At Sera's urging, Aria looked flustered but serious. Still, when Sera clenched her fist and chanted "Aria, Aria!" like a cheerleader, Aria didn't seem to mind as she cleared her throat and stood up.
Ahem, ahem—she cleared her throat several times.
Aria stretched her arms forward and opened the beer can she was holding. Following Sera's lead, Karen also opened her beer to match the mood.
"Ah!"
I struggled to open my beer can and held it out. After confirming everyone was ready, Aria continued.
"Since our Study Group was formed recently, we don't have much history or senior members who've been around for a long time, but since we all gathered here to work hard, let's maintain a good senior-junior relationship."
"Wow, since when do you say such sensible things?"
"And let's all meet at the Institute to see Urr!"
"Ooooh!"
At Aria's final shout, Sera started clapping like a seal. It was slightly terrifying that she put down her beer just to applaud.
Sera had told me to find something I wanted to do before coming to the Institute, but Aria was outright suggesting they come to the Institute to see me—it seemed like madness.
"Ta-da! Cheers!"
Sera stopped clapping and raised her can. She pushed it toward where Aria's hand was, and Karen and I followed suit, bringing our cans together.
Clunk—a dry sound.
"But why did you say you'd come see me..."
After clinking my can, I quietly pulled it back toward me. I could see the liquid inside sloshing around in the darkness.
While I was muttering with my lips pursed, the others ignored me and started drinking their beer.
"How is it, Karen? Is it drinkable?"
After letting out a satisfied sound, Sera turned to Karen. After taking a few sips, Karen looked at her beer thoughtfully and nodded casually.
"Yes, it's not that bad. It's good."
"That's great. What about you, Urr?"
At Sera's question, I snapped back to attention and looked up. Curious about my reaction, Sera, Aria, and Karen all stared at me.
Especially Aria, sitting next to me—her gaze was incredibly intense.
Just because her expression didn't change didn't mean her eyes were gentle.
Sweating profusely, I put the beer to my lips without even having a chance to comment on what Aria had said earlier.
I glanced at the others and took a drink. Gulp, gulp. I could feel the carbonation. A tingling sensation and some strange flavor and aroma filled my mouth.
It was bitter yet refreshing, giving me an odd feeling.
"...Ugh, it's weird."
I thought it would be fine, but my tongue seemed to have trouble accepting the taste. I drank about two sips, but it was too bitter to be to my liking.
They say all alcohol is like that, but I'd rather eat other tasty things if I could.
"If it's weird, stop drinking it."
Aria slightly extended her hand, gesturing for me to give it to her.
I shook my head.
"That's not it?"
"Yeah..."
Though it didn't taste good, I thought I might as well get used to it now since I didn't know when I'd be able to drink again. The Professor would never give me alcohol, so I should drink while I had the chance.
"Then shall we eat?"
Sera changed the atmosphere. I slightly raised my body and grabbed a cheese stick from the table. I took a bite and gulped down some beer.
Aria chuckled beside me.
"Urr eats well."
"Kya!"
I let out an exclamation as I removed the can from my lips.
It wasn't that it tasted good, but I was trying to enjoy it for the atmosphere. Squinting my eyes and quickly pulling the beer away from my mouth, I felt some kind of refreshing sensation.
I put the remaining cheese stick in my mouth to wash away the bitter taste.
"Come to think of it, I'm planning to go to the Institute, and Karen, didn't you say you were going to study there too?"
"Yes, I'm thinking of going to the Institute. Rather than achieving something specific, I just want to study first. Actually, I heard you get paid for research at the Institute, so that seems good too."
While I was chewing food in my mouth, I could see Sera and Karen discussing their futures.
I stared at them, wondering what everyone planned to do at the Institute.
"...A friend I know said they wanted to create an Original."
When I sniffled and spoke, the conversation shifted in that direction with an "Oh."
Original, Original. The repeated word caught my attention. My mouth feeling empty, I grabbed some food from the table and put it in my mouth.
I filled my cheeks and kept chewing. As I swallowed beer, I felt my face getting hotter.
Heat spread through my body, and my face felt hot. I felt like blood was rushing to my head. I felt dizzy, as if in a daze. My head felt heavy, making me stagger.
"—Urr?"
Something seemed to ring in my ears.
Thinking it might be Aria's voice, I dazedly raised my head. Aria's face seemed to be rippling somehow.
I wondered why I was feeling this way after just drinking beer. Wondering if I was this bad at handling alcohol, I tilted my head. I groaned and gripped my hand tightly.
After gulping down the remaining beer, I let out a deep sigh.
**
Urr began to stagger.
"...Urr?"
Aria tilted her head and looked at Urr. Urr was wobbling as if unable to properly hold up her head, then leaned against Aria.
As she fell into Aria's arms with a soft thud, Sera and Karen, who had been discussing Originals, stopped talking and looked toward Urr.
"She's drunk already?"
At Sera's dumbfounded voice, Aria carefully reached out. She picked up the can Urr was holding and opened her eyes wide.
"She finished it already...?"
Unlike humans, Urr was a Demon God who couldn't feel fullness. It seemed she had quickly consumed it without any sensation of being filled.
Though it was said she couldn't feel hunger or fullness, Aria's eyes widened in surprise at seeing it confirmed in this situation.
"Did you drink it all?"
"Aria..."
Urr's eyes were slightly unfocused, as if in a daze.
Leaning against Aria, Urr pouted and then buried her face. Her face, flushed as if from the alcohol, wore a smile as she giggled.
"Urr is cute."
"She is cute."
The sight of her unable to steady herself, leaning against Aria and mumbling, seemed adorable to Sera and Karen.
"Urr looks uncomfortable. Should we lay her down?"
"...I'm fine with her like this."
Aria seemed reluctant but nodded, agreeing to follow Sera's suggestion.
They laid Urr on the bed. The three of them smiled wryly and raised their cans, not having expected Urr to pass out so soon after arriving.
"I guess even Demon Gods can get drunk on alcohol."
As Sera looked at Urr with a fond expression, Karen beside her nodded.
"More than that, did you see? They say Demon Gods usually don't feel hunger or anything like that, but Urr doesn't seem to have that limit that humans think of when drinking something."
"...She seemed to just gulp it down without pause. Next time we play with Urr, we'll have to set a limit on drinks."
It was a large, elongated can of about 400 ml. If there had been food or something to pace herself with, she might have been able to control it, but they learned the lesson that giving her such a large can at once meant she would drink it all.
"But seeing her giggling after drinking a whole can of beer is super cute. I was actually planning to ask for a kiss when she got tipsy."
"You're scary, Aria. Karen, let's not get drunk in front of Aria, okay?"
When Aria casually brought up kissing, Sera immediately warned Karen, realizing that what she had said at the convenience store wasn't a joke.
Karen firmly held her can with both hands and turned her head toward Sera.
"Huh? Oh, I'm fine."
"...I gave her something with low alcohol content, but I guess she's not as weak as Urr."
Sera shrugged, relieved to see Karen still sober.
Just as they were about to continue their conversation centered on Urr, a strange sound was heard from somewhere.
Everyone's attention converged. Then their heads turned toward the source of the sound.
"Mmm, mmm..."
Urr was rolling around on the bed. As she rolled around groaning, her oversized jacket came off naturally. Now in just her shirt, Urr unbuttoned it one by one as if she were hot.
But only a few buttons came undone. Her hands were clumsy due to being drunk.
"Mmm..."
She seemed to be heating up all over.
No one had thought that the small amount of alcohol could affect Urr like this.
Urr, who had been rubbing her thighs together, moved her hand downward as if feeling another itch. Lying face down on the bed, she rubbed her body against it as if wanting to rub against something.
The three at the table silently watched Urr.