Ch.202Chapter 202 – Side Story 3

Summer vacation is supposed to be a time when everyone gets to rest, but unfortunately, that concept wasn’t clearly defined for graduate students. Whether summer, winter, or any other season, their daily routine consisted of going to work, conducting research, writing up results, and submitting reports, making it difficult to find free time.

On particularly demanding days, even professors would say they needed to check something at the lab on weekends, leaving their graduate students with little room to argue.

So how was everyone doing these days?

Suddenly curious, I decided to follow the Professor who mentioned needing to go to the Academy.

“Oh, it’s Ourr.”

“Hi, Sera!”

I ran into Sera who was carrying a mountain of papers somewhere. The Professor patted my head.

“Don’t disturb them too much. I trust Ourr will take good care of Ouro.”

“Ah, yes. I understand.”

With that, the Professor headed toward another research lab. Probably going to see people who weren’t here.

Left alone with Ouro, I followed behind Sera. She went inside, put her load down on the desk, and pretended to wipe her forehead.

“Whew, that was tough… Ouro has grown so much since I last saw her. She’s starting to look quite mature now. As for Ourr… hmm, ah right. Aria is doing something in the lab where the Professor just went. Aren’t you curious about what she’s up to?”

“H-hey. You don’t have to change the subject so awkwardly…”

“Ah, sorry, sorry. It’s just that Ourr has strangely stayed the same.”

My fist trembled involuntarily at the sight of Sera’s dry “ahaha” laugh.

I had a lot I wanted to say, but unfortunately, there wasn’t much I could say to Sera who was just stating facts. In the end, I could only blame reality.

Ouro quietly looked around. She tended to be more interested in her immediate surroundings than in how others were doing.

“I have been eating… it’s just strange.”

Sera glanced at Ouro, then sighed and shook her head.

“Is that so? Come to think of it, I heard you enrolled at the Academy? I wonder if you’re doing well there~”

I could tell from Sera’s smirking face that she still had some leisure time. While most graduate students seemed to live hectic lives, it was good to see that Sera wasn’t like that.

And when asked if I was doing well at the Academy, this is how I answered:

“I got straight A’s.”

I made a V-sign with my fingers and placed it under my chin. Proudly raising one corner of my mouth, I soon became embarrassed and my lips started to twitch.

Feeling awkward, I clenched my raised fingers into a fist and lowered it. With an embarrassed smile, I pointed at Ouro.

“She’s averaging C’s.”

“…Oh, that’s not easy either.”

Her reaction was bigger than when I said I got straight A’s.

Come to think of it, wasn’t Sera also a good student who regularly got A’s or A+’s? Ah, right. Both Sera and Aria got into graduate school because they were good students. Maybe my grades were familiar to her.

While I was lost in thought, a hand landed on my head as if to brush away my idle thoughts.

“Well done.”

“Hehehe.”

Even though it was just praise, it felt like I was being rewarded for all my hard work.

Of course, the Professor’s recognition was already rewarding enough, but more is always better. I decided to think of this as a kind of secondary reward.

“By the way, is Sera a PhD now?”

“No, I’m in the PhD program.”

“Oh!”

“I’m not worried though. They say you can get your degree in record time under Professor Yuria. She has so many worthwhile research topics that she’ll give you one and help you collaborate on it for your dissertation. How many professors would do that?”

Sera hummed and wiggled her fingers.

“So what will you do after getting your PhD?”

“Me? I’d like to be a researcher… Actually, I thought I’d be working while looking after Ourr by then, but I didn’t expect Ourr would be attending the Academy.”

“Oh! Was that your plan?”

“I’m kidding. How could I have planned my career in third year around seeing Ourr?”

My lips automatically pouted at the sight of her giggling.

Sera looked at me and laughed a bit more before putting on a rather serious expression.

“Ah, want to hear a scary rumor?”

“Huh? What is it…?”

“There’s someone in another department who’s been a graduate student for 12 years…”

“Hieeeek?!”

That’s a bit…

12 years…? Graduating from the Academy at 23… In a world where you can get your degree at 27 or 28 at the earliest, taking 12 years means you’d be coming out around 35 when everyone else has already graduated.

That seems rather unfair. Everyone follows the same process, so how could this happen?

“If you’re smart enough to get into graduate school at the Academy, then taking that long must mean there’s a problem with the professor, right?”

“Hmm… that seems difficult. Fortunately, our professor isn’t like that.”

When I shook my head, Sera nodded in agreement.

“Ah, I should get back to my research now. Aria is in another research lab, so you should go see her. Senior Lenya should be there too.”

“Oh! Thanks. See you later!”

I had no intention of disturbing her research, so I waved goodbye and left.

Ouro followed behind me with an indifferent expression.

“Didn’t you talk to Sera at all?”

“You two were having a fun conversation. I saw many interesting things.”

“Hmm, but Ouro, you should make friends too… You’re not avoiding making friends because you’ve got a reputation as a project villain, are you?”

When I broke out in a cold sweat, Ouro remained silent, having nothing to say.

When she clams up like that, I don’t know what to say either.

Nothing makes school life harder than being marked as someone to avoid. While middle and high school had mostly individual homework, the Academy focused on group projects.

“People will start disliking you at this rate. You wouldn’t like it if people frowned when they got paired with you, right?”

“…That’s true, but… um…”

“I’ll teach you from now on, so when we get home, let’s work on it together. Even if there’s no assignment, you should know how to make PowerPoint presentations and such.”

“Okay…”

Ouro reluctantly nodded.

Though it wasn’t much, I was grateful just to get that answer. If she had no willingness at all, anything I said would just be useless nagging.

“Aria is supposed to be here…”

Peek. I tried to spy through the research lab window on tiptoe. The blinds were drawn, so I couldn’t see what the inside looked like. Sweating profusely, I tilted my head and spent a long time wondering if it was right to open this closed door and go in.

No matter what, I’m now a student at the Academy.

If I were still just an ignorant Demon God, a “piece of equipment!” I could open the door without any problem, but now I need to observe certain boundaries.

I can’t see inside, so I don’t know if Aria is there, or where the Professor is. Should I try contacting them? Would I be bothering them unnecessarily? As numerous thoughts raced through my mind, the door I was standing in front of suddenly flung open.

“Water, water…”

A desperate voice looking for water. It was Lenya.

Haggard eyes, hunched back. She looked in really bad shape—I wondered what had happened to her.

“Lenya?”

“Huh? Oh? Isn’t it Ouro? What brings Ourr here?”

“I’m Ourr.”

“Ah, I thought the taller one was Ourr… since Ouro came a bit later.”

“Ahaha…”

She must be sleepy… right? Everyone doesn’t think Ouro is the older one, do they?

Even with twins, there’s a hierarchy, and with such a size difference, it’s obvious who people would think is the older sister. Feeling unnecessarily defensive, I looked at Ouro, who nodded at Lenya.

“I am the older sister.”

“Ouro.”

I glared at her with narrowed eyes. Lenya, watching this, giggled despite her exhausted state.

“You two are having fun. What brings you to the research lab? I thought you couldn’t come because you said you were busy attending the Academy.”

“It’s vacation.”

“Huh? Already…? Ah, I see… We don’t have vacations here, so I didn’t know. Well, are you doing well there?”

“I got straight A’s. She got C’s.”

“On average? That’s impressive for both of you in a way.”

Lenya nodded, looking back and forth between Ouro and me. Then she fiddled with her water bottle and slowly started walking.

“Anyway, keep up the good work. I’m busy, so I should get going.”

“Oh, okay. Take care!”

“Bye.”

Ouro also waved her hand gently.

Lenya seemed too busy to chat, perhaps because she was in the process of getting her PhD. I was just nodding in disappointment when I saw someone else coming out of the research lab.

“Ah, it’s Aria.”

“Oh, Ourr, Ouro. Hello.”

It was still difficult to read her emotions from her expression, but unlike before, she expressed a lot through her gestures. I smiled brightly at the sight of her greeting by opening and closing her fist.

“What have you been up to?”

This time I asked first.

Aria blinked and looked back toward the research lab.

“I’m trying to create an original magic spell. It’s not going well, so it’s tough…”

Her slumped shoulders conveyed that emotion perfectly.

“Is Lenya working on it too?”

“Yeah. We’re working together with the Professor’s help, but I don’t understand what the Professor is saying.”

“Oh. Does the Professor explain things in a difficult way?”

“No, I don’t think that’s it. I think my brain just can’t keep up. The explanations are somehow both simple and difficult. It’s like saying ‘Just climb up this extremely high mountain~’ you know?”

“That is definitely difficult…”

I stared blankly, not having expected to learn about the hardships of graduate students like this.

“Ah, the senior is back. I should go back too.”

It seems Sera and Aria were doing different things. Though busyness and leisure coexisted, they each took on different responsibilities, leading visibly contrasting lives.

Even in the same place, things are different when people have different goals.