Ch.151Chapter 151

I got scolded.

Honestly, when I said, “That body looks better! Give it to me!” I wasn’t being serious. So even though this looked like bickering, it absolutely wasn’t sincere.

It was just playful teasing, but the Professor rushed over in horror, trying to stop and mediate between us, thinking we were genuinely fighting.

Anyone could tell whether we were seriously fighting or not, but it seemed the Professor didn’t want us fighting even in jest.

I understand her feelings, but I thought we should probably just argue quietly with words from now on. It would be better for the Professor if we didn’t argue at all, but that might be difficult.

I’m inevitably different from Ouro, and when our opinions clash, physical confrontation is all that remains.

Sitting side by side with Ouro on the bed, I pouted. Ouro next to me also looked sullen as she stared at the Professor.

“I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Using magic alone is cheating.”

I suppose I was wrong for lunging at her out of envy. Having nothing more to say, I muttered as if confessing.

I glared with dagger eyes and glanced at where Ouro was, and the Professor standing before us pressed her lips together at my words. She seemed deep in thought.

“That can’t be helped… Ourr has a complete Demon God body, while Ouro has one that’s half-mixed, so there will inevitably be differences.”

“But isn’t it unfair that only I can’t use magic at all…?”

I knew I was being unreasonable.

However, I could still feel the sensation of using magic from when my body had grown larger, as if it lingered at my fingertips. I had looked away because there was no choice, but seeing someone like me using magic so casually around people made me envious.

I am a Demon God who wields magical power harmful to humans.

This is the biggest reason why people reject Demon Gods. As I grow and gather unrefined magical power that harms people and scatter it around, it’s only natural for people to avoid me.

Therefore, it was right to refrain from accumulating magical power or using magic.

Conversely, Ouro didn’t need to worry about such things.

When creating her body, they used something like my genes to form it, so she got a body identical to mine. However, unlike me, she grew with the Professor’s magical power.

We were fundamentally the same yet subtly different. It felt like her body and magical power operated separately. She was a somewhat different form from the original Demon God.

“…I’m currently researching that, but I think Ourr will have to wait a bit longer…?”

“Okay.”

When the Professor spoke apologetically, I naturally ran out of things to say and hung my head.

Knowing it was unreasonable to suddenly ask for the impossible, I closed my mouth and slightly pushed out my lips.

“Duck face.”

“No, it’s not.”

I glared at Ouro when I heard her blunt voice from beside me.

Ouro shrugged her shoulders with an unconcerned expression.

“If you wait a little longer, I’ll make it so Ourr can use magic comfortably like the other friends.”

“Wow!”

“But I haven’t seen the kids using magic?”

I raised my hands up and let out something like a cheer at the Professor’s words.

Ouro thought for a moment and then tilted her head.

She found it strange that we hadn’t properly seen the kids using magic until now. I had definitely felt that too.

Except for the festival around spring, the students here lived so normally that I wondered if they could even use magic at all.

I couldn’t tell whether it was because magic was so integrated into daily life that they didn’t need to use it, but it was curious that they didn’t show even a hint of magic otherwise.

Of course, looking at departments like Demon God Research or Magic Composition, you could definitely tell magic existed.

“That’s to prevent harm to others. Magic exists to pursue convenience, but at the same time, magic can become a knife or a gun, right? Since you can’t feel safe even with empty hands, there are certain restrictions.”

“So people don’t use magic in everyday life?”

“Generally not. There are already magical convenience facilities, so individuals don’t really need to use magic.”

The Professor snapped her fingers as if confirming my words were correct.

It didn’t feel particularly satisfying to get the answer right. It was frustrating to learn that even if you know magic, you can’t use it freely.

I wasn’t opposing the idea that restrictions were necessary because magic could harm others even while providing convenience. After all, you can’t stand comfortably next to someone holding a knife.

“Then how are the restrictions enforced?”

“There are alert sensors around. They’re everywhere in the Academy except for specific areas, so if you try to use magic, it will be detected immediately. They turn them off temporarily on special occasions like festivals.”

“Ohh.”

The Professor’s explanation made sense.

I nodded, thinking it was certainly better to be thorough when people’s safety was at stake.

“That’s what she says.”

“I used a little magic here and no one noticed.”

“That level won’t be detected. This is our home, after all.”

The Professor smiled wryly at Ouro’s words.

Ouro stared blankly at the Professor, not understanding. When I laughed along with the Professor, Ouro looked back and forth between us with a puzzled expression.

“Hmm. So it’s allowed here?”

“Probably? But if it’s too big, people might notice. No one will say anything about simple magic used at home.”

“Then I’ll use it for studying.”

Ouro said that and made a gesture of putting her hands together.

The Professor approached and placed her hand on Ouro’s joined hands. It was a gesture meant to stop something. Ouro blinked and looked up at the Professor. The Professor shook her head at Ouro.

“Studying is done with your own brain. If you start relying on other things, Ouro might become a fool who can’t study properly without magic later on.”

“…F-fool?”

I giggled as she made a face like she’d been slapped.

“She says you’ll become a fool.”

“I won’t become a fool…”

Ouro made a slightly indignant expression.

It seemed she had been trying to somehow skip the painful middle stages of studying through shortcuts, and she was uncomfortable being stopped.

But since the Professor said so, she had no choice but to study directly.

No one expects someone who hasn’t even learned the alphabet to suddenly pass a qualification exam. I was planning to tell her there was no need to feel rushed because of me.

However, she turned her head away as if she didn’t need to hear such words.

“Time is the one thing I have plenty of… Besides, can’t I grow? Look. Unlike Ourr, whose aura overflows as she grows, I have the same flow as the Professor, so there’s no danger.”

Her tone suggested she was making some proposal to the Professor. A voice that seemed to say, “I’m like this, so isn’t it acceptable?”

The Professor looked at Ouro with wide eyes. Then she narrowed her brow and put her hand on her chin. After what seemed like a long moment of thought, the Professor slowly parted her lips.

“Come to think of it, unlike Ourr, it wouldn’t matter if Ouro grew… If it’s difficult for Ouro right now, and if you’re willing to study properly later, you could use shortcuts. However…”

“However?”

“Still, the Professor would like Ouro to learn more through her own efforts. There may be no Demon God who doesn’t use magic, but I hope you’ll become a person who doesn’t rely solely on magic.”

The Professor expressed her wish firmly even while saying it was okay.

In the end, Ouro lowered her tail.

There was no way Ouro could win when the Professor spoke like that. Ouro, who had been groaning, rolled her eyes around and then hung her head low.

She seemed to want to say how could she talk about using magic after hearing that. But her quivering lips were swallowed without opening.

“Professor! What about just making her smarter?”

“…Isn’t that the same thing?”

“Aww…”

I tried to find another way because Ouro looked so disappointed, but unfortunately there didn’t seem to be one.

It seemed the Professor wanted to see her progress through her own efforts without magical assistance. If that was the case, it would be difficult to find another method here.

“She says no.”

“…I know.”

Ouro glanced at me. Then she quietly raised her head.

“But I have plenty of time…!”

She recovered quickly. I couldn’t tell if it was because of her life experience or if that was just her personality.

It seemed I had worried unnecessarily. I didn’t know she could recover so quickly. But seeing her recovered state, I could tell it wasn’t completely meaningless.

“You have plenty of time?”

“Yes, plenty.”

“What is time?”

“…Uh.”

When I asked teasingly, Ouro stared at me blankly as if her brain had frozen.

“Time is, well. Now? The current flowing…”

“I don’t know~”

I grabbed my head and swung it in circles. Ouro belatedly realized I was teasing her and lunged at me again.

I didn’t expect her to lunge like this with the Professor standing right there. Caught off guard, I rolled across the bed.