I Reincarnated to Another World as a Woman-Chapter 203: In High Demand

"Alicia!"

A voice calls out.

Alicia Lutherford looks around, brow furrowing as she tries to locate the source.

"Alicia!"

She turns slowly, scanning the corridor. Empty. No footsteps. No presence.

Nothing.

"Alicia!"

The voice echoes again, filling the space around her.

It comes from everywhere.

And nowhere.

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

"Okay, wait. Let me get this straight. You want the Hunters to go back to clearing dungeons?" Isabelle asks.

"Knowing they’re still learning magic?"

Lucien nods. "Yes, Isabelle. That’s right."

Isabelle scoffs. "You’re sending them to their deaths. I won’t do it." She crosses her arms.

"Did you not hear what Victor said?" Paul chimes in.

"I heard him. Of course I did. We all did," Isabelle snaps back.

"But I am still not going to send Ethan and his friends to their deaths." She stands her ground.

"Oh my God, Isabelle. Have some sense!" Richard barks.

"We never said anything about sending anyone to their deaths! Ethan and the Hunters have successfully cleared a dungeon, even before they knew magic!"

"We just want them to go back to clearing dungeons so our plan can get back on track," Richard adds with a frustrated sigh.

"You all just don’t want to fall behind Victor!" Isabelle spits, her voice sharp with anger.

"He publicly supports Maeve and her Rhaenas. He even stayed in Solarys to replace Jonathan. He didn’t question Jonathan’s disappearance at all. He dismissed our claims like we’re idiots who don’t know what’s right and what’s wrong!"

"Then what do you suggest we do, Is?" Nathaniel finally speaks.

"If we want to be independent, like our goal states, then we need to start acting like it," he continues calmly.

"Ethan and the Hunters are our only option right now for obtaining heartstones. We have no other means."

He pauses, then adds quietly, deliberately,

"And don’t forget. It was you who made Victor angry."

"Oh, so you’re saying it’s my fault?" Isabelle’s voice rises half an octave.

"People, please." Lucien promptly puts a stop to the escalating conversation.

"Victor supporting Maeve is very unfortunate. And Isabelle is right, he did it publicly. It’s a clear sign that, sooner or later, he will support the Vitari if he doesn’t join them."

Lucien exhales slowly.

"And it is actually not a bad thing for us. Now we know for sure where he’s standing. For now, let’s leave Jonathan and Maeve alone. On the surface, we agree with Victor."

He sneers.

"But underneath, we keep training the Hunters. We keep clearing dungeons. We keep growing our people and our wealth. We must do it without them knowing. This is the most important part. We need to appear very weak and very docile to them."

All of them nod, agreeing.

"And if I may add," Nathaniel says.

"The Hunters have twenty members. When they can wield magic, they don’t need to clear dungeons with all twenty of them. We can suggest that they rotate. Some of them clear dungeons as a way to practice magic, while the rest continue learning outside."

Lucien nods. "That’s a very good idea, Nathan. Go and suggest it to them, Isabelle."

"Remember," he adds, "we must keep our heads down."

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"Arthur! You are the best!" Claudia hangs up her phone and yells.

Maeve lifts her head, looking around, then back at Claudia, confused. Arthur is nowhere to be seen. Why is she talking to him?

Claudia looks at Maeve’s expression and laughs.

"Don’t worry, I’m not crazy." She grins.

"Arthur taught me a trick to deal with these bastards. And it worked like a charm. I just closed a third deal, at a higher price." She points at her screen.

"Maeve, all three of them. Higher than our original price!"

She laughs, delighted.

"Can you imagine negotiating and ending up with a higher price? This is my first time!"

She twirls around, laughing.

"Phew, I’m a little dizzy. But it’s okay. I’m happy. Very happy. I finally know how to handle these people."

She clenches her fist.

"I am ready to face all kinds of clients."

She laughs again, still riding the high.

Maeve can only shake her head and go back to trying to make the schedule work.

"Erm, Claud." After a few more minutes of tweaking the calendar.

"Yes, Maeve?" Claudia answers, still in high spirits.

"I have two dungeons I can’t fit in this week. They’ll have to be pushed to next week." Maeve points at the notes she received.

"But here, it says urgent. We can’t, Claud. They need sleep and rest."

"Hm." Claudia leans closer, studying the notes and the calendar on Maeve’s screen.

"You’re right. Looking at this schedule, they’ll either die of exhaustion or kill me." She laughs again. "Both are not good options."

She taps the table thoughtfully.

"Okay, how about this. We keep Saturdays and Sundays clean. On average, Rhaenas can clear one dungeon in twelve hours, right? So that’s one dungeon per day. If we keep weekends clear, that gives us five days to clear five dungeons."

She pauses, frowning.

"Hmm, but if we do that, they still won’t be able to rest and sleep properly."

"We can fill Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays," Maeve suggests.

"And keep the other days free as buffer days, in case they need more time to clear a dungeon."

"But hang on." Maeve suddenly stops.

She stares at the screen, eyes narrowing.

"We need to know the dungeon levels before we can schedule anything. Most of these requests don’t include dungeon level information."

She presses her lips together.

"How did I never realize this before?"

Maeve sighs, frustration creeping in.

"It’s okay. We’re in demand now." Claudia reaches out and lightly taps the desk, grounding the moment.

"Let’s clear the week even more. Let’s just do two dungeons a week. That gives us proper buffer days." She leans back, thinking aloud.

"We already have more than enough requests lined up for the next few weeks. If we only do two dungeons a week, we won’t run out of work anytime soon."

Now that she’s calm and genuinely happy, her sharp mind snaps fully back into place.

Maeve nods slowly.

"I agree. I think that’s the best solution." She exhales, some tension leaving her shoulders. "Okay, I’ll redo the schedule."

"No." Claudia cuts in gently but firmly.

"You rest, Maeve. I’ve got this." She smiles, softer now.

"It’s okay. You’ve already been very helpful. More than you realize."

Before Maeve can protest, Claudia pulls a chair over, sits down, and starts adjusting the calendar with quick, practiced movements.

Maeve watches her for a moment, then takes a step back and lets out a quiet sigh.

"Okay," she says softly. "I’ll go rest, then. Bye, Claudia."

Claudia hums in response, already fully absorbed, fingers flying across the screen.