Ch.106Chapter 106

After spending an uneventful weekend with the Professor, Monday arrived.

If anything had changed, it would be my attire.

I had been wrapped in a neat shirt and thick jacket. Honestly, since everything was oversized, I’m not sure if “neat” was the right word, but anyway, that’s how it was.

But not anymore. Despite the dark color of the thin jacket I wore over my sleeveless shirt to hide my pale skin, it gave a light, fluttering feeling. The jacket was slightly large, reaching just above my hips, and that sense of security felt really good.

I checked myself as the fabric fluttered around me. The clothes the Professor bought stayed close to the original design, which felt familiar and I liked them. Nodding in satisfaction, I followed the Professor toward the Academy.

June. Everyone was desperately busy with final exams. The weather, which made the atmosphere even hotter, was gradually tightening around me. The sun slowly revealed itself, announcing the approaching summer.

Fortunately, it wasn’t too hot in the morning when we arrived.

Monday mornings were always for second-year lectures. I heard the class schedule would change after summer break when the second semester began, which felt strange to think about. I had always thought of Monday as the day I would meet Iris.

As soon as we entered the Research Lab, the Professor took out documents from her bag and sent what looked like a research paper somewhere. After sending the documents via fax, she sat down and started typing on the keyboard.

Seeing how busy the Professor was made me hesitant to disturb her. So I just watched quietly, trying not to get in the way.

“…Hello?”

Suddenly, the Professor answered a phone call and her eyes widened.

“Yes, yes… It’s been decided? Yes… I understand, I understand. Yes. Yes.”

The Professor’s expression, which had been normal until now, darkened.

“That’s fine. Yes, yes, yes. If there’s nothing that violates Academy rules or the law, I have nothing to say. Yes, it’s fine.”

“What’s wrong?”

Normally I would have let it go as the Professor’s business, but this time her expression had darkened so much that I had to ask.

The Professor looked at me briefly, then gave a bitter smile and shook her head.

“It’s nothing. Today, don’t move from here. I’ll go alone today.”

“Eh, I’m not coming with you today?”

“No. Ourr, stay here and rest today. You can invite your friends if you want, but don’t leave the Research Lab. …You can go as far as the Research Building.”

After earnestly instructing me, the Professor left.

It felt a bit awkward to contact friends to hang out on a Monday morning. Though they had come voluntarily before, I couldn’t ask them to come every time I had free time.

Still, feeling bored, I picked up my phone to find someone to talk to.

[Me: Monday morning.]

Ding.

[Sera: Leaving soon.]

“Huh?”

What does that mean? I only said it was Monday morning, and suddenly Sera says she’s leaving. Confused, I typed again.

[Me: Where are you going?]

[Sera: You suddenly have free time on Monday, right?]

[Me: That’s right, but how did you know?]

[Sera: It happened before too.]

Come to think of it, I didn’t chat much when I had lectures. So my friends had started to figure out roughly when I was busy and when I had free time based on how often I appeared online.

Maybe that’s why. This time too, Sera realized I was free just because I sent a meaningless chat message, and said she would come here soon.

I wasn’t sure what to do since she suddenly said she was coming. The Professor told me not to leave the Research Building even if Sera came.

Hmm, hmmmm. I frowned and put my hand on my chin, deep in thought. After pondering for a while about what to do, I suddenly stood up.

As long as I don’t leave the Research Building, right?

I searched my pockets. I took out the pocket money the Professor had given me just in case. I licked my thumb and counted the bills one by one.

The Professor did this when counting large amounts of money too, but my hands were smaller, so it felt a bit awkward. After struggling to count, I found I had 30 Riel.

30 Riel. That was a decent amount. No, it was a great amount. I held it tightly in both hands and wandered around the Research Building. Thinking I should prepare something before Sera arrived, I stopped by another professor’s research lab.

When I knocked, another professor told me to come in. It was a woman slightly older than our Professor.

“Excuse me, can I buy a snack?”

“…Huh? You want to buy a snack?”

The professor I didn’t know widened her eyes at my sudden request to purchase something.

“A snack.”

“…Well, I do have some, but you don’t need to buy them. You’re that Demon God that Professor Yuria takes around, right?”

“Yes, I’ll give money to the Professor…”

Not knowing how much snacks cost, I decided to give 10 Riel. But the professor I was meeting for the first time waved her hand as if troubled.

“It’s okay, these are snacks provided by the Academy anyway. What was your name again?”

“I’m Ourr.”

“Right, Ourr. Is the Academy treating you well?”

“Yes, the Professor is nice.”

“Ahaha. That can happen.”

“You’re nice too, Professor.”

The professor I just met laughed brightly at my words.

“Is that because I gave you snacks?”

I nodded silently. The professor smiled and said quietly:

“If you need snacks in the future, come anytime. But doesn’t Professor Yuria have snacks?”

“We shared them and they’re gone now.”

“That can happen. I don’t eat snacks, so I give them to the Academy students.”

Oh.

“Oh, oh no.”

I had no intention of taking snacks meant for students. My eyes darted around as if suddenly dizzy, and I put the 10 Riel I had set aside on the table and left almost like I was running away.

“Ourr! You don’t need to give me money!”

“It’s for the snacks!!”

**

I wondered what this call was about so early in the morning. Messages about Demon God slaying usually came by text, so it wasn’t about routine work. If it was about something outside the Academy, was it delayed work from last week coming in on Monday morning? I was puzzled.

I picked up the receiver without thinking much and tilted my head.

[Is this Professor Yuria of the Academy’s Demon God Research Department?]

As soon as I confirmed I was Yuria, the person brought up what happened last time and informed me of the progress and results.

The second-year boy who was taken to the hospital, Beirud. To put it simply, they confirmed he was the one who stabbed Ourr in the CCTV blind spot. He stabbed the small child’s neck repeatedly until blood covered her entire body.

My pupils trembled. I wanted to ask why it had to be Ourr, if Ourr had killed someone. This was nothing more than killing a weak Demon God for vile pleasure.

It was like saying, “Since I wasn’t strong enough, I just killed an easy target because it was a Demon God. What’s wrong with that?” That’s how brazenly he would speak.

That was the extent of the problem.

He couldn’t be held responsible. The Demon God didn’t die, and at the same time, the student suffered serious injuries to his side and needed to focus on treatment. As a result, he would miss about half the semester, and now that he was being discharged, the proper investigation results were being conveyed to me.

Legally, since no person died, he couldn’t be held legally responsible.

The Academy wanted to treat it as a minor incident since the Demon God wouldn’t die anyway. Since she was just equipment, they suggested giving him a light punishment like community service within the Academy for damaging equipment.

I could only nod at those words. The Demon God Research Department attracted not only those who wanted to study Demon Gods but also those who harbored grudges against them.

I wasn’t unsympathetic to those feelings, and I kept quiet because I knew making a fuss would only snowball the problems.

I came alone today because I couldn’t have Ourr together with that second-year student, but I was anxious. When I tensely opened the door, I could clearly see the other students sitting far away from that one student.

I had never seen such blatant ostracism before. I never dreamed I would see it at the Academy.

The rumor had spread that he had brutally stabbed Ourr, turning the area in front of the Research Building into a pool of blood. The students knew more than I expected and shared that information. Yet they were surprisingly tolerant of many things.

How did Ourr not die after being stabbed like that? Well, she’s a Demon God, so that makes sense. We don’t know everything about them, right? It must be something new. The way they glossed over it was astonishing.

I wanted to go and confront them right away. But I couldn’t. Before being Ourr’s guardian, I was a professor at the Academy.

Although Ourr was a living being, she wasn’t legally recognized or protected, and even within the Academy, she was treated as equipment, barely allowed to move around the Academy, so I had nothing to say.

So I couldn’t say anything.

I just watched as the students ostracized him. Everyone here was an adult, and I assumed they would accept the consequences of their choices.

I couldn’t interrogate or blame anyone. It was an unfortunate situation. I grabbed both sides of the lecture table, took a deep breath, and started the lecture as if nothing had happened.

“Today, we’ll break down the characteristics of Demon Gods…”

That was all I could do right now.