Do I Smell Weird?
Do I smell weird or something?
...What is this.
"Sniff... huff."
What is she doing? What on earth is she up to?
Just moments ago, the atmosphere had been murderous. The Young Lady was hurling a water bottle at her father, and that father was walking away without a word. Even that scene alone was enough to leave my head spinning.
And as if to put a period on the whole thing, the Young Lady was sniffing me from right beside me—from every possible angle, no less.
A moment ago it was my legs. Now it was my stomach.
I had no idea what this was about... but staying still was... the right call, right?
Still, unlike what she'd done to Rial, she wasn't throwing water bottles at me—just sniffing. That had to mean I was okay, right?
Well... for now, I'd just go along with it. She was the one I was supposed to serve, after all. Playing nice seemed like the smart move.
Anyway, as long as I stayed still, everything should be fine, right?
I casually brushed past the Young Lady's sniffing session and followed after Rial's back.
The farther I followed him, the more the underground atmosphere faded away. Bright light began pouring in from above Rial's head.
The light streaming down illuminated pure white bricks utterly unlike the basement, and the bricks seemed to pile up around us like sand gathering on a beach.
Before I knew it, light was wrapping around my entire body. As it touched me—
Was that a meadow?
Beyond the windows, a meadow stretched out.
Since this was where demons lived, I'd expected something harsh and full of roaring flames.
After all, Hell was the most iconic of places handed down through myths and legends. And Hell, being a place of punishment and confinement for demons, was usually depicted as something brutal.
So of course I'd assumed that since Rial was a demon, Hell would unfold before me.
Instead, a meadow spread out before my eyes—a vivid, deep-blue-green meadow. Even small trees in the distance came into view.
The forest where demons lived looked better maintained than most ordinary forests.
"Hahh..."
While I was marveling at the scenery, a labored breath came from behind me.
Slowly turning my head from the window toward the back, I saw the Young Lady, out of breath. Her cheeks were as red as her own eyes, her face slightly bowed. Climbing the stairs seemed to have been a bit much for her stamina.
Honestly, if there'd been even a few more stairs, I probably would've been winded myself.
"Young Lady, are you all right?"
"... ..."
"If you're tired, would you like me to take your hand?"
It might have come off as a bit much. But I was supposed to serve her, after all. If there was a chance to get closer to her, I should take it.
The hand I held out—
"Sniff..."
—she didn't take. She just started sniffing again.
What on earth was this about? Did I smell weird somehow? That didn't seem right—I'd taken care of myself, appearances aside.
So it couldn't be a smell coming from me. Or was there something I just didn't know about?
Just as every country had different cultures, maybe demons had customs or habits I didn't know about. The problem was, Rial had never done anything like this when we first met. He'd just weirdly altered my body instead.
Why was she sniffing me like this?
Plenty of questions bloomed in my mind, but for now... the distance between us and Rial had grown too far. I needed to catch up.
When had he gotten so far ahead?
I hadn't looked away even once—I'd just paid a little attention to the Young Lady—and somehow Rial was already at the end of the hallway.
A Young Lady who sniffs people. A demon who doesn't care about anyone and just walks his own path.
What a household full of characters.
"Young Lady."
"..."
Without a word, she stopped sniffing, lifted her head, and stared at my face.
"For now, let's follow Lord Rial. Then later... I'll let you sniff as much as you want."
When dealing with a child, you had to offer what they wanted as a reward. She seemed interested in sniffing, so this—
"Okay. Let's go."
"Uh..."
She'd just spoken to me, right?
The Young Lady's voice—the first time I'd heard it. It was a little like Rial's, but higher in pitch, closer to an adult woman's voice. A mature voice, completely at odds with her youthful face.
Still, it had a certain alluring quality. Not a bad voice at all.
Well, anyway. I followed after the Young Lady as she dashed ahead, chasing Rial's footsteps.
It was a lot bigger than I'd expected.
When we'd first come up from the basement, it hadn't seemed this spacious. There was a meadow right beside us, and the end of the building had come into view sooner than expected, so I'd thought it was narrow. But the hallway had just been turning a corner—I'd been mistaken.
And it really was spacious. The floor was enormous, and every room we passed was fairly large. Most of them looked like storage rooms, though.
What was a little strange was that for a building this size, there were no rooms for people to rest in—no chairs, no beds, nothing of that sort. Everything had the feel of a supply room. Storage, basically.
Thinking back to the basement earlier, maybe that was actually where people lived? Though the basement did have iron bars...
I wanted to ask about it, but—
Rial leading the way up ahead. The Young Lady following behind him as if nothing were amiss. And last of all, me, trailing after their footsteps.
No one walked side by side or made any conversation. Everyone just went their own way.
In that awkward atmosphere, we wound through the building until a door came into view in the distance.
Rial approached the distant door without hesitation, and the Young Lady followed alongside him as if she knew the way well. Not wanting to fall behind, I picked up my pace.
My legs were starting to tingle a little, but this much was fine.
Before I knew it, we'd arrived at someone's room.
"There. Figure it out yourselves."
"Pardon?"
"I have things to do."
"Um, Lord Rial? I still haven't gotten any explanation or—"
"... ..."
Rial vanished from right in front of me so fast I had to wonder if he'd even been walking at the same pace as us a moment ago.
What the hell was he doing?
Just dumping me with the Young Lady without a single word of explanation and walking off? If he'd brought me here himself, shouldn't he at least take some responsibility?
After everything ridiculous that had happened so far, and now—
"Hi."
Right. I wasn't alone here.
The Young Lady raised a small hand in greeting. Her figure looked dark, standing slightly behind the light—probably because she was standing behind the light source. She looked shrouded in shadow.
For a second, she almost looked a little like Rial.
At any rate, to return her greeting, I put on the kindest smile I could manage.
"Hello. I'm the attendant who's been assigned to serve you, Young Lady."
"Yeah. I know. Hi."
She accepted my greeting with brisk simplicity and came closer. Just like when we'd come up from the basement, she pressed in close.
"He's trash anyway. Don't worry about him."
"Uh... yes."
The "trash" she was referring to had to be Rial, right? Even if the father-daughter relationship was bad, this was... wow. Were they really that estranged?
The Young Lady didn't look the least bit flustered. She just calmly looked me over from every side. Then she stretched out her arms—
"Hug me."
"Pardon?"
"You said you'd let me sniff. So hug me."
I had said that, but demanding a hug on top of it...
Still, she was clearly better than that tra— I mean, better than Rial, so—
I sat down on the bed that had caught my eye the moment we entered the room, spreading out the blanket, and patted my lap for her.
She wrapped her arms around my waist and nestled into my arms.
"How is it?"
"Mm."
After saying "mm," she buried her face in my chest—
"Sniff... huff."
—and went right back to sniffing.
Her breath tickled my chest, but I could handle this much.
Actually, it was pretty ticklish.
"Young Lady. May I ask you just one thing?"
At my words, she lifted only her face from my chest—
"What."
"I was curious why you keep sniffing—"
"You. Don't smell."
Uh... was that a compliment?
"If I don't smell, why do you keep sniffing?"
"Wondering if it doesn't smell here either. Hmm..."
She rolled her face around against my chest, looking thoughtful. And then again—
"Snnn—iff"
—she buried her head in my chest and sniffed.
I had no idea. Well, there was nothing wrong with a little kid doing this sort of thing.
I'd just go along with it until Rial came back.
Outside, the sunset was already settling in, and Rial still hadn't come.
When I asked the Young Lady, she simply said he wasn't coming.
Honestly... what was he even doing?
He'd said he had work for me, altered my body like this, stuck me with the Young Lady without any explanation, and then just went off to do his own thing.
No matter how I looked at it, trying to understand a demon's intentions was a lost cause.
In the meantime, I'd had more conversation with the Young Lady than expected. Half of those conversations had ended abruptly, of course. But I still considered this a major leap forward.
Before I knew it, the Young Lady was continuing our conversation with her head resting against my chest.
"What's your name."
"Me?"
"Yeah."
"My name is Lee Jiwon. Lee is the family name, Jiwon is the given name."
"Okay."
Since I'd given her my name, maybe I should ask for hers? If we got closer step by step like this, who knows? Maybe she'd help me out someday, like the swallow that repaid a kindness.
"Young Lady, what is your name?"
"Me. As."
"As?"
"Yeah. Just call me Young Lady."
Same as Rial—demon names were simpler than I'd expected. I'd thought they'd have fancy English-sounding names or something cool. Apparently not.
So what was I supposed to do now?
With no information and no explanation, I had no idea what my job even was. Right now the Young Lady was talking to me, but... was this really all there was to it?
Salary, working hours, where I'd be staying—none of that had been—
"Jiwon."
"Ah, yes. Young Lady."
"Let's wash."
The Young Lady climbed down from my lap and dragged me over to a corner of the room.
There was a small bathtub and a mirror fixed to the wall—a neatly arranged little bathroom.
The Young Lady quickly stripped off her clothes and—
"Hurry up and strip. Let's wash."
The Young Lady's sudden undressing. And me, left with no choice but to take my clothes off too.
...It should be fine to undress, right?
"Um... haha..."