I Reincarnated to Another World as a Woman-Chapter 142: Unintended Consequences

"Shall I answer your last question," Arthur tilted his head slightly, "or would you like to start from the beginning?"

Jessica stared at this petty man. At this point, she hated his guts and that infuriating smile. But she forced herself to smile as she replied,

"It’s fine. You can just answer my last question. For the record, it was this. Why don’t you agree completely with the article? Is it because it painted you as the villain? Please, Arthur. Go ahead."

Arthur nodded. "Alright. I will."

"I don’t agree with the article completely, not for the reason you might think," he said calmly. "It’s because you don’t have the whole picture. I don’t mind being painted as a villain if I truly am one. But the fact is, I’m not."

Jessica smiled faintly. "You said I don’t have the whole picture. Which part of the article is incorrect?"

Arthur sighed softly. "Let’s see. The biggest issue we’re facing right now is the missing people. Your article stated that I did nothing about it. In fact, it implied that I deliberately ignored those people and focused only on obtaining the heartstones."

"And that’s not correct?" Jessica pressed.

Arthur smiled again, but this time, it didn’t reach his eyes. "As I said, you don’t have the whole picture. And I don’t blame you for writing what you did, based on what you found. I actually applaud you."

Jessica stiffened slightly.

"But here is the bigger picture," Arthur continued. He reached for a thick folder filled with written reports and placed it in front of her. "Please, read."

Jessica hesitated, then opened it.

"No one spoke to the media because we hadn’t finished processing everything yet," Arthur said. "Before we exited the dungeon, my team and I discovered a large cave filled with human remains. They were... unrecognizable. You can see that for yourself in the folder."

Jessica’s eyes widened. She flipped one page, then immediately closed the folder.

The first image she saw barely resembled a human body. She had to stare at it longer than she was comfortable with just to confirm that it had once been human.

Arthur watched her reaction carefully and continued.

"For reasons of conscience, we cannot simply release images like that to the public. First, we must determine whether those remains are indeed human. Second, only after that can we begin identifying them."

He folded his hands calmly.

"Even now, that process isn’t finished. I don’t yet know whether they’ve confirmed that all of the remains are human. My assistant, Samuel Mora, whom I believe you know, has been on site since day one. I’ve asked him to report to me twice a day."

Arthur reached toward the table beside him and tapped a control.

One of the transparent glass walls lit up as a video call connected.

Sam’s face appeared on the screen. "Yes, Master Arthur? Is it time for my report?"

"Hi, Sam. No, it’s not," Arthur said. "Sorry to disturb you. I have Ms. Kwan here. Could you show her a little of what it’s like on site?"

Sam froze.

"Here?" he asked carefully. "At the remains site, sir?"

"Yes, Sam. Just so that Ms. Kwan can see for herself what it’s like there," Arthur said, nodding.

"Yes, Master Arthur," Sam replied. He adjusted his phone and slowly turned the camera to show his surroundings.

They were at Mt. Helene, near the dungeon gate. Sam stood inside a large white tent. Everyone inside was dressed in white hazmat suits, Sam included.

Rows of metal slabs filled the tent. On each slab lay incomplete human remains. It was clear that the team was attempting to reconstruct individual bodies, piece by piece.

Not all of the remains were skeletal. Many still had flesh. Some were even partially clothed.

On one side of the tent sat a massive pile of material.

People moved back and forth between the pile and a nearby table, examining each fragment carefully, attempting to determine whether it was human remains or not.

"Sam, the pile is still that large?" Arthur asked, concern evident in his voice.

Sam’s voice continued, though his face was no longer visible as the camera remained turned outward.

"Yes, sir. It’s worse than we initially thought. Some of the remains are fused together. The cold autumn weather isn’t helping, but we can’t fully thaw them either. If it’s human tissue, it would decompose too quickly."

He paused briefly before continuing.

"So the team can’t move as fast as we would like, sir."

Arthur took a sharp breath.

"At the pace they’re going, how long do you think it will take to finish processing the pile?" he asked.

Sam didn’t answer right away.

"It’s very difficult to estimate, sir," Sam said carefully. "The team from Arvion General doesn’t have enough doctors who can be sent here. We had to ask other hospitals for assistance. But not every hospital has doctors they can spare. As of now, we’re considering requesting help from Solarys."

Arthur frowned. "Why are we still considering it instead of asking immediately?"

At this point, he completely ignored Jessica, as if he had forgotten she was even in the room. To him, this was priority number one.

"We did ask for help this morning, sir, but..." Sam hesitated.

Arthur’s expression hardened. "Out with it."

"The article Ms. Kwan published didn’t help our case," Sam said. "Solarys believes we’re trying to sabotage the process. They said that if they send assistance, it would be to take over the entire operation."

Arthur stood up abruptly. "What? That would slow things down even more. They would have to repeat all the preliminary tests we’ve already completed."

Jessica could feel the shift in the room. Arthur was angry now.

"That would make everything we’ve done a complete waste of time," Arthur continued. "The families have already been waiting far too long for any news. They didn’t even dare speak to the media, fearing they might jeopardize our efforts."

His hands clenched at his sides.

"Give me the name and contact details of the person in charge in Solarys," Arthur said sharply. "I’ll speak to them myself."

"Yes, sir," Sam replied quietly.