I went toward the Airship after accepting the mission, and I soon arrived near it.
As I examined the airship, I noticed how massive it was. It was my first time seeing an airship, and its design did not disappoint me.
The advancing Weatherproof wings were powered by a magical engine that generated explosions.
The force of the explosions is used for accelerating. The flowing mana from mana stones is used to power the planar shifting.
Additionally, the ship is made to float by an anti-gravity field, and steering can be accomplished automatically as well as manually.
After a brief moment of admiration, I approached the airship.
But one of the airship's guards stopped me and furrowed his brow, and said,
"What are you looking for, kid? This is not the place to mess around; go play somewhere else."
The guard appeared to be a typical bouncer who could be found outside any pub.
I kept a tolerant expression as I heard him, while Irethiel, who was sitting on my shoulder in her crow form uttered quietly,
"Don't be fooled by his appearance."
After overhearing Iretheil, I grinned and showed the guard my adventurer card.
The guard furrowed his brow and carefully examined my adventurer card for a few moments before turning pale.
"A-Rank Adventurer Ares Von Rothstaylor? sponsored by SS-Rank Adventurer M-Mika Amami?" He gulped after speaking and looked at me with trepidation.
I smiled satisfyingly as I noticed his unease.
"P-Please pardon my rude behavior, Prince Ares. I was ignorant enough to not recognize you." He talked while his forehead was dripping with sweat.
"It's all right," I said innocently.
"T-Thank you for your generosity," He thanked me anxiously, and respectfully guided me inside the airship.
Though my name became well known throughout the continent not long ago, his frightened expression was because he saw Mika's name, at least I think that's the case.
And everyone is aware of how violent Mika is; so if he even slightly upset me, she would kill him.
"...."
The other adventurers were perplexed and curious when they saw the guard treat me so respectfully.
I ignored them as the guard directed me to one of the guestrooms.
"You are welcome to stay here while we travel to the floating island, Prince Ares. This is one of the most luxurious rooms on the airship; I hope it suits your taste." The guard stated,
"But I'm on a mission here, shouldn't I be guarding the goods instead?" I replied.
"I-I'm not brave enough to make you guard these goods, so Prince Ares, please rest here. I'll go inform my master about your visit." He quickly left after saying that.
I'm not sure what to think about the guard's behavior, because power is everything in this world. So, I think his trepidation was not exaggerated.
And I can't say that I dislike this treatment though.
Now that I think about it, they might even let me use the warp gate freely if they saw Mika's name on my adventurer card, aren't they?
It might be an abuse of power, but it would save me time, which I could use to train instead.
Well, It's too late to be upset about the spilled milk. I might as well give it a shot the next time I want to travel.
I came out of my thoughts when Irethiel asked me a question.
"Who exactly is this Mika Amami? The attitude of that guard flipped as soon as he saw her name," she asked.
"She is my Master," I replied.
!?
"Master?" Irethiel exclaimed.
"I meant to say, she is my teacher." I clarified.
'I should change the way I address Mika from now on,' I reflected inwardly.
"She could be quite strong, right?" she wondered.
"Yeah, she is," I confirmed.
"I want to fight her and see how powerful she is," Irethiel explained.
'Please don't tell me she's also a battle maniac.' I reflected.
And a knock on the door interrupted my conversation with Irethiel.
Knock Knock -
"Hmm?" I turned toward the door and even before I could respond, the door was pushed open, and a girl rushed up to me and hugged me.
!?
"Ares! Ares!" she screamed in my arms.
'What the f*ck is this situation?' I thought to myself as I pushed her away.
"You could have let me know if you were coming to see me," she said while pouting.
"...."
"Who are you again?" I inquired because I don't recall her in previous Ares memories.
"H-Huh!" she exclaimed with a puzzled face.
I just stared at the girl in front of me,
She had a beautiful face, grey hair, grey eyes, and a not-so-well-developed figure which in anime terms we could call her a loli, and she appeared to be around my age.
"Did you truly not recognize me?" She questioned while awkwardly smiling.
"Sorry, but I don't recognize you, "I admitted honestly.
'Who the hell are you kid,' I silently wondered.
"W-well it's been a long time since we last met, so it's understandable that you couldn't recognize me." She said with a smile that concealed her melancholy.
When I saw her expression, I smiled awkwardly and tried to recall any memories I had of her.
But I couldn't find any, even though I have a photographic memory.
If I couldn't recall her, it meant I had never met her, or ...she had changed beyond my recognition.
She introduced herself after seeing my perplexed expression.
"Hello, my name is Silvia Ursula, and I am your fiancee," she announced.
"Huh?" I exclaimed.
!?
As soon as I heard her name, I immediately recognized it from my novel's knowledge as well as from previous Ares memories.
"Y-You're Silvia?" I questioned her with suspicion, as I remember that name from previous Ares memories as well.
But the Silvia the previous Ares knew is nothing like the one in front of me.
"Yes, I am Silvia Ursula, your fiancee," she answered cheerfully.
Ares's precious memories of Silvia lead me to believe she had a large build, black hair, and wasn't in the best of mental health.
Because Ares possessed a manaless body. Ares' father decided to marry him off to Silvia, the daughter of the Merchant Association leader, while Silvia was infamous for being a villainess with a large build.
The head of the merchant association happily accepted the engagement even though Ares had a manaless body, as Ares was awfully attractive.
But Ares didn't bother with Silvia, and they didn't spend much time together either nor did they keep in contact with each other.
But Silvia was very fond of Ares and sees him as her charming prince.
'There is no way this beautiful girl in front of me is 'that' Silvia, and I recognized her name very well from the novel,' I reasoned as I examined her from head to toe.
"W-why are you staring at me like that?" she inquired shyly as she became aware of my attention on her.
"Whoa, Master! You even forgot about your fiancee? You are quite exceptional." Irethiel commented and continued.
"And I believe you already know 'what' she is, right?"
"...Yeah," I answered her after a certain pause using telepathy and kept quiet for a moment to gather my thoughts.
"...."
Silvia spoke again while I was speechless for a moment.
"Don't say you didn't recognize me. Even though I was somewhat healthy before, and we hadn't spoken in a long time, you shouldn't forget about your fiancee."
'Somewhat healthy? You were five times as fat as you are now.' I reasoned inwardly because I didn't want to embarrass her.
"I was planning to invite you to my coming-of-age ceremony, and our engagement would be announced on the same day," she cheerfully stated.
* Gulp After hearing her last statement, I gulped loudly, knowing that hell would break loose if that happened. I have no idea what Livia will do... No, I have no idea what Livia and Mika will do.
Worst of all, I'm getting involved with this girl in front of me, who is nothing but huge trouble.
Why do I always run into troublesome girls?
Silvia didn't stop talking and continued blabbering while I was thinking to myself, but I didn't hear her because I couldn't focus on our conversation anymore...
"So, that's why I resolved to be someone deserving of you." She finally came to a halt after saying that.
We soon heard an announcement about the takeoff, which jolted me awake.
***************