I Reincarnated to Another World as a Woman

"I will not tolerate any of this! Not from the likes of you!" Baroness Maristella Voss’s sharp, shrill voice cuts through the atmosphere like a blade.

"I accepted your request to train you, not for my sake, but for yours! How dare you ignore me the way you did!"

The air in the room turns sharp and suffocating.

The five Hunters feel the air in their lungs being ripped away, leaving nothing behind. No matter how hard they try, they can’t draw in a single breath.

They clutch at their throats, struggling desperately to breathe.

Taylor, who has just recovered from his injuries, is the weakest among them. He cannot endure the sudden deprivation of oxygen and soon collapses, losing consciousness once more.

Hawk, despite having the most severe injuries, forces himself onto one knee, fighting to stay conscious.

He refuses to go down without resistance.

He tries to summon his fire, forcing his power to respond. But fire cannot exist where there is no oxygen.

Nothing happens.

Hawk fails to ignite even a spark. His vision blurs, his eyes roll back, and he collapses, unconscious.

That leaves Ethan, J.C., and Carter.

J.C. and Carter can do nothing. They can only glare at the Baroness, their eyes filled with resentment, their bodies too weak to resist.

Ethan struggles to speak.

"Your Ladyship..." His voice is strained, barely more than a rasp.

"Please... have mercy."

Time stretches unbearably. What should have been seconds feels like an eternity.

Then, finally, the Baroness releases her hold.

Air rushes back into the room.

The three remaining Hunters gasp violently, dragging in breath after breath, their lungs burning as they struggle to recover. The harsh sound of desperate breathing fills the space.

The Baroness watches them coldly, her expression unmoved.

After struggling to steady his breathing, Ethan bows deeply to the Baroness, still half panting.

"Thank you, Your Ladyship, for showing mercy. Please... allow me to explain why we didn’t show up and couldn’t contact you." His voice is tight, but he forces it to remain respectful. He keeps his head lowered.

J.C. and Carter move quickly, checking on Taylor and Hawk.

"Your explanation had better be good," the Baroness says, her voice still laced with hostility.

"Thank you, Your Ladyship." Ethan straightens slowly.

"A day before the scheduled training, a mutated Level Six dungeon opened in the Jade Lantern District. All of us happened to be there at the time. Hawk was pulled into the dungeon and sustained severe injuries," Ethan begins.

"Taylor was injured when a shockwave burst out from the gate. The rest of us were also hurt, though not as badly as Hawk and Taylor."

"All five of us were admitted to the hospital and stayed overnight."

Ethan pauses briefly, watching the Baroness for any reaction.

When she gives none, he continues.

"That same night, the entire city lost power due to the storm. It took several seconds before the hospital’s backup generators activated. While power returned inside the hospital, the rest of the city remained in darkness."

"We quickly realized our phones had no signal at all. We couldn’t contact anyone. We couldn’t reach you, Your Ladyship."

"J.C., Carter, and I were unable to leave because the hospital refused to discharge us. It was only this morning that we were released, and we came here immediately."

He lifts his phone slightly. "Even now, there’s still no signal."

He gestures toward the muted television, where news about the storm continues to play.

"The government prioritized restoring television broadcasts over mobile networks. According to the reports, communication lines should be restored soon."

Ethan bows deeply once more.

"Once again, I apologize for not appearing as scheduled, Your Ladyship. It was force majeure, not a deliberate act of disrespect."

Ethan is certain the Baroness already knows about the mutated dungeon and the blackout. There’s no way she doesn’t.

But he doesn’t dare say anything that even hints she should have known better. He has an idea of how that would be taken. In fact, he’s certain she would take it the wrong way.

The Baroness is petty. Ethan has experienced it firsthand.

He has no intention of giving her even the smallest excuse to turn her anger on his team.

When Ethan hears a soft, dismissive "Hmph" from the Baroness, he slowly straightens.

And what he sees makes his blood boil.

The Baroness is sneering.

This bitch knows!

And she still tortured us.

She did it for her own amusement.

You bitch!

Ethan clenches his jaw, forcing every bit of that anger down.

He keeps his expression neutral.

He cannot afford to show it.

Not here. Not in front of her.

"You were at the site?" the Baroness asks in a disinterested tone.

Ethan exhales inwardly in relief.

He nods. "Yes, Your Ladyship. We were."

"That means you were also there when the storm first formed?" the Baroness asks again. This time, there is a hint of curiosity in her voice.

When the storm first began to form, the Baroness had been in her bath, soaking in hot water filled with flower petals, a glass of wine resting at her side.

She remembers the moment clearly. The air had shifted first, subtle yet unmistakable, before the wind began to howl.

Then came the surge.

The sheer power of mana in the air had stunned her. It was violent, overwhelming.

She had never felt mana like that before.

It was vast. Uncontrolled.

For a brief moment, she felt afraid.

It was bigger than her. Stronger than her.

It made her feel small. Insignificant.

She hated that feeling.

Not once did she consider stepping outside to investigate. She remained indoors, choosing the safety of her chamber over confronting whatever force had caused it.

And even now, recalling that moment leaves a bitter taste in her mouth.

It brings her shame.

A quiet, lingering shame she refuses to acknowledge out loud.

And now, she learns that these... crude people were actually there, at the site, experiencing the storm firsthand, while she chose to remain safely indoors, sheltered and protected.

A part of her cannot accept that.

"Yes, Your Ladyship. We were there. When Hawk was pulled into the dungeon, he was alone. We weren’t with him at the time," Ethan explains steadily.

"But when he didn’t return, we went to the site to check on him."

He continues, recounting the rest of their experience in detail.

Baroness Voss listens intently. She does not interrupt him even once.

When Ethan mentions that he entered the dungeon himself, the Baroness’s interest sharpens.

"What is it like in there?" she asks, this time with genuine curiosity.

Ethan notices the shift immediately. The Baroness is no longer simply listening. She is invested.

Carefully, he feeds her curiosity, describing the dungeon as clearly as he can without overstepping.

When the Baroness hears that Rhaenas was also there, her eyebrows lift slightly, and her interest deepens even further.

"Rhaenas? All of them? All five of them?" she asks.

"Yes, Your Ladyship. All five of them," Ethan answers.

"Even Thea? Did she truly enter the dungeon? Did she fight? Is she actually skillful, or is it only Arthur who carries the team?" the Baroness presses, her questions coming faster now.

Ethan is momentarily stunned by how much the Baroness already knows about Rhaenas.

"Do you... know them personally, Your Ladyship?" he asks, unable to hide a trace of curiosity.

The Baroness leans back in her chair, relaxed, her posture turning almost smug.

"Yes, I do. I know them personally. Not all of them, but enough."

A faint smile curls on her lips.

"I’ve had lunch with Thea. I’ve had... rather intimate conversations with Arthur on several occasions."

She looks at Ethan with clear arrogance.

"Have you spoken to any of them?"

Ethan ignores the tone and continues recounting his interactions, explaining how the Hunters entered the dungeon and briefly worked alongside Arthur and Liam.

"And Thea?" the Baroness presses again. "Where was she? What did she do?"

"Ms. Montrose... wasn’t with us," Ethan replies carefully. "Mr. Arthur didn’t say where she was, and we didn’t ask. We were focused on surviving."

The Baroness clicks her tongue softly, clearly dissatisfied.

"Then tell me more about the haelions," she says.

Ethan immediately shifts, describing the creatures in as much detail as he can.

J.C. and Carter join in, filling in gaps, answering every question the Baroness throws at them. Her questions are sharp, precise, and relentless.

It becomes increasingly clear that she believes, if she had been there, she would have been powerful enough to kill those tortoise-like haelions herself.

The Hunters choose their words carefully, constantly adjusting their phrasing so they don’t accidentally offend her. They cannot afford that mistake.

They need her.

After their disastrous encounter in the dungeon, the truth has become painfully clear. They are nowhere near strong enough. That realization only deepens the questions surrounding Rhaenas.

What makes them so powerful?

What happened after the Hunters were thrown out of the dungeon?

How did Rhaenas manage to clear it?

Those questions continue to swirl in their minds, unanswered and unsettling.

But one thing is certain.

They are not strong enough.

And right now, the Baroness is the only path they know that might make them stronger.

That is why they swallow their pride.

That is why they bow their heads.