The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

The reason I hadn’t shown my sisters the game at first wasn’t just because I’d used memories from playing it to predict the future—it was also because I was worried the game might leave some kind of trauma for Claire or Alice.

Of course, the game itself wasn’t rated for adults. In fact, it had never once received an adult rating, even from the notoriously strict Korean ratings board.

Well, considering the graphics, there wasn’t really room for realistic portrayals of violence anyway. And in some ways, Japan’s rating standards were even stricter than Korea’s. With console releases like these, excessive sexual content would be a problem.

Apparently, the earlier PC-only titles in the series, released before I got into it, had much more explicit scenes. Later remakes and console ports had most of that content removed due to censorship issues and demands from console manufacturers.

Still, the game portrayed Claire’s past quite explicitly. But just like I didn’t see the in-game Sylvia as myself, Claire—though maybe a little embarrassed—didn’t seem to view that version of Claire as her either.

I guess you could say she treated it as a kind of hypothetical version of herself.

But—

“Come on, Claire. Call me big sister.”

The way the characters were portrayed in the game definitely affected Claire and Alice—just in a different way.

“No way! No way! I’m not that Claire, okay!? The only sister I had growing up was Sylvia. There's no reason for me to call you ‘big sister’!”

“Now that I think about it, even in that world you had kind of the same image. You were close with Bella, right?”

“I was close with Bella, sure! But I didn’t inherit her sword! I never dressed like her either! I never walked around with my hair down or wore a corset that exposed half my chest and called it a top!”

By the way, Claire’s figurine was pretty popular—specifically because of that corset that exposed just enough cleavage. They did a good job sculpting the bust to look soft and pliable. Of course, if you actually touched it, it was just hard plastic.

I didn’t have the money to pre-order it when it first came out, but to be honest, if I had, I would’ve bought it without shame.

And if I had, Claire’s mental stability would be a lot worse than it already is.

“Did you two fight like this in the alternate timeline too?”

“Well, Alice started it!”

“You were the one who was always annoyed at everything! If anyone picked a fight, it was you!”

Huh.

From what I remembered, Claire’s in-game appearance wasn’t all that different aside from her hairstyle, so I assumed her personality hadn’t changed either—but apparently, that wasn’t quite right.

“No! Okay!? I never went around dressed like some shameless flirt!”

Claire snapped back immediately at my stare.

Even though I didn’t say a word.

“I never asked, so there’s no need to react that strongly.”

“Right? You believe me, don’t you, sis?”

“...Of course. I believe you.”

Only after I said that did Claire finally calm down—though she didn’t forget to shoot a glare at Alice.

“And besides, it’s not like I’m the only one shameless in the game. You’re totally bossing Leo around, you know? Snapping at him even when he’s helping you.”

“...That’s irrelevant. I don’t act like that in real life.”

Even as she said that, Alice’s cheeks were faintly red.

Well, yeah. She probably never treated Leo like that. In this world, she’d already corrected her behavior before meeting him.

“Don’t tell me that’s how you acted toward your sister before you came to the academy?”

“...”

Alice clearly wanted to deny it, but since I was standing right next to her, she couldn’t quite bring herself to say it.

“See? I knew it! You’re guilty too!”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

“Guilty? You’re the one who’s guilty! If you were really in that situation, it means you were walking around dressed like that!”

“I’m talking about what you did just now! Why are you twisting the conversation!?”

......

What a mess.

But the two of them seem really close. Back then, things felt kind of awkward unless I was in the [N O V E L I G H T] middle, but now they talk just fine without me.

Maybe they were actually close all along? After all, in the game, the two of them reconciled in the end.

Claire gave her life to protect Alice, and seeing that, Alice finally matured emotionally.

They made peace in the very last moment.

...Though that’s all been erased in the latest installment I’m playing now.

I wonder if they’ll ever remember.

“You two getting along is nice and all, but could you please lower your voices a little? The soundproofing here isn’t great, and if you keep yelling, the neighbor downstairs might come up.”

“Who’s getting along with who?”

“Do you need to get your eyes checked?”

They both turned to look at me at the same time and snapped like that—I almost burst out laughing.

Now I’m really curious how they’ll react to that final scene between the two of them.

*

I don’t know much about livestreaming, but I do know that streamers are human beings.

Unless you’re superhuman, if you start streaming in the afternoon and keep going until late at night—even if it’s just gaming from a chair—it’ll wreck your health. Especially for streamers who also have to edit and manage content after the broadcast, their day and night cycles end up completely reversed.

That’s why rest days are necessary.

I’ve never stayed up late streaming or gone without sleep, but still—people who work should take breaks.

If I had anyone else in this world I was keeping in touch with, I probably would’ve taken weekends off. But the only people I interacted with here were Alice and Claire, who lived with me.

So, the three of us agreed that our break days would be Mondays and Tuesdays.

...Yeah. After streaming non-stop for two weeks straight, someone finally said “when are we taking a break?” and we scrambled to set those days.

And today was Monday.

Thinking about it, I realized I hadn’t really taken a nighttime walk with these two since we came to this world. So tonight, the three of us went out for a stroll.

“Is it really safe for a bunch of girls to be walking around this late?”

Claire, who asked that, seemed a little awestruck by how bright the streets were.

...If I write it like this, it kind of sounds like one of those national pride posts online—about how amazing Korea is because women can walk alone at night—but the truth is, the Azernan Empire wasn’t exactly a safe place for women to walk alone after dark.

Well, it was modeled after Industrial Revolution-era Britain, so that’s not surprising.

Still, hearing Claire say that felt kind of ironic. She’s the one who used to get up at dawn to run around doing requests with Leo.

I had a hard time keeping up with those two for a while.

With no real goal in mind, I was walking between Claire and Alice, just zoning out—when:

“...?”

I suddenly felt something strange on my left arm. When I turned to look, Claire had linked her arm with mine.

“They said that in this country, physical contact like this between girls isn’t seen as strange.”

Claire smiled up at me, blushing a little.

...So she must’ve heard that it’s normal for girls to walk arm-in-arm here?

“...”

And then, watching her, Alice casually slipped her arm through my right one.

It was kind of cute, the way she did it while blushing...

But I don’t know. Maybe because the two of them act so much like real sisters, I didn’t feel any particular way about it. They’re both beautiful, and I could definitely feel their figures through my arms—but if I were the type to react to that, then something would’ve definitely happened back when Alice wore the bunny girl outfit. I probably would’ve confessed and gotten rejected or something.

In that sense, I guess it’s a relief.

“Well then, shall we go get some ice cream?”

That was my suggestion.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t had ice cream since coming here. Especially the kind from that brand where you pick your flavor and they serve it by the yard-pound standard—I hadn’t had that in ages.

The handmade parfaits in Azerna were tasty too, but snacks like these always have a mass-produced charm you can’t get any other way.

“...Sis, could you try to act even a little embarrassed?”

I mean, I know that’s your goal, but do I really have to play along?

Grumbling, I led my sisters toward the ice cream shop.