Ch.135Chapter 135

The massage didn’t end with just rubbing my shoulders. After the Professor ran the vacuum cleaner for house cleaning, I focused on following behind her and diligently mopping the floor.

Whoosh! Gripping the wet mop tightly with both hands, I rolled my feet as if starting an engine and moved forward incredibly fast. The floor became spotlessly clean in an instant.

I started doing housework because I thought I’d feel like I was getting something for nothing if I only gave massages for pocket money. The Professor initially said there was no need, but I insisted that since we lived together, it would be good to do things together. And so I was allowed to help with the housework.

It felt good to make the Professor smile, and at the same time, I could accept that this pocket money was the result of my effort and sweat.

Fifty Riel was a substantial amount that could buy various things. However, when I actually thought about buying a birthday present, I hesitated, unsure of what would be good.

I was at a loss about what she might want for her birthday or what I should give. I thought there should normally be some kind of gift guide for this sort of thing.

A catalog? If there was something like that, it would be extremely convenient to just pick something.

Of course, gifts were meant to be given from the heart. They only became meaningful when you thought about what the other person might need or want, and then gave them something useful.

Even if you put in time and effort, if it wasn’t useful, it would just become a white elephant.

If it was useful but too obvious, and ended up being the same as what others gave, that would be awkward.

I pondered what might be unique and non-overlapping, something that would show I had put time into thinking about it.

If I asked Ouro… she’d probably say pizza. Even though we’re the same age, she doesn’t know much, so asking her would be pointless. You can only speak from what you know, but if what you know is too limited, that’s a problem in itself.

So it seemed there was no answer except to ask the Professor.

“Professor, Professor. It’s Sera’s birthday soon, what would be a good present?”

“A birthday present?”

The Professor’s eyes widened at my question, and then she began to think about it with me. She put her hand near her mouth and wiggled her fingers, which made me slightly hopeful that she might have some good ideas.

However, the Professor just shrugged.

“I wonder? But wouldn’t it be a bit strange for me to tell you? Everyone likes different things.”

“Then what kinds of things might be different?”

I thought she would know right away since she’s a woman too. Shopping, perhaps. Then she could quickly pick out cosmetics, perfume, things like that, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

I guess it can’t be helped since people have their own tastes. It did seem strange to lump people together just because they’re the same gender. Thinking about it that way made me feel like my perspective was broadening a bit.

The Professor gave me a roundabout answer to my question.

“Well, what does Sera like?”

“Um, researching with you, Professor?”

I recalled what Sera had said before. She had mentioned wanting to research under the Professor, but that didn’t seem right. Besides, that wasn’t a gift I could give, so there was no way forward from there.

Sera’s ability and the Professor’s availability? Permission? There was no way I could give something like that as a gift. So I was back to square one.

“Hanging out with friends? Uh, umm…”

I’d heard a lot of talk about doing various things together. We’d hung out a lot, but I didn’t properly know what Sera actually liked.

As I held my head and pondered, I was struck with shock.

I was an idiot. I called myself her friend and even hung out with her, yet I was a fool who didn’t know a single thing about what my friend liked. I had become a selfish child who only knew how to receive and not how to give.

With a gasp, I looked at the Professor with a panicked face. The Professor, equally surprised, froze and asked if I was okay.

“What’s wrong? Are you alright?”

“I, I don’t know what Sera likes…!”

“Then you should ask her.”

“It’s a bit… to ask about a birthday present…”

As I hesitated, the Professor seemed to realize she agreed with me and let out a groan.

“You’re right, it would be awkward to ask directly. How about asking subtly?”

Subtly? That sounded difficult. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t imagine a future where I could get the answer I wanted by being subtle. I only knew how to ask directly; I didn’t know how to hint at things indirectly, so I was at a loss about what to do.

Even if I tried to be indirect, what if I couldn’t control my expression properly? Nothing terrible would happen, but I still wanted to surprise her to some extent, so I struggled to maintain that principle.

As I was agonizing, my head soon turned toward where Ouro was.

It was time to use the silly-looking Ouro.

The birthday party was set for Friday. Until then, I needed to find out what Sera liked. That was my plan, but I was worried whether Ouro would cooperate well.

While we were all sitting and talking together, Ouro, who had been spacing out, stared at me for a moment and then suddenly turned her head.

“Sera, what do you like?”

“Huh, me?”

My body trembled greatly at Ouro’s question, which came out of nowhere while we were all chatting noisily. I learned for the first time how someone could be so blatant.

I flinched, but since everyone’s attention was on Ouro, I somehow managed to get through it. If I had been drinking water, I would have spit it out immediately.

“I like making things. Through research on Demon Gods, creating originals like Professor Yuria.”

“Originals?”

Sera answered kindly without hiding anything, but it wasn’t something I could give as a gift. I tried to signal with my eyes for Ouro to ask better questions, but instead of understanding, Ouro became curious about Sera’s answer and got sidetracked.

You’re supposed to help me! I said I’d buy you pizza if I had money left over!!

“Yes, making abilities from Demon God magic your own. Magic that others can’t easily replicate, my own magic.”

“If it’s from a Demon God, isn’t it not really your own…?”

I smacked my forehead with my hand.

Ouro had completely fallen into Sera’s pace. I asked her to find out what gift would be good, but it seemed like she was going to learn about originals instead.

“That’s true. But the process of converting magic that only Demon Gods can use into something humans can use is incredibly difficult, right? If you can accomplish that, wouldn’t it be magic that only you among humans can use? No, rather than the person, the magic circle would have ownership of it. Because that magic circle would be the only path to using that magic.”

I didn’t really understand what she was saying. Ouro seemed to feel the same way, as she furrowed her brow. The others laughed at Ouro’s confused expression.

It seemed like everyone had pretty good brains by the time they came to the Academy. Well, since most people were high school graduates, anyone coming to the Academy would be somewhat studious.

Since we’d moved on to a difficult topic, and it seemed like it would take Ouro a while to understand, I was determined to steer the conversation back on track this time.

Since I couldn’t speak so blatantly in front of everyone, my job was to give signals through eye contact, hand gestures, and subtle hints.

Quickly, ask again.

Ouro stared at me intently and then looked back at Sera.

“I like pizza.”

“Right, Ouro eats so well. Did you know your views went way up?”

“Views? I don’t know.”

Sigh, suddenly talking about pizza.

It seemed far from getting the answer I wanted. I held my throbbing head and groaned.

I couldn’t do it myself because it would be too obvious, and it wouldn’t make sense for the Professor to go to Sera and subtly ask what she liked, so I had Ouro do it, but I never dreamed it would turn out like this.

I let out a series of sighs.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, it’s nothing!”

Meanwhile, Karen asked about my condition from beside me. Startled, I quickly turned my body in the opposite direction.

Aria was sitting on the other side of Karen. My body bumped into hers. My tilted body ended up with the back of my head against Aria’s chest.

As I was about to groan at the soft, squishy sensation, hands wrapped around my neck like a kraken.

Aria, who had embraced me, gazed down at me intently. I unconsciously gulped at her blue gaze looking down at me.

Normally I would have just been fine, but now I had too many things to hide, so I couldn’t help my reaction. As I looked around nervously, the corners of Aria’s mouth turned up.

“I wonder why Ourr is acting like this?”

“…Ah, it’s nothing…”

I couldn’t say “I’m using Ouro to get a birthday present for Sera,” so I was determined to play innocent.

“Ourr seems to be hiding something!”

“It’s written all over your face.”

Huh, wasn’t I being subtle…?