Alright, I managed to get Seriana to sit on the mat… but the way she’s sitting is in a girlish style.

I’m not sure if it’s a habit or just her natural tendency… her expression is as usual, and I seriously doubt she’s doing it to tease me.

Well, there’s no culture of sitting on the floor here anyway…

Now, what should I do from here… As I was crossing my arms and pondering that, Teresa moved in front of Seriana with a mat.

“Milady, please begin by stretching out your legs like this. Princess, could you support Milady’s back?”

Teresa sat with her legs extended and motioned for Seriana to do the same.

Starting with a forward bend, huh?

That’s definitely less awkward than spreading the legs or arching the body backward.

I don’t know how flexible Seriana is, but I’ll assist from behind!

“Like this?”

“That’s right. Now, please slowly lean your body forward.”

With that, Teresa stretched forward, reaching all the way to her fingertips.

So this is the typical forward bend.

Seriana followed her lead, mimicking the movement.

…Originally, I was the one who started doing stretches, and Teresa began joining me—but before I knew it, she’d deepened her understanding to the point where she could teach others.

Maybe she’s actually mastered it more than me, who just goes through the motions?

There are warm-up exercises in this world too, but they’re more about loosening up, and there aren’t any strict forms or rules.

As expected of someone who acts as an instructor—she really has a knack for this.

“…Nngh!? That’s as far as I can go. Sera.”

“Oh? Got it, got it.”

While I was admiring how well Teresa teaches, the stretching continued.

It was Seriana’s first time, but she does move her body from time to time in the underground training area, and she does some warm-up exercises there too.

That’s probably why her body isn’t too stiff—she can lean forward far enough for her chest to touch her knees.

I’d say that’s already more than enough, but it looks like she wants to go a little further.

At her request, I moved behind her, placed my hands on her back, and gently started to push, giving her a heads-up.

“Okay, I’m pushing now. Ready, go…”

She was already leaning pretty far forward, so there wasn’t much room left, but I could still press her down little by little.

Seriana let out a few pained sounds—probably from the strain—but she still seemed to have some leeway.

I kept pressing gently until I was leaning my full weight on her back.

Meanwhile, Seriana managed to press her torso all the way against her legs.

“…Well done. Princess, please pull back slowly. Milady, try to maintain that posture.”

“Okay.”

She held that position for a little while, and then Teresa instructed her to release it.

Seriana straightened up slowly just as she was told, managing to keep her posture steady.

“Whoa… Lady Seria, that’s impressive. Is it tough?”

“Well… it’s not too hard. But… since it’s a posture I’ve never done before, holding it does get tiring.”

With that, Seriana let out a breath and raised her upper body.

I could see a light sheen of sweat forming on her forehead.

“You don’t need to hold it for long. Just gradually change your posture bit by bit. Next is this.”

Teresa then twisted her upper body sideways while keeping her legs in place.

“That… looks a bit tough. Sera, help me.”

Unlike the forward bend, this one involved a twist, and maybe it looked more difficult to Seriana, because she asked for help from the start.

It’s not actually that hard once you try it… but either way, let’s assist her seriously!

“Alright, pushing now—here goes.”

I moved to Seriana’s side and placed a hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her in the opposite direction.

There was some resistance, but she bent surprisingly easily—Seriana’s actually quite flexible.

She seemed to enjoy realizing that she could do more than she expected, and started taking initiative after that.

Though she’d been hesitant at first, by the end she was doing it without any resistance at all.

Today’s stretches mainly focused on the upper body and were relatively light, so that probably helped.

After about an hour, we wrapped up.

“Alright then, let’s stop here for today. If you push yourself too hard, you could hurt your body. We’ll continue tomorrow.”

◇

After the stretching session, I showered in the bath at the 【Hideout】, while Seriana used the bath in her own room.

Teresa headed to the bathroom after Seriana, but she’d prepared tea while waiting, so the two of us were sipping tea and chatting about the stretching session.

“Well… it’s not bad. I barely moved, and yet I still broke a light sweat. Felt refreshing too.”

“Ohh, glad to hear that.”

“I might join you for your nightly routine from now on.”

Seriana said that as she tilted her cup and took a sip.

It seems like today was fairly light, but she ended up enjoying it.

I’m not really looking to gather companions for it, but it’s definitely easier to stay motivated doing it with others than alone.

Tomorrow, maybe we can go at it a bit more thoroughly!

—————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Sera ・【Hideout】+1 【Prayer】 【Mira’s Blessing】 【Wind’s Garment】 ・【Floating Orb】+1 【Shadow Sword】 【Scarlet Bee Needle】 【Fairy’s Eye】 【Dragon’s Lung】 【Amber Sword】 【Danrem’s Thread】 【Serpent’s Tail】 【Ankle Bracelet】 【Amber Shield】 【Purple Wings】 【Red Sword】 【Monkey’s Arm】 ・4 cards

Seriana ・【Range Identification】・【】・39 cards

Elena ・【】・【Green Fang】 【Amber Sword】・4 cards

Alec ・【Power Strike】・【Red Shield】 【Fierce Horned Trumpet】・10 cards