Monster Company Tycoon Chapter 30

Chapter 30

 

Whenever Ragner appeared, the Dullahan would hide.

It wasn’t simply because he was powerful. Even after becoming a monster, it still retained memories of the time when the two of them had been childhood friends.

Perhaps that was why. Even though I’d guided the two of them to the Dullahan’s patrol route, which Brownie and I had deliberately mapped out during the early hours of the morning, we couldn’t find him anywhere.

“He should normally be around here…”

“There’s not much we can do if he’s hiding. It’s not as though we can search the entire forest.”

In the end, we headed to Sabira’s grave.

“Um… According to a certain Earth Fairy I know…”

“That noisy little dirt potato?”

Dirt potato. It suits her.

“Yes. Brownie told me that Dullahans have a habit of wandering around in search of their lost heads…”

I discreetly glanced at the two of them, but fortunately, neither seemed to be blaming me.

“Then the head that fellow is so desperately searching for must be inside the grave.”

“……”

“Ragner, what happened to Sabira in the end? I only heard that he died, but I don’t know the details. This is the first time I’ve learned that his grave is here. If you’d told me earlier, I would have visited from time to time.”

It seemed Ragner hadn’t told even his master, Ruadis, much about his friend’s death.

But I heard all about it. Was that really okay?

“As you might have guessed… his head was severed. The head the Dullahan is searching for must be inside the grave.”

Ragner reached out toward the pendant necklace hanging from the stick. Ruadis’s eyes wavered slightly when she saw it. It seemed she recognized the object.

“Then, shall we proceed with the usual method?”

“…His remains are being desecrated, even after death. If we can grant him peace, then of course we should.”

He stared blankly at the faded photograph inside the pendant and murmured in a low voice.

“Um… By the usual method, you mean…?”

“Excavating the remaining remains and burning them.”

“Gasp!”

“Keeping a Dullahan’s head close to it isn’t a good idea. A Dullahan becomes even stronger once it obtains its head. That’s why we’re going to weaken it by burning the head.”

So its head was its weakness?

“Even if it keeps avoiding Ragner like this, it’ll gradually lose its strength once its head is gone. Then, after a long time, it’ll eventually be purified and disappear under the power of the Holy Stones. Of course, that would take at least a few more years.”

If that happened, the Dullahan recruitment plan would be completely out of the question.

Of course! When I’d first revealed the Dullahan’s identity to Ragner, I’d been prepared to give up on recruiting it as an employee.

But perhaps his unexpectedly calm reaction had made me a little bolder.

I hadn’t been scolded enough yet, after all. I couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.

If I give up now, Brownie won’t let me off the hook, either… Maybe I should at least bring it up once? But Ragner described the Dullahan as a deceased friend’s remains being desecrated…

What if I told him I wanted to go beyond simply desecrating those remains and make his friend work at our dungeon…?

This time, I really would be dragged away as a heretic.

The internal struggle began all over again, and my head started throbbing.

If I just cautiously test the waters…

‘Come on, Gong Choi! You can at least try!’

“Um… Would it be possible to lure the Dullahan out using its head?”

“The result would depend on which desire among the lingering thoughts controlling the monster is stronger. Its desire to recover its head, or its desire to avoid Ragner.”

Ruadis gestured with her chin toward the grave and then toward Ragner in turn.

“As you both know, I’m a little special, right? I can even communicate with monsters.”

Both of them looked at me as if urging me to continue.

“What if I used the head to try to lure the Dullahan out?”

“Let’s say you can do that. What do you intend to do once you’ve lured it out?”

“I-I thought it might be nice if they could… catch up with each other…”

“You mean catch up with a monster?”

Ragner’s reaction startled me.

I’d expected him to feel some degree of sympathy, considering that the monster had once been his friend. But his reaction was colder than I’d anticipated.

It seemed that, to Ragner, his friend Sabira and the Dullahan that existed now were two entirely separate beings.

Even if it had been born from his friend’s body, was a monster ultimately just a monster?

“Ah, that’s not what I meant. You said some lingering thoughts that remember the friend might remain, right? So I thought perhaps we could bring back some of his old memories… And it might be nice if they could say their final goodbyes, too.”

Since I’d been trying to prevent the remains from being burned in the first place, my words came out in a rather incoherent jumble.

“I’m curious about that, too.”

Unexpectedly, I received some support.

“Just how much of their memories from when they were alive remain in the undead?”

Actually, I already knew the answer to that to some extent. The four skeletons employed at our dungeon had taught me.

The answer was: it depends on the individual.

The higher a monster’s rank, the more likely it was to retain memories from its life. However, even low-ranking monsters occasionally remembered their time as humans with remarkable clarity.

Of course, our employees were the lowest-ranking monsters, so they had absolutely no memories from before they died.

“The last time I said goodbye to Sabira was when we left the training center. I would like to properly say my final farewell to a child who is destined to become a star forever.”

“As for me… I’m not sure. Can we really consider that thing to be him?”

“Your words are correct. That isn’t the real Sabira. If you think about it, isn’t it no different from a jar containing Sabira’s memories?”

“……”

“Even so, although it’s late, I would like to tell that child I’m sorry. I’m sorry for sending the two of you out into such a dangerous world when you weren’t properly prepared. It may be nothing more than an act of self-consolation, but…”

“Master…”

Ruadis looked at Sabira’s grave with a bitter expression.

“If I’d trained him properly, he could have become a fine swordsman.”

“Going on an adventure was entirely our own choice. No one forced us. The one who wasn’t properly prepared back then… was me, Master. Sabira was excellent.”

The two master and disciple exchanged silent glances.

I blankly looked up at the pink sky as the sun began to set, giving them time to compose themselves.

For some reason, my own heart felt heavy, too.

‘How would I feel if someone close to me died and then became a monster?’

Perhaps because I’d never even considered something like that before, it was difficult to imagine.

To begin with, I’d never experienced the death of someone close to me.

My grandparents were getting old, but they were all still in good health. My parents, of course, were fine, as were my friends.

Ah, there was one deceased relative, but we hadn’t really been in contact in the first place, so I didn’t have particularly strong feelings about them.

Would I feel upset? Sad? Or perhaps happy because I’d get to see them again?

There were quite a lot of people who wished for the dead to return, no matter what form they took.

I really don’t know… I suppose I’d be sad, at least. Or maybe… I’d simply be scared.

Then I suddenly remembered what Ragner had looked like when we’d talked at the restaurant.

He wasn’t surprised at all when he heard that his friend had become a monster. Could it be… that Ragner had already experienced something similar before?

It seemed that corpses becoming undead monsters after demonic energy seeped into them wasn’t all that uncommon.

Ragner had said he’d spent a long time adventuring, so he must have experienced all sorts of things.

Perhaps… even having a companion he’d traveled with turn into a monster.

“Miss Choi.”

“Gasp! Y-Yes!”

Ragner’s voice calling me snapped me out of my thoughts.

“I have a request. Would you help me meet Sabira again?”

“Oh, of course! I’ll do everything I can to help!”

‘Things were going well! At least I’d managed to stop them from burning the remains for now!’

Once we’d decided on what to do next, our actions followed swiftly.

Ragner first knelt before his friend’s grave and recited a prayer. It was a prayer to Reta, the deity hostile to our Demon King’s team.

Ruadis stood behind Ragner and quietly bowed her head. After watching them for a moment, I discreetly followed her example.

Since I was on the Demon King’s side, I’d been a little worried that hearing the prayer might make me go berserk like a demon being exorcised…

But I didn’t feel anything in particular.

‘What a relief.’

Once the prayer was over, the two of them carefully began digging up the soil around the grave.

Out of courtesy, I should have helped, too… but I honestly admitted that I was scared and watched from a distance instead.

I still wasn’t confident I could look at human remains while in my right mind. Especially when it was practically guaranteed that all we’d find was a severed head…

What if it showed up in my dreams? Our dungeon was already so gloomy that it was bad for my mental health.

“Young lady, just stay there. What could you possibly help with using those skinny little arms?”

“I’m actually quite good at lifting heavy things, you know!”

I’m pretty sturdy on the inside.

“So you want to help?”

“No, sir. I’m sorry. I won’t overstep my bounds again.”

I was relieved that both of them understood.