Ch.172Chapter 172

Ouro would fall asleep at regular intervals.

I decided not to find it strange anymore.

But now something else caught my attention.

“I can’t eat anymore.”

Ouro covered her mouth with her small hands. Her expression showed she couldn’t handle any more food, and seeing that filled me with astonishment.

Usually, she would eat until there was nothing left, never feeling full. She would either be mindful of others or stop eating only when the food the Professor prepared was gone.

The situation was different now.

Although Ouro had eaten a lot, she had never before said she couldn’t eat more and stopped.

This wasn’t the expression of someone disappointed that there was no more food, or the satisfied look of someone who had eaten plenty. Her pained expression showed she genuinely couldn’t eat anymore.

It was completely different from the Ouro who had devoured all those pizzas without stopping.

“Ouro, are you full?”

“I can’t eat anymore.”

She kept repeating that she couldn’t fit more food in, as if she didn’t understand the sensation of being full.

That makes sense. How could she recognize a feeling she’d never experienced before? She wouldn’t know if what she was feeling was hunger or fullness.

It’s easier to think she’s just reached her limit and can’t put more in.

“You can’t eat anymore? Do you want to stop now?”

“Mmhmm.”

The Professor looked slightly surprised but smoothly continued the conversation.

At the Professor’s gesture, Ouro nodded and got up. She opened the refrigerator, took out water, and poured a glass for the Professor and me.

Just as I was about to say thank you, Ouro picked up the cup in front of me, gulped it down, and made a choking sound.

“Are you feeling very uncomfortable?”

I didn’t mind about the water since I could pour myself another glass, but I was worried seeing Ouro struggling, unfamiliar with the sensation of fullness and having overeaten from the start.

Ouro shook her head with a distorted expression.

She clearly wasn’t okay. But since there was nothing I could do to help, I just watched her quietly.

It would be nice if I could use magic or something to help, but maybe I don’t know how because we don’t usually use abilities for things like this.

“I’m going to rest.”

After taking several deep breaths, Ouro went to the living room sofa and lay down.

Normally, I wouldn’t have cared whether she lay down or rolled around, but I wondered if lying down was a good idea when feeling full.

The Professor looked at her with concern and quietly asked me a question.

“Ourr, don’t you feel full?”

“I don’t feel full.”

Since the Professor seemed to have finished her meal, I decided to finish mine as well and put down my utensils.

I still felt empty.

I understood the pleasure of eating, but I didn’t have the sensation of feeling full after eating. That meant I could eat something delicious without restraint until it disappeared from this world.

Originally, Ouro would have been pushing food in with exactly this sensation, but now that she suddenly knew what it felt like to be full, I worried she might be uncomfortable from overeating.

“What should we do about this…”

The Professor voiced her concern.

It had become easier to prove that Ouro was harmless, but the gap between us was growing wider.

If this continued, all the friends I often met at the Academy, the Professor who took care of me, and Ouro who had been by my side would all become human, leaving me alone as a Demon God, causing a sense of loneliness.

Loneliness? I wasn’t lonely yet.

It would be a bit disappointing if Ouro grew up while I remained in this small body. I would have to face the fact that only I wasn’t growing.

But that wouldn’t really become a piercing loneliness.

Just having someone beside me would prevent me from feeling lonely, though that might change later.

It didn’t matter right now, but thinking about the distant future, it seemed better if I could become human too.

If I had known this would happen, I should have created Ouro completely by myself from the beginning to the end.

But if I had been told to do it alone, I wouldn’t have been able to do it properly because I couldn’t handle magic well, right?

“Later, even if it takes a while, I’d like to live like a human when a method becomes available. Like Ouro, I want to feel sleepy and want to sleep, feel hungry and want to eat…”

I don’t think a Demon God’s life is bad.

But it’s better when everyone does the same things. Being special might be nice, but experiencing the same things together is better.

“Yes, I’ll try to find a way for Ourr to be exactly like Ouro.”

“You don’t have to if it’s difficult. I don’t want to burden you, Professor.”

“While researching, a brilliant idea might suddenly come to mind.”

The Professor smiled bitterly and patted my head.

Since Ouro’s case happened by luckily creating a special method, I held a small hope that I too might encounter a chance opportunity that would change my physical characteristics like Ouro.

“Then let’s do some research today too.”

The Professor rolled up her sleeves to meet my expectations.

While the Professor was immersed in research, I sat on the bedroom bed, quietly observing Ouro.

Although we currently had the same physical age, I felt slightly anxious knowing that as Ouro became more human-like, we would have to let her grow.

The more I grow, the larger my vessel for magical power becomes. Eventually, I would emit an aura that would harm people whether I wanted to or not, which was the worst aspect.

So I couldn’t allow myself to grow. Even if it was difficult to handle magic, I had to remain as I was. Perhaps my using magic might cause anxiety for people.

“Ouro.”

“Yes?”

“Aren’t you scared?”

“Of what?”

“Of becoming like a human?”

“Not really?”

Ouro tilted her head as if she had no concerns. Rather, she looked at me as if asking why I would ask such a question.

“Aren’t you scared that everything you’ve lived with until now is changing?”

Ouro blinked at my words. She seemed to be thinking about something, then nodded as if she understood.

“I’m not scared. Even though I’ve lived without change until now, that doesn’t mean I want to live without change in the future. …It means becoming like a human. I don’t think that’s bad.”

“Really?”

Ouro answered quietly.

“When I hadn’t accumulated anything, I was just drifting along. I didn’t know anything, but at the same time, I didn’t need to know anything. I had no close people, no people I disliked, so I had no connections and just lived as things flowed. But now, I have connections.”

Ouro looked at the door.

Beyond that door, in the living room, was the Professor. She seemed to be thinking of the Professor as she spoke.

Although she got along well with Sera and Aria, those relationships hadn’t developed to be as close as with the Professor.

Her relationship with the Professor could be considered that special.

“I like how things are now. Rather than passing by with a momentary connection, I want to make it part of my life.”

Ouro smiled brightly.

Looking at Ouro, I couldn’t quite figure her out.

Having lived alone all her life, she sometimes seemed like a childish, stubborn kid, but perhaps because she had thought deeply during that long time, she occasionally said surprisingly profound things.

I gazed at her, entranced by her demeanor that was both childlike and mature.

“Ouro is pretending to be grown-up.”

“Pretending? I am grown-up.”

When Ouro stated this confidently, I was slightly taken aback and let out a small laugh.

“Ouro being grown-up? No way. I don’t think living a long time makes someone grown-up.”

“I am grown-up. I’m mature.”

At my words, Ouro straightened her shoulders and pushed out her chest as if to show me.

Pushing out her flat chest didn’t make any impression, so I didn’t understand why she was doing it to me.

It even felt uncomfortable. Sweating slightly, I gave her a suspicious look.

“Sleeping when you want to sleep and eating until you reach your limit isn’t what makes someone grown-up.”

“Hmph, sleeping is just something I do occasionally. It’s not like I want to sleep all the time.”

“Later, I think you’ll sleep twice a day. That’s what Ouro will do.”

“No, I won’t.”

“Yes, you will.”

“No, I won’t.”

“Yes, you wiiill.”

As I tried to continue arguing with Ouro, not wanting to lose, she grabbed my cheeks and pulled them sideways.

With my cheeks stretched out, I couldn’t close my lips, and it felt like drool might leak out. I groaned and shook my head from side to side, but Ouro’s hands followed my cheeks’ movements.

“Naaah!”

“Ouro is grown-up.”

“Uuugh.”

“Ouro is grown-uuup.”

I don’t know why she always grabs my cheeks when we fight. Honestly, we’re not even fighting, and there’s nothing to fight about.

Groaning and holding my cheeks, I let go first. Seeing this, Ouro also removed her hands from my cheeks.

As I rubbed my sore cheeks and looked at her, Ouro pouted.

“Ourr is not mature.”

“Neither is Ouro.”

Though she had backed down in action, her heart hadn’t yielded at all.