Ever since that day, I’d been diligently testing out and analyzing the various consequences of my awakening, as well as all the new ways of thinking that had accompanied it. Because Soldo’s lessons stretched across most of the day, I could only really move freely before breakfast and between dinner and bedtime.
The entrance examinations for the Royal Academy tested both practical skills and subject knowledge, and as such, it was common for aspiring test takers to devote half a day to one area and the other half to the other. In my case, however, my practical skills were apparently already considered strong enough that I’d safely score above the passing grade, and as such, Soldo had petitioned my father six months ago to permit him to implement what he referred to as the “Absolute Success Strategy.” This method removed any practical training from the curriculum, instead allocating the full day for lectures in an attempt to remedy my woefully lacking subject knowledge. However, despite the name of his strategy, Soldo’s schedule...
ABSOLUTE SUCCESS STRATEGY
• 8:00 to 9:00: Breakfast
• 9:00 to 10:30: Language and Literature
• 10:30 to 11:00: Rest
• 11:00 to 12:30: Physics and Magical Theory
• 12:30 to 1:30: Lunch
• 1:30 to 2:30: Afternoon Nap
• 2:30 to 4:00: History and Geopolitics
• 4:00 to 4:30: Rest
• 4:30 to 6:00: Military Strategy and Politics
...had been a little soft, to say the least. After I’d failed to get accepted into my first-choice university in my past life, I’d studied like mad eighteen hours a day for a year straight, ultimately managing to enter a fairly well-known private university on my willpower alone. Looking over Soldo’s schedule with my newly awakened eyes, I’d wondered whether or not he and my father really wanted me to pass the exams at all. Had I really only been studying six hours a day until now? What did they take me for, a middle schooler? Well, considering my age now, that was probably an appropriate amount of study, but still...
The morning after my awakening, I’d requested some revisions to Soldo’s lackluster study schedule. Class time would be extended to run from eight in the morning until seven in the evening, and the interlesson breaks and afternoon nap would be removed entirely. The lunch hour would be cut down to an adequate fifteen minutes. With the focus I’d just regained as a former swot, I could easily study from six in the morning until midnight, but there were too many other aspects of my new abilities I wanted to look into, so I’d begrudgingly made some concessions with the revised schedule. I could always add in some self-study if I had any free time after testing out my new abilities.
But Soldo had disagreed. “Young Master, while I appreciate your eagerness, simply extending the length of your study schedule will not yield the results you seek. Longer hours will not equate to higher grades; that is a common misunderstanding amongst those your age. In fact, it is more likely you will obtain worse results by following such a strenuous schedule,” the older man had said, attempting to gently reject my proposed revisions.
Generally speaking, Soldo wasn’t wrong. If I were still the boy I’d been up until the day before, this kind of haphazard attempt to cram would have been counterproductive. But as I was now, there was no chance I’d accept anything easier than the schedule I’d proposed. I still had no idea how heavily my results on the upcoming exams could limit my options in my new life if I was careless.
Before awakening, I would have been fine if I’d failed the examinations. I would have headed off to the Noble College in the Dragoon Region and gotten a warm welcome, and I’d have possibly aimed to do better on the employment examinations taken postgraduation. But that approach was naive. I only had one shot at the Royal Academy.
Except for what I could glean from Allen’s experiences, I understood nothing about this world or the way it truly worked. In that sense, I was no different from myself in my past life; back then, I’d believed unquestioningly that academic credentials were everything in life, and I had come to regret that conviction immensely. Now I’d been reincarnated and told the same was true in this world. With the regret from my previous life still burning in my mind, it was a hard pill to swallow. But that wasn’t to say I was giving in; I had no plans to inadvertently limit my future options and leave myself no choice but to become a corporate slave again.
“You’re too soft, Gramps. The next few months will shape the rest of my life! Seven hundred years’ worth of Rovene family blood, sweat, and tears rests on my shoulders! You need to have a greater sense of urgency!”
Soldo froze for a moment, seemingly unable to understand the words that had come out of my mouth. But the next moment, he began to tremble, his face flushing with excitement.
“I was impressed by your perseverance yesterday...but to think the day would come when I would hear such conviction coming from you, Young Master... You are serious about this!”
“Now you’re getting it, Gramps!”
“‘Getting it,’ I am! I shall amend our strategy for certain victory! Your schedule will be revised as you wish! We shall cut down the breaks between classes to a mere ten minutes each! There’s little we can do about the lunch hour, but the afternoon nap will be done away with. I’ll write to your father in the capital immediately! Regret it though you may, there will be no backing out henceforth!”
My shoulders slumped dejectedly. Soldo was really taking this far too lightly.