Ch.95Chapter 95

It was a sensation I couldn’t have imagined when I had a child’s body.

At the very beginning, I did have an adult body. Back then, I thought it was strange, but I didn’t realize it was the sensation of handling Mana.

But now I could recognize that this sensation was indeed the feeling of controlling Mana. Unlike in the past when I didn’t know whether I had an aura or not, I could now truly feel that everything surrounding me was my Mana.

It felt comfortable. It was as if a small world centered around me had a barrier placed around it. In this space, I felt like I could accomplish anything.

Of course, I wasn’t sure exactly what was possible and what wasn’t.

I had become aware of it, and then I thought about it. Returning to how things were would certainly be comfortable, but I wondered what would happen after I went back.

Come to think of it, I had something I wanted to ask. I had simply closed my eyes and opened them again to find myself in this space, and the Professor had told me I needed to become smaller.

Between suddenly returning to my body and everything else, there were so many things I didn’t understand. I regretted not asking what I should have asked because I was flustered.

I pondered what to do until the Professor arrived. I looked up at the black glass and then turned my gaze away. In this empty white space, I stretched out my hand to determine what I could and couldn’t do.

While others drew magic circles to use magic, I simply reached out my hand and accomplished things without magic circles. That was my privilege.

Because I am a Demon God.

“Fire.”

I didn’t need to draw a circle or arrange shapes with specific meanings inside it. I simply yearned for something while imagining creating fire above my hand.

Then, like a will-o’-the-wisp, fire appeared floating in the air. My eyes widened at the sight of what looked like a spherical flame. I wanted to see how far I could take this.

I brought my hands together, then spread them wide apart. The fire split into two. I scattered them backward. Then a speaker in the lab made a sound.

Beep—

A noise that pierced my ears.

[Demon God object name, Ouroboros. Please remain still.]

I paused for a moment. But there was nothing to be afraid of. Partly because I had someone watching my back, but mostly because there was no one who could threaten me.

What was there to fear when I wouldn’t die no matter what happened? Why should I fear my body being damaged when I would regenerate after dying once?

The other party didn’t seem particularly intent on doing anything either. As soon as I determined they couldn’t easily touch me, my mind relaxed completely.

I flinched momentarily but ignored their warning and continued what I was doing.

While some things worked exactly as I thought, others didn’t. For example, trying to warp space outright was difficult.

Magic seemed to have certain limitations. If I drew a magic circle it might be different, but this was clearly the limit of my body for now.

“…Hmm.”

Around the time I thought I had realized everything I could think of, the Professor appeared, opening the door and entering.

It seemed my sense of time was different from humans. This was a sealed laboratory where neither sun nor moon was visible, and my body was that of a Demon God that never felt fatigue regardless of day or night.

These factors combined meant I had been using magic without realizing time was passing, and now I was greeting the Professor.

“Ourr. I heard you were using magic?”

“…I was just trying different things.”

Feeling awkward, I dispelled my magic and moved slightly away from the Professor. The Professor, as if to say that wasn’t necessary, took a ring from their pocket and put it on their finger.

It seemed they were indicating that contact with my aura wouldn’t be a problem.

Even so, I couldn’t shake my concern, so I stepped back. The Professor wore a regretful expression, but with a faint smile hidden within it.

“Ourr, have you thought a lot about things?”

“Yes.”

I nodded.

“What day is it today?”

“It’s approaching mid-June.”

“…So I slept for about a week.”

I searched my memories. I thought it had been early June, but now it was mid-June, which was surprising. It felt like I had just taken a short nap, but that had consumed a week of time, which gave me a strange sense of disconnect.

After furrowing my brow in thought for a moment, I nodded.

“Was I just sleeping? …I wasn’t originally in this form, was I?”

I had a child’s body. When I opened my eyes, I had an adult body. So it didn’t make sense that they had killed me right away. There was a week of time in between.

It also seemed strange that they would have brought me here with a body emitting an aura.

They would have chosen to kill me and make me a child’s body again for protection, but something felt off.

Strange things kept emerging. I had only asked how many days had passed, but all the facts before my eyes seemed to not fit together properly, making me frown.

It felt like if I had some missing piece, everything would make sense immediately, but it was difficult to recall what that piece might be. I groaned in frustration. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t find the answer in my head.

A week of time. From a child’s body to an adult body. Memories temporarily lost.

While a week had passed, the actions themselves seemed to continue without even a second’s gap, creating a huge sense of disconnect. So I had to ask.

“I couldn’t have been in this form originally. …Since I was killed by that person, I should have become an adult right there. But when I opened my eyes, I wasn’t in the building heading toward the Research Building, but in a strange white space, and after a week had passed, I woke up in an adult body.”

“……”

“What happened?”

The Professor’s expression darkened slightly. Then their trembling lips parted slightly.

“Ourr, do you know that there’s another personality in your body called Ouroboros? Ouroboros knew. When you die, Ouroboros comes out instead. Ouroboros lived for a week like that, and today said goodbye here and yielded the body to you.”

Ah.

I did know. I wasn’t completely unaware. I just didn’t know it would emerge like that.

Since I wasn’t born with this body from the beginning, but rather woke up in it, I didn’t think of this as my second life. I was just living as a parasite.

I knew, and because of that, I wanted to return the body to its original owner in its original state. I couldn’t tell the Professor or my friends the reason before, but now it seemed I could.

No, maybe not my friends yet, just the Professor for now.

“So you knew.”

“Vaguely.”

When I remained silent, the Professor gasped in shock and covered their mouth.

I had nothing to say. Since I wasn’t completely certain, I gave a vague answer, but it seemed they took that as confirmation.

“I’m sorry. …I spent a week with Ouroboros too.”

The Professor told me what had happened during that time.

“I thought it would be scary. I thought it would be an entity that could instill fear like no other. The idea of a Demon God that never ends, even more so than other Demon Gods, was so frightening that I instinctively wanted to reject it. But after actually meeting and talking, my thoughts changed.”

Ouroboros. So that’s the name of this body’s owner. The researchers called me that earlier too.

“That you’re both good souls. I didn’t want to save just one, or abandon one, or handle it that way. …First, I wanted to resolve your emotional pain, and then I planned to research ways for you to coexist with Ouroboros.”

The Professor elaborated at length. It seemed this Ouroboros wasn’t exactly a bad Demon God either.

As I kept my mouth shut and watched, the Professor reached out their hand. It seemed like they were telling me to take it, so I unconsciously took the hand that approached me.

I felt something through the grasped hand.

“Ourr, it’s time to go home now. This place is too bleak.”

“…I’m okay with Ouroboros being here too.”

The warmth felt good.

But I couldn’t be greedy.

My living this life made sense when I didn’t know where this body’s owner was. Knowing exactly where they were, knowing they could be called back immediately, and turning away from that wouldn’t be right.

That would just be selfish desire and greed.

The younger Ourr might have just said yes and followed along, but having thought this far, I couldn’t make such a choice because it would make me feel too ashamed of myself.

I quietly let go of the warmth.

The Professor was startled and flailed their hand. They tried to grab my hand, but my hand had already returned to my side.

“I’m just a derivative. I appreciate that they yielded to me, but I never wanted to take it back. I wanted to grow the body and return it, but now I don’t need to worry about that.”

If dying causes the personality to change, if it revolves around a single cycle, there was no need to try to grow bigger.

Because the moment the personality changes would be when the body is already large.

As I slightly let go of my concerns and said this, the Professor came up to me and hugged me tightly.

“Still, you are you.”

They conveyed in a trembling voice that they couldn’t abandon me as I had suggested. The great pressure on my body made it slightly difficult to breathe.

“…Professor.”

I slightly bent my arms and placed my hands on the Professor’s body.