Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Come On, Fellow Tavern Owners!

After that, a little more time passed, and Adrian's life didn't undergo any significant changes.

Every day, he exercised, drew lottery tickets, managed the shop, and gained quite a collection of tables, chairs, and stools from Tom's home, as well as pots and pans from the Emiya family.

Nowadays, he could handle a sword quite skillfully, learning from real combat (getting beaten up) and making noticeable progress.

Since the tavern's price increase, the number of customers didn't decrease much, and the eight tables were still often fully occupied, just like before.

Although alcohol sales had slightly decreased, Adrian was making more money.

These days, there were occasionally people asking about Tom's price, but Adrian refused them one by one.

Some people, like Uncle Bizzness, were polite and didn't say much after being turned down.

Of course, there were also some who smashed glasses on the spot and were about to speak harshly, but Adrian gave them a beating instead.

Indeed, Adrian was the one who used physical force. After being beaten for so many days, it wasn't for nothing. Dealing with one or two small-time hooligans wasn't a problem.

Through sparring with Artoria, Adrian noticed that his adaptability had improved quite a bit. When faced with an enemy's attack, he could calmly think about how to dismantle their moves and how to counterattack.

Especially when using external assistance, his fighting style became quite abnormal in an instant.

For example, if an enemy threw a punch, Adrian could quickly pull a frying pan from his inventory and hold it in front of his face, ready to smack it against the opponent's face when they were in pain.

Or like now:

"Hey, kid, don't talk about treating you to a few glasses of bad wine. I never ask about the price when I eat at shady restaurants!" A chubby man said aggressively, reaching out to give Adrian a strong slap.

In response, the man received a folding stool to his face. The stool's surface hit his chubby face, and the tremendous force made him scream out as he fell to the ground.

The chubby man cursed as he tried to get up, but Adrian leaped over the bar counter and stepped on his belly, lifting the stool and preparing to strike:

"Bad wine, right?"

"Not asking about the price, huh?"

"Want to hit me, huh?"

Bam, bam, bam! Adrian struck him more than ten times until he stopped, only after the man didn't dare to talk back or resist.

Adrian had to admit, the people in this world were truly robust. Even after such a beating, his face only turned a bit purple, a lump formed on his head, and blood flowed from his nose in two streams. Not even a single tooth was knocked out.

And Tom's folding stool quality was truly excellent; it was also particularly handy to use.

Adrian wasn't worried about scaring off the other customers. These rowdy folks enjoyed spectacles. Even though they smiled while drinking, when it came to fighting, they were even fiercer than Adrian. Many of them had faced pirates head-on. An incident like the tavern owner beating up a customer who tried to dine and dash was just a small scene, perfect for setting the mood.

"Got money, don't you?" Adrian felt that he must have looked just like a villain, demanding money from others.

"Y-yes!" The chubby man thought he was dealing with a reasonable person now. Since the young boss was willing to reason with him, he fumbled to take out his wallet.

"That's why you rich guys always want to freeload and eat for free?" Adrian pointed out as he collected a few banknotes. He charged three times the fee for causing trouble, which was a way to make extra money.

After pocketing the money, Adrian picked up the folding stool and got ready to put it away. This thing was so useful; he couldn't bear to throw it away.

However, the chubby man misunderstood Adrian's intentions due to the question he had just asked. He thought Adrian was planning to continue beating him, so he hurriedly covered his head: "I'll talk! I'll talk!"

Adrian was taken aback. Unexpectedly, there was more to gain from this encounter?

Putting down the stool, helping the chubby man up, and straightening his collar, Adrian even patted off the dirt on his clothes. He smiled kindly and said, "Go ahead, take your time. There's no rush. Would you like something to drink?"

"No need, no need!" The chubby man shivered, his nervousness evident. This smile was scarier than when he was getting beaten up!

"I was just paid to cause trouble here." The chubby man blushed a bit. He explained the whole story, from start to finish.

Adrian was puzzled. "Why did you follow him if you could tell he wasn't a good person?"

The chubby man looked embarrassed. His face turned even redder: "Hey, don't phrase it that way. I'm not exactly a good person either..."

Don't you be embarrassed! Actually, that's true. The chubby man followed him because he knew the man wasn't good. It was beneficial for him to do so: "Keep going."

"Then he gave me some money and told me to come here and cause a scene. He said this tavern stole his business, and the worse the scene, the better."

Such deep hatred between fellow business owners? Adrian continued to inquire, "Aren't you afraid of provoking dangerous people?"

The chubby man laughed awkwardly, "I asked around. You haven't been here for long, and you only know a few shipwrights. There's no substantial force behind you... and he gave me too much money..."

"Ah~ He gave you too much money~" Adrian's smile grew even warmer. "Do you know who he is?"

"I can't tell. He's probably from the bigger bars and restaurants on the nearby islands. Ordinary small eateries wouldn't spend so much money to hire a small-time thug like me."

"Alright, I forgive you." Seeing the chubby man's face light up, Adrian called out, "Tom, it's your turn!"

Tom darted over, put on a pair of sunglasses, saluted Adrian, grabbed the chubby man's collar, and dragged him to the door. Amid the expectant gazes of the tavern's customers, Tom gave him a swift kick and sent him flying.

The tavern's doors swung open and shut, and the outside echoed with the chubby man's cries of pain, while the sounds of clinking glasses emanated from inside.

Tom took out a handkerchief to wipe his hands, and he handed over a stack of banknotes he had casually taken out to Adrian.

"Hmm, he really didn't hold back on the money." Adrian chuckled, touched the top of Tom's head, and shouted to the customers, "We made some extra money today, so I'm giving everyone a 9.9999% discount!"

"Cheers..." The customers praised Adrian's generosity.

Ignoring those drunks, Adrian returned behind the bar counter: "I thought someone was plotting against Tom, but it turns out it's just a fellow business owner competing maliciously. However, with the size of our small tavern, I doubt they'll go to such extremes."

Artoria asked,

"If it's business competition, will there be more incidents like this in the future?"

Adrian pondered, "Hmm... even if it's not business competition, there will probably still be troublemakers. I'm not afraid, but it's annoying."

Adrian patted the stack of banknotes in his pocket. It seemed like... he wasn't that annoyed?

"Anyway, we're having an extra meal tonight!"

Not only could they have an extra meal, but if five or six more of these people showed up, Adrian could even pay off his debt to Old Bob.

Come on, fellow tavern owners!

Don't just talk about treating you to a few rotten watermelons... Can you really keep those melons fresh?