Chapter 10: Speed Reading
"Really? That all happened to you?" Edea asked as she continued grading papers.
"Yeah." Roko replied as he leaned back on his chair, reading a book, "Do you know what those creatures were? My sca-spell wouldn't work on them."
"Hmm...Yes."
"Wait, you do know?" Roko said, sitting straight up, "What are they?"
"I wouldn't worry about it." Edea replied, not looking up from her papers, "The headmaster will sort it out. As for why your spell didn't work..." Edea looked up, "Maybe your spell isn't powerful enough?"
"Isn't powerful enough?" Roko sighed, "It's the only spell I know. How can I make it more powerful?"
"I dunno. Have you mastered intentional casting yet?"
"I'm nearly there I think." Roko rubbed his face, "I think the seal is complete. The problem now is controlling when the seal appears in my head."
"Ah, you're up to the disassociation problem." Edea nodded, "That's the big problem preventing most people from mastering intentional casting. Once you learn to associate two things together, it's then hard for us to stop associating them. In other words, you've managed to put your seal together but now you can't say the spell without thinking of the seal meaning you cast your spell anyway without meaning to."
"It's like learning how to write with your left hand but then forgetting how to write with your right."
"It's a very common problem. You're not the only one with this issue." Edea said as she returned to her work.
"Is there a way to resolve it?"
"Just gotta work through it."
"Magic sure take a lot of work to master."
"Nobody said it was going to be easy."
Edea looked up again, "Anyway, isn't it time for you to go to your next class?"
"My next class is Home Economics." Roko sighed as he stood up, "I kinda don't want to learn about household taxes."
"That's what you're learning? I figured you'd be learning how to cook."
"If it was just that, I wouldn't be skipping class here with you."
"I really shouldn't be letting you get away with this either." Edea said as she continued to grade papers, "But your arm is still busted so I guess there's no harm."
"The shoulder wound and twisted ankle got fixed pretty easily but this wolf bite is taking a bit longer." Roko said as he held up his cast arm.
"Just make sure you don't turn into a werewolf."
"Those exist?"
"Course they do. Though they aren't born by just getting bitten by a wolf. You'll be fine. Just take it easy for now."
Roko left Edea's classroom and lazily headed towards his next class.
"Never had to deal with this back in my world." He muttered.
Heading down a set of stairs, Roko walked out into the courtyard where a couple of other students were scattered about in small cliques. The sun shone particularly bright that day, forcing Roko to cover his eyes slightly as he stood there for a moment, entranced in the peaceful atmosphere.
Come to think of it, this world is rather peaceful. Or rather this school is. Despite hosting future leaders of entire kingdoms, no fights or conflicts have broken out in the short while that Roko has been here. At first he had figured it was just a cold war scenario. That everybody was afraid of not just starting an international incident between countries but of instigating any of the knights in attendance. That this was a field of battle not for any physical dominance but in information. Gauging characters and abilities in this developmental stage of their lives. And Roko still believed this to some extent. However it was almost inconceivable that no outside politics would leak into the interactions here. Rivalry between nations not manifesting was one thing. No sudden political upheaval or slight translating into the school was another thing. Were all the princesses here just that levelheaded...or is there just no political conflicts to cause any such stir in this campus? What was going on outside the school?
"Oh! Hey!"
Roko looked up as Corissa ran up to him with Varis by her side.
"Hey." Roko replied, "How have you two been?"
"Great!" Corissa grinned, "I mean we've been doing great. Umm...there was actually something we wanted to do but we never got the chance in the forest so...come on Varis."
Corissa and Varis bowed. "Sorry for trying to kill you that time!"
…
"You tried to kill me once and actually saved my life once." Roko said as he held up his cast, "I think we're more than even now."
"Thank you." Corissa breathed a sigh of relief as she straightened, "Isn't that great, Varis?"
Varis just nodded.
"You don't think it looks poorly on you if you apologize so many times?" Roko asked, "You're supposed to be a princess and I have no real standing or class."
"Hm? Not at all." Corissa said, bemused, "Not apologizing properly would reflect poorer on me don't you think? And class has no relevance if you've done something wrong, right?"
"Well...if you think that way, I won't try to explain it to you."
"Explain what?"
"Nothing. You're a good kid. That's all you need to know."
"W-Where's this coming from?" Corissa blushed, "A-Anyway, I'm not keeping you am I?"
"Not from anything important." Roko shrugged, "Just Home Economics."
"Oh, I love cooking."
"We're doing taxes right now."
"That not so much." Corissa gulped, "But I thought you were good with numbers."
"I am but this isn't so much about doing taxes so much as how to tax people properly." Roko sighed, "Home Ec for royalty sure is different."
"But you can still do it right?"
"I can but I'm not going to be king so what does it matter?" Roko scowled, "Learning the inner workings of the governmental taxation as a middle class citizen is just depressing."
"W-Well, maybe you can take a day off." Corissa chuckled anxiously, "What with your arm and all."
"Not like there's time to get there now anyway." Roko said as he checked the castle's clock tower.
"Oh, my next class is coming up soon." Corissa said as she looked up at the clock tower as well, "I'm going to get ready. Take care of yourself okay?"
"Got it."
Roko turned and walked off as Corissa ran off with Varis to prepare her next class. As Corissa ran off, she turned around to glance at the forest that was resting outside of the school today.
"...Varis...it might just be me but...is there someone watching me?"
"Hey."
"Hey..." Roland frowned as Roko approached him.
"Where's the princess?"
"She is in the middle of class right now."
"Is she still doing the whole not seeing your face thing?"
"No..." Roland grimaced, "The merciful Lady Helena has graciously decided to forgo any punishment for me."
"Then why are you here while she's in class?"
"There are some...delicate matters about the female experience in her next class and as such, the knights have been asked to leave for the time."
"What class is that?"
"Cosmology."
"That doesn't sound right."
"What do you know about the female experience?"
"Nothing." Roko shrugged, "I see you got yourself a new sword."
"Y-Yes." Roland held up his new sword, "Generous Lady Helena has seen it fit to purchase me a brand new sword."
"Looks pretty fancy. Must have cost quite a bit."
"It was an artisan's piece. Both well designed and practical. I am blessed that thoughtful and altruistic Lady Helena saw fit to purchase a sword of this caliber for me."
"You sure seem to use a lot more adjectives when speaking about Helena now."
"Ahem." Roland coughed, "While the hospitable Lady Helena has chosen to not only not pursue any further disciplinary actions but forgive my dismissal of her previous punishment and, in all her compassion, revoke it. Her roommates chose to bully...er...tease me by forcing me to add more and more titles to benevolent Lady Helena's name and decided to make that my punishment."
"So you were still punished in the end."
"Not by the gentle and polite Lady Helena."
"She's starting to sound like some sort of god."
"Lady Helena's patience and kindness is as vast and embracing as a god."
"By the way, are there gods in this world?" Roko said as the thought crossed his mind.
"Hm? A few years ago there were plenty of religions around the world in many nations but they've all but died down since the gods abandoned us."
"What's the story behind that?" Roko asked, intrigued.
"Well the details are a bit murky and the story changes depending on who you ask..." Roland sighed, "But most people seem to agree that it was not the fault of humans."
"Sounds optimistic." Roko scoffed, "But this means that gods actually exist in this world right?"
"Well yeah. Do gods not exist in your world?"
"If they do, they're hard to find."
"Our gods are not prone to showing their faces either." Roland nodded.
"But you're sure of their existence."
"Yeah."
"Hm. Would have liked to meet one myself." Roko said.
"No, I doubt any god would have business with you."
"Helena seems pretty friendly though."
"Loving and dignified Lady Helena is just being charitable to otherwise meaningless existences."
"You do know that nobody else is around right? You don't have to keep this up."
"Shows what kind of character you are. A knight accepts their punishment with dignity and carries out their repentance with discipline."
"I don't think Helena is expecting that much from you."
"How dare you! Favorable and supportive Lady Helena chose me as her knight and I will not betray her trust!"
"I kind of want to keep this up until you run out of adjectives."
"And I want to test out my new sword." Roland frowned as he held up his sword.
"Got it. I'll go somewhere else." Roko chuckled as he walked off, "Don't go throwing the new sword your philanthropic and propitious Lady Helena gave you."
"You don't need to start making up words for this."
"Ah. Lady Kaguya."
"Sir Roko." Lady Kaguya stopped as she and Mikado were on their way to the cafeteria, "It's good to see you. I hope your arm is healing well?"
"It's healing." Roko shrugged, "Anyway, I see you're not on a horse this time."
"Ahhh, in both our past meetings I was riding on a horse wasn't I?" Kaguya chuckled, "I assure you it's not a common occurrence."
"Of course." Roko nodded, "I was just wondering. You've spoken with the headmaster about our venture the other day right?"
"Oh. Yes, of course." Kaguya looked worried.
"Then...may I ask what happened?"
"Hmmm..." Kaguya thought it over for a bit, "Most of the details are still confidential. But I can assure you that the headmaster is taking this seriously and this matter will be dealt with."
"Were they aware of those creatures before?"
"Evidently not it seems."
"Do they know what those creatures were?"
"...I think so though I wasn't told anything."
"So you don't know either?"
"No but I have my suspicions and I'm doing my best to investigate."
"This isn't something you can just find in books is it?"
"Not the book general people can read at least." Kaguya nodded, "Don't worry. I'll inform you once I find anything."
"Hmm..." Roko frowned, "There isn't a whole lot I can do on my end is there? I can try looking through this school's library but if you're having problems investigating, I can't probably find much. Plus reading is not exactly my strong suit."
"You're good with numbers but not with words huh?" Kaguya giggled, "That's cute."
"I suppose the only thing I can do...is go back and try to use my spell on them again."
"I'd advise against that." Kaguya stated, "Even if you bring help with you, I can't imagine you'll be able to escape unscathed. Even if you go now there is not much you can do. The headmaster will probably deal with the situation soon and it's best we leave it to the school. I know you're not one to leave a problem alone when you see it but this isn't something that even our small group can handle."
"I know there are probably more of those creatures out there in the world." Roko sighed, "But I haven't really had the opportunity to even leave the school much less see the world so if I let them destroy that nest, I probably won't have a chance to see them again, at least for a long while."
"Oh my, you haven't even been to the local town?" Kaguya said, "Well it's not exactly local in terms of geographical location but we're connected quite closely spatially."
"There's a town?" Roko asked, "Are we partnered with them or something?"
"We're like sponsors for them, yes. Tell you what, I'll give you a tour of the town the next chance we get."
"I didn't really explore my home back when I was in my world." Roko mused, "But I'm sure I'll be able to gather more information if I go."
"Then it's a date."
"Is it alright if you call it that?"
"I can call it whatever I like."
That night, Roko sat down to try to try and sort through the information he had on hand but after struggling to write with his injured hand, he put down his pen and sighed.
"This school is a blessing and a problem. The fact that it's separated and private from the rest of the world means I'm able to safely gather information and sort them without problem. What's more, being surrounded by elite royals means I'm getting quality data. However I know so little of the outside world and I don't have the tools to pursue a lot of endeavors."
Roko picked up his notebook full of data, "What's more, I've been doing what comes naturally to me and gathering data but I still don't have any way to capitalize on it."
Roko sighed heavily as he set down his notebook and got up, "I'm going to sleep. Maybe something will come to me tomorrow."
Tomorrow morning, Roko heard loud knocking coming from his door early in the morning. Shaking off his sleepiness, he got out of bed and opened the door.
"What is it?" He asked, groggily.
"There's been a huge problem!" Helena exclaimed, "Corissa's been kidnapped!"
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