Monster Company Tycoon - Chapter 28

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

Monster Company Tycoon
Chapter 28
A face I hadn’t seen in a week.
The moment our eyes met, an awkward tension washed over me, and I quickly glanced away.
‘Of all times, I was just talking about him….’
“Welcome in.”
Regardless, he was a customer, so I showed him to a table.
Despite the village being quite small, I’d managed not to run into him all this time—remarkably so.
Of course, my own routes were limited, but considering how Ragnar had always approached me first before, it felt like he’d been deliberately avoiding our paths crossing.
‘Did he get the same advice from Luadis?’
When we met after so long, he was dressed far too casually.
Though his build was rare to see in this village, at first glance his clothes were so ordinary you’d mistake him for just another villager.
‘Maybe he dressed down because he’s been helping with the temple construction?’
At our first meeting, he’d worn armor; at the second, combat pauldrons, though less pronounced than before.
Perhaps that’s why—his current appearance felt completely unguarded.
Of course, even without equipment, our dungeon staff would be no match for him.
“What would you like to order?”
“Ah, I’ve already eaten. Just tea, please.”
Our restaurant doubled as a tea house. In fact, aside from the tavern, it was the only place in the village that prepared and sold food.
“Tea… with pastries as well?”
You could choose dishes from a menu, but tea wasn’t like that.
Since it wasn’t a proper tea house, whatever the elderly woman decided she wanted to brew that day determined what tea the customers could actually drink.
“Yes, please do that.”
After placing his order, Ragnar glanced out the window with what looked like unease. It seemed like he was wary of something.
“Order for table two: tea and pastries received.”
“Hehe, it’s quiet today anyway—go keep him company. Didn’t you want to talk to him?”
The elderly woman smiled knowingly as she took the order ticket, then tapped my arm and pointed her chin toward Ragnar’s table.
“What? No, I’m still on the clock, I can’t just—”
“When someone doesn’t even like tea but orders it anyway, it’s obvious. Everyone in the village knows that boy can’t stomach bitter flavors.”
“Really? He doesn’t like tea?”
Then why come all the way here just to drink it?
“That’s right. Especially not our tea. We only sell herbal tea.”
“But the last time he came, he seemed fine drinking it….”
“Why would he? Our Choi here just doesn’t read the room, that’s all.”
Ultimately, thanks to the elderly woman’s not-quite-subtle nudge, I finally had an excuse to talk with Ragnar.
‘Maybe it’s for the best. With people around, he won’t just drag me away for being rude to my friend, right?’
As I set down the teacup before him, I studied his expression carefully.
‘He doesn’t like bitter things? I’m sure I’ve seen him drink it before….’
Yet when the fragrant steam rising from the cup reached his face, I definitely caught it.
That slight furrow crossing his delicate brow.
‘Oh… he really does hate it.’
It was a shift in expression you’d miss if you weren’t paying close attention.
But I could only see that change for an instant before his face smoothed back to calm.
He was someone very skilled at managing his expression.
…….
A thought suddenly occurred to me.
‘Could this actually be considered Ragnar’s weakness?’
It was an absurd notion, but it was the only flaw I’d found in a man who seemed impossible to defeat even if all our dungeon staff threw themselves at him desperately.
If Ragnar ever decided to change his mind and breach the dungeon, there’d be no way for us to stop him.
But if we wafted bitter smoke at the entrance, or created pit traps filled with liquids of bitter taste…?
If we stockpiled this woman’s herbal tea and had slimes spray it endlessly throughout the dungeon…?
I started imagining spraying the herbal tea at Ragnar like insecticide as he approached, but the image was too childish, so I let it go.
Slide.
Around then, a soft sound of something moving across the table drew me from my thoughts.
“Mm?”
Ragnar was pushing the pastry bowl toward me with his finger, as if telling me to eat instead.
He hadn’t even asked if I had time.
‘Did he…?’
I found myself sitting across from him as if under a spell, naturally and without hesitation.
Perhaps I’d been drawn by hunger—lunchtime was approaching soon—or perhaps by the pastries themselves. After all, the ones this woman baked were truly delicious.
“It’s been a while since you’ve visited.”
In truth, a week between visits was hardly unusual for a restaurant customer — she was practically a regular by now.
“I’ve had some rather pressing matters to attend to.”
He glanced toward the window again, his eyes sliding sideways.
Was he waiting for something out there?
“So you’ve been unemployed, then? Ah, but I heard you’ve been helping at the Temple — is that what’s been keeping you busy?”
“You must not go near the Temple.”
“I’m sorry?”
The moment she mentioned it, his voice turned sharp and unyielding.
“Ah, yes — Luadis told me. Really, I’m being very careful about it. As soon as my shifts end, I head straight back, and I don’t even look toward the north anymore….”
She found herself tumbling into explanations like someone desperate to prove her point.
“You’re doing well. Choi, there’s nothing to gain from entanglement with the Temple.”
It was surely just a simple compliment meant nothing in particular, yet something warm bloomed in her chest.
‘He’s saying I did well because… you too chose not to report me as a heretic and looked the other way, making you complicit. Does that mean we’re truly on the same side?’
Though she still couldn’t fathom what lay beneath his surface, an ally was better than an enemy any day.
She could have launched into more casual chatter to lighten the mood, but the topic ahead was heavy enough that restraint seemed wise.
“I….”
She wrestled with how to broach the subject in a way that wouldn’t prompt him to drag her straight to the Temple on the spot.
A deep breath.
“I’ve been looking into items to try to fill the Reward Room. So….”
She explained everything in order — how the general store had run out of stock, how craftsmen were struggling without materials, and how gathering had become increasingly difficult.
The whole chain of cause and effect, laid out before him.
“You must not venture into the Eastern Forest.”
Another warning fell like a blade.
But I’ve already been there. Twice.
“I’ve already seen the monsters.”
Ragnar’s brow furrowed — and not merely because of the tea’s bitterness.
“I went with Luadis! I didn’t go alone.”
“That was wise of you. Facing monsters alone could prove dangerous.”
“I… forgive me if I’m mistaken, but… monsters and I aren’t exactly on bad terms….”
If you really think about it, it’s more of a business arrangement.
“Still, there is danger.”
Was this concern, or a warning against recklessness?
“Which is why I wanted to tell you — I actually saw something out there by pure chance. Something other than monsters.”
“What did you see?”
She rubbed her fingers together, trying to settle her unease.
All the while, her eyes tracked the restaurant’s main exit and the side door to the kitchen, one leg already poised outside her chair — ready to bolt at any moment.
Yes. If things went south, she’d run.
Fleeing now to fight another day was better than being hauled off to the Temple this instant.
“I saw… a grave.”
She stole a glance at Ragnar’s expression.
Impossible to read.
“A grave.”
“And there was a pendant necklace lying on it. I mean, I didn’t realize it was a grave at first — I just touched it out of curiosity for a moment! I didn’t damage anything or have ill intent! I was just curious….”
Truth be told, she’d recognized the grave before anything else.
Mid-excuse, she realized: this made her look even more suspicious, didn’t it?
“Did you open the pendant?”
“Yes. I apologize for touching it so carelessly.”
Ragnar’s gaze drifted past her, focusing somewhere in the shop — the face of someone sifting through old memories.
Anxiety crept into her, and she clamped down hard on her trembling leg, watching for his reaction.
‘He doesn’t seem angry. He doesn’t even look displeased.’
Perhaps because she’d spent so long conducting face-to-face conversations with strangers at close quarters, she’d developed a fair instinct for reading emotions.
She had some confidence in her ability to sense what lay beneath a person’s surface.
‘Still safe, for now.’
“There’s no need to apologize. He was likely pleased that someone visited after so long.”
That phrasing — “he” — had a certain familiarity to it.
Before she could even ask whether the other person in the photograph was a friend, he’d answered the question himself.
But surely that friend couldn’t have been happy if it meant enduring those two loud, scatterbrained fairies alongside her…?

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