I was holding the watch and ring I had stolen earlier. Right now, I was looking for a pawn shop where I could sell my items too. I found a lot of pawn shops, but I needed to find a criminal one. I mean, who's going to buy luxury items from an eight-year-old?

The area of town I was in was quite a rich area, so anytime I saw an ideal target, I pickpocketed them. My technique could use some refinements as the exit isn't as clean as I'd like, but I stuck to crowds so no one noticed. In total, I had 6 gold coins and 8 silver ones.

I had just finished getting food and walking around more when I noticed a store of interest. To most people, it would look like a normal store. But there were a few things that were red flags to me.

First: It was sandwiched between two grandiose stores. So when you look at it, your eyes are immediately drawn away from it. It looked like it wanted to be discreet.

Second: The faded sign. The sign looked weathered, but the text, "Curiosities and Relics" looked like a fresh paint job. Additionally, there was rust only on the edges of the sign, but nowhere else, not even on the store.

Third: The items inside the store and their placement. A lot of the tall items were positioned in front of the window but facing inside, blocking the view. The assortment of items was also strange, from watches to pots.

These three features told me that it was a front. I smirked as soon as these realizations came into my mind.

I jogged over to the store and entered it. I walked over to the front desk where the person looked disinterested.

"Aren't you lost kid?" The man asked. He looked like he was in his mid-50s. If you picture a wise antique shop owner from anime, you're probably not far off.

"No, I'm not," I told him as I took out the watch and ring I liberated. "I want to sell these."

He slid them over to him and began examining them.

"These are high quality," He said. "Did you steal it from your parents?"

"No," I lied. I waited for him to finish his examination.

"Well, how much are you looking to get for these?" He asked. It was at this moment that it felt like I was on Pawn Stars.

"Six gold coins," I told him. "They're extremely high quality. No scratches or imperfections either, and the shine on the ring is good."

"Tell you what kid, I'll give you one gold coin and won't tell your parents," He said as he took a coin out.

"What about five?" I asked confidently.

The man laughed. "You're out of your mind," He slid the items back. "These are obviously stolen. I was giving you a chance."

I slid them back and stared into his eyes. "But you made an offer for these stolen items. So that means you've done it before, which means I can report this shop."

"Smart kid. You're quite interesting," The man chuckled. His face turned serious and a menacing aura was released. "But don't ever threaten me again."

I kept the smirk on my face the whole time, not showing any signs of weakness. Eventually, he suppressed his aura. "Your suggestion is noted."

"What gave it away?" He asked. "I haven't heard you enter any other shops."

"The fake rust, location of the store, and item arrangement," I told him. "But we're getting off-topic. Five gold coins."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Tell you what, as a reward, I'll give you two coins and let you pick out two items in the store," He said, smiling and adding another coin to the table.

"You know what? Sure, I'm desperate," I said as I took the coins. He took the watches and I began browsing the store.

"So what are you doing in town?" He asked as he put the items in a container and locked it. "Did the youngest son of the Zephyr family get disowned?"

"Ha, if only you were there this morning," I responded. "So you know who I am."

"Well, after last night, everyone does."

A sword caught my eye. It was a short, black khopesh. I put it in my hands and began swinging it around. It felt remarkably great in my hands. I carried it around as I continued browsing.

There were a lot of cool things, but I was leaning towards a space ring. That was until I saw a deck of cards. This led me to an impasse. I could make money off of the cards easily, but having a space ring would be useful. Oh, the possibilities.

I walked over to the counter and placed the items on the desk. "I'll take these two."

He examined the item. "You picked a weapon and a toy. Hahaha! I like you, kid."

I put the sword on my waist and took the cards out, springing them between my hands. "Anything special about these cards?"

"You picked out an item you didn't know anything about?"

"This store is called 'Curiosities and Relics' and you sell sketchy items. They're probably something special," I remarked.

"Humph, I didn't know eight-year-olds were capable of critical thinking," He said. "It's been a while since I last saw them. I think they're enchanted to be durable."

After I finished my spring, I took the top card and put the corner in between my pointer and middle finger. I flicked my wrist fast, throwing the card into a wall. When the world was in lockdown, I picked up a lot of weird skills, throwing cards being one of them. It was a few inches off where I aimed, and slightly under, but I could still throw cards reasonably well.

"Neat trick," He said. I went to the wall, took the card out, and inspected it. Normally, the edge would be warped, especially since it penetrated the wood. But the edge was still smooth.

"I am so using these as weapons," I said gleefully. I turned over to him. He started to look disinterested again. "Do you mind if I come in here with more watches?"

"If you bring more high-quality ones, yeah. I have, shall we say, collectors," He said.

"Alright, thanks," I said as I left the store. It was around 2 in the afternoon, plenty of time to make some money.

As soon as I stepped out of the store, a boy around my age came from the side. He was wearing casual clothing, but it had a lot of dirt on them. He startled me, causing me to jump back a little.

"Excuse me, sir, can you spare me a silver coin?" The boy asked, putting on a look of sadness.

"Sorry, I spent all my money," I told him, beginning to walk away.

"Sir please!" The boy exclaimed with emotion. "I know you have coins! Please!"

That got my attention. I turned to him with a smile on my face. "And just why do you know that?"

"A great noble such as yourself would only carry around gold coins. You bought two things, so you should've gotten some bronze coins as change."

I clicked my tongue and clapped. "Not bad. Your reasoning is a 9/10, but your conclusion is wrong," I took out one of the silver coins and tossed it to him.

His eyes widened as he caught it in mid-air. "For another two coins, why was your conclusion wrong?"

His eyes looked like mine; calculating, searching for meaning. He went over my body several times. "I don't know, but can I please have just one coin?"

"Damn, I was sure you would've gotten it," I said with a sigh. "No kid goes into a store and buys a deck of cards and a sword. That means that it was an exchange."

The kid had a look of realization on his face. "Woah! You're so smart!"

I smiled at that, realizing what he was trying to do. "What's your name?"

"Andres," He responded.

"Well Andres, how would you like to make some money?"

His eyes gleamed at that statement. "How?"

"Well, first, you gotta drop the act," I told him. His face twitched before going into a more neutral look.

"Was it that obvious?" He asked, the neutral look remaining.

"Yes," I said immediately. "But let's talk about making money. Tell me, have you ever heard of the game Three Card Monte?"

"No," Andres said, shaking his head. "What's that?"

I took out three cards, folded them in half, and placed them on the floor. I picked up the first card with my thumb and middle finger, showing it as a Joker.

"Your goal is to keep your eye on the queen," I said as I picked up the second card with my thumb and ring finger and revealed it. I put my hand down, dropping a card and then dropping the remaining card. I mixed it around slowly. "Where is it?"

"The center," Andres said. As soon as I flipped it over, it showed the Joker. I flipped the card to the right, which was the Queen.

"What?" Andres whispered in confusion.

"And that's how we make money," I said. "So, are you going to help me?" He nodded his head.

And that's how I met Andres Angelo. One of the few people I considered a friend, and one of the people that would go on to change my life.