In this chaotic world, it all started when they found an elf girl.

Chapter 16 Life is tough, Roy performs for a living.

The two quickly devoured all the food on the table. Roy felt only half full. After receiving the favor, his appetite increased, and his food expenses gradually rose.

Roy placed his hands on the table. "Miss Ryu, I've just discovered something very serious."

Seeing Roy so serious, the elf girl thought something was wrong, and her face tightened.

Roy said, "The currency used in this realm is not fari, nor is fari used in circulation."

The atmosphere suddenly became awkward. The elven girl's delicate lips twitched; she understood what Roy meant—they were probably going to dine and dash. She glared at him fiercely, "You were so confident just now if you didn't have any money?"

Thinking of Roy's manner of ordering food like a regular customer, Ryu's fingers trembled with anger. Luckily, he wasn't from the Astrea Familia, otherwise all the reputation they had worked so hard to build would have been ruined.

"Cough! Cough!"

Roy coughed to ease the awkwardness, then glanced outside. The Colossal Titan hadn't appeared yet, so his plan to skip out on the bill in the chaos was going to fail.

When the shop owner saw that they had finished eating but hadn't paid and left, he seemed to realize something and turned to instruct the shop's employees.

Roy smiled wryly, realizing he could only use his cleverness to kill some time.

While the others weren't looking, Roy picked up a toothpick, broke it in half, and then used the burrs at the break to piece the two pieces back together, making it look like a complete toothpick.

Then, Roy stood up and greeted the dozen or so customers in the store, "Everyone, we are actually a traveling performance team. During our free time after dinner, please allow me to perform two small magic tricks to liven things up."

Upon hearing that there was more to come, the customers in the store immediately perked up, and some even started making a fuss.

"Look closely, everyone. This is a toothpick. I'm going to break it with my mind." Roy took out the toothpick and waved it around in front of everyone.

Roy had cleaned up the burrs at the break point, so no one could tell unless they handled it.

"drink!"

Roy held one end of the toothpick in one hand and waved the other around it, pretending to talk and muttering to himself. In reality, all his movements and sounds were meant to distract others.

Feeling that it was about time, he flicked the toothpick off without leaving a trace with his fingers, and the toothpick broke instantly.

Apart from the sharp-eyed Ryu, no one else noticed Roy's subtle actions.

"good!"

The customers had never seen such a feat before, and they all applauded, filling the store with thunderous applause in an instant.

Roy pressed his hands down to quiet everyone, then took out two farries, placed them in his palms, and clenched them into fists. "Now I have a coin in each hand."

Everyone swallowed hard, staring intently at Roy's palm. They hadn't taken it seriously before, but Roy's previous move had stunned them.

This time, they were determined to find out something.

"Next, the coin in my left hand will disappear. Everyone watch carefully and don't blink."

As he spoke, Roy placed the coin on the table with his left hand, opened his palm to show everyone that his palm was empty, then picked up the coin and made a fist.

It looks like the right hand also needs to be verified by everyone.

He slightly clenched his hands, then opened his right fist, palms down, and a coin landed on the table.

Roy picked up the coin with his right hand, then gestured for everyone to look at his left hand, slowly opening it, which immediately caused a stir in the store.

His left hand was empty, and everyone watched as the coin he was holding vanished.

Roy shook his right fist and chuckled, "Gentlemen, can you guess where those two coins are?"

The crisp sound of coins clashing rang out.

Amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd, Roy opened his right hand, revealing two coins lying quietly in his palm, prompting another gasp of surprise from the shop.

"Thank you everyone. Today was just a simple performance. I hope you will continue to support me in the future. If you have money, please support me financially; if you don't have money, please support me by showing your presence!" Roy said with a smile.

Many customers found it amazing and kept asking Roy when the official performance would be, promising that they would definitely go and support him.

Three or four customers left behind a dozen or so copper coins.

Roy responded to each of them with a smile.

Liu snorted coldly. She was the only one who saw through Roy's trick. It was a very simple method. At first, Roy seemed to be trying to prove to everyone that the two coins were in his hands.

The coin was picked up with the left hand not in the palm, but pinched between the middle and ring fingers.

When verifying the coin in the right hand for customers, the left hand does not open up at the moment the two hands are brought together, but two fingers are loosened, causing the coin to fall onto the table.

His right hand was outstretched, palm facing down, and the coin in his right hand never left his palm; rather, Roy had somehow stuck it there.

The second coin was actually placed in the left hand, while the right hand smoothly tucked it away.

Now both coins are in your right hand.

What surprised Ryu was the boy's social skills; without using language and body language to distract others, the trick wouldn't have worked.

Looking at Roy, surrounded by the crowd, he was all smiles and talking non-stop, as if he were going to live here permanently and was greeting his neighbors.

They're supposed to leave after defeating the monster...

This person's words are utterly deceitful, the innocent elf girl began to realize.

Roy collected the tips from the customers and presented them to the shop owner, who repeatedly declined, as he had thoroughly enjoyed the performance. However, Roy insisted on handing it to him, since the money from Paradis Island was of no use to him anyway.

Back at his desk, Roy saw Miss Ryu staring at him warily. "What's wrong?"

"I need to be careful, lest you sell me out and I end up counting the money for you," Ryu said, quoting a proverb from the East.

"..." Roy opened his mouth.

Outside the shop, a group of two men and one woman were peering through the window and watched Roy's entire performance.

Armin exclaimed in amazement, "Allen, that person is amazing! How did they do that?"

Allen said, "I don't know."

"The second coin he put down was also in 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 was more advantageous, and she just happened to see a glint of light flash in the coin Roy was holding in his left hand.

After Mikasa's explanation, Eren suddenly felt bored. "So he was just a conman."

Armin's excitement was still undiminished. "That's not it, Allen. He cheated in front of everyone and wasn't caught. I think that's amazing."

"You have good taste, say a few more compliments, I love hearing that." A laugh rang out from the doorway.

The trio were completely unaware that Roy and Ryu had somehow come out and were watching them.