Ch.62Chapter 62

As mid-April passed, the first exams of the semester began.

A week of major and elective subject tests. Everyone approached them seriously since they directly affected their grades.

Some faced the exams to earn scholarships, others to achieve scores for graduate school admission. Though uncertain of the outcomes, I cheered for everyone.

I clenched my fists and shouted encouragement to my study group friends.

And so, the busy period of everyone being absorbed in studying came to an end.

Since I had been alone with nothing to do, I was happy when the exams finished. Having returned to studying out of boredom even after finishing my work, I welcomed everyone back cheerfully.

“Did you all work hard?”

I stomped my feet excitedly.

“We did. I think I did well.”

“Yeah.”

Sera and Aria finished their exams first.

They could have gone home, but they stopped by, perhaps thinking of me. I approached them with a happy expression, thinking we could hang out and chat again.

As I moved closer, Aria spread her arms as if inviting me for a hug. She even stepped forward to get closer, which startled me.

Since she was taller than the Professor, I had to tilt my head up a bit more.

“Weren’t you going to hug me?”

Seeing her calm expression as she asked, I hesitated but decided to just go for it. I ran over and hugged her, but Aria immediately picked me up.

“Whoa?!”

The sensation of being lifted made my head spin.

I was small among women, but I never thought I was that small.

I could understand being short because of my childlike appearance, but everyone lifting me so easily made me wonder if I was extremely tiny.

I could accept that the Professor was incredibly strong, but I hadn’t expected Aria to be this strong too, which made the situation more bewildering.

“Aria…”

“Hmm? I thought you liked this.”

“Too high! Ah?!”

As I squirmed while being held up by Aria, I gasped.

Perhaps my kicking legs were the problem. I panicked and struggled. Unfortunately, Aria was hugging me with her arms under my armpits, making it difficult to reach.

The problem was that things had been too peaceful lately. I belatedly realized what I had forgotten.

“Oh.”

I saw Sera’s gaze drop beside me.

My skirt had fallen down, and I slightly spread my legs to keep it from hitting the floor.

“Eeeek!”

As I whimpered and trembled, Aria also lowered her gaze.

“…Ah, sorry.”

Aria apologized in a dry voice.

She couldn’t put me down because my skirt would get dirty. Trembling, I turned my head to see Sera beside me.

“S-Sera, p-pull it up…”

“Is it because you’re wearing something too big…?”

Sera smiled bitterly and moved behind me. I kept my head down, unable to look away until Sera grabbed my skirt and secured it around my waist.

I stared intently.

When Sera fastened the belt around my waist as much as possible, I felt somewhat secure. As I sighed in relief, Aria carefully put me down.

“Is it okay now?”

“Aria, you’re mean.”

When I pouted at Aria, she stepped back with a small “ah.”

Though her expression remained dry, there was something in her demeanor suggesting she knew she’d done wrong by lifting me and causing my skirt to fall off.

Seeing her hesitation, I figured she must be genuinely sorry inside, so I decided to let it go.

When I turned my head away, Aria hesitantly approached me again.

Having hugged Aria, I decided to do the same with Sera and threw myself into her arms. I pressed my face against her chest and hugged her tightly, and Sera stroked my head.

“Oh dear, Aria did wrong. Right?”

“N-no… I didn’t know this would happen. I didn’t know Ourr’s skirt was like this.”

Aria expressed her innocence.

“…But it’s light blue today. Did the Professor buy you a new one?”

“S-Sera, you’re mean too!”

I gasped and pulled away from Sera.

Hating everyone and not knowing where to go, I stepped back and looked around frantically.

Since the Professor was away due to exams, only Sera and Aria were in front of me. As I was looking back and forth between them, swallowing nervously, I heard the doorknob turn like a savior.

At the clicking sound, I quickly turned my head.

“You weren’t in the club room, so I came to check, and here you all are. Did you seniors do well on your exams?”

It was Karen, with black hair and red eyes.

Wide-eyed, I scurried over to Karen and hid behind her. Karen, who had just entered calmly, flinched in surprise.

“Huh? What’s going on here?”

When Karen asked in confusion, Sera shook her head.

“Well, Ourr’s panties came off earlier…”

“S-skirt!”

I shouted loudly and clearly to correct Sera’s slip of the tongue, which was ridiculous given she was trying to explain.

I narrowed my eyes, pouted, and glared at Sera.

“Ah, skirt, skirt. I just misspoke because I was thinking about the color of the panties.”

Sera tapped her lips as if her mouth was the problem.

After mentioning my underwear color earlier, it seemed like that’s all she had on her mind now. I wondered if this was that phenomenon where words from your thoughts slip out when you’re thinking of something else while speaking.

“Ah, Ourr does tend to wear things a bit loosely. But didn’t I hear before that you wear them big on purpose because the senior made them bigger for you?”

Karen looked down at me with a bitter smile.

Then she questioned me.

Her tone suggested I was stubbornly wearing oversized clothes because Sera had shown me that kind of magic. I looked up at Karen, holding onto her.

“No, it’s true that I can grow.”

“…That may be so, but you can’t wear the same clothes for years, can you?”

Karen smiled wryly and patted my head.

Staring blankly at her, I gave up trying to convince her and hung my head.

Well, the Professor doesn’t tell them everything about me, so it can’t be helped. The Professor had asked for my understanding, so maybe it was time to stop talking about this.

It’s physically impossible, so the others don’t believe it. I could give them proof, but the Professor said that would cause trouble for both of us, so I just let it go.

I silently turned my head away.

Karen had finished her exams too, and I wondered where the Professor had gone as I waited quietly.

“Oh right, now that exams are over, shouldn’t we have a party or something?”

“A party?”

Karen looked up at Sera’s suggestion.

“Nothing fancy, just hanging out in the club room. With snacks and drinks. Do you like alcohol?”

“There she goes talking about alcohol again.”

Everyone knew Karen’s financial situation wasn’t good, so they were being considerate. Meanwhile, Sera shook her head in exasperation when Aria brought up alcohol.

I hesitated for a moment before glancing at Aria.

“Aria, do you like alcohol?”

“…I do. Especially fruit wines. Are you interested, Ourr?”

“I am.”

I nodded.

I didn’t know about other things, but I wanted to try alcohol.

Since becoming like this, I had lived with the Professor. There was no way I could get close to drinking or smoking.

Not that I was interested in cigarettes. I wasn’t particularly fond of smoke and smells, so if asked about my interests, I naturally leaned toward alcohol.

“Then I’ll let you have a little. Should I buy something with low alcohol content?”

“Oh!”

“Aria, should you really be buying her that? We should get permission from the Professor.”

Aria was offering me alcohol, but Sera shook her head and tried to dissuade her.

“I-I’m an adult too.”

I pouted at everyone who always treated me like a child.

I didn’t know exactly how old I was, but one thing was certain: I was a Demon God who had survived for quite a long time.

As I put my hands on my hips and stared at Sera, Karen approached from behind and patted my head.

“Since she says so, couldn’t we give her a little? If she gets sick after drinking a bit, she won’t want more.”

“Karen’s the best.”

I smiled at Karen’s support. Karen caressed my cheek and continued.

“Aren’t you curious about what happens when a Demon God drinks alcohol? I’m curious about Ourr’s drinking habits too.”

“Oh, that would be perfect for my thesis topic!”

Sera, who had thought I shouldn’t drink, suddenly changed her mind and her eyes sparkled.

Watching this, Aria sighed.

“Would the Magic Composition Department really accept a thesis on a Demon God’s drunken behavior?”

“…But she’s so cute, wouldn’t it pass? Ah, I want to change majors.”

Sera clutched her head.

“I envy Karen… I should have entered the Demon God Department from the start.”

“Ahaha.”

Karen laughed dryly.

Knowing that changing majors in the final year of graduation was nonsensical, Sera pretended to cry and approached me.

“Uwaaaaah.”

Karen was already holding my cheeks, so there wasn’t much space left, but Sera also grabbed my face and played with it, making me feel like my face was being stretched in multiple directions.