The morning sun was just getting over the horizon as we exited the portal, and it was a sight. The sort of thing people in my world paid really good money for, as the golden sun slowly crept above the mountain that marked the center of the island, and allowed its light to kiss the nearby by. For a moment it looked like the whole of the ocean was made of liquid gold, as it sparkled so lovely, before the sun rose just enough to turn the blue sea and yellow light into an emerald green.

We had arrived at the crescent of the sandy white beach that stood just before a resort town. Not even halfway like the one we should have found in a place with the fortifications we'd seen, it was far closer to the early nineteen-hundreds in general architecture, with some of the stuff looking positively modern in comparison to the stone walls we'd seen before, which made me scratch my head at the campaign setting we'd found ourselves in for the first time in a while.

Still, the moment we started off, we could hear the opening of doors, and the sound of voices, freshly woken, filling the air. The people who lived here were slightly more tanned than those on the mainland, as they began to fill the streets. The map said this town, which was one of two on the main island, was the largest on the archipelago, housing a few hundred of the total one-thousand or so who lived across all the islands, not counting the tourists who would flux in and out.

Right now the people would be mostly just the general population, if the books hadn't lied about it, as the tourist season of this place was still a few months off. The only reason people might flock here off season was the EXP event, but given the Queen was keeping that out of the ear of most others, meaning everyone was acting in a more natural way, with women of a young age wearing far less revealing outfits than their tan lines suggested was normal for them, and most others slipping between a few accents as they spoke.

There was a small port to the side of the beach, where I could see several smaller boats…maybe they were ships too? I wasn't up on that, but regardless, they were designed for short jaunts, to the other islands which had no easy way to access for larger vessel, that would dock at a small port on the other side of the island from this one, making this the central hub of the lives of all the people here.

Walking down the main street, we eventually came to a place that looked like a cross between a governor's mansion and a high end hotel…on second thought it probably WAS a cross between the two, as the Princess extolled that this was where the Count lived. She walked up to it, and with a smirk, turned to us, before announcing that she couldn't wait to see the look on Habenburg's face, as she opened the door, swinging it wide and announcing the arrival of the Four Heroes and their parties loudly.

The moment she was done shouting, several servants moving about in the room, which looked exactly like a high class hotel's lobby, just stood and stared at us. The first motion anyone had was a woman standing behind a counter, who walked over to the wall, and quickly knocked on it, causing it to slide away, revealing a hidden door to what I could only assume was an office, out of which came a man who looked out of place.

He was wearing a military uniform mixed with a business suit. We'd seen neither of those sorts of clothing in this world so far, with military dress being more in the form of armor, even the King's own suit looking more regal than this. Heck, he was wearing a tie. Like a business suit style tie, which I was uncertain you'd see in a setting like this one. The overall effect made him look less like a noble and more like a cosplayer who'd gotten mixed signals on what to wear.

Regardless of his outfit, the man smiled warmly as he came out of the office the moment he spotted Princess Melty, and the young woman ran up to him, the pair hugging each other, before the Princess turned back to us, and bowed in our direction slightly, while gesturing widely towards the man standing beside her, as if presenting him to us.

"Heroes of the Cardinal Weapons, Party Members of the same, before you stands Count Habenburg, Master of the Navy of Melromarc, and Protector of the Isles of Cal Mira," she said, sounding very official and stuff as the man, still smiling warmly as he turned to us, bowed in our direction, prompting us to do the same to him.

"As the Princess said, I am master of these Isles, and it gives me great pleasure to welcome you all," he added to what she'd said, before walking over to the 'front desk' of the hotel, and quickly pulling out a book.

"I'll admit, we had heard from her majesty that you would be arriving shortly, but I hadn't expected it to be THIS shortly," he comments, rummaging around in a drawer below the counter, and then pulling out a pen. Like a clicking pen with a spring in it and an inkwell and everything. This setting was getting more eclectic by the second. Still, we stood in line, and signed the ledger.

"Now then, all of you have the copies of the Royal Decree with you, correct?" he asked, the moment the four of us had signed in, and he placed the book beneath the counter again. Without prompting, we pulled out the letters the Princess had given us before we arrived, and he smiled at them, holding out his hand towards Naofumi, since he was closest, and going over it. Nodding, he handed it back.

"We have been told of some of your intentions, and each of these letters inform the heads of whatever facilities are on the islands you will be on to make all possible resources available to you," he says, stepping out from behind the counter, and motioning for us to follow him. We did so, and we were once more on the streets of the city, the sun now high enough to leave only a few long shadows, creating an almost blinding light as it reflected off the white buildings.

"It will still be a few days before the event occurs, as such, we here on the central isle would be happy to have all of your parties stay with us. Given we had been bracing for hundreds of adventurers, I'm sure you can guess we've prepared quite a lot more than what we might need in terms of food, drink, and fun," he said with a chuckle, and it was shocking to see the island's native population all in their 'work' mode. Several of the young ladies I'd noticed before were now wearing far more revealing garb, and the moment we passed into sight they were…I want to say posing, without being provocative about it.

This was designed to put any random vacationer at ease, lull them into a sense of security, which wasn't false given the way the islands were. They wave, warmly, like old school friends seeing us for the first time, and Motoyasu seemed smitten with a few of them, until Rishia coughed loudly enough to draw him out of it. Count Habenburg laughed, saying we would find all the people of the island friendly and open, his tone implying he meant it, as he took us around the main square, and pointed out the various shops and facilities.

We were soon acquainted with the best places to get food, drink, and fun on the island, including some interesting things that were, honestly, just fair games and stuff from back home. No tickets or prizes on offer, just some fun distractions, which was a neat thing to see. I even tried my hand at the ring toss, failing miserable, and then getting shown how it was done by Ren who…well 'ninja'd several of them at once, getting them all to land perfectly, impressing all of us, making him smirk, before returning to that stoic expression he defaulted to.

After that we were shown the beach. Hard to miss it really, but as Count Habenburg pointed out, even on so thin a stretch of land as this, the sea loved her moods, and he was quick to educated us on some of them, the smoother stuff on the shore towards the east was one that caused higher waves to form, the perfect place to try your hand at some water walking if you were so inclined, while the sloped short on the western bank allowed for a calmer sea, and most divers started there, before heading out into the depths.

Water walking caught our attention, as it seemed he'd expected it would, and he took us to a place that looked like a tourist trap shack on the beach, save including then board walls that looked flimsy, and a thatched roof, compared to the tile and gravel of the rest. It was soon obvious, as we got closer, this was a facade, as the building beneath was actually solid stone, and had a basement, as we came up to it, and a man, older than most, climbed out of a hatch on the floor, one that blended in perfectly with the interior as it closed.

We were introduced to two magic items. Simple enchantments, known for eons on the islands that the tourists went gaga over. The first was a ring of water breathing. Wearing this, you could, even in heavy armor, swim like you were in a swimsuit, and breathe normally…for around 4 hours or so, with the ring having a secondary enchantment on it that would cause it to start glowing and blinking to warn you when your time was almost up.

The other one would let you walk on the water. Motoyasu, curious, asked if it was like walking on ice, and the Count, smirking, tossed him one, and encouraged him to find out. Tentatively, he placed it on his finger, and still in his special armor, he walked out onto the water, which he stamped his foot on a few times, causing it to splash, before going farther and farther out, smiling as a wave came up, and he crashed through it with a forward dive into the thing.

He literally parted the wave around him, the water sloughing off his body, leaving him bone dry as he walked back to shore, handing the ring to the Count, admitting he could see why it was popular. He encouraged the rest of us to try it out, as surfing had nothing on that, while we went and found a few more places to enjoy ourselves, including a spa like area with small pools that were heated using magic, and treated with various elements of the isles to make the water like medicine for the skin.

When he was done, he bowed to us, and hoped we had a pleasant stay in the resort. He had already arranged for small ships to take us to the islands we had chosen when the event started, and we thanked him. With that, he departed for the 'hotel/mansion', and we were left to mill about for a moment, before Motoyasu finally asked Rishia to accompany him to the beach, where they could have a fine day of sun, surf, and sand, the green haired woman eagerly following him.

Ren and Weltz, shrugging, said they were going to try to explore the jungle a bit. A hike, before they took to the beach themselves this afternoon. Maybe get in just a little hunting before the big event. Naofumi at first wanted to join him, but the two ladies in his own party insisted their 'master' needed to relax for a bit, and quickly dragged him after Motoyasu to the beach, where they'd enjoy the sun themselves.

As for my party, while I offered the beach, Ray was not one for the sea. The smell of salt didn't mix well with her nose, and Lucia was not really liking the bright sun herself, so we adjourned ourselves to the bathhouse, finding a very japanese styled thing, with a heated, almost pool sized water basin inside closed walls, steam pouring off it. It was not supposed to be unisex, as the person told us, but since we were a Hero's party, she wouldn't judge, and soon enough, the two ladies cajoled me into joining them for a relaxing dip, the cares of the world seeming to melt off my shoulders.