Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Costume for the Kitty

"Are you kidding me?! A cat playing the piano?!"

When Goodman asked where the musician from earlier was, Tom calmly stepped down from the piano stool, adjusted his bowtie, and elegantly bowed like a gentleman.

The group of shipworkers was utterly shocked, their eyes bulging.

"No, Adrian, I know Tom is smart, but there should still be limits, right?" Goodman had some understanding of Tom, but now he realized that his understanding was quite limited.

"Does Tom want to play more? If you find it tiring, just play a short segment." Adrian sought Tom's opinion.

Tom nodded and sat back down, playing the final short segment of the Turkish March.

The shipworkers watched Tom's actions and listened to the piano music, their mouths agape.

A few minutes later, the music stopped, and the shipworkers cheered:

"Amazing!"

"What a talented kitty!"

"Where can we buy such a cat?!"

...

Tom took a disdainful glance at these foolish humans, appearing very indifferent to the applause. He stepped steadily over to Adrian's side, took off his tailcoat, and handed it to Adrian.

With the tailcoat removed, Tom looked like a different cat. He waved at the cheering crowd with an air of pride and then slipped back onto the bar counter, sipping tea and reading the newspaper.

Adrian looked at the excited bunch of people blocked at the entrance, bewilderedly tapping his forehead, "Gentlemen, what are you here for?"

Goodman quickly realized, "Oh, right, almost forgot the main point."

Goodman was still dependable, leading them to buy drinks, and Adrian felt slightly relieved.

He continued, "Besides drinking, there's something even more important today..."

As he spoke, Goodman put his arm around Adrian's shoulder and lowered his voice in a mischievous manner, "The young lady who jogged with you this morning, the one sitting over there, right? Tell me, what's the relationship between you two?"

Adrian: ???

Why are these guys so nosy?

Helplessly, Adrian introduced Artoria as the tavern's guard to the group of shipworkers.

They were too preoccupied with the question of how such a petite woman like Artoria could be a guard. They bombarded Adrian with inquiries about whether she was his lover, sister, or a waitress at the tavern.

Only Goodman was grinning from ear to ear, as he had set up a betting pool. None of the others got it right, so he raked in all the bets.

Adrian could only think that these people were really idle.

The fifteen shipworkers exchanged their sorrow and frustration for bottles of alcohol. They weren't using cups; they were drinking directly from the bottles.

The alcohol they brought was all worth over 1000 berries each. Adrian smiled as he watched.

"The leader over there is Goodman. When I first arrived here, both Tom and I received a lot of help from him." Adrian brought them some food like roasted chicken and meat, then returned to the bar to introduce Artoria.

"He sounds like a good person." Artoria nodded, looking at the noisy crowd without any signs of trouble. She casually nibbled on a pastry.

Goodman and the shipworkers made a lot of noise, then came to chat with Adrian.

"How's it going, little brother? Have things been going smoothly these days?"

"Pretty good. I was a bit busy with cleaning and inventory check, but if the customers are all as easygoing as they are now, running a tavern seems quite simple."

"Haha, most of the time it is. Otherwise, with Old Bob's appearance, how could he have run it for so long without going bankrupt?" Goodman took a sip of his drink. "But this place really tidied up. It's not as greasy as before."

Of course, it was clean. Tom wiped it clean himself. Not tearing down the whole tavern and rebuilding it was already giving face.

"Maybe some people actually prefer that old, greasy tavern feeling?" Adrian thought that those old, run-down taverns with a bit of grease and a fireplace might have a unique atmosphere, like in the movies.

Goodman obviously lacked sentimentality, "Where are you going to find such weirdos?"

Adrian smiled, "By the way, where's little Bayer these days? I haven't seen him around."

"Molly won't let him come and cause trouble for you. She's worried that you're too busy with the tavern's opening these days." Goodman explained.

"You saw it too; I'm not that busy. He can come over and play anytime." Adrian thought Baylor was quite well-behaved among the many kids he had met.

"Alright, I'll tell him. But recently, I'm planning to take him to the shipyard as an apprentice."

"He's not even five years old, is he?"

"So what if he's not five yet? It reminds me of when I was young..." Goodman faltered. He couldn't make himself appear young enough to be five, so he felt awkward.

Raising his bottle, he took a few swigs, "Anyway, I don't want him running around outside like this every day."

Adrian nodded. In the end, other people's child-rearing methods weren't his place to comment on.

"As for you, when did you meet that young lady? She doesn't look like an ordinary person, right?" Goodman hooked Adrian's shoulder and lowered his voice, sporting an elder's smile. "And Molly, after hearing that you went shopping with a girl, laughed and said Adrian is at that age now. She specifically asked me to find out if you two really aren't... in that kind of relationship?"

Artoria looked at them strangely from the side, and Adrian gestured to her that everything was fine.

As he was sprayed with alcohol, Adrian felt a bit disgusted and pushed Goodman away, "I've already told you, she's a guard. A knight from Britain, a reliable person."

Goodman wanted to ask more, but other people's shouts interrupted him, "Little brother, we need more drinks! And more meat!"

"Here we go again!" Adrian chuckled as he went to deliver the items.

"Goodman, are you hiding there to avoid drinking?"

"Hiding my ass! I can take down ten of you!"

Amidst the commotion, the group of shipworkers spent nearly 100,000 berries. And that was because they had to work in the afternoon and couldn't drink more.

The profits were high, but the hefty taxes made Adrian feel a bit reluctant. He thought it might be better to move to an outlaw area like Shakky and start gouging people like Shakky did when his strength was sufficient.

Once the shipworkers left, a few customers trickled in, some drinking alone, others in groups of three to five.

Occasionally, old customers from the previous tavern would ask about Old Bob's situation. Adrian truthfully answered and engaged in casual conversations with the customers. He shared recent news from the newspapers about pirate crews causing trouble or Marine officers achieving success.

The tavern was open from 11 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon. They took a short break, and Adrian began cleaning up the messy tables.

Lunch was eaten during the quieter period when there were fewer customers. It was rushed, and Adrian wondered whether he should move lunchtime to 10:30,

finish eating by around 11, and then reopen.

Tom lazily flipped over on the bar counter, not feeling like moving.

On the other hand, Artoria imitated Adrian's actions and helped with the cleaning. Watching her wield the mop like a sword, Adrian worried she might poke a hole in the floor.

Shouldn't a tavern opening receive congratulatory gifts? If only he could receive a few hundred million tickets...