Chapter One

Arriving in Orario

[Quest Complete] – System Prompt

'Open Shop' – Thought Speak

"Let's go Laffey" – Normal Speak

As I come out the portal it fades away leaving me on the side of a dirt road. I can see Babel Tower off in the distance, it appears to be about 4-5 hours' worth of walking away. I look at myself taking stock of my appearance as best I can without a mirror. I'm still around 6 feet tall and 180 lbs like I was when I was sixteen. 'I wonder if I'll grow taller here than in my old world.' I'm wearing what looks like basic adventurer pants and a plain blue shirt with what appears to be a white Admiral style coat.

As I am staring in awe of my surroundings I hear a mechanical voice in my head.

[System Booting…10%...35%...60%...85%...99%]

[System online. Welcome to the Azur Lane System. You currently have 1 Ship Girl ready for summons, would you like to summon now?]

[Yes] or [No]

I see a what appears to be a blue holographic screen that reminds me of the ocean. It's asking if I want to summon Laffey. "YES!" I scream as I click the [Yes] icon. I've never been so excited for anything in my life.

The moment I click [Yes] a bright light blinds me for a moment. The moment my vision returns I see her standing there. She stands around 4 feet 7 inches tall and maybe appears to be about 80 lbs. She has a very slender frame, a flat chest around the top end of A-cup. She has fair smooth white skin with no blemishes to be seen. Her hair is long silver-white tied into messy pig tails with a bulky hair clip with bunny ears. Her bangs frame her face on either side and highlights her sleepy wine-red eyes. She's wearing her classic outfit with a loose open pink jacket with a fur bottom and bunny-motif on the cuffs. Underneath that she has on an off-shoulder buttoned shirt with a single tailcoat and bunny tail, a red pleated mini skirt with white linings that falls around her upper thighs, white thigh-high socks with white boots.

"Benson-class destroyer, Laffey, awaiting your orders…Commander, these ears aren't real…you don't need to stare at them" Laffey stats as she put her hands to cover her bunny ears from my view. She really is just how I imagined she would be in person.

"Hey there Laffey, do you know who I am? And do you know anything about what is happening?" As she looks at my face, I see the recognition as her sleepy eyes widen slightly. She smiles at me with that angelic face and says, "I could never forget my Commander who took care of me for so long. And yes it seems as I was summoned I have a basic knowledge of the world we are in…*Yawn*…We will be fighting monsters in the Dungeon right?"

"I'm so glad you know me! I was worried you wouldn't be my Laffey from the game. How do you feel about being brought here with me?" I ask as I am hopeful they wanted to be with me as much as I did.

She smiles at me and says "Very happy Commander. All of us have wanted to be by your side and now we will always be by your side." Hearing that just makes my heart skip a beat looking at her. I smile back at her and tell her "Yes, we will all be together from now on. Let's start heading to the city while I learn more about summoning your sisters, ok?"

"Yes Commander" she says as she holds out her hand to me. I grab her small hand in mine as we start along the dirt road and ask the system about its functions.

"System, how do I summon more Ship Girls?"

[To summon more Ship Girls you need to accumulate System Points. The use of SP is:

Random Normal Summons: 100 SP

Random Rare Summons: 500 SP

Random Monthly Summon (Rarity Elite or Above): 500 SP

Random Elite Summons: 1,000 SP

Random Super Rare Summons: 5,000 SP

Random Ultra Rare Summons: 10,000 SP

Specific Ship Girl Summons: Double Price of Random

To get system points you can do Missions, killing monsters inside dungeon or absorbing Magic Stones and Drop Items into the system.]

'Wow that's a lot to take in.' So, I just need to do any missions that pop up and kill monsters. Using the Magic Stone and Drop items could work really well too but then we will be cutting into our daily profits so it's probably better to avoid that until we get into the lower floors if we can help it.

"Commander…*YAWN*…I'm getting sleepy…" Laffey sleepily says as her eyes are dangerously close to shutting all the way.

I see we are almost at the gates of Orario so I tell her "How about I give you a piggy back ride the rest of the way that way you can rest up ok?" I get on one knee and she climbs on my back nuzzling her face into my neck. I shudder a little feeling her warm breath on my skin.

"Thanks…Commander, It's just like the we did our Pledge together…zzzzz" She whispers out as she falls asleep.

That reminds me, I have checked our affection levels yet. Considering that's how I can share Stats and Abilities I feel rather foolish for not doing so yet. 'Check Affection'

[Current Partners:

Laffey Benson Class Destroyer: Lvl: 125, 200 Affection

Can share Stat and 1 Ability

Please Select Ability to Share:

Wargod of Solomon: 5% chance when attacking to increase all Stats by 40% for 8 seconds.

Annihilation Mode: Every 20 seconds a 70% chance to Increase Attack Speed by 200%.

All Out Assault: Activates All Out Assault (1 5x Damage Attack) after 15 Battles.]

Wow so she has the same affection for me now as she did in game. Which means she is still my Wedding Ship! That is amazing 'Especially considering I had no romantic relationships of any kind in my old world. A couple one night stands here or there but never had a chance for an actual relationship.' And these Abilities are so overpowered, but it looks like they have been modified for me since I have no Rigging and will be fighting with a sword. I know the perfect one for me. 'Select Annihilation Mode'. With Annihilation mode I have a high chance of being able to attack twice as fast, which will no doubt be very handy if I'm ever fighting multiple monsters.

As I finish my selection, I notice that I have reached the small line to get into the Orario gates. There is only 3 people and 1 wagon ahead of me in line, so I shift my grip on Laffey's thighs to hold her better. As the line dies down and we get closer to the front I ask the system how much Valis the Goddess left me to get started.

[There is 30,000V available for use. Would you like it in a bag on your pants?]

'Yes please' As I instruct I feel the bag on my waist where I can easily reach it. I make it to the front of the gates the guard asked for Identification.

"I don't have any ID. I'm from a small village a few days West from here." I explain."

"Step inside there for processing" he says while pointing to a small office to the side of the gate.

"Thanks" I tell him as I step inside the office. Inside is a Middle-aged man with short brown and a unkempt beard, who stood up and faced me

"Greetings young man, I am the Chief Customs Officer on duty. I understand you don't have any ID?" He asks very politely.

"Yes that's correct. My wife and I left our small village hoping to come here and become adventurers here in Orario." I explain.

"Alright then, to enter without an ID there is an entrance tax and a temporary pass which is 3,000 Valis each. Once paid you may go to the Guild for a permanent pass to stay."

"Here you go sir and thank you very much for assisting us." I tell him smiling as I hand over the required Valis. He smiles back saying it's no problem leads us out the door. Once inside the city I wake Laffey up and set her down.

"Commander…Laffey still sleepy…zzzzz"

"I know Laffey but we need to keep on guard here in the city. Lets held towards Babel tower and try to find the Guild so we can register." I grab her hand as we start walking looking at all the sites and people that I once only saw in the anime or light novel pictures. It's very surreal to see all the different races that were going about their day.

After about an hour of taking in the sights while we walk towards the tower we notice a building with dozens of people coming and going in various sizes of groups, with most dressed in armor and carrying sword, spears and other weapons.

"There is the Guild lets head inside" I tell Laffey as we make our way towards the building. After only 5 or 6 steps I notice a red blur as someone rams into me at a full sprint. "What the fuck!" I scream as get pushed back but Laffey wraps her arms around me and keeps me from falling.

"Thank you Laffey, that could have been bad."

"No problem, Commander, I'll always keep you safe" She smile while puffing out her flat chest.

I look down and notice a young girl covered head to toe in blood. 'Hmm this seems familiar but isn't Bell a man?' I think to myself as she looks up at me from holding onto my my chest.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to run into you and make you dirty! I was trying to get to my dungeon advisor!" she says with tears in her eyes, which make her look like a small rabbit. 'She sure is very excitable.'

"It's no problem miss…"

"Oh right! My name is Bella Cranel." She says weakly.

"Nice to meet miss Cranel, my name is Casey Sharp, and this is Laffey" I say bringing Laffey into the girls view. "Are you an adventurer by chance? Me and Laffey just got arrived in Orario today and are trying to register ourselves." 'I was going to worry about finding a way to try and get into the Hestia Familia later, but this seems like to great an opportunity to miss.'

"Yes! I've been an adventurer for 2 weeks and I'm a member of the Hestia Familia. Would you like to follow me inside the guild, and I can take you to Miss Eina my advisor and she can help you register." Bella says with a beaming smile.

"That would be great. But do you always walk around covered in blood or is this the new fashion?" I chuckle while asking.

"Oh no I forgot! Please follow me, I'll introduce you and you can register while I get cleaned up!" She grabs mine and Laffey's hand as she runs inside. She brings us to a beautiful Half Elf with a slim body, around 5 feet 5 inches tall, with a modest C bust. She has pointy ears, shoulder length brown hair and emerald eyes that sit behind her glasses that make her look like a strict older sister when paired with her guild uniform.

"Miss Eina here is some newcomers for you, I need to get cleaned up, Bye!" Bella sprints off to where I'm assuming has some showers or towels at least.

"Bella, what happened to you?" The Half Elf yells after her before turning towards me and asking "Do you know what happened to Bella? She was covered in blood!"

"I have no clue Miss Eina, she rammed into me outside of the Guild and offered to help me and Laffey get registered as an apology for the accident. But she does not appear to be injured herself at the very least considering she still so excitable" I answer her. Hopefully she doesn't think I had anything to do with what happened to Bella.

*Sigh* "That girl is a handful. While we wait on her to clean up you said you and your companion need to register with the Guild Correct?" She really does have the exact same demeanor that she shows in the LN and anime.

"Yes, we just arrived in the city today and want to become adventurers so we can start a new life with our family." I tell her.

"Very well, fill out these papers with your name and I will get you started. As newly registered adventurers you can buy some basic weapons and armor if needed." She states while handing Laffey and I some simple forms to fill out.

"Ah thank you that would be wonderful. We would both like a sword if that is alright, along with the armor. What do we need to do about joining a Familia?" I ask the final part right as Bella come back within hearing distance.

"You should join the Hestia Familia!" Bella yells in excitement. "It is only me and the Goddess Hestia right now but I'm going to make it into the best Familia ever!"

"Are you sure that's ok? We just met today and have not been in the Dungeon before. I don't want to take advantage of your kindness too much." I ask trying to hide my excitement. With how much Hestia cared for her Familia 'To absurd degrees for Bell' I know the Ship Girls would get along well with her. Loki may have a stronger Familia, but if she tried to grope the girls the would blast her into oblivion with their Rigging.

"Yes it will be fine! We really need some more people in our Familia so we can start becoming stronger together. And I've only been going to the Dungeon for 2 weeks now so we can learn together!" She starts jumping up and down which causes her chest to bounce around.

Now that I'm able to see her without all the blood she looks almost identicalto Bell except for her long white hair, her rather large D cup breasts and slender waist with an ass on the bigger side that looks amazing. I definitely see now why every compares Bell…or Bella to a rabbit now with how she jumps around when excited.

"Ouch!" I shout when I feel a sharp pain on my waist. I look down and see Laffey staring up at me with her sleepy eyes slightly glaring at me pointedly when she says "Laffey is not upset you are staring at another rabbit. Mm, I'm really. Not. Upset. At. All."

"Hehe…I'm sorry Laffey. You know that you're the only little bunny for me" I lean down and kiss her soft lips to reassure her. I would never try and upset my Wedding Ships after all. I love them far too much for that.

*Cough, Cough* "Yes well, if you come back tomorrow after joining the Hestia Familia we can finish your registration, get your sword and armor for you, as well as a guide book regarding what you can expect from the upper floors." Eina coughs to get our attention. Laffey's face along with mine flushes a bit when she informs us of the next step.

"How much are the weapons and armor for the two of us? I'd like to go ahead and pay whatever is necessary to make it easier tomorrow." I ask quickly trying to dispel the awkward atmosphere.

"For 2 sets of beginner gear it is 17,200 Valis" she says. I hand her the required amount as she turns to Bella and asks with a slightly angry tone "So Bella what happened today to make you covered in blood?"

Bella lets out an "Eeep!" and explains "We'll I was doing very well on the upper floors, so I went to the 5th floor and ran into a Minotaur, then it chased me into a dead end and almost got me until a beautiful blonde with a rapier killed it which covered me in its blood. I was to scared to speak to her so I ran away and you know the rest." She looks sad that she wasn't able to properly thank her savior. It's nice to know everything still happened like it did in cannon.

"You don't have permission to go past the 4th floor Bella! And why was a minotaur on the upper floors? And that sounds like the Sword Princess of the Loki Familia Ais Wallenstein. Next time you see her make sure you thank her properly. Do you need to turn in any Magic Stones?" Eina yells then calms down a bit, probably just thankful Bella is ok.

"I know I'm sorry Miss Eina. I'll be more careful next time and if I see Miss Wallenstein again I'll be sure to thank her. And here is my stones for the day" Bella hands a few dozen stones and receives 1,200 Valis in total.

'If that's how much Bella gets in a day alone, me and Laffey we should be able to do a whole lot more together. After all I don't think anyone but maybe the Goliath on the 17th Floor could hope to fight any of the Ship Girls in pure strength, not to mention if they deploy their Rigging use them.'

Bella looks at me and says "Ok, lets go meet the Goddess Hestia. Bye Miss Eina we'll be back tomorrow." as she starts heading for the door. I wave bye to the Half Elf and holding Laffey's hand follow Bella to meet the Goddess Hestia.