Happy times are indeed fleeting. After imprinting the beautiful sight of the two little lolis into his mind, Jean went back to his room and slept until the next morning.
Since he had made an appointment with Akame to learn swordsmanship, Jean woke up early and headed into the woods outside the village. He did his morning exercises while searching for some small animals.
With his keen five senses, he could use the wind element to assist in his search. Coupled with the high speed of his Wind Blade, which left prey with little time to react, hunting was not difficult for Jean; it was basically a game of luck.
Today, luck was on his side. When he returned to the village, Jean was carrying two rabbit-like small beasts in his hands.
He sent the two kills to the kitchen and asked them to process the meat. Although he had bled them on the spot, the other tasks were quite daunting for Jean.
As he watched the chef skillfully disembowel, gut, and skin the animals, Jean memorized the steps, but he still felt like he didn't want to touch them himself.
Leaving the pelts as a thank-you gift, Jean took the prepared meat and some seasonings, left the kitchen, and returned to his courtyard.
He gathered some dry branches for firewood, found some tinder, and used matches provided by the village to start a fire. Then, he began a simple barbecue.
By the time the Akame sisters arrived, Jean was staring blankly at the two servings of food in his hands. Despite having a fire that should only have been able to cook one portion at a time, he had somehow made two. Both portions were piping hot, as if they had just been finished.
"So, what kind of magic is this exactly?"
Seeing Akame's eyes light up at the sight of the roast meat, Jean stopped dwelling on it and invited the two of them to eat.
While they let their food digest, Akame began to explain the techniques and essentials of the Assassination Swordsmanship. Both Akame and Kurome had been trained in this style.
The entire system of Assassination Swordsmanship wasn't as complex as Jean had imagined. It wasn't strictly divided into stages, and there were no flashy move names.
Although there were a few basic stances, they were merely foundational positions meant to facilitate better strikes.
The true core of Assassination Swordsmanship was to strike when the opponent was unaware and kill with a single blow.
In practical application, it manifested in three points: how to discover, create, and exploit the opponent's openings.
After Akame gave Jean a few real-world examples, about half an hour had passed since the meal, and the two began their formal sparring.
Akame held her wooden sword pointing down, staring indifferently at Jean. Her eyes showed no emotion. In the time it took for Jean to subconsciously swallow his saliva, she suddenly burst forward, heading straight for him.
A chilling killing intent was focused on the tip of the wooden sword as she lunged at Jean.
Initially, due to panic, Jean lost track of Akame's shadow for a moment. However, his brain became unexpectedly calm, and time seemed to slow down as he began to think at high speed.
First, he would be hit in the next instant. With his left foot forward, he didn't have much room to dodge to the right. Therefore, he should retreat to gain more reaction time.
What seemed like a long thought process was actually completed in his mind in an instant. Then, he shifted his center of gravity backward, raised his wooden sword to protect his front, and observed Akame's position as much as possible.
As expected, Akame was currently swinging her sword toward the right side of his body. Next, all he had to do was use the wooden sword...
"Ah, that hurts..." Before the movement in his mind could be completed, his right arm had already been struck by Akame's wooden sword.
"Your thinking and decision-making are fast, but you're still thinking too much. Your body didn't move in sync with your mind."
Instructor Akame was very strict, showing no pity whatsoever.
Of course, this was exactly what Jean wanted. This kind of training was what he needed most right now.
What followed was a journey of being beaten for Jean. Throughout the entire morning, he only managed to barely parry twice. He tried to counterattack once, but he never once managed to hit his opponent.
However, Akame was quite surprised. Jean's rate of progress completely exceeded her expectations. But considering he possessed physical fitness far beyond that of an ordinary person, it was understandable that he would improve quickly.
Soon it was almost lunchtime. This time, Akame led the way deeper into the forest. After tracking various strange signs, Akame successfully found a wild boar about the size of a person. She then made quick work of it, turning it into fresh meat.
The rest was a pleasant barbecue time. However, by the time Jean came to his senses, Akame was already happily gnawing on a large boar leg, while Jean held an almost identical boar leg in his hand.
Observing that neither Akame nor Kurome showed any surprise, Jean once again buried his questions deep in his heart. He then carved the meat off the boar leg and shared it half-and-half with Kurome.
Kurome didn't have as big an appetite as her sister, but she ate with great relish, whispering softly, "It really is delicious."
Then, turning to see Jean—who had overheard her thanks to his sharp ears—wearing a doting smile, her face turned slightly red and she looked away.
Returning to the courtyard, they began the afternoon training. According to Akame, the training shouldn't have been this intensive, but there were too many tasks. She had to impart the knowledge she could to Jean first; the rest would have to be improved through practice and actual combat.
However, just as Akame was about to pick up the wooden sword, Kurome walked over and snatched it away.
"I'll do it this afternoon. Because Sister has used her Teigu for so long, the characteristic of killing with a single hit has adapted her swordsmanship to the Teigu's combat style. Now, let me show you what true Assassination Swordsmanship is."
Despite her small and cute appearance, Kurome showed no mercy. If it weren't for the wooden sword, Jean would have suspected he'd already been sliced to pieces.
But within this attack laced with killing intent, Jean's level was also rising rapidly.
It wasn't that he had grasped some profound truth or reached a new realm of enlightenment; rather, he was becoming accustomed to the act of fighting.
Finally, in what felt like an instant, like a thread passing through the eye of a needle, something became clear. With a beautiful arc, he struck the wooden sword out of Kurome's hand, ending the day's training.
Before leaving, Kurome left behind a comment with a tsundere expression: "I guess you're not bad."
---
The following days continued in a similar pattern. Sometimes they went on missions to hunt Demons. These were mostly scattered Demon Soldiers. It seemed the Prefect's Office intended to spread out their forces to prioritize intelligence gathering.
This did not come as a surprise to Najenda. After all, the power of the Demon Soldier rank was less of a free asset and more of a liability that consumed food. If they could discover information about the Demon Slayers through the losses incurred by spreading their net, it would actually be a gain.
This gave Jean a chance to farm points. Even ten points were better than nothing. That's right, one Demon Soldier only provided a bit more than ten points. However, no score lower than ten points had appeared, so perhaps there was a guaranteed minimum.