Ch.7Chapter 7

“…Do Demon Gods have sexual curiosity?”

At that question, I frowned. I wanted to say, “That’s sexual harassment,” but the lingering shame from earlier made me turn my head away sharply.

She’s probably going to talk about lifting skirts or something. I don’t want to have that kind of conversation.

When I glanced at her, I could see Sera’s mischievous expression. I quickly turned away. I didn’t particularly want to talk to someone who casually brought up such topics in conversation.

I leaned against the wall and slumped over the desk. I buried my face in the space created by my arms, and Sera, sitting beside me, poked me as if she found even that amusing.

“Don’t want to tell me?”

“……”

“Hmm, have you never tried it?”

“…Not interested.”

I was going to ignore her, but she didn’t seem like someone who would stop if ignored. So I bluntly expressed my refusal. It’s not that I wasn’t interested in women’s bodies, but I didn’t want to indulge in such desires in this situation.

Would it be right to explore such urges in a body that doesn’t even belong to me?

I knew I couldn’t talk about this with anyone. So I said nothing. There was no reason to. What would be the point? No one could help me anyway.

As I remained silent, Sera moved even closer. Now she was practically pressed against my side. I could feel it without looking.

“Then what does Ourr want to do?”

“…Don’t know.”

Do I have a goal? I wish someone would tell me what I should aim for in this world I was suddenly thrown into. Still, my current goal was simply to return my body to its original state.

Someday I’ll grow. Someday…

That’s the thought that kept me going until now. I stayed by the Professor’s side, proving that I was a Demon God who wasn’t harmful to humans. Now all that remained was finding a way to return to normal, but that method was proving extremely difficult to find.

Is there truly no way? Do I have to spend as many years as I’ve regressed before returning to my original size?

If Demon Gods exist outside common sense, and that’s why I’ve become younger, surely there must be a way to grow again. That’s the thought that kept me going until now.

If you asked me why, it’s because I wanted to return this body intact, even though I wasn’t its original owner. I felt somewhat responsible for its reduced size, so I wanted to restore it to its original state before returning it.

What happens after that would be up to the body’s rightful owner.

I still don’t know my name. I’ve grown accustomed to being called Ourr, but sometimes I find myself seriously wondering: what is my real name?

Without any clues, I couldn’t figure anything out on my own, so I had to rely on someone else. That’s the reality.

But that someone wasn’t Sera, whom I’d just met.

“You’re so cold~ Is it because I brought up something unnecessary?”

“…Yes.”

I glanced at her with narrowed eyes. She put her hands together apologetically and grinned.

“Then I’ll buy you something delicious. Would that make you feel better?”

“…Demon Gods can survive without eating anything.”

“Hmm, then shall I grant you one wish?”

I shook my head. Sera seemed to enjoy even this kind of conversation, continuing to chat about various things. She kept talking despite noticing others glancing our way occasionally.

“I’ll buy you a belt that fits your waist, Ourr. How about that?”

“…A belt?”

“Isn’t your current belt too big?”

I looked down briefly. It was indeed too big, often hanging loose around my hips. But there was a reason for that.

“No, it’s fine.”

I deliberately left extra space because I didn’t know when I might grow, and I wanted to be prepared for that moment. With a body whose physical age could change in the blink of an eye, I was constantly worried that tight clothing might somehow prevent me from growing.

That’s why I couldn’t wear properly fitting clothes.

“Hmm, so Ourr wants to become an adult?”

“I already am an adult.”

“You want to grow bigger?”

Sera seemed quite perceptive, unlike others. After just a few exchanges, she seemed to have figured out what I wanted.

When I couldn’t say anything and avoided her gaze, she approached me with a sly voice.

“Looks like I hit the mark?”

“……”

“Then shall I help you?”

My ears perked up. It was such an enticing offer that I felt my ears actually move.

Let me think about this. Unlike the busy Professor, a relatively free student might be able to help. But if Sera was a third-year, wouldn’t she be graduating soon, even if she knew everything?

Help would be nice, but the timing seemed awkward.

“You’re busy.”

“Well, I should have enough time to help Ourr, right? You just need to make your appearance bigger, right?”

“…That’s true.”

I felt myself being drawn in by the tempting offer. The conversation had long been led by Sera. Knowing this, I still followed along.

I glanced around. I could feel the Professor looking at me while talking with other students.

I hesitantly opened my mouth, which I had kept closed while deliberating.

“Can you make me grow?”

“If I research it? There are plenty of spells that change physical appearance, so we might find one if we look, or we could find something similar and rewrite it. I’m in the Magic Composition Department, after all.”

“Magic Composition Department?”

“Don’t you know? Do you understand that you need a magic circle to use magic?”

“…I know that.”

Sera seemed to remember that I was a Demon God and started explaining from the beginning.

“Then can just any drawing of a magic circle become magic? Look, can you put your hands together?”

She tugged slightly at my sleeve. If it had been our first meeting, I would have refused, but her words intrigued me, so I obediently followed.

“Now put your index fingers together and spin them around.”

“Like this…?”

I put my index fingers together and spun them around. Sera watched for a moment, then firmly grabbed both my index fingers. My fingers were caught and could no longer move.

“Ta-da! Now they can’t spin, right?”

“Because you grabbed them.”

“Exactly. Magic formulas also need to interlock properly—if you write them carelessly, they’ll get stuck somewhere and won’t activate. The Magic Composition Department studies things like that. What kind of magic do we want to create? How can we write it so the components interlock and activate properly?”

Her explanation made her sound like an expert.

It would clearly take a long time to get help from the Professor. Although she focused on researching Demon Gods, she couldn’t dedicate all her time solely to me, so achieving what I wanted would take time.

If that was the case, wouldn’t it be good to rely on Sera’s methods as well as the Professor’s? I wondered.

Sera released my hands, and I stared at them quietly. Then I spun my fingers around as I had before.

If using magic to return wasn’t particularly bad, was there any reason to refuse? Of course, she didn’t have the magic formula right now, but if she could create one, it seemed worth asking for her help.

“What would I need to do in return?”

Still, nothing in this world is free. I looked at her with slightly wary eyes, but she waved her hand dismissively.

“It’s not like that. I’m not suggesting anything weird… Hmm, okay. Can I have your contact information?”

“I don’t have any.”

“Then I’ll give you mine. Come find me when you want to see me.”

“……”

“That’s mean.”

When I made a face suggesting that wouldn’t happen, Sera pretended to be upset. Of course, her hands were already quickly writing down her phone number and email address.

A piece of paper was torn from a notebook with a ripping sound. I stared at the neatly folded note before putting it in my coat pocket.

“Since I couldn’t get your contact info, how about I touch your hair instead…”

“Hair…”

“What? Don’t like it?”

“No, I don’t mind.”

Well, since she offered to help, I could allow that much. My hair had already been touched by the Professor, Karen, and even Iris, so I didn’t really care anymore.

As long as she didn’t suddenly cut it off.

“Then, lie down here. It’s hard to touch your hair comfortably otherwise.”

“…Umm.”

I glanced around. The orientation seemed to be ending, and I could feel eyes turning toward us. But Sera didn’t care and wrapped her arm around my shoulders. Slowly guided, my body fell onto Sera’s thighs with a soft thud.

As I lay with my head resting on her lap, Sera stroked my hair. She also patted my head occasionally.

“Your hair is so long. Must be hard to maintain.”

“I don’t really do anything with it.”

When I bluntly stated this, Sera’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You shouldn’t do that. If you don’t take care of it, your hair ends will split like this.”

“…Split?”

Sera grabbed a few strands of my hair and held them up to show me. Not sure if this was what split ends looked like, I asked again, and Sera’s hand paused.

“Oh, it’s not split. Is that because you’re a Demon God?”

Realizing it wasn’t that I didn’t understand but that my hair wasn’t actually split, I gave Sera a look of disbelief. She responded by lightly covering my eyes with her hand.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

“…How did I look?”

“Like you thought I was pathetic.”

That was accurate, so I didn’t deny it.

Only after the orientation finally ended was I able to get up.

“…?”

For all her talk about split ends and whatnot while touching my hair, it didn’t feel particularly neat. Looking at my hair, still with many flyaways, I shook my head, wondering if this was just how my hair naturally was.