Chapter 56

Chapter 56 - Teacher Tom

Adrian noted that Rui Mengmeng didn't possess extraordinary abilities; her combat prowess was mainly in close combat. Now that she had left the world of the Super Seminary, he wondered how she would obtain the resources she needed for growth.

He hadn't recognized her at first due to the various changes in her appearance within the academy, and her limited screen time.

After Adrian and Tom finished washing up, they found Rui Mengmeng sitting face to face with Artoria, with a fruit platter and tea cups on the table. They had been chatting for a while, and Artoria was calmly eating while Rui Mengmeng held her tea cup a bit nervously.

Taking a seat with Tom, Adrian looked at Rui Mengmeng and introduced himself, "Hello, I'm Adrian Hart, 18 years old. I used to be a student, and as you can see, I now own a tavern here."

Adrian started feeling uneasy about how similar his introduction sounded to those in dating shows, so he added after a pause, "Anyway, just call me Adrian."

"Oh, okay," Rui Mengmeng nodded earnestly, and introduced herself, "I'm Rui Mengmeng, 20 years old, from Juxia City. I'm looking forward to living, improving, and saving the world together with everyone!"

"Um... saving the world?" Adrian pondered if this sister had a touch of chuunibyo.

Rui Mengmeng hesitated, "Well... I thought people summoned from different worlds are usually here to save the world, and I happened to have gained superpowers."

Adrian ignored her peculiar train of thought and curiously asked, "What does your contract actually say?"

"Contract... you mean the agreement, right? That day, after I sent that pervert to the hospital, I was worried about compensation. Then I received a contract, saying I could help you out, like a part-time job? I can learn various knowledge and skills here, and also..."

Rui Mengmeng became a bit embarrassed and lowered her head, "And also... salary... allowances and such."

Tom and Artoria had contracts; was Rui Mengmeng's situation now a mere contract? Adrian wondered internally, making mental comments about this internship-like contract or training organization's agreement—learning knowledge and skills, receiving salary and allowances, why not include social security...

Artoria interjected upon hearing this, "Adrian, you haven't paid me yet."

Tom jumped from his stool onto the table, rubbing his paw together to indicate paying Rui Mengmeng.

Adrian playfully swatted Tom's paw and retorted, "Stop it, pets don't get paid."

Of course, the debate about who was the pet was still open for discussion.

"What? You two don't get paid either?" Rui Mengmeng looked worriedly at Tom and Artoria, suspecting she might have been duped by some unscrupulous company, oblivious to Tom's "unusual" behavior.

Tom and Artoria coordinated with nods, indicating they didn't actually receive any salary. However, they were just joining in for fun; in reality, they didn't need money most of the time.

Adrian hadn't really considered this issue before. After all, most of the tavern's earnings were spent, and whether they received a salary or not, Tom and Artoria should have shares and dividends. But since they usually acted as a team, Adrian was the one who paid for things when they went out, so he hadn't thought of giving them pocket money.

"Um, Mengmeng, is it okay if I call you that?" After Rui Mengmeng nodded, Adrian asked, "How much salary do you want?"

Rui Mengmeng, like many newcomers looking for jobs, was shy to negotiate salary with a strong-willed boss. She hesitated and said weakly, "The contract said ten times my original salary, after taxes deducted, I should get over six thousand a month."

"..." So her previous salary was just around 600? Adrian felt that Rui Mengmeng's situation was quite pitiful.

She came from Juxia City, a prominent metropolis at the mouth of the Yangtze River, and yet her monthly wage was only 600...

"Alright, we'll give you everything, we'll pay you. Our tavern opens on the 7th, so we'll pay you on the 7th of each month from now on," Adrian thought it was a good opportunity to give her some pocket money.

Considering the conversion to Bely, that amount would be around thirteen to fourteen thousand, not even enough for a day's profit at the tavern.

"Boss, you're a good person!" Rui Mengmeng was touched instantly. She had never encountered a boss who paid so promptly before, "So, what will my job be?"

Adrian quietly accepted the label of a good person, saying, "Just call me Adrian. As for your job, you can start as a waitress."

"Okay, got it," Rui Mengmeng nodded seriously. Her family circumstances weren't great, so she had started working after vocational school. She had been a network manager at an internet café and a waitress at a restaurant. Working at a tavern seemed quite similar, but the pay here was higher.

"As for learning knowledge and skills, you can study with Tom," Adrian made a gesture, indicating the appearance of Teacher Tom.

Tom stood up on the table, his head held high and a smug expression on his face.

Rui Mengmeng pointed to herself, then to Tom. She only just realized that this cat seemed unusually clever, surprised, she asked, "Learning from a cat? Shouldn't I learn from Artoria?"

After just a brief chat, Rui Mengmeng had already become captivated by Artoria. Artoria's elegance, delicate appearance, confident and poised way of speaking—all of it was the kind of presence she admired.

In fact, Rui Mengmeng was simply lacking self-confidence. Officially, her appearance was supposed to be on par with a real goddess.

"If you want to learn combat skills, you can learn from Artoria. For everything else, you can learn from Tom," Adrian wasn't aware that Artoria had gained a young fan in such a short time. He was still promoting Teacher Tom, "Don't underestimate him just because he's a cat. Cats are incredibly clever."

Artoria nodded in agreement. If not for Tom's combat skills being beyond normal human capacity, she wouldn't mind him being the teacher.

Adrian placed a doctoral cap on Tom and handed him a teaching whip. He introduced, "Teacher Tom is proficient in languages from all around the world, various instruments, sports, and culinary arts..."

Tom cooperated with Adrian's introduction, waving the whip a couple of times, playing a bit of the violin, bouncing a tennis ball on a racket, and flipping the contents of a frying pan.

Having demonstrated the various skills introduced by Adrian, Tom put away all the props. He felt like being a teacher again; he had taught a student before, but Jerry had disrupted his lessons and prevented any progress. This time, he would give it another try.

Rui Mengmeng stared wide-eyed, becoming a bit dazed, "It feels

like I've arrived at an extraordinary place..."