They reached the pawn shop. 'Big Gunther' was written in gold letters on the window. Merrick did the math in his head. Tickets to Hamburg were fifteen euros. Ozzy, Grimm, Icarus, Victor, Lykopis, Phil, and himself...seven people. "We need a little over a hundred euros."
Lykopis nodded. She leaned on the counter. It was covered with dirty magazines, crumbs, and drink rings. "Hello? Is anyone here?"
No one answered at first. Lykopis called again, and finally, a stout older man eating some potatos entered from the back. This must be Big Gunther, thought Merrick to himself. "Are you buying or selling?" he asked in German.
"Selling." she said quickly.
The man looked her up and down for a moment, and then went back to his potatos. "Sorry, the place is full enough, we're not accepting anything else."
Lykopis was not use to hearing the word 'no'. "Wait a minute, please." She lifted up her pants. Both the stout gentleman and Merrick leaned forward. An dagger with an ornate sheeth was strapped to her leg. "This is a seven-hundred year old dagger used in what's now the Middle East." Now it was her turn to lean forward. "Seven. Hundred. Years. Old." The man was practically drolling. Merrick suspected it wasn't the knife. "I'm sure you're just interest the carot."
"Don't get my wrong pretty lady, I like antiques as much as the next man...let me just go in the back and test the gold. Please, have a seat! Have a drink...one moment." He rushed into the back room, heaving like a winded horse.
"Great," said Merrick. "You just handed the guy a sword worth more than my car. That'll keep him fed...for at least a day or two."
Lykopis just stood there in the plush chair Gunther had offered. "I can't believe I'm selling this." She looked up at Merrick, expecting pitty. "I killed forty angry soldiers to get that knife. Forty. And it wasn't even just regular soldiers, the shiek sent his royal guards to kill me. And it turns out, they were all his nephews. I had no idea I was slaying half the royal family."
"So then what happened?" asked Merrick in mock amusement.
Lykopis had to think about this for a moment. "The shiek came to fight me. He was taking all of this very personally. I mean, he still had his horses. Well, then I killed him, because he wasn't just going to let me walk out of there. Hmm. I just now realized I killed off an entire dynasty in a single day." Damn, I was good.
The stout man came back, still breathing heavily. He pulled another ugly chair and pushed it towards Lykopis. She could smell the potatoes and cheese coming from his breath. "It's all good! All genuine! So, forty euros for the pretty lady...and her friend."
"What?" said Merrick and Lykopis at the same time. "That thing is worth at least two thousand dollars!"
Gunther grabbed the food he had left on the counter and put some in his mouth. "Huge difference between buying and selling. But you won't get a better deal anywhere else on this street." He rubbed one of his chins, as if to confirm the notion.
"Three hundred." Lykopis learned to swindle money from the best. How hard could it be?
"Forty-five."
It could be hard after all. "Two-fifty. You're getting a deal."
Another bite of potatos. "Fifty. You look too desperate."
Lykopis was getting distracted by the heavy breathing. Plus, he had gotten mashed potatos on the blade. She was getting unnerved. "Two hundred. Or I'll find someone else."
"Two hundred for a little butter knife! What kind of fool do you take me for!" Merrick realized that the man had his fat fingers around Lykopis's knee. "Unless you have something else to offer? I'm a very loney man."
Lykopis looked like she wanted to be struck by lightning then and there. Merrick just wanted to laugh.
