Ch.88Chapter 88

Ouroboros wanted to experience exactly what Ourr had done.

When she was in the forest, she couldn’t do these things, but another personality called “Ourr” had come here first and explored this place.

It was a scenery she had never seen before. Different landscapes that she wouldn’t have noticed from just a casual glance. The strange sensation of being able to blend in with people touched Ouroboros’s hand.

She knew that her aura would diminish when she became younger, but she didn’t realize it would disappear this completely. She tilted her head, wondering if this was how she could enter society without affecting people.

“…You’re saying I need to bathe?”

“Of course you need to bathe. You’ll get filthy if you don’t wash every day.”

“Demon Gods don’t produce that much waste.”

“It’s not just about waste products. People get dusty when they go outside. What can you do? At first, you were even covered in dirt and dust.”

Ouroboros tried to argue that she didn’t need to bathe, but her words fell on deaf ears. Since her logical argument was defeated, Ouroboros had no choice but to accept it.

She decided to follow Yuria’s instructions for now, judging that if she didn’t, she might not be able to experience “what Ourr had felt” properly.

“I don’t feel threatened, but this is awkward…”

Ouroboros grumbled as she took off her clothes.

She had never really worn clothes before. No one would see her in the mountains, and since she wasn’t afraid of death, there was no reason to wear armor.

Before being educated, she hadn’t even learned about shame, so being naked was natural for her.

In other words, Ouroboros wasn’t hesitating about undressing now, but rather about the act of bathing itself.

She strongly felt that it was unnecessary since Demon Gods don’t get sick anyway. But in the end, she entered the bathroom according to Yuria’s insistence.

“You need to be clean to play with friends.”

“Friends…”

Yuria also took off her clothes and stepped into the bathroom.

Ouroboros glanced at Yuria and murmured absentmindedly.

Friends. No matter how she thought about it, the word was too unfamiliar, too awkward for Ouroboros herself, and she couldn’t shake off the sense of discomfort.

“Those are Ourr’s friends. Not my friends.”

“You’re both Ourr and Ouroboros, so you can just be friends with them too.”

Ouroboros shifted her gaze to Yuria, who was turning on the shower and adjusting the water temperature.

These friends would be humans, right? Not Demon Gods.

“Are there other Demon Gods here?”

“No. You’re the only Demon God.”

She got a definite answer.

Either way was fine, but she thought it was good that there weren’t any unruly ones around.

“Come to think of it, has Ouroboros never killed a person even once?”

Yuria sprinkled warm water on Ouroboros’s body. At the same time, she casually asked for information she wanted to know.

Although Ouroboros had become a child’s body, her thinking ability wasn’t quite as good as when she was in her prime, but she was still somewhat perceptive.

Hmm, Ouroboros made a nasal sound, opened her eyes wide, and looked up at Yuria with a tilted head.

“—If I say I killed people, are you planning to kill me again?”

“Probably. I’d push you back in before you could feel more joy.”

“I’m joking. I’ve only killed Demon Gods, so don’t worry.”

Though she thought it unlikely, Ouroboros believed that if she had killed people, if she had taken someone’s family member and destroyed homes, she wouldn’t deserve to experience the happiness and joy that Ourr had felt.

At that point, Yuria had planned to push Ouroboros back in by any means necessary, and afterward protect Ourr so that only she could live.

Surprised by Yuria’s determination, Ouroboros waved her hands as she answered. She had never actually killed a person. There was no reason to.

Considering that there are murderers even in educated society, it wasn’t strange that there could be beings who don’t kill despite not being educated.

“If you joke about things like that, you’ll be hated. You’ll become a target for subjugation.”

“Then I just won’t do it.”

Ouroboros grumbled at Yuria’s words.

Yuria, as if wanting to protest to Ouroboros, splashed water on her head and swirled her hands through it. Ouroboros’s head shook violently as Yuria roughly stroked it.

Perhaps because she had an immortal body, she had a sense of safety insensitivity and wasn’t very vigilant. Yuria found this quite fascinating.

She wondered if this was how Demon Gods’ characteristics determined their tendencies.

Could it be said that Demon Gods who survive by taking human life tend to enjoy slaughter? Could it be said that Demon Gods who can simply live eternally strive to achieve their own goals, or exceptionally make murder their hobby?

Considering how things would vary depending on the situation and the Demon God’s tendencies, it was a complicated subject to approach.

Yuria shook her head and thoroughly wet Ourr’s hair. As that abundant, long hair absorbed all the water, it seemed to become quite heavy, causing Ouroboros to stagger significantly.

“Oops. Be careful not to fall.”

“Despite appearances, I’m maintaining my balance well.”

“Are your eyes closed?”

“Yes.”

Even though it was Ourr’s voice, the stiff tone with which she answered made Yuria feel a strange disconnect.

But if asked whether it didn’t suit her, that wasn’t the case either. As much as Ouroboros claimed to be the original, Yuria felt that this version seemed more like a Demon God.

“Keep them closed.”

Yuria squeezed a generous amount of shampoo into her hand. An enormous amount of shampoo went in, like washing a dog with fluffy fur. Bubbles began to form in the hair that had been preserved by Ourr’s stubbornness.

Ouroboros, seemingly curious, slightly opened her eyes and raised her head. Yuria didn’t think much of it, but Ouroboros was attacked by shampoo in her eyes and began to suffer.

“…Ugh!”

“What, what’s wrong?”

“My eyes…!”

“I told you to keep your eyes closed.”

Yuria quickly finished shampooing and sprinkled water on Ourr’s eyes. It must have hurt quite a bit, as the area around her eyes appeared to be reddened. Ouroboros rubbed her eyes with both hands and then firmly pulled down the corners of her mouth.

“This is painful. What’s the point of putting this stuff on your body?”

“…It hurts when something gets in your eyes.”

Yuria, wondering if she really needed to explain even this, sprinkled water on Ouroboros’s body while sweating profusely. The water washed away the bubbles, starting from the crown of her head.

The white foam that had risen fell to the floor and disappeared down the drain.

It took quite a while just to wash her hair, but Ouroboros didn’t particularly complain. Even at this moment, she thought she was doing something new that she didn’t know about, so she decided to enjoy this too.

“Now I’ll wash your body with this. Should I scrub off the dead skin first? I usually scrub Ourr’s skin every weekend.”

“…Dead skin?”

“Here, sit down.”

Ouroboros tilted her head, wondering what that meant. Yuria thought it was better to show once than explain a hundred times, so she took out a towel and secured it well in her hand.

While Ouroboros was crouching blankly on the bathroom chair, the towel began to roughly scrub across her body.

“?!!”

“Stay still. You said you’re used to pain, right?”

“W-wait a moment…”

Dead skin was a kind of waste product. Demon Gods might produce less of it, but it wasn’t completely absent. Moreover, with external factors like fine dust, Demon Gods weren’t exempt from having dead skin, so this process was essential.

An essential requirement for staying clean.

As Yuria’s hand gripped the rough towel and moved across Ouroboros’s body, Ouroboros was at a loss, experiencing this kind of pain for the first time.

She had tried stabbing herself with something or falling from high places before, but she had never experienced the pain of having her skin scrubbed off, so she instinctively tried to struggle.

Thankfully, her reason remained, barely restraining her from violently pushing Yuria away.

“Urrrgh…”

“You’re just as dramatic as Ourr.”

“Dramatic…?”

Ouroboros let out a hollow laugh, bewildered by Yuria’s words.

How could this be called dramatic? It felt like her skin was being scraped off, like her skin was being peeled and burning hot, how could this be dismissed as being dramatic?

She understood the desire to be clean, but she wondered if there was any reason to be this clean.

“Ugh, it hurts, it hurts…”

For such words to come from the stoic Demon God’s mouth, Yuria took a moment to check if she was controlling her strength properly.

She didn’t feel like she was being particularly forceful.

The process continued. And at the end, Ouroboros, with all the dead skin scrubbed off her body, looked up at Yuria with blank eyes. Her body was trembling, and Yuria poured warm water over it.

“Uwaaaaah.”

Her body was already burning and stinging. And when the shower’s water pressure and the sensation of water were added to that, a voice mixed with breathing sounds escaped from Ouroboros’s mouth.

Yuria felt a bit tired, like she was raising a child who complained too much.

“Ouroboros, I’ve filled the bath over there, so get in.”

“…I just thought dying would have been better. Couldn’t you have scrubbed my skin while I was dead?”

“Don’t say such creepy things.”

Ignoring Ouroboros’s strange words, Yuria sprinkled water on her own body.

“Ah!”