Morning arrives with the low glow of a fake sun, slowly filling the halls outside of the Safe Room, bringing a gentle orange to wooden walls and floors.

The others slowly stir from their sleep, with Max being the first to wake. Years of working as adventurers have turned these people into early risers, a need to maximize daylight for getting work done becoming an integral part of their lives.

Mumbling out a ‘Good morning…’ to Bug and Hannah, Max doesn’t say anything else as he starts working on prepping some breakfast for everyone, stifling a yawn as he pulls stuff out from his pack. Hannah is quick to get up and help, saying that she will brew some tea for everyone.

Slowly, Sam and Jakub wake up and after some stretches, get to work on getting their stuff packed and ready to go. Bug simply remains seated and watches as everyone goes about their business, not really sure how to help and honestly not having anything to do because all of her stuff is already packed away safely inside of her inventory.

Kicking her legs and feeling a little bored, Bug waits patiently for the humans to do their thing. When she is handed a wooden cup full of hot liquid, she thanks Hannah, mostly out of reflex, and then looks down at the stuff.

What is this? She said she was making tea, but I don’t know what that is… It smells alright…

Carefully taking a sip, Bug blinks at the taste, a bit surprised by how nice it is. The flavor, although a bit bland, is still rather pleasant, and the hot temperature of the drink fills he body with warmth, which is also nice. Hurts a bit on the tongue though, but not enough to stop her from sipping it.

“Jeez, not even going to let it cool down some, huh? Even your tongue is stronger than ours.” Jakub jokes.

Looking around, Bug does find everyone else blowing on their cups, pushing away the rising steam with their breaths. Bug chooses not to comment and just keeps sipping her drink.

Definitely tastes better than water does. I should see if Hannah will teach me how to make this stu- Mmmm…. Never mind, she probably isn’t going to want to later…

Feeling a bit down, Bug focuses on her drink and ignores everyone else for now, just sipping at her hot drink as everyone chats.

Once breakfast is ready, the food is divvied out, a plate of toast and beans being handed out to everyone. Bug gives a little thank you and accepts the food, eating it without much thought for the flavor, her mind still stuck on her conversation from last night.

“So, how was your night, you two? Anything fun happen?” Sam says with a big grin on her face. Bug just looks over to Hannah, figuring that she should just let the other girl answer for her right now, but for some reason, she finds Hannah just looking at Sam, clearly embarrassed for some reason and unable to properly respond.

Deciding that Hannah is out, Bug just gives a quick answer before getting back to eating her beans. “We talked about stuff.”

That seems to get Hannah out of whatever weird mood she is in, so she is able to pick up the conversation from there.

“Yes, we didn’t do anything else. We just talked; it was nice.”

“What do you mean by anything else? What else would you be doing?” Sam asks with a big grin on her face like she knows something.

Hannah just quickly says, “It’s a private matter.”

Sam goes to try and say something else, but Max reaches over and stops her. “No Sam. No starting Side Quests, not right now.”

Sam looks like she wants to argue, but quickly changes her mind and shrugs. “Oh fine, sorry Hannah.”

The nervous girl lets out a sigh of relief and then goes back to her food. But hearing all this, Bug has to ask, “What’s a Side Quest?”

Max gives her a look, but then remembers, again, that Bug doesn’t know much common knowledge, not being a member of normal society.

“It’s adventurer lingo." He tells her. "Basically, if we learn too much about Hannah’s life, especially stuff she wants to keep secret, then the more likely it is that we are bound to end up on a quest or whatever to help her with her problems, distracting us from our primary goals.”

Jakub finishes for him. “Yeah, so if an adventurer tells you, ‘It’s a private matter.’ They really mean, ‘You are better off not knowing and you don’t want to get involved.’ Most adventurers are smart enough to know to back off and leave it alone at that. Especially after some of the horror stories they have heard of other adventurers that didn’t…”

“Like what?” Bug asks curiously.

Jakub nods as he scoops the rest of his beans into his mouth, chewing and swallowing as he sets his plate aside. “Well, a popular one is about a party that recruited a mage girl. She was clearly a runaway Noble's kid, and right there most people would have immediately known to stay far away from her history, but this party in particular wasn’t very bright in the head. Their leader, a guy that apparently fancied himself a Hero, quickly fell in love with the girl. Initially, she didn’t want to tell him anything about her life, but he kept pushing and she eventually gave in, having apparently fallen for him as well. Long story short, the girl was actually a runaway Princess! Which is even worse than if she was just some Noble’s brat. Well, apparently, she had run away because her uncle had overthrown the King, her dad, and wanted to marry her to further legitimize his rule.”

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Sam spits. “Damn royals wanting to keep their blood Pure… Fucking disgusting…”

Jakub just points to her and nods before continuing his story.

“Exactly. Anyways. Mr. Hero gets the brilliant idea that he is going to help his Princess reclaim her throne, seeing as she was the King’s successor, because her uncle had killed all her brothers, leaving her as the sole heir. Some people say he did it for love, but personal, and quite frankly anyone with half a brain, believes that Mr. Hero just wanted to help her so he could marry her and become King himself, but that’s beside the point. Him and his party? They were officially on a Side Quest, a big one yes, but still technically a Side Quest. They traveled with the Princess, helped her to gather those who would help, and they fought on battle fields under her banner for YEARS.”

Jakub takes a sip of tea before finishing. “By the time everything finished up, they had been on this Side Quest for nearly eight years, fighting to help this girl become Queen.”

Bug has to ask, her curiosity pushing her forward. “So, did Mr. Hero marry her? Did she become Queen?”

Hannah, Sam, and Max just grimace at the question, looking to Jakub to finish the story because they all already know how it ends.

“Ehh, no and yes…” He says with a disgusted face.

“Not every story ends happily with the good guys winning, I’m afraid… In the end, they fell for an ambush set up by some traitorous Nobles they had recruited to their side. They had been paid off by her uncle and lead them into a trap. Most of Mr. Hero’s party died instantly in the ambush with only some of them making it out alive. When they were dragged before the new King, he threatened their lives in exchange for her hand in marriage. Some of them tried to fight back and resist, but were killed on the spot… By the end, only Mr. Hero was left and she begged for him to be spared. And he was. The King was many things, but he was at least a man of his word. Mr. Hero was thrown out of the castle, dirty and beaten, but alive.”

“And the Princess?”

“She married the King… her own uncle… The story I know doesn’t go into any details about her life after that, but it does end with both her and King suspiciously dying together some time later. Probably killed the bastard and then herself if you ask me.” He says with his disgust clearly showing.

“What kingdom was this?”

Jakub just shrugs and looks to Hannah for an answer. Which she promptly gives.

“The Kingdom of Aby’folcia. It’s long gone by now, having been conquered, later destroyed and then abandoned, and then having two new Kingdoms spit the lands in half some years later when it was eventually recolonized. You can still find some ruins, but they have mostly been cleared out of anything valuable by now. And… well, their Royal lineage is believed to have gone extinct a few decades ago. Too much inbreeding had poisoned their bloodline…”

“Ehh…” Bug says with a grimace. She already has issues with the idea of breeding, but to do it with your own family, against their will no less? Some part of her is filled with disgust at the thought of it and she can’t help but show it.

Jakub just points to Bug and give a nod in understanding. “Yup. Well, the point is most people refer to this story, and many others like it, when it comes to picking up Side Quests. They don’t want to risk becoming like Mr. Hero and his friends, dying after nearly a decade of hard work, just to end up failing in the end. So, when one of your fellow adventurers tells you, ‘It’s a private matter.’ You fucking listen to them and you drop it. Most of the time, it simply isn’t worth learning the reason why it is so Private.

Hmm, does this mean that I am on a Side Quest now? Hannah did tell me her story… Maybe, after I leave the Dungeon, I could go and destroy that village that killed her lover? Get her revenge for her since she is too weak to do it herself, maybe? I would have to learn what the name of that village is from her first, but considering that it is near Sarataga, it shouldn’t be too far of a detour for me… I’ll have to ask her later…

While Bug is thinking to herself, Max asks Hannah a question.

“Hannah, I know you don’t want to talk about your life, and we don’t want to know either if it is private, but just for safety’s sake… You aren’t a Princess or a Noble right? I’m pretty sure you can’t use magic, but people can hide that easily enough…”

Hannah quickly shakes her head and waves her hands. “Oh, no, no, no. Far from it. I’m just the runaway daughter of a merchant, and not even a particularly rich one at that.”

Everyone but Bug lets out a breath full of relief at hearing that, as if a bomb sitting in their midst had just been successfully diffused.

Max says, “Oh, thank goodness. We’re not going to ask why, that’s your business, but this means we are much less likely to get taken out by assassins, or to die at sea with no idea why it is happening.”

Hannah has to laugh at that and waves her hand dismissively. “No, don’t worry, I’m not the daughter of a mob boss running from a rival family, or a girl that fled after being chosen to be sacrificed to some evil god, hahaha!”

“Hm?” Bug just looks to her with a curious look.

“More stories like the last one.” Hannah explains with a smile.

“Oh, ok.” Bug says with a nod before returning to sipping her tea.

As she focusses on her breakfast, the others continue to chat about different stories they have heard, each one further cementing why you should generally avoid Side Quests when you can. Some of the stories actually do have happy endings, but they are in the minority and usually are so outlandish that they are almost unbelievable.

One story in particular catches Bug’s attention, about how the Demon Queen had apparently worked together with a human Hero once to slay a dragon a long time ago, and then afterwards, she had kidnapped the hero and brought him back to her lands; he was never seen or heard from again... While Bug wanted to ask for more details, she decided against it, as she doesn’t want to risk giving away the game yet.

Give away the fact that she isn’t just some weird little human or a Dwarf that had changed them self with Body Magic, but is instead a little Gremlin… A little monster with plans that will probably bring a lot of suffering to humanity if she isn’t stopped.

And she won’t stop… Even if the thought of hurting Hannah fills her with unease…

So, Bug simply sits and listens to the stories told by these silly, foolish humans, drinking her tea as the light outside slowly rises and brings day to the second layer of the Dungeon.