Chương 341: The Speedster

Annie definitely is the most athletic of my little sisters. She is not anywhere near as bulky as Elowen, but when it comes to any sport that doesn't involve pure, raw strength, she always beats everyone without any problem–She had once only been interested in running, but ever since I had introduced her to swimming by teaching it to her, she had branched out quite severely and been trying all sorts of sports. It is a shame that people usually only cared about arena duels and the like.

If regular sports were popular enough to make people want to see them, Annie could have been a real icon. There were few physical activities in which she didn't excel right from the start. She had a real talent. Though it made no doubt that running remained her favourite activity, closely followed by swimming. Her two abilities were all about running, and they had been making great progress purely because, to Annie, having fun and training these abilities was the same thing.

Still, I gave her the same advice I gave Poppy and told her to make sure to take time to relax. They may be undead of body, but they definitely don't have the undead mind. They are still the same girls they were in their life, so even if entirely useless, lying down and sleeping could do good for them. …

And I am not saying this because they are adorable when they are sleeping, though I definitely will never get bored of how Gigi and Ophelie hold hands in their sleep, or how Elowen will hug anything within range, be it a pillow or one of her sisters. They are so cute. In any case, although they had progressed, Annie's abilities remained the same, and she hadn't acquired any new ones. I was merely here to check on her as I often did.

It was important that I spend time with everyone when there were just the two of us. People aren't the same when in a group. That is especially true of my little sisters, as they always let Poppy take the lead when they are together. Besides, it is important to remind them that I love them individually, not as a package deal. Also, I have created some prototypes of a certain something, and out of everyone, Annie is definitely the best qualified to inform me of their quality. …

This 'certain something' is a type of clothes Nara has been mentioning every once in a while for a long time, always with quite a bit of enthusiasm–The so-called 'swimsuit'. Frankly, I get the feeling that Nara likes swimsuits for the simple reason that she would like to go to a beach herself. I never pressed on it because I understood that it probably made her sad, but it seems clear to me that Nara doesn't place much belief in the fact that she'll get a physical body one day.

So, instead, she is trying to have me and the others experience what she would like to experience–She shouldn't worry so much. I'll definitely make a physical body for her. In fact, I might start to work on it right once the offspring for Lunovis and his wife is done.

Or at least, I would like to, but I feel confident that to create a physical vessel that Nara could inhabit, I would need some of those system crystals, which are most likely to be found owned by the System Fundamentalists, and paying them a visit would probably be quite the time-consuming venture. I would definitely get my hands on some of these crystals, however. For Nara's sake… For now, though.

The little sister in my head was preoccupied with gushing about all the different kinds of swimsuits that existed, information she definitely was pulling from another world, as swimsuits were not a thing at all in this world as far as I was aware. With how knowledgeable and excited she was about the subject, it seemed like she really was an aficionado of swimwear–Some of the designs she sent right into my mind were definitely a bit too revealing, while some were positively adorable.

I was going to have Annie try a bunch to see if I had crafted them properly in the Fashion Corner or not. The first one she went for was exactly the kind I would expect her to pick. As expected, Annie was less concerned about how good it might look on her and more about how practical it was for swimming. It was the one Nara called a 'one-piece' swimsuit. To me, it looked a lot like a leotard that left the arms and shoulders revealed.

Honestly, Annie might not be concerned about how she looked, but it suited her perfectly. She would definitely attract quite a bit of attention from the opposite sex like this. She was usually dressed quite formally and in a more masculine manner than the vast majority of women, so most people wouldn't usually realise at a glance that she was an athlete. She would just seem like a tall, somewhat lanky girl, especially since she had fairly long limbs, making her muscles stretched out.

Obviously, she was always pretty, but the particular kind of attention such an attire would attract was the kind that would make me itch to punch the throats of the onlookers. … My little sisters are all gorgeous, and since I want them to be able to hang around in the real world and not have to stay hidden all the time eventually, I'll never be able to prevent lechers from looking at them. Mmh…

They definitely should be accompanied by an imposing, threatening man when the time comes for them to no longer have to hide in the Mindscape–I just so happen to have an idea of who could do the job splendidly.

"Does it feel comfortable?" The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"It feels great… Big sis! It's almost like… A second skin!"

"That's good to hear. Do go ahead and try swimming. You'll know best if it gets in the way or not" I didn't even get to fully finish my sentence before she had already dived right into the big lake that had been manifested within the Great Plains earlier. She stayed in there for several minutes before poking her head out of the water.

"I don't think… There are any problems with it. I can swim just fine!" She stepped out of the lake and moved her wet hair out of her face. I wasn't expecting to get it right on the first try. It wasn't really the first try. That's just the first test you actually did. You had a bunch of different attempts before settling on this one But more importantly, it works! The beach day is getting closer and closer! We could do it inside the Mindscape, you know?

The Great Plains can absolutely manifest sand and all that business. It wouldn't feel right. It would be better if it was out in the real world We'll need to find a beach that isn't at risk of getting attacked by some horrid sea monster then… Otherwise, the day won't be very relaxing. I turned to Annie.

"Would you like to try some other designs? I think this one suits you perfectly, but we never know""Sure!" As I thought, while a two-piece swimsuit definitely puts some emphasis on more of her athletic body, it doesn't quite seem right on her, and Annie seems to agree. She doesn't like how much skin it shows. The other designs I made were mostly cosmetic changes to the basic one-piece and two-piece swimsuits, and it was clear by the end that the first one she had tried was the best for her.

Cutesy stuff was–In my opinion–Adorable, but I could understand that she wasn't really into this sort of thing. It was stuff Gigi and Ophelie would prefer… Maybe Poppy would like it too, actually. She quite likes frilly stuff.

"Big sis, do you think I'll be able to… Perform in front of an audience, one day?"

"You want to show off how good you are?"

"... Yes… Is it weird?"

"Not at all! Back when I was a knight trainee, I always made sure everyone knew how much better I was compared to the other trainees. I was even thinking about becoming an arena fighter–Well, that last part was just at the beginning. Even before I got booted for being too good, I knew that it wasn't really something I actually wanted to do…" I reached out to pat her head that was still drenched with water.

"... The continent is in turmoil right now, but once all is said and done, we will still be standing, and the ruined continent will have no way to resist me, so… Why don't I come up with something for you then? We could build a big sprinting track, and we'll have athletes compete against one another in front of an audience. What do you think?" Annie smiled slightly.

"You would do this… Just for me?"

"Of course, I would do my best to grab the moon out of the sky for you if you wanted it. I am your big sister, after all!"

"Mmh…" This seemed to make Annie pensive, and perhaps even a bit sad?

"When you say something like this… It sounds like you really could do it, but… I can't do nearly as much for you, big sis… I know you don't expect anything from me, that you only do all of this because I am your little sister and that you would do it even if I was completely useless, but… Is there any way I could actually repay you? Do even half of what you do for me, for you?" I wiped away a tear that wasn't even there.

"What an amazing little sister you are, Annie–I would normally tell you that there really is no need to bother, but I can tell that you really, REALLY want to feel useful, so… Well, keep doing what you are doing right now.

You might not feel like you are, but you are, in fact, a powerful Vengeful Spirit""You might not think much of your two abilities, but your ability to inflict fear scaling off how fast and how much distance you traversed is incredibly powerful as long as it is properly prepared, and your ability to phase through objects quickly, or run against surfaces no matter the angle without slowing down pairs itself perfectly with your first ability""You can do a lot of damage all by yourself, Annie. So…

Keep up the good work, don't forget to take breaks, and when I need you, I'll make sure to let you know, alright?" Annie nodded vigorously.

"Alright!" Frankly, I would rather not have to ask my little sisters for anything, but it is inevitable that they'll run into danger, and also, some of them are already young women, no longer little girls. Even if they don't mind following me around and listening to me, they'll definitely be at least tempted to do their own things without me involved. That is the natural cycle one follows when growing up.

Even if their version of growing up is quite unusual since they are ghostly undeads, it is clear that they have all grown up since I first got to meet them as spirits. And it isn't a question of looks. Their speech has become much clearer. They can express themselves with far more emotions, and they have matured in the way they think.

The Poppy of the past never would have even thought about asking me concerning the 'boyfriend question', and Annie would never have been willing to be so open about something like this. Though I honestly worry more about the superficial stuff, as the older and prettier they look, the more it means that they'll have suitors once they roam the real world freely. In this regard, I know that most of them will be able to handle themselves just fine… Except for Nessa, that is.

She's way too shy and averse to strangers to be capable of handling attention of this kind, and she has it especially bad since–As everyone agrees–She's the most beautiful.

"Annie, one thing I would like to ask of you is that once the real world is no longer threatening for you gals, you keep an eye on Nessa" I figured that I wouldn't need to elaborate, but Annie gave me a look that clearly indicated that she understood something completely different.

"I understand! After all, it isn't easy for her to swim with those big things getting in the way!" I am speechless.