Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Is the Profit of the Tavern So Low?

Receiving encouragement from Artoria, Adrian's mood +1.

Actually, he wasn't too disheartened. When it came to innate talent, Charlotte Linlin, also known as Big Mom, was the true champion.

Having a body with strong regenerative abilities was already satisfying enough. The remaining tasks were just a matter of hard work.

As long as he worked hard, he could achieve his goals. Isn't that already a happy thing?

Around five in the afternoon, Master Tom brought out a sumptuous feast from the kitchen.

Speaking of which, Master Tom's way of serving dishes had become more and more extravagant. With a dish in his left hand, a dish in his right hand, and one balanced on top of his head, one would fear he might suddenly start performing acrobatics with these items.

Since moving to the tavern, Adrian had never worried about leftovers.

Even if Master Tom occasionally misjudged the portion while cooking, he always made just enough. Whether it was a little too little or a little too much, it was always just enough to finish.

Adrian had discreetly asked Artoria if she was full, and her answer had always been positive.

But after meals, as long as there was no training, snacks and treats were never far from her hands. Her eating habits were puzzling.

After finishing dinner and preparing to open for business, Adrian planned to stay open until around eight in the evening. While making money was important, he couldn't neglect his evening training. Compared to money, strength was the most crucial.

"Master Adrian, I'm here again!" A young shipwright greeted enthusiastically.

"Welcome!" Adrian recognized the customer as the one Goodman had brought at noon. Since they hadn't introduced themselves individually back then, he still didn't know their names.

But this young shipwright was quite familiar, boldly approaching Adrian and asking in a hushed tone, "Master, will Tom perform tonight?"

Adrian turned his head and looked. Tom was lying on the bar with a mat under him, reclining and even crossing his legs. He picked up a piece of fish slice, swiped it under his nose, deeply inhaled the aroma, and then enjoyed it by putting it in his mouth.

Artoria was sitting beside him, seriously reading a newspaper. She glanced at the shipwright who was chatting with Adrian, found no ill intentions, took a sip of tea, and continued with her own business.

"Tom, do you still want to play the piano tonight?"

Tom paused chewing and shook his head. Playing the piano wasn't comfortable lying down.

"Sorry, Tom doesn't want to perform," Adrian replied.

"Don't say that, Master! Please, you must make him play!" The young shipwright begged with a mournful expression.

"While it's true that Tom's piano performance is quite good, isn't it a bit excessive to be so obsessed with it?" Adrian thought this person might need a system to prevent addiction.

"That's not the reason." The young shipwright looked around and then said, "Actually, I made a bet with my friends. If they come later and see the cat playing the piano, I'll earn 30,000 Berry. I'll split half with you, so please help me out."

Adrian spread his hands, "Although I'm tempted, this isn't a circus. I won't force Tom to perform. If you want to see it, convince him yourself."

"Why are you like this... Alright, I'll convince him!" The young shipwright resolutely approached Tom.

Adrian didn't bother with him and attended to the customers coming in one by one, serving them drinks.

A few minutes later, he saw the shipwright rushing out in haste. He returned soon after, holding a pile of things in his arms and noisily putting them on the bar.

Adrian vaguely recognized that the things he was holding included cat food, canned fish, and small fish snacks...

Then he saw Tom enthusiastically pouncing on the items.

The young shipwright happily greeted Adrian and then went to call his unfortunate friends.

Adrian poked Tom, who was lying on the pile of food, "Bribed so easily? Did they prepare a lot of snacks for you at home?"

Tom sheepishly smiled, indicating that he wanted to share these things among the three of them.

Adrian patted Tom's head, rummaged through his inventory, and handed over all the clothes he had obtained for Tom earlier. He let Tom choose when he wanted to wear them.

When the young shipwright returned with his friends and made a request with a gesture towards Tom, Tom changed his clothes in an instant. Amid the surprised gazes of the unknowing customers, he headed towards the piano to start his performance.

Perhaps because he had received something from them, Tom played the highly difficult "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" with great seriousness. This was the same piece he had played during the performance that was interrupted by Jerry.

Since there was no interruption this time, Tom played with great enthusiasm. He didn't even bother to adjust his dropped collar.

When Tom finished playing and took a bow, the entire place fell into silence for a moment before erupting into enthusiastic applause.

Not everyone here necessarily understood music, but they could all tell that the piece was beautiful and could feel the emotions behind the performance. Moreover, the fact that such an impressive performance was played by a seemingly inconspicuous little cat made it even more exciting.

Seeing them talking animatedly, Adrian realized that Tom would probably become a star in 59GR very soon.

Adrian glanced at Artoria, who was opening a bag of cat food and feeding it into her mouth. He thought that even if someone had ill intentions, she should be able to handle it.

However...

"Artoria, that's cat food..."

"I'm just... testing its quality for Tom." Chewing, Artoria blushed a bit and seriously commented, "It's not bad, it has a taste of fish and even chicken. Hmm."

Adrian rubbed his forehead. She shouldn't analyze the taste of cat food so seriously... Now I also want to try it...

In the end, Artoria put down the half-empty bag of cat food and opened a can of fish instead.

Adrian was relieved that at least she was eating normal food. That cat food was clearly not delicious at all.

After Tom returned to his position at the bar, some people still wanted to hear more and attempted to bribe Tom with small snacks to make him perform again.

However, Tom really didn't want to play this time. He was tired.

Adrian stepped in to persuade them to leave. Although not everyone was satisfied, most of them were. They had broadened their horizons through the music and had one or two extra drinks, contributing a decent amount of Berry to the tavern.

After bidding farewell to the last customer, Adrian calculated the earnings for the first day of operation. After deducting the costs, they had earned a bit over 120,000 Berry, with a substantial contribution from Tom.

Calculating the cost of meals, which was around 20,000 to 30,000 Berry per day without using expensive ingredients, feeding the three gluttons in the tavern, including himself, wasn't that difficult!

Even if their business wasn't as booming as today in the future, it wouldn't be a problem

. Even if the income was halved and the expenses for meals were deducted, there would still be a surplus that could be used to buy clothes and other daily necessities.

Um... wait, I seem to have forgotten about taxes and the 2 million Berries debt from buying the tavern...

So, it seemed the earnings of a day would only cover two days' worth of meals?

"Is the profit of running a tavern really this low?" Adrian frowned in distress. At this rate, he had to wonder if he could repay the 2 million Berry debt.

Actually, what he overlooked was that even the Straw Hat Pirates, when they first arrived on Skypiea, had only 30,000 to 50,000 Berry for their daily meals...

At the time they first arrived on the Sky Island, Nami had said this. Luffy had then earnestly educated them on saving money, only to be scolded in return because most of the expenses were his food expenses.