Chapter 271 - Ren Maki

"Oi kid, the hell you doing? Get up now!" Cecil said as he picked the kid up.

He was placed in an awkward situation, but when he picked the boy up, the little kid stayed in the kowtow position so it only looked like Cecil had picked up a bundle of clothes.

"..."

"Ahahaha~!" Lucia couldn't help but laugh uproariously at the sight. She was genuinely surprised when the little boy wanted her boyfriend to acknowledge him as his disciple, but this scene was just way too funny.

While they were eating earlier, Lucia and Serilla were already attracting the attention of many patrons because of how beautiful they were, but now their party was attracting attention in a weird way.

"K-kid, please stop this alright? I don't have any plans of taking on any disciples, so you can just give up now!"

"W-why?! Am I not good enough?" The boy exclaimed when he was put back on the ground.

"Well..."

"I can help you get access to the Empire's Great Library!" The little boy quickly followed up.

"Oh? Can you now?"

Seeing that he had succeeded in drawing Cecil's attention, the young boy brightened up and nodded his head frantically up and down.

"...Alright, kid, I'm listening."

"F-first of all, sorry for the late introductions, Master," The little boy bowed deeply this time instead of kowtowing. He walked up to the table and began pouring tea for his master and offered it to him.

"W-woah, what're you doing?" Cecil said in puzzlement as he gazed down at the cup of tea the little boy offered to him.

"Eh?"

"What're you doing?" He asked again.

"Uhh... in the Empire, this is a gesture of a disciple acknowledging his Master! It's a show of respect!"

"Hold up, we don't need that, just tell me how to get access to the library and I'll give you a chance to be my disciple."

"R-really!"

"Yes, but it's only a CHANCE, I'm not saying that I will."

"That's great! I just need a chance to prove myself to you!"

Cecil nodded before he urged the boy.

"Before that, Master, I'm very sorry for my late introductions. My name is Ren Jilbraltr Maki. You can call me Ren, master." The little boy named Ren said as he bowed deeply in respect.

Cecil was a little surprised to see how refined his motions were. It seemed like this little boy wasn't just any ordinary citizen.

"Well, Ren Maki, care to explain what you meant by helping me gain access to the library?"

"It's simple Master. All you have to do is win the Empire's annual Artificer Competition!"

"Hm?"

Ren pulled out a flyer and handed it to Cecil. Cecil looked at the contents and saw that it was for some sort of competition. The prize was 1 million gold credits alongside rare artificer materials that totaled around another 1 million gold credits, then there was the access to all floors of the Empire's Great Library, a tour of the Empire's Artificer Workshop, the chance to enroll in the Empire's Great Artificing Academy, and lastly, the opportunity to sign a working contract with the Empire that'll employ the winner as an Empire Artificer after he or she has graduated from the Academy if they were able to be admitted.

Cecil only found the monetary reward and the library access to be appealing, but in order to get this, one needed to be the winner of the competition. There were prizes for 2nd and 3rd place, but obviously, they weren't as great as the 1st place prize.

Also, only the 1st place prize would grant the winner access to the library. There were some strict requirements to take part in the competition, but as long as someone got a recommendation from a trustworthy person, they'd be able to participate without going through the lengthy procedures.

"This seems pretty interesting..." Cecil said with a smirk.

"Oh! When is the competition?" Lucia asked as she peered at the flyer in Cecil's hands.

"In 3 days...wait a minute! The registration period ends today!" Cecil said in a fl.u.s.ter with he saw the deadline on the bottom of the flyer.

"Don't worry about that Master! We can just head on over to District 25 and register now!" Ren said in reassurance.

"Hey Ren, if you hadn't noticed it yet, but me and the girls are adventurers, we can't possibly go to the District 25 which is restricted to citizens only!"

"Don't worry Master! With me here, we can get you registered, easy-peasy, and with how profound your knowledge and techniques are, you'll undoubtedly win!"

"...so this is what they meant by the recommendation...without a citizen to vouch for us, outsiders can't participate in the competition which leaves only natives to compete..."

"Yes, Master. This way, the Empire filters out all those wannabe artificers and unqualified people, but occasionally there are some that can participate by getting a recommendation letter from District 40's Artificer Guild! However, they have to take a very strict test!"

"I see...but with you vouching for me, I can skip all those procedures."

"Yup! But not just any citizen can vouch for a participant!" Ren said with a proud smile.

Cecil only nodded his head in understanding and affirmed that Ren's identity really wasn't that of an ordinary citizen.

"Alright, let's go then. The deadline is today so we should hurry. It's already the afternoon. By the way, can I take my—" Cecil gestured towards the two girls waiting next to him. They were staring at him like they'd chop him into pieces if they couldn't tag along.

"No problem Master, you can most definitely take your wives with you!"

"Ufufufu~"

"Heh~ you're such a sensible little kid, Ren~" Lucia said with a bright smile while Serilla only chuckled at the little boy's words.

"Ren, they aren't my w—OOF!" Cecil was interrupted when Serilla suddenly jabbed him on the side.

"Woof?" Ren tilted his head in confusion.

"O-ow! Seri, what was that for?" He didn't expect this. Normally, Lucia would be the one to hit him, but Serilla actually did it instead while Lucia was readying a spell to fire at his face which only caused him to break out in sweat. It was better to receive a jab instead of a lava bolt to the face.

Seri only smiled meaningfully at him while Lucia smiled menacingly. Cecil immediately got the picture, he stood up and paid for the party's food and quickly went out.

"Let's go Ren. You lead the way."

Ren nodded happily and began leading the party to District 25. When they passed through the teleportation gate, Ren, Cecil and the girls arrived at a floating city that was totally different than the ones they were at previously.

"This place...sure is different..." Cecil said as he observed all the tall buildings around him. Unlike the other places he visited. These buildings seemed to all be craftsmen workshops.

"District 25 is also referred to as the Workshop District. All the Empire's craftsmen gather and open their workshops here. This district will also be the competition venue."

"Is the Empire's Great Workshop here as well?"

"Yup! It's that large tall castle-like building looming over us!" Ren pointed at the largest building in the district which was literally towering over the rest.

"I see, well, let's go then."

Ren lead the party to the Artificer Guild HQ that was located in this District and hurriedly helped Cecil sign up for the competition.

The guild staffs were surprised when they saw the young child walk in, but they were exceptionally welcoming and respectful to him. Ren didn't care about the courtesy and quickly made sure that Cecil's registration was in order before bringing him out of the guild.

"That was easy..." Cecil said as he looked back at the guild.

"Told ya so Master! Now you can just wait for the competition to begin! There will be 3 phases spanning 3 days. The first day you will participate in the first phase, the written assessment and the second phase, the practical skills assessment. The third phase will be held during the last 2 days, Artificing!"

"So we'll have to create an actual magi-tech..."

"Yup, and the one who creates the most profound magi-tech will be declared the winner!"

"Hm... Seems easy enough, but what about the materials?" Cecil asked.

"All materials will be provided by the empire for the sake of fairness. All the competitors have to do is pick which materials they want before the 3rd round begins and the materials will be prepared in the workshop assigned to you later!"

Cecil nodded in understanding and looked up at the sky. It was already deep into the afternoon and it was probably high time for them to quickly get back to their accommodations.

"We'll part ways here Ren. It's getting late and we should return. You should do the same as well."

"O-okay Master..."

"We'll see you in 3 days."

"A-alright!"

Since Cecil was already participating in the competition, the artificer guild had given him a token that granted him free passage from the outer districts to District 25. So he wouldn't need Ren's help the next time he needed to get back here.

Cecil bade Ren farewell and left with the girls. Once he arrived back at the hotel they were staying at, they saw Silver and Yuna come down.

"You guys are back, Master." Silver greeted.

"Yeah, are you two going out?"

"Yup, we'll see you later, Master!"

Cecil only nodded and lightly told Yuna to make sure Silver doesn't cause any trouble. Lucia and Serilla were envious when they saw Yuna's glowing complexion. They were able to infer from her blissful and happy expression that they had just finished doing something 'incredible'.

The two honed their sights at Cecil and the boy sneezed and felt a chill run up his spine.

"The heck? Please don't let me catch a cold right before an important event!" Cecil said as he entered the moving platform with the girls while rubbing his arms.

He began circulating his Ki and made sure that his body was kept in a healthy state. He hadn't once caught a cold ever since he arrived in Alterna due to the large change to his physique, but he grew worried that he might catch one now.

Lucia looked enviously at Serilla who was next to her. She saw her sister eyeing Cecil rapaciously and she could guess what'll happen later tonight.