"Are you His Majesty King Garfield?"
Seeing Old Tom's strange expression, Garfield thought for a moment. After confirming he had no grudge against the man, he nodded.
"It's me."
Tears welled up in Old Tom's eyes.
He bowed low to Garfield and pleaded, "Your Majesty, please control your apprentice and your woman!"
Hmm?
Hmm ヽ(○^?^)??
The sentence itself didn't seem to have any special meaning, but Garfield felt something was off.
"Old Tom, what's the matter?"
Old Tom was in a bind. He had painstakingly built his pub. The wizarding world's population was small, but business had always been decent.
He had even taken out a loan to expand, dreaming of opening a chain, maybe even supplying drinks across the wizarding world to increase his income.
Then Grindelwald started causing trouble in Europe.
Somehow, the dark wizard had gotten together with a terrifyingly powerful woman and a Muggle with a mustache.
Suddenly, there was a war.
At first, it had nothing to do with Britain. But somehow, Dumbledore got involved.
Overnight, Old Tom's once-thriving bar became a ghost town. Only a handful of customers remained, the kind who nursed the same drink all day.
Later, an insider revealed the truth.
Some European wizards, organized by a powerful family heir who had taken a liking to Hela, had mobilized dozens of adult wizards to capture her.
They ended up skewered like lamb kebabs and hung on a cliff by Hela.
Hela's ferocity instantly surpassed Grindelwald's.
The insider also revealed that Hela had a special relationship with Garfield, and that Grindelwald respectfully called Garfield his mentor.
But Garfield had gone off to explore space. So they were helpless, except to secretly pray that he would return and take his woman and his apprentice back.
Old Tom rambled on, embellishing the story as he went. His arms tightly gripped Garfield's front paws. He refused to let go.
"Your Majesty, please save my shop! You don't know how ruthless those witches are, charging exorbitant interest rates."
"If this continues, I'll have to sell the pub in less than six months!"
The Leaky Cauldron held a very special place in the HP world. It was involved in many key plot points.
Buying it as an entry point into that world wouldn't be bad at all.
Garfield rubbed his chin. This seemed quite feasible. He pretended to hesitate.
"Grindelwald is from your wizarding world. It's not convenient for me to interfere. Hela... I have some dealings with her..."
He stopped there.
Old Tom and the few onlookers in the pub grew very anxious.
Having piqued their interest, Garfield continued, "Hela isn't from the wizarding world. *You* attacked *her* first."
"We're already being kind by not helping her. Besides, Hela isn't mine to control. We're not married."
"You'll have to talk to her parents about this, provided they have an agreement that neither interferes with the other."
After hearing Garfield's explanation, Old Tom's last glimmer of hope withered.
His dream of Garfield dealing with Hela and Grindelwald and restoring peace to the world was shattered.
His bar... It seemed he would have to sell it to pay back the money he had borrowed from the greedy goblins.
But who could he sell it to? In this turbulent climate, even if he found a buyer, it would only be to pure-blood families.
He would inevitably get ripped off again.
Thinking of this, Old Tom's heart bled.
These were all golden Galleons!
Seeing Old Tom's predicament, Garfield knew it was time to step in.
"Tom, what's the problem? Although I can't easily interfere with Hela and Grindelwald, other things might be fine."
(^❔^)
*Ding!*
Old Tom had a flash of inspiration. He didn't want to deal with those vampires. But he could approach the cat in front of him.
There were many wealthy families in the world, but who could compare to the High claw?
Everyone in the world now, whether ordinary or magical, except for those who hid in the mountains and never interacted with anyone, knew that High claw Corporation was the richest company in the world.
And King Garfield, connected to High claw Corporation, was naturally a very rich cat.
Old Tom looked at Garfield with what he thought was his most affectionate gaze.
Then, in a tone so nauseating that Garfield wanted to vomit, he pleaded:
"King Garfield, look at my tavern. The drinks are the best in the wizarding world. Our house-elves are first-rate cooks."
"I wonder if you would be interested in investing?"
Old Tom went on and on, making his tavern sound more extravagant than a five-star hotel.
Garfield listened calmly, but the customers drinking nearby couldn't help themselves.
"Hahaha."
"Hehehe."
Old Tom blushed at the laughter. His face felt hot. He shouted angrily, "What are you laughing at? No laughing!"
Perhaps feeling guilty, he added, "I just exaggerated a little. Salespeople usually praise their goods first."
Customer A: "Old Tom, you know we're professionals. We don't usually laugh."
Customer B: "Unless we really can't help it."
Customer C: "It's fine to praise something when doing business. But bragging is different."
Old Tom's face darkened. He waved his hand impatiently. "Shut up and drink your wine."
"Your Majesty Garfield, don't mind them. They're drunk. Look at my tavern—"
Garfield gave Old Tom a meaningful look and began to lecture him. "Old Tom, business is about integrity."
"Otherwise, Highclaw Group wouldn't have been so successful. Praising a product and bragging are two different things. Besides, is your tavern really all good and no bad?"
Customer A: "The bad thing is that Old Tom's bragging isn't big enough."
Customer C: "That's right! It's the best in the universe!"
Customer B spat out his drink, wiped his mouth, and said apologetically, "Sorry, Old Tom. I have a low threshold for laughter."
Old Tom was thoroughly annoyed by the customers' antics. The old man couldn't contain himself any longer.
He could only turn back to Garfield and stammer an apology.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty King Garfield. I—"
Garfield raised a paw and interrupted him.
"I understand what you mean. I'm not interested in investing in a small bar. But if you have difficulties, you can just say so."
"Or I could buy it myself. However, I don't have time to manage a small bar. You would need to find me a suitable person to continue running it."
Old Tom didn't actually want to sell his tavern. It was his life's work.
If he hadn't been so greedy, borrowing money from the goblins of Gringotts, even the war wouldn't have bankrupted him.
Old Tom steeled himself.