Ch.67Chapter 67

An imposing, grand hotel greeted me, intimidating from the very first glance.

Since Sera had made the reservation on her own, I hadn’t had a chance to object, but my jaw dropped when I realized she’d booked such an expensive place.

“W-wait a moment…”

While I was still speechless, a flustered Karen stopped Sera and Aria who were about to go ahead. They paused, and both turned their attention to Karen.

Karen stammered, not knowing what to say first, opening and closing her mouth before finally forcing out the words.

“Isn’t this place way too expensive?!”

“Well, we’re bringing Ourr along, so it should be worth the price.”

After Sera, who had made the reservation, said this, Aria nodded as if agreeing.

“The Professor let us go even though it’s normally not allowed. So we should treat this nicely so the Professor will be satisfied too.”

“Ugh, even I feel uncomfortable with such an expensive place…”

“It’s fine.”

Aria continued nonchalantly.

“We need to show the Professor we treated her well so she’ll let us take her out again. If she finds out we took her to some shabby motel after she took the risk to let us go, she won’t want to take that risk again.”

I felt mesmerized by Aria’s eloquent persuasion.

Hearing it this way, Sera and Aria’s reasoning did make sense.

It was true that the Professor had turned a blind eye and let us go even though it wasn’t allowed. Considering that she gave in to my request and let us go, I started hoping that if we made a good impression this time, we might get another opportunity.

Of course, I couldn’t do it with my power alone. But what if the others helped like this?

“…That makes sense.”

Karen was convinced too.

There was no one left to object. Since we’d already bought ice cream, we hurried inside.

“Wow!”

I couldn’t help but exclaim as soon as we entered the room.

A spacious area with a table for four welcomed us first. And seeing the two large beds, I immediately recognized this was definitely accommodation.

When they suggested getting a room to hang out, I had imagined an empty space with just floor mats, and I felt foolish for having such a simple expectation.

My jaw dropped. I was captivated by the clean, sophisticated space with pristine white tiles, and while I was still taking it all in, Sera and Aria had already gone to the table and started unpacking.

They took out the snacks we’d bought and put the ice cream in the freezer.

They separated the items that needed to be heated and arranged them next to the microwave, contemplating for a while.

“What should we eat first?”

I tilted my head. Everything looked delicious, and I hesitated, not knowing what to choose first to make the most of this experience.

Sera thought for a moment with a “hmm,” then laid out the chicken items that Aria had chosen without hesitation earlier.

“Let’s start with these. They don’t taste good when they’re cold.”

“Great!”

“Sounds good.”

I pulled out a chair with a scraping sound. After pulling out chairs for everyone else, I plopped down in the last one. Aria chuckled and took the seat next to me.

“Ourr, do you like chicken?”

“I do.”

“So you like this kind of thing. I could buy it for you anytime if you come to the garden.”

I was startled by Aria’s comment, which sounded like “I’ll give you candy if you follow me, little girl.”

I opened my eyes wide and leaned back slightly, when a voice like a relief pitcher cutting through the atmosphere came to my rescue.

“I heard they use air fryers in the garden.”

“W-well, air fryers are decent too.”

“Not as good as deep-frying.”

“But what can we do? Extra virgin olive oil catches fire easily, so it’s difficult to use.”

Aria tried to argue back, but her excuses sounded weak.

By the way, extra virgin olive oil? I wondered just how eco-friendly their living space was. Wait, if they had air fryers, wasn’t that already a contradiction?

Despite calling it an elven garden or whatever, wasn’t it just countryside with electricity and running water?

While I was seriously pondering this with a “hmm,” I looked at the fried foods laid out in front of me.

With everything spread out, I was again unsure what to eat first. As I was seriously contemplating while rubbing my chin, Karen sat across from me and started looking anxious.

It seemed like Karen wasn’t wondering what to eat, but rather if it was okay for her to eat at all.

“Karen, do you want this? It’s a chicken leg.”

“Oh, yes. Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”

Karen smiled and accepted the chicken leg from me. Seeing this, Sera, who was watching from the side, offered me something.

“Ourr, would you like this?”

“Yes.”

What Sera handed me was a cheese hot dog. It was interesting because there was no ham, just cheese, so I wanted to try it.

I took a bite and chewed only the batter with my teeth, pulling the cheese so it stretched. I found it amusing to see the cheese stretching from my mouth all the way to the hot dog.

“Mmm, mmm!”

I raised my left hand, which was free from the hot dog. I pointed at the stretched cheese, wanting everyone to see, and they all focused their attention on it.

Perhaps because of my small body, my arm length was limited, so I couldn’t stretch it further, but I felt I could definitely stretch it more if I tried. After making a strained sound, I gave up on stretching it more and started eating the cheese.

As I held the hot dog with both hands and stuffed the cheese into my mouth, Sera smiled.

“Ourr really likes cheese. Earlier, she was excited about the cheese corn that Karen found.”

“Ourr, in the elven garden…”

“That’s enough.”

Sera sighed as she stopped Aria mid-sentence.

Karen, holding the chicken leg she received from me, looked nervously at Sera and Aria.

“Aren’t you seniors eating?”

“Oh, we should. Here, take one and be quiet.”

When Sera held out a chicken skewer, Aria looked at Sera’s hand with a “hmm.”

As if she didn’t like that, Aria averted her gaze and picked up a cheese stick that was in front of me.

“I’ll have this. Ourr, how about this? It’s also a cheese stick.”

“…I’ll eat this first.”

I already had one cheek full of cheese.

I had stuffed so much in that my cheek probably bulged out noticeably. After chewing diligently, moving my jaw repeatedly, I was finally able to swallow it all.

While we were busy checking out different foods and deciding what to eat, Sera, who had immediately looked for the refrigerator when we arrived, brought something out.

With a thud, she placed regular soft drinks and cans of beer on the table.

“Are we drinking already?”

Aria asked in surprise at Sera’s intention to open alcohol so soon after arriving. Sera shrugged, apparently thinking there was no time to waste.

“We have to leave in four hours anyway. It’s better to drink quickly and then rest for an hour or two before leaving, don’t you think?”

“…That’s true. Karen, do you know how to drink?”

After hearing Sera’s words and nodding in agreement, Aria casually asked Karen.

“Oh, no. I’ve never tried it before…”

As Karen raised both hands in denial, Aria drooped her shoulders in disappointment.

Sera, who was watching quietly next to Karen, smiled and patted her.

“It’s okay. Drink if you want to, and if you don’t, there are soft drinks here. We have cola and juice too.”

“Oh, thank you. I’d like to try a little beer.”

“Really? That’s good. How about this one? The alcohol content isn’t high, so it should be manageable.”

“Thank you.”

Karen first poured juice into a paper cup. Then she carefully placed the can of beer Sera gave her in front of herself.

“Give me that one.”

“You know the good stuff. I bought four of these, knowing you’d want them.”

Sera handed over a green can. When I think of green, soju comes to mind first, but maybe that was just my bias.

I found myself staring as Aria and Sera each placed their drinks in front of them. While I was blankly watching, Sera must have noticed my gaze and offered me one too.

“Ourr, would you like one too? I’ll give you a mild one like Karen’s.”

“…Oh! I like it too.”

I nodded. I think I used to drink beer quite often, and since this body is a Demon God’s, it should be fine! With that thought, I stretched out my arm.

It was extremely cold, as if they had put it in the freezer as soon as we arrived.

I pulled my beer in front of me and swung my legs while waiting for the others to open their cans. My body swayed side to side as well. As I hummed while waiting, Sera handed me a juice.

“Thanks.”

“I think I might be weak with alcohol…”

Karen smiled bitterly as she handed me juice.

Since Sera and Aria had said they didn’t need juice, it seemed like Karen needed a juice companion to drink with her.

Since I wasn’t sure how I’d handle alcohol either, I nodded and accepted. Juice buddies, nice.

I took a sip of orange juice right away. Maybe because I had just eaten cheese, I slightly regretted not choosing cola instead of orange juice.

Just as I was narrowing my brows, Sera popped open her beer with a hiss.

“A toast to our future study group…!”

Ooh.

“Aria will give it!”

“Hey, Sera.”

I was impressed by Sera’s skillful maneuver of starting something and then quickly passing it off to someone else.