After that, Ragner and the Dullahan faced off.
The one who moved first was the Dullahan.
Vwoom—!
The massive greatsword sliced through the air with a terrifying force.
With the long blade combined with the Dullahan’s enormous frame, a single swing brought a wide area entirely into its attack range.
On the other hand, what Ragner held was an extremely ordinary longsword.
He did not dodge the greatsword rushing toward him, but instead met it head-on by raising his sword.
“This is what real combat looks like.”
It felt like watching genuine combat on a completely different level—something our low-ranking employees could never imitate.
It was a tension that made my palms sweat, like watching an action movie.
“Oh, I can extract combat data!”
This was a heaven-sent opportunity.
Come to think of it, this was the first time I had seen Ragner fight properly.
A perfect chance to confirm with my own eyes just how strong the former hero really was!
On top of that, I could also grasp the combat abilities of the Dullahan, who would become our dungeon’s new employee.
I quickly placed my finger on the combat information section of the resume and compared it with the screen, absorbing the Dullahan’s fighting style.
‘I need to understand it well for dungeon management. She’ll be our first-floor boss, after all. Employee management is the foundation of operations.’
The combat skill the Dullahan primarily used was [Greatsword Technique (A)].
It was the first time I had seen a monster with an A-rank skill.
For reference, the skills possessed by the goblins and skeletons were at best D-rank.
The small slime’s ‘Digestive Fluid Spray’ was C-rank, which was on the higher end.
“Oh, just now!”
When Ragner pressed her fiercely, the Dullahan drove her greatsword deep into the ground and then swung it roughly, as if scooping up the earth.
Kwaaang!
The erupted mass of soil instantly created a wall blocking the space between the two.
“Ah, right, the Dullahan had the earth attribute. I didn’t pay attention because the other monsters don’t have attributes.”
The skill she just used as a defense would be [Earth Backflow (C)].
But suddenly, I became curious about how the rank attached to a skill was determined.
Did it simply indicate the skill’s proficiency, or did it indicate the skill’s rarity?
At times like this, I felt like I could get an answer by asking Brownie, but the dirt potato that always followed me around was suddenly nowhere to be seen.
Wondering what it was doing, I pulled up a few more screens and looked around….
“Hurry, hurry! Right now the Dullahan has the better odds! Bet all your money and aim for a life reversal!”
“Waah, Director. We don’t have money.”
“Gambling is bad. Clatter.”
That wicked dirt potato…. It was arranging betting pools for the employees on who would win.
Dumbfounded, I tapped the screen with my finger where the dirt potato was brimming with greed.
“What on earth are you doing in a sacred workplace?”
At that, Brownie suddenly turned its head and met my eyes through the screen.
“Oh? Were you watching me? Did you call me?”
“Huh? This works both ways? Can you hear me? If you can hear me, get to my office right now!”
A moment later, the door burst open and Brownie appeared with a pouty expression.
“It was just about to get fun—why did you call?”
I had thought I could only watch, but it turned out I could also speak to employees.
I had only used the sacred relic once, so I hadn’t known there was such a useful function.
With this, I could sit in my office and conveniently summon employees anytime.
“Gambling in the workplace is forbidden. You must not do things like that.”
“What? Who made that law!?”
“Me.”
“…Tch. Then I guess I have no choice.”
Brownie gave up obediently and sat on my shoulder as if it were a chair.
“Oh, it’s used up again. I can’t use it often. Does it have a cooldown?”
I picked up a pen and jotted down notes on a fresh sheet of paper from time to time. Earth Backflow, a skill with a cooldown.
“Brownie, the rank next to this skill. What’s the criteria?”
“It’s the skill’s rarity and proficiency.”
“So it’s both.”
“Even a terrible skill can become a good one if you polish it! Of course, being born with a good skill from the start is the easiest and fastest path.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
How nice would it be if everyone were born with a silver spoon.
Perhaps Greatsword Technique was high-rank because of the Dullahan’s high proficiency. It certainly looked like a basic skill.
“Those lowly ones need to grow quickly like that!”
Brownie shouted loudly, pointing at the employees who had almost become victims of its betting.
“Look at that! That fiery combat! Only at that level can you be called a monster! The fundamentals are different, the fundamentals.”
“Don’t be too harsh on the employees. They’re all training hard.”
The employees were receiving hellish training from Ruadis every day and gradually improving.
The initial ragtag appearance had faded considerably.
Even if they usually looked disheveled, once combat training began, they had learned to carry at least a glint of ferocity in their eyes.
“Hmph! They’re still far off. Dullahan, crush him! Destroy those annoying dead fish eyes!”
Brownie, now fully in spectator mode, hollered at the screen like a drunkard who had downed a heavy drink.
Ah… did I make a mistake calling it here?
“Oh! Did you see that skill just now?”
The Dullahan’s greatsword momentarily glowed red before striking the ground, and the earth heaved violently.
Rumble, rumble.
The aftermath reached even the lower floors, enough that a faint vibration could be felt from the ceiling.
Ragner, caught in the skill’s range, lost his balance and staggered briefly.
‘I think that’s a type of CC skill?’
[Earth Vein Crush (B)]—a skill that rather than dealing direct damage, hindered movement and restricted actions.
“She has a lot of good skills, doesn’t she? I knew we should have grabbed her quickly. She said she doesn’t care how much salary she gets, right? Let’s work her for free!”
“I don’t want to make this dungeon a black company. The better the talent, the better they should be treated.”
“No! We should work them to the bone!”
“And if she says she’ll go to another dungeon?”
“We’ll threaten her with her head. Chihuahua, you’re too naive. From now on, keep hold of each monster’s weakness. That way they can’t run off to another dungeon without fear….”
“I don’t want to do that! I really want to make a good dungeon.”
“Tch, so simple-minded.”
Though it grumbled, Brownie’s attitude softened considerably, perhaps not disliking what I had just said.
After that, fortunately, Brownie kept its mouth shut, allowing me to quietly watch the battle.
‘But somehow, isn’t the fight a bit… strange?’
At first, I had merely found the real combat thrilling and impressive.
But at some point, I began to feel a subtle sense of wrongness.
“Brownie, isn’t Ragner… going easy on her?”
“What?”
“And the two of them are matching each other so perfectly, as if they had agreed on it beforehand.”
The initial ferocious momentum had softened considerably.
Swords clashed, parted, and tangled again.
When the Dullahan swung her greatsword, Ragner received it naturally, as if he already knew the trajectory. When Ragner thrust at an opening, the Dullahan also twisted her body familiarly and deflected it.
They were no longer the movements of people trying to settle things once and for all.
Like people who had crossed swords with each other countless times.
It was closer to a sparring match that flowed naturally because they had used each other as practice partners for so long.
And I could see that Ruadis’s expression, which had been tightly rigid, had relaxed considerably.
“Ah… they’ve made up.”
The realization came naturally.
Buried under the sounds of battle, I couldn’t properly hear what they were saying each time their swords clashed.
But I didn’t think I needed to hear it.
With each exchange of blows, the two were gradually letting out the feelings they had piled up in their hearts, just as Ruadis had intended.
Thanks to that, I also learned for the first time that Ragner, who always wore an indifferent face, had such a variety of expressions.
Once this battle ended, there seemed to be only one outcome awaiting them.
That even though they had been separated by life and death, they were still friends.
That the fact they had once been closer than anyone had not changed.
‘It’s a reconciliation method only the two of them can use.’
“Hey, Chihuahua! Look at that! Dead fish eyes is crying! Ehehe, a grown man crying like a child!”
Brownie, who had been staring intently at the screen, suddenly pointed and cackled.
“What? You’re saying Ragner is crying?”
