In the following days of Golden Week, the Kiryu dojo was used more like a self-study room in a library than an actual training hall.
Each morning, they practiced kendo for about an hour. After that, the five members of the dojo—excluding Chiyoko, who was still in middle school—would buckle down and study diligently.
Kazuma had suggested, "Tamago-chan, since you paid the dojo tuition, why not train a little too?" But Tamago-chan flatly refused. Instead, she would sit elegantly on the engawa every day, sipping tea brewed by Chiyoko while enjoying hanami.
She even brought along beautifully crafted tea snacks from her family's long-established wagashi shop. They looked so refined that for a moment, Kazuma wondered if eating them might trigger a time-limited status effect.
As it turned out, he was overthinking it. Whether the wagashi simply wasn't high-grade enough to produce a buff, or food in this world just couldn't grant buffs at all, nothing happened when Tamago-chan ate them—no time-limited status effect appeared.
However, when Tamago-chan admired the cherry blossoms, a time-limited status effect did appear: Hanami — The fleeting beauty of blooming sakura is best enjoyed in quiet contemplation.
As usual, the description was more poetic than practical.
Interestingly, this time-limited status effect lasted only a second but kept refreshing as long as Tamago-chan continued her hanami. The moment she stopped, the effect vanished.
That also explained why, when Kazuma had previously meditated beneath the cherry tree, he hadn't seen a Hanami status effect on himself—meditation required him to close his eyes, so he technically wasn't admiring the blossoms.
Another thing Kazuma noticed was that when Chiyoko joined Tamago-chan for tea and hanami, she didn't get the status effect.
Apparently, Chiyoko's level of awareness wasn't quite there yet. Whether that was a matter of inner cultivation, artistic sensitivity, or something else entirely, Kazuma would need to investigate further.
At any rate, this world clearly wasn't one where you could casually mess with men who looked like they had deep life stories—or with art-loving types either. Who knew when one of them might stack some mysterious buff and suddenly jump a few tiers in power?
That said, most artsy types probably didn't have much fighting ability to begin with—buff or no buff.
And so, Golden Week sped by in a cycle of kendo practice and study sessions.
Before long, it was already the final day of the holiday.
That morning, something unexpected happened: Nanjo Honami's kendo skill level increased.
To test their progress from the holiday training, Kazuma sparred with Nanjo—more formally known as keiko.
Of course, the real purpose of the spar wasn't so much an exam as an opportunity for Kazuma to grind some experience points off Nanjo.
Originally, he'd planned to have a three-hundred-round epic with her every day, grinding her until she no longer provided any experience points.
But then Tamago-chan had arrived and derailed the plan.
Each day, Kazuma would lead Nanjo and Fujii Mikako through warm-ups and basic striking drills. By the time they finished those, nearly an hour had passed, and it was time for their study session.
Skipping warm-ups or basic drills wasn't an option—anyone who'd trained seriously knew how critical they were.
Insufficient warm-ups risked injury during intense movement, and skipping fundamentals meant losing the very foundation of consistent improvement.
Thus, Kazuma's plan to grind Nanjo's level had been shelved.
Today, with only one day left, Kazuma had finally convinced Tamago-chan to let them dedicate the whole morning to kendo. Now he could spar with Mikako too.
As expected, during the sparring, Kazuma held an overwhelming advantage. His level 12 Actual Combat attribute allowed him to counter Nanjo's level 8 Jigen-ryū purely through reaction speed alone.
But simply overpowering her with raw reflexes wasn't very educational.
So Kazuma deliberately used formal patterns and slowed his reactions, giving Nanjo the chance to learn through each exchange.
After dozens of rounds, Nanjo's practice uniform was soaked with sweat—youthful energy radiated from every corner of the dojo.
"Alright, let's stop here," Kazuma said. "Go towel off."
Chiyoko trotted over with prepared towels, handing them to her brother and Nanjo.
"Good thing our uniforms are dark-colored," Chiyoko quipped. "Otherwise, Nanjo-senpai, you'd be giving my pervy brother an eyeful."
"Don't underestimate the imagination of a teenage boy," Kazuma retorted. "Even with just a sweat-drawn silhouette, we can fill in the rest ourselves!"
Chiyoko lifted her foot to stomp on his toes, but Kazuma dodged with sharp reflexes.
Nanjo laughed. "It's fine. I've been wearing a sports tank top under my uniform all week. All anyone would see is the outline of that."
Kazuma clicked his tongue in mock disappointment.
At that moment, Mikako asked, "Isn't it hot wearing a sports tank? It's only May, but it's already starting to warm up. I hate the heat. Every year around now, I always feel like the school takes way too long to switch us into summer uniforms."
Kazuma's eyes lit up. "So you're wearing the standard uniform underneath today? Come on—let's spar next!"
Mikako gave him a scornful look and crossed her arms protectively over her chest.
Nanjo smiled. "Your technique is truly impressive, Kazuma-kun. I could tell you were holding back just now—helping me learn instead of just defeating me outright."
"That wasn't holding back," Kazuma replied. "Instructional sparring is never about going all out. You have to adjust for the student's level."
"I hope that someday, I can face you—or rather, face Master Kiryu—at full strength."
Kazuma grinned. "That'll have to wait until I'm ready to teach you Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki."
Nanjo tilted her head, confused. She clearly didn't recognize the term and wasn't sure if she should ask.
Chiyoko had no such reservations. "What the heck is that? Some manga move?"
"Yeah." Kazuma ran with the opening. He'd blurted out the move from Rurouni Kenshin on a whim, and now realized it might've caused trouble if he hadn't clarified.
Kazuma shot a subtle glance at Tamago-chan, remembering how she'd once told him, "The strange is not always friendly," which had really shaken him.
Thankfully, Tamago-chan didn't seem concerned about his latest outburst—she was calmly nibbling her tea snacks, sipping tea, and watching the falling cherry blossoms.
The great sakura tree in the courtyard was nearing the end of its bloom—petals drifted gently to the ground.
Still, Kazuma decided it was best to clean up his slip, so he added, "I forget which manga it was from, but it was supposed to be the ultimate technique of a sword style.
"It couldn't be taught normally—only through a life-or-death match. When the master chose to pass it on, they'd spar for real with their disciple. If the disciple couldn't master the move mid-fight and defeat their teacher, they'd die."
Chiyoko gaped. "What kind of manga is that? Who comes up with such brutal training methods? What sane person reads stuff like that?"
Kazuma thought, You owe every Rurouni Kenshin fan an apology.
Then Nanjo spoke thoughtfully. "That sounds a lot like Mugai-ryū. To earn menkyo kaiden in that style, the disciple had to survive a real blade strike from their master—without dodging.
"If they didn't flinch, the master's skill would ensure the strike missed any vital areas. But if they dodged, they risked death or crippling injury.
"Even an unconscious twitch could trigger disaster."
Chiyoko was stunned. "There's really a style that cruel?"
"Oh yes. In the late Edo period, Mugai-ryū was highly respected. Its swordsmen showed no fear when facing real blades—making them incredibly dangerous in combat.
"It's said the Chōshū domain even hired Mugai-ryū swordsmen for assassinations."
Kazuma shivered inwardly. Damn… this really does sound like one of the inspirations for Rurouni Kenshin…
As the lively discussion continued, a crisp clink came from behind them—Tamago-chan had just set down her teacup.
Everyone instinctively turned to look.
Tamago-chan smiled and said, "Well, you've all worked up a good sweat this morning. After lunch, let's do a quick test—mainly to see how much Kazuma's Japanese has improved this week."
At the mention of Kazuma's Japanese skills, the girls all looked a little disappointed.
"Hey, come on—we've still got a year. I can catch up," Kazuma said.
"I'll do my best to help," Nanjo added earnestly.
Kazuma was about to thank her when, out of habit, his gaze flicked up to her status window…
And saw that her kendo had jumped from Jigen-ryū 8 to Jigen-ryū 9.
When she'd arrived this morning, it had still been 8.
(End of Chapter)