บท 32: Night Visit (2)

Mia's expression didn't even change as she went to sit on a nearby chair.

Chris panicked as he saw her moving and said: "W-wait, I don't think I'm ready yet!"

Mia sat down as if she heard nothing and pushed a few brown books with leather covers and a map on the table in front of her.

Tiny flames from an oil lamp flickered and danced as they illuminated her face. It was hard to tell, as she usually had a calm, serious and even chilly expression. But it appeared she was looking more serious than usual. Chris wondered if this was due to the oil lamp light.

"Catherine is back safe and sound." Finally said Mia.

"Ooh." This was all Chris could say. He was still a little shocked.

"She found three Gnoll camps in the northern forest. Their locations are marked on the map." Mia breathed in and finally dropped the big bomb. "She also found a dungeon deep in the forest. The Gnolls are most likely guarding it or confusing it as a religious altar."

"Ooh."

To Mia's surprise Chris' face didn't change one bit. It appeared to her, that his face was stuck between 'What's going on' and 'Is this the night?' kind of expression.

"Are you listening to me?!" She finally said exasperatedly. He always managed to push her buttons.

"R-right. Sorry. She found a dungeon you said? Is this good or bad?" He asked.

Mia finally remembered he was not from this world. She relaxed a little on her chair before explaining. "It's mostly good. But also a little bad. There were none in your world?"

"Not in real life at least."

Mia decided to skip asking about the real-life part and went on explaining. "Dungeons are the equivalent of national treasures. However, their value can sometimes be even above those."

She tried to find a good analogy to explain. "They are essentially warehouses filled with treasures and danger."

"Treasures?" Chris immediately sat down as his interest was picked.

"I said before that big mana crystals couldn't be made by us, right?"

"Right." Chris did remember her saying this earlier. He was quite disappointed by it.

"Those mana crystals, and many different kinds of artifacts and valuable items can be found in dungeons. There is no way to know what's inside until you get it, which creates much greed and envy. What if the ultimate artifact was lying in one of those? Or perhaps a potion to become immortal?"

"This is why this is both a good and bad thing. The good part is that we can accumulate powerful items to help our allies or ourselves.

Mia continued. "The bad part is that we need to be able to defend the site from invaders. Dungeons are very rare. So rare that there is not even a guarantee for a kingdom to have one of them. They are even often thought of as a display of wealth and power."

"So if people found out, even races neutral with us..." Murmured Chris.

"Then all our plans will be wasted, and a new battle between multiple races will start on our territory over that dungeon."

Mia looked straight at Chris and made sure he understood. "Do not underestimate the allure of a dungeon! Every single race wants to accumulate as many as they can. After all, dungeons do not last forever, and their content will eventually be emptied."

Chris understood what Mia meant. If a dungeon did not last forever, they would need to find replacements or their national power and prestige would drop. Given rare dungeons were, finding one was a huge deal.

There was one thing he didn't get, so he asked: "How come we only found it now? That's weird isn't it?"

Mia hesitated. She didn't know everything after all. "I am not sure... Perhaps it was buried, and the Gnolls dug it up? Or it recently appeared? The only thing I can be fairly sure of is that it's a 'brand new one' that has never been visited."

"So it's like a figurine that's still in its original packaging. The values goes up." Said Chris.

"I am not sure I follow your reference." Said Mia. "But yes. If it has never been visited, its content is intact, and it will last longer. Making it even more sought after."

A long silence filled the tent. They were both lost in thought. So far, their contact with other races was minimal. But this would not last long. They had to reach out to the elves and dwarves at least for commerce, and no secret could last forever. Only dead men didn't talk, but in this case, it might not even be enough.

Chris was the first to break the silence. "So what do we do?"

"Only three people know of the dungeon so far." Said Mia.

"Cat, you and me." Said Chris.

"Exactly." Said Mia. "The scouts that accompanied her only think it was some old ruins. And it's unlikely someone will go through that forest as long as the Gnolls are there."

"We can leave them be for now, but this can't go on for long. We need to clear the forest if we want to expand. We need more space for the city and lumber for construction." Reminded Chris.

"And that's why it's such a headache." Sighed Mia.

Chris agreed. But he changed the subject as he thought of something. "Hey. Do you think I can visit the dungeon?"

"Huhu. You wouldn't last a day." Teased Mia before adding seriously. "Only adventurers and powerful warriors enter dungeons. Anything can happen inside; it's no place for a ruler."

"Damnit." He was slightly disappointed. But he knew himself, and he was not a warrior. More of a lover. Well... Maybe not even that. "So even you did not visit one?"

"To be fair. I wouldn't call it 'visiting' and more 'fighting through', the inside is very dangerous." Corrected Mia. "But no. I never had the chance, as far as I know, we humans never had one."

"It's usually a pretty tightly guarded secret. We do know that the dwarves have one. It's in the center of the capital. It's well guarded, but it's pretty old so it should be close to its end. But who knows if they have found another one somewhere else. The elves have a couple if I am not wrong. As for the Kunalls I just don't know."

All this talk about dungeon gave him a worrisome idea. So he asked: "Is there a way to detect a dungeon from far away?"

"There shouldn't be. But the world is big, so there are no absolute. Are you hoping to some easy way to find dungeons?" Asked Mia.

"Well, that would be nice." Chuckled Chris. "But the timing of the Kunall attack and the appearance of this dungeon should be pretty close right? I remember Titus telling me, on my first days here, that the Kunall fortress regularly sent Kunalls in the southern region of the Kingdom to search for something. Is it possible they somehow found out we had a dungeon but just didn't know where it was? And now that they have another war to fight, they just slowed down the search?"

The idea startled Mia. "You are saying that they attacked us for the dungeon but did not find it?"

She stood up and walked in a circle as she thought out loud. "This would explain why they attacked without warning. Humans and Kunalls never were friendly, but we never went past 'mild dislike' before the war. If it's true, then they know there is one somewhere in our territory, this is not good for us."

She continued her train of thought. "The Dwarves and Elves did not react so far, so it's unlikely they know of it. So we can safely assume the Kunalls are the only ones that know about it. They are not likely to share the news as it would be catastrophic for them."

She turned to Chris and said seriously. "Then our only plan is to pretend we did not find anything until we can defend ourselves against the Kunalls."

"Exactly. Keeping it a secret isn't easy, however. We need more heads to come to a proper plan. Bergy and the others can be trusted. Let's fill them in tomorrow." Decided Chris.

Now that the serious talk was over, Chris could finally enjoy some banter with Mia. She asked about the state of his +5 Sword, to which he replied it was done for, but he was already working on another prototype. Mia renewed her questions about the dead plant in her tent, at which he still played dumb. Chris tried to probe her again, to see if she had a boyfriend before, but she deflected his questioning gracefully. She 'complimented' him with a smile on the "onesie" he was currently wearing. This was the last time he wore one.

After a little while, she pushed away the map to uncover the leather book and her serious expression returned. "Actually, there was another reason for my visit tonight."

*Gulp* Chris swallowed. [Could it be?]