Do you know that?
Claire is cute.
Actually, she couldn’t not be cute. She was one of the “heroines” in the game, so she had a pretty face and a great body. Plus, her personality was absolutely not bad and she was active, so it was impossible not to find her cute.
Alice is the same. She always pretended to be strong and acted a bit bossy on the outside, but inside she was fragile. Moreover, once you got close to her, she became incredibly friendly, making that gap extremely cute.
But her stamina? Not cute.
Neither Claire nor Alice.
Bicycles were the most fun exercise equipment among all the workout gear I knew. Just a little effort could let you zoom off pretty far and fast, so even a little bit of exercise felt great in terms of accomplishment. It makes you think, “Didn’t I hardly move to get here?”
From what I heard, it doesn’t strain the joints either. Other exercises can put pressure on the joints if overdone, but cycling is considered quite safe in that regard.
The problem was that I underestimated Claire’s stamina.
It was the first day of biking, and I thought we’d just ride around a little bit, which was somewhat true.
Somewhat.
“Hey, sis! Why are you loafing around? Pedal a bit harder! You can do it!”
I don’t even know how many times I heard that.
The most ridiculous part was that Claire didn’t say it while running beside me.
She had zoomed off to the other side of the park, turned, and came back around to my side, sparkling her eyes and making that comment.
“Uh, well, I’m still getting there. So you can go ahead.”
That was all I could muster as a response.
Then Claire said, “Really? Then I’ll go first!” and took off ahead.
Fortunately, Claire and Alice weren’t the types to act recklessly and get into trouble. But neither could they be called “well-behaved.”
Today was the first day, and I strictly insisted we not leave the park.
The problem was, Yeouido Park wasn’t so small either.
As soon as Claire arrived, she gasped at the open space, exclaiming “Wow!” It was that vast.
Not that it was worldly huge or anything, but surely it was wider than an average school playground, right?
Trying to catch up with Claire, who was spinning around that open area, wasn’t easy.
Claire seemed to know better since there were people around, so she spun at a speed she could manage, but after a while, it would wear anyone out who tried to follow.
“Hey, Sylvia, struggling?”
And while running, I heard that voice beside me.
It was Alice.
Unlike Claire, Alice didn’t pass us up. She ran slightly ahead next to me, glancing back occasionally to ask.
Alice, who was riding for the first time today, surprisingly seemed better at it than me, who hadn’t ridden in a while.
While I was weakly moving my legs and swaying left to right, Alice rode smoothly without any wobbling despite biking for quite some time.
“I’m… fine.”
I didn’t lack stamina. I definitely trained under the Sword Saint, learned how to wield a sword, and participated as a soldier in battles. I even fought through a battlefield with bullets flying everywhere and led us to victory.
The problem was, I could achieve that because I maximized my stamina management.
While I definitely had the stamina for a fight, going against two people who had an abundance of energy—while I mindlessly pedaled without any of my usual planning—was completely different.
“If you’re too tired, just say so, okay? How about we sit there and take a break?”
Alice suggested casually as she glanced at a bench we just passed by.
Is she messing with me right now?
This is like the person who taught me how to bike making fun of me for not knowing how to ride!
Alice’s grin poked at my pride, and it looked like she was thoroughly enjoying herself.
Could it be… she’s getting back at me for losing to her as kids?
“Well then, shall we go sit and rest together?”
“Hmm? No, I’m actually having quite a bit of fun. If you want to rest, just go do it alone. Don’t worry about me. I’ll only bike as far as what I can see.”
That meant she would continue teasing me within my line of sight.
“…”
I gritted my teeth.
Even if I couldn’t match Claire, I wanted to pass Alice, who was deliberately staying a bit ahead of me.
“Go ahead and keep trying if you want to.”
And it seemed she understood my determination, as Alice smiled and replied.
*
In the end, the one who fell behind was me.
It was inevitable. Among the three of us, I had the least interest in stamina training.
But seriously, how can these two be just fine after devouring all those burgers during the day? Could it be that people from Azernar have different organs from Earthlings?
…But thinking about it, my insides might be the same, huh? The body I’m using isn’t even my ‘original’ body.
“Oof, how’s a young lady this tired, huh?”
As I was catching my breath on the bench, I heard that voice from behind me.
I lifted my head from where I was slumped down.
A kindly looking old lady was saying that while handing me a bottle of water. A 500mL plastic bottle.
“No… I’m, it’s okay….”
“Oh, come on, drink up. After exercising, you need to rehydrate.”
“……”
I stared blankly at the old lady and eventually accepted the bottle.
The water was fresh.
“Thank you.”
After lightly thanking her, I took a sip of water when she continued speaking.
“I was just thinking about my granddaughter. She’s studying abroad right now. Are you a student studying in Korea too?”
I swallowed the water in my mouth.
“Ah… I’m Korean.”
“Oh, really?”
The old lady’s eyes widened a bit.
Claire and Alice, who had been cycling distantly, seemed to find it distracting that I was talking to someone else, as they quickly came over.
“They’re both Korean too.”
Since the three of us had our wallets, we could show it if needed, but… there was no reason to, unless it was the police or something.
“Oh dear, I made a mistake. I’m sorry.”
The old lady said with an obviously embarrassed expression.
If I were truly a Korean mixed with foreign blood, this comment might have stung, but considering our trio was in a basically foreign situation, there wasn’t any reason to feel offended.
In fact, it was more that my ID suddenly appeared, but isn’t that essentially hiding my nationality?
“No, it’s fine. I get misunderstood a lot.”
As I spoke while looking at Claire and Alice, the two of them awkwardly smiled. The old lady probably misinterpreted our uncomfortable expressions as feeling bad about the national mix-up and hurriedly continued talking.
“Oh, so are you three sisters?”
With hair colors all different, how could she assume that?
Of course, you could think Claire dyed her hair.
“Yes! How did you know?”
But Claire immediately reacted to that question.
“Oh, you all look alike. Then who is the eldest?”
We all fell silent at that.
Claire calls me “sister,” Alice insists she’s the eldest, and I never denied either of those. So, I guess Alice is the eldest, but honestly, I wasn’t keen on saying that out loud.
“This one is the youngest, and we’re still debating who the elder among the other two is.”
I pointed at Claire and said that.
Claire clearly wasn’t pleased about being considered Alice’s little sister, but she didn’t push the argument any further.
“So this one is the younger sister, and the other two are twins?”
Upon hearing that, Alice chuckled briefly.
“Do we look that much alike?”
Without a hint of doubt, the old lady nodded.
“All three of you are spitting images of each other. You could go anywhere and people would think you’re sisters.”
Didn’t she fail to recognize us at first?
But I had no desire to nitpick.
“Yes, we hear that a lot.”
Alice replied cheerfully to the old lady, and Claire did too.
Sisters, huh…
Honestly, I don’t share any blood with the two.
I briefly thought about that, but glancing at the two who seemed to enjoy their conversation with the old lady, I figured it didn’t matter.
Right, if that’s how others see us, then it’s good.
Watching the two happily accept that fact made me feel good too.
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