Monster Company Tycoon - Chapter 16

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Monster Company Tycoon
Chapter 16
Setting aside the part-time work for now, my first priority was to accomplish the true purpose of visiting the village.
Ragnar, who had promised me a good opportunity, led me to a building situated in the Village Outskirts.
The exterior looked quite weathered, as though the structure were ancient, yet traces of steady maintenance were visible.
A reasonably spacious open ground lay beside it, and along one side stood crude scarecrows made of straw and wood, spaced at regular intervals.
“Hiyah!”
The open ground was filled with spirited shouts and bright laughter.
Children about Teon’s age had gathered in the square, swinging wooden swords at the scarecrows.
I quickly began to understand why Ragnar had wanted to introduce me to this place.
‘So when he said they needed beginner adventurers…’
The place we’d arrived at was a Beginner Adventurer Training Center.
Moved by the realization, I turned to look at Ragnar—and then a sudden question formed in my mind.
‘Why is he being so kind to me when we only just met today?’
Setting aside his promise to keep my secret about the dungeon, he’d shown me around the village, bought me a meal, and now brought me to the training center as well.
It was such extraordinary kindness toward a complete stranger that it couldn’t help but raise questions.
But I was still choosing my words carefully, hesitant to ask outright given my dependent position.
“Woof! Woof!”
A small dog’s distinctive yapping bark came from somewhere.
“A puppy?”
“Chacha!”
Teon immediately bolted toward the dog rushing in our direction and scooped it up in his arms.
“Oh my, Chacha took off so suddenly—I wondered what was going on. So the owner had arrived after all.”
Someone who’d followed the puppy let out a laugh, the sound like air gently deflating.
She was a middle-aged woman with skin deeply tanned by the sun and a sturdy frame that belied her years; without the wrinkles around her eyes and mouth, one might have guessed her age quite differently.
“Thank you for looking after Chacha.”
So Ragnar and Teon were the dog’s owners.
“No need for formalities. Without this little one, Teon wouldn’t stick around the training center at all.”
The puppy, squirming free from Teon’s grasp, rolled onto its back at Ragnar’s feet.
“Whimper, whimper.”
My gaze naturally fell on the dog, and in that moment, a strange sense of familiarity washed over me.
Fluffy brown fur, large dark eyes.
“A poodle…”
If my nickname after adulthood had been Chihuahua, then during my school years it had been Poodle.
Because of my naturally frizzy hair.
When I left for university in a different region, I’d thought I’d finally said goodbye to that canine nickname.
But after rumors spread that I and my friends had beaten up and caught a flasher who’d snuck into our dormitory using our textbooks, a new nickname emerged in Poodle’s wake—Chihuahua.
I was at least less aggrieved by this one, since my friends who’d helped catch him got animal nicknames too.
Doberman, Bulldog, Shepherd.
But somehow, only I got Chihuahua.
In any case, Poodle was my second-most despised nickname.
So why was there a poodle-looking mutt here of all places?!
An extremely ominous feeling crept over me. My gaze shifted back to Ragnar.
He was kneeling, stroking the playful puppy with eyes that gleamed as if honey were dripping from them.
Surely not… surely not…
Without thinking, I grabbed at the ends of my own frizzy hair as if to tear them out.
This kind of thing had to stop happening.
‘Why do you keep petting my hair?’
‘Oh, sorry. Our Choco at home looks just like you.’
Was Ragnar’s kindness to me actually because I resembled his beloved pet?!
“Now that you mention it, your name sounds kind of similar to our Chacha.”
“It’s nothing alike!”
There was an enormous distance between Choi and Chacha—what kind of nonsense was that?!
So that’s how it was. It really was kindness with a reason behind it.
Two conflicting thoughts clashed sharply in my mind.
Should I be pleased that my resemblance to a pet had drawn kindness from a stranger, or should I be offended at being treated like a dog?
I groaned over the dilemma and finally reached a decision.
Pride lasts only a moment, but the benefits of maintaining a good relationship with Ragnar are considerable.
I, Choi, won’t be discouraged by such a trivial ordeal. For profit’s sake, I’ll gladly…!
“Awww… what a cute puppy! Hello there.”
I crouched down and gestured at it.
The puppy that had been sprawled on its back under Ragnar’s hand, lost in blissful affection, turned its gaze toward me with whites of its eyes showing.
Our eyes met, and a brief, silent standoff ensued.
For half my life I’d been called by my breed rather than my name, but the truth is I know nothing about dogs. I’d never kept one, and I wasn’t particularly fond of them either.
So the only piece of common knowledge I possessed about canines was that they operated by hierarchy, like wolves.
Fall behind in the hierarchy, and you’d rank lower than a dog for life.
With a sharp motion, the puppy brushed away Ragnar’s hand and rose with determined solemnity, its nose twitching as it approached me slowly. Then, wagging its tail, it circled round and round me as I crouched there.
Up close, it resembled a poodle in breed, but I thought its coat was all that matched—its features were somewhat different.
Just as the puppy finished assessing me and was about to place its front paws on my leg, Brownie suddenly popped out from where it had been hiding in my hair.
“How much longer are you going to do this!? I want to know about that ‘great opportunity’!”
In that instant, my composure shattered and my body tilted sideways, tumbling backward from my crouch and landing hard on my rear.
“Ow.”
By an unfortunate coincidence, it looked as though the puppy had knocked me over.
And I saw it. That look of contempt for the weak.
The puppy that had sent me sprawling immediately planted its front legs wide apart, striking a triumphant pose.
……
Soon it turned its head away dismissively and trotted back to its owner.
I understood it instinctively. In this moment, I had lost a hierarchy contest with a creature no larger than my head.
“That tiny little…”
“Now then, who might this young lady be?”
“Oh!”
Distracted by the puppy, I’d completely forgotten.
A sturdy-framed elder was looking down at me with curious eyes.
“Ah, hello.”
I hurried to my feet and offered a greeting.
“A friend I traveled with long ago.”
Ragnar introduced me again, invoking my false identity that everyone in the village apparently already knew.
“Ah, so an old companion of Ragnar’s has come to visit. It’s been a while. I’m Luadis, instructor at the Beginner Adventurer Training Center.”
“I’m Choi.”
“Chihuahua.”
I grabbed the interjecting Brownie and forcibly stuffed it back into my hair. Right now, your silence would be more helpful.
“Choi…”
“What brings you here?”
Ragnar answered respectfully.
“I wanted to introduce you two to each other.”
“Me? To this young lady?”
Luadis regarded me with a puzzled expression.
So that’s all he was going to say—leaving the rest to me to figure out.
If I lacked social intuition, I would’ve just stood there dumbly at this moment.
But I’d spent years grinding away at a corporation and had unwillingly honed my sense of timing.
I smiled carefully and asked tentatively.
“Would it be alright if I looked around the training center?”
“Hmm… that shouldn’t be difficult. Teon, stop fooling around and get back to your spot. You’ll need to train all the harder for the time you’ve wasted.”
“But… I wasn’t playing…”
Teon hurried off with his wooden sword, dashing back into the training center. The way he obeyed so readily suggested Luadis was quite a fearsome instructor.
“What will you do, Ragnar?”
“I’ll look around as well—it’s been a while.”
“You don’t need to. If you have time, watch the students’ posture and give them pointers.”
“…Very well.”
I felt a small pang of guilt for Ragnar, who’d unexpectedly taken on a task.
He smiled at me and said, ‘Luadis is someone you can trust,’ before following Teon.
Why did he say such a thing?
“So you want to see the training center—is it because you’re interested in instructing? You strike me as a Spirit Master.”
We began walking slowly in the opposite direction from where Ragnar had gone.
“Oh? No, I’m not skilled enough for that. It’s just…”
Did you say this was a beginner training center?
“I was curious to see how hard beginner adventurers train.”
Our dungeon’s potential future customers.
“They train quite hard. Everyone dreams of becoming a Hero, after all.”
“A Hero?”
“Like Ragnar. Making a great name for yourself as an adventurer, carving out legendary achievements. Isn’t that the path every adventurer dreams of?”
My mouth fell open.
Ragnar was… a Hero? Then this won’t do at all…?
Heroes and Demon Kings were always treated as sworn enemies, after all, and if I’m allied with the Demon King….
Suddenly goosebumps spread across my entire body. I’d thought he was simply a strong adventurer, but I never once imagined he might be a Hero!
His very existence made him the natural enemy of our lazy, irresponsible Demon King.
Wasn’t I collaborating with the enemy right now!?
“Though these days the standard for Hero has dropped so low that anyone remotely strong gets called one.”
“I… is that so…?”
I felt a wave of relief wash over me. If that were the case, then Ragnar was just a somewhat stronger adventurer after all….
“Truly, you can only claim the title of Hero if you’ve slain a Demon King or, at the very least, defeated the Demon King’s inner circle. By that measure, Ragnar is a genuine Hero if there ever was one.”
Damn.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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