Ch.196Chapter 196

# [Understanding the Demon God]

I glanced at the book title and read through it page by page. Since I was born a Demon God, I didn’t really need to read it, but knowing about myself and knowing about other Demon Gods were different things, so it was somewhat interesting to read.

Not all humans are the same, so it’s no different from reading a psychology book. Besides, it wasn’t boring since I could read descriptions about different appearances and characteristics rather than human behavioral principles.

Flip. As I turned the page, Ouro, who had been staring at me from the side, must have gotten bored because she started trying to push her face under my arm. Since I was much smaller, there was no way that would work easily.

Realizing she was attempting something quite difficult, Ouro finally gave up trying to squeeze her head in and switched to grabbing me instead. Still, she couldn’t interfere with my reading. Since I was sitting in a chair, it was also difficult for her to just hug me outright.

She could lean over from the side and hug me, but that position would be uncomfortable, so she didn’t try it. Because of that, even though she was fidgeting and being annoying, it wasn’t enough to completely prevent me from reading, so I simply ignored her.

“…Umm.”

“If you’re bored, Ouro, find something to look at. I’m going to read this.”

Still, having no physical contact was much better than her fidgeting beside me.

When I pushed her away, Ouro hesitantly watched my reaction.

“I can’t read…”

“You can’t use a phone either.”

We came to the Academy, but since we didn’t follow the professor who went into the lecture, we had to stay in the research lab. Because of that, the only things Ouro could do to pass time were reading or playing games on a phone… but if she couldn’t read, she couldn’t do either.

Ouro seemed upset about this and pouted while huffing.

What can you do by huffing like that?

I wanted to tell her that she should have studied more than just menus and learned to read other things too, but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so I just answered by quietly turning the page. Flip. At the small sound, Ouro tilted her head side to side.

It felt like watching one of those plastic figurines that nod their heads in sunlight. What were those called again? I couldn’t remember the name, but she moved similarly to those things you sometimes see in cars.

Unable to bear it any longer, I finally closed the book.

“If you’re bored, want to go see the others?”

“…It doesn’t seem right to enter the professor’s classroom.”

It’s admirable that she remembers and tries to follow what the professor told her not to do. Still, I thought it might be okay if it was the research lab rather than the classroom, so I tilted my head.

“As far as I know, Sera and Aria are in another room on a different floor. Wouldn’t it be okay to go see them? We wouldn’t be disturbing the professor, right?”

“I guess so?”

While we were there, I thought it would be nice to see Lenya too and catch up after a long time. Sending greetings through messages is good, but sometimes it’s better to see someone in person and hear their voice.

“Since you look bored, let’s go.”

Ouro, who was truly bored, didn’t refuse and quietly followed behind me.

No matter how big she was, her mental age was clearly lower than mine. She might have lived for hundreds of years, but it seemed like her self-identity hadn’t developed any maturity.

I didn’t want to fight over something like that, so I just walked quietly.

Knock knock. When I knocked on the door, I heard chaotic noises from inside. With a loud thud, the door flung open, as if someone had just finished something urgent.

“Oh? Ourr, and Ouro too!”

The one who opened the door was none other than Sera.

“Hi! I came to see you after a long time. It seems like you and Aria are super busy.”

“Ah yes… the research has been quite intense lately… It’s good not to have miscellaneous tasks, but trying to find topics that don’t overlap is killing me…”

I could understand that without being told. The thick dark circles under Sera’s eyes were already telling me that.

“Oh, it’s Ourr… Huh? There are two Ourrs? Big Ourr, small Ourr… that’s interesting.”

“It’s Ouro.”

Aria, who approached sluggishly from behind Sera. Ouro glared at Aria with sharp eyes. She was irritated because Aria had called both of us “Ourr” without distinguishing between Ourr and Ouro.

Sera was one thing, but Aria looked even worse than Sera. She seemed like she could collapse at any moment, which made me a bit worried.

“What’s wrong with Aria…?”

“She was preparing to write several papers, but they overlapped quite a bit with Professor Yuria’s work? The professor found out and said she’d let Aria have some of them, but Aria stepped back on purpose, saying that would be taking what the professor had prepared. The professor offered to give up two of them, but that stubborn girl won’t listen.”

“Ehh… it’s okay to take what the professor is giving you.”

Aria heard that and chuckled.

“The professor said I could use her research results as a reference. But that wouldn’t make it mine. I want something that’s truly mine, so it’s fine. Even if I publish before the professor, it would definitely be overshadowed later when she reinforces the content…”

Aria had a pretty good idea of what her future would be like. She was determined to abandon everything and focus on finding original ideas, saying she absolutely couldn’t bear to see her papers being overshadowed if she made a wrong move.

“…Fighting.”

I carefully raised my arm and clenched my fist to encourage her.

I had brought Ouro along because she was bored and needed something to do, but given the atmosphere, I couldn’t just suggest hanging out to pass time.

Even if Ouro didn’t mind, every hour—no, even 30 minutes—would be precious to Sera and Aria, and I shouldn’t take away their valuable time.

“What are you two doing at the door?”

While we were catching up with Sera and Aria, a familiar voice asked what the newcomers were doing. It was Lenya, whom I hadn’t seen in so long that I felt nostalgic.

“Lenya!”

“Oh, it’s Ourr! Who’s that next to you?”

“Ouro. My twin… sister!”

“But Ourr is smaller?”

“That can’t be helped.”

I wish people wouldn’t determine who’s older based on size.

If we have the same face, the one with the bigger build does seem superior, but mentally I’m the adult here. I wanted to emphasize that I’m different from this mental child.

Ouro watched from the side and snickered.

Rather than starting an argument by saying “I’m the older sister” like before, she seemed satisfied with people seeing her as more adult-like at first glance.

It’s good that Ouro acknowledged it with silence, but why do I feel like I’ve lost?

“Anyway, it’s been a while. Did you come to say hello?”

“That’s right. Since Lenya is here, and Sera and Aria came in and said they’re busy, I thought it would be hard to see your faces unless I came like this.”

I waved both hands to greet everyone. I noticed someone peeking from behind, seemingly interested in me.

If there’s one disappointing thing, it’s that now that my body has returned to human form, I won’t get younger even if I die, and I’ve lost the ability to rise again as an adult after death.

Plus, not being able to come back to life after dying is a bit inconvenient too. It was more comfortable to move around freely knowing I could revive even if I died.

But there aren’t only disadvantages. The good thing is that from now on, I can comfortably become an adult without worrying about my aura.

In the future, I’ll grow taller, my chest will get bigger, and I’ll be able to show a mature appearance.

“It’s nice to see you like this. I’m glad you came. …Since you’re here, would you like to come in and help us a bit?”

“Eh, is there anything I can help with?”

“We’re not asking you to research with us like we do, but it would be great if you could just answer some notable questions. Or you could show us anything you think is unusual.”

“What about Ouro?”

I looked up at Ouro beside me, and she nodded blankly. Since she was bored, she would clearly welcome anything to do with open arms.

“Then that’s fine.”

Since Ouro was okay with it, I had no reason to refuse, so I stepped inside.

Desks were crammed together, and documents were piled like mountains at each computer station. These piles extended in rows, looking like nothing less than a mountain range of paperwork.

I opened my eyes wide at the amazing sight. I don’t think it was like this when I visited the research lab before. It almost seemed like all the paper in the world had gathered here.

Lenya took a paper attached to a partition and quickly scanned it with her eyes. It wasn’t a long text, but rather an Excel spreadsheet so densely packed with data that it created a black space.

“The professor has quite a few paper topics this time. She said she would step back and give us information if we wanted to write something… but honestly, if we accept the evidence too, there would be nothing we created ourselves, right? So we said we wouldn’t take that information. We’ll figure it out ourselves.”

“Yes, that’s exactly right.”

Sera clapped her hands, seemingly impressed by Lenya’s speech-like statement. Aria, who had been listening from the side, must have dozed off a bit because she started clapping mindlessly after hearing Sera’s applause.

That sight was both pitiful and amusing.