Three days have passed since arriving back at the castle. Over two days Mia’s routine involved getting up early, getting patted by Ashley, training with Rowan, and finally some alone time with John. Ashley was apparently fine after getting dragged away by that butler, she was abolished for her misstep in getting the hero involved but faced no consequences. She also continued to keep up her end of their bargain, sometimes granting her additional portions to her meals and guaranteeing her safety from the other maids.

The training Rowan provided involved dismantling beasts, trap detection, more work on the presence detection, and basic information on navigating a dungeon. He even got her a few more monsters to fight, gaining her one more level. All her points quickly going into dex once more. While the number was still unknown to her the difference was still noticeable, something John seemed to disapprove of.

Speaking of John, ever since that day in the forest he has been keeping a distance from her, while still maintaining his stance to be with her while not making a big fuss. He had moved his training sessions and teachings into the same training area as Mia and would have Mia stay in his room till it was time for bed.

Mia found these times awkward, as he would rarely say anything during their time together, seeming to be lost in thought. When she eventually questioned this on the second night, he replied not to worry about it and he would explain it after the dungeon expedition.

The princess was also in a strange state, not taking any action towards Mia. It isn’t to say that Mia never saw her but when she did, she seemed stressed. Maids and butlers in constant motion around her, bringing her documents or whispering something in her ear. It was plain to say she was busy, to the point she did not bother interfering with Mia and John.

Mia wondered if it had something to do with the events in the forest, which was most likely. Mia had tried to push the events out of her mind to focus on getting stronger with her training, she couldn’t see the princess doing something similar, not after what the dryad and Roy had said. Regardless, she had not changed the plans for today, and they had been traveling since sunrise.

Mia surprisingly had her own carriage, albeit, not as fancy as the other ones she had been in, this one lacking any cushion. But having a carriage all to herself was nice, it brought a comforting silence. John and Athena were in their own carriage ahead of hers, which Mia found fitting since they both had been ignoring her lately.

Sadly, Rowan was not with them, who according to Athena’s orders was staying behind. She didn’t explain to John, who looked relieved at the revelation, why and because of the warning Rowan told to Mia, she did not question it either, she guessed it had something to do with how busy Athena was.

Mia let out a sigh, rubbing her sore butt, she was looking forward to the dungeon. From what Rowan had taught her dungeons were a place filled to the brim with magic, so much so it crystalized and formed a core in the deepest depths. This core would spawn monsters with its access mana to protect it, a byproduct of this process being it would also create items, ironically drawing outsiders into it.

Most dungeons, for unknown reasons, have patters for what spawns in them. If a dungeon was deemed profitable then it would be left operational, adventurers and knights being allowed in to hunt and gather materials and experience. If a dungeon was too dangerous it was cleared, the core at the center destroyed and the area monitored in case another dungeon popped up while the area’s mana stabilized.

Some dungeons, however, had a different way of being handled. If what they spawned was deemed too valuable, then it was quickly hidden from the public eye, only a few people or organizations allowed in. Rowan let it slip to her the dungeon they were heading to was one of these dungeons. This hidden dungeon was currently under the control of the church, who have been using it for decades to supply the local area with a particular skill orb.

A skill orb containing the skill [Common Language], something Mia was unfortunately lacking. She still wondered why she lacked that skill, from what she heard of human culture they received it early. Considering how essential it was to understand the status page, something everyone apparently had, and was essential to growing stronger… she now had a hard time believing her family, or everyone in her village, did not know about it.

Now that she knew how it operated, she found it hard to believe a village that had hunters didn’t know about the status page, something that a would have made hunting a lot easier. Which that brought to question why her family would lie to her and play dumb when she brought up her status page. Surely they had a good reason for it… But thankfully it was not too late to find out.

Roy had confirmed it, her sister was alive, and she was a hunter. While it pained her to think that her sister had lied to her for years… regardless, finding her and getting an explanation was her best bet. But first Mia needed the ability to read. She had developed a plan ever since Rowan had told her the purpose of this dungeon dive, while not flawless and was unlikely to work, Mia had a plan.

The first step was the easiest, all she had to do was play along until she got the skill orb, then she would use it and read her status. Then the plan from this point gets messy, using her increased dex she would make a run for it when a chance presents itself. How long she’d have to wait for that chance is unknown and to be honest she was relying on John’s naivety.

With John’s halfhearted possessiveness an opportunity should present itself eventually, all that mattered was if they were alone and if she could get away from him unnoticed. Next came finding her sister, she didn’t know where she was but hoped she was also looking for her. Otherwise, she was blindly searching, after she found her sister…well…

She didn’t know, if all went according to plan then what came after that she could plan with her sister.

While she was deep in thought the carriage stopped, looking outside she saw they had stopped in the middle of a forest in front of a grey bricked structure imbedded into the side of a hill. The whole thing looking a bit unnatural. She looked to the carriage’s front, seeing John and Athena already out of their carriages discussing something.

She sighed, patting herself on the cheeks, mentally preparing herself while keeping her plan in her mind. She then opened her status page, staring at the scribbles she whispered to herself “Soon…” she then glanced down at the very bottom of the page, the thing she wanted to know the most. The section that was apparently a hidden skill.