When Boltus opened his eyes this morning. He was not the same.
His memories of his prior life have started to fill in his mind.
"What the fuck… I can't believe this is happening to me. Why and how?... This ought to be a mistake!!"
Boltus cried in his small room that was reserved for servants in the academy.
"Am I Boltus Dreeg or Jaisal?..." Boltus banged his head against the wall. Trying to suppress the alien memories that were taking over his psyche. But besides giving him a further headache, it didn't amount to much.
So in the end, Boltus came to a single conclusion.
"No, I am both Jaisal in the first life and Boltus in this one." Memories of his past life merged with his present one, the two individuals soon became one. And it was then that Boltus noticed something bizarre.
"If I am not wrong, this is the world of that shonen otome game that got adapted to anime." And it was the anime version that Boltus in his prior life watched. "And Boltus Dreeg was meant to be the Defense instructor of Cloud Velfas Academy."
"But why am I a janitor?" The memories in his mind were too chaotic and he was not able to understand his current situation properly.
The fat ugly face which was contrasted with an even fatter physique matched the look of the defense instructor of Cloud Velfas Academy.
The Boltus Dreeg from the anime hailed from the family of Barons and was the 3rd in line for the title. Making it almost impossible to obtain the seat unless some miraculous accident happened.
So he did what most of the people in his situation did. Try to find a good retainer and become their knight and vessel.
And what place to find a good retainer, if not the greatest academy in the Gram Rooth Empire? So the Boltus in the anime after completing his studies in Cloud Velfas joined the academy as a junior instructor.
And by the time the story of the anime begins, he was a senior instructor who always supported the antagonist of the story due to her background, to obtain a better future.
A future that never came, as he died a lot earlier in the novel after being blamed for an assassination plot that he didn't commit and then executed in front of the whole capital city for mid-day entertainment.
"Ah yes, I remember now… I never tried to achieve anything." Jaisal was not Boltus. Even when not having his previous memories, he was still a different soul. He didn't make the same choices original Boltus would have made in his life.
"Currently I am disowned from the family for failing the second year of academy three times in a row. And I only have this job out of pity from the academy."
Boltus, recalling his prior circumstances. He dropped down back in his seat.
He was not a talented individual in his previous life. But he was someone who was able to score a good job in a textile factory as an engineer.
The work was heavy but the pay was great enough. But it would be a lie to say he wasn't tired of the monotonous life. Slowly, he got lethargic during work.
And while diagnosing a particular machine, his hand got caught in it. His laziness became the reason for his death.
"Fuck… My body was probably crushed." And maybe the reason why he never got the drive to work ever again in this life.
"No-No! I can't repeat the same mistake. I didn't even get to enjoy married life. I never even left any offspring. I can not repeat the same things in this life."
"And God didn't show mercy this time too. Why did I get such an ugly body? Isn't my older sister and brother both super beautiful?"
"..."
"Oh yeah, I forgot. My mum is pretty ugly too."
His two older siblings were from the first wife while he was from the second wife. Making him a sort of outlier in his family. If not for Baron Dreeg needing capital support to buy more lands and his mother belonging to a long line of merchants. It would be hard for Baron Dreeg to scion a kid with a woman that ugly.
"Fuck that father… What kind of father is he? My mother may be ugly but she is still the best mother in both of my lives."
"Not like my older mother was bad, she just didn't get the opportunity to see me grow up."
"Fuck… I should ignore these thoughts. The more I think about it, the more harmful it will be for me and my body."
"I should think about good things, happy thoughts. A future with a wife and family. Yes. Nothing is better than that."
Boltus then looked at his face in the mirror once again.
"But getting a wife will be problematic. I don't have a good face, the only way I can score a wife is to get rich."
"As the sages have said before. The more money you have, the more attractive you will be towards the ladies."
"But fuck this world, getting rich is hard. And I don't think grandpa would help me much. Mum was collateral anyway. She was meant to be married off and forget."
"Not to mention, I am 23year old at this point. And in Boltus's wiki, it was said he was 25 at the time of his death."
"He died during the second year of the anime."
"Meaning, the upcoming batch of students will welcome the cast of all those characters."
"It's March at the moment and vacations have just begun. I have around 2 months before those bastards arrive in this academy and start to cause mischief."
"Also, I am not the old me. I want to have a better future. The only path to that is finding a better and stronger backer."
"But fudge it, no one will be willing to be my retainer with this face and lack of skills."
"And the face is the part I can't fix. But skills are another matter."
This world was not a normal one. It was the world of knights and magic. And Boltus knew that he had no affinity with the magic part of the world.
And while the Knight path was easier, it also had the weirdest power progression and the difference between people of the same rank might be huge depending on a person's latent talent. While the mage path depends more on hard work and how prepared one is.
"Knights are easy. The first part is easy." Boltus has never practiced any Knight technique even after being taught multiple different ones in the Academy and his own family because he never had the drive for them, he was always lost, all the time. And now, he has found the one thing he was looking for all his life.
The drive to move forward.
But before that.
"Boltus you BASTARD!! It's 11 pm. We have been getting complaints due to dirty hallways. Get back to your work."
A shout came from the other side of Boltus's door, drowning his enthusiasm.
"Yes, Ma'am. I will be out in a while."
Well, he can train after coming back from his job. For now, let him clean the floor like a good janitor.
Who knows, one day he might even own his Janitor.
*****
Putting the lunchbox on the table. Boltus dried off his hair after a day of hard work.
Even after taking a bath, Boltus still felt fatigued. He labored to breathe and wanted to just fall back on his bed and get a long rest.
But first thing first.
It was his dinner. Which consisted of only 3 flatbreads, one curry dish, and one bowl of egg rice.
It was not much. But he was going to eat less from now on and maybe save some money this way.
"I remember around five basic knight training methods. Each with their advantage."
"The Dreeg Training method can be forgotten. They are agility focused and my current body will only be detrimental to that training."
"While the rest of them." Boltus opened his suitcase where he placed most of his important belongings and took out a hardcover notebook. "While these four may be useful, for now at least."
The training of knights was not resource intensive in the early parts. Nor was it complicated. One can even train by themselves if they know the basic concept of knight training. The complex methods are only taught to second years who focus on specialization.
At the moment Boltus only needed to start and read through the concepts properly.
"First one is like Dreeg and focuses on agility, the second one focuses on strengthening…"
Reading the synopsis of the manuals. Boltus was able to understand one thing.
This was like an RPG game and these manuals would set up the starting build of a character. So it was important to know what will be more advantageous in the future.
"The basic concept is as they explained in the anime. Since the mana is in the air, start absorbing it to create a mana heart. A phantom organ attached to the original arc which will pump the mana throughout the body."
"After its creation, the first is physique changes. Depending on the practice methods, results may differ…"
"Fuck this… isn't it just common sense with stories like this? The system is so cliche. Why even bother reading these manuals?"
"All the difference among these manuals is the exercises required to achieve the result."
"Meaning, it's not the exercise method that affects the stats of an individual. The changes in stats probably happen due to the body exercises one does, a side effect of sorts."