True God In Another World (Tensura x Tbate)

Chapter 73 - Under the Festival Lanterns

Arthur Leywin POV

The soft glow of the afternoon sun filtered through the council room's windows, casting long shadows across the polished wooden table where we sat. The tournament might be over, but my mind kept drifting back to Lucas's attack on Sylvia. Even after all these years, that kid still hadn't learned his lesson. The memory of him attacking the examiner on the day Rei and I became adventurers flashed through my mind, and I had to suppress a sigh.

At least some good came out of the tournament. Sylvia's victory had the whole academy buzzing - rumors flying around about her being the strongest student here. I had to smirk at that. Sure, she was stronger than most of the disciplinary committee members, but Rimuru and Ciel were still in a league of their own. As for me? Well, we'd never actually fought one-on-one, though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious about how that would go. Sylvia is better at magic than me, while I'm better at swords.

The council room was a mess of organized chaos. Maps and documents covered every available surface, creating this weird paper landscape that probably made sense to someone. Probably Claire. The girl had this uncanny ability to find exactly what she needed in what looked like a tornado's aftermath.

The evening light streaming through the tall windows caught dust motes dancing in the air, giving the whole room this weird ethereal quality. Kind of funny how this place had become our second home - or maybe our first, considering how much time we spent here. The wood-paneled walls had seen everything from heated arguments to impromptu nap sessions (mostly mine, I'll admit).

The table itself was practically groaning under the weight of festival preparations. Detailed maps of the fireworks launch sites were spread out like some complicated battle plan, complete with Claire's neat annotations in red ink. The ball decoration schemes looked like they'd been drawn by someone who'd had way too much coffee - which they probably had. I'd seen the decorating committee's late-night planning sessions, and let's just say caffeine was definitely involved.

"Arthur, are you even listening?" Rimuru's voice cut through my observations. He was sitting at the head of the table, looking every bit the responsible DC leader.

"Always," I lied smoothly, earning an eye roll from Tess.

"As I was saying," Rimuru continued, though I caught the slight twitch of amusement at the corner of his mouth, "the security plans for tonight need to be-"

A stack of papers chose that moment to give up its fight against gravity, cascading onto the floor like some sort of paper waterfall. Claire made, a quiet, frustrated sound, that perfectly summed up how we all felt about paperwork in general.

"I got it," I said, using a bit of wind magic to gather the scattered sheets.

Show-off? Maybe. Efficient? Definitely.

"Thank you," Claire said primly, though I noticed she double-checked the order anyway. Trust issues, much?

The meeting dragged on with its usual mix of actual business and friendly banter. Rimuru walked us through the festival security arrangements, which basically meant making sure no one else tried to pull a Lucas during the celebrations. I caught Doradrea hiding a yawn behind her hand - can't blame her, security details aren't exactly thrilling stuff.

As the sun dipped lower, casting orange shadows across the room, the meeting wound down. Tess was doodling what looked suspiciously like battle formations in her notebook, probably planning her next sparring session.

"I think that covers everything," Rimuru said, stretching in his chair. The formal atmosphere faded immediately, like it always did once the official stuff was done.