Princess Lily POV
What a disgraceful bastard.
First he hits me, then he leers at my chest and butt??! How… perverted.
"BEGIN THE SPAR!"
Looking towards the arena, I watched as the abusive pervert jumped back, wiping his brow in relief.
"Holy shit! I almost died there!" Bronson, the guard sparring the abusive perv, looked at him in surprise.
"I'm surprised you dodged that."
"Me too Mr. Beefy."
"...Mr. Beefy?"
"Ah, I don't know your name and your pretty fucking huge so Mr. Beefy seemed fitting?" My eye twitched at his logic.
"A stupid abusive pervert."
"Hey! I heard that!"
"I'm glad your ears work at least. Pervert." The abusive pervert sighed.
"Why does the world hate me? What did my esteemed self do to deserve this?" Suddenly clapping his hands once, a quarterstaff appeared.
"Oh? He uses the staff?"
"Indeed your highness." I looked towards my left, Headmaster Aerin standing beside me.
"Is he any good?"
"Good enough to beat a small rabbit." I looked at the Headmaster in surprise.
"That's quite the high praise." The headmaster smiled slightly.
"I think you'll like who I've selected to be your guard."
***
Tryston POV
Swinging my staff slightly, I took a deep breath.
'Let's be serious about this. My freedom is at stake here after all.'
Mr. Beefy and I slowly circled each other, waiting for the first to strike. Suddenly, Beefy charged, swinging his sword in a controlled arc down towards my head. I swiftly moved to the side, deflecting the blade into the ground. Stepping on the flat of the blade, I lightly lifted myself into the air, twisting through my hips and whipping my staff at his head.
CRACK
I watched in surprise as Beefy's helmet cracked and fell from his head. What greeted me was a pair of shocked eyes, blood slowly dripping down his face.
'Huh? Why didn't he dodge? Or deflect with his shield? I get why he didn't let go of his sword bu-'
"Tryston wins!"
"Huh?" Blinking myself from my thoughts, I watched as Beefy slumped to the ground, his once surprised eyes rolled back into his head.
"...Wha-"
"You brat!"
THWACK
"What the hell old man!? What was that for?!!"
"Why didn't you hold back! It was supposed to be a spar, not a one sided beatdown!"
"Isn't he a Circle 4 warrior?!! How the hell was I supposed to know he wouldn't react to that!? He was fast at the beginning of the fight!!!"
"Headmaster, it's fine." The old man paused, his staff inches away from hitting me again. The princess slowly made her way towards me, her face completely neutral.
"Your highness, I sincerely apologize for this one's ignorance. I suppose we'll have to retake some lessons on etiquette…" I shivered at Elmer's words.
'Shit! Was this something he already went over?!'
"Like I said, it's quite alright. He will do just fine as a bodyguard for my duration at the academy." Princess Lily studied me closely, her eyes boring into me.
'It feels like she's about to burn my soul.'
"What's your current circle and tier?" I blinked.
"Uh, Circle 2 Tier 8… your highness." The princess nodded once, her eyes thoughtful.
"Well, it's not exactly the highest but it's not too bad either. If I had to guess… purple potential?" I stared at her blankly.
"That was a question."
"Ah, right. Well… I don't know?"
"Is that a question?"
"Well, no. I never got my potential tested." Princess Lily looked at me in confusion.
"Never got it tested? That doesn't make sense. Why wouldn't they test your potential?"
"Because of my affinity." Elmer looked at me in surprise.
"You're going to tell her so easily?"
"Well I'm her bodyguard so it doesn't really make sense not to." Elmer stared at me blankly.
"...That's logical...…are you really Tryston?"
"Screw off, old bastard."
THWACK
"Hey! You insulted me first!"
"When? I just asked a simple question." The old bastard looked at me smugly as I grinded my teeth.
"You…"
"So what's your affinity then?" I looked back at the princess, who seemed slightly amused at the old bastard's injustice against me.
Tch.
"Ah, it's Erosion and Echo."
SHING
Suddenly surrounding me were her guards, all of them pointing their swords at my throat. Princess Lily immediately stepped back several steps, her eyes filled with wariness and… fear.
"...Erosion?" Her eyes flicked to Elmer. "What is the meaning of this Headmaster? Why would you choose someone with such a disgusting affinity as my bodyguard."
My hand twitched slightly at her words. At my twitch, the blades came closer to my throat, causing me to slowly raise my hands in an attempt to show I meant no harm.
While I may have beat the Beefy guy, surprisingly quickly, they had put a zero Kinesa restriction for the spar. In this situation… rules weren't a thing. All her guards were at least Circle 4, meaning I had zero chance, at least against their Kinesa. I didn't exactly have a way to seal away their Kinesa though so I was basically a sitting squirrel.
"Well your highness, when I first found him, I didn't know of his affinities at the time. After spending time with him, I can assure you, he will not harm you."
"Even though you are the Headmaster, history shows otherwise. I'm not feeling very inclined to accept him as my bodyguard. Period."
I couldn't help but clench my jaw slightly at those words.
'How could I forget… This is what a normal reaction is supposed to be to my affinity. Elmer was just a strange exception.'
"Hmm, I suppose that's true…" Elmer tapped his chin thoughtfully. "...Scouts honor?"
My head whipped towards the old man in shock, my jaw dropping.
"Be serious old man! My life is kind of on the line here!!" Elmer chuckled as the blades inched closer towards my neck.
"Your highness, I pledge on my Circles that this man will not hurt you in any physical way out of malicious intent."
The old man's body suddenly glowed a bright crimson before fading away just as quickly.
"A Circle Pledge… I see. You're very serious about this… person." The princess glanced at me once before sighing in resignation. I stared at Elmer in shock. I didn't even notice the guards drop their blades.
Circle Pledge.
An oath, in essence. If someone swears on their Circles, and the information they said is incorrect or later proven wrong in any way, their Circles will collapse, effectively crippling the user. Warriors didn't make pledges rashly. It was incredibly dangerous in fact, and usually only criminals were required to use such a thing.
'This old man… he's batshit crazy! But…'
"Thanks old man." Elmer just waved his hand dismissively.
"Don't worry brat. I know your character…" I suddenly laughed, realizing something.
"Kek-keke. Hey old man…" Elmer looked at me in confusion. "I hold your future in my hands now…" Elmer blinked once, his face turning from confusion to horror.
"You… you wouldn't…"
"I don't know old man… keke… are you going to keep hitting me? KEKEKE–kurgh!?"
THWACKTHWACKTHWACKTHWACKTHWACKTHWACKTHWACK
***
"Tch, you smelly brat. You think you scare me?"
"I'm thowwy." I sat on my knees, my head bowed and face swollen.
"You speaking like that doesn't help your case either. Stinky brat." I blinked.
"Ah. I suppose that's true. They'd have to be pretty dumb tho-"
THUNK…?
I slowly turned my head, staring at the princess blankly as she stood over me, a sword that was still sheathed in her hands. She flinched at my gaze.
"Don't call me dumb." She quickly backed away.
'??? What's the point of acting afraid AFTER hitting me?????'
"She learns quickly, I see." Elmer nodded once in satisfaction.
"????????"
"I'll allow him to be my bodyguard for now Headmaster. I won't hesitate to kill him though if he shows any signs of… well, anything." Elmer nodded once.
"Of course your highness. Thank you for listening to this one's request." The princess sighed in exasperation.
"You've done so much for our kingdom, if I were to ignore you even after you made a Circle Pledge, my father would most likely have my head." Elmer chuckled.
I looked up slowly, my gaze still blank.
'Ah. This is going to be a long five years.'
"Stand up brat." I looked at Elmer in confusion.
"Why? Aren't I still repenting or something?"
"Just stand up." I stood.
"Tryston Nyuusen, from this day forward until Princess Lily Arvidian's last day at the academy, you will protect her life as if it were your own." Thinking quickly I nodded once, bringing my hand to my chest and bowing forty five degrees.
"Yes sir."
I straightened out, glancing at the Princess who was staring at me with reluctance.
'Honestly, I feel like telling her I'm a slave would make her feel more calm? I don't really understand why I can't tell her I'm a slave.'
"The academy entrance exam starts in thirty minutes. Follow the princess and take care of her brat." I blinked in confusion. Slowly turning my head towards the old man I stared at him.
"...The exam is today?"