Ch.118Chapter 118

Summer vacation was over in a flash. As a professor, I didn’t really have a vacation to begin with. The good thing was that I could devote all the time I usually spent on lectures to research instead.

I created a child from Ourr and Ouroboros and observed as time passed.

Nothing special happened at first, but after going through a series of processes to supplement magical power, the small body quickly began to condense mana and I could see it forming a body.

I wrote papers based on my work with Ourr. Thanks to that, numerous papers were published under my name in no time.

I pulled out an existing paper titled “On the Birth of Demon Gods” and added certainty to what had been hypothetical. It was a moment of filling in the blanks where I hadn’t known what to add before.

How thrilling it was to prove a hypothesis true. Intoxicated by that feeling, I wrote several papers just on the birth of Demon Gods.

I added proof to “Requirements for Demon God Birth,” which had remained a hypothesis because no one had been able to capture it, and drew the conclusion that it was true. This was completed by adding that self-awareness, condensed mana, and something like DNA to maintain form were necessary.

I specified that while artificially creating a Demon God, even without knowing what a Demon God’s DNA was, it could be created as if cloning one.

Looking from a distance, examining up close, and then feeling like I was disassembling and reassembling it, the papers multiplied. It felt like I had taken one step closer to Demon God research.

After registering the papers with the academic society, calls came pouring in. I didn’t have time to put down the receiver. Whether wired or wireless, the calls coming my way were numerous.

Earlier, even my academic advisor called me, which says it all.

Research on Demon Gods had mostly been progressing sluggishly. Most of it involved compiling information obtained while working as a Demon God Slayer into reports and then researching based on those. I never dreamed there would suddenly be so much more to research.

I focused on answering call after call. Thankfully it was summer vacation. I could concentrate on research, and I was pleased that I could complete papers in less than a month.

If the response was this enthusiastic with just a few submissions, people would be shocked by what I planned to release in several installments.

I thought the research funds the Academy would provide would be quite substantial. Since they said they would give more if there were further results, I planned to polish what I had already prepared and submit them in sequence.

There wasn’t much known about Demon Gods, but the more I learned, the more fascinating things I discovered. For example, like Ouroboros here.

“Professor, food.”

“The Professor is busy.”

“Pizza.”

“She’s researching.”

Ourr and Ouroboros were bickering with each other. I couldn’t help but smile seeing Ouroboros asking me for food and Ourr trying to stop her.

After a month and several mana injections, Ouroboros was quickly able to face the light of the world.

Ouroboros looked exactly like Ourr, except for the eye color.

While Ourr’s eyes were gold, Ouroboros’s were red. It was convenient to be able to tell them apart, but the overall atmosphere was so different that distinguishing between them wasn’t difficult.

Ourr had various expressions and seemed somewhat flustered, while Ouroboros would expressionlessly make demands. And unless she was requesting something or being told to do something elsewhere, she wouldn’t bother making any gestures.

“Why is Ouroboros growing so fast? She keeps asking for food!”

“I am a Demon God. It’s natural that I’m an adult from the beginning.”

Ourr pointed at Ouroboros and complained to me. Ouroboros stared blankly and stated what seemed obvious to her.

If Demon Gods started from infancy, they would inevitably be killed by wild beasts, so it was fortunate that wasn’t the case.

“Pizza.”

“Hey!”

Ouroboros kept asking for pizza, apparently impressed by what she had eaten before. It was awkward since we were still in the research lab, but when she asked like that, I couldn’t help but give in.

Ourr and Ouroboros. Both had made significant contributions to Demon God research, so I couldn’t deny them that much.

“Then I’ll buy one pizza for each person.”

“Huh?”

“See, Ourr. You and I are different.”

Ourr, who had been trying to stop her, froze in surprise, while Ouroboros looked down at Ourr with a triumphant expression. Since they were the same height, looking down was impossible, but she could create the feeling by tilting her head back.

Seeing this, Ourr twisted her lips in displeasure. But she quickly turned her head to look at me.

“Professor, she keeps doing this to me. And I’m the one who gave birth to her!”

“…Haha.”

Hearing that from Ourr made me feel strange. Of course, she did give birth, but the cognitive dissonance was unavoidable.

I let out a dry laugh as I looked at Ourr, who turned back to Ouroboros with an indignant expression.

“Ouro, no more pizza for you. You keep acting like that.”

“…I’m sorry. I apologize.”

“You’re only saying that because of the pizza, right?”

“That’s right.”

Ouroboros immediately nodded at Ourr’s words.

This made Ourr even more angry and fuming.

“Professor!!”

“Ourr, be patient. You have a big heart, don’t you?”

“…Ugh.”

Ourr seemed weak to placating words and held her tongue. Then she nodded with a resigned expression.

After she indicated her understanding, Ouroboros added:

“I have a big heart too.”

“Hmph. I’m letting you off easy.”

“I’m letting you off too.”

“What?”

Sensing another fight brewing, I waved my hands to stop Ourr and Ouroboros.

“Now, now, kids. Instead of fighting, why don’t we choose what pizza to eat?”

“What do you want to eat, Professor? Half and half? I don’t mind sharing.”

“The Professor can’t eat much, so how about potato pizza?”

“Potato sounds good!”

Ourr spoke first at the mention of pizza. More than liking pizza itself, she seemed to enjoy eating with me.

Ourr would either be hesitant or not eat at all if no one was taking care of her or eating with her, which was becoming worrisome.

Of course, I was glad she enjoyed eating with me, but I was concerned that she wouldn’t eat on her own when alone. Thinking back to times when I missed meals because I was focused on work made me feel bitter.

Ourr had often just thought, “The Professor is busy,” and let it go. Remembering how she would quietly sit in her room thinking of me even when she was full made me realize how kind she was, but I worried she might be becoming too self-sacrificing.

“Anything is fine with me.”

Ouroboros seemed happy just to have her own body and be out in society.

At first, she said she didn’t need to eat because she was a Demon God, but meals seemed to have become a pleasure for Ouroboros. Seeing how she sought food rather than other entertainment suggested this was true.

Watching her enjoy delicious food, I wasn’t sure whether to call her a gourmet or a big eater since she just ate a lot indiscriminately.

It was amazing how two personalities split from the same body could be so different. I thought about writing a paper on it someday, but it didn’t really matter.

I figured it was like seeing the front and back sides of a person—one with a quiet, gloomy personality who was born a Demon God but had no reason to harm people and secluded herself in the forest, and another who wanted to befriend humans and live a joyful life.

“Then potato and pepperoni?”

“Pepperoni~”

Ourr shrugged her shoulders. Seeing her humming and dancing made me smile.

Ouroboros watched and tilted her head.

“Is the pepperoni mine?”

“Let’s eat together. Let’s share.”

“Understood.”

She nodded at the suggestion to share. Now that we had decided on the menu, all that was left was to order.

Not long after, the pizza arrived, and Ourr and Ouroboros each brought a box and opened it in front of them. Facing each other like that, it felt like they were having a battle of wills.

“Pe-peperoni?”

“Pepperoni.”

“…Hmph, I know. Can’t you take a joke? You’re supposed to be another me, but you’re too serious.”

When Ourr corrected her, Ouroboros shrugged as if she knew all that and looked away from Ourr. Ourr fidgeted with her lips and then suddenly turned her head toward me.

She pulled out a chair next to the table and patted it, telling me to sit down.

It felt like I had two children now.

“Professor, eat with us.”

“Yes, yes.”

Since the phone calls had slowed down, I thought I’d take a break and sat next to Ourr. Ouroboros stared at this and then, as if it was nothing, started focusing on her pizza again.

She took a big bite and blinked.

“Come to think of it, Professor.”

“You should say ‘Professor.'”

“Ourr, don’t interrupt when adults are talking.”

“What? Adult? You and I are the same!”

Watching them bicker again, I couldn’t help but laugh.