The Lady Only Deals With the Real Ones - Chapter 8

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The man seemed accustomed to people’s fearful reactions.

He casually broke the cigarette he had been holding in his mouth.

Instead of an acrid smell, there was a distinctive mint fragrance.

Then our eyes met. The man looked somewhat puzzled that I was staring at him boldly without being frightened despite hearing such things.

‘I don’t know what’s so scary about him.’

Of course.

My standard for judging a man’s appearance was Grandfather.

Grandfather’s nickname in his youth wasn’t wolf or lion, but actually Cerberus.

The three-headed hound of hell, that is.

How could I be afraid of people when I grew up looking at the hound of hell?

‘Well, I can tell he has a decent enough face.’

The man had a high nose bridge and deep eyes. His gaze was sharp but also had a languid quality to it.

‘But so what?’

He’s someone who came to steal my money and damage my lung health.

I was thinking about just slamming the door shut when the man spoke first.

“Right, since you called yourself the owner with your own mouth, I’ll ask.”

From his following words, I realized.

“Does this pawnshop also deal in people?”

“Excuse me-?”

That I had gotten it wrong.

The man wasn’t Hugo’s person, nor was he a customer.

He was just…

‘Some crazy lunatic…’

The lunatic who seemed to have thrown away his moral compass along with his manners went even further with his swaggering tone.

“It’s nothing major. I’d just like you to buy me.”

“Oh, that’s very major though.”

“Why? This is a pawnshop. You take items and give money.”

“So you’re saying you’re currently an item?”

Even if I bought this human, what would I use him for?

A totem for driving away difficult customers? But that human seems like the most difficult one himself.

While I was thinking, he chuckled mockingly.

“Pawnshops originally deal in all sorts of things. Buying expensive things cheap and selling them expensive. Whether it’s humans or objects, there’s no real difference to people like you, is there?”

“There is a difference, why wouldn’t there be? First of all, while we have display cases for items, we don’t have display cases big enough for customers to fit in.”

“The display case is the problem?”

“No, if I had to pick, wouldn’t it be a matter of common sense?”

The man stared at me as I countered each of his provocative remarks. He seemed to be observing or perhaps confirming something.

Well, did he think I couldn’t observe too?

Thanks to my days living on the streets, I was an expert at staring contests. I looked straight back at the man.

‘He’s definitely not one of Hugo’s people. If it were Hugo, being cowardly, he would have used someone more manageable with a less unpleasant impression.’

Then where on earth did this lunatic come from?

I recalled Grandfather’s ledger. There definitely wasn’t anyone with such appearance and demeanor. So he wasn’t an existing customer either.

While I was thinking, the man spoke.

“Fine, then I’ll request something else.”

“Business hours are over though.”

“There’s something I want to buy.”

“What kind of item are you looking for, Customer?”

“Huh?”

The man looked incredulous at my sudden change of attitude, but it couldn’t be helped. I smiled shamelessly.

Since today was the first day of reopening, despite encouraging consignment sales, there were quite a few customers who sold me items they had been holding onto.

So my cash reserves were somewhat depleted.

‘Right. Let’s make money, money.’

Even a lunatic’s money is still money. If I think of it as gaining experience with difficult customers, it’s not impossible.

I secretly clenched my fist.

“What I’m looking for is weapons. But I don’t see any on the 1st floor.”

“Weapons are stored on the 2nd floor. If you tell me the details, I’ll bring down a few items that match those conditions. Unfortunately, that’s our policy.”

“My client is picky. Now that’s truly unfortunate.”

Client?

So this lunatic came here on someone’s request?

I smiled and answered while turning my mind.

“My eye for quality is quite picky too. I’m sure you’ll like what I show you.”

“I mean I want to see and choose directly.”

“You can see and choose directly. I’ll filter them for you and you can choose from those. Please understand it’s for safety reasons.”

“Safety reasons. Then I promise not to damage other pawned items. If such a thing happens, I’ll compensate at twice the item’s value.”

“No, it’s not for the safety of the items, but for your safety, Customer.”

“…My safety?”

The man looked incredulous for the second time. His expression said he’d never heard such a thing in his life.

I answered calmly.

“Yes. You shouldn’t get hurt.”

“Do I look like someone who would get hurt handling weapons clumsily?”

“Well, no one gets hurt knowing they’ll get hurt. You never know what might happen.”

Goodness, he sure argues about a lot of things.

While I was grumbling internally, the man’s eyes suddenly narrowed.

“There must be some very precious items among what you’re storing?”

I nodded without hesitation.

“Yes.”

In a way, it was an obvious thing to say.

Every single item customers left with us was precious.

Price wasn’t the issue. Even if they seemed worthless to others, they were items filled with memories and recollections.

However, the lunatic seemed displeased with my answer.

“Fine. Then I’ll entrust you with this. Bring it. The weapon I’m looking for is a sword.”

The man’s tone suddenly turned cold.

‘What’s this, is there a huge amount of money at stake?’

“It’s a one-handed sword with a diamond-shaped blade. The handle has pearls and other gems embedded in it, and there are traces of use on the blade.”

While listening to his description and flipping through the ledger, I paused for a moment.

The description of the sword seemed familiar somehow.

Because it was an item in the ledger? No. I felt like I’d heard it somewhere before.

“Are there any other characteristics?”

“There are. The most important characteristic.”

I was tilting my head trying to recall the memory when I turned around at his last words.

“What I’m looking for is stolen goods.”

There was a sharp edge in the eyes looking down at me.

I met that gaze for a long time.

“Oh dear. You’ve come to the wrong shop.”

I snapped the ledger shut.

“We don’t deal in stolen goods.”

Money was important, but wrong was wrong. I firmly crossed my arms.

The corner of the man’s mouth twisted upward.

“Do you believe that, or do you want to believe that?”

“I’m being sincere. We don’t deal in stolen goods. We neither buy nor sell them.”

“You said your eye for quality was picky. So you can immediately distinguish whether something is stolen goods or not just by looking at it?”

It was clearly a sarcastic tone.

It was a question asking if there was any way to know when a customer was determined to deceive.

It’s not like objects can say ‘This person is not my owner!’

How could one distinguish stolen goods being brought in to sell?

“No. That’s impossible.”

“Right, then….”

“But I do my best to distinguish them.”

I decided to explain calmly.

“When items come in, I check and cross-reference certificates. I go through secondary and tertiary verification with purchase receipts and auction records, of course.”

There must be more than a few people who have this misunderstanding.

“If items without certificates come in, like dolls or books, the conversations I have with customers become clues. How they felt when buying it, how much they cherished it, why they’re pawning instead of selling, and so on.”

“What if the purchase receipts, auction records, and certificates you verified were all forged? Don’t you consider the possibility of being deceived?”

“Of course I think about it every day. I worry about it every day.”

I looked straight into his eyes.

“But if a thief broke in despite having three locks, is it the fault of the person who didn’t install a fourth lock? Or is it the thief’s fault?”

The man listening to the story had a face frozen like winter frost.

“Even if I went through secondary and tertiary verification, if an appraised item turns out to be stolen goods, I will cooperate with the investigation to the fullest extent.”

If such an incident occurs, I’m also a victim.

“So I’ll listen to advice after you catch that thief who hasn’t even appeared, Customer.”

I spoke firmly to the man.

‘Huh, come to think of it.’

I suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu.

The strangely aggressive attitude toward the pawnshop, suspicion of stolen goods trading, even mentioning human trafficking.

This is a story I’ve heard many times before, isn’t it?

“Excuse me, Customer.”

Now I understand.

I don’t know what this person does or what he’s looking for, but.

‘I think I know where this person came from?’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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