It was already noon when Jean returned to the Swordsmith Village.
After reporting the mission details to Najenda, she returned to her current room, tidied up a little, and fell fast asleep under the wave of drowsiness that washed over her.
She wasn't woken up until the sky had already turned dark by a series of knocks on the door.
"Ms. Jean, Ms. Jean, are you in the room?" Sayo shouted into the room while knocking on the door.
Hearing Sayo's voice, Jean swayed as she got up from the bed and opened the door.
Sayo bowed first, then spoke.
"Ah, Ms. Jean, Lord Najenda asked me to inform you that there will be a mission summary at eight o'clock tonight in the conference hall, as well as a welcome party held especially for you. Please, you must attend."
"Alright, I will be there on time. Thank you, Sayo."
"You're welcome. It is my honor to serve someone like you, who hunts down demons and saves everyone."
Because Sayo still had preparation work to do, she didn't stay long. After bowing again, she left.
Sensing that Sayo's attitude seemed a bit more respectful towards her, Jean was slightly puzzled. However, because Sayo was very busy responsible for treating villagers and team members daily, the two of them didn't actually have much contact.
Putting this doubt aside, and seeing that there was still time, Jean drew some water from the stream flowing through the backyard and began to wash up and organize her equipment.
The clothes personally made by Shiro were still almost spotless. Any mud encountered during battle could be washed off easily by just rinsing them in water. Jean had even tested that if she submerged herself in the stream while wearing the clothes, and then used wind to blow them dry after coming out, they would look Brand new.
She tied her hair up somewhat clumsily and drew her nichirin blade again.
Because she had received this sword yesterday at noon and went on a mission that night, Jean hadn't really found the time to properly admire it.
It was like a child getting a new mobile phone but only being able to use it for online classes at first; she felt a sense of anxiety, wanting to fiddle with it.
Now that class was over, she wasn't looking to play games, but rather to look around and see if there were any novel features.
The whole sword followed the standard Japanese sword style, and the gorgeous blade pattern signified that it was a masterpiece forged a thousand times.
The main color of the blade was white, paired with a golden tsuba, and a white handle and hilt wrapping. It could be said to be naturally formed, existing like a work of art.
Injecting a bit of elemental power into it, the patterns on the blade soon emitted a pale green fluorescence, appearing even more eye-catching and dazzling.
She swung it slightly in the room. Since the room had already grown dim, the fluorescence left a beautiful trail with the motion of the swing.
Jean was first stunned by this effect, but then thought that while special effect weapons are cool, it might be inappropriate to use them for combat against demons that are active at night. Moreover, Jean vaguely remembered that the Breathing Technique and nichirin blade in Demon Slayer were performance effects and didn't actually have those flashy things.
Fortunately, this didn't count as a flaw; she could actually inject elemental power right before impact. Although Jean was still a novice at manipulating wind elements, she felt that this wasn't difficult to achieve.
Next, Jean picked up the scabbard placed to the side.
The scabbard was made of the same white wood as the handle and decorated with golden patterns. Even though it was a Japanese sword, the overall style was very much like a gold-rimmed teacup used by Western European nobility, which fit Jean's own style very well.
It's just that although the first impression was similar to Zoro's Wado Ichimonji, the more she looked at it, the more it resembled Index's nun habit.
She shook her head, cleared her mind, and sighed that one really shouldn't overthink things. Jean put away the nichirin blade and throwing knives, checked the time, saw there was about an hour left, and decided to go to the conference hall early to take a look.
---
Jean had been to this conference hall once before; it was in the village chief's residence, and it looked like it was originally a place used to gather villagers.
By the time Jean arrived, quite a few people had already gathered.
Jean had already met most of the main members, for example, Akame and Kurome, big brother Brand, and Najenda's tag-along Lubbock.
There were also some people she was meeting for the first time, such as big sister Leone, Mine who looked like a middle school student, and a Teigu User who was carrying a birdcage, wrapped in black cloth, and looked pot-bellied.
According to Brand's introduction, this person was from the rear of the former Revolutionary Army and possessed a Teigu with the ability to tame Danger Beasts; those messenger crows were tamed by him.
Speaking of which, Jean suddenly remembered that such a Teigu User did indeed appear in the manga, and he had given Najenda a Danger Beast that flew in the air like a giant stingray.
Next were the members who had mastered the Breathing Technique, among whom was Ieyasu, one of Tatsumi's childhood friends, and several others who all looked particularly young.
Seeing Jean walk over, they all stood at attention and bowed to Jean.
This left Jean a bit confused, but Brand on the side explained: "Hahaha, you have to know that Jean, you are currently the first person to be able to fight demons alone using the Breathing Technique, so everyone respects you very much."
At this time, Ieyasu stepped forward and said to Jean: "The Breathing Technique we use is still too immature. Even if we try our best, we might not be able to behead a controlled demon. If possible, please teach us more."
This left Jean a bit bewildered; she didn't know how to use any Breathing Technique, so she had to laugh it off and say: "No need for that, let's make progress together, progress together, hahaha..."
Hearing Jean's words, these people's eyes brightened even more, and some even muttered in low voices, "Lord Jean is truly too humble." "Ah, what a perfect lord."
Because of the wind, Jean's hearing was now extremely good. All these words were heard by Jean. Feeling that things were getting increasingly out of hand, Jean quickly found an excuse to leave the place.
Jogging all the way to the corridor, Jean had just breathed a sigh of relief when she saw two people walking towards her; it was the sisters Akame and Kurome.
"Welcome back, Ms. Jean. Thank you for your hard work on the mission." Akame greeted her enthusiastically, and Kurome also nodded.
"You too, welcome back, Akame, Kurome." Jean also responded to them. Just then, Jean suddenly thought of what Brand had said earlier in the forest, so she said to Akame:
"Akame, can you train me in sword fighting methods? Of course, I will make you something delicious."
"Of course, no problem." Akame agreed quickly.
Having received a positive reply, Jean didn't delay and immediately set off for the kitchen.
After Jean left, Kurome sighed from the side, "Sister, you agreed so easily again."
"Jean, cooking, delicious." When it came to food, Akame was always this concise.