Ch.23Chapter 23

The professor had been busy all afternoon. The sound of keyboard typing never stopped. She said she was responding to emails she couldn’t check earlier during lunch, and it seemed like there were so many that it was giving her a headache.

Through the rapid keyboard sounds, a clear knocking sound rang out differently. Since I was sitting with my back to the door, I could notice it.

Knock knock.

The knocking sound was heard once more. Since the professor didn’t seem to hear it, I slightly raised my hand.

“Professor!”

When I called out loudly, the startled professor craned her neck and stared at me blankly. Her eyes were wide with surprise at my shout.

“Someone’s knocking?”

“Ah, um, who is it? Just open it for now.”

“Yes.”

At the professor’s words, I slightly opened the door. What I saw was a pure white uniform. The red accent color indicated that the person was a second-year student.

The male student standing in front hesitated and glanced down at me. He uttered a questioning “Huh?” as if checking whether he had come to the wrong place.

After confirming he was in the right place, the student finally stepped inside when I took a step back.

“Hello. I’m Taylor, a second-year student at the Academy. I came to talk about adding more classes related to Demon Gods.”

As soon as he entered, the student greeted us and briefly stated his purpose. The professor stared at the student with blue hair for a moment and then let out a small sigh.

“I’ve received quite a few emails about adding classes. Did you send one too, Taylor?”

“Yes, I did.”

Was he so impatient that he couldn’t wait for a reply when the professor was already busy answering emails? Well, the course adjustment period isn’t that generous with time, so his anxiety was understandable.

But do they usually add classes just because students suddenly become interested in a subject they previously ignored? Or is that up to the Academy’s discretion?

Since I wasn’t the professor, I couldn’t tell how she would take this. She might dislike having unnecessary additional classes, or she might like it if more classes meant more income.

The professor searched through her emails for a moment and then let out a small “Hmm.”

“I’ll reply to everyone by the end of today, so please check then. There are many inquiries from each year, so the Academy needs to decide whether to accept more students or increase the number of classes.”

“…I understand. Sorry for bothering you when you’re busy.”

The male student said that and turned to leave. On his way out, he glanced at me and his eyes sparkled with curiosity.

I stared at the door that closed with a thud. As soon as the student left, the professor let out a sigh.

“Now they’re even coming to rush me. Sigh. I need to talk to the Dean first before deciding whether to increase classes or not. Do I have time slots available…?”

The professor, who had been leaning back in her chair, sat up straight again. Then she looked at some documents placed on one side of the desk. She flipped through what seemed to be professor schedules for each year for quite some time.

“Ourr?”

“Yes?”

“There are 50 emails. What do you think?”

I didn’t know much else, but if these were from people who had free time in their schedules, it wasn’t a small number. Or was it a lot?

Besides, considering that they had probably already arranged their schedules well but still sent emails to squeeze in one more class, the students at the Academy seemed to have an impressive passion for learning.

Is it usually like this at schools?

Since this world was different from the one I knew, I could only tilt my head in confusion, not knowing how the world viewed things or what the social atmosphere was like.

“It seems like a lot.”

“But it’s 50 emails across three years, which is quite troublesome. If we add more students to the department, we’d have at least fifteen more per class, which is difficult. And if we create a new department, I’m worried about which year’s progress to match.”

“Do you talk to the Dean after considering it?”

“Yes.”

The professor gripped the documents tightly and leaned back in her chair. The chair receiving her weight rotated slightly.

“At first, students who weren’t even interested in Demon Gods are all rushing in because Ourr is here.”

“…Is that good? Or bad?”

“If I think about money, it’s good; if I think about time, it’s bad. Hmm, maybe I should just say no.”

She glanced at the calendar and then tossed aside the documents she had been holding.

“I don’t know.”

Having seemingly given up on thinking, the professor who had been dazed for a while put on her coat.

“I’ll go see the Dean. Will you be okay here, Ourr?”

“…Yes.”

“I’ll write down some words for you to study before I go.”

“Yes…!”

The professor, feeling sorry for leaving me alone, wrote down a few words for me to study so I wouldn’t be bored. I was grateful that she gave me various tasks to keep me from getting bored.

Doing nothing made the day feel slow and tedious. Since I disliked that feeling, I could gladly accept such kindness.

After the professor left the research lab, I was left alone and scribbled letters with a pen.

**

Yuria headed to where the Dean was. The Dean, who was also the head of the Demon God Research Association, gestured for Yuria to sit down when he saw her.

“Oh, Professor Yuria. I saw your email. Please sit.”

“…Yes.”

A build that was hard to believe belonged to someone in his early 60s. The Dean seated Yuria on the sofa and put water in the coffee pot.

“Would you prefer tea? Or coffee?”

“…I’ll have coffee.”

The sweet aroma of coffee filled the office. With two cups of coffee placed in front of them, the conversation began.

“You say students from all years in the general curriculum want to take classes related to Demon Gods?”

“Yes. But since they can’t take duplicate courses, we’re in a situation where we can’t do one thing or the other.”

The Dean nodded at those words.

They couldn’t give credit for taking the same course twice. How many people would waste their entire semester on something that wouldn’t count for anything in the end?

As much as he wanted to let everyone take the classes, increasing the number of students was a problem, and adding more classes was also an issue. There was too much to consider right now.

Opening an intensive course to accommodate both those who had taken the class and those who hadn’t seemed unfair in terms of equity, making the situation difficult.

“For now, many people will be interested in the fact that Demon Gods are being used as fixtures. And many will also question how Demon Gods, which were only known to cause harm, have mixed in among people.”

The Dean, who had put the current situation into words, picked up his cup and made a sipping sound.

“What do you think, Professor? If you want to let people know that there are Demon Gods that don’t cause harm, I think it would be good to set conditions and either increase the number of students or classes.”

“……”

“If you don’t think it’s necessary to go that far to inform them, or if you think they already know enough, you can keep things as they are.”

During the course adjustment period, students can drop classes they don’t like. Although it’s the professor’s responsibility if they can’t retain students, bringing in students through increased enrollment or additional classes might not be viewed favorably.

Realizing that this wasn’t an issue to be taken lightly, Yuria decided to reject all requests. As she was organizing her thoughts, the Dean spoke in a low voice.

“By the way, Professor Yuria. How is that Demon God you called a fixture?”

“There’s no problem at all. Honestly, she seems like a child to me.”

“No, I mean about growth.”

Just because he was in a higher position didn’t mean he wasn’t interested. After all, as the head of the Demon God Research Association, he couldn’t be uninterested in Demon Gods.

“The larger the vessel grows, the more mana it will try to absorb. Right now, it might be fine because of the measures you’ve taken, Professor Yuria, but as time passes, it will emit harmful aura like ordinary Demon Gods.”

“…If I see signs of that happening, I’ll handle it then and report afterward.”

The Dean nodded at Yuria’s words.

“Haven’t there been any other Demon Gods of similar form? If there are Demon Gods like this one, I think it would be right to classify them as Demon Gods that are not harmful to humans.”

“You mean… by setting conditions?”

“Yes. After all, in the case of that Demon God you designated as a fixture, there’s no other way for it to live eternally.”

Not all Demon Gods are the same. There are various ways to live an eternal life, but beings like Ourr are truly one of a kind.

Being immortal from the beginning, sustaining oneself by stealing life force, or reincarnating repeatedly while retaining memories were common methods. But the method of becoming younger each time one dies was something they had never seen before, making it difficult to know how to handle it.

“…But, does that Demon God really never die?”

“Yes.”

Yuria recalled.

“If it goes below a certain age…”

But she couldn’t continue her words. It was because Yuria’s body trembled slightly.

“For now, it seems best to maintain the current situation.”

“Then I’ll follow your judgment, Professor Yuria. Everyone knows that a professor with the title ‘Demon God Slayer’ works to ensure people’s safety.”

“Yes, please leave it to me.”

Yuria hesitated for a moment, then thought of the current Ourr and smiled.

“Right now, she’s just a cute child.”