Monster Company Tycoon Chapter 17

Chapter 17

 

“Then did Ragner… defeat a Demon King?”

“You’re an old friend of his, and you don’t even know that?”

“Huh? Oh, well… we didn’t really talk about that sort of thing…”

My heart sank at the thought that she might become suspicious of my fake identity, but surprisingly, Ruadis let it slide.

“How curious. I suppose you’re one of those people, then?”

“One of those people?”

“Those of us who’ve spent too long adventuring sometimes find ourselves thinking that way.”

Adventuring? So Ruadis had been an adventurer too.

Well, that made sense. Otherwise, she probably wouldn’t be working as an instructor.

“Don’t you sometimes yearn for an ordinary life as a regular person, setting aside your identity as an adventurer for a while?”

I was taken aback by this unexpected revelation.

“As part of that, some people separate their relationships. The relationships they form as adventurers and as ordinary people. With the latter, they deliberately avoid bringing up anything related to adventuring.”

It seemed Ruadis had misunderstood my situation. But I didn’t feel any particular need to correct her. After all, I knew absolutely nothing about Ragner, so this was the perfect excuse to gloss over anything I didn’t know.

Aside from the open yard, the training ground was fairly compact, so the tour ended quickly. Around ten young adventurers about Theon’s age, along with beginners who had only just taken their first steps, were sweating profusely as they devoted themselves to training.

“I’m bored. How long do we have to keep hitting these wooden dolls?”

“I want to fight monsters already.”

They certainly had a lot of complaints…

Whenever Ruadis glared at them, they hurriedly clamped their mouths shut and focused on their training again, but they didn’t seem particularly motivated.

Thanks to its training ground, this village was well known even in neighboring villages as a starting point for novice adventurers. Ruadis herself also boasted many years of experience as an instructor.

In other words, if this were a game, this place would be no different from a beginner’s village or a tutorial village.

After the tour, Ruadis led me to a wooden stump table tucked into a corner of the open yard.

“Now then, let’s talk. I don’t think you came looking for me just because you wanted to see the training ground.”

At last, it was time to get down to business.

There had to be a reason Ragner had gone out of his way to tell me that Ruadis was someone I could trust.

Perhaps he’d meant that I should be somewhat honest with her about my circumstances.

This was a place filled with potential customers for our dungeon.

In other words, it was a business account I absolutely had to win over.

I’ve never done sales before, so I’m a little nervous.

I felt Brownie tugging at my hair as if to encourage me. There had to be a gentler way to cheer someone on.

“The reason I came here is…”

How could I convince Ruadis to cooperate with me?

In games, beginner-only dungeons linked to tutorial quests often appeared.

These dungeons featured low-level monsters with simple attack patterns, allowing players to gain practical combat experience.

If that was the case… couldn’t our dungeon serve the same purpose?

“I thought we might be able to provide the novice adventurers at your training ground with a place to gain practical combat experience.”

“Practical combat experience?”

I’d have to reveal my secret if I wanted to persuade Ruadis.

Just then, my eyes met Ragner’s as he supervised the children. He gave me a silent nod, and that gave me the courage I needed.

“First of all, I want to make it clear that I’m not a heretic… or anything like that.”

“Go on. I’ll listen to anything you have to say without prejudice.”

Even though I’d brought up the subject of heresy, Ruadis replied readily.

The fact that Ragner had introduced me seemed to have earned me her trust.

“There’s a dungeon near the village. I’ve made a contract with a Demon King, and I’m managing that dungeon.”

Ruadis looked as though she wanted to say something, but she managed to keep her mouth shut. Then she gestured for me to continue.

So she was actually going to hear me out!

“First, I should give you a detailed introduction to our company… no, our dungeon.”

I sprang to my feet and launched into presentation mode. It would have been even more perfect if there’d been a whiteboard behind me.

The foundation of any business deal is trust. I’ll tell you everything without holding anything back!

[Strength — Strengths]

“Our dungeon is directly managed by me, a human. The monsters are very docile and cooperative, and their combat abilities are weak. As a result, the likelihood of serious safety incidents is virtually zero! We offer constant monitoring, and we even have a lost-and-found service.”

“…How unusual.”

[Weakness — Weaknesses]

“However, since our dungeon was established only recently, our facilities are lacking.”

Listing nothing but good points might make me sound like I was making unrealistic promises.

“Unlike other dungeons, our respawn room is completely empty, and we can’t offer good rewards even if you successfully conquer the dungeon. However, our usage fees are correspondingly low, and we plan to improve the facilities gradually in the future!”

The best value-for-money dungeon around, with entry fees starting at just 100 eon!

[Opportunity — Opportunities]

“How many novice adventurers enroll in your training ground?”

“They can enroll at any time, so there’s no regular schedule. We had five enroll last month.”

“Is the number increasing every year? Your training ground must be far too cramped to accommodate everyone.”

“Adventuring is a popular profession, so that’s generally the case.”

“Then this is an opportunity!”

“Hmm?”

“The number of novice adventurers is increasing, and with it, the demand for practical combat training is likely to grow!”

“……”

“Don’t you think there’s a limit to training with wooden dolls that are fixed in place? Now, they can experience exciting, realistic combat by facing weak monsters that actually move! If you’d like, we can even redesign the courses specifically for novice adventurers to match your training manuals!”

“Is… that how all of this connects?”

[Threat — Threats]

“But they could just go out into the field and…”

“Of course, you might think it’s more efficient to skip the dungeon and hunt the weak monsters wandering around in the field instead. But aren’t you worried that hot-blooded beginners like Theon might cause trouble again?”

Ruadis wore an awkward expression. Judging by her reaction, it seemed those energetic youngsters had caused trouble more than once or twice.

“Now you can safely keep them contained inside a dungeon and let them burn off that excess energy! Think of it as an after-school care service!”

“……”

Was that not quite enough?

“We also offer a preliminary inspection service. If you visit the dungeon yourself and point out areas for improvement, we’ll give your suggestions priority consideration!”

“Hmm…”

“This has been Gong Choi from the Hermit’s Dungeon. Thank you for listening.”

“……”

“Oh, we also have an adorable mascot named Brownie.”

“I’m Brownie, the Bound Fairy! Inferior life-form, bow down before me!”

After listening to my entire presentation, Ruadis rested her chin in both hands and fell silent for a while, seemingly lost in thought.

“What did I just… listen to?”

“I can go over it one more time…”

“No, there’s no need.”

Meanwhile, Brownie was chattering incessantly in my ear, saying that she’d thought the presentation was pretty good.

“There’s something I’m curious about, first.”

“Yes, please feel free to ask.”

“Why do you want my students?”

“Huh?”

“Dungeons don’t exactly welcome adventurers. Aren’t they supposed to be protecting something?”

So that was how people generally viewed dungeons. In reality, it was the exact opposite.

Our dungeon was more than happy to welcome adventurers of an appropriate skill level. We had a business to run, after all!

“Um… the monsters are actually trying to earn money to make a living, too.”

Ruadis’s expression twisted as though she’d just heard something bizarre.

“But monsters can’t exactly get jobs in human society, can they? So, in a manner of speaking, the dungeon is their workplace.”

Our monsters even submitted résumés and attended job interviews.

“I’ve never heard that perspective before.”

They’d probably been too busy fighting each other whenever they met to have the time to consider the other side’s circumstances.

But… could monsters and humans actually understand each other when they spoke?

You’d think they’d have had a heart-to-heart at least once. Wouldn’t that have changed people’s perceptions of dungeons quite a bit?

“Then what benefit do you get from having my students visit?”

“Th-that would be… money.”

There was no need to mention that we extracted fear.

“Money?”

“Yes. Before adventurers attempt to conquer a dungeon, they put money into the donation box, right? Well, that…”

Once again, Ruadis looked shocked.

“I’ve wondered where the money in those donation boxes went before, but I never imagined the dungeon was swallowing it up instead of the temple collecting it…”

Oops!

“Th-that’s actually supposed to be collected by the temple! We just receive a tiny bit of it as something like an incentive. You know, to cover the cost of maintaining the donation box…”

“The temple gives money to the dungeon?”

“Not directly, exactly… It’s more like they casually leave some behind as alms… and we pick up a little to help cover our living expenses. Yes, well… if a dungeon really set its mind to destroying the donation box, the temple wouldn’t be able to do much about it anyway, would it?”

It was a little difficult to admit outright that people had actually been paying an entry fee every time they entered the dungeon.

“That’s true. Hmm… Hearing it put that way, dungeons don’t seem like such a big deal after all.”

“It’s an industry secret.”

What other dungeon manager in the world would go this far to drum up business?

 

(TL Note: NOT THE SUDDEN SWOT ANALYSIS ATTACK… MY ONE WEAKNESS!!!)