When offered a chance to be reincarnated as the protagonist of one of my favorite novels, I expected to be having swords duels and blasting away monsters with magic spells. What I didn't think about too much was how I would interact with my family, the Bartforts. Luckily "The Company" doesn't cut corners because I fit in just like I always did, with the Universal Calibration and substitution perks making it so that my personality blended with "Leon" perfectly. They were MY family that I loved deeply, and nothing would change that.

To my right is my father Balcus. Standing at an imposing 5' 11" and weighing in at nearly 210 lbs (95.25 kgs) of muscle. I'm the only only member of the family who is "bigger" standing at 6' 3", but only weighing 205 lbs (92.98 kgs). To his left is my gentle and sweet mother Luce; she's technically my father's concubine. The only reason she's not my dad's legal wife because the Royal Family has tried desperately to strongarm noble men into marrying horrendous, money leaching women to weaken the feudal lords by draining their wallets. I could actually applaud the tactic for it's efficiency if it weren't for the fact that the country is locked in a cold war with a technologically superior foe. Holfort might have a larger military, but almost 25% of its came from the border barons and viscounts in the last active war.

To my mother's left is my baby sister Finley. She's the second youngest and smallest at only 4' 8". She is much nicer than my older sister Jeanna. Apparently, while being a doting older brother I also reprimanded her when she started acting like Zola. As someone who wanted a little sister in my last life, I totally understand why past me was trying so hard to be close with her.

Sitting to my left is the most energetic ball of sunshine and joy, Colin Fou Bratfort. Everyone in the family dotes on him, although Finley will often tease him just to get a reaction. He's a kind and naïve child who looks up to me, as the best swordsmen and mage in the family by far. That's not to say that Nicks and my father are bad, no far from it. In fact thanks to my advice coming from Education Talent, Nicks is the best swordsmen in his grade. He isn't as good at magic, but he can still keep up with most of the mage focused fighters. My father on the other hand is probably one of the strongest knights in the whole kingdom. In the Marie Route he was able to face the black knight for a few minutes while using the old family power armor. His swordplay has improved substantially, thanks to having faced a "natural" sword master.

The dinner itself was nothing special, just some vegetable soup and partially dry bread, but the atmosphere was nice. As I looked around the table with a slight grimace, thinking about how to protect them and their smiles. It won't be easy, but the other Leon did it despite being a lazy ass with no interdimensional super beings help.

"You okay son?" My father asked with concern in his eyes.

"I'm fine, just lost myself in thought is all." I replied.

"Is that so?" He raised an eyebrow questioningly, "if something is bothering you, your mother and I are here for you, all of you." He said with a light smile while glancing at Finley holding Colin's bread for "ransom".

"I know, old man." I say with a smirk, he just chuckles.

After cleaning up the table, I pumped myself for what comes next. After gathering my confidence, I called out to my father, "hey, old man?"

"Yes Leon? What is it son?" He turns to face me while drying his hands.

"Can we talk," I hesitated for just a few moments, "alone?"

He looked at me for a couple seconds before giving me a nod. "Yeah, follow me." He turns his head back towards the kitchen, "Dear, Leon and I are going out for a little stroll."

I could hear the somewhat muffled response from my mother, "alright, be safe you two! And don't take too long, it's less than an hour till sundown after all."

"Understood, I love you dear!" He called back loud enough for her to hear. I could just barely hear what must have been mother giggling like a schoolgirl who just got called cute by their crush.

He turned back to me before nodding, "let's talk outside." I nodded in response before following him out to the back of the house. We walked in silence for a while before he finally said, "So what's wrong Leon? With how serious of a face you made at dinner, I can't imagine you just wanted to spend some time with your old man."

I took a deep breathe before speaking, "I want to, no, need to leave to become an adventurer. Within the next three months, four at the latest."

He stopped before turning to me and gave me a hard look, "why do you feel you need to leave, and so soon at that?"

"Last month I was warned by the merchant Mathias that Zola is part of a group known as the Forest of Ladies, and that it would be incredibly dangerous for me to remain here."

"Did he tell you what it is about this Forest of Ladies makes them so dangerous for you in particular?"

I gave him a quick nod before beginning my explanation. "They are a group of arrogant women from lower families who marry young 3rd and 4th sons from baronies. These sons are married off before they can go to the Academy, and are enlisted in the royal army." He looked like he was about to ask something, but before he could I continued my explanation, "these boys then 'tragically' die in service to the nation."

"Leaving the wife with a hefty royal pension, right." He said, trembling with anger. He may look like a meathead, but my father isn't stupid. He simply saves the refined speech for when its needed, and not a minute more.

"What do you need?" He asked me with determination burning in his eyes.

"I need a airship, with rations for up to two weeks. It doesn't have to be fancy or large, it just needs a compass and to float while surviving the winds."

"Why you need an airship? Wouldn't the regular service ship be enough?"

I shook my head in denial. "If I take the Service Airship, Zola could track me down to try and force me back. I need an airship to be untraceable. Also, the service ship won't take me where I need to go." He frowns as he realizes that I won't be telling him where exactly I'm going, but then nods his head.

"It doesn't even have to have an engine, I can propel it with wind magic after all. I will also need a sword for melee combat, but that is about it."

"You don't want one of the guns we have?" He asked sounding a bit confused.

"No. Guns are expensive to buy, operate, and require far more maintenance than other weapons besides. If I need to fight at range my offensive magic is stronger and I have a massive amount of mana at my disposal."

He cracks a light smile, "You always have had more mana then anyone I've ever met. Alright, I should able to get the supplies ready by tomorrow, and you have my permission to take any of the swords in the armory. The ship will be a little trickier, but give me a week or two and I think I can make it happen." I was about to thank him, but he cut me off, "I'll make sure you have everything you need, but in exchange you have to promise to be careful."

"Don't worry old man, I'm incredibly strong you know."

"I know, which is why I worry that you'll take on more than you can handle." He looked straight into my eyes with a stare that said he wouldn't take no for an answer.

"You have my word, that I will come back alive. No matter what comes my way, I will not fail."

True to his word, a week later he had a small airship moored at our personal dock behind the mansion. It was a small thing at only 13-14 feet (3.96-4.26 meters), with small wings coming off the sides. It didn't have an engine, which might have been a problem for the original Leon, but not me. By casting a custom wind force spell, I could propel this ship to pretty substantial speeds. The rations were loaded into the front of the ship alongside a large barrel of water.

The sword I took was a simple bastard sword, a far cry from Excalibur, but it had decent balance and little damage.

"Do you really, hic, have to go sweetie?" My mother asked with eyes red from crying the whole day prior when we told her that I was leaving.

"Unfortunately, with no title of my own and without an engagement already in place, father can't prevent Zola from doing as she pleases with me."

"But, isn't there only a chance she would do that? I mean, maybe she won't, you're just a boy after all!" She completely fell apart when we told her and only now managed to pull herself together.

"Mother, you know as well as I, that Nicks and I are far more talented than Rutart could ever be. That makes us a threat to his position as heir. She can't get rid of Nicks because he is the second son, but she certainly won't let me go. Doubly so since I'm the only child who consistently stands up to her. Besides I'm stronger than the majority of knights. I'll be fine." Thanks to my Charisma C skill, she put a lot of trust in my words and relaxed a bit.

"I hate this! Why does that ugly bitch get to use my brother like a tool? It isn't right" Finley says to me with the cutest pout coming to her small face. "Brother," she says to me, "you better write to us, I'll never forgive you if you forget!" I couldn't help, but crack a smile.

"Of course princess, this lowly one shall maintain contact no matter the cost!" I say with a teasing bow.

"That's good peasant, you must retrieve for mine royal self only the finest of offering to make up for the break in your duties." She says pretending to cover her mouth like Zola always does.

"Of course, I shall bring back only the finest of jewels for thou!"

I then felt a tug on the edge of my cloak. Looking down I see the big black eyes of Colin looking up at me with tears at the edge of his eyes. "Big bro, you aren't, hic, leaving us, hic, are you? Did I do, hic, something wrong?" Upon hearing it my chest tightened in sadness, but I was the older brother. I needed to do this, not just for me, but also to protect Colin from that bitch.

I looked at him with a the kindest face I could make and said in a gentle voice, "not at all Colin, you're a good boy. And I'm not leaving forever, I'm simply going to become an adventurer like those stories You love. I'll be finding islands, braving dungeons, and fighting monsters and pirates!"

"Rweally?"

"Really, I promise I'll be back in a few months months, so be a good boy for mom okay?"

"I will! I will! And then you have to tell me about all your adventures okay?"

I pat him on head, "of course I will."

Lastly I go to my father, but before I can say anything, he sweeps me up in a big hug which I happily return. He speaks to me in a low voice to prevent the rest of the family from hearing, "you come back to me ya hear? I don't care how strong you are, how much magic you have, or how good your swordsmanship. If you ever run into a situation that proves to much for you, you run away. Understood?"

"Yes father, I promised to come back alive no matter what happens, I and keep my promises." I feel him tighten the hug for a few seconds before letting go.

"Alright Leon, get on the airship, I'll remove the mooring and give you a push."

I jump on board the same airship, ready to start my adventure, but before I do I turn and to talk to my family for the last time. "I love you guys so much, and I'll miss you. I promise to come back safe and sound; and I'll try to write every month or two. I'll miss you all!" I say as father pushes the boat and it starts to float away from the dock. I then sit down and activate a wind spell behind the ship, causing the ship to pick up speed.

I look at my notebook with the coordinates of Luxion's island. "Alright then, let's pick up Luxion and get this adventure started."

AN: Okay, the chapter got released later than I was hoping it would because it was quite a bit longer than I originally anticipated, but well that's part of making a good story...I think. Anywho, I tried my best to both show and tell the tight knit relationships between the family, while still making progress on Leon's adventure. For those of you who were wondering why Finley was different well its the same reason that this Leon stood up to Zola before regaining his memories, substitution means that you always have been that character, and they you. To me, this means that the MCs personality was different from birth, with different priorities from the Light Novels Leon. Also MC is a beast already because the templates are chargen giving him the abilities for Arthur Pendragon and Ernesti from the beginning. Also because Arthur is a Tier 7 character, but the template is only tier 5, so all of his servants stats have been dropped by 2 letter grades, and almost all of his abilities have been drop 1 letter grade. I'm gonna start writing ch 2 tonight with this format that is based off how the novel itself is written. Lastly, CH is going to cover Leon's journey to and on the island; as well as, his recovery of Luxion. See you guys Thursday or Friday!