I Have been Reincarnated As a Lazy, Arrogant Noble, but When I Destroyed The Scenario Through Effort, I Became The Most Powerful With Extraordinary Magical Power - 5

005 – Talent, Effort, or Something Else

In my previous life, the only thing I could boast about to others was my ability to touch-type.

I hardly did any physical activity, except for school gym class, and I stopped going to the gym I had signed up for after just a week.

But…

“Good job, Weiss! The most important thing when swinging a sword is not to hold back!”

“Understood…!”

Since that moment, I have been training every day to an unimaginable extent.

It must have been about a year since I was reincarnated as the villain, Weiss.

“Haha! Weiss, your movements are interesting! Quite interesting!”

“H-Hey, could you please go a bit easier, Milch Sensei?”

When swords clash, the impact makes my body tremble.

Although I continue to increase my total magical power, Milch Sensei seems to prefer swordsmanship.

At first, I thought she would go easy on me.

She would guide me step by step, showing me how to do this and that.

But it wasn’t like that at all, and during my first practice, I fainted before I knew it.

Even though we were using wooden swords, Milch Sensei hardly held back. Broken bones were common, and without recovery magic, I would probably have gone bankrupt from buying potions.

I continue to take blows, driven by my determination to survive. It seems like Milch Sensei is greatly enjoying herself.

“Today’s training is over.”

In the next moment, Milch Sensei disappeared at a speed I couldn’t possibly catch up with.

In a fraction of a second, I was knocked down by a wooden sword, my nose bleeding.

“Ugh… aaah…”

“Make sure to heal by tomorrow morning. Don’t neglect your form practice.”

“Ugh, yes, okay…”

This is beyond tough! I can’t count how many times I’ve screamed that in my mind.

“Lillith-sama!”

However, Lillith came running and healed my nose with Heal Light magic.

Surprisingly, Lillith has been studying magic desperately for my sake. And she’s been learning it at an astonishing speed.

I’m happy, but that just makes me more determined not to lose.

“It’s… warm.”

“I’m glad…”

Unlike Milch Sensei, Lillith is so gentle.

◇

Milch’s Side

I have always believed that everyone has limits.

Effort can’t surpass talent. That was my belief.

But meeting Weiss shattered all the common sense I had.

He becomes stronger with each passing day, like a completely different person.

It doesn’t fit into talent or effort, or anything else for that matter.

I said I wouldn’t hold back, but of course, I started by going easy on him.

Teaching is about making the other person feel good. Building their confidence, piquing their interest, and inspiring them to believe they can do it.

But when I spar with Weiss, there are times when I find myself fully engaged.

However, the interesting part is that, in those moments, Weiss always manages to receive my attacks.

A noble’s child who had been learning swordsmanship for less than half a year, catching my full-force strikes—it’s unthinkable.

While my heart trembles with excitement, a smile naturally forms on my face.

If Weiss has ambitions, then I must be raising an extraordinary monster.

But that’s okay. It’s interesting, truly fascinating.

And interesting events seem to keep happening, one after another.

“Milch Sensei, aren’t you going a bit too far?”

“Is that you, Lillith? What are you doing here at this hour?”

She doesn’t have any weapons, but her intense killing intent is overflowing. No, she doesn’t seem to be trying to hide it.

“Shouldn’t you go a bit easier on the training? At this rate, Lord Weiss might die.”

“Because I’ve been told to be strict. I do go easy during magic training.”

“I guess I phrased that wrong… I’m not asking for a favor.”

“Well then, if it’s not a favor, then—”

The next moment, Lillith disappeared without making a sound and kicked me from behind.

I managed to defend against it, but the pressure was strong enough to break my arm bones.

So using force is fine, huh?

I see, Weiss has something interesting in his possession.

I had never considered him ordinary, but he’s a different type from me.

An assassin, perhaps?

Afterward, Lillith and I clashed in numerous encounters.

But we never reached a conclusion. And one day, after witnessing Weiss get up in front of Lillith, vomiting blood, it seems she finally made up her mind.

She appeared before me as usual, lowered her head, and spoke.

“Please teach me magic.”

Since that day, Lillith has been fervently trying to learn magic.

Learning recovery magic requires talent, but she’s blessed with magical aptitude as well.

Now, she works just as hard as Weiss, but she never shows any signs of it.

It seems like she’s completely forgotten about her boring past life.

Swordsmanship training had progressed to a certain extent, but when it came to magic, I was still stuck with basic training as before.

Releasing magic until my consciousness fades—just that.

It’s been a little over a year since the academy’s entrance ceremony, and I’m starting to feel the desire to learn magic.

So, even though I usually don’t answer back, I decided to ask.

“I want to learn magic…” I said, but Milch-sensei just chuckled.

“Are you worried about falling behind at this rate?”

“Oh, no… it’s not that serious, but I just wondered why it’s always like this.”

“You want an explanation, is that it?”

“Well, yes…”

With a sigh, Milch-sensei imbued her left hand with fire magic. It was small, but the flames continued to burn steadily.

“Although there’s no precise number, let’s say this is a level 30 fire magic. And this is level 60.”

She imbued flames in her other hand. It hardly seemed any different.

Odd. It should have swelled to more than double its size.

“Weiss, what do you think of this difference?”

“To be honest, is it okay if I speak my mind?”

“I don’t mind.”

“It doesn’t seem… to be that different.”

“I see. Surface-wise… yes.”

I didn’t understand the meaning.

Milch-sensei said that increasing magical power would lead to more techniques and higher potency.

I had thought the same, but what she showed me was the opposite.

“You have a good expression. Always keep your mind sharp. But you haven’t grasped the essence. Look.”

Milch-sensei then threw the level 30 magic onto the ground. The grass ignited, and a pillar of fire shot up.

Next, she threw the level 60 magic—surprisingly, the ground burst into flames with more than double, perhaps even triple, the potency.

Thinking in terms of numbers, it’s unbelievable.

“Do you understand what this means?”

“Even though they look the same, the level 60 magic has twice the potency…”

“That’s right. Of course, this requires advanced technique. What I’m trying to say is, imagining that doubling the power will double the size is nonsensical. It’s only pointless to needlessly alarm your enemies by making it visibly larger. Listen, the essence of battle lies in seizing the initiative and deceiving each other. It’s not like starting with a ‘Ready, Set, Go!’ command. A slight misjudgment can lead directly to death.”

They look the same, but the density of magical power is different. That’s what Milch-sensei was trying to convey.

It seems my thinking is still stuck in gaming mode. Learning various techniques and overwhelming enemies—it felt like those fleeting feelings were being purged.

“Total magical power is akin to muscle training. No matter how much talent you have, it increases only with the time you invest. If you become stronger as you age, you’ll get accustomed to superficial skills. That’s exactly where I am right now. But Weiss, you’re different. Young and capable of sincere effort. I know it’s boring. But please, just a little more effort.”

This was the first time she had been so clear with me. Asking me to put in more effort, no less.

I had only been thinking about myself. I didn’t want to die, I didn’t want to end up in ruin.

But things are different now. I want to do my best not just for myself but for Lillith, who supports me, and for Milch-sensei as well.

“Understood. I’ll do my best!”

“That’s the spirit. Good, keep at it until you die.”

“Yes!”

And once again, I released magic until I was on the verge of death.

Hmm… but it’s still tough…

Then, for several more months, as significant changes became visible in my status, Milch-sensei muttered, “It’s about time.”

“About time? What do you mean?”

“I mentioned it before. It’s time for a practical test.”

A practical test… she had a different smile than usual. It’s scary, I want to escape, I want to run away!

I had various thoughts, but it’s probably going to involve fighting monsters.

Yet, I’m a little excited. I want to test how much I’ve really grown.

“…So, what kind of monsters will we be fighting?”

“Monsters?”

I unintentionally blurted out my inner thoughts, but Milch-sensei chuckled.

Then she said something unexpected.

“The practical test will involve real humans. You’ll be the one starting a fight.”

“…Huh?”