Ch.171Chapter 171

Ourr took naps at regular intervals.

It wasn’t a typical reaction for a Demon God. After all, feeling tired or fatigued and needing sleep was simply impossible for them.

Today, Ourr was sound asleep in bed again.

At times like this, she apparently couldn’t wake up when she wanted to. I sat beside her at an angle and poked her cheek with my finger. She responded with a soft “Mmm,” as if trying to avoid the stimulus.

Even that resistance was so timid that I found it amusing rather than feeling sorry.

Poke, poke. Ourr showed no signs of waking up. Even if she did wake up, she’d probably try to go back to sleep claiming fatigue, so I kept pressing her soft cheek with my finger.

“Ourr.”

While I was playing with Ourr’s cheek, the Professor opened the door and called me in a whisper-like voice.

“Eek!”

“Urgh.”

I was startled for no particular reason. When I pressed Ourr’s cheek firmly, even the sleeping Ourr finally had to react, letting out a weak groan.

This time, startled by Ourr’s groan, I quickly pulled my hand away.

My index finger, now with nowhere to go, hovered beside me, making its presence known. As if saying, “I’m the finger that poked Ourr’s cheek.”

The Professor saw my finger and chuckled. But only briefly before beckoning me to come out.

Following her to the living room, the Professor sat on the sofa and patted the spot next to her. Taking the hint to sit down, I plopped down and looked at her.

Curious about what she wanted to say, I stared intently. The Professor hesitated for a moment under my gaze before speaking heavily.

“Ourr, you know the Professor has been researching all night, right?”

“Yeees.”

“I’ve been doing a lot of research on Ourr in particular, and you’ve noticed how she sleeps like a human sometimes.”

“Yes.”

She seemed about to explain why Ourr sleeps.

For some reason, I felt tense, as if I was about to learn some tremendous truth. My hands were sweating profusely.

The Professor hesitated for a moment, then looked toward the room where Ourr was sleeping soundly and carefully began to speak.

“Ourr’s body was created by you and the Professor together, right? The body itself is indeed a Demon God’s, but since she uses the same human Magical Power as the Professor, it seems some differences are emerging.”

“Hmm…”

“Basically, since she’s a Demon God, she initially followed the physical abilities of a Demon God when she was first created, but I’ve hypothesized that as she becomes more accustomed to refined Magical Power, she’s developing human patterns.”

I listened blankly and looked at my hands.

Counting on my fingers, I went over what the Professor had said again.

A Demon God’s body with human Magical Power? So because Ourr isn’t a complete Demon God, her Demon God-like traits are gradually being chipped away. That’s how I should understand it, right?

Then what will happen to Ourr in the future?

The fact that she suddenly started doing something she didn’t do before means it might become more frequent in the future?

If she suddenly starts sleeping when she didn’t before, could her stomach eventually feel full when it never did, or feel hungry when it never did?

Even going to the bathroom regularly after eating?

That wouldn’t make her half-human but completely human.

Being human wasn’t bad. The Professor is human, and so are Sera, Aria, Iris, and Karen—what’s strange about that?

The issue was about lifespan.

Demon Gods live eternally. Some individuals might need to take various actions to extend their lives, but that wasn’t the case for me or Ourr.

It’s different from the basic and best form of eternal life where you don’t need to do anything. My method was that when I die, my lifespan decreases, and when it falls below a certain point, I return to my prime physical age.

It seemed troublesome, but it meant I had a body that wouldn’t die no matter what happened.

I thought that no matter what, I would always have Ourr, and Ourr would always have me. That’s why I never considered these things a problem.

But now it seemed like it might be a problem.

Starting with adults like the Professor, when friends pass away one by one as their lifespans end, what will happen to me?

“…Ah.”

After flexing and folding my fingers, I froze and stared at the Professor.

“Was that difficult to understand?”

“…Then, I, um…”

I slightly clasped my fidgeting hands. With my head bowed, I focused my gaze on my restless hands.

Although it’s still decades away so there’s not much to worry about, somehow, perhaps because I’m a Demon God, I felt like my concept of time was a bit different.

How should I put it? Maybe it was because I wanted someone who would remain unchanged by my side even after decades, even after centuries.

It would be hard to find people like the Professor again. I might meet friends like Sera or Aria somewhere else. But they would all be passing relationships.

Having no lasting connections was painful.

I needed someone with a similar lifespan, but now I was feeling anxious about that.

“What will happen to Ourr?”

“…We’ll still need to observe her progress, but it seems like the changes start with the most susceptible areas first. Whether it’s the brain or whatever, the fact that fatigue is starting to accumulate…”

The Professor made a pained expression, perhaps because she couldn’t be certain of anything yet.

Since nothing was confirmed yet, it seemed pointless to sink into gloom, so I shook my head and returned to positive thoughts.

Right, it might be temporary. Ourr’s lifespan wouldn’t suddenly decrease arbitrarily.

“Ourr, are you worried?”

“Yes.”

“Are you worried about yourself, not Ourr?”

“What?”

It made sense to nod if we were talking about Ourr. But asking if I was worried about myself? It wasn’t untrue, but it felt like she had read my mind, and I felt myself stiffen.

“I thought you might be worried about being left alone as a Demon God if Ourr stops living eternally and gradually moves away from being a Demon God to become human.”

“…I’m scared. I don’t want to be alone.”

For a brief time, I had stayed in that small hut-like house in the mountains where Ourr used to live.

I was worried that if I became alone, I would end up living such a life. Although they say a human lifespan isn’t short, it still made me anxious.

All these thoughts were giving me a headache.

“After observing Ourr’s condition, I’ll look into whether you could do the same. Don’t worry. Do you trust the Professor?”

“…Yes, I understand.”

Since the Professor asked me to trust her, I had no choice. Rather than reluctantly trusting her, I was waiting with the belief that if I trusted the Professor and waited patiently, an answer would eventually come.

Maybe I should study along with her.

Elementary school, middle school, high school. After jumping through each of these, I could enter the Academy’s Demon God Research Department and study as a proper Academy student.

Of course, I would need the Professor’s help before that.

“Is Ourr becoming human?”

“I’m not sure about that. Whether she’s a Demon God taking on human characteristics, or truly becoming human…”

“Then Ourr might not eat as much?”

“Right, later she might say she’s full after eating just a little.”

“An Ourr who eats less… somehow I can’t imagine it.”

I shook my head.

Ourr seemed to suit being a Demon God best. Her behavior itself was Demon God-like, you could say.

When thinking about Demon Gods seen elsewhere, saying something is “Demon God-like” usually refers to negative traits, but looking at Ourr, she was like a newborn baby experiencing the world for the first time, which also made me think she was Demon God-like.

Being a Demon God isn’t necessarily bad.

Other beings who do bad things are also Demon Gods, but there’s Ourr. There might be Demon Gods like Ourr hiding somewhere, living quietly.

“Then is she just a child?”

“If that’s the case, she would be a child.”

She has the youngest physical age, and after a year has passed, she has the second youngest body. I’m also repeating that, but my problem is that I shouldn’t grow.

“Ourr grows but I…”

“Ourr can’t. It’s okay, isn’t it nice to be with the Professor?”

“That’s fine, but… hmm, what about Ourr?”

I rubbed my chin.

In my case, nothing has changed, so that’s that, but with Ourr, as time passes, we can’t be certain if her Demon God powers will remain intact.

Then there’s definitely a possibility that her rejuvenation upon death would also disappear.

If I stay young while Ourr ages arbitrarily, I’ll end up looking like her younger sibling—what should I do?

“Professor! Make Ourr get younger quickly!”

“Huh?”

“Hurry!”

“Wait, Ourr. Although a year has passed, isn’t this too sudden?”

“If Ourr changes to be more human-like, it’ll be too late… if I’m the only one who’s young, that’s a bit…”

“I don’t understand what you mean by ‘that’s a bit…'”

The Professor tilted her head as if she didn’t understand what I was saying.

I felt resentful that the Professor didn’t understand this.