Monster Company Tycoon Chapter 52

Chapter 52

 

The conversation about Sabira was gradually running out of things to say, too.

Feeling that another awkward silence was about to descend, I brought up a new topic.

“Mr. Ragner, you seem to have a very good relationship with the temple. Is it because of your faith, perhaps?”

The moment I mentioned the temple, his expression soured dramatically.

‘Oh, had I misjudged things? Whatever the reason, I’d definitely picked the wrong topic.’

“Um… I heard you go help with the temple construction almost every day. I was just curious.”

I mean, you’d have to be either an extremely devout believer or crazy about money to do that. Or perhaps both.

‘Could he be offended that someone on the Demon King’s side like me would dare ask about the gods?’

I hurriedly added that explanation and watched his reaction. Ragner answered in his usual impassive tone.

“It’s not because I enjoy it.”

“Hmm…”

Actually, part of my intention had been to use Ragner to get a feel for the atmosphere at the temple construction site.

If there wasn’t as much reason to be wary as I’d feared, perhaps I could try doing an errand for the temple once or twice. After all, I could touch purification stones with my bare hands without any problem.

The Facilities Team employees couldn’t even touch the purification stones intended for the reward room directly. They had to struggle to move them using tools.

I, on the other hand, wasn’t affected at all. That meant there was no way anyone could tell, at least from appearances, that I was on the Demon King’s side.

So as long as I kept my identity hidden, there was a good chance I wouldn’t arouse any particular suspicion at the temple.

‘I’d march straight into enemy territory, shamelessly help them with their work, and walk away with the money!’

“Then is it because you want to earn money after all…?”

“I don’t particularly need to earn money. Before retiring, I’d already saved enough to last me for the rest of my life.”

“……”

That’s incredibly enviable, coming from the perspective of an office worker.

“The reason I help with temple work even though I don’t want to is…”

Suddenly, Ragner’s deep green eyes fixed intently on me.

“It’s because I want to avoid troublesome situations. There’s someone who’ll go out of their way to look for me if I’m not around.”

“Hmm?”

“Rather than wandering around pointlessly and risking running into that person, it’s safer to keep them occupied somewhere.”

“Is it… a stalker?”

“Something like that.”

I was shocked. Ragner had a stalker?

What kind of fearless idiot would do something like that?

“Mr. Ragner, you’re strong, so I thought you could just use force to get rid of your stalker!”

“If that were possible, I would have done so a long time ago.”

Wait, if that was why he went to the temple…

“Could that stalker be someone associated with the temple? Like a priest?”

“Choi, priests are half-mad because their heads are filled with nothing but faith. So be careful not to get involved with priests, no matter what happens. Especially those from the Leta Church.”

“Gasp…! Yes!”

There went my plan to try doing temple errands if the atmosphere seemed all right. Abandoned. Completely abandoned.

If Ragner himself was warning me to stay away from them, calling them crazy, then it really was best not to associate with them.

Even though I considered Sabira nothing more than an energetic troublemaker, Ragner was calling these people insane. Just how completely unhinged were they?

“What brings the two of you here together?”

While we’d been talking and walking, we’d arrived at the Training Center before I knew it.

Ruadis, who happened to be outside, spotted us and immediately approached.

“Ah, we ran into each other on the way here. Mr. Ragner seemed to have some business here as well…”

“Hmm? Did we have an appointment?”

“It’s nothing urgent or particularly important. Please speak with Choi first.”

I followed Ruadis as she led us toward a place to sit, when I spotted a familiar face.

“Huh? That person…”

It was the outsider who’d been thoroughly beaten at our dungeon yesterday. But for some reason, he was holding a broom and sweeping the floor in one corner of the training grounds.

He looked utterly dejected. The whole area around him seemed gloomy.

“Ah, now that I think about it, you could’ve gone a little easier on him.”

Ruadis suddenly clicked her tongue and gave me a mild scolding.

“Pardon? I thought the dungeon’s difficulty was appropriate. Even if he made it to the Boss Room, Sabira was going to adjust the difficulty accordingly. No, actually, he wasn’t even skilled enough to reach the Boss Room in the first place.”

“That’s not what I mean. You see, that fellow came to visit me late last night, complaining that he’d had his pockets completely emptied.”

“Ahem, ahem…”

So she’d found out about the looting.

The fact that I’d essentially been caught stealing was so embarrassing I wanted to die.

“Well… I used to be an adventurer myself, so I understand the unspoken rules. We’ve also consistently taken loot from fallen monsters, after all.”

“Yes, yes. The unspoken rules. That’s right.”

So adventurers were aware of them, too.

“It’s true that the young man was rather naive to bring valuables into a dungeon, and I have no intention of criticizing how you operate your dungeon…”

I guiltily avoided Ruadis’s gaze.

“But even so, he’s an outsider. Couldn’t you at least have left him enough to pay for lodging? You took absolutely everything.”

“Well… there’s a fairy in our dungeon who’s obsessed with money…”

“His circumstances were rather unfortunate, so I let him stay at the Training Center. I’m planning to have him help out with odd jobs here for the time being, until he finds a part-time job.”

So that’s why he was working over there.

I bowed my head deeply.

“I’m sorry for causing you this trouble.”

“Well, I also bear some responsibility since I was the one who introduced him to your dungeon. I just wish you’d shown him at least a little mercy.”

But we had shown him a little mercy. If we’d really wanted to, we could’ve taken everything he had and left him with nothing but his underwear…

‘Wasn’t taking only his wallet an act of consideration?’

Good grief, I’d naturally started taking the dungeon’s side because I was on the Demon King’s team, too.

“Actually, ever since we started cooperating with Lady Ruadis, we’ve added a rule that we won’t touch the trainees’ belongings. So please don’t worry too much.”

There was no way we’d risk damaging our relationship with Ruadis by touching the students’ belongings!

“That man simply wasn’t a student at the Training Center… so we were a little less merciful.”

Since she was still looking at me suspiciously, I gave her a reassuring smile.

In the end, Ruadis nodded as though she had no choice.

“If you say so, then I won’t concern myself with it any further.”

“Yeees…”

I didn’t regret taking his wallet, but after hearing the story from Ruadis, I did feel a little more sorry for the man.

“By the way, is he planning to find a part-time job in this village? Is he only going to work temporarily until he’s saved enough money for traveling expenses?”

“He said he’d stay here and receive formal training at the Training Center until he earns his graduation certificate. Thanks to your dungeon, he realized just how much he still lacks.”

No wonder he’d looked so dejected. He’d finally gotten a proper sense of his own abilities.

“I gave him a pretty thorough workout in the dungeon yesterday.”

“How far did he get? He refused to tell me anything about that, no matter how much I asked.”

“The first checkpoint. After that, he stepped on a trap in the corridor and dropped out.”

“Tsk, tsk. That young man has decent fundamentals, but it seems those fellows held up quite well. So? Were you able to see the results of their training?”

“Yes! Thanks to your excellent instruction, the employees fought quite impressively yesterday!”

Ruadis truly was an excellent instructor, whether she was teaching humans or monsters.

“Master, I’ve finished cleaning… Huh? The restaurant part-timer from yesterday!”

The man who’d finished cleaning came over to report to Ruadis, and our eyes met.

He seemed to recognize me, so I worried that he’d found out about the dungeon. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.

“Hello. Fancy seeing you again.”

“Indeed. At this point, wouldn’t you say it’s fate? Haven’t we already run into each other three times?”

Until just a moment ago, he’d been slumped over like a wilted vegetable. Now his face was filled with a huge smile.

If it were me, I’d probably spend a whole week feeling miserable after losing my wallet. He sure recovered quickly.

Actually, if you counted properly, it wasn’t three times but four. We’d met inside the dungeon, too. But the time you came to see me at the restaurant was something you deliberately arranged yourself. Could that really count as a coincidence?

“Oh, now that I think about it, I still don’t know your name. I’m Gale.”

As he introduced himself, he held out his hand as though asking to shake mine.

“Ah, I’m Choi…”

But another hand suddenly shot out in front of mine.

“I’m Ragner. I heard you’ve newly enrolled at the Training Center. I’m also a graduate of this place, so I suppose that makes us senior and junior alumni.”

Ragner suddenly cut in, shook Gale’s hand, and introduced himself.

Up to that point, I hadn’t thought much of it.

That was, until Gale, who had just shaken his hand, suddenly let out an ear-splitting scream.

“WAAAAAAAAH! That Ragner? Ragner, the Hero of Lightning!?”

His reaction was just like an enthusiastic fan meeting their favorite celebrity…!