"Good morning, I wasn't expecting you so soon," the points shop vendor greets us; his tone sounds disappointed. "Couldn't make it to the dungeon, or did you have to abandon it?"

Abandon? Oh, he thinks we couldn't clear it.

"Ronan, the leather please," I ask him.

Like last time, we couldn't bring more than one undead out of the dungeon—Ronan kept one of the larger golems—and the soldiers brought us the materials. We left everything at the academy for appraisal and sale, even the troll leather Ronan wanted for the goblins. The reason? It's not something we could explain to Vincent.

In his pack, Ronan carries a bit of the yeti leather. He opens it and places it on the counter.

The clerk stares at us, unable to believe it. It takes him more than a minute to reach out and grab it, to confirm that it really is from the dungeon boss. And much longer to burst out laughing, happy.

"You said you'd do it in one day and you didn't even take half. You bet I can get you contracts for the yeti leather and troll blood. And also for the elemental cores, you must have had to face them, no doubt."

"Ronan?" I ask him.

"No, my lady, I prefer to keep the elemental ones."

Fair enough. He can't raise them, but I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted to keep trying.

"Just for the leather and blood," I clarify to the vendor.

"Perfect. I've already talked to the guilds. They didn't believe me, but they said they'd be more than happy to request those orders if you could really clear it in one day. When I tell them you've already done it, it's gonna knock their socks off! If you swing by the auditorium at the end of the afternoon, I'll have the scrolls with the orders ready for you. Ask the assistant professors for them. But let me keep this leather as proof. I'll return it to you."

"Great, thank you so much."

"Thank you. My wife is going to be thrilled with the extra profits I'm going to make, especially since she wants to give our daughter a good dowry when she gets married."

I can't help but smile when I hear him. It's nice to see someone so motivated by their family. I remain thoughtful for a few moments and refocus on my business. Now I have 103 points for the ranking counter and 50 to spend.

"Can you give me a couple of arrow packages, please?"

"Of course, anything else?" he asks us while writing down 48 on his parchment, mostly looking at Ronan.

"No, I do not need mana potions this time."

The clerk turns to look for the arrows on the shelves behind him and hands them to me. We say goodbye and leave the room.

"Shall we meet tomorrow morning then, my lady?" Ronan asks me once we're in the gardens.

"Yes, same as today. And if you don't mind, after lunch we'll go back again. I think with the mana potions you get, you can recover for the afternoon."

"No problem, my lady. Since I leveled up my spells, I do not spend as much mana."

"I'm eager to bring the goblins the leather we got yesterday, but this afternoon I need to train my basic magic, because my earth control would have leveled up if not for that."

"Do you have limitations?"

"Yes, because of my specialization."

I explain it to him quickly.

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"Would you like me to go to the village?"

"No. I wouldn't know how to justify to Catrina that you used the teleporter without me. And we also don't know if the guards would let you into the forest, since you're supposed to be helping me train."

"Perfect, my lady. I shall dedicate myself to continuing my sword training, to see if I can unlock mastery."

"Speaking of training... did you level up? You practically cleared the third floor alone, except for the yeti."

"No."

Well, leveling to 10 takes 8,103 points. Makes sense.

Oh, that reminds me I haven't checked if the seed leveled up.

We say goodbye and I head to my room. This time Judith isn't there. Once inside, I take the pup out of my jacket pocket and ask him to show me his stat sheet. With the 5% he took from my experience, he's at 95% for the next level. Too bad we couldn't leave him the bats since the prince was there.

Well, time to get to work. But first, I grab one of the claws, sit on the bed, and make a cut on my leg. Carefully, I don't want to actually injure myself. The truth is, it's really hard for me; I'm like incapable of hurting myself. But I imagine Sol's smug face and make the slash. A scream escapes me from the pain. It's a bit deeper than I intended. Luckily I don't stain the sheets. I apply a healing spell and the recovery is perfect, not even a scratch remains.

Good, I'm a little closer to leveling up the spell.

I finish spending my mana with a water splash and start meditating. I'm in the middle of it when I hear knocks on the door.

"My lady, I'm back. May I come in to report?"

Well, she just interrupted me, so since she's here, might as well let her in.

"Yes, come in."

The maid opens the door and sees me sitting on the floor next to the bed, legs crossed in lotus position.

At first, when I started using my meditation spell, I did it with crossed legs and straight back, but I felt the posture could be improved, so I tried lotus—a position I'd tried on Earth once in a yoga class where I didn't even come close to having the flexibility. Here, however, I got it on the first try.

"Excuse me, my lady, I didn't mean to disturb you."

"Don't worry," I answer while undoing the posture and standing up. "Go ahead."

"I wanted to inform you that I just returned. Also, your friend Mary is making very good progress in her investigation. She contacted Eda, the missing girl's mother, at a tavern. After sneaking into baronet Cedric's study, she got information about when the sale will happen, not just of Emmy but of several other young girls. Apparently, the baronet is in the business of kidnapping and trafficking plebeian girls."

She keeps looking at me and I bring my hand to my face to make sure my mouth isn't hanging open. The maid frowns so slightly I can barely see the gesture, and continues:

"On the romantic front, Theodore seemed eager to try something with her, but my presence prevented it. It was wise of you to send me to accompany her. Your friend is too innocent for her own good. And a bit clumsy when it comes to investigating, honestly. She should be careful the day of the ball."

"Uh... thank you so much, Berta."

She keeps looking at me attentively, as if expecting something. And I keep being amazed. What kind of relationship did Bianca have with her maid that she comes and gives me a report instead of just telling me they're back?

"Do you need me for anything else, my lady?" she finally asks, seeing that I'm not doing or saying anything.

"Do you know where Mary is now?"

"She ran into Theodore's friends when she was heading back to her room."

"Thank you very much, you may go."

"With your permission..."

She bows her head and leaves.

If Mary ran into Vincent and company, it would have been while passing through the gardens. I spend the three mana points I've recovered on breath control and two water splashes (the dart in the room is a no—I'm not about to break or burn something) and head to my friend's room.

However, when I arrive and knock on the door, no one answers. I figure she hasn't come back yet and decide to wait for her return.

After about five minutes, I see her appear down the hallway.

"Hey, how did it go? Berta just came back and gave me a brief rundown."

"Hi, Bianca. I can't thank you enough letting me borrow such a gem. What kind of training do you give your maids at the L'Crom household?"

"Training?"

"She knows how to find secret compartments in drawers, prevent doors from locking, and infiltrate among the staff."

What does she know about what?

Well, after the report she gave me, where she left out the part about helping Mary, I'm expecting anything at this point. Since my friend is waiting for an answer about the training thing, I shrug and tell her:

"None that I know of. I'll have to talk to her—Berta seems more intriguing than she lets on. And to think she's been with me for years..."

"Do you want to come in?" Mary asked, gesturing to her room.

"No, you rest a bit. We'll meet at lunchtime so you can tell Ronan too, and you won't have to repeat everything twice. Theodore, from what Darius said, is being roped into a mission, so it'll just be the three of us."

"Perfect. I'll fill you both in later."

We say goodbye, Mary goes into her room, and I stop by the gym. Ronan is training with Tom. I tell him that Mary's back and that he can tell Bob she knows where the girl is going to be, that the rescue is going well.

Because, even though Ronan didn't say anything during the dungeon, I could tell he was a bit restless. Bob and Joe were probably passing on some of their worry about Eda and Emmy to him.

He thanks me and I go back to training until lunchtime.

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