I Reincarnated to Another World as a Woman-Chapter 285: Across the Crowd

"We are just a few turns away from Rhaenas’ apartment. The building itself doesn’t have any markings that indicate it is theirs, but they have an office in there," the driver explains.

"Office? For what?" Ethan asks, pretending to be clueless.

"Oh, they are in the dungeon-clearing business, right? So they have an office where people can go if they want to hire them," the driver explains further.

"Do Rhaenas attend the office themselves?" J.C., from the back seat, asks. He doesn’t believe it, since he knows Liam Monfort is not the sitting-in-the-office type.

The driver scoffs. "Of course not. They have a manager who handles all of that for them. Their only job is to clear dungeons."

"You’re amazing, sir, knowing all of this. How do you know?" Ethan flatters the driver.

The driver looks shy, but pleased. "Well, it’s not a secret. Rhaenas has been in the news every day. Even though the members never appear in public, since that day, their manager always talks to reporters."

"And she kind of advertised where their office is at one point. Since then, many people go there just to catch a glimpse of Rhaenas."

"Oh wow. Like celebrities," Ethan comments. He rolls his eyes inwardly.

"Exactly! They basically are. And we—oh? Why is there traffic here? Why are people stopping?" The driver frowns, confused.

He opens his window and calls out to someone in the crowd.

"A fire?! At Rhaenas’ office?!" The driver looks shocked. "Are they okay?!"

The person doesn’t know either.

"Rhaenas’ office is on fire?" Ethan asks.

"That’s what they say, but I don’t see any smoke in the sky," the driver says, looking up.

It’s around four in the afternoon, still broad daylight, with a clear blue sky. No smoke whatsoever.

Another commotion breaks out, drawing the attention of both the driver and the Hunters inside the car.

"What’s going on?" The driver leans out the window again, trying to ask people who are rushing toward a certain direction.

Finally, one person shouts back, "Rhaenas is coming out!"

Another yells, "Oh my God! They’re coming out!"

"Is it true then, there’s a fire?"

"Is that why they’re coming out?"

The crowd, mostly women, screams and rushes toward the same direction.

Some scream, "Arthur!"

Others scream, "Liam!"

Hawk, who clearly wants to see Thea, makes a split-second decision.

"I’m getting out. I want to see too." He’s sitting next to the door, his hand already reaching for the handle.

"Wait!" Ethan immediately stops him.

He turns to the driver. "Sir, we also want to take a look. Can you wait for us?"

The driver nods. They quickly exchange phone numbers.

Then the Hunters get out of the car and join the crowd.

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Hawk is taller than most people in the crowd, so he stands out like a sore thumb. On top of that, he is a physically large, muscular man. Others avoid him like the plague, which only makes him stand out even more.

Ethan and the rest are not as tall as Hawk, but they are also more muscular than the average men. They give off an aura that makes people subconsciously avoid them.

The five of them follow the crowd and head toward a building. But a police line stops them from going any further.

Hawk notices the front line before the others do.

He immediately informs his teammates.

"You see any Rhaenas?" Ethan asks. He looks at Hawk when he doesn’t answer and stops moving.

"Hawk?" Taylor calls out.

Hawk is staring into the distance.

Everyone follows his line of sight.

And they see white hair, standing there with a man in firefighter gear and another woman with fiery red hair, talking.

"Is that her?" Taylor says. "I want to get closer. I can’t really see."

"That’s her," Hawk whispers.

He moves forward automatically, toward Theo.

The others follow him.

But Hawk only manages to take a few steps before he stops again.

"Hawk?" Ethan says. He can feel something is off with him.

"She sees me," Hawk whispers, in awe.

"What?" Ethan says, looking toward where Theo is.

Hawk smiles absentmindedly.

"She sees me. We made eye contact. We’re still making eye contact. She felt me looking at her, then she turned her head toward me. Like that." He snaps his fingers.

Carter scoffs. "Pfft, you can’t possibly know that. It’s too far, Hawk."

Hawk smiles, but not at his teammates. It’s for Theo.

For some reason he can’t explain, he’s certain that Theo is looking at him, just as he is looking at Theo.

"I don’t care what you think. I know what I see and feel. She sees me. We’re making eye contact," Hawk says, his eyes almost dreamy.

Ethan facepalms. "This is ridiculous."

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"Thea, what is it?" Alicia asks, following Theo’s line of sight, trying to see whatever Theo is staring at.

"There’s a bald man, quite muscular, who is staring at me," Theo says, smirking.

Alicia squints. "Bald man?"

She sees something reflecting sunlight, but the glare hits her eyes, making it hard to tell whether it’s actually a bald head or not.

"Thea, that’s really far. Like forty to fifty meters. You can’t be sure he’s even a man, let alone that he’s staring at you," Alicia says, still squinting.

"Oh, I know he’s looking at me. And what’s more interesting is, he’s not a regular man." Theo calmly keeps his gaze on Hawk.

"What do you mean?" Alicia can’t make sense of what Theo is seeing.

"He’s leaking mana," Theo says matter-of-factly.

"What?!" Alicia is shocked.

She focuses harder, trying to see more clearly. But she still can’t. All she sees are shapes and shadows. She can only assume those shadows are people.

"How can a normal human leak mana, Thea? Is that man a magic wielder as well?" Alicia asks, her voice dropping lower.

The crowd, especially the reporters, continues shouting questions at Theo, hoping he will answer at least one of them.

"Thea, what are you going to do? Are you going to keep having a staring contest with him or what?"

Theo blinks and looks away. "It doesn’t matter."

He turns his body toward the building entrance.

"You’re not going to investigate? Like how a man can leak mana? Isn’t he dangerous?" Alicia asks, confused. She doesn’t know the standard operating procedures when it comes to magic.

Theo smiles at her. "I don’t need to. I’ll explain everything upstairs, so I don’t have to repeat myself."

"Let’s go." He places his hand on the door handle.

He opens the door and steps inside.

Alicia follows.

Behind them, she hears some reporters gasp in shock.

I guess they’re realizing they didn’t manage to get any photos.

She enters the building with Theo.

The double glass doors close tightly behind them.

Beeping.

Montrose Security System activated. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

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"She’s going inside," Carter says.

Hawk sighs, disappointed. "I wish she stayed longer."

Ethan scoffs. "Come on, Hawk. You can’t be sure she was really staring at you. I can barely tell she’s a woman from this distance, let alone see her eyes."

Hawk exhales slowly. "I can’t explain it to you. I know it’s far. But when I saw the white hair, I imbued mana into my eyes. Like... I wanted to see so badly that I used mana to do it. Does that make sense?"

Ethan is stunned.

He has never heard of mana being used like that.

A warning alarm rings in his mind.

If Hawk can do this, then he is more advanced than Ethan in terms of controlling his mana.

He could grow stronger than him.

I can’t let that happen. I need to investigate this further.

His expression, however, remains one of disbelief. He wants to throw Hawk off guard.

"Using mana to see? That is absurd. I’ve never heard of it. You’re making something out of nothing, Hawk," Ethan says, deliberately dismissing him.

"Yeah, Hawk," J.C. says. He doesn’t really like Hawk and would take every opportunity to discredit him. His motive is clear. With Hawk out of the way, he can step up as second-in-command, replacing him.

According to J.C., Hawk is cruel, arrogant, and selfish. Someone who is clearly doesn’t deserve to lead the Hunters.

J.C. conveniently forgets that it was Hawk that brought him into the Hunters in the first place.

Hawk is slightly annoyed that no one believes him. Yet, since he doesn’t know much about magic, he decides not to argue further. He doesn’t want to embarrass himself.

He lets out a sigh. "Fine. I know you don’t believe me. I don’t believe myself either."

Ethan shakes his head. "Look, the crowd is dispersing. Let’s head back to the hotel and get some rest. Tomorrow, around lunchtime, we’ll go see the Baroness."

He looks at each of his teammates. "We can’t be late to that meeting."

He silently promises himself that he will ask his Teacher about advanced mana usage.

He half believes it’s possible.

And half believes it’s a fool’s dream.