Transmigrated to a Dark Fantasy World of SSS-Rank: King of the Void-Chapter 25: Lionel

The second floor of the guild looked exactly like the first one, except the person assisting the adventurers wasn’t Maya. Instead, a beautiful woman with red and yellow hair—like blazing flames—stood behind the counter, which was taller than the one downstairs. She was scolding Maya, who shrank her shoulders in embarrassment. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"I’m sorry, Auntie... I’ll go get them right now," the timid Maya said.

The woman sighed, tired.

"Just do your job and everything will be fine. Otherwise, I’ll have to deduct it from your salary."

Some voices echoed from the staircase.

When Mitsuki and the girls came up the stairs, the woman’s amber-yellow eyes—she looked about thirty—locked directly onto the boy. Her calm, nearly expressionless face shifted slightly into a curious gaze.

Maya, on the other hand, seemed calmer when she saw him. She hurried over until she stood right in front of him.

"Mr. Kirishima! I’m very sorry, but I forgot to charge you the registration fee."

Mitsuki almost stepped back, but Ellegaard pushed him forward with her staff; otherwise, the path would have been blocked.

"You’re still so scatterbrained, girl. I don’t understand how you haven’t been fired yet."

"I’m sorry..."

Jeanne stepped forward and placed a hand on Maya’s head. She pulled out a couple of small coins and handed them to her.

"Here’s the fee. Two silver coins, as usual. Don’t forget next time, okay?"

"Thank you very much, Princess."

With the coins in hand, Maya ran back toward the first floor. However, a second later, a series of thumps and complaints echoed until everything ended with a dull crash.

Maya had fallen down the stairs.

Ellegaard and Jeanne both made pained expressions, while Mitsuki felt a little bad for her.

’Is she going to be okay? I feel like that girl wouldn’t survive on her own...’

He was in a similar situation himself, so he could understand her.

A few seconds later he shifted his focus, turning his attention to the woman with the long, tangled, wildly flaming hair. He walked toward her with the girls, since they clearly knew where they were going.

"Here’s the one I told you about, Lionel," Jeanne said, leaning casually against the counter. "His registration is already complete. Now he just needs to sell his loot."

"Hurry up, rookie. It’s almost lunchtime."

Mitsuki nodded. He stood in front of the woman, a little nervous because her gaze was sharp and analytical. Then he took the mana fragments from the pockets of his coat and placed them on the counter—six in total.

The woman, Lionel, examined the fragments and picked them up between her fingers, analyzing them through a magnifying monocle. She didn’t say anything the entire time; she simply did her job.

The girls beside Mitsuki didn’t do anything special. Ellegaard leaned on the counter reading a green-covered book while Jeanne peeked at it from the side. Mitsuki, on the other hand, felt uneasy.

’It’s like she’s appraising a jewel...’

Fragments like these could easily be considered jewels of nature.

When she finished, Lionel took out a metal tray and placed the fragments on top. Then she lifted a finger, leaving behind a faint trail of red sparkles like fire, and the tray with the loot disappeared.

’At this point I’ve seen so many kinds of magic that I’m starting to get used to it. But what matters now is the money, right? How much are they going to pay me? Not all the Cinder Beasts dropped fragments. This is everything I have...’

"You’re nothing special—I can tell," Lionel said in a flat tone. "But you managed to earn good money. Congratulations, and welcome to the guild."

She lifted her finger again, and a pouch filled with coins appeared on the counter.

"Fifty-two silver coins and twenty bronze. Don’t spend it all on liquor and prostitutes."

"Uh... I wouldn’t..." Mitsuki muttered nervously, though inside it was a completely different story.

’You can do that? I mean...’

He shook his head at the indecent thought, which earned a faint smile from Lionel.

’Better not. This is all your fault, Jeanne...’

He reached out to grab the money and leave, but Lionel suddenly grabbed his hand, making him shiver as a strange chill ran down his legs.

The woman with the blazing hair stood up from behind the counter. Her large, full breasts bounced slightly beneath her tight black blouse.

Mitsuki’s eyes nearly popped out of his head at the sight.

’Bigger than Jeanne’s.’

Jeanne looked at Lionel, confused. Ellegaard frowned and sighed, as if she had already expected this.

"It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a man this adorable. You look like a porcelain doll. However, behind that cute little face..." a soft, ominous smile formed on her pink lips, "I can see something very sinister."

Mitsuki stepped back, frightened. Lionel tightened her grip on his hand, her expression returning to its partially emotionless state.

"Do you pray to some fallen primordial god? Or perhaps you belong to the Heralds of Shadow?"

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," Mitsuki replied. He felt like he was being accused of something very serious, which brought back the same discomfort from earlier.

"Woman, you see sinister things everywhere. Why don’t you stop that joke already? It’s boring," Ellegaard grumbled.

Lionel sighed, resting her elbows on the counter.

"Everyone falls for it the first time, don’t you think? At this point it’s practically an initiation ritual for newcomers to the guild. My older sister would have loved to see the face this adorable boy made."

’No, no, no, no. The only thing I understood is that you were making fun of me. You can’t keep doing this to me.’

Even if he complained in his mind, it didn’t help much. Being a pathetic hikikomori with zero social skills was his greatest flaw.

Jeanne tapped the counter twice with her fingers to get their attention.

"I have to admit, teasing him is fun. He always turns red like a tomato and trembles like a slime. It’s very cute."

’What did I do to deserve this? At least Ellegaard isn’t like that...’

He looked at the elf reading her book, but she gave him a mocking smile before returning her gaze to the pages, which turned on their own as if blown by the wind.

’Are you serious?!’