One night as Jannet after she performed the mind numbing bureaucracy and moved on the mind grinding politicking that was demanded of her by the Future King. She had left a night banquet's room for the manor's garden to clear her head of all the political nonsense these nobles were creating. The distant sounds of a high flying rune automaton airplane overhead was the only noise she had for ambiance.
'Ugh can't have any crickets or bird noises here? Some sorry for nothing noble who owns this manor am I right. Talked about the elegance of cleanliness for the entire banquet. He's probably still doing that. He should just admit he's germaphobic.'
Jannet couldn't help but complain. Chizuru was doing a lot of heavy lifting by telling her what to expect, but Keith and Natsumi had both just wandered of doing who knows what. She asked Chizuru and he said they're doing "background help." She really wanted to find a wall or a table and chair, and just smash her head at it in frustration.
She tilted her head as a knife flew right by it. Looking behind her, was a hooded figure wearing dark clothes.
"Sorry, who are you?"
The hooded figure walked forward.
'A suicide assassin? Surely someone wasn't stupid enough to send an assasin this weak against someone of my reputation.'
"One of your subordinates stole one of our organizations most prized possessions. That knife was just our most basic retaliation, I'm sure it is something of no consequence to you Jannet."
He crossed his arms. He clearly wasn't very happy right now.
'He suddenly appeared and evaded my surface level senses. Teleportation?'
Though Jannet had many means to sense her surroundings she usually let that extra information rest in the back of her mind. Whether it be the expanded consciousness of her Nascent Soul cultivation, observation haki, ki sensing, or dozens of danger sense abilities. Even so she was completely oblivious until seconds before that knife flew torward her head.
"And you must be one of those cultists that the Queen told me about. Something about bringing back the glory of the demon king am I right? Though you appear to be one of his more elite cultist types."
"We have no interest in the demon kings glory. We merely carry out his orders according to our interests."
'So not some brainwashed idiot but a more pragmatic character. Probably a higher up in the cult.'
"Then what do you want."
"Although the demon king is in a useless state his foresight still gives us guidance."
'Oh this is interesting, I wonder what he saw? The Future King is the master of time travel and I can only imagine how that could interact with future sight.'
"Any prophecies?"
"The Demon King didnt give a prophecy."
"No?"
"He told us that an enemy of an enemy is a friend. And that you are that friend."
The cultist now had Jannet's full attention. The Future King as the master of time travel had long become something of an anomaly towards all long term future sight abilities. How could you make a prophecy when even the past is uncertain? But despite that the demon king had managed to discern some things and was being helpful.
"The Demon King has lost the power to see the future. But he told us to pass you this letter."
Jannet grabbed a letter out of his held out hand.
"So what were you saying about prized possesions?"
"We are hoping that you return it in exchange for this message."
Jannet was a little dumbfounded at this point. So if whatever they had wasn't stolen they wouldn't have delivered this letter for a favor to get it back. That means that at least in the upper echelons of the cult they are not so loyal to the demon king after all.
Not only that, but for just a letter, delivered under such suspicious circumstances, to ask for something, after being so rude as to throw a knife at her head. It's quite arrogant.
They are the envoys of the Future King. When he sweeped through the powerhouses of this world like a broom with dust the reputation he gained was unmatched. And now this reputation extended to her.
'Is this guy an idiot? Or is he just acting on orders.'
Jannet shook her head at the audicity of the cult and proceeded to open the letter.
Her eyes widened as her eyes scoured each and every letter within...
"Oh no, that's not very good."
She frowned before she crumpled up the letter and incinerated it with the glowing light of a ki blast inside her fist. The hooded figure was just standing aside as if expecting some kind of confirmation of agreement to give back whatever prized possession they had lost.
"I'll see if it can be returned."
Jannet had enough of the cultist and held two fingers to her forehead before dissapearing.
~
Keith was sitting at a table with Natsumi at a breakfast restraunt for nobles. Natsumi was chowing down on the omelette he had cooked and chugging the cofee that was too hot for his tongue. Chizuru was there too at the very inside of the booth, he had ordered 25 plates of pancakes. Keith wasn't interested in buying food, he could easily make his own with his construction technique.
"I didn't take you for a foodie."
Natsumi mumbled with food still in his mouth.
"I have something of a sweet tooth. Before I was a transmigrator I was dieting to lose weight. And after I transmigrated I was caught up in Kaguya's infinite tsukuyomi and couldn't do anything with my physical body."
Natsumi kept on talking while chewing.
"Didn't you escape though?"
"I had fallen into the cultivation fallacy, I was way too focused on getting stronger for safety before actually living life properly. I wasted millenia on becoming as strong as possible because I was paranoid of some greater danger."
"You're pretty self aware."
"It's a trait I'm well aware of."
"Why did I have to break the egg."
Natsumi felt an immense sense of regret that he could only express by putting his hands on the sides of his head.
"I did everything right. I even gave it good fortune so the dragon would grow to be super strong. Now all that's left is..."
He gestured towards his omellete.
"Yeah but it is interesting."
"I swear something went seriously wrong! Granting good fortune to a living being causes awesome effects. It shouldn't end with them being turned into a freaking delicious meal."
"Well I have a theory I simulated but with the way things are going it's probably a bad time to talk about i-"
Jannet teleported right next to the table with a serious face. Placing her hand on the table to interupt their conversation.
Keith looked up from whatever spot he had been staring at on the table.
"Something going on?"