Ch.17Chapter 17

Tonight’s dinner was pizza. Sitting at the dining table wouldn’t have been bad, but settling in the living room definitely gave a different feeling.

Leaning back against the sofa made everything feel much more comfortable. The freedom to stretch my legs was a welcome change.

When I opened the box, a large circular pizza revealed itself. As I expressed my admiration for the elaborate toppings, the Professor returned from draining the pickle juice and chuckled.

“What? Do you like it?”

“Yes, it looks delicious.”

I nodded. The Professor set down a cup on one side and poured some cola.

“…There’s only one cup?”

“I’m having beer.”

The Professor showed me the can of beer that had been placed on the side where I couldn’t see it.

Pizza and beer—quite a luxurious combination. I want to do that too. Beer… would it be weird if I asked for some?

Many thoughts crossed my mind. In the end, I had a flash of inspiration: regardless of my young appearance, I’m a Demon God, so wouldn’t it be okay?

“Um, Professor…?”

“Hmm?”

The Professor was running a finger over the top of the beer can, just about to open it. I shifted my gaze slightly before continuing.

“I’d like to try it too…”

“Hmm, come to think of it, I wonder what happens when a Demon God drinks alcohol.”

The Professor’s expression showed interest. It seemed like permission might be granted this time. So as I was watching expectantly, wondering when and how much I’d get, the Professor simply opened the can and started gulping it down.

“Well, you look too young, so request denied.”

“W-what…?”

“It just seems like it would create a dangerous image.”

The Professor chuckled and set down the can, then picked up a slice of pizza. My attention was drawn to the stretching cheese.

While I was briefly grumbling “what’s that about,” my gaze shifted to the Professor’s hand.

“…What’s that ring?”

“Oh, this?”

The Professor’s hands were usually clean with nothing on them, but today there was a ring on the index finger. Though it looked simple, I was curious since the finger where a ring is worn supposedly has meaning.

Index finger means what again? Or do people nowadays just wear them for style? Maybe the Professor bought one on the way home from work?

While I was seriously pondering this, the Professor, as if it wasn’t a secret, put down the pizza and began explaining.

“This is sort of a byproduct I obtained while researching Demon Gods. There’s a magic circle inside, see?”

“Huh? How?”

The Professor willingly took off the ring to show me.

I was curious how a magic circle could be drawn on such a small ring. I thought maybe it was drawn while looking through a microscope, but that wasn’t it. The inside of the ring was densely filled with lines.

From what I’d picked up in lectures, circles were supposed to be the basic framework, but what was this?

As I was carefully examining the ring, the Professor, who had been quietly observing me, chuckled.

“Judging by your confused look, you must have heard about ‘circulation’ during lectures.”

“Yes… I heard circles were the basics, but this…”

“Right? It just looks like the inside of the ring is densely filled, doesn’t it? But look carefully. There is a circle.”

I furrowed my brow at the Professor’s words. No matter how much I squinted, I couldn’t see a circle. It seemed like I just needed to find one large or small circle, but that was proving difficult.

When I couldn’t find the answer, the Professor showed me the ring again, this time from slightly further away, as if suggesting that sometimes it’s better to step back to see clearly.

“…Look here, what shape is this?”

“A circle… oh?”

My eyes unconsciously followed the Professor’s finger. I realized that the gesture tracing the shape of the ring was drawing a circle.

So this is how you can draw a circle too. I felt genuine amazement. Of course, I don’t know much, and I couldn’t claim to have learned about magic circles beyond scratching the surface, but the fact that it could be done this way was simply fascinating.

“Come on, it’s getting cold. Let’s eat.”

The Professor, seeming to have finished the explanation, handed me a slice of pizza. Looking at the pizza placed on my plate, I accepted the gesture and took a bite.

Since my body never feels full no matter how much I eat, if I wanted to feel some satisfaction, I had to fill my cheeks instead. This somehow gave me the pleasant feeling that I’d eaten a lot.

“Every time I see you eat, you look like a hamster. Or a squirrel? That kind of feeling.”

I suppose I might look that way. Well, I only eat like this at home, so it’s fine.

Accepting that, I continued chewing for a while when a new curiosity arose about the ring right in front of me.

“Professor.”

“Yes?”

“What kind of magic did you say this was?”

When I asked with a tilted head, the Professor seemed to realize something had been left out.

“Come to think of it, I only mentioned it was a byproduct earlier without explaining. Do you know that Demon Gods emit an aura?”

“No…?”

This was the first I’d heard of it. When I shook my head, the Professor went through what seemed like two thoughts—”Is that so? I suppose that’s possible”—before continuing.

“This is something taught in the first-year lecture ‘About Demon Gods,’ but setting aside the details, there’s something called an aura, and with this ring, humans can emit an aura too. Of course, it’s different from a Demon God’s. This is just used to surround myself with my own power.”

The Professor emphasized “unlike Demon Gods.” It seemed the Professor wanted to convey that a Demon God’s aura is quite unpleasant. So I nodded.

“By the way, what kind of research do you mainly do, Professor? I always see you with academic papers and such, but I don’t really understand what they’re about…”

“Hmm, that’s a good question. I do so many different things that it’s hard to pinpoint just one.”

The Professor took a bite of pizza and contemplated for a while before swallowing.

“This ring, for one, was obtained while researching Demon God auras and aura suppression. Interesting, isn’t it?”

“…Wow.”

“It’s one of a kind. My original.”

“So other professors don’t have this?”

“…Well, professors who research Demon Gods like I do have their own originals too.”

Looking at professors who research professionally, they seemed to know more about Demon Gods than Demon Gods themselves.

“That’s amazing…”

I expressed my admiration. The Professor smiled proudly in response.

“By the way, Ourr.”

“Yes?”

“We need to go to the Academy tomorrow.”

“…Isn’t tomorrow Saturday?”

I couldn’t help but be shocked by the Professor’s sudden change of topic after smiling pleasantly just moments ago.

Today is Friday and tomorrow is Saturday. I remembered correctly, so why was there talk of going to the Academy?

When I asked with a dumbfounded voice, the Professor looked at me as if wondering what was strange about it.

“You missed the lecture with the academy students today. Since we came home early, I need to tell them to come tomorrow.”

“…Oh.”

“I need to check some papers, so it can’t be helped. Do you want to stay in the research lab, Ourr?”

“…Hmm.”

There wasn’t much to think about. Being the Professor’s errand runner and attending lectures without complaint was better than being bored with nothing to do.

“No, I’ll just go with you.”

Since going to the Academy didn’t mean suffering through academics or doing work, I didn’t feel much resistance to going.

It just meant less time to laze around.

The Professor seemed to find my answer admirable and smiled.

“Then after we finish in the morning, shall we go see a movie?”

“…A movie?”

“Yes, a movie. Don’t you think we need some entertainment like this?”

“What’s playing?”

When I asked innocently, the Professor thought for a moment before picking up the phone. I realized the suggestion was simply to go see a movie, regardless of what was showing.

I stared at the Professor while munching on pizza. The Professor checked what was playing at nearby theaters and showed me the screen.

“There’s a lot showing. Action, thriller, romance… and this is an animated film for kids. Oh, there’s a horror movie here too.”

“I don’t really know. Anything is fine…?”

Honestly, looking at the posters didn’t help much. Without any specific desire for “I want to do this,” trying something new just felt unfamiliar.

I glanced at the Professor, subtly passing on the movie selection. The Professor pondered with an “hmm” before shaking their head as if uncertain.

“Then shall we decide when we go after the lecture tomorrow? For things like this, we should check critics’ reviews and ratings to make a solid decision.”

“…Is that how people usually decide?”

“Since you can’t tell the content just by looking at the poster, it can’t be helped. And anyone can write an exciting synopsis.”

The Professor seemed to have firm rules, as if having read a book titled “How to Choose Movies Without Failing.”

I thought people just looked at posters and watched what seemed interesting, but apparently not. I suppose watching movies with good word-of-mouth is more reliable.

“Then please choose well, Professor.”

“Sure, just trust me.”

The Professor, seemingly having gained a sense of responsibility from my words, answered with a clenched fist.

Having no particular interest beyond that, I took another bite of pizza.