A large, bustling crowd had formed as word spread that a new challenger was daring to face Tao.

  Drunkards wobbled on unsteady legs, chugging from their cups. Small children clambered onto chairs and tables to catch a glimpse. Ordinary spectators balanced bites of food with eager curiosity. Even nonhuman onlookers seemed swept up in the same human sense of wonder.

  And at the center of it all were the three of us: me, Tao, and Adam.

  “So,” Adam said, stretching as he surveyed both of us, fingers lightly brushing over the pot, the prize for the winner of this small gamble. “We all know how the game works, right?” He yawned, clearly still affected by his drinking.

  We nodded.

  I snuck a glance at Tao.

  Lifting a wooden cup and taking a sip, Tao winked at me.

  So, what’s the plan?

  “To play normally for now.”

  What? But isn't he cheating?

  “That’s what people say.”

  So, you want to play along, knowing he’s probably cheating?

  “I’ll have to see it for myself."

  Adam hiccupped as he set up the cups. “Good. Then let’s just start.”

  Tao and I exchanged a glance and waited.

  “Hey, are we sure Adam’s going to be a reliable referee?” a spectator called out. “He looks like he’s about to fall over at any second!”

  Adam whipped his head toward the voice. “I can do it! Don’t worry about me!”

  “Where’s your sword?” another shouted.

  Adam’s hand shot out. “It’s right-” Then it dropped to his side. “Wait, where is it........?”

  “Refill, please!” Tao suddenly called out, raising his cup.

  “On it!” a female voice replied.

  The crowd quickly parted, making way for a cute bartender carrying a metal tray stacked with a pitcher and glass cups.

  “Here you go,” she said, pouring into Tao’s cup.

  “Thanks as always, Sarah,” Tao said, flicking a silver coin her way.

  Sarah caught it with a grin. “Thank you for the generous tip.”

  She reminded me of a college student hustling through a lousy part-time job just to chip away at massive loans. I guess that’s why she’d rushed over the moment Tao asked for a refill.

  Then her eyes fell on me, and a frown formed. “Really, Tao? A kid?”

  Tao shrugged. “He wanted to play.”

  Sarah sighed. “Hey, kid, you really shouldn’t be here. You’re just going to lose all your coins.”

  “She’s not wrong, Beric,” Adam agreed.

  “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at home, asleep by now?” Sarah asked.

  “No?” Adam’s expression turned offended. “What do you take me for?”

  “An unemployed bum?”

  Adam clutched his chest dramatically as he winced in pain. “Why would you say that?! You employed people with your cold hearts to oppress the unlucky masses who can’t secure their own jobs!”

  Why are you holding your chest too?

  Sarah just shook her head. “You know we’re still hiring here, right?”

  “I will never work in this disgusting land, where the hard-earned money of real workers is stolen!” Adam declared. Then he glanced around. “Hey! Where are my free drinks? Who was the one who said that?”

  Sarah, unfazed, raised her hand, polishing the tray with a wave of magic. “At least clean the tray.”

  “Isn’t that your job?” Adam asked.

  “I just did it, so shut up,” she shot back. Then her expression softened as she looked at me. “Oh, right. So, kid, you’re still sure about this?”

  About never getting a job?

  “Yes,” I said proudly. “I’ll win!”

  And I meant that in two ways.

  Sarah’s eyes widened slightly. “Really?” She scratched her head. “Ah, well……..fine.” She placed a glass cup in front of me and poured some juice into it. “Since you’re so confident, here. On the house for now, but if you win, be sure to leave me a huge tip from your winnings.” She winked. “Deal?”

  I eyed the drink. Why is it glass?

  “Thank you, but I’m not thirsty,” I said, pushing it back.

  Sarah frowned. “Really? Oh, is it dirty?” She grabbed the cup, set her tray down, and raised her other hand. A small flash of light ran across the glass, making its surface sparkle like new.

  Polishing magic.

  “They even have cleaning magic here?”

  It’s a weaker form of cleaning magic which is in Arcane.

  She handed it back to me, but I was still wary.

  “Why is it glass?” I asked out loud.

  She tilted her head. “Don’t kids like you find glass cups cooler?”

  Oh, that’s right. I’m supposed to act like some idiot kid.

  I glanced at Tao.

  He had a different look in his eyes.

  I can’t let something like a glass cup mess me up

  I smiled and picked up the cup. “Okay, I lied. I didn’t want to break it accidentally,” I said with a laugh. “But thank you very much!” I took a generous sip.

  Her smile widened. “Nice, isn’t it? Our very own homemade starberry juice!”

  “Oh! Can I get one too?” an onlooker called out.

  “Only if you tip!” Sarah shot back, winking again.

  As chatter and the clinking of glasses filled the tavern, only a few of us noticed that Adam had started the game. He stood behind a small table by the wall, carefully arranging the cups and coins on a metal tray used for transportation. To his left was the bar, the main hub of food and drink orders, pounding on tables, and young bartenders washing dishes and cooking. Adam moved cautiously, making sure nothing was knocked over.

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  Meanwhile, I quietly sensed the area around me. If Tao was using magic to cheat, I should be able to feel it. The problem was that weaker spells were much harder to detect, and with so many other magical effects in the tavern—water magic cleaning plates, Sarah polishing the glasses, some overzealous cooks using fire magic to overcook meals—a subtle spell would be drowned out.

  And then I thought: what kind of weak spell would even help him cheat here?

  Body-strengthening magic was an option, but it was easy to notice.

  What else could it be?

  Tao spoke then, breaking my thoughts.

  “You said losing all your allowance would get you in trouble with your sister,” he said, resting his head on his hand.

  “Yes,” I replied.

  “But humor me, it then makes me wonder why you’re so ready to gamble it all away,” he continued.

  That weird moment from earlier must’ve raised his suspicion. I have to act fast.

  “I know,” I said carefully, keeping the tone of a young child. “That’s why I said I’d quit if things got too scary.” I grinned cheekily. “And my friends over there, the ones you said played you before, I want to beat you because they couldn’t.”

  A subtle mix of ego and mischief. That should buy me enough leeway.

  Tao’s expression didn’t change. “Alright.”

  “Okay, “ Adam said as he turned to us, setting the metal tray of cups in three neat rows of two and placing it on the table. “Are we ready?”

  “I can’t believe you’re actually overseeing this,” Sarah said.

  “What’s it to you?” Adam snapped.

  “Nothing,” she muttered, raising her hand to polish the tray again. “It’s just dirty.”

  “You already cleaned it,” Adam said, confused.

  Tao chuckled. “Sarah’s always been a clean freak.”

  “It usually gets me more tips,” she added confidently.

  “Can you get going already?” Adam waved her off. “Stay any longer, and I’ll start thinking you’re in on the cheating.”

  Sarah pouted. “Cheating, huh? Like I could help Tao. What am I going to do, make the coins flash through the cups?”

  “Just go,” Adam said, exasperated.

  “Unbelievable,” she muttered as she walked away. “I don’t know why everyone thinks I help him. Sure, he tips well, but that doesn’t mean—”

  “Well then,” Adam began, leaning on the table with both arms, “let’s start with the ante, shall we?”

  The usual hum of the tavern—chatter, clinking dishes, laughter—persisted, but in our little area, a quiet tension settled over the crowd. Every eye turned to the table.

  You better be right about this, Beric.

  “I hope so too.”

  “Good luck!” I said, trying to sound excited but timid at the same time.

  Tao nodded. “Good luck to you as well.”

  We brought out our coins—my ten copper coins, and his as well—and each of us dropped one into the pot. Nine points remained for each of us.

  Adam then held up his own copper coin. “Let’s decide who goes first. Tao?”

  Tao leaned back. “Heads.”

  “Tails is for young Beric,” Adam replied, flipping the coin.

  All eyes then followed the coin as it spun through the air, catching a dim copper glint, before landing back into Adam’s hand.

  He then showed it to us.

  Heads.

  Oh, that sucks.

  “What makes you think that?”

  Uh, wouldn’t going first be better? Not only do you see the first coin, but the general flow of it would be decided by you, since the other is forced to either steal or not steal.

  Something like that would be important in a seemingly mental game like this.

  “But there’s more to this game than just that.”

  After a pause, Tao pointed at a cup—the second one in the middle row. Adam nudged it toward him, and Tao gently lifted it to peek underneath.

  His face didn’t change and he closed it promptly.

  “Alright, Beric,” Adam said, turning to me. “Do you wish to steal?”

  I think you shouldn’t steal it.

  “Why not?”

  Since it’s the first cup, you should obviously spend one to secure it, but you shouldn’t go any more than that. After all, there’s still three bronze coins, and sure, there’s also two silver and one gold, but that means there’s a 50 percent chance that this cup will be one of those bronze coins.

  “That’s true, but you’re not accounting for the possibility that Tao knows which cup holds what coin.”

  Huh? Are you saying-

  “I have a good feeling that he picked the gold coin first.”

  After acting like I was deep in thought, I finally spoke. “I’ll steal for one.”

  Adam seemed amused by that. “Oh, we’ve got a brave one here.” He turned to Tao. “Well, you heard the boy. Are you going to rebuy?”

  Tao paused for a moment. “I will.”

  Adam nodded. “One-point rebuy from Tao. Back to you, Beric.”

  Okay, so let me get this straight. If you steal, it’s now two points.

  “Uh huh.”

  And since Tao’s willing to spend one point to rebuy, that means the cup could be silver or gold. A bronze would just cancel his one point, but that could also be his trick, baiting you into spending two for a useless bronze.

  “And if it’s the latter, he could be aiming for a back-and-forth that ends in me using up four points for a bronze.”

  Sys looked nervous.

  Then, are you sure it’s silver or gold?

  “Statistically speaking, you’re right. The chances of it being bronze for the first pick are much higher than it being gold or silver, silver being 33 percent repeating and gold being 16.67 percent, if my math is right.”

  Your math checks out.

  “But there’s more to consider.”

  The cups all house coins, some of which house different values.

  But the prices for stealing them all remain the same.

  “The total points across all cups add up to fourteen. 6 cups, so when you divide 14 by 6, you get the average value per cup, which is roughly 2.3 points. That’s about how much you should spend to steal and rebuy.”

  Then if we go by that, stealing for two points makes sense.

  “Though maybe not at the very start with all three bronze coins still in play."

  So, you aren’t going to steal?

  “No, I will, since like I said, I know he picked the gold coin.”

  You’re really sure this is the gold coin?

  “100%.”

  I smiled shyly, keeping my act. “Uhm…....I’ll…....I’ll steal again.”

  Adam blinked. “Are you sure?”

  I nodded firmly. “Yes.”

  “Okay then, that’s two from Beric.”

  Tao’s eyes narrowed.

  He’s going to rebuy.

  “I rebuy for three.”

  Gotcha.

  The crowd murmured, whispers weaving through the tavern.

  Adam was slowly sobering up. “Three already? Now, isn’t that interesting?” He leaned toward me. “Mr. Child Genius, what will you do? Steal again?”

  Sys made a low, uncomfortable noise.

  Maybe you should fold here. I get your confidence, but unless it’s the gold coin, you gain nothing, and the chance of that is…......sixteen percent-seventeen, if you round.

  I groaned, just loud enough for Tao to hear. “Uhm, Adam?”

  “Yes?”

  “If I steal, I only gain points if it’s the gold coin, right?”

  “Yep,” he nodded.

  I let a long, exaggerated “Hmmmm…...” escape.

  Okay, are you actually thinking, or just faking it?

  “I’m not, dumbass. I’m going to steal it again.”

  I forced a hesitant frown. “But it’s only the first round. And I can still quit before I lose everything, right?” I made sure Tao heard me.

  Tao cleared his throat. “Yes. You may quit whenever you want.”

  I looked down, feigning uncertainty, then shot my head up suddenly. “I’ll do it! I’ll rebuy for four!”

  Gasps rippled through the crowd.

  Adam let out a small sound of surprise. "Hah. Four from Beric.” He glanced at Tao. “Mr. Tao, what about you?”

  Tao tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

  Fold. I know you want to.

  “I fold.”

  Outbursts were heard from the crowd, but Adam didn’t let them interrupt the game as he swiftly slid the cup over to me. “And with that fold from Tao, Beric wins the first cup for four points.” He gave me a weird look before giving me the cup.

  Man, I really hope you didn't just mess up. Since you're usually so hard on yourself and so negative, the times where you're actually somewhat confident in yourself seem strange to me. There better be a good reason for-

  After being handed the cup, I then flipped it over to reveal what was inside.

  “Ah shit.”

  Sys flew to me in a flurry.

  Is it bronze?! I told you to not-

  “Just kidding.” I said while holding the content of it for all to see.

  It was the gold coin.