I got it. You can pick up the items just after talking to the villagers each. But the time count down is really hard to beat. Anyway, fun playing that little puzzler. Like it!
Please, rate also my teammate's first solo project "Eversands": https://itch.io/jam/gmtk-2025/rate/3781063
You don't actually have to beat the countdown, per se. Some stuff is saved even after the countdown ends, namely your character's memory of picking up quests and the items in your inventory. It's the environment that resets.
In fact, spoiler alert, the environment resetting is necessary to finish the game!
