Ch.2Chapter 2

I headed to the library with the Professor’s ID card in my hand.

As I’d felt earlier, there was always something about the smell of books that brought peace to people. Though I couldn’t read them, I rather liked the atmosphere of the place.

People climbing ladders to select books they wanted to read, others heading to the checkout desk with several volumes clutched to their chests. Seeing so many people coming to accumulate knowledge and culture made me feel smarter just by being there.

Even though I couldn’t read the titles written on the book spines.

Karen seemed delighted just to have received permission from the Professor to borrow a book. She was moving around, seriously contemplating which book to borrow.

I glanced at her and carefully asked, “…Karen, was it?”

“Oh, you can speak comfortably with me! I’m younger than you since you work with the Professor, aren’t I?”

“No, that’s not quite right…”

I broke into a sweat. Even if we discussed age, I didn’t know my own. I knew my age, but it was difficult to gauge the age of this body.

If I simply considered my physical age, I might be considered young, but this was a fantasy world. It was difficult to judge age by appearance, and moreover, I was a Demon God with the strange condition of becoming younger each time I died.

So I couldn’t say I was young, but I also couldn’t gauge exactly how old I was in reality.

From my memory, I thought I might be about Karen’s age. I was fairly tall with somewhat long limbs.

When I gave an ambiguous answer, Karen tilted her head slightly.

“Th-then should we speak comfortably… with each other?”

“Whatever works for you.”

It was a consideration for Karen, who seemed unsure how to address me—neither senior, junior, nor assistant. When she awkwardly made the suggestion, I answered smoothly, and she broke into a bright smile.

“Th-then I’ll call you Ourr?”

She turned her face toward me, bringing her sparkling eyes close. Her black hair seemed familiar, but her red eyes were unfamiliar and a bit frightening.

More importantly, she seemed to have remembered my name from when it was mentioned earlier. It felt comfortable not having to formally introduce myself.

“Y-yeah, that’s fine… aren’t you going to choose a book?”

When I shifted my gaze to the bookshelves to avoid her stare, she seemed to realize her task and began scanning the book titles again.

After careful consideration, Karen pulled a book from the shelf.

“I’ll go with this one. …I don’t really have enough money to buy books like this at home, so I was quite desperate.”

A student who came before the entrance ceremony to borrow the Professor’s ID card—she seemed embarrassed by this fact and offered an explanation even though no one had asked.

“What is it?”

I wasn’t the type to take pleasure in seeing someone embarrassed, so I tried to subtly change the subject. At my question, Karen fidgeted before opening her eyes wide.

Then she pronounced each word clearly to answer my question.

“Here, it’s a book called ‘On Basic Mana Operation Methods.'”

“…Even if you show me, I can’t read.”

Karen held out the book to show me, but I couldn’t meet her expectations. I couldn’t read letters, so even when running book errands, I had to ask the librarian—how could I possibly read this?

“Huh?”

A dumbfounded voice. It seemed the fact that I was illiterate came as an unbelievable revelation to her.

She probably assumed I had some education since I was with the Professor.

I wanted to tell her it wasn’t good to make assumptions about things she didn’t know, but honestly, it would be difficult to imagine someone under the guidance of an Academy professor being illiterate.

I took the ID card out of my pocket, signaling that we should borrow the book and leave. Karen silently followed behind me.

“…So you can’t read.”

“No. I never learned.”

Even as the barcode scanner beeped for the borrowed book, I could hear her muttering in disbelief.

“Thank you for letting me borrow this. I’ll definitely return it on time!”

Karen went all the way to the research lab to thank the Professor before leaving. After receiving her thanks and watching the door close, the Professor sighed.

“How bold. …Well, I suppose it’s easier to think she must have had a reason for needing to borrow the book.”

Professor Yuria shook her head as if she couldn’t help it. Her voice carried something close to resignation. Perhaps she thought it was easier not to worry about it since Karen had already borrowed the book using her ID card.

I looked at the Professor once, then pulled out a nearby chair and sat down. After moving around a bit, I loosened my belt.

One of the truly annoying things was how the skirt would become loose and slip down without the belt. When I grabbed it again and tightened it, I finally felt stable.

Since I had nothing else to do, I was folding up my rolled sleeves to tidy them when the Professor, who had been quietly watching me, spoke up.

“Did you just meet that friend today?”

“Yes.”

“At the library?”

“Hmm, to be precise, she followed me as I was leaving the library.”

Hearing this, the Professor nodded slowly in understanding.

The atmosphere was always like this. As a Demon God, I was essentially classified not as a person but as property, so my job was to stay by Professor Yuria’s side as her owner.

Except for when they needed to draw blood samples from me as a Demon God specimen, my only task was to run simple errands like fetching books. So I had nothing proactive to do.

“I see. There’s nothing particular to do today. We just need to wait for the results now.”

“Yes.”

I nodded at the Professor’s words.

“Ourr, shall we head home for today?”

“…I don’t mind.”

“Then let’s go.”

The Professor took off her white lab coat and put on an overcoat. Though it was the same white color, the difference in material and design completely changed her impression.

She transformed from a professor to what looked like a noble.

I followed behind the Professor. This world was a fantasy world. Whenever I saw the curious mix of modern and early modern elements, I always felt a sense of wonder.

One year. And even that was a restricted life, so I never had time to get used to my surroundings.

We used a warp point to instantly cross an entire city.

Suddenly, an apartment building by a river came into view. It was quite a nice apartment. After entering, my attention was drawn to the view through the living room window. The night scenery reminded me of Seoul, making my heart ache.

“Ourr, do you want to have friends?”

“…I’m not sure.”

As I was quietly looking at the scenery, the Professor, who had taken off her coat, suddenly asked a question.

After my noncommittal answer, silence seemed to hang in the air for a moment, but the Professor didn’t give up and continued. I heard the sound of hands clapping.

“Ah, would you like to try making friends?”

“I don’t know. I can’t enroll in the Academy anyway.”

“That’s true…”

Realistically speaking, it was impossible. Even though humans and Demon Gods absorb the same mana from the air, they emit different types of mana. Since the difference was so clear, I couldn’t hide it and enter the Academy.

And having died several times, becoming younger with each death, my mana capacity had decreased, leaving me with few abilities.

The Professor came closer to me and placed her hand on my shoulder.

“But you could attend Academy classes as property instead.”

“…As property?”

“Since you’re technically school property, it doesn’t matter where in the Academy you are, right?”

The Professor’s hand, which had been on my shoulder, slowly moved until it was touching my cheek. I could see my cheeks being gently stretched in the reflection of the living room window.

“…Professor.”

“Ah, sorry, they’re just so squishy.”

The Professor said this but didn’t remove her hand from my cheek.

“Shall we eat, bathe, and go to bed?”

“…I don’t really feel like eating.”

“Please eat anyway.”

Demon Gods don’t need to eat. We can live without feeling hunger. The concept of starvation doesn’t exist for Demon Gods.

But we can eat if we want to. The Professor knew this, so she asked me again today. If she felt lonely eating alone, I could at least do that much for her, so I nodded.

“Great. I’ll make something delicious.”

After eating, the Professor dragged me to the bathroom. At first, it felt like I was being pulled along by her strength, but by now, I had completely given up and surrendered my body to her care.

The Professor, stroking my hair that reached down to my buttocks, casually asked me.

“Isn’t your hair uncomfortable?”

“…It’s fine for me.”

I expressed my refusal because the volume and length of my hair seemed too difficult to manage. Above all, since I wasn’t the original owner of this body, I still wasn’t sure if I should alter it as I pleased.

Although I had become younger after dying several times, I thought I shouldn’t tamper with it otherwise. With that in mind, I stared intently at the mirror.

Behind me, the Professor, who had undressed, sighed.

“Alright. Shall I wash you then?”

A harsh sigh escaped her at the thought of shampooing such an enormous amount of hair. I took that sound as a signal and squeezed my eyes shut.

Water began pouring down like rain. My previously weightless hair became heavy as it absorbed the water. Feeling like I might fall backward, I bent my body forward.

The Professor grabbed my body and pulled me back.

“I need to do it this way to wash your hair.”

“Ugh. My nose, my nose…!”

“Ah, sorry…!”

Leaning against the Professor’s body, I struggled as water went up my nose. The Professor just held my nose and repeatedly told me to sniff.

Bathing was always a difficult task. Of course, the Professor did everything for me, but somehow today felt more tiring.

“Ourr, you always look for oversized clothes. …We still don’t know how your body will return.”

“…Just in case.”

Wearing loose pajamas, I climbed onto the bed following the Professor’s guidance.

It was a bit awkward having to be with someone who was like a supervisor 24 hours a day, just because I was the first captive pet Demon God.

“Don’t go anywhere while I’m asleep. People are afraid of you.”

The Professor said this as she hugged me tightly. I closed my eyes, feeling her warmth.

I didn’t need to sleep, but if I didn’t, the long night would feel unbearably lonely, so I had to force myself to try to sleep.

Today was just another day like that.