There weren't many people coming and going at the Academy on Saturday morning. Though it seemed the Institute Students had no choice but to come in on weekends for their research.
I attended a first-year Institute Student lecture with the Professor, but in reality, it felt more like they were checking how much self-study the students had done rather than actually teaching.
To be honest, the Professor only called it a lecture, but I seriously wondered if it might have another name entirely.
The students were bustling about. Some were piling up materials and working on laptops, while others brought Magic Batteries to draw Magic Circles they had designed.
The Professor began checking their work one by one.
"What's wrong with this Magic Circle? Does this even work? Won't it eventually get stuck here?"
"...Ah, y-you're right."
At the Professor's sharp critique, the Institute Student who had been drawing inside the Magic Battery stopped. As if there was no going back, they crumpled it up and threw it in the trash.
The atmosphere continued to be somewhat intimidating. Many students shook their heads at the pointed questions and said they would redo their work.
Perhaps because many of them were just starting to write their Theses, some showed interest in me.
"You said you're a Demon God, so what's your maximum Mana capacity?"
"...I don't know."
Thinking it might seem like I was dismissively brushing them off, I deliberately made eye contact with the student who asked before shaking my head.
I barely knew myself, so I wondered if I could really help with such things. I wasn't particularly anxious since I hadn't come here to help anyway.
I recalled the Professor saying that since I was spending my days so tediously, looking at something might make me less bored.
I didn't particularly want to watch the Professor grilling the Institute Students, but since I wasn't expected to do anything as Supplies, I just went along with it. While scribbling letters, I asked the student next to me.
"What's this?"
"A desk?"
"Show me how to write it."
When I held out my pen, the Institute Student with purple hair was startled.
"...You don't know how to write 'desk'?"
"No..."
My dejected voice left the student speechless. After a moment, she extended the pen she was holding and scribbled some letters on the paper I had been writing on.
"Is this 'desk'?"
"No, Lenya. That's my name."
"...Lenya. I'm Urr."
Lenya smiled at that.
"Yes, you introduced yourself earlier, remember?"
"Lenya, teach me about desks."
"Are you studying writing?"
"Yes."
"...I see, that makes sense."
Lenya seemed to understand something and nodded before writing more words for me.
"This is 'desk,' and this is 'pen.' Did you know this one already?"
I shook my head since I didn't know the characters for desk and pen. Lenya hesitated for a moment before writing one more.
"This means 'notebook,' how about this one?"
"Don't know."
"Then let's do this. I don't have a lot of time, so I'll just teach you three words for now. There are so many words, I'm not sure where to start."
Lenya taught me three words. Then she showed me some densely written papers, indicating she had her own work to do. Looking at them made me recoil.
How much effort would it take to read all that? It seemed it would be difficult to catch up quickly. So I decided to focus on what I could do now and looked at the words in front of me.
Lenya's light navy blue eyes glanced at me.
"Urr, have you ever emitted Aura?"
"...Don't know."
"Hmm..."
Though I hadn't come to help, I felt a bit sorry for consistently answering "don't know" to every question.
"Sorry."
"No! There's nothing to be sorry about. If you've never emitted it, that's just how it is. I don't know what Aura is yet either. ...But they say the Professor can emit Aura like a Demon God."
"I know that."
"You do?"
Lenya looked surprised that I knew. My gaze shifted to where the Professor was. Remembering the ring on their index finger, yesterday's conversation flashed through my mind.
"Yes."
"Hmm, then I don't need to tell you. I came because I'm curious about the Professor's Original."
"...You came all the way to the Institute because you're curious about that?"
"Not exactly. I came because I want to create an Original too. People don't usually ask someone to reveal their Original."
Lenya fidgeted with the end of her pen, making it draw a large arc since she was holding it by the very tip. As I quietly watched her tapping her short hair, I let out a small groan.
There must be something captivating about this Original thing. Well, if something is said to be one-of-a-kind in the world, perhaps anyone would be intrigued.
If it were in your own hands, wouldn't that pride be immense?
"Urr, isn't there anything you want to do?"
"Like how Lenya wants to create an Original?"
"Yeah, yeah."
Lenya nodded.
But I didn't feel like I had much I wanted to do. I had come here suddenly, melded into this life by someone else's will rather than my own. I didn't dislike it, so I just went along with it.
I didn't think I had particularly wished for anything. I just thought it would be nice if my body grew bigger. It wasn't a childish fantasy of wanting to be an adult because I was young.
I wondered what happened to the original owner of this body. Whether they completely disappeared or were displaced because of me, I couldn't know. So I thought it would be nice if I could return it with dignity if the owner ever came back.
"Hmm, I want to grow bigger."
I fluttered my sleeve. When I showed her the sleeve that had been folded twice, Lenya smiled as if she found it amusing.
"Hmm, I see. You want to grow bigger."
"Yes."
When I nodded, Lenya's lips twitched as if she was seeing something amusing and couldn't contain herself. As I started to become wary, sweating slightly, she seemed to realize her expression and corrected it.
"Ahem, ahem. After hearing so many worldly wishes, I just couldn't help myself when I heard such a pure one..."
Should I believe her if Sera brought a spontaneously created Magic Circle and made me grow bigger with a "poof"? Well, I was getting tired of explaining everything, so I decided to just let it slide if she found it cute.
There was no point in protesting by banging on the desk since she'd probably find that cute too.
"...Worldly?"
When I tilted my head, Lenya hummed and pointed to a seat in front.
There was a student with black hair that reached down to their shoulder blades, currently in conversation with the Professor.
"That's my friend over there. Her goal is to get under the Professor."
"Under? Isn't graduating from the Institute enough...?"
"No, even among Institute Students there are different paths. Getting under the Professor is a difficult thing. There's a world of difference between having an advisor and becoming the Professor's junior."
Seeing Lenya wiggle her finger while saying it was extremely difficult, she seemed like a person with tremendous passion. No wonder she was sitting in the front row.
I tilted my head, wondering why she wasn't sitting with her friend if they were close. Of course, I wouldn't pry into their friendship since we'd just met.
"Hmm, I see."
"Ah, the Professor is coming this way soon."
Lenya stopped paying attention to me and started focusing all her energy on the materials in front of her. She had dozens of sheets with Magic Circles drawn on white paper. She began attaching Post-it notes to appropriate places like footnotes.
Then the Professor approached.
"...Lenya, was it?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Hmm."
The Professor skimmed through a few pages of Lenya's materials and shook their head.
"If you just imitate an Original, you'll end up with nothing but a copy. You don't want that kind of label, do you?"
"N-no. I plan to research first and then move in an original direction!"
"Original? Then how about preparing a PowerPoint presentation for next time?"
"I-I'll try my best..."
Oh dear. A sudden presentation.
As I watched Lenya being put on the spot in real time, the Professor, who had been reviewing the materials, looked at me with a smile. The expression seemed to ask if I was doing well.
Well, I was just memorizing three words—desk, notebook, and pen—what more could I do?
As I fidgeted with the paper, the Professor seemed to soften and lowered the materials in hand.
"No, it's fine. You don't need to do a PowerPoint. You can show me the results later."
"Yes, I'll do my best."
"What have you been doing, Urr?"
The Professor turned away from Lenya and asked me. Since they obviously knew I was studying writing, they probably wanted to hear the details.
"Lenya taught me some words. This is 'desk,' this is 'notebook'... and this is 'pen.'"
"You've made a good friend who teaches you these things."
As I pointed to each word I had written and explained, the Professor nodded as if pleased with what they heard.
As the Professor moved away to check on other Institute Students, Lenya thanked me.
"Having you next to me saved me..."