Ch.25Chapter 25

Ring ring. Hearing the ringtone, I instinctively reached for my chest. Since I wasn’t wearing my coat, there was no inner pocket to be found.

Where is that coming from? It’s not the Professor’s. I was in a daze until I suddenly realized my coat was hanging in the closet and my eyes shot open.

“Oh, right.”

I had been lying face down on the floor, but I immediately got up and headed to where my coat was. The moment I dug through the inner pocket and pulled out my phone, the ringtone stopped.

Because I’d realized too late, the incoming call had ended and changed to a missed call. Next to the missed call icon was the name of the caller: “Aria.”

I tilted my head, wondering why Aria would call me when it was getting late. Figuring she might still be holding her phone since the call had just ended, I called her back.

“Hello?”

[Ah, Ourr. I thought you weren’t going to answer.]

I heard some kind of echoing sound, like she was in a cave or something. When I put the phone closer to my ear, the echo hurt my ear, so I pulled it away slightly.

[Anyway, I was just wondering what you were doing.]

“Me? I was just lying down.”

[Really? Then do you want to take a bath?]

I tilted my head in confusion, wondering why she had called only to say something so strange.

“…Huh? Why?”

[I’m joking. I’m taking a bath right now.]

Aria chuckled at my dumbfounded voice, then explained her situation. I realized the echoing sound was because she was in the bathroom.

But why would someone call others while bathing? That was the question.

[Is it strange? Calling like this while bathing.]

Surprised that she seemed to have read my mind, I closed my mouth. My silence at this awkward timing probably sounded like an answer to Aria.

Feeling like I might have embarrassed her, I didn’t know what to do, but Aria continued speaking as if it wasn’t a big deal.

[It can’t be helped. It’s a cultural difference between races… Did you know? Elves bathe together in groups?]

“I just found out now.”

[There’s a huge bath in the garden, and elves wash themselves there. When women gather to bathe together, that moment becomes like a social gathering.]

First she called while bathing, and now she was telling me about elven bathing culture. But it wasn’t uninteresting. It was quite fascinating, so I wanted to hear more.

Humans have public bathhouses too, but is it more mandatory for them? Like you feel left out if you don’t join?

“Wow.”

I had questions, but I decided to just listen quietly. When you’re not sure what to ask, it’s best to just express amazement.

And as expected, Aria seemed excited by my reaction and continued speaking enthusiastically. I had thought she wasn’t very expressive, but that seemed to be just her facial expressions and tone. Judging by the way she spoke, I could tell she was enjoying herself.

[So sometimes I call Sera like this too. The other day, she happened to answer while she was bathing.]

“Uh-huh.”

[I closed my eyes while on the phone, and somehow it created that atmosphere. I liked it, so I called like this.]

“…But why did you call me?”

If she enjoyed talking to Sera, shouldn’t she be calling Sera? Why call me?

With genuine curiosity, I carefully expressed my doubt. Aria laughed awkwardly and explained her reason.

[I called thinking Sera would be bathing at this time, but unfortunately she wasn’t.]

“…Huh?”

I felt like I’d heard something creepy. I seriously wondered if it was appropriate to time calls to match someone’s bath schedule.

I frowned and thought for a while. Since elves are a special race, maybe this was normal for them, and I just didn’t understand. I groaned a little at the thought.

I hope I’m not being accused of racism or something. In this case, it would be elf-ism.

No, I wasn’t discriminating in the first place. I just didn’t know their culture. I shook my head quickly, moistened my dry lips, and said to Aria:

“Sh-should I tell Sera to take a bath?”

[No, if Ourr isn’t bathing either, I was just going to do it alone. But since I’ve called anyway, would you like to go to a hot spring or something together? I miss the garden, and I want to comfort myself somehow…]

“Ah,” I sighed.

Although it was a bit strange to guess when someone would be bathing, if the reason was homesickness, I could understand to some extent. She was probably doing this to ease her loneliness.

I became curious about Sera’s reaction.

“Should I… ask first?”

[Hmm? Ask what?]

“I need to go with the Professor. So if I want to go to such places…”

[Oh, I see. Can’t I be your guardian? I can take care of you.]

“Umm, hmmmm…”

As I frowned and pondered, Aria seemed to understand the situation and expressed that it was okay.

[I guess going to a hot spring with the Professor would be a bit awkward. It’s not like you’re taking the Demon God class…]

“Is that so? Right, you’re taking different classes. What’s your major, Aria?”

[Me? I’m in Magic Composition too. I came to the Academy to create my original magic.]

Aria made a splashing sound, like she was playing with the water.

[Can you hear it?]

“The water sound?”

[Yes.]

Aria said that and chuckled.

[I envy Sera~]

“Why?”

[She said she’s taking classes with you in the afternoon.]

“Hmm, you should join us too.”

[If I had known you were there, I would have signed up earlier. Oh right. Please tell the Professor that a student named Aria has signed up for the class.]

Why should I be the one to say that…

It’s under the Professor’s jurisdiction, and it would be problematic if I interfered unnecessarily. What if she’s already overwhelmed with work or has enough on her plate?

“I-I’ll ask once.”

[Okay, thanks. I need to finish bathing now, so I’ll hang up?]

“Yeah, en-enjoy your bath?”

[Mm-hmm.]

Aria hung up with that.

It felt like we had talked for quite a while. As I stared blankly at the screen and lifted my head to go to the living room, I saw the Professor leaning against the wall nearby, looking at me.

“Eek!!”

I was confused as to why the Professor, who should have been sitting on the living room sofa, was standing here watching me. My heart was startled. The surprise made it pound heavily.

“Why, why are you here…?”

“I was wondering who you were talking to that hot springs came up.”

The Professor had an expression that suggested she wanted to hear about it. I awkwardly showed her my phone.

“It’s Aria! That, um, friend of Sera’s from the Magic Composition department… the one you’ve seen before…”

“I remember. The friend whose name you wrote down to memorize, right?”

The Professor made an interested sound through her nose.

“So?”

“I said I’d ask you!”

When I exclaimed as if to prove my innocence, the Professor seemed to ponder for a moment.

“Still, a student probably wouldn’t want to go with a professor. Outside the Academy, I can’t even send you on errands, so I can’t send you to such places either.”

The Professor was well aware of what Aria was concerned about. Honestly, you didn’t need to research it—just thinking from a student’s perspective made it easy to understand. Though there were some professors who didn’t get it.

Just as I was thinking how fortunate it was that Aria wasn’t put in an awkward position, the Professor stared at me intently.

“Do you want to go to such a place, Ourr? If you want to go, you can go with me.”

“…Uhhh, wellll.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to go, but it wasn’t that I particularly wanted to either, so my words naturally dragged out. The Professor quietly watched me, as if waiting for my answer.

Please be considerate! Say “If you don’t want to, shall we drop it?” and change the subject first! I thought, but the Professor’s firmly closed lips showed no sign of opening.

Sweating profusely, I pouted and then carefully added:

“It’s not that I don’t want to… but it’s not that I particularly want to either…”

“Really? I thought you liked it.”

“Aria is an elf friend, and in their garden, women gather to bathe together as part of their culture!”

I explained why the hot spring topic had come up. That’s why Aria had said such things. After explaining that much, the Professor nodded with her hand on her chin.

“I see. If it’s because of such a culture…”

She didn’t say much more, seemingly respecting such cultural differences.

When a slight silence fell, I subtly changed the subject. This was to help Aria add the Demon God-related class during the course adjustment period.

“By the way, are you busy, Professor?”

“Why?”

“…Just wondering if you might be struggling with too much work…”

I was laying the groundwork first.

If I brought up Aria’s story right away, it might seem like I was begging for a favor, saying “She’s my friend, so please add her to your class. Please.” I wanted to avoid that.

The Professor usually let me do whatever I wanted if I said I wanted to do it.

As I was watching the Professor’s reaction, she stroked her hair.

“Even if it’s hard, I just do it anyway.”

“Pro-Professor, do you just work with documents like this?”

“Hmm? That’s right. Well… it might be difficult to read, but I also do research to find new things, organize what I’ve analyzed, give lectures, and before I know it, time flies by.”

The Professor had more work than I thought. The Professor I saw mostly just typed on the keyboard in front of the computer desk or scribbled with a pen before going out, but it seemed that wasn’t as easy as it looked.

“But why do you ask all of a sudden?”

I’m sorry, Aria. The Professor says she’s busy.

If I mentioned Aria in this situation, wouldn’t the Professor consider it again?

Unable to bring up Aria’s story, I looked around nervously, trying to find an appropriate answer to her question, then squeezed my eyes shut and exclaimed:

“I-I wanted to give you a massage…!”

“Really? Then I’ll take you up on that offer.”

Thankfully, it seemed to work, as the Professor responded in a pleased voice.