As the sky gradually darkened, moonlight spilled onto the mountain path. Dim candlelight flickered through the windows, and a wisp of smoke lazily rose from the stove outside the wooden house. An elderly man with white hair was bent over, busy in front of the stove.
Nae followed Hatsune calmly behind. The mountain breeze brushed against her restless heart; it was her first time living in the mountains.
Of course, her time on Mount Fujikasane didn't count as living; at best, it was survival.
Nae turned her head to look into the distance. The rural areas hidden in the mountains had already lit up with countless lights, like torches illuminating the night, connecting into a magnificent scene.
"Grandpa Seigen, let me help you." Nae hurried to the stove, attempting to snatch the ladle from Seigen Ryoubei's hands.
"Nae, you're back." Seigen Ryoubei gently pushed Nae away. "No need, no need. There's just this pot of soup left. I'll manage it myself. Go wash your hands; dinner will be ready soon."
"Grandpa, didn't you say I could cook today?" Nae stood awkwardly by the stove.
"How can I let you cook on the first day? There will be plenty of opportunities in the future."
Seigen Ryoubei kindly patted Nae's shoulder, gesturing for her to go wash up. He glanced at Hatsune, who passed behind him, his face suddenly darkening. He sarcastically remarked, "Little Nae is so sensible. Unlike some people who have been here for three months and still haven't figured out anything."
"I've been chopping wood and carrying water for you, haven't I? With two big men and one more girl, wouldn't it be inconvenient?"
"It's only inconvenient when you're here."
Hatsune fell silent and continued to set three pairs of chopsticks and bowls on the wooden table at the door according to Seigen Ryoubei's teachings.
Originally, the meal was meant for two people, but with Nae's arrival, the table suddenly filled up, enough for four or five people.
At the dining table, Seigen Ryoubei kept serving dishes to Nae, who kept thanking him profusely. The usually quiet dining table became lively, while Hatsune kept his head down, eating quietly, looking like an outsider.
After dinner, the task of washing and cleaning naturally fell on Nae.
Hatsune followed Seigen Ryoubei's instructions, heating water in the bath tub, continuing the nightly medicinal bath.
Although his external injuries seemed almost healed, there were still many hidden injuries inside his body. If not properly treated, it could potentially have immeasurable effects on his future training and even his life.
After evening lessons, Nae faced another problem: where to sleep.
The tiny wooden house only had three rooms. Seigen Ryoubei slept in the bedroom, Hatsune slept on a makeshift bed in the living room, and there was a storage room behind.
The storage room was filled with various odds and ends, leaving no space to step on, let alone clean up in one night, especially since it was dirty inside. Thinking about it, there was only one feasible solution: Hatsune could sleep in the living room with Seigen Ryoubei, and Nae could sleep in the bedroom with Hatsune, but when he knocked on Seigen Ryoubei's door, no matter how he knocked, the old man just wouldn't wake up. According to his usual schedule, the old man's sleeping time was almost the same as his own. Unfortunately, he slept exceptionally early today, and Hatsune suddenly felt like he was being fooled.
As the saying goes, you can never wake someone who's pretending to sleep.
He knew tonight was going to be tough under the old man's care.
In desperation, he could only give his bedding to Nae and sleep with her on the living room floor.
One person lay against the east wall, and the other lay against the west wall, sleeping awkwardly like this all night.
The next day, after their morning run and breakfast, Hatsune didn't go into the woods to train, instead clearing out the storage room with Nae. Over the next few days, he brought wood from the mountains and made a simple bed.
During this time, Hatsune noticed that Seigen Ryoubei kept looking at him strangely, and for no reason, he would show his yellow teeth and smirk. Meanwhile, Nae was equally strange, always keeping her head down, looking shy and embarrassed.
Under this strange atmosphere, Hatsune couldn't eat or sleep well. Seeing the awkwardness between the two, he felt a prickling sensation on his back.
He felt like both of them were crazy!
A week later, Nae reluctantly moved into the storage room behind the house, finally settling down completely on the mountain.
In the following days, besides cooking, washing clothes, and cleaning, she, like Hatsune, followed a training program tailored by Seigen Ryoubei.
Nae had a unique physique and didn't need to improve her physical fitness through rigorous training like Hatsune did. Her muscle density would naturally reach its limit of eight times with age, and it would remain at this level thereafter.
She already possessed strength and defense beyond the reach of ordinary people. Now, the only thing lacking was combat skills and experience. Therefore, Seigen Ryoubei specially designed a plan to improve her combat skills and experience.
Hatsune still carried heavy weights up and down the mountain every morning, and upon returning, just as Nae finished cooking and eating breakfast, the two entered the forest full of traps to practice physical coordination and perception.
In the afternoon, Hatsune would tie iron balls to his wrists and ankles, sinking into the lake to practice breathing techniques and swordsmanship. Occasionally, Nae would join him underwater for training, but her training time was still shallow, and she couldn't stay underwater for too long.
Hatsune's left wrist, which had been severed, had not fully recovered and could only temporarily practice with his right hand.
It had been almost three months since the end of the Demon Slayer Corps assessment.
Under normal circumstances, new recruits would receive their team uniforms and Nichirin swords within about half a month after passing the assessment, and within no more than a month, they would receive their own rookie missions.
The Demon Slayer Corps had yet to assign Hatsune a mission, probably due to concerns over his injured wrist. As for why Nae didn't have a mission either, only the internal members of the Demon Slayer Corps knew.
One day, after finishing their morning training, the two returned to the mountaintop together.
From a distance, under the shade of the trees at the door of the wooden house, sat two people: Seigen Ryoubei and another person wearing a strange mask. His face couldn't be seen clearly, but judging from his silvery hair and voice, he seemed to be an old man similar in age to Seigen Ryoubei.