His thick arms, broad chest, and firm thighs felt strangely electrifying and suffocating every time they touched her body.

Asha, following what she had learned, wriggled vigorously to escape from him by slipping her hands under his arms, but his heavy body did not budge.

Finally, Asha timidly spoke.

“Um, Captain……”

“Huh?”

“You can let go of me now……”

“Oh.”

Startled, Jackal, who had unknowingly kept holding her body, dropped her.

The two turned their bodies to the side for a moment, avoiding each other’s gaze and blushing.

Although he was teaching her brutal killing techniques, the atmosphere somehow felt like cherry blossoms fluttering in the spring breeze.

Gev, who was passing by, discovered them and shook his head, muttering,

“What on earth are they doing……”

Jackal, pulling himself together, sternly said,

“All this is unnecessary. I’ll teach you the most important killing technique.”

“What is it?”

As the atmosphere changed, Asha quickly tensed up and asked.

“It’s to kick here.”

Jackal pointed with his finger to his own vital spot.

Following his hand, Asha looked down at the spot and stood agape.

“Start with a dagger or selfdefense, just kick here. It’s the direct hit.”

Asha, with a flushed face, hesitated and peered at it.

When Jackal saw that her gaze was only fixed on that spot, he turned his body to the side in embarrassment and said,

“……But don’t really kick.”

“……I won’t kick.”

“Yeah…… I was joking.”

His joke made the atmosphere even more awkward, and the strange selfdefense training came to an end.

Asha, in return for her lesson, secretly skinned rabbit hides that the organization members hunted and made a scarf during her breaks.

“Um, Captain……”

When Jackal looked at her, Asha, who had come down from upstairs, approached him slightly shy, hiding a scarf behind her back.

“What is it?”

When Asha silently handed over the rabbit scarf, Jackal’s eyes widened slightly.

He stood frozen in place for a while, staring intently at the scarf.

“……”

As he said nothing, Asha stammered, wondering if she had done a poor job making the scarf.

“I’m sorry…… It would have been a more useful scarf if I had just entrusted it to Ulis……”

“A scarf is a scarf, where is a useful scarf?”

“……Is that so?”

Asha’s face brightened a bit.

“Then, since I’m giving it to you, I’ll put it around your neck myself.”

When she suddenly reached both hands behind his neck, Jackal stiffened.

Unintentionally, the two ended up in an embracelike posture.

Remembering how Asha used to hug his neck and rub her face against him when he was in the form of a horse, Jackal’s face turned red hot.

Asha, slightly shy, quickly released her hands after wrapping the scarf around him.

The scarf, made of rabbit skin, was fluffy like new, but its short length only covered his thick neck in one layer, ending abruptly.

“……Thank you. I’ll use it well.”

He casually said that, then turned around so his blushing face wouldn’t be seen.

Asha was relieved that he did not refuse the gift, but in fact, Jackal was feeling quite elated.

As he walked around without taking the scarf off for a moment, the organization members who saw him covered their mouths and snickered.

The white and fluffy rabbit scarf really didn’t suit him at all……

He seemed to know that fact, and his ears turned slightly red, but he pretended to be nonchalant, cleared his throat, and said,

“What else is there to cover with leather in the dead of winter? As long as I can warm my body, that’s all that matters.”

It was a plausible statement, but none of the organization members took his words at face value.

Asha alone saw him continue to walk around without even loosening his scarf, and she felt shocked and saddened that he didn’t have a scarf to that extent.

Although it was unimaginable that he, who always wore topquality wolf skin, would be without a scarf, Asha became gravely serious, confident in her belief.

Next time, she resolved to herself that she must make a fawn scarf for him.

As soon as the selfdefense training was over, Asha received the last survival training.

When this training ended, it was truly the end of all the training she needed to receive.

Jackal recalled the first time Asha was chased by bandits, telling her the most necessary things.

Asha learned how to hide using the surrounding natural environment such as snow, dirt, and grass, how to set traps between trees and under the ground.

Next to her, Jackal stood with his arms crossed, never taking his eyes off her for a moment.

Having only lived in the royal palace until now, the rough wild survival training itself was a first for her, but she was a quick learner and adapted well.

Above all, seeing her full of perseverance and will, he felt a sense of pride inwardly.

But it was when Asha was climbing the tree.

“…Ah!”

Whether she stepped on a weak branch or not, the branch broke, and she fell down.