Royal Family Guardian

Near the end of Roko's first day of class, he found himself in one of the castle's courtyard surrounded by the knights with no princess in sight to protect. After checking his schedule, Roko was sure that he was supposed to be here though he wasn't quite sure why.

"Hey there!" One of the knights noticed his confusion and walked over, "You're that new guest right?"

"Y-Yeah." Roko replied nervously. His normal world had not really prepared him to see actual knights and his track record with knights have not been particularly been good.

"This is the Knight's training period." The kind knight explained, "At this time, the girls are usually taking a bath so us knights take this time to train and spar with each other. It's a good way for us to learn about the different sort of equipment and fighting styles that come from different countries."

"Is that so?" Roko nodded, "Well, I suppose I can't really join the regular students so they stuck me here."

"Say, why don't you try sparring for a bit?" The knight asked with a smile as he held out a sword for Roko.

"No..." Roko stepped backwards, "I think I'll just retire to my room."

"Eh? Why? Should be interesting right? And you get to build up your muscles."

"No, I've never touched a sword in my life. I'm not skilled enough to be worth fighting." Roko gulped, "And besides. I think I should get out of here before-"

"There you are!"

Roko sighed as the figure of Helena's personal knight, Roland, walked up to them.

"I see you're still as gloomy as ever, Rukus!"

"It's Roko."

"Whatever, cretin." Roland scoffed, "I see you managed to garner my lady Helena's favor but know that this will not protect you from me. If I ever see you making any sort of move on my lady, I will have you cut down."

"She was the one who came to me." Roko frowned, "I didn't really have a say in it."

"She what?" Roland frowned, "When did she-"

"While you were out getting ingredients for the hot pot."

"Son of a- I should have known!" Roland scowled, "No, my lady is a wonderful and bright young woman. Of course she would take it upon herself to visit upon an anomaly such as him."

"I don't think I like how you said that." Roko frowned, "Regardless, I have no intention to make any sort of move on her so you have nothing to worry about."

"No, you are everyone's problem here." Roland said, "Think about it. A person claiming to have come from another world is given sanctuary in our school? You are nothing but suspicious."

"Then keep an eye on me, I don't care." Roko sighed, "I'm just going to go to my room and not be in anyone's way then, alright?"

"No, you still fail to understand." Roland insisted, "You are a guest but not only that you are a male."

"And?" Roko frowned as he slowly began to realize where Roland was going.

"You are a danger!" Roland declared, "A danger that might seduce any one if not all our precious charges!"

"I think you're exaggerating a bit." Roko said as he tried backing away from Roland.

"No, I think it is you who does not understand!" Roland cried, stepping forward to glare Roko in the eyes, "The kings and queens of our countries have give us the honorable task of protecting their precious daughters from scum like you!"

"I get that but that has nothing to do with me!"

"It has everything to do with you! You aren't a knight! You aren't any sort of noble or man of good standings! Yet you stand in the unique position to steal the chastity of any of our women!"

"I think you're greatly exaggerating now!" Roko cried.

"No." Roland took a deep breath, "You are the problem here."

Roko looked around. The fellow knights who were listening to their argument all regarded Roko with a look of great suspicion and distrust. No matter where he looked, Roko could not find a single friendly face. He was surrounded by a coalition of knights with no way of getting out.

"Take up a sword." Roland offered another sword to Roko, "Let us settle this."

"What, do you want to duel me?!" Roko cried, "I have no skill with a sword! This is meaningless!"

"No." Roland smirked, "This is a test. If you would dare stand along side our wards, we must be sure that you are one worthy of them. We must know that you will be able to protect milady should the day come that you two are together."

"Do you want me to stay away from them or marry them?!" Roko yelled, "Which basis are you working off of here?!"

"Both!" Roland replied as he thrust the sword into Roko's arms, "Now take your stance, creature!"

With seemingly no other choice, Roko stepped back and drew the sword. Roland took his stance and the duel began.

This is ridiculous. Roko thought. Why can't they just leave me alone? I have no reason to marry or harm anybody! This isn't even a fair fight! He still has armor on!

"Come then, Robus!" Roland taunted, "Make your move! Use anything you'd like! I'll take anything you can throw at me! Even magic!"

Well if he's offering…

"Scan." Roko muttered.

Name: Roland Mercades

Level: 37

Strength: 28

Dexterity: 13

Constitution: 20

Intelligence: 14

Wisdom: 11

Charisma: 21

Spells: None.

Weakness: Fire, Lightning

Roko was really hoping for some sort of insight in the weakness section but without access to any spell other than Scan, he had no way of taking advantage of it. Actually, not even the numbers could help since he had no real reference point. What even were Roko's stats? How would he know what stats he beat Roland in without being able to use Scan on himself? Can he even use Scan on himself?

"If you're not going to come then I shall! En garde!"

Roko yelped as he blocked Roland's first slash. The sword in his hands rattled uncontrollably as Roko pushed back against Roland's strength as best he could. Placing one hand on the blade, Roko pushed with both his hands to get Roland to give up some sort of ground.

"Fire! Lightning!" Roko yelled desperately but no magic came to aid him.

"Aha! Trying to use magic huh?!" Rolan crowed, "I see your intelligence must be lacking!"

"Shut the fuck up!" Roko snapped, "I don't want to hear that from someone with an 14 in Intelligence!"

"What?" Roland blinked, confused.

"Your intelligence is 14! Edea had an intelligence of 250! You've literally got nothing in your brain!"

"How dare you!"

"Hell, even the black knight had an intelligence of 40!"

"Wait you fought the black knight?!" Roland frowned, "No, never mind that! I'll have you take those words back! I have no idea what you're talking about but you're clearly insulting me!"

"Oh snap! Is that the 14 in intelligence at work?! Truly you've got the brain of a chimpanzee! It's no wonder you don't know any spells!"

"I'll make you eat those words!"

Roko stepped back as Roland pushed even harder against his sword. He knew taunting Roland was going to do him no good but by god, he had no other method of attack and if he had to do this, Roko was at least going to get some form of enjoyment from it. Still, Roland's 28 in strength was pretty tough to handle, whatever a 28 in strength meant. As his arm began to get tired from clashing swords, Roko kicked Roland in the stomach, forcing him off. Roland stumbled back a few steps but quickly regained composure and launched forward with another attack. Roko ducked down and swiped at Roland's legs. His sword scratched at Roland's armor ineffectively though it did manage to get him to stay back. Having stemmed his attempts at attack, Roko stood back up and tried his best to think of what to do next. Just as a plan started forming in his head, Roland charged once again. This time, Roko stepped to the side, dodging Roland's thrust and grabbing his sword arm. Roko pulled forward, forcing Roland to stumble past him. Though he did not lose his footing, Roko managed to distract him enough to land a clean kick in Roland's back, sending him falling to the ground.

"Haha!" Roland quickly picked himself up and faced Roko again, "I barely felt that, you cur!"

"That's because you have armor you idiot." Roko scowled, "I'm not even in leather armor, you call this a fair fight?"

"You have magic do you not?"

"Oh yeah, the magic that told me how stupid you were. Guess this really is a fair fight then."

"Haha, you see! We are evenly matched!"

"I can't with this man." Roko muttered.

Deciding to take the offense for once, Roko stepped forward and stabbed his sword forward. Roland spun away from the blade and grabbed Roko by his sword arm.

"Let's see how you like being kicked!"

Roland tugged on Roko's arm, forcing him forward. However, Roko was fully aware of his own trick and used his forced momentum to dive into the ground, twisting his body around so as to land on his back. Roland moved to make an attack on his downed body but Roko swung his legs around, cutting Roland's legs out from under him, forcing him to fall onto the ground as well. Roko grimaced in pain as he rubbed his shin. Sweeping his leg worked well enough but in doing so, he had to stike his shin against Roland's metal leggings.

"You're a tricky one, I see!" Roland grunted as he pushed himself back up again, "I might have to start taking this seriously."

"Please don't strain your 14 brain cells trying too hard." Roko winced as he stood back up, "God knows we can't lose an intellect like yours."

"Well said friend!"

"Does sarcasm not exist in this world or something?" Roko grumbled.

"Shall we end this?" Roland grinned as he gripped his sword with both hands.

"Yes, please end this." Roko sighed as he picked up his sword again, "I didn't want any part of this to begin with."

"Then I'll mercifully end this duel for you."

Roland lifted his sword and made a strong chop down towards Roko. Roko blocked the attack but Roland quickly withdrew his sword, preparing another strike as Roko's sword rung from the force of his attack. Leaving little time for reaction, Roland struck again and again, each attack leaving Roko's arms numb from trying to block the power of each of his attacks.

He's actually serious, Roko thought as he struggled to keep his sword from slipping out of his hands. He was swinging his sword with enough speed to leave him no room to react, enough strength to leave a lasting impact with each attack and enough stamina to keep up this barrage without fail.

"Who knew turning off his brain and just swinging his stick really hard would be what'll do me in?" Roko scowled.

Roland continued to rain blow after blow against Roko's defense until he felt his grip on his sword loosen and with one swift blow, Roko's sword flew out of his hands and Roko fell back on the ground.

"Haha! Victory is mine!" Roland crowed as he lifted his sword for one last decisive blow.

"Alright, this ends here."

A sword swung out of no where and whacked Roland in the eyes with the flat of its blade. Roland cried out in pain and dropped his sword as the strange girl sheathed her sword. She turned to Roko with a smile and offered him a hand.

"You fought well for someone with no training." She smiled, "With proper training, I can see you becoming a top notch knight."

"That's not really something I want." Roko sighed as he accepted her help and she helped pull him up on his feet again.

"That's a shame." The girl chuckled as she turned to the rest of the knights and clapped her hands, "Alright, duel's over. Don't neglect your training now."

At her words, the knights dispersed into groups, leaving the two alone.

"Thanks for your help at the end there." Roko grimaced as he rubbed his hands.

"You were doing very well up until then. I was convinced you might even win."

"That was impossible from the very beginning." Roko sighed as he turned to his savior, "If I may ask, I notice that you're a girl as well. Does that mean you're a..."

"Yep." The girl smiled, "My name is Momo. Princess of the Battousai Dynasty. You can call me a bit of a unique case as I am both a princess and my own knight."

"And you're still studying magic?"

"Yep. But why let me tell you when you can find out yourself?" Momo grinned.

"...What, do you want me to use sca-my spell on you?" Roko blinked.

"Scan all you like!" Momo puffed out her chest proudly.

Roko was taken aback by her request. Unlike with Edea, this didn't seem like any sort of test. But Momo continued to stand there expectantly with a smile on her face so…

"Scan." Roko sighed.

Information flowed into Roko's brain, all the same information that Roland gave though the numbers were vastly different.

"Well?" Momo asked anxiously, "What do my stats look like?"

"Momo Kentoryu

Level: 48

Strength: 39

Dexterity: 26

Constitution: 26

Intelligence: 30

Wisdom: 21

Charisma: 25

Spells: Lightning, Rally, Protect, Antidote."

"Oh my." Momo looked embarrassed, "You even know about my antivenom spell."

"Were you keeping that a secret? Why?"

"The antivenom spell actually has a bit of a sweetening effect when used on food." Momo smiled slyly, "I use it quite often when I'm baking or making sweets. It's my secret ingredient."

"I'll keep it a secret then."

"It's not that big deal." Momo laughed, "Anyway, what does it say about my weaknesses?"

"Weakness: Water."

"I have been neglecting learning how to swim." Momo nodded.

"And Gravity."

"Eh? Gravity?" Momo tilted her head in confusion, "I mean, not a whole lot of people can work as normal in increased gravity right? Why is that a weakness?"

"How should I know?" Roko sighed, "Though if you ask me, it's probably because you have problems even standing in gravity. There's a difference between standing and kneeling."

"Oh, I suppose that's true." Momo nodded enthusiastically, "Though...how would I even go about training for that?"

"What, do you expect me to have the answer?" Roko frowned, "Well, I suppose you could train underwater. The water pressure should be a good enough simulation for increased gravity. You can also take that time to learn how to swim."

"That's brilliant!" Momo cried, "You're a bit snippy but you're an excellent coach!"

"I just got done fighting one unreasonable individual." Roko sighed, "Now I'm being used as a consultant for another."

"Well, sorry." Momo apologized, "But you've really helped me out. That power of yours is pretty useful, don't you think?"

"Not nearly as much as I'd like."

"What do you mean?"

"The stats are useless to me without a wider collection of data to supplement it and without knowing any other magic, I can rarely take advantage of the weaknesses."

"Hmm...I see." Momo nodded, "But you can always improve! Maybe you can learn a spell or two. Or you could learn to fight. Oh, I can even teach you!"

"I'd rather not get into fights." Roko grimaced.

"Then what do you want to do?"

Roko looked away. He had been in this world for three days and he still didn't know what he should do. His old world was safer but less eventful. This world was much more dangerous but Roko couldn't say that magic and knights weren't an exciting concept. What's more, he's spoken to more people in the past three days than he had in a whole month in his old world. There were caveats on those statistics though. Roko wasn't nearly as much of a person of interest in his own world. That was the only reason he's had the amount of interaction that he's had. No matter how off the rails Roland went, Roko couldn't say that his suspicions weren't founded. The princesses as well. As friendly as they acted, Roko knew that they were testing him, an alien to their world. Making careful, friendly gestures to ascertain his nature and intentions. There really wasn't anybody he could call an ally on either side of the worlds.

"Maybe I should learn how to fight." Roko muttered.

"See? Now that's the spirit!" Momo grinned, "I'll be here to help if you ever need any lessons! You've helped me so it's only natural I return the favor."

"Maybe one day." Roko replied.

"Leave it to me!" Momo said proudly, "Be it magic, swordsmanship or cooking, I've got at least something I can teach you!"

"You're a really multi-talented princess aren't you?"

"Well that's just how things ended up for me." Momo smiled, "The Battousai Dynasty always valued martial abilities so I was taught the sword from a young age. Of course, my duties as a princess required me to learn magic and cooking was just a given as a future queen and wife."

"Can't you just leave cooking to a servant or something?" Roko asked.

"But I want to cook something for the one I love one too." Momo blushed, "Well, one day. Eventually."

"Right, I got you." Roko said, "For now, I need to gather more information."

"On who? Why?"

"Anybody, really." Roko replied, "The more numbers I have to work with, the more I can understand about my powers and what they mean."

"I'm not sure I follow."

"Let me put it this way. If I get more numbers, I can tell you how you compare to other people in terms of power."

"Ooh! That sounds promising!" Momo smiled, "Then can I come back to you for help on my training?"

"Sure. I could use a reason to sort through the numbers."

"Wow, that's great! I do hope I'm not troubling you too much to do this."

"No, I have my own reasons to do this."

"What kind of reason? Do you have someone you want to beat or something?"

"Something like that."

Roko looked around at the knights in training. Nowhere in the crowd could he spot the black knight.