Monster Company Tycoon - Chapter 27

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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 27
I walked toward it as though in a trance.
“Find something?”
Brownie came hurrying after me, chittering away.
“Take a look at this.”
What I’d discovered was a structure that appeared to have been deliberately constructed.
Stones had been gathered and stacked in a circle, with a long wooden rod planted through the center.
And hanging from the end of that rod—a Pendant Necklace.
This was the source of the light that had caught my eye moments before.
‘This looks just like… a grave, doesn’t it?’
A chill ran through me at first, but the thoughtful care evident throughout the grave soon softened my unease.
“What an odd structure. Why on earth do humans make things like this?”
Brownie circled around the rod, grumbling as she went.
I deliberately kept my suspicions from Brownie.
The moment he heard the word ‘grave,’ he’d start digging—I was certain of it.
Instead, I carefully reached toward the Pendant.
“It looks like it can open. Quite corroded from long exposure outdoors.”
I gently worked the latch while the necklace remained hanging on the rod, then lifted the cover open.
The Pendant revealed the photograph it had been holding.
Two children with their arms around each other, laughing.
One of their faces looked oddly familiar.
“Teon?”
“Why are you looking for that brat?”
Brownie didn’t much care for Teon.
He was Ragnar’s younger brother, and had taken back all the loot including the Wooden Sword—a petty reason, to be sure. Though she seemed to dislike Ragnar even more.
Since he was a former Hero and we’re on the Demon King’s Team, I understood why Brownie harbored instinctive hostility.
“The boy in this photo resembles Teon, I thought.”
I showed Brownie the photograph inside the Pendant so he could see it clearly, and he tilted his head in confusion.
“Looks more like that lazy one to me, not the kid. You know, the unmotivated guy? What did I call him? Oh yeah—the glazed-eyed type. Except this one’s eyes are sparkling.”
I was reminded once again that I needed to watch my words around Brownie.
Where had he picked up a phrase like that?
I’d once described monsters who’d received intense training from Luadis and lost their spirits as having “glazed eyes,” and it seemed he’d simply absorbed the term.
“Resembles Ragnar more, you say? Now that you mention it… you’re right. Of course—they’re brothers, so their faces must be similar.”
Judging by the weathering evident in the Pendant, the person in the photograph was more likely Ragnar than Teon.
“Then who’s the other one? A friend of Ragnar’s? Wait—is this a friend’s grave?”
Their expression was impish and cheerful, but their hair was somewhat long and their features delicate enough to make their gender ambiguous. The photograph’s deterioration made it even harder to determine.
“What!? A grave?”
“Oops.”
I bit my tongue at my own carelessly spoken words, but it was too late.
“Then Durehan’s Head might be in here! What are we waiting for? Start digging!”
“Stop! That’s disrespectful to the Deceased. And if this really is the grave of Ragnar’s friend, we can’t just destroy it on a whim!”
“Why not? What respect is owed to the dead? You say the strangest things.”
Having grown up in a country where people honor the dead with memorial services on their anniversaries, I found Brownie’s reaction far more baffling.
“Regardless, we’re not doing it. Listen carefully. Disturbing a grave brings calamity.”
“Calamity? Hmph! As if I’d fear that.”
“Ragnar could level our entire Dungeon if he got angry enough, though?”
…….
The thought alone terrified him into silence, his expression growing sullen.
Brownie talked about Ragnar behind his back readily enough, but in truth he was quite afraid of him.
Every time Ragnar looked his way, Brownie would burrow into my hair and tremble.
“We’ll stop here for today.”
“The head! We need to bring an employee. Why are you giving up already? No way! Choi, let’s search one more time. Just one more time! Please?”
Brownie whined about not leaving and tugged at my clothes insistently.
“Right. How about one more hour of searching?”
The fire sprite, eager for more earnings, chimed in with barely concealed support.
“We’ve already searched everywhere near the patrol route. I’ve also been thinking the grave’s owner might be connected to Durehan somehow.”
We’d eagerly followed Durehan around and thoroughly searched the forest, but found nothing.
If the head had been lying exposed on the ground, there was no way Durehan would have missed it.
Even without eyes, his hands and feet would surely have caught on it.
Besides, caught in such a strong desire to reclaim his head, there’s no way he’d wander this long without finding it.
So Durehan’s Head had to be hidden or buried somewhere.
And the only suspicious thing in this vicinity was this tomb right before my eyes.
By circumstance, the odds of it being inside that grave were highest.
“So right now….”
“I think we should talk to Ragnar first.”
“Then of course he’ll stop us from taking the head!? Brownie, think more carefully!”
…Honestly, I’m not sure whether talking to Ragnar is even a good choice.
‘It seems your dead friend has turned into a monster and is wandering around.’
No matter how much of a seasoned hero he is, how do you say something like that to someone’s face?
It’s the kind of remark I’d have no defense against if he dragged me to the temple, saying I was insulting his friend.
And then if I ask on top of it whether I can dig up the grave to find a severed head, all because I want to recruit him as our Dungeon staff?
Instead of the wooden dummy at the Training Center, my own body would get firsthand proof of how excellent Ragnar’s swordsmanship really is.
“Ugh….”
My thoughts tangled, and I pressed my palm to my forehead.
“Let’s go back. I’m exhausted from wandering around all day.”
“Can’t we just dig a little without anyone noticing? I’ll put everything back the way it was, so no one will ever know.”
I grabbed the stubborn Brownie and shoved him into my pocket before I could finally head back to the Dungeon in peace.
***
“I need to have a conversation with him…… but where do I find him?”
Given the advice to keep my distance from Ragnar, it had actually been convenient that he stayed out of sight on his own these past few days.
But now I had a genuine need to see him.
I had no idea how to contact him. If only I could send a message in a situation like this—how much easier that would be?
“Ah, Teon goes to the Training Center every day, so should I go ask him there?”
But the time when my shift ends and when the Training Center classes finish overlapped awkwardly.
Since children as young as Teon tend to leave early, there was a good chance I’d miss him even if I rushed to the Training Center the moment work was over.
“Miss Choi, what’s troubling you?”
Auntie leaned over the serving counter and spoke to me with her arm folded across the ledge.
“Oh, Auntie. No, it’s nothing. Is the food ready?”
“Still baking in the oven, so just wait a little longer. So what’s the matter?”
“Um… you know… Ragnar, right?”
“Is there anyone in this village who doesn’t know Ragnar?”
No. If they don’t know him, they’d have to be a spy.
“Yes, well…. I want to reach out to him, but I’m not sure how to….”
A subtle smile suddenly crossed Auntie’s face as she looked at me.
What was that expression about…?
“Now that I think about it, Ragnar hasn’t been by our restaurant lately. The boy used to stop in at least twice a week….”
Boy? After watching him grow up since childhood, could she really call that massive frame a boy….
“And such a pretty young lady waiting for him all this time—how heartless of the lad. He really has no sense.”
“Eek! No! That’s not it! Really! I just have something work-related I need to ask him about!”
Ah… I finally understood the subtle smile blooming on Auntie’s face.
It was exactly the look Mom got every time she sat down to watch her weekend dramas.
“Right? Well, if it’s not like that, then it’s not like that.”
Cold sweat dripped down my back at that look—the one that said she didn’t believe me in the slightest.
If I let even a crack show, I’d definitely become a small source of entertainment in this elderly woman’s otherwise dull routine.
“Oh, and speaking of seeing Ragnar lately…. Yes, the temple.”
At the word temple, my body flinched with a start.
Wow, just hearing the word makes my body react on its own like this. I’ve really turned into one of the Demon King’s Team now.
“He seems to be helping with temple construction these days. You might not know this, Miss Choi, but the Reta Temple is scheduled to be built north of our village, isn’t it? If you need to see him, why not try going there?”
“Ah, I see. The temple….”
I should give up.
Even if it takes more time, I should ask Luadis to arrange a meeting with Ragnar for me.
Of course, handling Brownie’s whining the whole time would fall entirely on my shoulders.
“Miss Choi, this one’s for table four.”
Just as I finished that thought and turned to serve the dish that had just come up to the counter.
They say when you speak of a tiger, it appears. Or is it that a gentleman never appears this way?
Ragnar walked through the restaurant door.

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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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