Ch.123Chapter 123

The ostrich was taller than I expected. Despite its huge size, it runs incredibly well on those thin legs. Watching it hop and sprint, I doubted any human could keep up with it.

The tiger was also bigger than I thought. I was startled when it suddenly lunged at a child who had turned their back to take a photo. An employee explained that predators naturally attack when someone turns their back to them.

The giraffe had an extremely long neck. Even though the giraffe’s enclosure was much lower than where I was standing, its face was level with mine.

After seeing the large animals, I got to encounter smaller ones too.

There were reptiles, and I could see foxes living in an indoor habitat with just the right temperature. The foxes were very cute, but their cries seemed rather bizarre. Their sounds weren’t cute at all.

Finally, I entered the aviary that I had planned to visit before getting ice cream. Coming out from the indoor area, I immediately felt the heat. Being August, I was glad I’d worn a sleeveless top.

I watched the birds fluttering about behind the cage bars. For 2 Riel, I could experience feeding them.

I was too scared they might peck my hand, so instead of letting them eat from my palm, I just scattered the feed. Each time I did, the birds would suddenly flap their wings and flock to one spot.

It was quite intense.

Lastly, a beautiful peacock stared directly at me. I couldn’t help but be drawn to its colorful, aurora-like appearance.

“Wow.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a peacock.”

I pointed to the information sign nearby. The Professor made a thoughtful sound as she looked at the peacock, but when it spread its tail, we could see only a sparse frame remained.

“…Huh?”

“Oh my.”

The photo clearly showed a magnificent, colorful tail, but this peacock’s tail was so sparse it couldn’t be called magnificent at all.

The Professor seemed surprised for a moment, then glanced around.

“I suppose it’s stressed from all the people and other birds around here.”

“It’s sad to see it like that…”

I felt sorry watching the peacock as it looked back and forth between me and Ouro. I had specifically come to see the peacock, but seeing its sparse tail was disappointing.

I was sad both because I couldn’t see a beautiful peacock and because the supposedly beautiful peacock had ended up like this.

Still, going over and saying something wouldn’t reduce the peacock’s stress, so I reluctantly accepted the disappointment and moved on.

Overall, I was satisfied. Though the peacock’s tail was disappointing, I thought doing something else before leaving might make me feel satisfied again, so I turned my head.

Ouro didn’t seem to care about the peacock’s condition. Seeing how she was satisfied just by the fact that she’d seen different animals, I found it hard to tell if that was a good thing or not.

Just as fine cuisine is best appreciated by those who’ve tried it, I felt I needed to give something to Ouro, who was like a blank slate with no experiences. Then later, beyond just being happy about experiencing something, she could feel the better emotion of enjoying a good experience.

Just like how I found a new life here.

I glanced at her, thinking of her as my benefactor who allowed me, someone who had been living in someone else’s body, to continue my own life without having to give it back.

Ouro had a flat expression, as if she were devoid of emotion. With her wide eyes, she almost looked like she was glaring.

We’d ridden the rides, eaten lots of food, and seen all the animals. I looked around, wondering what to do next. Doing the same things again wouldn’t be a new experience for Ouro, so I turned my head, looking for something different.

“What’s wrong?”

The Professor seemed to wonder if something was wrong since I kept looking around. With a small groan, I turned to face her.

After hesitating for a moment, I spotted a building behind the Professor.

“Professor, how about that?”

“That… Oh, the photo booth?”

“Let’s take pictures together there.”

The place I pointed to was indeed a photo booth.

Not a formal studio where you pose for professional photos, but an instant sticker photo booth that prints photos as stickers.

The Professor nodded, thinking it wasn’t a bad idea.

After rides, food, and animal watching, we’d already done all the experiences available, and visiting the souvenir shop wouldn’t make things any more enjoyable.

So I considered it lucky that the photo booth caught my eye. Humming, I started walking. As I took Ouro along with the Professor toward the photo booth, Ouro just tilted her head.

I couldn’t tell if she didn’t know what “photo” meant, or if she just thought any new experience was fine.

Entering the photo booth, I glanced around. It was extremely crowded. Everyone was wearing souvenir headgear or holding props, eagerly trying to take photos.

Seeing people entering the curtained booths and others chatting while waiting outside, Ouro gave an interested “Hmm.”

Seeing people with face paint, I thought maybe we should have done that for Ouro too. It would have been fun to walk around like that, but it would be silly to go get it right before taking photos, so I let it go.

“What are we here for? It’s packed with people inside.”

“This is for taking photos. When we take a picture, your image will appear exactly as a picture.”

“Oh, like when you took pictures of food before?”

“Well… something like that. The important thing is that it comes out as stickers.”

After explaining photos to Ouro, I pointed to the stickers people were holding.

People were holding long strips of paper, dividing them among themselves. Ouroboros’s attention was drawn to that.

“Ourr, Ouro. Let’s go in and take pictures now.”

It was our turn, and the Professor tapped our shoulders. I grabbed Ouro, whose gaze was fixed elsewhere, and she followed behind me with a sigh.

Perhaps because it was designed for group photos, the space inside was quite spacious.

“Professor, please sit here. We’ll stand like this.”

The Professor was quite tall, so if Ouro or I sat down, she might not be visible at all. Or she would have to bend her knees significantly.

“Shall I?”

“Ouro, come here.”

“What is it… What should I do?”

“Just look here. See the camera?”

I pointed to the camera lens. Above it was a screen showing how we appeared.

“I don’t see it.”

“It’s right here, this is the camera.”

I pointed it out with my finger.

“If you look here while taking the picture, you’ll appear as if looking straight ahead.”

“Hmm, what about that one?”

“If you look at that one, you’ll appear to be looking up. See how you look like you’re looking up on the screen right now?”

“This is troublesome. So it’s not like a mirror…”

Ouro grumbled, but thanks to the continued explanations, she managed to understand. I positioned Ouro properly. I stood on the opposite side from the Professor, facing the camera.

The Professor spread her arms, embraced Ouro and me, and slightly lowered her head.

The machine counted “One, two, three” and made a shutter sound. After holding a smile like a mannequin, I relaxed at the sound.

As I slumped my shoulders with a sigh, the machine started printing the photos with mechanical sounds.

“Oh, they’re out! Four photos!”

“So there are four on one sheet.”

“Ah, I mean there are four photos.”

I meant there were four separate photos, but strictly speaking, it was one sheet with four photos printed on it.

I looked at them carefully to see if they turned out well, then glanced up at the Professor. I also showed them to Ouro.

“Ouro isn’t smiling…”

“Oh, that’s me.”

Ouro seemed indifferent to her expression, reacting nonchalantly to the photos. The Professor looked at Ouro and smiled wryly.

“Can’t be helped. She’ll gradually learn what’s enjoyable as she experiences different things.”

“I’m going to put this on the refrigerator when we get home. Do you have magnets?”

“Yes, I do.”

I grinned at the Professor’s response.

Ouro stared at the photos she was handed for a while, then tilted her head.

“We really do look exactly alike, you and I.”

“…Isn’t that because we share the same DNA or something?”

“What does that mean?”

“The Professor knows better.”

I had just repeated something I’d heard, but if she asked for a detailed explanation, I’d have no choice but to run away.

Avoiding eye contact and playing dumb, I watched as Ouro stared at the Professor.

Realizing she wouldn’t understand the Professor’s explanation anyway, Ouro shook her head as if she didn’t want to hear it.