Along the way, there was laughter and chatter, and the smiles on the three girls' faces had not ceased from the very beginning.
"It's rare to see Akame smile so happily, right?" Poney, squatting there and looking at the beaming Akame in the distance, couldn't help but say.
"Yeah, the sisters are finally reunited," Cornelia said, brushing her long hair back with her right hand, a smile appearing on her face.
"Mhm." Green looked at the three people in the distance, watching them with extra focus.
After some self-introductions—which were mainly to let Kurome understand the situation of the Elite Group—since Kaede had already dealt with the Elite Group a few times, there was naturally no need for further introductions.
"You're here," Gozuki said, walking over from the side and looking at Kaede and Kurome.
"This is our father, Gozuki," Cornelia introduced to Kurome.
"Um, hello," Kurome said, grabbing her hem with both hands and bowing, looking a bit nervous.
"Hmm, no need to be nervous, just call me Coach." Gozuki also knew that Kurome and Kaede were not like the Elite Group he had personally trained; it was impossible for them to treat him as a father, so they couldn't call him father.
However, he wasn't obsessed with being a father; he simply used family affection as a method to utilize them.
He didn't really have any feelings about Kurome's arrival. According to his way of thinking, it would be best to separate the sisters and not let them rely on each other. However, since they had already grown to this point, it was no longer necessary.
However, the subsequent training made Gozuki change this view.
Because Akame and Kurome's weapons were both Tachi, and Akame and Kurome were in the same group, what shocked Gozuki was that in terms of swordsmanship, Kurome and Akame were actually evenly matched!
Whether it was judgment or observation, she was not inferior to Akame. This result made Gozuki realize very clearly that she was also a good prospect.
As for Kaede, Gozuki didn't want to express any opinion about her. She had only done his training once, then felt it was boring—and it could be said she completed it easily—after which she never participated in Gozuki's training again.
She only occasionally engaged in close-quarters combat with Natala, Cornelia, and Guy, with whom she fought more often because, when facing Guy, Kaede didn't need to suppress her strength.
Of course, if it was Natala with the Water Dragon Sword enhancement active, he would actually be a level higher in terms of physical ability. However, they were ultimately just training, and Natala wouldn't activate his shingu just to have a sparring match with Kaede.
Then, for the rest of the time, Kaede would stand alone in front of a tree, hand on her Tachi, practicing the eight movements of swordsmanship.
Unlike before, when Kaede practiced, she used to hang bells on her body. The purpose was to practice the ability to swing her sword without making a sound. This kind of practice gave Kaede control over the Tachi that exceeded anyone's imagination. That crucial strike that allowed her to win against Barbara relied on this skill.
However, ever since the battle with Barbara, Kaede had given up on practicing with bells; after all, that required wasting a lot of energy on the movements.
Moreover, reaching a higher level of control could no longer be achieved just by practice alone.
So, now, Kaede was trying to figure out how to integrate all of her strength into her sword swings. Besides, she had Guy and Natala as sparring partners, right? Guy was a professional punching bag—no matter how she hit him, he was fine. Natala was technique-oriented; in close combat, if she didn't use strength exceeding Natala's, it was very difficult for Kaede to win.
However, Kaede's swordsmanship was still enough to bully Akame and Kurome, though that was nothing to be proud of, given their differences. But now, their levels were close; even if there was still a difference in level, it wasn't by much.
It was conceivable that Kaede had made almost no progress in swordsmanship. Although her progress in assassination was terrifying, it seemed she really couldn't advance in both areas at the same time.
Happy times are always fleeting because even if they are long, you will miss them when they end, making them feel short. After all, they were the Empire's assassination unit; they couldn't just idle here and waste resources forever.
Thus, the missions began.
Then, an embarrassing situation arose, because for the missions they accepted, well, if Kaede participated, once she made a move, there was nothing left for anyone else to do.
And if she didn't make a move, then what was the point of her taking the mission?
After two missions ended, Natala reported this situation to Gozuki. Gozuki was taken aback for a moment, then remembered that Kaede was seemingly an assassin on the same level as him; indeed, such missions were not suitable for her to participate in.
Thus, Kaede had nothing to do with future missions.
Therefore, compared to everyone else in the Elite Group, Kaede was completely idle.
However, this also made Gozuki finally discover the reason why Kaede was so strong. Even when it was so boring, she could consistently persist in training. Often, she would train alone until she couldn't get up, and it was common for her to just sleep for the night at the training ground.
However, Gozuki didn't know that, in reality, Kaede rarely did this in the Reinforcement Squad. She would do so when under that perverted coach, but after coming under Bill, she didn't dare to put herself in such a state where she could be said to have absolutely no power to resist.
Even after coming to the Elite Group, Kaede didn't trust Gozuki; she just had other fallback plans.
However, the fact that Kaede could be this strong was indeed largely related to this.
However, Gozuki felt that letting Kaede stay this 'idle' any longer wouldn't do, so he specially accepted a mission for her.
However, when Kaede saw this mission, a strange expression appeared on her face.
"Um, can I accept this mission?"
"Give me a reason." Gozuki looked at Kaede and felt a bit of a headache; he couldn't treat the person before him the same way he treated his own children.
"Ugh, fine, I'll go." In the end, Kaede gave up on the idea of not going.
She didn't want to go, not because she was afraid of this mission; on the contrary, this mission shouldn't be difficult for her. If she teamed up with the troops over there, she could almost complete the mission without having to lift a finger.
However, cooperating with that unit was a problem.
Kaede didn't understand why she always ran into her whenever she did missions. Clearly, they didn't get along at all!
Moreover, most importantly, such a mission was completely unnecessary. Even without her participation, she would definitely be able to complete such a mission.
However, for the sake of the future, since she might have to get along with Gozuki for a long time, it was better not to refuse such a simple mission.
Otherwise, it wouldn't be good if her relationship with Gozuki soured.
"Since that's the case, let's set off now." Gozuki exhaled a puff of smoke and said somewhat helplessly. He seemed to understand Bill a little bit, recalling the livid look on his face at that time.
However, such people didn't need to be completely controlled; as long as you didn't touch her bottom line, she wouldn't attack you either.
When it came to judging people, Gozuki saw things quite clearly. Besides, he didn't need to worry; after all, he was playing the family card, not like Bill, so he wouldn't touch Kaede's bottom line at all. So, what did he have to worry about?
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