Ch.164Chapter 164

After compromising with the Professor to stay in regular contact, I was able to go on a trip as soon as the semester ended.

The journey to the hot springs was quite far. I traveled a long distance, transferring between subways and buses.

For some reason, I felt strange. I hadn’t gone far from designated places like the Professor’s house, the Academy, or the research lab, so it gave me an odd feeling.

A tingling sensation spread throughout my body. This new feeling of traveling far away welcomed me. It seemed perfect to call it excitement.

Though it’s an emotion that normally blends into everyday life, I never knew I could feel it so strongly, so I surrendered myself to the sensation.

I tried to look out the window with sparkling eyes. But Ouro, who was sitting by the window, pushed me away slightly.

“…What?”

After being pushed aside, I stared blankly at Ouro. She had been quietly looking out the window, but perhaps feeling awkward about ignoring me, she turned to face me.

“What?”

With an expression like she wanted to say something, that’s all she could manage.

I glared at her with wide eyes, but Ouro returned my gaze without any reaction, as if she couldn’t lose.

“I want to see out the window too.”

“I’m already looking.”

“I want to see too. Let’s look together.”

“The seatbelt makes it uncomfortable when you try to look.”

Ouro answered firmly.

As she said, the seatbelt made me push against Ouro slightly when trying to look out the window. If it were the subway, I could just turn around and kneel, but that wasn’t possible on the intercity bus.

I struggled and flailed my hands, but Ouro blocked them as if I couldn’t do that, and firmly secured her spot.

“Don’t.”

“I want to see too. Me too.”

“I’m already looking. It’s my seat.”

Ouro shook her head as if she had no intention of giving up her seat. Then Sera, who was sitting behind, tapped the back of my chair.

I blinked and peeked my head around the back of the seat. Sera was frowning slightly.

“Ourr, Ouro. Be quiet.”

“Ah, sorry…”

Sera put her finger to her lips and made a shushing sound, reminding us to be quiet in public. I nodded slightly.

This was clearly my fault. I had been arguing with Ouro just to see out the window.

Groaning and scratching my head, I pressed my lips together and hung my head low to stay quiet.

“Idiot. I got scolded too.”

“…Uu.”

I pouted. This time I had nothing to say to Ouro, so I just made a whimpering sound. Ouro sighed and tilted her head.

Not the uniform we wore at the Academy, but the uniquely colored uniform that only Ouro and I wore. She wiped the window with her sleeve and looked back at the scenery quickly passing by in the distance.

Time passed, and the bus stopped at a rest area. With a 15-minute break, we could now use the restroom or get something to eat.

“It’s cold.”

Coming out from the warm, heated bus, I was greeted by cold air. I groaned as my body shivered from the cold.

Though a Demon God’s body is said to feel less cold or heat, it seemed impossible not to react to such a large temperature difference.

“What were Ourr and Ouro talking about so much on the bus?”

Iris approached and gently put her arms around Ouro’s and my shoulders. Feeling the light touch, I turned my head and pointed at Ouro.

“I wanted to see out the window too, but Ouro was sitting by the window and wouldn’t move.”

“I was in my seat and Ourr was making me uncomfortable.”

We both voiced our complaints in response to Iris’s question. Hearing us both express our discomfort, Iris gave a wry smile.

“You two really are twins, aren’t you? You bicker in similar ways.”

“No way.”

“Not at all.”

I immediately denied it, and Ouro denied it the same way.

Glancing sideways, I saw Ouro looking at me with the same expression.

I thought Ouro and I had the same body, but I never dreamed our personalities would be so similar. No, actually, having similar personalities didn’t make sense.

We might have some coincidental similarities, but our personalities couldn’t be identical.

Just look at how we approach snacks—Ouro believes in eating them right away, while I prefer to save them and eat slowly. The difference is as vast as heaven and earth.

As we glared at each other again, Aria walked over with heavy steps.

“Sera says she’ll buy us something tasty at the rest area. Ourr, Ouro, if you keep fighting, you won’t get anything.”

“Come on, let’s go, kids. Karen, come eat something too.”

“…Ugh, this is my first long-distance trip, so it’s a bit tough.”

Sera clapped her hands like a kindergarten teacher trying to lead us. Karen, who was walking behind, sighed with an unstable expression, as if she might be carsick.

Just by her trudging steps, I could tell she was struggling.

“Iris, didn’t you buy motion sickness medicine for Karen?”

“Oh, I don’t think I did. Seeing that this is her first time, I guess we didn’t know she gets carsick.”

Iris looked at Karen with concerned eyes.

I thought that made sense if this was her first long-distance trip. How would you know if you get carsick if you’ve never taken a long bus ride before?

So it seemed natural that she hadn’t packed motion sickness medicine.

Worried, I approached Karen with quick steps.

“Karen, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Do you feel like you can’t eat? Shouldn’t you take some motion sickness medicine?”

I asked, tilting my head. I tried to see Karen’s complexion as she hung her head, but there was no sign of her usual brightness.

In this situation, it didn’t seem right to tell her to eat something, so offering comforting words was the best I could do.

“Karen, let’s take a warp back. The Professor said she’d give us money to return comfortably.”

“…Huh?”

“Huh?”

Karen’s eyes widened at my words, and so did Iris’s, who was nearby.

Wondering why they were both so surprised, I looked around, and Iris added an explanation to satisfy my curiosity.

“Warps are usually more expensive than regular transportation, right? Since it’s for people willing to pay money for time, the cost increases with distance, so offering to pay for that is…”

For short distances, warps are a bit more expensive than subway or bus fares, and for long distances, they cost more than taking a plane or train.

Since they offer the advantage of traveling long distances in an instant, you have to pay accordingly.

Actually, I didn’t know much about the prices. I just accepted it because the Professor said she would cover it. Of course, she said she would give the money to Sera.

“I already told Sera. She said she couldn’t pay for the trip to the hot springs, but she could cover our return.”

“That’s really good news. Thank you, Ourr.”

Karen patted my head.

Even though I hadn’t really done anything, somehow being praised felt good, so I smiled.

“Ourr! Hurry up! We need to eat before the bus leaves!”

“Ah, let’s go buy some motion sickness medicine for Karen. Iris too!”

Ouro was already with Sera and Aria at the mention of food. So it was up to me to take care of Karen and Iris who were lagging behind.

I grabbed Karen and walked with big strides, and Karen followed behind me with small steps. Watching this from the side, Iris asked casually:

“Is there anything you want to eat, Ourr? They seem to sell things like roasted potatoes, chicken skewers, or hot dogs.”

“I… Hmm. What should I eat? Is there something we can eat quickly?”

We had to be careful about making noise on the bus. So naturally, I thought we should also be mindful about eating.

We’d already wasted 5 minutes chatting, so I was thinking hard about what we could eat in the remaining 10 minutes.

We quickly approached the line of shops at the rest area. Sera took out her wallet and started buying various items. Seeing that she bought three types, it seemed they were for Sera, Aria, and Ouro.

No, she bought three items for all six of us to share.

“Here, have one each. I’d like to buy one for each person, but the timing is awkward, and with these, you just need a taste, so let’s eat moderately and go.”

Sera firmly placed a roasted potato in Ouro’s hand. Ouro picked up a large one with a skewer and stuffed it all into her mouth at once.

With her cheeks puffed out, Ouro looked like she was struggling to chew. Seeing her trying hard to move her mouth, I couldn’t help but shake my head.

“Idiot. How could you stuff it all in at once?”

“……”

“I’ll go buy some water!”

After saying that, I dashed to where the convenience store was. Karen followed behind.

“Then let me buy some motion sickness medicine too.”

“Sure, good idea.”

After buying motion sickness medicine and water at the convenience store, we returned. Ouro was still struggling with the food in her mouth.

I handed the water to Ouro.

“Here, drink this.”

“…Kkeuk.”

Gulp. After a painful swallow, Ouro finally seemed to breathe easier and frowned as she said:

“I almost choked…”