Monster Company Tycoon Chapter 49

Chapter 49

 

I was on my way to work at the restaurant, as usual.

The Facilities Team had been installing traps last night, and I’d stayed up late watching them, so if I didn’t hurry, I’d end up being late.

“Excuse me.”

“Eek!”

Someone suddenly grabbed my arm, startling me so badly that I nearly jumped out of my skin.

When I turned around, I saw a man I’d never met before.

I hadn’t lived in this village for all that long, but at least in this area, he was a face I’d never seen.

‘Is he an outsider?’

He was tall and slender, with neat, well-defined features, but for some reason, he gave off a rather slick, shifty impression.

‘Hmm, not my type.’

“Um… what can I…?”

“Ah, could you tell me where the Adventurer Training Center is?”

“Oh, the Training Center! Are you a beginner adventurer?”

He was looking for the Training Center?

Could he be a beginner adventurer?

‘Then he’s a potential customer for our dungeon!’

I immediately became interested, but the man said he wasn’t a beginner adventurer.

‘Oh, really?’

My interest suddenly plummeted.

Experienced adventurers weren’t the target customer base for our dungeon.

Still, aside from Ragner and Ruadis, this was my first time seeing an adventurer, so it was a little fascinating.

‘Could he be an acquaintance of Ragnar’s? He looks about the same age, too.’

I gave him directions to the Training Center and was about to leave immediately.

I was right on the verge of being late. Being punctual was my motto, and arriving late to work was absolutely unacceptable in my book.

“Well, I have to get going, so… Could you let go of my arm?”

But this man…

He kept talking to me and wouldn’t let go of my arm.

Just as I was starting to get irritated and was about to forcibly pull my arm free, an important fact suddenly occurred to me.

‘Wait. If he’s an outsider, there’s a good chance he’ll become a customer at the restaurant, isn’t there?’

While staying in the village, the only place where he could get his meals was the Three Trees Restaurant, where I worked.

In the end, thinking of it as a sales opportunity, I maintained my smile until the very end and even introduced him to our restaurant. Only then was I finally able to get away from him.

I thought there would be no further reason for me to get involved with that outsider beyond him simply being a customer.

But then…

“Hello. Fancy seeing you again.”

“Ah… Did you manage to find the Training Center?”

“Thanks to you.”

Apparently, he’d come to have a late lunch. Before long, the outsider really did show up at the restaurant.

Up to that point, everything had gone as expected.

The problem started the moment he sat down at a table.

“Do you live in this village?”

“Somewhere nearby.”

Even after placing his order, the man kept talking to me whenever I passed by his table.

It was still the middle of lunchtime, so there were quite a few customers in the restaurant.

But having to stop and respond to him every single time was starting to make me conscious of the owner couple’s eyes on me.

‘I looked like I was slacking off and chatting instead of working hard!’

I had been friendly and answered him politely the first few times, out of a sense of customer service, but as time went on, he seemed to be prying into my personal information. How could I possibly put up with that?

“I’m sorry, but I’m on duty right now, so I’m afraid I can’t keep talking to you.”

“Then what time do you finish?”

“……”

After thinking for a moment, I gave him an unexpected answer.

“At night.”

Of course, that was a lie.

Our restaurant closed in the late afternoon, and my part-time shift ended at three.

“That’s a shame. I guess I won’t get to see you today.”

‘Phew, will he finally leave me alone now?’

“I was planning to visit the dungeon today to take the Training Center’s graduation exam.”

At those words, I was so startled that I nearly dropped the plate I was carrying.

“The dungeon…?”

“Yes. I heard there’s a dungeon near the village. Do you happen to know about it?”

“W-Well, I’m not particularly interested in that sort of thing…”

I’m the owner of that place.

“Are you planning to challenge it today?”

“I thought I’d go right after my meal, since I’m here anyway.”

Should I consider this man a customer of our dungeon, or an unwelcome guest?

Wait. In any case, he must have heard about the graduation exam from Ruadis, right?

“Um… How much experience do you have with dungeon raids?”

“Ah, this is my first time. I’ve only been training until now, so I’ve never actually fought any monsters.”

‘He was a beginner adventurer!?’

‘He said he wasn’t one earlier, though. That’s strange.’

Anyway, he was indeed a prospective customer for our dungeon.

Then something suddenly occurred to me.

At the moment, I was working my part-time job, which meant the Dungeon Keeper’s seat was vacant. Of course, I’d set things up so that the dungeon could run on its own even when I wasn’t there. But I absolutely wanted to monitor the moment our dungeon finally opened properly, with its employees and reward room all in place.

‘But I can’t exactly quit my part-time job halfway through and rush over to the dungeon.’

The man said he intended to head straight to the dungeon as soon as he finished eating.

Meanwhile, I still had another two hours before my shift ended.

‘Wouldn’t it be better if I could make that man stay here a little longer…?’

Having made up my mind, I immediately put on my customer-service smile.

“You really need to take your time and chew that dish thoroughly to fully appreciate its flavor. Oh, we also serve tea at our restaurant. How about enjoying some with a little dessert after your meal?”

“Oh? Do you have any tea you’d recommend?”

“Of course!”

It did seem like that man was interested in me.

‘I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to take advantage of that a little.’

In the end, the outsider stayed seated for a whole hour, finishing his tea after his meal before finally leaving.

And the thing he said to me just before departing was truly something else.

“Once I’ve finished conquering the dungeon, there’s something I’d like to tell you.”

“……”

‘What was this, some kind of death flag?’

At this rate… I had a feeling that man was going to fail his dungeon raid.

“Huff, huff! I’m not too late yet, am I!?”

In the end, thirty minutes had passed after I saw the man off before my part-time shift finally ended.

I’d run at full speed the moment I left the restaurant, but it seemed I’d already missed the chance to watch the customer from the very moment he started his dungeon challenge.

“Chihuahua! We had a customer while you were gone!”

“I know. That’s why I ran all the way here. Ah, I’m out of breath.”

I braced my hands on my knees and panted heavily for a while.

I practically dashed into the office, hastily tossed off my clothes, which were soaked with sweat, and sat down in front of my desk.

Without even taking the time to catch my breath, I immediately turned on the screen. Images of various parts of the dungeon appeared across it.

“Oh, he’s still fighting!”

The challenger was still struggling through the first Combat Room.

“Let’s see… His level is 8, his attack power is 200, and his defense is 80.”

He’d seemed rather confident, so I’d thought he was pretty impressive, but he was only level 8.

His stats were higher than those of our Field Team employees, but considering that the fight hadn’t ended immediately, his actual skill seemed rather mediocre.

“If this is the level of people about to graduate from the Training Center, we’ve got a problem.”

If he was having that much trouble at the first checkpoint, what was he going to do about the remaining ones?

No matter how much Sabira had agreed to go easy on the trainees in the Boss Room, if all the prospective graduates were at that low a level… It was obvious that no one would be able to graduate.

In the past, I’d worried that our dungeon might be conquered too quickly. Now, here I was, worrying that its difficulty might be too high. In a way, it was rather moving.

“Hehehe, what a lovely little fellow.”

Brownie, who was watching the screen beside me, seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood. Considering how long it had been since we’d welcomed a customer, she seemed almost excessively pleased.

“You look happy.”

“Kekekeke, Chihuahua, do you know how much that guy put into the offering box?”

“How much?”

“A whopping 1,300 eon!”

“Really? Wow, he was a big spender.”

Since I’d joined the company, the total amount of money the dungeon had earned from the offering box was a mere 100 eon.

So 1,300 eon was quite a generous donation. Especially for us, who were desperate for even a single coin.

Honestly, I’d thought the trainees would put in 500 eon at most.

“Come to think of it, everyone has really gotten stronger.”

I was incredibly proud of the employees, who were showing the results of their training with Ruadis without holding anything back.

Their coordinated combat in particular was impressive enough to leave my mouth hanging open. They still had a long way to go compared to the battles Ragner and Sabira had fought, but at this level, they were more than worthy of being called proper dungeon monsters.

“They’d be even stronger if I could get them some decent equipment…”

Watching them fight so well, I found myself more bothered by the weapons they were holding. After all, since I hadn’t been able to provide them with proper weapons, they were stuck fighting with clubs made by carving wood brought in from outside the dungeon.

‘Once we have some spare money this time, I’ll definitely get them proper equipment.’

The battle, which had continued for some time, eventually ended with the challenger’s victory.

As soon as the last monster fell, the challenger promptly collapsed on the spot.

After catching his breath for a moment, he spotted the key lying on the floor and struggled to his feet. Then he began walking toward the corridor leading to the next checkpoint.

Seeing that, I found myself leaning forward without realizing it.

“Finally, the traps’ first real deployment!”