I Reincarnated to Another World as a Woman-Chapter 206: Something is Wrong

"And they haven’t returned until now?" Captain Chambers frowns deeply, the lines on his forehead carving themselves deeper as he processes the report.

"Yes, Captain." Lt. Kerr nods firmly, shoulders stiff with tension. "We haven’t been able to contact them at all. No signal. No response. The personnel stationed at the site don’t know what to do. And I cannot leave this office, since I am currently the last ranking officer who can officially run the place."

He hesitates, then his expression brightens slightly, as if a desperate thought has just occurred to him.

"But now, since you’re here, Captain... I can go."

He straightens instinctively, posture snapping into attention.

"Captain, the site itself is also in chaos. Captain Burrows, who was supposed to be in charge on-site, entered the dungeon after Captain Thierry and his teams didn’t return. Now both captains are gone. And the chief..." His voice lowers. "...the chief is also gone."

He swallows hard, eyes strained.

"Our comrades at the site are like headless chickens, Captain. They’re scared. They’re waiting for orders that aren’t coming."

"No."

Captain Chambers’ reply is short.

Firm.

Final.

Lt. Kerr freezes.

Captain Chambers looks up from the reports and fixes Lt. Kerr with a sharp, assessing stare.

"You need to stay here and hold the fort," Captain Chambers says calmly, but there is no room for negotiation. "There’s nothing dangerous here. You haven’t received your Sentinel license yet. I cannot allow you anywhere near an active dungeon."

"But Captain, I’m not going to enter the dungeon," Lt. Kerr protests, voice tight with urgency. "I’m just going to help coordinate, to bring order to the site, to at least calm them down, I can—"

"The answer is still no," Captain Chambers cuts in sharply, not raising his voice, but sharpening it instead.

He exhales slowly, then looks back down at the reports, fingers tapping against the table as he thinks.

"We can’t handle this alone," he says after a moment. "All of our strongest teams are already inside. We have no reserve teams left."

Lt. Kerr swallows. "You’re going to call for help from other cities?"

Captain Chambers shakes his head. "Too far. Too slow."

He lifts his gaze.

"We have a team right here in Solarys. One that is fast, capable, and already proven under extreme pressure."

Captain Chambers looks at Lt. Kerr.

Understanding dawns.

"Rhaenas," Lt. Kerr breathes.

------------------------------

Theo takes a sharp breath, so sudden it almost chokes him.

He bends forward, coughing hard, one hand braced against the coffee table as he pants, struggling to draw in air properly. His chest feels tight, constricted, as if something invisible had been wrapped around his lungs and only just released.

"Thea?" Arthur’s hand pats gently against the base of Theo’s neck, steady and grounding.

Theo blinks. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Once.

Twice.

The sluggishness is gone.

The weight that had been pressing against his mind, the thick haze clouding his thoughts, vanishes as if it had never existed. He is still tired, muscles heavy and warm from exertion, but his mind is suddenly sharp.

Too sharp.

Crystal clear.

As if whatever had dulled him moments ago had been ripped away entirely.

Theo straightens slowly and looks at the others, scanning them one by one, eyes alert, searching for signs of discomfort. Shortness of breath. Confusion. Anything.

Arthur is leaning toward him, concern etched clearly across his face.

Julian and Liam are already sitting upright, watching him closely.

Only Maeve looks different.

She is blinking repeatedly, brow furrowed, gaze unfocused, as if she is trying to grab hold of something slippery inside her mind.

"What is it, Maeve?" Theo asks immediately. "What’s confusing you?"

Maeve tilts her head slightly, then slowly shakes it.

"I’m... not... sure," she admits.

She scans the room again, eyes narrowing as if the answer might be hiding somewhere in plain sight.

"I feel like... something happened," she says carefully. "But I don’t know what."

Her gaze returns to Theo.

Theo inhales deeply through his nose.

Both Julian and Liam shift closer. Arthur leans in further, voice low.

"What is it, Thea? What do you feel?"

They have all accepted it now. Their quiet, gentle Theodora is a powerful magus. More powerful than any of them.

Even if they still do not connect her to Teacher Theo.

Theo closes his eyes briefly, searching for the right words.

"It felt like I was moving underwater," he begins slowly. "But the water wasn’t water. It was thick. Like jelly. Every movement was slow. My thoughts were slow. My body was heavy."

He opens his eyes.

"I was exhausted. But not physically. Not like after training. It was... mental. Like my mind was being drained."

"Can’t think," Maeve suddenly adds, nodding. "Forgetting things."

She straightens slightly, realization clicking into place.

"That’s it. I couldn’t find words. Even simple ones. It felt like my vocabulary was slipping away. But when you explained it," she looks at Theo, "my brain suddenly started working again."

The others turn to her.

"You felt it too?" Liam asks, frowning.

Maeve nods. "Yes."

She looks at Julian, Liam and Arthur. "You guys didn’t feel it?"

They shake their heads.

"Like at all?" Maeve presses.

Again, they shake their heads.

Maeve turns back to Theo, eyes searching his face for answers.

Theo shakes his head slowly.

"I have no explanation."

He really has no explanation. Not even a theory.

And it bothers him.

It bothers him a lot.

Theo is not someone who panics easily. Confusion, yes. Uncertainty, yes. But this kind of blank, this kind of gap where understanding should be, unsettles him deeply. He replays the sensation again and again in his mind, the heaviness, the fog, the way his thoughts slipped through his fingers like sand.

Something as strange and invasive as that does not happen without cause.

And there is only one possible cause.

Magic.

It had to be magic. Or mana.

For a magus to cast something with that kind of reach, that kind of effect, the caster would have to be immensely powerful. At least as powerful as Theo himself. Perhaps even more. And Theo is absolutely certain of one thing.

There is no one nearby who matches him.

Which leads him to the second possibility on his list.

Mana itself.

But this world, outside of dungeons, does not have free-flowing mana. It simply does not exist in the open.

So where did it come from?

Theo’s breath catches.

His mind clicks.

And the answer settles heavily in his chest.

A dungeon.