I Reincarnated to Another World as a Woman-Chapter 168: Who Are you?

"Knowledge?" Liam asks, confused. The others share the same sentiment.

Theo nods.

"Maeve, you don’t need to confirm or deny anything, so you won’t break your oath. This is pure speculation on my part," Theo begins.

"Maeve belongs to a society whose members know about magic and teach magic to children. For what purpose, I don’t know. But remember, this world barely has any mana. So how can a group of people know about magic that is supposed to have gone extinct? Where did they get that knowledge from?"

Theo pauses to take a breath.

"I believe the answer is knowledge itself. They obtained it somehow. It could be a single book, or it could be an entire library. I don’t know which."

"But one thing is certain," Theo continues firmly. "They have knowledge about magic."

"It would be a good idea if we could get our hands on one of their scripts. We don’t need to own it. Copying it would be enough."

Theo stops.

"You think they have access to ancient magical knowledge?" Arthur asks.

Theo shrugs. "It’s the only explanation that makes sense. You said magic existed a very long time ago."

"Yeah," Julian replies. "Like really, really long ago. And even if they do have ancient texts, they’d probably be written in dead languages. We wouldn’t be able to read them. And we can’t expect Maeve to either."

"Then what’s the use of you, Jules?" Liam teases.

"You’re our genius. Go make an ancient text translator," he adds with a grin.

Julian chuckles. "Is that a challenge?"

"Guys, focus, please," Arthur reminds them.

"I see your point, Thea. It’s a good idea. Even if we can’t read the texts, Theo might. Our teacher is as mysterious as they come, especially his background. We trust him, but we know almost nothing about where he comes from."

Arthur pauses briefly.

"He might even come from the same society as Maeve. Which means he could be able to read those texts."

Maeve doesn’t say anything. At one point, though, she glances at Theo for just a second, and Theo catches her gaze.

"Update from our side," Arthur continues. "Thea has permission to go with us. So she’s officially part of Rhaenas."

"Hey, that’s great news. Congrats," Liam says immediately.

"Congratulations, Thea," Maeve adds with a gentle smile.

"Thanks, guys," Theo says, nodding. "I’m glad I can go without feeling guilty."

"So what now?" Julian asks. "When are we leaving?"

"I’ll give you the exact date tomorrow," Arthur replies. "But it should be sometime next week, at the latest."

Julian nods. "Good. I still have a few days to finish things up. I’ve completed the larger space bracelets. Well, they’re not really bracelets anymore." He grins.

"I’ve also prepared Horizon Pods for each of us. They’re brand new, with several updates installed. I want to test them inside a dungeon. If they work the way I expect, our survival rate will increase significantly."

He pauses, taps a few commands on his interface, and shares his screen.

"I’ve also designed a uniform for Rhaenas. What do you guys think? I’ll need a month or two to finish all five once the designs are approved. And I’ll need everyone’s measurements. But this is the base concept."

Five clothing designs appear on Theo’s interface. All share a black base, similar in structure, but each features distinct patterns and accent colors.

Arthur’s is black with fiery red accents.

Liam’s is black with deep ocean blue.

Julian’s is black with sand beige.

Maeve’s is black with pearly white.

Theo’s is black with gold.

"I know they look a bit like diving suits," Julian says quickly. "But trust me, they won’t feel like one. I’m planning to use a new material."

He chuckles. "Thea gave me a brilliant idea, and I’m testing it right now. If it works, it’s going to blow your minds."

"These designs are great, Julian. It’ll be much easier for us to fight wearing these," Maeve comments.

"That’s the idea," Julian replies. "Last time, I remember you had to tear part of your skirt away, Maeve. That’s not going to happen again."

"I’ll send each of you your unique design," Julian continues. "You can input your measurements there. And any ideas you have as well."

Julian’s fingers fly over his interface, and soon, a file appears on Theo’s screen.

"There," Julian says.

Almost immediately, everyone studies their designs, nodding in agreement.

"Liam, is it possible for us to install HB there?" Arthur asks. "Do you have a place?"

"Not yet," Liam replies. "I usually use the gym at the office. But I can prepare one. I should set up a proper space. Actually, I should prepare an office for us here, complete with a gym. That’ll be useful later."

"Yeah, do that," Arthur agrees.

"Alright," Arthur says. "Anything else?"

When no one speaks, he continues, "Then we’ll end it here. Any social chatting can wait. Good night, Rhaenas."

"Good night, Class President, my fellow Rhaenas," Liam says.

Everyone exchanges their goodbyes and ends the call.

Theo pauses for a moment, then initiates another call.

"Hey, are you busy? Can we talk for a second?"

------------------------------ 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"Hi. Yeah, of course," Maeve replies.

She’s a little surprised Theo is contacting her, but she knew it was bound to happen sooner or later. They haven’t really had a private conversation since Maeve recognized Thea as Theo.

"We never really got the chance to talk properly after that day in the hospital," Theo says.

Maeve nods. Nervousness creeps in.

"I was worried," Theo continues. "Because you’re Light. I thought you might recognize me. And you did."

"Listen, Thea. I mean Theo. I mean Teacher Theo. What am I saying?" Maeve stammers. "I mean, Theo. Listen, Theo."

Theo laughs softly. "Relax. I’m not here to threaten you or anything. I just have a few questions. And it’s completely fine if you don’t want to answer any of them. Is that okay with you?"

Maeve nods repeatedly.

"Alright. First," Theo says. "Your spell incantations. Your teacher taught them to you?"

Maeve nods again.

"And he got them from ancient texts?" Theo presses.

Maeve pauses, thinking. "I don’t actually know. He just taught them to me. Without explaining the fundamentals of magic." She hesitates, then adds honestly, "You understand magic far better than he does."

Theo is silent for a moment.

"And the word fyra. And Rhaenas. Where did you get those?" he asks.

Maeve blinks. "I once found a note. A handwritten note. I gave it to my teacher, and he taught me how to read the text. I translated it into our language."

She swallows lightly.

"It wasn’t a list of spells," Maeve continues. "It was a list of vocabulary."

"Like fyra meaning fire. Aqura meaning water. And so on," she finishes.

Theo falls silent again.

Maeve steels herself and gathers her courage.

"May I ask you something?" she asks quietly.

Theo is pulled out of his thoughts. "Yeah. Of course."

Maeve meets his eyes.

"Who are you?"