I who was reincarnated as the shadowy villain with the power to antagonize the nation, worked hard since infancy to avoid the flag of ruin, resulting in an extraordinary magical power that made me the strongest.

It had been four days since Fuyuma-san arrived at our house. Over these four days, both Fuyuma-san and my father had been frequently leaving the estate, making it difficult even to find time for our midday training sessions.

I couldn’t help but wonder if this had something to do with the presence of the youma we discussed in the garden earlier. As I observed the two from the shadows, I noticed that on the second day, they hurriedly passed through the gate and got into a car. Their expressions were tense, and it was evident that something unusual was going on. Perhaps the manifestation of the youma we talked about was imminent.

…But I still believed that we would be safe as long as Fuyuma-san and my father were around. Both of them were exceptional onmyoji, even within Japan. If anyone could handle the situation, it would be them.

So, I focused on what I needed to do. I trusted that the two of them would resolve the youma issue.

“I can’t move anymore…”

“Totally… pathetic…”

I was currently sprawled out in the garden. Next to me, Ginko poked my cheek with her paw, looking exasperated.

The training for “Jōrai” was much harder than I had anticipated. It felt like my entire body was being consumed by the sensation of joint pain and fatigue, intensified to twice that of influenza.

The pain resulted from the rapid expansion of the circuits due to the increased output during the training. Added to that was the exhaustion from continuously using a massive amount of magic energy. The combination of these two factors resulted in symptoms so unbearable that I couldn’t recall ever experiencing them in my past life.

I had been enduring this for about an hour now. Over the past three days, there were countless moments when I contemplated giving up midway, but the image of Shizuku in my mind served as my motivation. It allowed me to persevere in training with unwavering determination.

However, now I had reached my limit. My body was refusing to move as I wished.

It was midday, and I wouldn’t be able to move properly until tomorrow morning.

Well, it didn’t matter that my real body couldn’t move. In the dream world, I would continue training with Ginko, so it wouldn’t affect me.

“Well, I guess we’ll call it a day.”

“Yeah…”

“Did you manage to get the hang of the feeling?”

“Yeah, I think so, somehow…”

There was progress. I could now temporarily imbue my wooden sword with Shiden, and I could even make it electrify in the air for a brief moment. At first, it was just a weak spark like static electricity, but the absorption rate, thanks to Tenji’s specifications, was abnormally fast.

As I gazed at the scorched ground in the yard, I couldn’t help but marvel at the speed of Tenji’s growth.

Therefore, I would give it my all and focus on my efforts. No matter what, I had to become stronger.

“Well, that’s good. I’ll disappear for now.”

“Alright.”

Ginko’s body began to blur, gradually blending into the scenery, until she eventually vanished. I felt my magic power return to me in a soft rush, a sensation caused by Ginko’s manifestation ending, and the magic power she consumed returning to me.

In reality, there was a clear reason why Ginko had a small fox form while in dreams, she appeared as a human. It seemed that maintaining a human-like form consumed an incomparable amount of magic power compared to her fox form. On the day of the ritual, she could maintain her human form because all my magic power was concentrated in that room.

By the way, with my current amount of magic power, I’ve heard that I can only maintain a human form in reality for less than a minute. Considering that in the original story, Tenji maintained it for several tens of minutes… Well, it just goes to show what a monster he was.

“I still have a long way to go…”

It’s not enough. Not nearly enough. Everything is just too different. Even though there are differences in physique and the time spent training, it’s frustrating.

“But someday, I’ll definitely catch up. No, I’ll surpass him.”

As I felt my heart burn with determination, vivid scenes of Tenji’s battles replayed in my mind, and I made a solemn vow to myself.