{Author's Notes}
I'm sorry. Part 2 will likely consist of three parts.
**********
Feeling extremely exhausted, my body collapsed onto the bed.
[...F- Five hundred times... Finished~~]
[Good job, Kaito-kun.]
Even though it had taken me an inordinate amount of time, I had finished fainting and recovering 500 times just as Kuro told me.
My head hurt, I felt incredibly nauseous, and the mental fatigue I was feeling wasn't small. T- This is really tough.
[...How many hours did it take? I guess it's already dark outside huh?]
[Unnn? No, just "about four hours"?]
[Huh? No, no, that felt more like 10 hours though...]
When Kuro told me that it only took me four hours, I suddenly forgot about my fatigue and sat up. No, wait a moment, it takes 100 seconds for my magic power to be emptied in the first place, so if I were to do that 500 times as fast as possible, it should still take me quite a while.
Kuro responded to my words with a bright smile on her lips.
[The "time in this room is shifted", so it's only been about four hours outside. I'm not as good as Shiro, but I can manipulate time too~~]
[I- Is that so...]
[Unnn! That's why, you can work "twice as hard" tomorrow.]
[...Eh?]
[That would be 1000 times!]
[...Is that so.]
Kuro is even more spartan than I thought! Doing this twice tomorrow... I'm going to have to do that for more than 20 hours? No, wouldn't I end up having to do this for more hours than there are in a day? I- I guess this would certainly make me strong huh...
[...S- Speaking of which! In the end, how much did my magic power rise today?]
[Hmmm... You would have about "0.025" now! The more magic power you have, the harder it is to raise it after all~~]
Whoa, it seems like my magic power sharply increased by 25 times in just one day... D*mn it! The 100 magic power marker is still too far away!
[Ummm, Kuro... This is something unrelated but...]
[Unnn?]
[Frankly, how high is my magic power compared to other humans?]
[E- Errr... W- Well, about the same... as "an average ten-year-old", I guess?]
How untalented in magic could I be... My magic power was just too low.
[Kuro, be honest with me... How high my magical talent is...]
[...U- Unnn. "You're astonishingly lousy at it"...]
[Ghaakk!?]
[K- Kaito-kun!? I- It's alright! I'm going to train you very hard! I'll definitely raise your magic power to be as high as the High-ranking Demons!!!]
[...T- Thanks... That still sounds terrifying though...]
Like this, the first day of my training ended, feeling some despair in my heart.
It's been about a week since I started training with Kuro, and my magic power had increased to the point where I could feel the change myself.
According to Appraisal-chan (Kuro), my current magic power is about "0.85"... I'm about to enter the single digits, which is a really big deal for me. W- Well, I heard that it's still just on the level of a slightly powerful commoner... A- Anyway, I'm beginning to see the results of my efforts.
Today, I came to visit Isis-san at her castle, leisurely reading books with her.
Even though it was something I wanted to do, the spartan training for the past week was really tough. That's why I felt really relaxed when I hung out with Isis-san like this.
[...Wha!?]
[...Kaito?]
As I was feeling happy with her presence, I casually held Isis-san's hand... and became surprised.
I don't know if it's because I had become more sensitive to magic power because of my training or because I had unconsciously tried to meddle with Isis-san's magic power... but I was now aware of how incomparably great Isis-san's magic power is. No, to be precise, I should say that "I only vaguely understood that she had a tremendously large amount of magic power".
It was as if I was standing before a tall mountain whose peak I couldn't see... I felt as if I had my hand on that mountain, desperately trying to push it with my measly power.
Yes, it's clear to me now... It was clear to me that even with this increase in magic power, I still don't even understand how great Isis-san's magic power is...
I thought I understood it within my mind. However, the wall in front of me... is just so tall that it's making me feel despair.
[...Kaito... Are you alright?]
[Eh? Ah, yes. I- I'm sorry.]
[...Don't you... look kind of... tired today? ...Did something... happen?]
[T- That is... Errr...]
I wondered for a moment if I should tell her. It certainly would be great to hide it and keep it as a surprise, but there was no quick fix to this problem.
That's why, if I try to dodge her question here, Isis-san would worry about me for a long time.
Thinking about this, I decided to tell Isis-san everything.
I talked about how I consulted Kuro regarding how to deal with Isis-san's magic power of death, and about how, out of the methods she told me, I chose to improve myself. I also told her about how Kuro is giving me special training to achieve this...
When I finished telling her about everything, Isis spoke, looking clearly shaken.
[Y- You can't! ...Increasing your magic power like... like that is... very difficult... Kaito... would feel... lots of pain.]
[I'm sorry for making you worry. However, I really want... to make Isis-san happy.]
[...I'm already... happy enough... now though? ...Kaito is by my side after all... that's why... doing something reckless like that is...]
[But what I wanted... was to make you happier than you already are.]
[...Kaito...]
I was really glad that Isis-san was sincerely concerned about me and was trying to stop me from training. However, I also had my own reasons for not giving up on this goal.
As much as I wanted to have a date with Isis in the city, I wanted to solve this problem because of one more reason.
[...I want to... ummm... With blessings from many people... I want to have a "very happy wedding ceremony" with isis-san!]
[!?]
Yes, that was my true intention. I wanted to make Isis-san dream come true, receiving blessings from many people... wearing a wedding dress, smiling with happiness.
As for controlling her magic power of death, I wanted to reach enough control with my magic power that would make it possible for my magic power to envelop her magic power of death, even if I'm not directly touching her. Of course, restraining Isis-san's magic power of death would require me to have more than the minimum amount of magic power that Kuro told me and precise control... But it shouldn't be impossible.
If that's the case, I'm up for the challenge then.
[...wed... ding... me... and Kaito...]
[Yes. When I can finally suppress your magic power of death... I will propose to you again.]
[...Ahh... ahhh... Kaito... Kaitooo...]
When Isis-san heard what I said, she wiped away the large tears dripping from her eyes, but she still looked sincerely happy.
[...Kaito... can I be...a bit selfish?]
[Yes.]
[...Do your best... Please grant... the dream I gave up on... and... make me... the happiest bride in the world.]
[Leave it to me!!!]
Hearing her wish that she told me with her trembling voice... I nodded firmly, filled with a definite determination in my heart.
The day after I told Isis-san of my decision, I was sitting at the desk in my room, seriously thinking.
As a matter of fact, it would take a great amount of magic power to suppress Isis-san's magic power of death, and my magic power wasn't nearly enough.
No matter how high the wall is, if I climb it little by little, I'll eventually reach it... but it will take me quite some time to reach.
...Just the pace I'm going at now isn't enough though. The pace I'm going at now is just too slow.
However, Kuro didn't have much time to spare either. She only had a limited amount of time to train with me. If it was possible, I would like to train when Kuro isn't around.
However, Kuro had the pocket watch magic tool with her, and if I faint without her, there would be no way for me to wake up... wait.
...Shiro-san. Please give me that cursed magic tool.
(Here. Also, take me out on a date sometime.)
Thank you. Regarding the date, let's talk about it again later.
Alright! With this, I have the magic tool for training. I also have a lot of Fruits of the World Tree that Lillywood-san gave me before.
Kuro said that if I consume all of my magic power, the amount of magic power I gain would be much greater after I recovered it... But she didn't say anything about "my magic power not gaining anything if I didn't consume all of my magic power".
In other words, if I hold this magic tool for 90 seconds rather than 100 seconds... and then, eat the Fruit of the World Tree after I've consumed 90% of magic power, I should be able to continue my training alone!
I'm not sure how much of a difference in efficiency this would make... but I'll just make up for that with frequency.
Headaches and nausea are nothing I can't handle. I'll just keep on going... and persevere!