Ch.176Chapter 176

In the Academy’s Research Building, graduate and doctoral students gather to conduct research under the Professor’s guidance.

As usual, when graduation dates approached, additional personnel would join.

“…Hello! I’m Sera, joining as an intern!”

“Hello. I’m Aria, joining as an intern.”

The two had entered as interns with the Professor’s approval, though they were still in the evaluation stage.

Since the Professor was the final approver, their chances of being accepted were high. Still, it was good to have a trial period to ensure there would be no friction with other students who shared the research space.

Sera was burning with determination to become friends with others this time.

Aria, on the other hand, hoped to stay quiet while avoiding any conflicts, making it clear that their personalities were slightly different.

After they finished their introductions, Lenya waved at them.

“Welcome. I’ll be your senior. I’ll show you everything you need to know. We’ve seen each other before, right? You’ve been frequenting the Research Building.”

“Ah, yes…!”

Lenya recognized both of them. And since they had seen Lenya before as well, they nodded.

“We do two types of research at the Academy.”

“What kind of research?”

“Well, helping the Professor is common to everyone, but I’m talking about our individual research. First, there are people who participate in research because they want to become the Professor’s junior or disciple.”

“Junior or disciple?”

Sera tilted her head in confusion.

Weren’t they already disciples? Or were there additional conditions? Such questions naturally arose.

Lenya noticed this and shook her head.

“No, no. I mean, the Demon God Slayer…”

“…Oh.”

Sera let out a small sigh.

She had completely forgotten that aspect of the Professor since there was no trace of it in the Professor’s current demeanor.

Thinking back, she recalled that the Professor did have an image as the Demon God Slayer.

“And the second?”

“The second is friends who came to genuinely research Demon Gods. There’s magic composition and original research too. Which one are you interested in, Sera? And Aria?”

After Sera’s question, Lenya returned the question along with her final answer.

Sera hesitated for a moment before pointing decisively.

“I’m interested in the second one. I want to research Demon Gods.”

“I’m interested in magic composition.”

Sera and Aria answered in turn.

One might wonder why someone interested solely in magic composition wouldn’t go to a professor in the magic composition department, but when it came to magic composition related to Demon Gods, there was nothing to say against it.

Lenya pondered with a “hmm” for a moment before nodding.

“Then you can learn from me. That’s my area too.”

“Senior, don’t you create originals?”

Lenya flinched.

“…Ah, originals are nice, but I’ve come to prefer just researching Demon Gods. And creating originals, while sweet, is too distant to just dive into. It’s like honey—you might build fame, but running after fame that might never come is a bit…”

She broke into a sweat.

The returns don’t match the effort. No, the moment you complete an original, you could sit on a pile of money with honor and royalties depending on its utility.

Whether to commercialize an original or keep it private with just the honor was another issue.

Some argued why share something you created yourself, while others questioned if they should starve after enduring so much hardship without making any money.

Even after completion, creators of originals lived in constant dilemma.

Having seen this up close, Lenya didn’t want to fall into that quagmire.

An uncertain future. A future that might not be entirely happy even if achieved. She judged that stepping into such a path wouldn’t improve anything.

“…That’s certainly true.”

Sera nodded, seeming to understand Lenya’s explanation.

Watching this, Aria quietly remarked:

“If I created an original, I think I’d just be satisfied with it. It might be a hobby for the wealthy.”

“It’s problematic to call it a hobby when it consumes so much time… Ah.”

Lenya started with a bitter smile but then froze.

Creating an original requires an enormous amount of time. And it’s not just about investing time; it might not even work out. For some, it could consume more time than their lifespan.

That’s what it meant to walk a path without established guidelines. A bleak future where one might unknowingly walk the wrong path.

The biggest challenge was enduring without knowing if one could withstand it or if the path was even correct.

But the person in front of her wasn’t an ordinary human but an elf. For a race that lives several times longer than humans, such time investment wasn’t a big deal.

Moreover, if they had substantial wealth, there would be no need to commercialize after creating an original for financial reasons.

“…Aria, you could do it, couldn’t you?”

“No, I have no intention to.”

Faced with Aria’s resolute response, Lenya pressed her lips together.

The feeling of regret might have stemmed from the thought that she might have pursued it if she had the money and time.

Lenya smacked her lips and nodded. It was her own regret, and there was no reason to push if Aria herself had no interest.

“Well, it’s about doing what you want.”

Lenya nodded slightly and began to properly explain the Academy’s Research Building. She shared everything she had learned since first entering the previous year, up to the current guidelines.

**

“Let’s play rock-paper-scissors.”

“…You eat it.”

I conceded to Ouro, who was threatening me with a raised fist.

I hadn’t actually planned to give in, but now I’m just going with it. I don’t understand why she’s so greedy when she can’t even eat much.

Maybe it’s because the line of self-restraint based on how much one can eat has disappeared.

“Was there only one cake?”

“Yes.”

“Then isn’t it the Professor’s?”

“Is it?”

Ouro hesitated and lowered her fist.

“The Professor usually prepares two for us.”

“That’s true. There wasn’t just one.”

Ouro tilted her head, seemingly recalling the number of cakes she had seen when she first rummaged through the refrigerator.

After watching her for a while, I hesitated over the cake in front of me.

“Then it must be the Professor’s.”

“The Professor’s, excluding us?”

“…She might have received it as a gift.”

When I cautiously responded to Ouro’s words, she nodded as if she understood.

Apparently feeling uncomfortable about eating the Professor’s cake, she put away the cake that was in front of her.

It looked like a delicious strawberry cream cake.

“It’s a shame.”

“It is.”

“…Why is there only one?”

“Ourr, would you have eaten it if there were two?”

“If there were two, they would have been ours. Probably… I probably would have eaten it.”

The Professor always prepared two if she thought they were for me and Ouro. If there were more, she’d prepare an even number. So we could share them equally.

As a result, we naturally shared things that could be divided into two.

But this cake absolutely cannot be divided into two. That fact seemed regrettable.

We could cut it in half with a knife, of course. But the moment there was only one cake, we questioned if it was ours, and it became difficult to eat it easily.

“I want to eat it.”

“Me too.”

I agreed with Ouro’s desire-filled voice.

We could put it back in the refrigerator, but for some reason, it felt wasteful to let it go like this.

The Professor had gone out for work, so we were bored, but we couldn’t follow her to her workplace. With our mouths also feeling bored, we agonized over whether we could eat this.

Then suddenly, I remembered the existence of the phone I rarely used.

“Ah! I’ll ask her!”

I jumped up from my seat. Ouro stared at me.

“How?”

“I can contact her by phone. Hehe.”

I ran to my room to get my phone. After showing it off by waving it in front of her, I looked for the Professor’s number and started moving my fingers. Then I paused and fell into a brief dilemma.

“Should I call or text…”

“Call?”

“Calling is using voice, and texting is sending characters. If I call, it might be annoying if she’s busy.”

“Then text.”

“But we’d have to wait until the Professor sees it.”

“Then call.”

“…What if she doesn’t answer the call?”

“Aren’t you going to do it quickly?”

Ouro, getting irritated, glared at me.

She seemed to find me frustrating as I hesitated at this crossroads, unable to decide.

Come to think of it, the cake had been left out for too long. If we were going to eat it, we should do so quickly, so calling seemed more appropriate.

“Then I’ll call!”

“Okay.”

“Umm, ummm.”

Ring, ring. The dial tone echoed in the silence.

Click.

[Hello?]

“Ah, Professor! Professor. There’s a slice of cake in the refrigerator, can we eat it? Is it okay to eat?”

[Ah, that. A friend of mine gave it to have with coffee. It’s okay to eat! Is that why you called? Everything else okay?]

“Yes, we’re fine. Ouro is drooling though.”

Since I was on speakerphone, Ouro, who realized permission had been granted, was now drooling at the thought of being able to eat the cake.

[Then eat that, and both of you stay well without fighting. I’ll bring more delicious things when I come back.]

“Yes! Got it! Ouro, ah, wait…!”

“We can eat it now, right?”

As soon as the call ended, Ouro grabbed a fork and thrust it towards the cake.

I barely stopped her and shook my head, panting.

“No, we need to cut it fairly. We should have a knife, right?”

“…Can’t we just eat it?”

“Exactly half!”

I brought a knife and held it out.

Leaving Ouro, who was suffering from having to wait a bit longer, behind, I tried to concentrate.

“A little more… to the left.”

“No.”

“More, more.”

“I said no.”

“…It looks small to me.”

“No. I’m cutting it well.”

“Ourr.”

“No…”

Ignoring Ouro’s voice trying to increase her share, I plunged the knife down. The cake, split in half with a soft sensation, revealed its hidden cross-section.

“Eh, the strawberries…?”

“Where did the strawberries go?”

“…I don’t know.”

But unlike what we saw from the outside, there were no strawberries inside.

When we faced the disappointment of finding only white cream filling instead of the expected strawberry-filled center, the letdown was quite significant.