I Reincarnated to Another World as a Woman-Chapter 156: Maeve Collins

Another thing about the mission bothers Maeve.

Aldriana.

She does not have a clue who this Aldriana is or where to find her, let alone how to contact her and ask her to clear a dungeon.

How am I supposed to do that? What am I supposed to say to her? We know nothing about her.

Maeve has been racking her brain the entire way to Arvion and still finds no solution. So she does the next best thing. She does her job as a librarian. She goes to the auction and procures the documents.

Being a librarian, she is also good at research. So, besides procuring ancient documents, she conducts extensive research on Aldriana. The effort frustrates her when she finds nothing.

She finds several women named Aldriana living in Arvion and Concordia, but none of them fit the description released to the public.

That takes her research back to zero.

Eventually, she finds a connection between Aldriana and Liam Monfort. They were both survivors of the Beachwalk dungeon. She follows that trail and runs straight into a mountain of steel called Monfort Industries and the Monfort family.

The Monforts are practically a royal family in Solarys. Their power and influence extend everywhere, so Maeve wisely stops her digging.

She then shifts her attention to the Montrose family. They are much smaller and younger than the Monforts, but their power and influence have proven to be very similar, with the difference only in scale.

After several attempts at researching Aldriana yield nothing, Maeve finally closes the book on her.

She shifts direction once more. This time, she focuses on the next item on her mission list.

The dungeon.

Is it dangerous? Where exactly is it located? How dangerous is it, really? Is it sealed, restricted, or completely open? Her knowledge of mutated dungeons is on the same level as her teacher, Jonathan Ludwig, and the rest of the Custodians, which is to say, not much.

This is only the second purple dungeon ever discovered in Altheon. And the fact that both have appeared in Arvion must mean something.

Before long, Maeve begins to notice a pattern of missing people clustered around Mt. Helene.

She reports everything back to Jonathan, including her failure to locate Aldriana.

Jonathan tells her that her work has already been exemplary, given the nature of the mission. He instructs her to return to Solarys immediately. She has not learned or practiced any magic for several days.

Maeve agrees, relieved that she can finally return.

On the day she is supposed to fly back to Solarys, while riding in a taxi on the way to the airport, a breaking news report comes on the radio.

It is an update on the recent missing persons cases around Mt. Helene. Two teenagers, fifteen and sixteen years old.

Maeve’s breath hitches. Guilt floods her chest. She has failed to uncover anything useful about the dungeon, and now it has claimed more victims.

Her mind knows it is not her fault. Her heart insists otherwise.

She is torn.

After a brief inner struggle, she makes a decision.

Maeve turns back.

She climbs Mt. Helene, accidentally discovers the gate, and is pulled inside.

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Several days later, which to Maeve feels more like several weeks, she is back in Solarys. On the very same day, she goes to report to Teacher Ludwig, who is close to tears when he sees her.

He hugs her tightly, whispering a quiet welcome.

Only then does he notice how she looks thinner, yet somehow brighter. There is more color in her face, more light in her eyes. She looks happier, and that alone makes Jonathan feel lighter too.

Maeve reports everything to him, carefully omitting Aldriana/Theo, the other three people, and their magic abilities. Especially Aldriana’s... no. Theo’s. Now.

After the report session ends, she is already missing the other four. She smiles at the thought of them, especially Julian.

She blushes when she realizes it and looks left and right, hoping no one notices. When she finds herself alone, she sighs in relief.

That night, sitting on her bed, she finally allows herself to think about Theo. Teacher Theo, to Arthur and the others.

Maeve sighs.

"How blown their minds would be when they discover Teacher Theo is actually Thea Montrose," she says out loud.

She shakes her head. "I can’t believe I saw that. I can’t believe I recognized his... her... I don’t know. Aura? Or is it mana? Hmm, I need to ask him... her... oh my god. This is confusing." She chuckles softly.

She lies down and pulls the blanket over herself.

"Why am I not more shocked? Why am I accepting that Theo is Thea so easily? And why do I still trust him... her." She groans quietly. "Ugh. I’ll just use him for now. At least that’s what everyone else knows him as. I don’t want to slip."

Maeve drifts to sleep without finding answers to her questions.

She sleeps soundly.

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Maeve is nervous.

In a few minutes, she will come before the Council.

It would be her first time speaking before the Council. Her written report that she gave to Jonathan on the day she returned to Solarys, has obviously shocked the whole Council.

They have been discussing it for a few days, before finally decided to talk to her.

Unconsciously, she keeps touching her Resya ring, the one she received from Julian the day before.

It has quickly become her favorite possession. It makes her feel safe, as if she has a family backing her.

At first, she blushed when she realized it was a ring from Julian. She had read the card that came with it, but when she saw that it was an actual ring, she blushed hard.

She returned to Solarys about a week ago, right when the first article was published. She almost canceled her trip back after reading it.

She contacted Julian immediately and asked if Arthur was okay. If the Montroses were okay. Julian only laughed and assured her that Arthur had everything under control.

That she should have a little more faith in their Class President.

Maeve remembers laughing, relief washing over her at his words. It is amazing how much faith she has in those boys.

She looks down at her Resya ring again. It is a beautiful ring, gold in color, just like an ordinary gold band. Tiny heartstones are embedded in it, arranged much like diamonds.

She really likes the ring. It makes her fingers look prettier.

You’re crazy, Maeve. How can a single ring make your fingers look prettier? Just stop hallucinating and go to the Council already.

Maeve takes a deep breath and walks toward the room where the Council is meeting.