Transmigrated to a Dark Fantasy World of SSS-Rank: King of the Void-Chapter 33: Heralds of the Shadow

Mitsuki and Jeanne were sitting at the table, where breakfast had been served: meat, fried eggs, boiled potatoes, and a large glass of orange juice. It wasn’t much, but it was certainly better than anything they had eaten during the journey; besides, it looked delicious. But no matter how appetizing the food looked, nothing seemed to catch Mitsuki’s attention, as he stared into the void with a confused expression.

"Believe it or not, Ellegaard visited the Kingdom of Sardonyx before I was born," Jeanne said, taking a bite from the steak on her plate. "She doesn’t usually talk much about it. You know, elves don’t like talking about the past; they always keep moving forward without stopping, as if they don’t care about all the memories left behind."

Mitsuki grabbed his fork and stabbed the meat, completely distracted; he wasn’t even looking at the plate. Jeanne kept talking as usual.

"I don’t blame them, really. Most elves tend to be emotionally distant beings. Maybe living such long lives hardens their hearts. Luckily, that Grumpy Master isn’t like the others. She’s simply adorable when she gets angry."

Near one of the tables, serving breakfast to the other customers, Lulu looked at the two of them with a sour expression. She had dark circles under her eyes and her long messy hair tied back in a ponytail. Her face looked tired and a bit irritated, yet she still attended to the customers with a faint polite smile.

Suddenly, Ellegaard came down the stairs, rubbing her head in pain. It didn’t surprise her in the slightest that Jeanne and Mitsuki were sitting side by side like a couple in love.

In fact, she walked over and sat down in front of them.

"You came at the right time. We were just talking about you."

"Talking about me behind my back? When will you learn to shut your mouth, princess?" Ellegaard complained, rubbing her eyes with her knuckle. "And what’s wrong with the tick? Did his mind reach nirvana or is he still drunk?"

Jeanne smiled mischievously while sipping her juice.

"I don’t know. It looks like something good happened to him. Maybe he had a lot of fun last night."

"Hmm..."

The elf frowned and looked at both of them suspiciously. Jeanne smiled like always, which made Ellegaard sigh when she found nothing strange. Then, rubbing her eyebrows tiredly, she lifted her staff with her other hand and casually dropped it onto Mitsuki’s head.

Bonk. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"Ow!" he complained, grabbing his head with both hands as a small tear of pain appeared at the corner of his eye. Jeanne let out a small giggle while eating.

"Finish your food, tick. We’re going to the library when you’re done. If you want to improve your magic and become stronger, you have to study."

"Become stronger?" Mitsuki murmured, returning to reality while rubbing his head. "Okay..."

’Damn... I can’t stop thinking about literally everything.’ He glanced at Jeanne, who had already been looking at him for a while. Embarrassed, he looked down at his plate and began devouring the food. ’I’m really overthinking this.’

He was about to leave the plate empty, but a piece of meat got stuck in his throat. He hit his chest trying to swallow. Suddenly, someone handed him a glass of juice. Mitsuki didn’t hesitate to drink it all; he lifted the glass and lived to see another day.

He sighed in relief, but then looked at the glass... and then at the glass that had been beside his plate.

"If you eat too much, you won’t be able to handle it," the princess said in that mysterious, seductive tone of voice.

"I can’t believe that wherever you go, you manage to embarrass yourself. If I were you, I’d have thrown myself off a cliff already."

"Sorry."

Mitsuki clenched his fist tightly, a vein bulging on his forehead.

’It seems this elf can’t live a single minute without making some hurtful comment. Luckily, the hate on the internet prepared me enough for this moment... more or less.’

It wasn’t worth remembering unpleasant things.

"Well, if you’re done humiliating yourself, let’s move quickly or you’ll get left behind."

"Yeah, sure."

Ellegaard stood up from her chair and walked toward the exit. Meanwhile, Mitsuki took out his pouch of coins and left the amount written on the menu on the table: four bronze coins. Then he followed Ellegaard like a duckling after its mother, but before leaving he looked at Jeanne, who waved goodbye with an adorable smile and a gentle wave of her hand.

Mitsuki felt his face heating up, so he quickly left before that princess kept treating him like a toy.

’Sometimes Jeanne can be scary, but...’ he looked at Ellegaard’s back. ’She’s not a bad person. This tsundere elf isn’t either; it’s just hard for me to deal with them.’

He hurried to walk beside the elf, but noticed that some people were looking at him with curious expressions. He tried to ignore everything and followed her until they reached the library.

Once they arrived near the center of the city, both of them noticed something strange. There were people wearing large black robes that covered their bodies. They also had hoods that perfectly concealed their faces. The feeling they gave off created an oppressive and mysterious atmosphere. There were about ten of them, leading an eleventh person who wore a black hooded cloak that didn’t hide his appearance as much.

"Them..." Ellegaard murmured. "What are the Heralds of the Shadow doing here?"

’Shadow? I think I remember the woman with the fiery hair mentioning them. I thought it was a joke, but... are they real?’

Mitsuki noticed that Ellegaard placed her staff in front of him, preventing him from moving forward.

"Don’t get close, rookie. They’ll do what they always do and leave."

"What they always do? What do you mean?"

"They’re Heralds of the Shadow, members of a religious cult that worships one of the Four Great Ancient Mysteries. They travel through cities looking for more members for their cult while investigating the other Mysteries. They don’t usually do much to civilians, but they’re known for having powerful people leading them. The one at the front is probably strong."

The man leading the heralds stopped. He stood in the center of the plaza and made an elegant bow.

"Good morning, citizens of Luxar! Do not fear, for salvation has arrived!"

His masculine voice was deep, but seductive and eloquent. He lifted his gaze beneath his hood, revealing ash-colored hair that reached the nape of his neck. Beneath that cloak hid an elegant noble’s outfit, with striking red and yellow colors. His brown leather shoes matched the sheath of the double-edged longsword resting at his waist.

"Let’s continue to the library, rookie. It’s better to ignore those lunatics," Ellegaard said in a bored tone as she walked toward the opposite side of the street.

"Alright..."

He followed the elf’s advice and kept walking, but he couldn’t help looking at the man. For an instant, their eyes met, and it felt like déjà vu for Mitsuki. However, he quickly looked down at the ground with discomfort.

’What the hell is that guy?’

He could feel it in his bones—the aura of someone who wasn’t like anyone else.