Blue hair and emerald eyes. A friend with refreshing colors like the open sea approached me. She must have just rushed out, as she was hastily combing her hair as she came over, which was quite an impression.
I waited at the library entrance, hugging my books, until she arrived. Sera sighed and frowned as she looked at Aria.
"Come on, Aria. Shouldn't you at least let me know? ...I mean, you know we both have morning free periods, right?"
"I thought Sera liked sleeping in."
Aria answered nonchalantly without backing down, making Sera make a strange expression before sighing.
"Well, I do like it, but..."
It seemed Aria was right after all. Sera took a step back, greeted Karen with a quick "hello," and then gently pulled me over as I stood there staring blankly.
My hesitant steps were drawn toward Sera. I ended up standing there dazed while being embraced.
"Ah, next time I should come to the Academy early and stay with Urr."
"But I'm alone because my morning lecture was canceled."
I lifted my head while still in Sera's arms. I could see under Sera's chin, but only briefly as she lowered her head to look directly at me.
I carefully spoke up as Sera looked at me with a puzzled expression.
"I originally had a second-year lecture today, but the professor suddenly had something come up, so I came out to at least be with Karen."
"Oh, really? That's like a special event then."
When Sera answered somewhat awkwardly, Aria shook her head.
"Sera can be a bit careless sometimes."
"If we're talking about carelessness, wouldn't Aria be worse?"
"I'm just playful, not careless."
While Sera and Aria were having their usual friendly argument, I reached out to Karen.
"Karen."
"Yes?"
"Help me. I don't like it here."
When I asked Karen for help, Sera was startled and hugged me tightly. Her arms crossed over my chest, pressing down on my shoulders. It felt like having a safety bar locked in place on a roller coaster.
"Oh, I'm sorry...! We're not fighting, this is just how we play around."
"Karen."
"Urr, I'm sorry. I'll give you a kiss. Will that make it better?"
"Karen...!"
As I struggled, Karen looked flustered, not knowing what to do. Sera then released me with a bitter smile.
"It's going to be hard to approach Urr today."
"Haha... I think Urr is a bit shy."
As I hid behind Karen, she seemed uncomfortable with the situation and let out an awkward laugh while placing her hand on my head.
Sera watched quietly, then let out a small sigh as if something had occurred to her.
"Come to think of it, I heard Urr doesn't have any sexual curiosity. Isn't that interesting?"
"Eh?"
I felt dazed at this sudden revelation. I wondered why my sexual curiosity had become the topic of conversation as I carefully observed the three of them.
Sera maintained a serious expression without saying anything more. Karen, who heard this, responded with a surprised, blank voice. She seemed unable to follow this topic shift, just like me.
She was definitely someone I could call a comrade. The third-years were somewhat seriously open about sexual matters, so there was a need to be slightly cautious.
"That's interesting."
Meanwhile, true to being Sera's best friend, Aria wore a serious, contemplative expression similar to Sera's. Her narrowed gaze shifted slightly toward me.
Sera, pleased with Aria's reaction, immediately continued.
"They say the mind follows the body, right? Urr's current age feels like puberty, so shouldn't she be feeling sexual desire at this time? Karen, think about it."
"W-what are you saying! Karen...!"
When I grabbed Karen's clothes and shook them, Karen seemed slightly swayed and gave a dry smile.
"Since I'm in the Demon God department, I am a bit curious... Urr, should I get you some books?"
"Ugh, why are you interested in such things?"
As I pouted and created distance, everyone glanced at me.
Sera, Aria, and even Karen seemed to be thinking about me.
"It is strange, as Senior Sera said. Even without knowledge, one would usually be curious at least once. Is it because she's tired of it? Or is it because she hasn't developed in that area at all?"
"It doesn't have to be thought of that way. It's possible that with different growth patterns, there's no curiosity during secondary sexual development. They say the physical structure is different."
Aria answered Karen's question.
Even without taking lectures about Demon Gods, this seemed to be common knowledge for anyone living in this world.
"So which do you think it is for Urr?"
All three pairs of eyes turned to me.
They seemed genuinely curious, but I only knew myself, so it was difficult to answer. I groaned, not knowing how to explain my lack of sexual desire.
"Do, does Sera always have sexual curiosity?"
"Not always, but that's because I already know enough."
Sera answered calmly.
"It's not like I'm always thinking about such things, right? Isn't it the same for me?"
"Then does this strengthen the hypothesis that it could be due to lack of knowledge?"
Karen thought about it in terms of a thesis.
"...Maybe we could tell if she saw something... you know, erotic."
"No, no, no. It's fine. I-I'm still young, so..."
I shook my head, using age as an excuse.
Experiments or whatever were fine, but the idea of researching something sexual made me feel a bit ashamed.
I backed away while hugging my books with both hands. As I shook my head and increased the distance, Sera waved her hand.
"So you'll do it when you're older?"
"N-no, that's not it. Do women usually talk about these things when they get together?"
When I hung my head and pouted, the answer came.
"I don't know... I don't have friends..."
Karen's answer made the atmosphere solemn. It wasn't a useful enough answer to resolve the question.
As everyone began to look at Karen with pitying eyes, Karen, noticing the atmosphere, frantically shook her head.
"N-no! Weren't we researching Demon God sexuality?! As far as I know, there hasn't been much active research on this topic yet, so I thought that's what we were trying to research. No, please don't look at me like that! I may not have friends, but I worked so hard to get a scholarship to come to the Academy...!"
"Yes, Karen. I'll take good care of you while I'm here. As your senior in the Study Group."
Aria created a motherly atmosphere as she took Karen's hand.
Karen, who apparently disliked having her hand held out of pity, pulled away in horror.
"I'm also thinking about the Institute, so let's stay close! If Karen is considering the Institute too, we might even become seniors and juniors there!"
Sera continued in the same tone as Aria, causing Karen to slump her shoulders in resignation.
"It's just that studying was difficult for me, so making friends while studying was hard..."
"I'm your friend too. Or should I have gone to the welcome party after all? I could still give you money..."
"Aaaaaaah!"
I was fumbling to give her money from the corner of my pocket. Karen, realizing what I was trying to do, shouted to cut me off.
My voice was drowned out, and my hand was caught by Karen, preventing me from moving. The hand that had gone into my inner pocket hesitated and couldn't move.
"Urr...?"
"Yes?"
"I told you I don't need things like this. Right?"
"S-sorry..."
"No, you don't need to apologize. I should be thanking you, but still, there's a time and place for this, you know?"
The gazes of the two behind us changed slightly at Karen's rambling atmosphere.
"Don't tell me you're getting friendship money from Urr..."
"No! If anything, I'd like to give her money! It's just that when I said I couldn't go to the welcome party, Urr insisted on giving me her allowance, and I was really grateful. It's a bit awkward now that others are watching. Hahaha."
Karen placed her hand over my mouth, afraid I might say something strange. With her hand covering my mouth like a mask, I quietly looked down at the warm hand.
"So that's what it was? How much allowance do you get, Urr?"
"...Fifty Rill."
I gave a precise answer to Sera's question. It was the currency unit I had learned from Karen before.
"Wow, that's a lot! Does the professor give it to you once a month?"
"Hmm, I'm not sure. The professor usually buys everything for me."
As I tilted my head, everyone nodded.
"Maybe it's so Urr can take a warp back if she gets lost."
"That could be it."
"That's interesting."
Sera and Karen nodded with interest at Aria's words.
"Wait, you were trying to give me such important money? Urr, you can't do that!"
Meanwhile, Karen widened her eyes and started scolding me.
Wait, how did this turn into me getting scolded?
"Uh, um...? No, this is..."
I couldn't speak well. I didn't know what to say. I was flustered because I was always with the professor and rarely got lost enough to need to take a Warp Point back, so I wasn't sure if this was right.
"Urr needs to learn how to value her allowance."
Starting with Aria's words, the three of them united. They took me to a café and made me listen to a one-hour lecture about why allowance is precious.
"I-I'll save my allowance well..."
Exhausted, I lay on the table and pleaded in a whining voice. Please end this.