Akashic Records of the Bastard Child Engaged to a Goddess

Winter Break Arc

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(POV: Lumiere)

Garret downed his mug of beer, the satisfying taste washing over his tongue as he slammed the empty vessel onto the sturdy wooden table. Exhaling deeply, he stood up and turned to Ress, beckoning him to join him.

"We should get going," he told Ress.

"Huh?" I said. "Wait, you guys are leaving so soon?" I asked.

I wasn't necessarily disappointed, but it was just so abrupt. I could've done something like this to Garret— leaving during a conversation with someone I hadn't seen for some time. But it was unusual for him to do it because he was always so friendly.

Garret flashed me a grin. "Yeah, we have to meet with Genevieve," he replied.

"Oh, I see," I responded. But then Garret surprised me with an invitation. "Hey, you can come with us, if you want!" he exclaimed. "We can all go see her together."

For a moment, I felt relieved. If I went to see Genny, then I could apologize to her for the way I left things between us.

"Really?" I asked.

But then something important popped into my mind...

I glanced at Ravenna.

She flashed me a pretty smile and then said, "It's fine if you want to go, I've had enough fun already..."

There was no way I could leave things here, besides, we barely scratched the list of things she wanted to do for today. Yeah, we still had a lot of time seeing as we could do it tomorrow or the day after, but it'd be better for her to enjoy it without uninteresting intervals.

I looked at Garret again.

"Actually," I began, "nevermind. I already have plans."

Garret's gaze flickered to Ravenna and then back to me, a smile then appeared on his lips. "With your lady friend, huh?" he teased. "Well, no worries. We'll still be in Argentia when you're done, we could meet up here say, tomorrow?"

"Looks good." I nodded.

"Honestly, we might be stuck in Argentia for a while..." Garret added.

I stroked my chin thoughtfully, considering what he said.

Winter didn't have a fixed date but it usually occurred early or late into the year, so it solely depended on how much the mana condensation in the atmosphere was— high or low.

If it was high, then chances were we'd have a very catastrophic winter.

If it was low, the opposite.

"I've heard that winter is particularly harsh on some parts of the continent," I mentioned. "Traveling during this time would be quite risky."

Unless you could teleport or had high-level barrier magic.

Ress nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it'd be suicidal," he chimed in.

Just as they were about to leave, Garret remembered something else. "Oh, and one more thing," he said, catching my attention. "Have you heard about the small Winter Sword Festival that's going to take place after winter?"

It was a little funny that a "Winter" sword festival would take place after winter, it'd be better if they called it a Post-Winter Sword Festival. But it was likely the reason they set it to be after winter so competitors could have a better chance of traveling without any issues.

Makes sense.

I shook my head. "No, I'm not really a swordsman, so it doesn't concern me much."

Garret chuckled. "Yeah, I know that," he replied. "But Genevieve is really excited about it. She'll be thrilled to have you there."

I raised an eyebrow. "Wait a minute, Genevieve is participating?" I asked, eager for more information.

She was in the Holy Sword Festival, but we didn't cross each other in the tournament brackets. But chances were we'd face each other in the later rounds.

Garret nodded.

"Yep, she broke her previous high-grade sword when we went exploring in a cave. Now she doesn't have a standard primary weapon, so she's hoping to create something new by winning the tournament."

"Oh, but that sword of hers was really high grade," I commented.

If I remember correctly, it was made by one of the best blacksmiths in the Royal Capital. If we were factoring in the worth of the sword I'd say it was somewhere around 30 gold. Jericho wanted to get the same blacksmith to make a sword for him but my father was against it.

Apparently, he felt it would look like he was trying to encourage Jericho to become a Margrave.

And neither Bluestella nor the king wanted that— he was supposedly suited to be a Duke.

"How on earth did a dungeon raid manage to wear it out so badly?" I asked.

Ress leaned back in his chair and chuckled. "It wasn't just the usual dungeon monsters," he explained. "We stumbled upon this incredibly powerful creature that gave us one hell of a fight. It's a miracle we made it out alive."

"Yeah, that bastard..." Garret mentioned.

"What was it's name again, Valera... Val... Velrizar...?" Ress rubbed his chin as he thought.

To cut their unnecessary information short, I interjected. "Wow, that sounds like one incredible story," I said, leaning forward. "I wish I could've seen it."

"Yeah, you missed this guy, Merlin." Garret nodded proudly.

I raised an eyebrow. "Merlin? Who's he?"

"Probably the strongest guy I've ever met..."

"Really? He's that strong?"

I wasn't really taking his word for much. But the only reason it bothered me was because he already fought and lost to Black in the Holy Sword Festival, so for him to say this guy was the strongest he'd ever met was a little concerning.

Either way, I chose to shift the conversation.

Although not curious, I prodded for more information. "So, what's the deal with this tournament? What's at stake?"

Garret grinned, clearly excited about the topic. "The winner of the tournament gets a brand new weapon," he revealed. "And not just any weapon, it's going to be made by one of the best blacksmiths in the entire continent."

That was... Actually a great prize.

"Who's the blacksmith?" I asked, eagerly awaiting the answer.

Ress leaned forward. "It's Sela," he responded. "She's the one responsible for crafting some of the legendary weapons used by the God Continent's Holy Knights."

I whistled appreciatively. "That's some serious talent," I murmured.

If I did win that tournament, chances were I could get this Sela to give Thrain a few pointers that he could use to improve his craft. In the end I wouldn't even need a weapon because if Thrain had about as much experience as her, I'd get a high grade weapon anytime I wanted. I could even sell to other continents.

Not bad...

Garret's expression turned slightly sour. "Yeah, and that's why I hope the tournament doesn't attract too many powerful swordsmen," he confessed. "The competition will be tough, and my chances of winning will be significantly reduced."

Well, you didn't really a chance to begin with, but okay.

I chuckled at his competitiveness. "Well, I guess you'll just have to give it your all and see how it goes," I suggested.

"Hopefully Black doesn't enter the tournament..."

"Black?" I raised an eyebrow.

Who could such an awesome name belong to? I thought.

Garret nodded a bit. "He was the guy who one-shot me in the last tournament.."

"Yeah, he's probably one of the strongest swordsman I've seen.." Ress added.

"Don't call him a swordsman, he's not worth that title." Garret frowned.

Uh, sure.

Garret looked a bit unhappy. The topic really reduced his spirits. He secured his sword to his waist and stood up. "I'd love to talk more Lumiere, trust me I would," he said. "But for now, we must get going. Genevieve wouldn't like us being tardy."

"Hah~ I know that feeling." I chuckled.

They waved at me and took their leave.

"Alright then, later," I bid them farewell, waving as they exited the booth.

I settled back into my seat, savoring the moment of relaxation. Ravenna turned to me, she stared silently at me and it made me heavily uncomfortable.

For a second, I was planning not to talk, and just let her keep staring, UT then she started saying:

"Staaaaareeee~~"

"Uh, is there anything you want... Ravenna?"

"It's really fine if you want to go with them..."

I sighed and then flicked my finger against her forehead.

"Ouch!" she covered the spot I flicked with her hands. "Why'd you do that."

"Because you don't listen to me... I told you that we were going to have fun today, just you and me, no one else and no distractions either." I shrugged and sighed a bit. "But it looks like you're being an unfaithful wife now."

Ravenna blushed a bit, and then her cheeks puffed up like buns as she shot forward and told me. "I'm a great wife!"

"Prove it..." I told her.

"Alright then, we can keep going out~!" she said.

She's so easy... Heh~