Transmigrated to a Dark Fantasy World of SSS-Rank: King of the Void-Chapter 34: An Immense World

Mitsuki felt somewhat unsettled after his encounter with that man. As he climbed the stairs beside Ellegaard—stairs that led to the grand library’s main entrance—he couldn’t forget the unpleasant feeling caused by that being’s crimson, almost vampiric eyes.

’Now I have even more questions than before. Either way, it seems that no matter the world, there will always be different religions,’ he thought as he passed through the establishment’s double wooden doors, finding himself surrounded by a landscape of books. ’And that leads to a huge wave of possibilities when it comes to gods. I’m sure the gods in this world are more physical than spiritual.’

Beside the entrance stood a man with short black hair and thin rectangular glasses. His elegant noble librarian uniform—a fitted gray doublet over a long-sleeved black shirt and light brown trousers—made him stand out among his perfectly dressed coworkers.

"Lady Ellegaard, it’s a pleasure to have you back."

"Miss Ellegaard to you, kid. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you," the elf said, raising her scepter.

Mitsuki thought she was about to hit the poor man who was just doing his job, but instead a faint black shadow manifested over the counter made of dark oak. Immediately afterward, a pair of books fell onto the wood. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"They’re all the ones I borrowed before. Now I’ll take my student to the magic section. Here’s my guild badge."

"I understand. Go ahead, miss. However, to accompany you, the young lady with you must show her guild badge."

Mitsuki felt as if someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over his head. He smiled with a crooked grimace, as though he had already resigned himself to being mistaken for a woman.

’Young lady...’ he sighed, pulling out his guild badge and showing it to the librarian. ’At this point I’ll have to ask for a discount in every shop whenever they mistake me for a woman.’

The man adjusted his glasses, analyzing the information. Then he nodded with a slight smile.

"Everything is in order. You may proceed."

Ellegaard complained, "I don’t understand how it takes you so long to read two words on a badge. Come on, rookie."

"I don’t really have a choice."

Putting the badge back into the pocket of his coat, he walked behind the elf, but he heard the murmur of a woman—one of the workers—who was sitting on a small bench arranging books on one of the large shelves along the wall.

"Is that the boy from the bar?"

Beside her, another woman holding a stack of books said,

"It looks like him. He’s very cute, like a girl."

"Yeah. I think they started calling him Poisoned Cake that night."

Mitsuki froze in place. A vein of irritation bulged on his forehead because he understood perfectly why they called him that; if someone grabs your butt and you respond by threatening to kill everyone, you’re bound to become famous.

’I want to know which bastard came up with that stupid nickname...’ he clenched his fist tightly, itching to show how he felt. However...

Bonk.

"Ow!"

It was Ellegaard, who had used her basic move: "scepter strike to the head."

"Don’t just stand there, tick. I’m doing this for your sake so you won’t remain a pathetic weakling, so don’t waste my time."

He nodded without arguing and moved forward in silence. Ellegaard cast him a tired glance and continued guiding him toward one of the farthest areas of the library.

The place itself was immense. The shelves made perfect use of the space across the building’s three floors, connecting everything with wooden stairways along the walls—which were filled with books of every kind: from novels by renowned authors to guides and historical records.

’I came to this world with absolutely no information. I barely know what exists in this "Land" because Ellegaard and Jeanne told me, but now I can finally learn more.’

The elf guided him to an area on the other side of the establishment where there was little light. Once there, she looked up at a shelf and raised her scepter—two books fell and floated in front of her.

"You’ll read these two to start with: History of Arcane Magic and Fragments of the Arcane. They’re easy to understand; even a tick like you could manage. Since you already have decent control over Fire and Water Elemental Magic, you shouldn’t have any problems."

Mitsuki took the books. Ellegaard watched him silently. After two seconds, she said,

"What? Are you waiting for an invitation? Go study, you lazy tick!"

Lowering his head obediently, he turned around in search of a quiet place. Meanwhile, this tsundere elf seemed ready to stay and browse for her own literary interests.

’I thought you were going to instruct me, not leave me to my own luck in this giant place. Well, at least it looks like I’ll be able to search for my own interests among so many books.’

Out of all the bad things, something good could still come of it. So he searched among the shelves for what he needed to know about this world. First, he examined the wooden plaques hanging from the corners of several sections: recipes, important figures, various novels; finally, after a few minutes, he found what he was looking for.

It was the map section.

’Seriously, why do they keep staring at me? That’s harassment, you know?’ he thought, glancing toward the end of the aisle where those two women were shamelessly talking about him. He chose to ignore them to avoid bursting a vein and pulled a book from the shelf, examining its leather cover.

The title was fairly obvious: Journey Across the Lands of Nemoria. He took the book without much thought along with another titled Legends of Lamus.

’Somehow I feel excited. What shape will the countries and kingdoms have? There’s only one way to find out.’

He finished wandering through the library and reached the second floor, where long wooden tables and benches were arranged for reading. He sat down and placed the four books on the table. He began with the one that interested him the most.

’Nemoria.’

However, when his fingers turned the first page and he saw the depiction of all Nemoria drawn across the paper, his eyes widened in disbelief. Four great kingdoms, immense cities, and varied territories unfolded among the perfect strokes.

’Damn... This is more than a "land" with neighboring kingdoms. It’s like a damn small continent.’

Nervously, he searched through the pages for maps that showed more than what the map of Nemoria revealed. At last he found what he was looking for, but his eyes nearly popped out when he saw the map of the planet’s first hemisphere.

’This... is three times bigger than Earth.’

It truly was an immense world filled with mysteries. Then, as if it were a joke—or a bad omen—he heard a voice in the distance. He looked out from the window beside the reading area toward the plaza. That man was still there, speaking about things everyone ignored. His followers remained silent behind him.