"Hey, are you alright?" said Amelia as she lifted her head up and wiped her drool away.
"Yeah, I think so, you?"
"Yes, but why did you fall asleep too?"
"It's because he ingested the mana amplifier," said a man standing not so far in the corner.
I didn't notice him when I woke up, but he was there, with his arms crossed.
'Shit.'
I can't believe I forgot about the effects of the mana amplifier.
I shouldn't have ingested it on the spot.
"Tell me, human, who are you?
I know you aren't Duke Desmond's son."
"I…"
Fuck, caught red-handed too.
Could this get any worse?
After that, Amelia stood up and stretched her hands widely, motioning to protect me.
I think?
"Father, please don't hurt him."
"Don't worry, Amelia, I won't.
It'll be painless," said the Elf King as he crunched his knuckles together.
Ah, come on, give a six-year-old some slack, would you?
"I apologize for sneaking in and pretending to be someone I'm not.
My name is Ezra Ashford, of the noble household of Ashford in the human domain," I said in an apologetic tone.
Yes!
Please have some sympathy.
I'm just a small human boy who didn't know any better!
And hey, I sounded pretty polite, don't you think?
"Ezra Assford, hmm… I see."
"..."
I'm not even gonna try to react to that.
"As per our law, it states that trespassing is a crime which would likely put you in jail for 100 years.
Even more so if it's of a noble's domain," said the Elf King with a serious face.
"Not only did you illegally trespass, but you also stole a mana amplifier from the royal family's secret storage and ingested it," he continued.
"As you know, mana amplifiers are the elves' sacred booster which only they should ingest."
Yup, I knew that.
Didn't care.
Took it anyway.
"Add that into the equation, and you'd have to serve hmm… 500 years?
Give or take."
Fuck, 500 years?!
Give me four generations and I still wouldn't be able to serve that kind of sentence.
Is this guy actually serious?
"But as a father who had received a request from my daughter, I'll shorten your sentence by five years.
During those five years, you'll be spending your time here in the estate."
"..."
Okay, that's honestly not too bad, given the severity of my crime.
But wouldn't my parents be looking for me?
"Uhm, before I accept—"
"Accepting is your only choice, Assford.
I'm already being generous here letting you live in the estate," the Elf King cuts me off.
Okay, he's right.
This wasn't even a sentence at all.
It was more like a fancy vacation, but…
"I know, but you see I have a family and they would be worried about me.
Could I contact them first and notify them?"
"I can accept that," the Elf King nods in approval.
"Looks like I've yet to introduce myself.
Standing before you is Arthur Ataraxia, King of Elvendom."
"Pft…"
I try to hold back my laughter.
Did this guy seriously introduce himself like that?
What's with that formality?
It seems to me that he's just role-playing the part of a King.
Did he read too much manga or something?
"What's so funny?" said Arthur with a furrowed brow.
"Nothing, King Arthur."
I fixed my expressions.
"I'll introduce myself formally once again.
I am Ezra 'ASH' ford," I said with an intonation.
I abruptly got out of the bed, took a left knee, and leaned my head downwards.
"Of the noble house of 'ASH' ford, son of Camilla Ashford and Dylan Ashford, pleased to make your acquaintance, King Arthur Ataraxia."
"Pft… what is that?
Is that how you humans do your customs when greeting someone of royalty?"
King Arthur places his hands on his mouth as he tries to hold back his laughter.
"Pft…"
Amelia does the same.
What the hell is wrong with this father and daughter duo?
…
I stepped foot outside the estate and was greeted by a carriage that was waiting for me.
With Vera by my side, we stepped inside the carriage.
"Haa… why couldn't you just stay still?
I told you the King would make his appearance before you," said Vera as she let out an exasperated sigh.
"Not only that, but you had the guts to pretend you were the son of a duke and stole a mana amplifier.
Haa… you've given me a lot of headaches with that performance of yours."
Hey, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, right?
But I wonder what the main character is up to right now.
He's probably done with his tragic backstory or something.
Eh, whatever.
…
We arrived at my family's domain.
Stepping foot inside, I was greeted by the sight of my father kneeling on the floor, clasping his hands together on the premise of pleading for his life.
In front of him was my mother, who was glaring daggers at him while shouting.
'YOU USELESS EXCUSE FOR A HUSBAND!'
'HOW DARE YOU SHOW UP WITHOUT BRINGING ANY GOOD NEWS?!'
'IT'S BEEN A FULL DAY AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T FOUND HIM?!'
'$%#%@&'
And somewhere along those lines, but they were erm… too explicit, even to my standards.
Yes, mother!
Show him who's the dominant one in the relationship!
After that, her screams stopped and she shifted her gaze towards me.
"Ezra!
My baby boy, where were you?
I was so worried."
My mother ran towards me and locked me in a tight embrace.
"Mother I— UGKK."
I was suffocating.
After that, my mother shifted her gaze to Vera, who was standing behind me.
Still suffocating me.
"Oh hello, are you the person that found my son?"
"Actually, your son should explain," said Vera as she locked her eyes with my mother.
Damned elf.
I wanted to avoid doing that.
"What is she talking about, Ezra?"
My mother pulled away from the embrace and placed her hands on my shoulders.
"Uhm, where should I start…"
GULP!
Here's a simple summary of what went down: it was scary.
As a person who was stabbed to death in their previous life, this was probably much scarier.
I asked Vera if I could speak to my mother privately.
Can't have Vera listening in, you know?
Spoiler alert, she allowed it.
I started the explanation of my disappearance by telling her that I was separated from my father as I was immersed in the items offered by the vendors.
This was a lie.
Then, I told her that as I was walking around on the premise of searching for my father, I suddenly found myself lost in the forest.
You know those tales where if you found yourself lost in the forest, you should just keep moving forward and not go the other way since you'd be even more lost?
Yeah, that kind of story.
She took all my bullshitting to heart, of course.
Why would her polite and cute six-year-old son make such a lie?
I continued with the story where I stumbled upon the elven domain.
And with my quick thinking, I came up with a plan to pose as Damian Milverton to guarantee my safety.
Seriously, who the hell is Damian Milverton?
It was there that I was taken to the Ataraxia's royal estate, where I met the Elf Princess, Amelia Ataraxia.
And that she had asked me to play, so I engaged in hide and seek with her.
Okay, this part I wasn't lying.
Then as I was looking for Amelia, I stumbled upon the mana amplifier.
As a curious six-year-old boy, I followed my instincts and swallowed the pill.
Leading to the events that unfolded right now.
Heh, what a great story if I do say so myself.
My mother's expressions ranged from anger, shock, worry, and shock again.
She was angry at my father's neglect of the situation, of course.
Yes, that's right, you are such an irresponsible father, Dylan Ashford!
She was at first hesitant in allowing me to be away in the Elven Domain for five years.
But after negotiating that they'd be allowed to visit me in those five years, she eventually agreed.
…
Which brings us to today.
I am currently standing at the gates of the Ataraxia family estate with two briefcases in each of my hands.
Shortly after, the gates opened automatically when I ventured closer to it.
There, I was greeted by the sight of Amelia waving her hands.
This is great.
There are resources in the Elven Domain I needed to further progress my system.