Reincarnated as a Son of the Sword Saint and the Sage

Other than having fun, one of the reasons for visiting the tree spirits was to talk with the World Treant. The thing I wanted to discuss with it was something I had been thinking about since I established physical relationships with the tree spirits.

After spending the afternoon with them, I headed to the World Treant and sat on one of its branches and engaged in a conversation with it while looking at the setting sun. We communicated telepathically since it was the most efficient and secured way.

I rarely interacted with the World Treant other than discussing important stuff. Our relationship was mainly formal and diplomatic for now, so there was no need to update one another every time.

Also, I took heed that the World Treant did not own a name despite that it granted each of its tree spirits one. It might be better if it had one, but I thought that it was not something to talk about for now at least.

The main thing I tackled in the conversation had something to do with what I wanted to implement for the tree spirits in the future, which needed the opinion of the World Treant. But in the end, the World Treant agreed to my idea without that much negative insight or reconsideration.

I was not sure, but I noticed that, for some reasons, it kind of pushed itself to concur. Was there something it should be afraid of me? I thought.

Nevertheless, the plan would be implemented years later, so there was no need to think about it now as I had many things to take care of.

After visiting the World Treant and the tree spirits, I headed back to the Raevender Dungeon and finished my advanced birthday celebration by spending the night with Elise, Lily, Lucy, and Uriel.

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The next day, I found myself waking up within Elise's arms. But today was a weekday, which meant that I had to attend classes. So I immediately woke them up and gave Elise and Lily a ride back to the vampiric nation before I teleported myself to the Imperial Capital.

By the way, I had transported my sister, Iris, and Christine back to the empire in advance just yesterday, so they did not have to experience my hassle today. I was lucky I was able to get to the first class in time.

The classes resumed as normally as they were. I was kind of bored, to be honest. When the lunch break came, I regrouped with the others at our usual spot.

"You seemed to be having a lot of fun yesterday, Raphael."

"It really was, Iris," I replied, and then I bit on my food. "But aside for fun, I have been doing some work as well, though it isn't related to the case I have been investigating."

"I see. But I am worried that you are occupying yourself with more problems again."

"You don't have to worry about it. It is not some problem or sort. I can't focus if I have many things to think about."

"I'm glad."

In our rented guest room, Iris, Christine, Big Sis, and I were having our classy lunch. The sounds of ceramic and silver filled the room as we were checking on one another.

Iris was being a worrywart to me right now, but the thing I took care of yesterday was more like a solution than a problem. Only myself and the World Treant knew what we had discussed, and I was concerned that it was not the time to disclose it yet.

"Hey, Raphael," my sister called out my name. "Autumn has just begun and the harvest festival is coming. Do you have any interest in participating in the Imperial Battle Tournament?"

"The tournament, huh?"

The Imperial Battle Tournament was a huge annual event in the empire where fighters from around the continent came to participate to claim the title of the mightiest warrior.

Being hailed as the champion was one of the biggest achievements a warrior could obtain. That was why countless brave ones joined and failed to get their hands on the championship. Mother once participated in the tournament and won by a landslide.

Anyone could join the tournament, including young noblemen like me, as long as one was strong enough to qualify for the preliminary rounds. The students of the academy were allowed to participate, but they were no exception to skip the preliminary rounds, so they had to crawl their way to the top.

That was too much of a hassle for me, so that was the reason why I did not want to participate.

"Although I am interested, I have decided not to participate in the tournament. My hands are already full and I don't have time for that."

"I guess so."

"Why are you asking me that, Sister? Are you perhaps interested?"

"Well, the tournament is not entirely to show off martial arts and physical prowess, but participants can use anything in their arsenal to fight like magic and skills. I just thought that you might be interested since you would be fighting different kinds of opponents. You know, to gain more fighting experience?"

"You are right, Sister. Warriors with their own fighting styles would be present in the tournament. Just like I said earlier, I don't have that much time to spare."

"If you say so."

Even if I said that, that did not mean that I could not watch the matches. The tournament was also a good event to check on some powerful individuals as well as potential threats.

"But seriously, the tournament would attract many people to the Imperial Capital as it is the main event of the harvest festival. Do you think it would be a good time for someone to cause trouble?"

"That might be a probability too." My sister nodded repeatedly. "Among the spectators of the tournament are some of the big names on the continent, especially the emperor."

"That is one of the things I have been busy with, Sister. This reliable source of mine stated that the firearms that were hoarded in the warehouse would probably be used in the harvest festival. I don't want chaos to ensure."

"So that's why you can't participate. I understand it now, Raphael. But don't push yourself too much."

"I know."

Our lunch break continued.