Chương 151: Ghost Play

When it came to my ghostly little sisters, Poppy was definitely the one who was the most… Traditionally feminine, I suppose you could say. Her interests are mostly flowers, clothes, makeup, and doing her hair. She was a real girly girl, the kind to wear dresses and skirts exclusively, as well as journal her days. In short, all of her hobbies were girly… Unfortunately, due to the current state of my spirits, she couldn't really partake in fashion.

At best, I could give a hairstyle inside the mindscape, but it wouldn't last before her ghostly form returned to its original look. I find it to be a shame that the oldest of my little sisters was unable to take part in what she liked–As such, I let her take part in it with me, using my knightly form's 'Minor Cosmetics' abilities, I allowed her to come up with new designs… It wasn't the same as doing it herself, but it was at least something available to kill time. …

And as it turns out, Poppy probably had what it took to be a fashion designer. It was quite impressive how quick and precise she was with her ideas. One aspect of 'Minor Cosmetics' was how it could decide the colours the armour and dress could take on–Safe to say, I changed colouration more than a chameleon when spending some time with Poppy. From dark to light, and going through pastel, I saw it all. The sheer number of combinations she demonstrated that worked very well together was astounding…

Although not the girliest woman around, I, too, could appreciate partaking in the fashion of varying styles. I had always favoured the same kind of clothing throughout my time as a human. Namely, pants, boots, an ample shirt, and a long coat, usually in black or otherwise dark colours that made me sink into darkness very easily–I still believe that this is my best look overall, but I had never been opposed to more typically girly clothes, even if my wide shoulders tended to put a dent in those sorts of styles.

Anyway… The main point was that Poppy enjoyed herself and had fun, which she definitely did. She designed the most elaborate helms I had ever witnessed. I don't think there is a single kind of helm she didn't make me wear. My usually grey armour was turned into gold, bronze, silver, and all kinds of metals–I had frankly never thought about changing the steel completely, it had seemed like something that went beyond 'Minor Cosmetics'. I mean… There is the word 'minor' in the name!

Switching from one kind of steel to another across the entirety of my knightly form? It seemed quite major in my eyes, but I guess the ability did not quantify things in the same way that I did. Regardless, Poppy came up with several looks, some of which would get rid of the dress altogether to focus on the intricacies of the armour itself. This reminded me that without the dress, the way I looked could probably allow me to invite myself into the dreams of a lot of knights–Yep, absolute killer waist to hip ratio.

I know very well how much knights love their female counterparts. During my training as one back in the day, all of the other trainees were naturally attracted to me, but when I put on the full suit of armour? You could just tell that some were losing their freaking minds. I get it, armour is quite attractive.

In any case, since I knew that Poppy would eventually start running out of ideas with my knightly form, I whispered to her the idea of designing clothes for her sisters for the future–I still held onto gaining the ability to play dress-up with my little darlings, and I knew that Poppy would love to participate. Since Elowen wanted to be a knightess, Poppy could even design an armour for the tomboy… The point of an armour for a ghost could be questioned, but the purpose wasn't what mattered.

Elowen wanted to be a knight, therefore I would do my best to make it happen. There didn't need to be any further reason than this. In any case, spending some good time with the others was simpler since, for the most part, they had one hobby they never got bored with. Annie was a real maniac with running. Becoming a ghost and gaining what was essentially unlimited stamina was probably the best thing that could have ever happened to her.

I could pop into the mindscape in the morning, and watch her running around the Great Plains for the entire day without any break. So spending time with her was all about running and helping her correct her posture, or teaching her little tricks, depending on the terrain. I also taught her how to be fast in ways other than running–Namely, how to crawl with maximum efficiency, and how to swim. Not so long ago, Annie hadn't even known how to swim, which was understandable.

There were no real bodies of water for her to learn this back where she had come from. I myself only knew how to swim because of my training. Swimming is a good way to exercise a lot of muscles. Now, however, my adorable running enthusiast was a great swimmer. It made me wonder if I could try to introduce more sports. She could probably excel in most of them… Gigi's fascination with hide and seek remained just as strong as ever, so it was just a matter of playing with her…

But also, Gigi enjoyed being held and told stories quite a lot, she would even pretend to fall asleep when in my arms–Which is simply adorable to the point of overdose. My little blue demon is so cute! You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Nessa was very timid and reserved when it came to anything or anyone outside of her direct circle, and even then, she tended to willingly take a step back behind her sisters, not wanting to be the center of attention–Something which often backfired. Unfortunately for Nessa, her sisters were very supportive and never forgot about her presence. She liked to just spend some quiet time with me, just putting her head against my shoulder or lap.

If she were a catfolk, she would probably be purring as I petted her head and stroked her hair. I don't know if she would ever come out of her shell and grow less timid, but if not, I wouldn't mind being her comforting big sister for all of eternity… Elowen was all about training, be it physical or theoretical. She just loved learning about how to fight and how to be a knight. Although not gifted like me, she definitely had a predisposition to doing good as a knight despite being a girl.

The redhead was the spitting image of what most would assume a tough and rugged country girl to look like. Her right hook had definitely always been a mean one–But I could show her how to make it even meaner.

I would coach her and be her sparring partner, teaching her the ways of beating the crap out of others, but beyond just fistfighting, I would also teach her all that I knew about handling weapons, grappling techniques, how to determine when it was best to take a hit rather than evade it, or my favourites–How to perfectly land what some killjoys would call 'cheap shots' or 'dishonourable moves'. … It isn't my fault if hitting a man in the groin is so effective, alright?

I would be stupid not to take advantage of such an obvious weakness, and I would be doing a bad job if I didn't teach them to Elowen. There was no point in having 'honour' in a life-or-death situation. Honour wasn't something you actively practised. It was simply something that happened naturally, depending on who or what you were fighting. Sometimes, your opponent would just inspire you to exert honour, but apart from this? Literally no point apart from scoring a good reputation with fools.

I would say that honour only had its place in spars, but I actually didn't believe this either. Spars were supposed to prepare you for real fights. Holding back dirty tactics would be setting up the ones being trained to get absolutely slaughtered on their first actual confrontation. Elowen was my beloved little sister. If anyone was going to make her taste dirt, it was going to be me, so that no one who actually wanted ill from her would be able to win.

Thankfully, the tomboy loved training so much that she didn't mind that I was harsh when sparring with her. If anything, it only made her more excited to learn how to do things as I did. So cute. Lastly, the youngest one of the band, Ophelie. She was a lot like Gigi and Nessa. She liked to be held and spend some quiet time with me, but also to show off her plushes–Ophelie made so many of them that it was frankly egregious, her room inside the manor was filled with her creations.

They could vary in size quite greatly–She had discovered that plushes didn't have to be small, and since then, she had created some particularly large ones… Those were the sorts that could probably be sold for a pretty penny, especially since she was very talented at her craft. The plushes that I use to warp around were only the tip of the iceberg. She had already created plushes to represent my other forms in much more cuddly looks, and also made plushes representing her sisters.

It gave a bit of insight into how she viewed everyone, which followed the same consensus as everyone else: Poppy is the oldest of the band after me, and is sort of the leader of the little sisters. She is viewed as cool and collected. Annie, Nessa, and Elowen were the middle sisters, considered to be around the same age. Annie was more upbeat and lively, Nessa was quiet, and everyone agreed that she was the prettiest, and Elowen was reliable and strong, sort of considered to be the guardian of the group.

If they weren't ghosts with special abilities, Elowen would definitely be the one the others told when someone else was mean to them, and the tomboy would react accordingly. Meanwhile, Gigi and Ophelie were the most little of the little sisters. The ones that you couldn't mess with without bringing severe punishment upon yourself… With Gigi being mischievous and Ophelie simply being innocently adorable and nice. Honestly, now that I have them in my life, I don't know what I would do without them.

The only thing I find regretful is that they can't meet directly with Nara. They are aware that there is another little sister, but they can't hear Nara's voice or see the system panels at all. This is another reason why I am hoping that Nara will eventually gain a physical form, so that all my little sisters can be together… This also makes me think about Anathema.

I am looking forward to being able to make her into one of my little sisters, but for now, I lack the means to do so due to her nature as a Living Curse. … There is also Faelan, the broken soul, but he isn't going to be a part of the gang… In any case, after a long day of spending time with my cutie pies, I rose from my dormancy, rising from my position before approaching a window. Snow has been falling more and more in the past few days.

Most of the time, I could only see a haze of white when staring at the outside. It was quite a cosy feeling. I couldn't experience heat or cold in the same way anymore, but the attic was warm, so it felt like I was inside a manor lost in snowy mountains, far away from civilisation. Alas, the call of a final trial came to remind me that this wasn't the case. Mmh… What a strong pull, it's even more powerful than the time I met that cute mouse girl. This might be a difficult one.

I took the necessary steps to inform anyone who might come by that I was busy, and let my little sisters handle the unloading of my payments from the elevator–Which, by the way, wasn't a mechanical creation… It was pulled up and down by enslaved ogres and trolls. Anyway… Let's get going.