Glia opens her eyes a few seconds later, scans the whole room until she finds me, approaches my legs, curls up again, and falls back asleep. This action has left the girls nearly smitten, though they aren't drooling on the carpet thanks to their manners.

"How did you get her, Maki?" Marga is the first to ask. "I've never seen a companion so intelligent in its first stage; her level of intelligence seems high." Her observation and question have put me at the center of attention.

"It's a secret." I wink at her with a calm smile. I can see in her face and lips that she wants to press me a bit more, but she doesn't; instead, she just pouts. That reaction draws a small giggle from Sol and Arisa.

"Why was the atmosphere so tense before I arrived?" I don't want to answer any questions about Glia right now. It's better to shift the topic to them—if they want to avoid it, they'll at least ask something else or steer the conversation elsewhere. The three of them look at each other in silence for a few seconds, as if reaching an agreement.

"We can tell you the reason, but not the cause." Sol is the first to break the brief silence that felt eternal.

"The reason is you, the cause is a secret." Marga answers me back with a wink of her own.

"You'll find out soon, Maki, you just need to wait a little." Arisa tries to reassure me with her words. I ease my gaze a bit; I had furrowed my brow when I heard Marga. I don't like being the reason for something without knowing why, and honestly, I probably won't like being the reason even if I do know. Well, if I'm going to find out sooner or later, I guess I can wait...

"No problem..." I look at them, defeated. I can feel Sol's Imra; she feels a little guilty for keeping this kind of secret, which pushes her to find another topic to distract herself for a moment.

"How was the party? Did you have fun?" She looks at all of us with a genuine smile. It was her birthday party, so what matters most is whether she had a good time, not us. Sweet and gentle Sol, always so thoughtful about how her friends are doing.

"I had a great time, I really enjoyed the whole party. Everything went perfectly for me." Arisa shifts in her seat to speak; her natural smile shows she's not faking it.

"Same here. The food and shows were great, and the most fun was seeing Maki beat up Phil." Marga chuckles while looking at me. I had completely forgotten about that. I hope I didn't cause any trouble with his family.

"Don't worry, Maki, Phil is very demanding of himself. Sometimes he can get a bit envious about certain things, but he usually doesn't hold grudges." Sol tries to reassure me, probably noticing the change in my expression when I heard Marga. "However, when it comes to being strong, he'll make an effort to challenge you again in the future. By the way, did you like my party?"

So he's that kind of person. I don't mind accepting a challenge from him in the future; maybe he'll get strong enough to be a real challenge someday. "Yes! It was really fun. It was the first noble party in my life, and I'll probably never forget it." My words make Sol smile from ear to ear, and I start to understand why Arisa and Marga are giving her strange looks.

We chatted for several minutes about things related to the party, although I was mostly a spectator in these kinds of conversations. They mostly talked about nobles I don't know, and I just nodded every now and then to make it seem like I was following the conversation.

Glia got up for a moment, and I let her know that I was going to another room for a few minutes and would leave her here with the girls. She agreed without any issue; she sees the girls as children. Now I'm walking toward Camux's office—he needs to talk to me about something, which he mentioned yesterday. I'll take the opportunity to ask him about a dungeon.

I knock on the door and hear his voice granting me permission to enter. "Good morning, Uncle Camux. How are you?" As I walk in, I notice a spacious office, well-maintained and with the necessary luxuries of a Baron—plenty of paintings and handcrafted art, large books on the shelves, and Camux sitting with one hand on his head and the other holding a cup.

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"Hey, Maki. Work doesn't wait, even with a hangover. I overdid it a bit last night." He takes a large sip from his cup and lets out a sigh. "How was the party yesterday?" We talked about several good moments from the party—some funny, others memorable, and also about my duel with Phil. Camux spoke with the young noble's parents, and they weren't upset, just surprised that Phil lost.

"The Marquis made a proposal for you before he left. Want to hear it?" His ear-to-ear grin sends a chill down my spine. My instincts kick in—something interesting or dangerous is coming. I nod slowly to hear the proposal.

"As you heard yesterday, there are a large number of dungeons appearing all over the continent. This kind of phenomenon has happened many times before, although it's still quite unusual." He leans back in his chair to gather his thoughts, then looks at me again. "Grade 1 and 2 dungeons are the most common, grade 3 ones are already rare, grade 4 are hard to see, grade 5 have an appearance rate close to 0, and grade 6 are impossible during this phenomenon." I nod slowly, trying to absorb all the information.

"His proposal is... interesting. If it weren't you, I would've refused immediately." He shakes his head slightly. "The Marquis wants you to be the first to enter every grade 3 dungeon in my territory and your family's. That's where the most monsters are and where you'll find the best training opportunities." My eyes widen in surprise. It sounds exciting and dangerous at the same time. Why would the Marquis propose something like this?

"As you know, when you eliminate a certain number of monsters, the dungeon takes a lot of ambient mana to replenish them. Usually, when these new dungeons emerge from this strange phenomenon, they're already close to 80% of their total capacity. It's the best time to train." I remain silent for a few seconds. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested.

"Uncle... why would the Marquis make a proposal like this? Does he trust an emerald-rank enough to nearly clear out a grade 3 dungeon alone?" I have a lot of questions. I'll take it step by step to gather as much information as I can.

"He didn't tell me. I can only guess: he wants to see you grow as quickly as possible. I'm not sure if there's a deeper reason behind all this, and if there is, training won't make you strong enough to face it." His face is serious, like he's been thinking about this for hours. "The Marquis isn't afraid of you dying in a grade 3 dungeon. A limit-breaker recognizes another easily. I also trust that you'll come back immediately if something goes wrong." His words are serious. It's rare to see my uncle like this.

"I see... Am I not taking away the chance for the men in your territory to grow? After all, having a grade 3 dungeon for training isn't common." My territory doesn't have enough personnel to tackle a grade 3 dungeon almost entirely. If my family hires new capable people, they could keep the numbers low after it's nearly cleared.

It's a completely different case from the Solar Barony, which has four towns and a city. Their personnel must be at least double or triple. I've heard rumors about their possible promotion to Viscount by the end of this year or next, which would place them among the ranks of the great nobles.

"Yes and no. It's true that my soldiers could improve with a dungeon full of monsters, but... it would just take too much personnel and time. That would leave my territory a bit vulnerable. I also concluded that you should be the one to do it for that reason." His words make me lift my head and think a bit. "Don't overthink it, Maki. They can still train after you nearly empty it. I'll also pay you for doing it—we're hitting several birds with one stone." He has many valid points, and the money would be useful.

"I'm very tempted right now. There are a lot of benefits on the table, and the only downside is not being able to clear it almost entirely by myself, which, given how strong I am, is very unlikely." I raise my arms, showing off my biceps, which makes both of us laugh.

"If you eliminate at least 50%, it's already a win for everyone." His smile slowly fades. "There is one visible downside, Maki. If someone finds out that a 12-year-old cleared a dungeon, they might grow suspicious and send people to investigate you. I'll do everything in my power to prevent that." He's right about that. If someone discovers me, both families will be in trouble. I can only trust Camux to make the best preparations.

"I'll only put the most trusted people at the entrance, and we better get you a mask and a black cloak to avoid showing your face and body." He thinks for a moment and continues. "If, with all our preparations, something goes wrong, the Marquis will take responsibility. He guaranteed it with his name and surname." That also surprises me. When a noble guarantees something with their name and surname, it means a promise they will fulfill.

"That makes me feel more at ease. Lastly, Uncle, one last question." Now that I think about it, the Marquis also has me call him uncle and wants to be my friend. He'll do everything possible to prevent information leaks or come up with a plan if another noble gets suspicious.

Camux looks at me, waiting for me to continue. "Is there any available grade 3 dungeon?" His smile stretches from ear to ear.

"Yes, we just found one about two days ago. I'll take you there whenever you want." He clasps his hands behind his head and relaxes a bit, as if a weight had been lifted.

"I'm ready. We can go anytime." We talked a bit more about some details, and in a couple of hours, he'll come to get me so we can go to the dungeon together. Now I have to decide whether to take Glia with me or leave her with the girls. I'll ask her when I get back.

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