have some tools that can expose truth and lies."

"You really came at the right time," Greg said while looking at the boots.

"What's that?"

"This is the Boots of Uncomfortable Truth. When someone wears this and lies, they will dance non-stop until they can tell the truth."

Bernard's face lit up. "That's great! Can I borrow them?"

"What do you need it for?"

Bernard said, "We have a meeting of the council tomorrow."

"And I think some of the people on our council have not been completely honest about the village budget. Would it be possible for them to wear these boots during the meeting?"

Greg said slowly, "You want to use magical truth boots to interrogate your council members?"

"Interrogate is a very harsh word," Bernard said. "I prefer the phrase 'encourage complete transparency in governance' instead."

Marina, who had been enjoying this conversation more and more, jumped up. "Oh, we're definitely going to give him the boots. This will be great."

"Marina, no."

"Marina Yes! You can borrow them, Bernard! When is the meeting?"

"At noon tomorrow in the town hall."

Marina said firmly, "We'll be there."

Greg said, "We will not be there at all."

"Greg, we're talking about corruption in the government. Don't you want to help make Ferndale a better place?"

"By making council members dance?"

"That's right!"

Bernard was nodding his head in agreement. "Please, Greg. We need to know if even half of the rumors about embezzlement are true. The suspects deny all allegations, rendering traditional interrogation methods ineffective."

"Is it more effective than regular interrogation methods?"

"In this case? Yes, probably."

Greg looked at Felix, who was still sorting through scrap metal like someone who had just been through a traumatic dance. He looked at Marina, who was so excited that she was almost shaking. He looked at Bernard, who seemed very serious about using magic boots to get rid of corruption.

Greg said, "This is going to end badly."

"Probably," Bernard said. "But at least it will be funny to see them dance because of their exposed lie."

"Okay. You can borrow the boots. But I'm not to blame for any injuries that happen while dancing."

"Great!" Bernard picked up the boots carefully, as if they were valuable objects. "I'll give them back after the meeting tomorrow."

"I'll keep them for a little longer unless I need them as proof."

Greg turned around after Bernard left and saw that everyone in the Brotherhood was looking at him.

"What?" he said in a defensive tone.

"You just gave the local government magical truth boots," Seraphine said.

"It's just some boots, how bad could it have been?"

Bork added, "Shoes that make people honest through interpretive dance."

"That sounds bad when you say it that way."

Felix said from his corner, "That's because it's awful. But also funny. And I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow.

"Weren't those boots just too much for you?" Marina asked.

Felix said, "Yes, but I won't be the one wearing them this time."

"That makes it funny instead of scary."

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