Chapter 23: How Dare You! Which Woman?

Peiya knocked on the door, and a clear female voice came from inside.

“The door isn’t locked. Please come in.”

She carefully opened the door and first looked around the room. She had to admit, Guild Leader Maya had pretty good taste.

The whole office was filled with wooden furniture. Near the entrance, there was also a parrot lamp.

The wooden carving of the parrot’s head looked very lifelike. After being painted, it almost looked real at first glance.

“Do you like it?”

Guild Leader Maya stood up and walked over to Peiya.

“Mm, it’s quite special.” Peiya nodded and quietly looked away.

At this moment, Maya raised her hand to her chest. Her brown hair rested over her dark blue work uniform, moving slightly as she spoke in a thoughtful tone.

“It was a gift from an old friend. I like it very much.”

Maya then changed to a slightly more serious tone.

“Let me introduce myself. I am the 26th guild leader of the Dikert Guild. You can call me Maya.”

“Hello, Guild Leader Maya. You can just call me Peiya.”

“Mm, Miss Peiya, Nara has already told me a little about you. I didn’t expect someone so young to achieve something so remarkable. On behalf of the Dikert Guild, I thank you. Without the support of adventurers like you, we wouldn’t have come this far.”

Maya’s voice was calm, just like her spotless uniform, it made people feel at ease.

“And thank you as well, Guild Leader Maya, for your hard work.”

Peiya also expressed her thanks. Her eyes drifted, intentionally or not, toward the cup of tea beside her that was giving off steam.

Maya pointed at the red tea on the table and smiled.

“No rush. Sit down and have some tea. We can talk while drinking. This isn’t a formal report, so you don’t need to be so tense. Nara, please close the door.”

“Got it.”

Nara quickly went to take care of it.

Being served like this by two important people made Peiya feel a bit surprised.

After all, in the past, these kinds of tasks were usually pushed onto her.

She took a small sip of tea. It tasted a bit bitter at first, but the aftertaste was quite nice.

Maya took out a document with golden edges from under the desk.

“Normally, I shouldn’t show this to you. But I think the information inside won’t stay secret for long anyway.”

Maya held the pages and intentionally removed a few before handing it to Peiya.

Even though she was already impressed by Peiya’s achievements, she still couldn’t help but want to test her a little.

“This is… a tunnel map of the mining area?”

Peiya flipped through a few pages and became more certain of her guess. She had seen many similar reports before.

But this kind of fresh case was new.

“That’s right. You can read it freely. I’d like to hear your thoughts.”

“Okay.”

Holding the document, Peiya returned to her old focused, hardworking scholar mode.

The “memory palace” in her mind slowly came back to life.

[May 3rd, full moon. The research team encountered a crystal storm in the mining area. Some members were affected by the crystals and showed symptoms similar to ‘stone disease’, fever and uncontrollable vomiting.]

[May 13th. The team set out again and found broken crystal pieces along the inner walls of the mine tunnel. At the entrance of the mining area, insects that feed on minerals appeared.]

[What’s more terrifying is… they all died. Not a single one survived.]

[We checked their stomachs. They were completely empty. They starved to death while guarding food. This is unbelievable.]

As Peiya read through the known information, the other two people in the room watched her carefully.

They were waiting for her answer. This wasn’t just a simple test, it was preparation for her to step onto a bigger stage.

When they saw her many patents before, they already understood that no matter how strong the Adventurers’ Guild was, it was only a stepping stone for Peiya. Her future would go far beyond this place.

Peiya held the last page of the report and felt that the number of pages seemed off.

Was this done by Maya?

If so, it was probably a test, to compare her conclusion.

“I’ve finished reading. I have some ideas, though I’m not sure if they’re correct. First, these mining insects are very sensitive to sound. If they stopped eating, it might mean they were affected by some kind of strong noise. And those broken crystals mentioned later are likely related to sound as well. Do you have a cup?”

“Yes.”

Maya handed her a transparent crystal cup.

Peiya raised the cup and explained seriously.

“Normally, a crystal cup is very hard. But if the sound reaches a certain level, it can still break crystal. Putting all this together, it’s very likely that a strong noise appeared at the bottom of the mining area…”

“...At first, the sound may have been small and only affected the insects’ eating. Later, the internal environment of the minerals changed and began releasing toxins. This could be the real cause of the team members’ infection. As for the broken crystals, I think after they left, another sound burst happened inside the mine. The strong sound waves directly shattered the crystals…”

“...Also, Guild Leader Maya, this report isn’t complete, right? From what I saw at the end, it seems the writer wanted to say that those who returned later showed mental instability. That usually happens after being exposed to strong noise for a long time.”

Maya took a deep breath. She had read the original report, and the missing parts matched Peiya’s conclusion almost exactly.

“Perfect. Your conclusion is very accurate. I’m sorry, please allow me to apologize for testing you just now.”

Maya took out the remaining pages from the drawer and handed them over.

“Your knowledge has far exceeded my expectations. It’s hard to believe, Miss Peiya, that at such a young age, you already have the level of an excellent frontline analyst. I’m afraid this small place won’t be able to keep you for long.”

Peiya took another sip of tea and said with a faint smile.

“Guild Leader Maya, there’s no need for so many compliments. Compared to that, I’m more interested in why you called me here.”

Peiya wasn’t in the mood to waste time talking. However, the report had already made her very curious.

Maya nodded.

“In that case, I’ll be direct. One reason I called you here is to test your opinion on this matter, so I can decide how much information we can share with you in the future…”

“...The second reason is to tell you about a message recently received by the higher-ups. The magic mirror responsible for prophecy has given a new revelation. The witch may awaken on the night of the full moon.”

“The witch…”

Peiya froze for a moment. Wasn’t she the witch?

What did “awakening” mean?

Could it be that every full moon night, she would lose control of the Witch’s Heart and turn into something like a werewolf from fairy tales?

The broken pieces of knowledge about witches in her mind still couldn’t form a complete answer. She needed more clues.

And of course, she absolutely couldn’t tell others that she herself was the witch.

“Miss Peiya, your expression looks a bit strange. Are you feeling unwell?”

“N-no, I’m fine. I just heard about the witch’s awakening for the first time, so I’m surprised. After all… I don’t usually have access to this kind of information. Ha… haha…”

Peiya quickly changed her expression, pretending to be shocked. Even her voice trembled slightly.

“I see. To be honest, I didn’t believe it at first either. But the higher-ups think that the recent disturbance in the mining area is related to the witch’s return. Combined with the earlier prophecy, it’s hard not to suspect a connection. You can take a look at the remaining part of the report…”

“...We’ve already confirmed that the cause of the mining accident was a newly awakened Ice Bear King at the bottom of the mine, roaring loudly as it tried to break free. Also, the investigation team found that the space there is very unstable. Even teleportation stones are not working properly, which makes exploration much more difficult. The higher-ups are currently looking for alternative solutions.”

“Even teleportation stones don’t work? Could it be that sound waves caused temporary spatial disturbances?”

“That’s possible. But so far, there is no definite proof. On the other hand, many adventurers have already heard rumors and are secretly trying to defeat the Ice Bear King. Fortunately, we confirmed that what they are fighting are only the bear guards in the upper area. They are still far from the real boss. By the way, Miss Peiya, have you joined a guild?”

“Not yet.”

“I see. If you’re interested, feel free to talk to me anytime.”

“Okay. By the way, what does the witch’s awakening have to do with magical beasts?”

Peiya still knew very little about witches, so she wanted to get more information from Maya.

“That’s because witches are not only known as the strongest beings, but also as a kind of natural ‘resource.’ Magical creatures react strongly to witches. Some will follow them, some will submit, and some will show extreme hostility. As for deeper knowledge, only scholars in the kingdom might be able to answer that.”

“I see. So the witch’s awakening caused large-scale monster activity. The people at the entrance are gathered because of this, right?”

“Exactly. But the information we released is mostly about minor enemies. For real boss-level creatures, it’s better handled by top guilds. Also, another reason I believe in the witch’s awakening is this, look at my mailbox. It’s filled with letters from cult groups. These people are basically fanatics of the witch.”

Maya poured out a pile of letters onto the table. There were so many that even Peiya was surprised.

“So many letters from cult followers?”

Peiya opened one of them. The paper was filled with strange symbols, and at the top was some messy ancient writing. Roughly translated, it said,

[Supreme being, we are willing to offer our hearts to the Witch.]

[You so-called righteous adventurers, your end is coming. The Witch will restore the world and lead us to the other shore.]

[Witch, please take me with you!!!]

The more Peiya read, the deeper her frown became.

What is all this nonsense?

Why are people acting so crazy?

“Seriously… why are all these messages so strange?”

“It can’t be helped. Cult groups have always gone against normal society. This isn’t new. With the witch’s awakening approaching, you should also protect yourself. The guild can only help you so much, you’ll need to be careful on your own. Alright, that’s all I wanted to say today. I’m not someone who likes to talk too much. Nara, go get the room key for her.”

“No problem, leave it to me. Peiya, don’t take the guild leader’s scary words too seriously. Just stay in the guild and don’t run around. If something bad happens, it’ll hit the guild leader first anyway.”

“……”

Maya, who knew Nara’s personality, chose not to argue.

However, at that moment, her fingers suddenly trembled slightly, and a chilling cold spread from her fingertips.

This power…

It felt familiar…

A vague face slowly appeared in Maya’s mind.

Could it be… that woman has returned?

Thinking this, Maya raised her hand to stop Nara and said apologetically:

“Nara, wait a moment. It seems we have a special guest. We can get the key later.”

“Who?”

Nara looked toward the door. Elise knocked, then calmly walked into the office.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop by several degrees as she entered.