MTFBMP Chapter 28

“For a kid, you sure knew what a sailor would like!”

 

“You think I don’t know these things, after all I’ve spent my life with?”

 

I replied, one corner of my mouth twitching upward as I spoke. The sailor in front of me laughed meaningfully. He thrust his clenched fist toward me with the back of his hand facing up.

 

He wrapped his other hand around it.

 

“So, front or back?” he said.

 

“Hmm. Front!”

 

I was now sitting across from a sailor with an empty table in the middle.

 

I slammed my hand down on the table and shouted, ‘Front!’ At the same time, there was a loud chorus of no’s and yes’s around me.

 

“Let’s see?”

 

The sailor sitting in front of me removed the hand covering the back of his hand.

 

“The front!”

 

And just as I said, there on the back of his hand was the coin, face up.

 

There were cheers all around. There were also a lot of hands trying to stroke my head roughly, and I had to press down hard on the brim of my hat to keep it from coming off.

 

“Kid, that’s pretty good, right?”

 

“It’s no big deal.”

 

“Tell me. What trick are you playing?”

 

“You expect me to tell you that when that’s my trade? No way.”

 

It wasn’t really a trick.

 

‘The coin is shining, I can see through it.’

 

The coin was a gold coin I had. Aside from being a commemorative coin, gold coins themselves were not that common. Few commoners knew exactly what was official Imperial currency.

 

They were usually reserved for the nobility, and silver and bronze coins were easier to carry around. They weren’t dazzlingly precious, but they were enticing.

 

It quickly attracted a lot of attention.

 

‘It was a surefire crowd-pleaser.’ 

 

At first, I flipped it myself and then showed it back and forth. The light from Simon’s coin sparkled through my hand.

 

‘If it’s a bunch of straight lines, then it’s tails. If it’s a bunch of intersecting lines and the curves glow together, then it’s heads.’

 

With that much in mind, it was easy enough to read the odds of this lighthearted game.

 

“Okay, here’s the coin…, oops, where did it go?”

 

“It’s in the bandana above the left ear. It stinks, so give it back quickly.”

 

“That’s the right one. Here. There you go.”

 

He used a hand gesture to hide it, but there was no way my eyes could miss the shiny coin.

 

“As promised, I’ll give you my coin, as well.”

 

When I received it in my hand, I showed it to them for free, but when it was in someone else’s hand, I would refuse to share it with them. When I asked them to put a coin on it, they laughed at my insistence.

 

It only added to my reputation as a kid with a little experience in the world of trading.

 

Of course, I made a sincere threat to keep the coin if I was wrong.

 

In this game, I never lose.

 

“Here, take it.”

 

Immediately after the coin was in my hand, an ordinary silver coin that had changed nothing in the sailor’s hand.

 

‘Another success.’

 

The coin began to glow.

 

“Now, I suppose there are no more challenges?”

 

“Hmm. I guess I’ll give it a try.”

 

The excitement of the gold coin drew quite a few sailors to this simple game.

 

I glanced up to see the head of the sailor who had just flipped the coin and walked away.

 

‘His name is Jerry.’

 

A familiar lime-green name floated above his head.

 

‘Good thing I knew this shortcut.’

 

I tried a few different ways to see how far the coin could be seen and under what circumstances it would glow. This was one of them.

 

It’s too silly to be called information, but the coin glowed in exchange for information they didn’t know.

 

‘And then I got caught by Iris, and she scolded me for playing games.’

 

Nowhere else would I have been so firmly told to never do this?

 

‘This is an emergency, Mother. I’m sorry!’

 

It’s not that I don’t feel guilty about cheating.

 

No, the other coin was not this shiny, and this was the first time I had ever cheated!

 

A game where only one person wins. There was room for suspicion. I tried to save up as much as I could because it was more dangerous than just selling information, but…

 

It would have been stupid to turn down the magic coin.

 

‘Still, they’re not as bad as I thought.’ 

 

Contrary to my expectation that there would be a lot of powerful people, they all had lime-green names.

 

Seeing that made me relax a little.

 

‘So far, nine people have had their names up.’

 

It was definitely an improvement from zero.

 

In the heat of the moment, I started with the sailors I was suspicious of. All of them had scars or tattoos similar to those I’d seen in my visions and memories.

 

They were the most likely to be part of Rhodon’s crew. I now knew the names of more than half of the sailors I suspected.

 

“Okay, enough!”

 

It was Rhodon who threw cold water on the still-chilled atmosphere.

 

“The young master will be here any minute, now clean up!”

 

With that, the order was restored to the kitchen. There were murmurs of disappointment, but no one refused to obey his orders.

 

The sailors gathered in front of me were making a quick exit.

 

“Before that.”

 

Once again, Rhodon’s heavy voice descended.

 

“Play one last game with me.”

 

Rhodon took the seat in front of me where the other sailor had been sitting a moment ago.

 

The mood of the room changed in an instant. A small murmur of anticipation filled the room, and we were once again huddled together.

 

The tension that had been loosening tightened again.

 

‘Is this an opportunity?’ 

 

If I did what I was supposed to do, I would see Rhodon’s name overhead, which was technically true, but I couldn’t help but feel like I was being set up.

 

“Let me see that coin, too, kid.”

 

“…Here.”

 

I couldn’t keep it from Rhodon. Reluctantly, I handed him my gold coin.

 

“A very fine coin, too fine for such a prank.”

 

His words were sincere, without a hint of mischief. It wasn’t the exaggeratedly cheerful tone I’d heard before, nor the warning tone.

 

It was the closest thing to the voice I’d ever heard in my visions.

 

‘Calm down, this is real, and I absolutely cannot afford to show any signs of distress.’

 

My heart was pounding so hard I thought I could hear it right in front of my eardrums.

 

“Kid, where did you get this?”

 

“My grandfather gave it to me for emergencies.”

 

“Well, I don’t think it’s an emergency right now, but what if someone else takes it?”

 

It was as if he had forewarned me that he would.

 

‘He recognized the coin was a commemorative.’ 

 

I regarded the current version of the Rhodon crew, without Adelaine, as ordinary pirates. 

 

My former self hadn’t given them much more significance than that.

 

‘Commemorative coins are only recognized by a select few among the nobility.’

 

Among the nobility of the Empire, the imperial family, less than ten of them, shared this coin. It was not something a common pirate would recognize at a glance.

 

Rhodon’s identity was instantly revealed.

 

“It’s cheaper than a day’s wages, isn’t it, Chef?”

 

“…That’s true, you’re right.”

 

I purposely feigned ignorance.

 

“You don’t seem to know much about the world, so I’m just trying to teach you a lesson.”

 

“So, should we stop playing now?”

 

“No. If we’re going to play a game, let’s make it a good one!”

 

Rhodon slammed his fist down on the table.

 

“…Okay, throw it.”

 

I had a strong feeling that if I refused here, it would be even harder to get another chance. I had to win this game.

 

“No, not this coin.”

 

In vain, Rhodon slams my gold coin down on the table with a clink. I stared at him in bewilderment.

 

“Let’s do it with my coin this time! If you win, you can keep your coin, but if you lose, this gold coin is mine!”

 

The surrounding noise intensified. Everyone was talking loudly, as if this was the real deal.

 

Rhodon rummaged in his pockets for a moment, then held out his thick hand, palm up. He held the coin in his hand out for me to see.

 

It was a plain silver coin.

 

“Are you testing me?”

 

I said softly, trying to keep my voice from trembling.