Yuria had many ongoing research projects. It was inevitable to work on multiple studies simultaneously since results couldn't be achieved all at once, but in Yuria's case, she had an exceptionally large number.
"Methods to euthanize a Demon God."
She was already well aware that Demon Gods had different body structures from humans, so they wouldn't die by simply reducing oxygen levels and increasing nitrogen levels.
That's why she needed to research alternative methods.
It would be better to find a way to prevent Urr from emitting Aura, but failing that, this research was at least aimed at preventing Urr from experiencing pain.
Killing Urr would make her younger, shrinking her Vessel enough to prevent her from emitting Aura, so there was no other choice.
Even Yuria herself sighed frequently while researching, finding the subject frustrating. Though she wondered if she could just avoid it altogether, she knew that not doing it would surely cause Urr to suffer.
"Methods to remove a Demon God's Aura."
If this could be definitively accomplished, research on euthanasia would become irrelevant. This was Yuria's highest priority research, but the lack of progress was eating away at her.
Yuria had previously created an Original while researching Demon God Auras. Yet even someone of her caliber couldn't find direction in this research, leaving her groaning in frustration.
Prevent Mana collection? How?
Prevent Mana from filling a large Vessel? How?
There were spells that could dismantle and nullify magic, but this was fundamentally different, so referencing them didn't seem helpful.
These two research topics frequently consumed Yuria's thoughts.
She clutched her head and rolled her pen. Urr was growing rapidly almost every day, and Yuria worked with increasing urgency, wondering how she would solve this problem.
She assigned research to Institute Students while simultaneously shifting her own perspective, trying to determine if her theories could work in practice.
"...Haah."
Her brow furrowed as she considered how to handle all her other pending research.
Though she sometimes questioned her decision to become a professor, seeing Urr made her reconsider, deepening her conflicted feelings.
Days passed without progress despite organizing her research findings. Naturally, such breakthroughs couldn't happen overnight. Typically, research would continue for years before results could be announced and implemented, but Yuria found it increasingly difficult to hide her anxiety as time passed.
What was Urr's physical age now, fifteen? About that...?
Yuria wiggled her fingers. It had already been a year since Urr reached her minimum age, and she worried about when Urr might grow again.
This year might be fine. But what about next year, or the year after? Even if Mana didn't fill Urr's body well now, as she grew larger, she would create Aura, and then there would be no choice but to kill her.
It would be best to remove the Aura, but if that wasn't possible, killing her was the only option. Since Urr would open her eyes again anyway, Yuria thought it would be better to use a painless method if it had to be done.
"...Professor, when will you be done?"
While Yuria was groaning over her documents, Urr's voice reached her ears. Yuria turned her head in surprise.
The question about when she would finish snapped her back to reality. Her gaze was drawn to the window. Night had fallen. She had been so absorbed in her paperwork that time had flown by, causing her to groan involuntarily.
"Sorry, I'll make dinner right away."
Though Urr didn't particularly care whether she ate or not, she had remained quiet out of concern that Yuria wasn't eating or drinking anything, focusing solely on work.
Yuria carefully organized her documents, worried that Urr might read them. After putting them away in her room, she headed to the kitchen with tired steps.
Urr followed closely behind. When Yuria turned to look at her, Urr gazed up at her with sparkling eyes.
"What is it? Is there something you want to eat?"
"I was talking with the kids earlier. I'd like to cook something for you."
While Yuria had been engrossed in her thesis, Urr had been wandering around chatting with Sera, Aria, and Karen. Though she'd only heard the theory, she seemed to think she could manage it and raised her hand slightly, wanting to show off to Yuria.
Yuria observed this quietly before nodding with a dry smile.
"Okay, what dish?"
"...An omelet."
"An omelet?"
Yuria leaned in, wondering if she'd heard correctly.
"O-omelet..."
Urr stammered, intimidated by Yuria's reaction and wondering if she'd said something wrong.
Was it omurice? Or omelet? What was it? She glanced toward where she'd left her phone. As she debated whether to go back and listen to the voice message again, Yuria gently spoke up.
"An omelet might be difficult, are you sure?"
"I know you mix eggs well and clump them together. On low heat..."
As Urr explained with animated gestures, Yuria found it adorable and nodded.
"Then I'll give you this step stool, and you can try slowly. Use as many eggs as you want."
"Ah! Yes!"
She nodded. Urr stood in front of the induction stove. Then she froze.
"...Oh."
How do I use this?
In Urr's past life memories, she only knew gas ranges, so when suddenly faced with an induction stove, she had no idea how to use it.
With widening eyes, Urr hesitated before turning her head sharply.
Putting aside the induction stove usage, she decided to start by cracking eggs. Knock, crack. She cracked them one by one. Though quite a bit of egg white got on her fingers, at least no shells fell in.
Yuria glanced at Urr's actions while preparing dinner ingredients for them both.
Urr was gripping a whisk and vigorously stirring. Watching her energetically moving her arm when snap was what mattered, it was clear she had no cooking experience.
When would a Demon God ever need to cook? This was all new to her, and she just wanted to experience it. Yuria watched Urr's efforts with contentment.
"Phew."
After wiping her forehead with her arm, Urr picked up her well-mixed eggs and looked at the frying pan. Then she poured them straight in.
"Oh."
"Eh?"
A short sound escaped Yuria's lips. Reacting to the sound, Urr froze and glanced at Yuria.
"You need to add oil first. Without oil, the eggs will stick, you know?"
"Ah, ah...!"
Preoccupied with figuring out how to use the induction stove, Urr hadn't thought about adding oil and only now realized her mistake.
But to Yuria, even this looked like the adorable actions of a child cooking for the first time.
"Ah, I know...! But, this, how do I use it..."
"Here, this is how you set it to low heat. And here's some cheese."
Yuria ended up helping with everything. She had originally planned to just watch, but seeing Urr's cluelessness, she couldn't bring herself to do that.
She worried that stepping in might upset Urr since she'd learned the recipe from friends, but Urr listened attentively to Yuria's instructions and nodded.
"Cheese... we add cheese too?"
"Yes, we eat it with cheese too. Don't you like cheese, Urr?"
"I think I do."
Urr hadn't heard about adding cheese, so she looked at it curiously. Then she waited patiently after adding oil and eggs to the heated pan.
"Do I add it now?"
"No, not yet."
Since Urr hadn't known about the cheese, she asked about the timing.
"...Now can I add it?"
"Hmm, could you wait just a little longer?"
After looking back and forth between the frying pan and Yuria several times, she asked again.
"...Now? Can I add it now...?"
"Yes, now would be good."
Feeling self-conscious about asking repeatedly, Urr looked at Yuria with a shrinking voice.
Finally, at the signal that the timing was right, Urr's hand moved swiftly. Her small hand grabbed the cheese and sprinkled it.
Urr's golden eyes flashed. The outside was cooked while the inside was still slightly undercooked—this was her chance. Urr moved the spatula, determined not to miss it.
"..."
Splat.
While trying to gently flip it with the spatula to create a beautiful oval, Urr's dream shattered like the eggs themselves.
The eggs, which seemed to be lifting well, tore apart and lost their shape completely.
"Urr..."
"N-no. I can still do this."
She shook her head at Yuria's voice. Thinking she could still salvage it, she moved the spatula again.
She spread it back into a circular shape like before. Then she waited for the outside to cook again. In her tension, she licked her dry lips.
"Now...!"
Urr tried once more.
"...Ah."
But having cooked it for too long, the outside had turned brown. Instead of forming a nice oval shape, it had become a brownish egg pancake.
"...It's well-cooked."
Not knowing how to respond, Yuria decided it was better to focus on success rather than failure to avoid dampening Urr's enthusiasm.
Urr trembled at those words before pouting.
"I heard about this from friends too... they called it an egg and cheese pancake..."
Both Urr and Yuria knew this was a lie, but they both let it slide.
"Looks delicious. Thanks to Urr, I get to enjoy something special. May I try a bite?"
"...I'm not sure if it's good."
Her voice was deflated because what she made was so different from what she had intended. Ignoring that, Yuria moved her fork to taste Urr's creation.
The combination of eggs and cheese was decent enough. The only downside was the lack of seasoning, but that could be fixed with ketchup, so she nodded.
"It's delicious! Try some, Urr!"
"O-oh, is it tasty?"
She had worried Yuria might be forcing herself to say it was good, but seeing Yuria's reaction now, that didn't seem to be the case, and she felt hopeful.
Taking a bite of her own creation at Yuria's encouragement, Urr made an ambiguous expression at the unremarkable but acceptable taste.
"This kind of dish is usually eaten with ketchup. You did well."
"Really...?"
Urr asked half-doubtingly, but she couldn't hide her smile.
Watching her, Yuria thought she really wanted to give Urr a hug.