I Think I've Been Scammed
I think I've been scammed.
"Um, this is..."
Normally my gaze would fall straight to the floor, but what filled my eyes now was white fabric and the flesh showing through it. The word chest rose unbidden in my mind, yet how? My gender was male. That was supposed to be an unchanging truth.
...I think I've been scammed out of a job.
"Changing it for sure looks good."
"Ah... um, this?"
"If you're going to work, doesn't it make sense to change your body to fit the environment?"
It wasn't entirely wrong... but who would change someone's body like this? You prepare the right clothes for a part-time job, or you exercise if you're heading out into the field. Changing a person's gender for the sake of work?
No. The fact that he had altered my body meant this man intended to work with me, didn't it? If I thought of it that way... let's just call it the price of my life.
"Ah. Nothing you're particularly curious about?"
"Uh... something curious?"
"Yeah. Well, you look too calm. Made me wonder if there's nothing you're curious about."
There were plenty of things I wanted to say. I wanted to fire off so many questions that spit would fly onto that face. But anyone could see it—the solid build, the unsettling yellow hair and red eyes, and as a final flourish, those bright red horns. He had even rewritten my body at will. How many people could casually question a being like that?
At least I wasn't one of them. So I spoke as carefully as possible, and in a polite voice.
"You're not human, are you? Your identity...?"
In a way it was an easy question. Asking someone with horns on his head who had just turned me into a woman whether he was human—of course he would say no. But what I really wanted to know was what kind of being he was. If we were going to work together, I ought to know who my boss was, right?
"Well... as you can see. A demon."
A demon. I had thought they were creatures from myth, yet here one stood in the flesh. Whether it was because I had been staring at that face the whole time, or because I had already accepted he was something other, I couldn't say—but even hearing the word "demon" didn't feel unnatural. It almost made sense.
The man toyed with one of his horns while smiling at me. Whether it was a sneer or simply a smile was hard to tell, but looking at the way he carried himself, maybe he just smiled like that rather than with contempt or mockery.
"Th-then what kind of work do I have to do?"
"Simple. Just raise my daughter."
Daughter? A demon has a daughter? No—wait. So he was telling me to be a nanny?
A demon's daughter...
It wasn't that I had no worries. But still. A demon's daughter. How hard could it be? If she was the daughter of the demon standing right in front of me, it should be doable, right? Look—I was already holding a conversation with this demon to some degree, and he wasn't particularly hostile. I can do this. There's nothing I can't do.
"Uh. But why me for the demon's daughter..."
"You. You're human."
"I am human?"
"Normally humans can't see demons."
"Aha...? But what does that have to do with the work—"
"Well, it's a long story."
The demon glanced at my eyes and then lower for a moment before lightly starting to walk. Being cut off mid-sentence and having him move so suddenly was a little flustering, but for now I would just follow. His light footsteps, soft as if he were barely pressing down, I trailed after him at a careful pace.
Where the demon's steps finally stopped was the door I had seen from a distance. He thrust his hand into it.
That's... a maid outfit?
Suddenly a maid outfit? He still hadn't answered the question I had asked out of curiosity, and now clothes—
"Put it on while we talk. We have a long way to go."
"Um... do I really have to wear this? To serve your daughter, this kind of outfit—"
I did not want to wear a maid outfit. Who would put on something that looked so uncomfortable and difficult at a glance? Even if I was being taken against my will, that kind of thing... No matter what, I tried to invent any excuse that would keep me out of those clothes.
"Is that so?"
The man's overwhelming voice and those eyes rolling as they looked over my body.
"..."
.
"The maid outfit suits you too."
"..."
It had been my last scrap of pride. At the very least, when working, this kind of attire should not be allowed. And just now that last scrap of pride had crumbled.
Fine. I have to live. I put this on so I could survive. No matter how many times I told myself that... No. Just don't look in a mirror. Right. He never said I had to wear it every single day, did he? Take it slow. Think positively.
The man, apparently satisfied, approached the door. I stuck close and hurried after him so I wouldn't fall behind.
"Alright. Then shall we finish the conversation."
He continued walking as he picked up the story he had left unfinished.
"Why I picked you, a human... simple. That kid hates demons."
"Aha... what?"
A demon's daughter who hates demons? What was that supposed to mean?
"Well, rather than hate, hatred might be the more accurate word."
"..."
"You've lived among humans too, right."
"Yes. Of course."
"Then among them there are disgusting humans, aren't there? It's the same. ...Especially when even humans love tearing each other apart like that—would demons do any less?"
The man gave a hollow laugh as he opened the door. I had been focused only on following his footsteps from behind, so I never got a clear look at his face, yet a bitter wind seemed to blow all the way back to me—even though the wind should have been hitting him.
"For a daughter who hates demons like that, a human would be better than another demon, wouldn't it."
"Ah. But can I do it well—"
On the path we were walking, the man paused in front of a door.
"Pfft. Haha!"
"...?"
"Heh.. don't worry. There's no way you can't do it."
He looked at me as if telling me not to worry, waved a hand once, and started walking forward again. His intentions were still hard to read, but since he had said not to worry, it should be fine, right?
Passing the room he had entered, the space opened up—not a place full of black walls, but an interior. It was incredibly spacious... and those iron bars over there. Hmm... rather than an interior, this was more like a basement, wasn't it? The lighting was so good I had mistaken it for a regular room, but looking again it clearly wasn't. Iron bars stretched along the side, and stairs were visible in the distance. It looked deliberate enough that I decided not to ask.
"Ah right. There's something I didn't mention."
"Yes."
"That kid has a dick."
"Uh... you said daughter—"
"It's a daughter. One with a dick."
Uh. Hmm. What I was thinking was correct, right? Female, but with male genitalia as well.
"Well, you were originally a man too."
"That's true."
"Then it should be fine. Even if it's erect, don't be surprised."
"...Yes."
What exactly was fine about that? Was I having a normal conversation? No... I shouldn't expect normal conversation from this demon.
"Oh, better settle this here. From now on when you address me, call me Rial. When you address my daughter, just call her Agassi. Honorifics as you like."
"Understood, Rial."
Rial, huh. At least the name wasn't complicated. Ah right—about the pay and the working hours—
Clang—crash!
"...!"
A sudden sound of glass shattering. No—just from the noise alone it sounded like dozens of glasses bursting at once. And the source wasn't far away at all. Right there.
"Um..."
Glass shards had fallen next to Rial's shoulder. Water and more fragments lay scattered across his shoulder and the floor. Someone had thrown a water bottle. He brushed the glass from his shoulder as if it were nothing and casually made the remaining pieces vanish. Once I confirmed he was unharmed, I turned my head to find out where—and who—had thrown it.
Of course I found the culprit immediately. Unless someone had sniped with a glass bottle from a distance, it was easy to spot. What entered my field of vision was a young girl. She wore clothes that could be mistaken for sleeveless at a glance, her hair short and done in twin-tails. Small horns—the mark of a demon—were growing from her head. And... male genitalia that a little girl should not have. As a bonus, she stood with her arms crossed and a thoroughly rotten expression on her face, staring at us. No—more precisely, staring at Rial.
A demon's daughter who hated demons. And a girl currently in an erect state. Anyone could see this was the being I was supposed to serve.
...Is that person Agassi?
I was a little startled, but I hadn't expected the first meeting to be quite this intense. Whether I would be able to do this job safely—
"..."
"...!"
Our eyes met. Just now my eyes locked dead-on with Agassi's. The rotten expression vanished at once, and a flustered look swallowed her face whole.
...But just how big is that size.
That size poking straight through the bottom of the dress. If I just lifted it a little... No. Let's stop the imagination right there. Nothing good would come of going further.
But... why? Why had she thrown the water bottle? I had already heard from Rial that his daughter hated demons. But did that include her own father? If not... then I would have to assume she had thrown it at me. That didn't feel right, though. Looking again at where the glass had shattered—it wasn't near me. It was the wall right beside Rial. Right next to him. If she had been aiming at me, it would have gone toward my feet, or she might have tried to hit my body.
And the reason it clearly wasn't me: even if I just waved my hand a little—
"... ...!"
—she startled so hard she looked ready to faint. That reaction was pure surprise, not hatred, wasn't it? More than anything, remembering the expression she wore when looking straight at Rial made it clear: Agassi's hatred was aimed not at me, but at Rial. Hating even her own father...
I must have sunk into thought without realizing it.
"Hey. Follow me."
Rial's voice smacked into my head with a sharp thud as he walked past. Coming back to myself, I saw his back as he moved toward Agassi. I hurried to match his stride and walked after him. Rial passed right by Agassi.
"Both of you follow."
He went on without a care. Hmm... this household was something else. A daughter who throws a water bottle at her father and shatters it. A father who doesn't even scold her and just walks past. Just what kind of relationship was this?
...I don't know.
Before I noticed, Agassi was already walking beside me, matching my steps as she followed behind Rial. Seeing her up close, her build wasn't extremely small. Still over about a hundred centimeters—
"Sniff sniff... sniff..."
"...?"