Ch.120Chapter 120

Going back to where we were.

After Ouroboros came into the world, she grew rapidly by consuming the Mana that Professor gave her. Seeing her grow to match my age so quickly made me wonder if sudden growth was possible with sufficient Mana.

But my dream wasn’t fulfilled. The growth was only permitted at the moment of a Demon God’s initial creation. Once they take a definite form, they grow according to their individual characteristics—either aging or increasing in size.

Apparently, some Demon Gods grow based on the amount of Mana they possess or their power scale, while others simply age and increase in size as time passes.

I belonged to the latter category.

Most Demon Gods have fixed forms, and I briefly wondered what it would have been like if I had been one of those fixed types.

Nothing I can do about it. I just have to accept that it doesn’t work that way for me.

Since I inherited Ouroboros’s original body, as my size increases and I accumulate Mana, I begin to emit an aura harmful to humans. This isn’t something I want to do—it’s just what happens when a Demon God’s Mana fills its external vessel, and there’s nothing I can do to change it.

However, since Ouroboros grew by receiving the Professor’s Mana, they say that even if she develops an aura later, it won’t be harmful to humans.

That made me feel somewhat resentful. I wanted to grow without harming people so I could exist with dignity, but only Ouroboros got that benefit, which made me envious.

I couldn’t exactly suggest swapping bodies, so I was left with a bitter feeling. Still, Ouroboros didn’t seem interested in growing larger, so at least there wouldn’t be any reversal in our hierarchy.

I thoughtfully rubbed my chin with my small hand.

Though Ouroboros had lived for ages, I seemed to know more than her since I’d spent more time in society.

So as her senior, and as a mother…? figure, I felt obligated to teach her. Though honestly, while I say “mother,” to Ouroboros I’m probably more like a mold that shaped her body.

“Ouroboros… Ouro. I’ll specially tell you about the Academy. At the Academy…”

“I want pizza.”

Ouroboros sat at the table, staring at me. With pizza in front of her, she clearly meant she wanted to eat it. It felt like she was indirectly telling me not to bother her, which made me flinch.

“Ouro, since I gave birth to you, you should listen to me.”

“You are a different personality that came from me. Doesn’t that make me the mother?”

“…Huh?”

So how does this work? Um, well…

“But still, that’s…”

As I mumbled and tilted my head in confusion, Ouroboros casually grabbed the pizza in front of her and started munching on it.

Watching her silently, I grew annoyed that she ignored me and focused only on eating. Honestly, if she wanted to see more of this world, she should rely on me, but instead she just did whatever she wanted, which was frustrating.

“I said I’d specially teach you.”

“I don’t like you acting superior just because you made my body. You just made my body using my body, right? You were basically just a factory or storage container.”

“Uuugh! Professor!”

I forgot to put pizza in my mouth and puffed my cheeks out fully.

I pointed at Ouroboros as if reporting her to the Professor. I was so upset I could barely speak. After grinding my teeth with an “ugh” sound, I paused to gauge the Professor’s mood.

The Professor took a bite of pizza, chewed a few times, and swallowed. She stared at me, then at Ouro, then back and forth before simply smiling.

“Maybe Ouroboros just wants to be an equal friend. It’s true that Ourr worked hard, but instead of talking about that, why not suggest playing together?”

“…R-really?”

Feeling awkward, I mumbled before looking back at Ouroboros.

“Ouro. Then, do you want to go to the library with me?”

“Library? What’s that?”

“It’s a place with lots of books.”

“Books? What are books?”

…She doesn’t know so many things. She hasn’t been in the world long, and what she saw during that week with the Professor was too fragmentary, so she missed these small details.

That’s understandable.

“Books are those things, see? They have covers and letters on them. That’s what books are. They have lots of paper inside with writing on them, and that’s all information.”

“I’m illiterate. Even if I go to a place with books, I can’t read them.”

Ouroboros said in a disinterested voice before taking a huge bite of pizza. Watching her, I furrowed my brow.

I tried to think of somewhere else to go, but nothing came to mind. My range of activities seemed surprisingly limited.

Come to think of it, I’d only seen the complete Academy map during the festival, so I didn’t know exactly which building belonged to which department.

Snapping out of my daze, I turned my head.

“Professor, I still haven’t gone to the amusement park. How about going with Ouro?”

“Amusement park? Right, we haven’t gone yet, so let’s go together this time. And when the semester starts, we’ll attend lectures together.”

It was time to fulfill the promise made long before my pregnancy. With less than a month until the semester started, we needed to go now—I’d be truly sad if we didn’t.

After all those days of struggling at home without visiting the amusement park, it seemed like we should go now, even as compensation.

“Amusement park?”

“Amusement park! They have rides and all kinds of animals too. Wouldn’t it be fun to go see?”

As I raised both hands excitedly while explaining, Ouroboros seemed to consider it briefly before nodding.

“Animals… that’s interesting. I’ve never seen animals up close. Animals have better instincts than humans, so they never came near me.”

“…Ah!”

Hearing something that seemed a bit sad, I unconsciously covered my mouth.

Right, that makes sense. I’d been there briefly too. It was such an intense place that it stayed in my memory. The trees around were inexplicably logged, and how could I forget that shabby hut-like structure built in the corner that was supposed to be a house?

While humans would approach her and react quickly, animals like bears or roe deer would surely turn back. I found myself nodding without thinking, and Ouroboros stared at me.

She paused eating her pizza and looked at me steadily, making me unconsciously avert my gaze.

“Have you seen animals separately? Or been to this amusement park?”

“No, I haven’t been either. …I suggested going before, but somehow it got delayed.”

I laughed awkwardly, and the Professor, feeling guilty, added:

“I’m sorry. I’ll definitely take both of you. I was too busy writing my thesis. Now that I’ve submitted it, I can take a breather, so let’s go together and eat all sorts of things, okay?”

“Sounds good.”

As I grinned, Ouroboros across from me stared blankly at the pizza she was eating.

“All sorts of things? This has been the most delicious thing for me.”

“You might change your mind after trying many different foods.”

After staring at the Professor for a while, Ouroboros took another bite of pizza. It was already her fourth slice. Looking closer, I realized she’d been stuffing both cheeks, making the pizza disappear quickly.

After chewing for a while, Ouroboros exhaled deeply.

“I suppose. Since I’ll be here for a long time now…”

“You’ll stay the same age as me, right?”

I asked cautiously.

“Same age? Ah, no.”

Ouroboros questioned what I meant before answering herself as if it didn’t need explanation.

“Why not?”

“I prefer being larger. It’s more comfortable for stride length, arm length, and eye level.”

“Tsk, that would be comfortable for me too.”

I needed a companion who would stay the same age as me, but Ouro was a traitor. I thought she would remain at the physical age of fourteen or fifteen with me, but she planned to escape using comfort as an excuse.

That was too much.

I can’t grow because I would harm people, but Ouroboros can grow without consequences, so my lips pouted in frustration.

If she grows, she might look like an older sister or mother figure even though I came first, which bothered me.

I’m the big sister and mother! …Well, determining which came first gets complicated.

Silently taking a bite of pizza, I glanced at the Professor.

“Professor, is there any way I could… grow like Ouroboros without the aura problem?”

Even as I asked, I wasn’t confident about receiving a positive answer, so I hesitated.

The Professor looked at me for a moment before smiling bitterly.

“Sorry, I haven’t researched that far yet…”

“No, no! You don’t need to apologize! I’m fine staying like this. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

Feeling I’d brought up something unnecessary, I just focused on eating my pizza. As I chewed with my cheeks full, the Professor hugged me tightly as if I were adorable.

“Aww, I’m so happy our Ourr is thinking of the Professor~”

Somehow that made me feel good, and my expression softened without me realizing it.