Chapter 270 - The Artificer Prodigy

Even after making their way into the city and teleporting to another district, the young boy kept on following after Cecil and continued pestering him for an answer.

"Hey, Mister, give me an answer already! What was that about the—"

"Kid, just let it go. I said nothing and you heard nothing, alright? Also, I'm not that old, so don't call me Mister!" Cecil said, cutting the boy off from finishing his sentence.

"I can go all day, mister! I won't stop pestering you until you give me an answer!"

"Tsk, you're so persistent..."

Cecil was already starting to get annoyed by this little fellow who was practically acting as the fourth wheel to his, Lucia's and Serilla's date.

Although he hadn't intended for it, but Cecil was honestly beginning to enjoy his date with the girls, however, now someone was spoiling his fun and it really annoyed him.

Cecil was just about to grab both Serilla and Lucia and make a run for it, but Serilla suddenly went over to the young boy and began patting his head in amus.e.m.e.nt.

"Hehehe~ aren't you a stubborn little fella~"

"H-hey! Don't treat me like a kid!" The little boy said as he tried pushing away Serilla's hand.

"Oh my~ how cute~"

When the little boy heard that he became fl.u.s.tered and started blushing in embarrassment, but when Cecil heard that... it caused him to click his tongue in annoyance and displeasure.

"Tch, I'm obviously cuter—"

"Eh~? Is my darling jealous~?" Serilla teased when she heard Cecil voice out his displeasure.

Although he did say it under his breath, Cecil had forgotten that with Serilla's physique, she could easily pick up the whispering of someone who was close by. What more Cecil who was practically just standing behind her.

"Hmph, Why would I be jealous of a kid? Hey kid, you seem to be a local, do you know where the Empire's library is at?"

The little boy brightened up a little when Cecil finally replied to him.

"I'll tell you where it's at if you give me my answers!"

"...Fine."

"Cel! Are you stopping our date now?!" Lucia asked with clear displeasure in her tone.

"What? No! I'm just asking for directions now so I can visit at a later time!"

"I?!"

"We! So WE can visit at a later time!"

"Oh, that's okay then~"

This little girl really exasperated him, but Cecil only patted her head and turned his attention back to the kid.

"Sure, I'll provide you some answers so out with it."

"Y-you better not be lying!"

"Don't look down on me kid, I'm a man of my word!"

The little boy scrutinized Cecil a little bit before finally relenting.

"Fine, I'll tell you, the Empire's Great Library is located in District 7."

Hearing that, Cecil could only sigh in defeat. As he was an adventurer, he wouldn't be able to get access to District 7 with the little bit of time he had.

"Oh well... there go my visiting plans..."

Cecil turned around and began walking away after the kid answered. The girls looked at him before looking back at the boy with a smile and followed after. Seeing this, the boy blanked out momentarily before realizing he had been duped. He nearly burst out in tears and was about to yell at him, but Cecil suddenly turned around when he was a couple of paces away.

"You coming or not? Quit gawking there and follow me."

"Wha?"

"We obviously can't be talking out on the road. I'm hungry and so are my girlfriends, so let's head over there," Cecil said as he pointed to a bakery.

The boy immediately brightened at his words and chased after the party. When they arrived inside the bakery and ordered some bread, cakes, snacks, and drinks, the boy was already impatient and began urging Cecil to hurry it up.

"No rush, kid. Eat a little. We'll talk as we eat."

"O-okay..." The boy replied as he began eating a little bit of the food presented to him.

While the girls were eating and talking among themselves, Cecil started his explanation.

"Alright, well, here are your answers. First of all—"

Once Cecil started his detailed and lengthy explanation, the young boy had his full attention on Cecil's words. He pulled out a small notebook and even began jotting down notes. Every detail regarding the flaw in the crafting method, battery creation and runic arrays, Cecil explained everything without missing out on a single detail.

He did promise the kid after all, so despite him knowing that he wouldn't be able to gain access to the library, he kept his word.

By the time he finished his explanations, Lucia and Serilla had already finished 2 plates of the cake they ordered.

"O-oh! I-I didn't know about this! But that runic array and the runes described, aren't they lost runes?!"

Cecil merely raised a finger into the air and began drawing the runic array in the air using his mana.

Seeing his actions, the young boy widened his eyes in shock. This was the first time he's ever seen someone draw a runic array using only their mana. Not to mention that Cecil was doing it without using a medium like magic parchment or an artificer pen.

"W-wow, Mister—N-no, Master! Master, you're runic technique is amazing!" The boy exclaimed with brightly lit eyes full of admiration.

Cecil was smug when he heard his praise. So smug that he actually missed the difference in the way the boy addressed him.

When he finished drawing the runic array, Cecil pointed at the boy's book and the floating array shot into an empty page and engraved itself inside the book.

"That's the array that should be used for the battery. This runic array is something I personally developed to increase the cannon's output while also making the battery rechargeable!"

It wasn't the complete battery runic array that Cecil was still in the midst of developing. It was one of his early prototypes that he already scrapped, however if the empire were to replace the arrays inside their cannons, it would boost the performance and power by at least 50%.

The young boy had his full attention on the new runic array inside his book, but he didn't understand a single thing about the very complex array.

Seeing his confusion, Cecil began pointing out the runes in the array one by one and began explaining their functions. It didn't take long before the young boy gained a partial understanding of the complex runic array.

"W-wow!"

"Despite what I said, your Empire's cannons are plenty powerful enough. Besides, all of my explanations are only that regarding of ancient magi-tech cannons. Even if I was able to build one using modern times' materials, I'm not sure I can completely replicate the power of the Storm Howler Mk. I."

The little kid had a solemn expression on his face after listening to all of Cecil's expositions. All of the new theories, knowledge and concepts he got from Cecil were mind-boggling to him. Most of the things the young mister, who was probably not half his artificer mentors' age, explained to him were things he couldn't understand, but he did know that his methods and concepts were much more advanced than his mentors.

In all his life, he was termed as the next up and coming genius of the Empire. He was going to be the next successor of the Empire's Great Workshop and his predecessors hoped that he'd be the person who would lead the Empire into a new era.

As a baby, he was able to learn how to read, walk, run, and talk well before he was 3 years old. By the time he actually did turn 3, he was able to understand many complex magi-tech formulas, runic arrays, and other things regarding magi-tech creation.

When the higher ups of the Empire's Workshop saw such a talent, they naturally took him in and nurtured him to become their successor. In the next couple of years until now, when he hit the fine age of 10, he had been studying under the great artificers of the Empire and was constantly creating magi-tech and artifacts for the Empire. He was the Empire's Artificer Prodigy.

He wasn't forced to do this. Rather, he loved learning, creating, and developing new magi-tech, but lately, he had grown frustrated with himself and his seniors.

All the knowledge regarding magi-tech seemed a little off to him. Ever since he's read all the books inside Royal Family's Archives regarding magi-tech, he began feeling that the Empire's magi-tech knowledge being insufficient and flawed. This was because of the existence of the ancient times' magi-tech knowledge being lost from their present era.

Although many of his seniors said that his worries were unfounded since no one could compare the knowledge of this era and the ancient era's since the latter's knowledge was lost, no one could determine which was better.

They also somewhat disparaged the ancient era's knowledge because no one knew whether or not the historians of past didn't exaggerate the technological achievements of the ancients.

This indeed could be the case, but the young boy didn't believe in this. He firmly believed that the ancients' past achievements weren't exaggerations. The biggest evidence was the remnants of their civilization which would sometimes be unearthed all across the world.

The techniques and runes used in these remnants were much more advanced than the present eras' so upon seeing Cecil's unique and obviously more advanced runes and techniques, the young boy's passion and determination immediately ignited. He was indeed termed as a prodigy, but looking at this other young prodigy in front of him, the little boy inwardly made a decision.

"Oh my~" Serilla smiled and began chuckling when she saw the boy's determined expression. She had long since noticed the change in the way the boy addressed and treated Cecil. She could infer from the child's expression that he seemed to have come to a decision with himself.

As she predicted, the boy stood up from his seat and walked over next to Cecil before he kowtowed to him.

"Master! Please acknowledge me as your disciple!"

"Huh?"