Monster Company Tycoon - Chapter 32

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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
32
I’d shouted until my throat was raw, but sadly, Dullahan still hadn’t made an appearance.
Even so, I’d kicked up enough of a fuss that I hoped he’d think I was a genuine dungeon administrator and let his guard down.
“Wouldn’t it be better if we at least caught a glimpse of him and had a chance to talk?”
“Your throat must be killing you. Why don’t you call it a day?”
Concerned that I’d been shouting into empty air for so long, Luadis was beginning to gently dissuade me as well.
“No. I’m using it now. My trump card!”
I did my best not to look at the severed head buried beneath Luadis’s coat.
“If you come to our dungeon, there’s one more employee benefit! We’ve partnered with talented earth sprites, and the wind sprites we work with can find lost items immediately! You’ll never have to worry about losing anything again!”
“That’s a peculiar sort of benefit.”
Truth be told, no such benefit existed.
‘We have your head, so come out quietly.’ would sound far too cruel—just like a kidnapper making threats while holding a hostage.
But then an ominous thought struck me.
Dullahan has no head. I’d been assuming that’s why he couldn’t see well. After all, he’d left a grave sitting openly on his patrol route.
But what if… he actually couldn’t hear?
Ears are attached to the head, and Dullahan doesn’t have one.
“What have I been doing all this time…?”
My legs gave out beneath me, and I collapsed where I stood.
“Let’s call it a day. You look absolutely exhausted.”
“It was all for nothing….”
“Your enthusiasm was truly remarkable. You were hoping to reunite Sabira with an old friend and disciple, weren’t you?”
“Well….”
I’ve always thought this, but you have such a pure heart. It’s not easy to work hard for someone else’s sake.”
She’d clearly gotten the wrong idea, and I wasn’t sure what to do about it.
The truth was, reconnecting the old friend and disciple was merely a secondary objective. My real plan was to recruit Dullahan as an employee.
Guilt washed over me, and I bowed my head deeply. Above me, I heard Luadis’s gentle laughter.
“And don’t say it was for nothing. Even efforts that don’t bear immediate fruit become nourishment someday. We can’t know what change today’s actions might bring to Dullahan. The results simply haven’t revealed themselves yet.”
“I suppose….”
But if he really couldn’t hear my cries because he has no head, then it was genuinely wasted effort.
“Come along now. Ragnar must be waiting for us by now.”
“Um… what about the head…?”
…….
Luadis lifted the severed head, and in doing so, the coat wrapping it slipped slightly.
Since I’d been looking up at her, I caught an unwilling glimpse of the head through the gap.
“…!”
The first thing I saw was an old, dirt-caked helmet.
Within it, bone-white remains, hair cut in a straight line….
Chills crawled down my spine, and I quickly looked away.
That’s when Luadis said something unexpected.
“Shall we wait a little longer?”
“Pardon?”
“Didn’t I just comfort you by saying the results haven’t revealed themselves yet?”
“…Yes, you did.”
Suddenly, Luadis lowered the head wrapped in the coat into the pit. Then she scattered a thin layer of earth over it.
“Wait…!”
“I’ll have a word with Ragnar about it. It wouldn’t be a problem to visit again next time without him.”
Luadis had decided not to cremate the remains immediately. Which meant I still had a chance.
Perhaps all that passionate shouting hadn’t been entirely wasted after all.
***
“Are you an idiot? A fool? Have you gone dimmer from spending time around those lowly humans? Of course he can hear everything!”
When I relayed my doubts about Dullahan’s hearing to Brownie, what came back was harsh reproach.
“But… how can he hear if he has no ears?”
“If Dullahan really couldn’t hear, he’d be a useless monster. Do you have any idea how sensitive those creatures are? Have you forgotten how carefully we had to move to avoid being detected while we were hiding?”
“Oh, right.”
We’d fled desperately, terrified that if Dullahan caught us, we’d lose our heads forever.
“His eyesight is bad, true. But his hearing is incredibly sharp instead. You’re standing right in front of a living example and still having these foolish thoughts?”
Brownie suddenly flew off toward the spot where the field workers were gathered.
“Hey! You!”
And called out to a Skeleton sitting on the ground, chatting with the others.
“Yes! Director Brownie! Clatter.”
For context, the reason Brownie suddenly started being called “Director” by the staff was….
Brownie had taken a liking to the organizational terms I used in my world and once asked me what rank came next after management.
So I casually said that if I think of the Dungeon Administrator as a representative position, then the next highest rank would be Director. From that point on, Brownie began insisting the staff call him by that title….
“Come here.”
As Brownie approached me with the Skeleton in tow, I hastily removed my Glasses.
I still hadn’t recovered from the shock of seeing a human skull with my own eyes just moments ago, and now a corpse with an entire skeleton intact was walking toward me on two legs—it was almost unbearable.
“Look carefully. Does this one have ears or not?”
…Ah, now that I think about it, when a skeleton is stripped of flesh, the ears would disappear entirely.
“…I suppose not.”
“What about eyes? A nose?”
Brownie pointed to each of the Skeleton’s facial features in turn, asking me to inspect them.
“Only traces remain….”
“Hey, can you hear me? Can you hear?”
“Yes? I hear you quite clearly, sir. Clatter.”
“Can you see ahead? Can you smell? Can you taste?”
“No problems whatsoever! Ahem…! Surely this isn’t a Defect Investigation—the dreaded kind I’ve heard about? Clatter.”
Suddenly the Skeleton fell to its knees in panic. The impact of its joints against the ground was loud enough to echo through the space.
“I have no combat defects whatsoever! Enemies appear perfectly clear to me, and I can hear every small movement! I swear by the Demon Lord that there is nothing wrong with my combat ability! Clatter.”
The Skeleton’s overreaction left me bewildered.
“A Defect Investigation?”
“I’ve heard rumors that at Instant Dungeons, sometimes before a Contract Period ends, they find fault and cast out monsters. That’s….”
Brownie shook his head, speaking in a tone of pity.
It really was like some predatory company hiring contract workers on an eleven-month cycle to avoid benefits.
“That’s not why I called you. The matter’s settled, so get out!”
“Yes, sir! Thank you, sir! I’ll work even harder going forward! Clatter.”
Fearing Brownie might reverse his decision, the Skeleton rushed back to where it had been standing.
“What’d he say? A Defect Investigation?”
“They kicked us all out?”
The small commotion had clearly unsettled the staff, and murmuring voices erupted from all corners.
They looked as anxious as office workers facing mass layoffs, so I firmly assured them that no such thing would happen. Only then did they relax, and the atmosphere grew light again.
In any case, Brownie’s habit of shooting off sharp remarks tended to blow minor matters out of proportion.
“See? That one doesn’t need eyes, a nose, or ears. No problem at all.”
“Right.”
“Monsters are life forms born from Mana. You can’t understand them the way you’d understand ordinary humans. You lower humans rely on multiple sensory organs to gather information about your surroundings, but monsters can grasp their entire environment at a glance simply by sensing the flow of magical energy.”
So that meant Dullahan, despite having no head, could still hear and see through sensing magical energy?
So it hadn’t been wasted effort after all.
The thought that Dullahan might have been hiding somewhere, listening to every embarrassing word I’d shouted myself hoarse crying out, actually put me at ease.
Over the following days, I left the dungeon a little earlier than my usual work hours.
Before heading to the Restaurant, I first stopped by the Eastern Forest on the east side of the Village.
Since I was alone, I couldn’t venture too deep into the forest, but I went as far as my courage would take me and called out earnestly.
“Dullahan! We’re still hiring! I’ve heard so much about how tremendously skilled you are! You’re exactly the kind of talent we’ve been looking for! Join the Hermit’s Dungeon!”
I even went to the forest with Luadis, without Ragnar, but strangely, Dullahan didn’t show itself after that day.
Though it didn’t seem to have left the forest entirely.
The crafters had encountered it again while gathering materials, they said.
So I resolved to keep calling out relentlessly, hoping my recruitment calls would move its heart and draw it closer.
After all, Luadis had said that all effort can become fertile ground.

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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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