Katia and I were walking towards the port of Aerelieth, our home city.

 

The citizens whether they were a man or a woman, an elder or a child, they instantly recognized us…

 

"Jeez, young master… They gave you so many gifts! I don't know when we will find the time to open them all!" Katia said with amusement.

 

"Sigh… Half of the [Bag of Holding] is already full… We won't be able to bring as much treasure and relics as I wanted…" I sighed heavily.

 

I am apparently quite popular with young girls because of my appearance...

 

Sigh…

 

Most girls my age or those who were close to my age came to us while we were departing from my family's home and started showering me with gifts…

 

That's actually a regular occurrence in my life, but this time was particularly scary… There were more girls than usual...

 

Katia said that some of those girls came from the countryside from our island just to see me…

 

Hmm? What did they give me? Mostly things like chocolate, perfumes, cheese and fruits. Well, that’s what the few packages that we opened contained...

 

I'm actually quite grateful for their gifts since we will now have something tasty for lunch later.

 

I need to remember to send a letter to each of them thanking them for their gifts though…

 

While I was thinking of those uninteresting things, Katia and I finally reached the port.

 

"The Dame of the Lake is looking good today!" Katia said with an excited expression.

 

I just smiled in response and looked towards the port.

 

The port is currently quite empty. There's only a ship docked here. My ship.

 

The Dame of the Lake… A ship with three masts and the capacity to carry at least half a tonne of raw materials.

 

The ship is designed like a Carrack. The sails have the emblem of our household. Which is a Lion holding a sword on his right paw and a fireball on its left.

 

My mother and aunties gave me this ship when I was admitted into the Royal Academy of Sky Harbor.

 

"Sheesh, but everyone has already departed eh? We are kinda late to the show…" Katia said with a bitter smile.

 

"Rushing into the unknown won't do us any good. Besides… Adventures exist to enjoy them. Let's take our time and enjoy our adventure, shall we?"

 

Most of the ships of our port have already departed to either other islands of the Archipelago or towards the brand new world below our islands.

 

Almost all of the adventurers from our city are surely down there trying to find treasure and having the time of their lives.

 

I also want to have fun like them, but as my father says: "Fortune smiles to those who wait."

 

It is also a good thing that no one will follow us like I feared about. That means that we can take our sweet time documenting our discoveries!

 

"Hehehe! Let's spend lots and lots of time together!" Katia suddenly raised me into the air and started rubbing her cheek against my own.

 

"Katia… At least restrain yourself in public…" I said with a tired expression.

 

Sigh… This maid of mine doesn't know what shame is…

 

"Nope!" She said as she hugged me tightly.

 

"Jeez, as lovey-dovey as always eh?" A familiar female voice spoke to us.

 

The voice came from our ship. I looked towards the ship and saw a familiar figure who was looking at us from the deck.

 

The one looking at us is a dwarf. She's 1.50 meters tall. She has long black hair which is adorned with beautiful silver beads. Her eyes are red coloured. She has some lovely facial features. 

 

She was smiling warmly at us.

 

"Oh! Alma! I thought we would have to wake you up forcefully! I heard last night that you were going to stay at the bar and drink until sunrise!" Katia said with an amused expression.

 

Alma, the dwarf jumped from the deck and landed in front of us… She stood proudly right in front of me.

 

"It seems like our poor young master has not gotten any taller… How sad…" Alma said with an overly dramatic tone. She ignored what Katia had said.

 

"You two really like insulting your employer, don't you…?" I said with annoyance.

 

"Erli, you know that I'm joking, right!? You should already know how I feel about your appearance!" Alma panicked as soon as she saw my annoyed expression.

 

"Erli doesn't need to grow any taller! He looks extremely cute the way he is!" Katia added.

 

…

 

I will not comment on that...

 

"Sigh… Let us set sail at once." I said with a flat tone.

 

I then started walking towards the ship… I was then stopped by Alma who had grabbed the collar of my shirt.

 

"Erli, just wait… You barely come to see me in months and that's how you greet me? I'm extremely hurt…" Alma said with sadness (fake).

 

"You should have thought of that before making fun of my height…" I looked at her with a blank expression.

 

Despite that, the strong dwarven woman pulled me towards her and hugged me tightly.

 

"Ohh! As always, you smell so nice… As expected of the Elven Cutie of Aerelieth!" Alma said while sniffing my hair…

 

Yeah, that’s apparently my unofficial nickname amongst the girls of my home city... 

 

"Hehehe! I personally washed it this morning!" Katia said with pride.

 

Sigh… This perverted maid and this drunken sailor are going to be the death of me one of these days... 

 

"Can we leave please? Alma, are your men prepared?" I asked with a defeated expression.

 

"Just give me a kiss and we will depart whenever you want~!" Alma said with a mischievous expression.

 

"Stop sexually harassing your boss…" I looked at her with a blank expression.

 

"At least you could have gotten embarrassed!" Alma looked a bit annoyed that I didn't react at all.

 

"You know, that would have more impact if you didn't try to do this every time we see each other…" I said with a flat tone.

 

"Ah… Am I really that predictable?" Alma asked with a bitter smile.

 

"And even if I did agree to that, your breath stinks of alcohol…" I said while looking her straight into her eyes.

 

"Ehh!? No way! I swear I just brushed my teeth before you arrived! How embarrassing!" Alma got extremely embarrassed.

 

I simply smiled and leaned in.

 

"I'm just kidding. Your breath is fine." I whispered in her ear.

 

"Ahh… Now just for that, you will be sitting on my lap during the whole trip, Erli." Alma smiled from ear to ear. She tightened her hug and started to carry me towards the ship.

 

Sigh… This is also a normal occurrence in my life...

 

You see... Alma and Katia are childhood friends. Alma also worked for my family as a sailor even before I was born, so it was natural for me to see her at my home.

 

You could say that she was another one of my caretakers… 

 

When I was given the ship by my mom and aunties, Alma became my subordinate and Captain of the Dame of the Lake.

 

"Kati, are you coming or what?" Alma asked with a smug expression.

 

"Of course! This is Erli's and I's adventure!" Katia immediately ran to catch up with Alma.

 

The three of us immediately boarded the ship.

 

All of the tripulation of the Dame of the Lake quickly lined up to receive us…

 

The tripulation was a mix of both men and women. The bravest sailors in all of Aerelieth!

 

A human bald middle-aged man with a scary expression stepped forward.

 

“Lord Erlan, the ship has been prepared to depart. We will set sail whenever you give us the order.” The scary looking man bowed to me.

 

“Shouldn’t I give the order? I’m the captain!” Alma pouted.

 

“I don’t accept orders from pipsqueaks.” The scary looking man smiled and teased Alma.

 

“You little!” Alma started to hug me even tightly thanks to her frustration.

 

Ah… She will crush my ribs at this rate...

 

“It is kinda ironic that you say that when you are asking for Erli’s orders… Don’t mess up with Alma too much, Rick. Remember that she really is your captain.” Katia said to the scary looking bald man.

 

The scary looking bald man is called Rick. He’s the childhood friend of both Alma and Katia. The three of them grew together in the same street and have been friends ever since they were kids.

 

He has also been working for my family way before I was born. 

 

He might look scary, but he’s more like a gentle giant. He’s extremely polite and kind. He usually goes out of his way to help people. He just likes to tease Alma whenever it is possible.

 

If I were to say something that I don’t like about him is…

 

“By the way, Lord Erlan, my daughters have been asking me nonstop to bring you to dinner at our home. Would that be possible?” He asked with a pleading expression.

 

Sigh… This loyal and kind subordinate of mine has twelve children… All of them are daughters… The oldest is 24 and the youngest is 3…

 

The first time I went to his house I was surprised to find that he had such a large number of daughters… For some reason they all took a liking of me and… No, I can’t mention what happened next… It was such an embarrassing experience…

 

“I’ll think about it…” I replied while Alma was still crushing my ribs.

 

“My wife said that she will make Fried Gludmend Intestines!” Rick tried to convince me with his wife’s cooking…

 

…

 

“I have thought about it. Sure, I’ll join you for dinner.” I nodded vigorously.

 

Gludmend is a strange animal that looks like a miniature mammoth, acts like a pig and tastes like chicken. I one hundred percent recommend any dish made with the meat of that animal.

 

“Thank the gods!” Rick seemed extremely overjoyed.

 

I can’t imagine what kind of torture he was submitted to by his daughters in order to bring me to his home… I can only pray for his soul...

 

“Ah! I will go as well!” Katia said with excitement.

 

“If there’s liquor and Martha’s cooking, then I’ll be there as well!” Alma said with excitement.

 

Martha is Rick's wife.

 

“Ah, you will have to sit at the kid’s table, Alma.” Rick said with a grin.

 

“Grr…!” Alma groaned and then started to hug me even tighter than ever before… My poor ribs and lungs will not last for long.

 

Sadly, this is also something that happens regularly in my life...

---

We were finally soaring through the blue sky. The Dame of the Lake was moving at a nice speed of 13 knots.

 

Katia and I were standing on the deck on the starboard of the ship looking at the infinite ocean of trees and grasslands beneath us. I was able to escape from Alma's embrace just a while ago.

 

I was holding in my hand a butterfly whose entire body glowed with a pale blue light. This little one was the product of a special magic, of her majesty, the Queen. A butterfly was provided to every single adventurer.

 

Since this creature is from magical origin, it has a lot of extremely convenient abilities.

 

One of those abilities allows us to access the Quest Board of the Adventurer's Guild.

 

"Get new information about the new world. If you find a new interesting place, please indicate to the guild how to reach that place…" I said as I read the pop up window with the available quests that appeared on top of my butterfly.

 

This feature seems like it came straight out of a video game…

 

Ah, the butterfly also has the ability of letting you talk with other adventurers who also have these butterflies.

 

Just a while ago, I heard the conversation of a young woman and a child. The child was asking for some sunflower seeds or something like that.

 

They seemed to be having fun and I thought that it would be extremely rude on my part to suddenly join their conversation.

 

Maybe I'll join some other time.

 

"So does that mean we need to make a map? Hehehe! You can leave that to me!" Katia smiled warmly.

 

"I'll be counting on you for that. Well, then… I will be checking my equipment." I said before I started pulling things out of my [Bag of Holding]

 

We brought two [Bags of Holding]. A smaller one and a medium-sized one.

 

In the smaller one, we have Katia's and I's equipment.

 

What I brought out of the bag was a set of three books made by me, a short sword and chainmail.

 

I grabbed one of the books and then I closed my eyes. I started concentrating my mana on the book…

 

"The runes are working perfectly." I said with delight.

 

You see, my family uses magic in a very special way…

 

We use Magical Formulas, Runes and Magic Circles. We can also use magic without them, but it is way less powerful.

 

Even though I say that, I could still probably kill a bear without using any formulas, runes or magic circles.

 

Those three things make my equipment very special. The books are filled to the brim with Formulas, Magic Circles and mana which enhances my abilities with magic.

 

The sword has several runes engraved in it. You would have to be very close to see them. The runes have the effect of making my sword more resistant and less likely to break, bent or chip. It also has some runes that enhance my attacks.

 

The chainmail also has a lot of runes engraved in it. This is probably my masterpiece. It has tons of defensive and utility enchantments.

 

It also has a particular enchantment that I really like. It is an enchantment which enhances my physical strength.

 

I could wrestle a bear if I wore that chainmail.

 

Hmm? Why have I mentioned bears when mentioning my magic and armor?

 

Well… Let's just say that my father and I had to fight two bears when he was training me in combat.

 

I get shivers down my spine every time I remember about that time…

 

"Oi! You two! I think we found a good landing zone! Please come here and take a seat!" Alma shouted from behind the helm.

 

"Hoho! It is time to land! Let's finally start our adventure!" Katia then hugged me tightly and started to rub her cheek against my own.

 

"Oi! Don't get all lovey-dovey and leave out!" Alma got annoyed… She was about to run towards us but…

 

"Idiot! Don't let go of the helm!" Rick screamed in panic before grabbing the helm.

 

The other sailors looked extremely annoyed as well.

 

"Grr… We will talk about this once we land!" Alma said with anger.

 

"Hehehe!" Katia stuck out her tongue while looking at Alma.

 

That only pissed off Alma more…

 

I am used to their antics, so I just started thinking about what we are going to find when we land…

 

What kind of things await us when we reach the surface of this new world?

 

What kind of people? What kind of strange magic will I be able to document and study? What kinds of people will we meet? What types of new animals, trees, crops, and flowers will we find?

 

All of those questions made my heart beat with excitement...