The two of them quickly cleared the table of food, but Roy felt only five-parts full. After receiving the Blessing, his appetite had grown, and his food expenses were increasing daily.
Roy rested his hands on the table. "Miss Liu, I just discovered something very serious."
Seeing Roy so serious, the Elf Girl thought there was an unusual situation, and her small face tensed up.
Roy said, "The currency used in this secret realm isn't falis, and falis isn't circulated here."
The atmosphere instantly grew strange. The Elf Girl's delicate lips twitched. She understood what Roy meant: they might have to dine and dash. She glared fiercely at him. "If you had no money, why were you so confident just now?"
Thinking about how Roy had ordered like a regular customer, Ryu's fingers trembled with anger. Thankfully, he wasn't from the Astrea Familia, otherwise, all the hard-earned reputation they had accumulated would be ruined.
"Cough! Cough!"
Roy feigned a cough to relieve the awkwardness. He glanced outside; the Ultra-large Titan still hadn't appeared, so his idea of escaping during the chaos was going to fall through.
The shop owner saw that they had finished eating but hadn't paid or left. He seemed to realize something and turned to instruct the shop's part-timers.
Roy gave a wry smile. It seemed he could only use a little cleverness and pass the time while he was at it.
While others weren't paying attention, Roy picked up a toothpick, broke it in the middle, and then used the burrs from the break to piece the two halves back together, making it look like a complete toothpick.
Afterward, Roy stood up and greeted the dozen or so customers in the shop. "Everyone, we are actually a traveling performance troupe. While you're relaxing after your meal, please allow me to perform two small magic tricks to entertain you."
Upon hearing there was a show to watch, the customers in the shop immediately perked up, and some even started to cheer.
"Everyone, watch closely. This is a toothpick. Next, I will break it with my mind." Roy took out the toothpick and waved it around in front of everyone.
The burrs from the break had already been cleaned by Roy; as long as no one touched it, no one would be able to tell.
"Hah!"
Roy held one end of the toothpick with one hand, while the other hand moved around the toothpick, putting on a show, muttering words. In reality, all the actions and sounds were meant to distract others.
When he felt it was time, the finger holding the end of the toothpick flicked it imperceptibly, and the toothpick immediately broke.
Aside from the sharp-eyed Ryu, no one else noticed Roy's subtle movement.
"Bravo!"
The customers had never seen such a trick before and applauded enthusiastically. In an instant, the shop was filled with thunderous applause.
Roy pressed his hands down to quiet the crowd, then took out two falis, placed them in both palms, and made fists. "Now I have one coin in each hand."
Everyone swallowed, staring intently at Roy's hands. Before, they hadn't taken it seriously, but Roy's previous trick had stunned them.
This time, they were determined to spot something amiss.
"Next, the coin in my left hand will disappear. Everyone, watch closely, and don't blink."
Saying this, Roy placed the coin from his left hand on the table, opened his palm to show everyone his empty palm, then picked up the coin again and made a fist.
His right hand also seemed to be about to be verified for everyone.
He brought his hands slightly together, then released his right fist, palm facing down, and a coin dropped onto the table.
Roy picked up the coin with his right hand, then gestured for everyone to look at his left hand, slowly opening his left hand, which immediately caused a stir in the shop.
His left hand was empty. Everyone watched as the coin he had been holding vanished into thin air.
Roy shook his right fist and chuckled, "Everyone, can you guess where those two coins are?"
The crisp sound of coins clinking together rang out.
To everyone's surprise, Roy opened his right hand, and two coins lay quietly in his palm. A gasp of amazement once again filled the shop.
"Thank you, everyone. Today was just a simple performance. I hope for your continued support in the future. If you have money, please contribute; if not, please show your support by being here!" Roy said with a laugh.
Many customers found it very magical and kept asking Roy when the formal performance would be, promising faithfully that they would definitely come to support him.
Three or four customers also left a dozen copper coins.
Roy also smiled and responded to each of them.
Ryu snorted silently, calling it a trick. Only she had seen through Roy's act. It was a very simple technique. Roy initially seemed to be proving to everyone that the two coins were in his hands separately.
When he picked up the coin with his left hand, he didn't place it in his palm, but rather held it between his middle and ring fingers.
When verifying the right-hand coin for the customers, at the moment his hands came together, his left hand didn't open, but with a slight loosening of his two fingers, the coin dropped onto the table.
When his right hand opened, his palm was facing down. The coin in his right hand had never left it; Roy had used some method to stick it to his palm.
The coin placed down the second time was actually still from his left hand, while his right hand smoothly drew back.
This resulted in both coins being in his right hand.
What surprised Ryu was the young man's social skills. Without language and body movements to distract others, this trick would not have succeeded.
Looking at Roy, surrounded by people, his face full of smiles, speaking eloquently, as if he planned to live in this place permanently, greeting his neighbors.
Even though they would leave after defeating the monster...
This person's mouth was simply a deceitful ghost. The innocent Elf Girl began to realize this.
Roy collected the customers' tips and presented them to the shop owner, who repeatedly declined. He had also thoroughly enjoyed the performance. Roy had to force the money into his hand; the money from Paradis Island was useless to him.
Returning to his table, Roy saw Miss Liu staring at him with a wary expression. "What's wrong?"
"I need to be careful not to be sold by you and then help you count the money," Ryu said, quoting an idiom from the East.
"..." Roy opened his mouth.
Outside the shop, a group of two men and one woman were peering through the window, having watched Roy's performance in its entirety.
Armin exclaimed in admiration, "Eren, that person is amazing! How did he do it?"
Eren said, "I don't know."
"The coin he put down the second time was also from his left hand," Mikasa said calmly. She was one of only two people who saw through Roy's trick. Compared to the Elf Girl's sharp eyesight, her angle had an advantage, as she happened to see a glint from the coin Roy was holding in his left hand.
After Mikasa's explanation, Eren immediately felt bored. "So he's just a trickster."
Armin's excitement didn't wane. "No, Eren, he cheated in front of everyone and wasn't discovered. I think that's very impressive."
"Good eye! Praise me more; I love to hear that." A laugh rang out at the doorway.
The trio hadn't noticed that Roy and Ryu had already walked out and were looking at the three of them.